Hoops

Kings V Sixers, Oct 23

Hodgson made a mistake on offense resulting in Gibbo's pass sailing wide and Wright immediately benched him for the night.

Always fun reading the threads associated with SA teams I enjoy your passion and knowledge of the game. Now forgive me if this has been mentioned previously but I nearly fell off my couch....and it's a big couch.....I thought I heard Heal question Randels shooting technique, it still makes me laugh!

6'ers earned this victory, but for some reason the game didn't quite reach the heights I had hoped it would. Maybe Childress being injured and the Kings not playing their best, not sure...

One thing is for sure, Joey Wright had an influence on the officials at key moments, smart coach that!

Suddenly the Sixers start shooting 30 threes in a game at a high percentage? Amazing what a bit of confidence can do.

^ Agreed, Carter got in Randle's head and did a good job on him. Didn't get enough help from his team-mates though. Sydney not looking too good thus far. Probably the only team in the league who rebounds worse than the Sixers!

Two from two this week is a great result for the Sixers, who had to try and integrate Randle into the team and play twice in two days.

Still some work to do if the Sixers want a spot in the finals, but Randle's signing has them heading in the right direction.

The jury is well and truly out on Ebi. He showed he still has the killer instinct in the 3rd quarter, but we need to see more consistency from him. Joey played him quite a few minutes again though.

I wonder if Ebi is the kind of guy who will work himself into good shape by playing? (Not saying this is ideal, but some players seem to be like that).

Man took 36ers 1-10 ah! great win for us though.

Randle has to be the quickest import we've had in this league?

He's acceleration makes him look like Westbrook.

"It might just be this forum although it seems 36ers fans are the most negative in the league. Likely to great wins this weekend, and mostly hate."

No it's just a couple of legends in their own lunch time making statements in anonymity.

If only the owners could locate and employ these experts. They could save a lot of money, no need for Joey and Brooksy, and all their problems would be solved. I'm sure the players would be impressed with their knowledge and expertise.

You'll love him, hate him, love him again, hate him again. Ohh arhh, Ebi Ere.

Looks like Ebi was checking Hoops in the last time out and fired up!

Nah I still think Ere can be very valuable especially now with Randle being able to open up space and feed him (quickest import ive seen).

But as mentioned above all he has to do is be a spot up shooter - he did that brillantly against us in the first game. If he stops putting the ball on the floor and trying to attack he will be more effective.

Waxy! Looks like he's turned the corner after a poor start to the season. Having a big impact in this game!

Ere is terrible again. 0-7
Wonder how long 36ers will put up with those numbers.

Ebi has an open shot and then decides to take one or two dribbles and takes an ever harder shot.

Would love to see the number of timeouts reduced even just one less each per team.

The tech worked though! 36ers getting some back to back calls now.

Wise words Kobe. Mind you he hasn't been flopping anywhere near as much this year because hes hardly got the ball ;)

Is something wrong with Hodgson? Haven't seen him yet. Our defence was awful for the first 5 mins. Sydney was getting whatever looks they wanted. DJ needs to pull his finger out too, because Khazzouh has killed him early.

Adam 'Flop' Gibson

I'd start Randle then, this time.

@Jack Toft, some intriguing ideas there mate, just the kind of stuff that has us excited at the mouthwatering match ups of this one.

Who has the better rotations or the deeper bench to compensate for any fatigue issues?

Who can cover their super stars better if they get into foul trouble?

Which imports will fire, does Childress still have a niggle and can his 2IC Thornton come to the party tonight, can Randle turn it on for two in a row or can Ebe find his touch and blow us all way like he did in week 1?

Which coach will get it right and leave enough fuel in the tank of whoever is available at the end to get his team over the line...?

So many ways this one can go and I am keen to see how it goes, bring it on baby!

The Sixers will want to get out of the blocks early. In R1 we saw how they faded away against Perth in the final 5 minutes of the game due to fatigue.

I wondering if Joey should have run the bench out in the final 2 minutes last night.

Hodgson might be the guy to throw on Khazzouh to wear him down a little bit to take him out of the game. You'll probably want a high rotation on Khazzouh to niggle him out of the game. Hodgson is more physical than DJ so send him in to muscle up. Joey could run DJ at 4 and win that spot. Garlepp is solid in 4 and Petrie matches up pretty well IMO. Both hard at the boards and so I think that's a pretty even spot there if that's how that position plays out tonight.

Guard wise, depends on how they match up. I would say Cadee on Randle in defence is how the Kings might play it. Then in offence Cadee follows Gibson.

The three spot is where the game could be won. A fast transition from both teams opens up the opportunities under the basket. A slow, slog with teams set around the key utilising set plays to score could go either way. For Adelaide, a slower game using the full 24 seconds means less fatigue, but the downside is that if Khazzouh dominates inside, it just gives Sydney the edge.

I don't think guarding Randle one-on-one is an option, it will be a team defense and taking him on when you have the ball to try and get some early fouls that will likely be the best ploy...

I think Thornton will guard Randle.

Looking forward to another big basketball night in front of the big screen!

Kings at home in a close one...

Found this list of player point ratings on the NBL website, surely these cant be accurate.

Does anybody have an up to date player rating list?

http://www.nbl.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/_temp_/Player_rankings_for_2009-10_as_at_25_June_2009.htm