Hoops

Sixers v United, Dec 23

I'm with Interested in hating those calls. I can't wait for the first ref with the guts to issue a warning for throwing the head back in order to get the foul call. It happens too much in Europe, often when TV replay shows no foul happened

Demopoulis;'Let's get rid of the johnson enigma.'
Creek;'Joey put something up dj's sleeve.'

DJs best sixers game, and american import pg giving him assists instead of wanting to be top scorer. Pretty hard to beat.

Great result for the Sixers heading into the holiday period.
My how the mighty Melbourne have fallen from grace.

koberulz, potentially, there's nothing but duck eggs for Melbourne for the rest of the season.

They appear to be mentally soft and their game plan has been disected to such a point where other teams have worked them out. They have failed to alter their plan and if Demopoulos does a Marty Clarke and sticks with a failed plan, they could tumble out of the top 4.

I'd have Illawarra down as losses as well.

The Adelaide game will be huge.

Marcus, United look spent.

sydney once (W)
perth twice (L, L)
new zealand twice (L, L)
cairns twice
adelaide once
illawara twice

There's probably one certain win, and four certain losses, with 5 games 50/50.

"you can't foul the guy who doesn't have the ball"

There's no FIBA rule to that effect, yand the ref didn't mention anything about it, so I'm not sure that's true.


"surely they'd have the technology to review that."

The technology is irrelevant if the rules don't allow it.

Do the other teams deny Daniel "Zoolander" Kickett his right hand?

In the 3 games this season between the Sixers and United he has had great success when the Sixers let him go to the basket with his right hand. On the few occasions when they have denied him that option he has struggled to score with the same consistency and looks considerably less comfortable.

we win, we attack the refs.
we lose, we attack the refs.

gee whiz, they get it wrong/they get it right.

whoever suggested they were gods gift to baskeball reffing stuffed up big time.

sobey: usf? no way! **wanna borrow my glasses** ??

"It's time to get rid of those guys, it's like an NBL team having 30 year olds as their 10th men, they aren't getting better, find someone who might have a higher ceiling."

I agree 100% They must bring in new blood and see if they are capable of controlling and also allowing a Game to flow. Being consistent and not bowing to the Home Crowd is also a must.

I feel that Aylen has, for the past season or so, decided he is "above" the NBL and is quite rude and arrogant about how he refs. It's not a good look and it sends a message to every other official that they can do it too.

For the people saying the Sobey call was correct, I will wager that if it was Tomlinson fouling DJ or Randle you'd all want USF and possible ejection.

I really wish I had been there to see that performance if the comments about the refs was correct.

There;s a first time for everything.

"I didn't think that Sobey foul was USF, he hacked at the ball"

He also pushed an airborne player in the back.

Sobey should have been assessed a USF. But missing the resulting free throws made it a good foul even so.

Demopoulis is an idiot for continuing to argue after the crowd got on him and started riding the umps. Drained the momentum out of United.

LV, maybe a couple of uncalled ones at the end, but Holt was also gifted with a couple of bailout calls. Blaming the refs for that loss is symptomatic of why United have won 2 of their last 10.

Now the Sixers don't play again until 8 Jan and next home game is not until 20 Jan. Strange scheduling with only one game in 28 days in a compacted season.

New scoreboard and sound system will apparently be up and running for the next home game.

Who were the refs?
Missed my 11 home game since 1985.

The main difference between the hawks and united is that the hawks have a centre that likes to bang inside, block shots, pull down boards and get the second chance shots for his shooters. Melbs centre sits at the 3 pt line

What would you do to fix the issues with the refs Paul?

If it's the same guys that cannot handle any kind of pressure then perhaps they just cannot ref at this level.

It would also be good if they would learn that they aren't supposed to be the centre of attention in the 4th quarter.

Be consistent the entire game. Ignore the crowd. Don't let any of the Coaches act like babies (pretty much all of them throw tantrums that deserve T's). That'd fix a lot of the issues.

Paul, can you confirm the rule about fouling off the ball?

Gotta give Gibbo and the Sixers team defence some credit for Goulding's bad game tonight. He has killed us in the past, but we gave him absolutely no space to put the ball on the floor and get his shooting rhythm.

That no-USF call was absolutely atrocious.

Is there an off-ball foul rule in the NBL? 99% sure there isn't in FIBA.

Not being able to make a shot after being fouled is why he isn't in the NBA? Interesting premise.

How they turned a clear USF into only 2 shots, then gave Adl every call there on after was the turning point in that game.

Refs really screwed the pooch, once again

It might be time for Warrick to start, or bring goulding off the bench try something different

Sorry to say but Goulding is terribly overrated.

Bring back the RealScoMo

Or even better - donate to a better cause, such as an organisation that doesn't use its proceeds for anti-gay rights lobbying ;)

When the Arena has a large crowd, there's a different feel to the game which helps the Sixers and tonight it is a big one.

Dec 23 is also "Festivus" so it's a good time to get around the aluminium pole and air some grievances.

"Why isn't this game underway? What timzone are Adelaide on?"

One where the 23rd is tomorrow.

I'm curious, how exactly does a ROFLcopter work anyway?

If 6ers stick to switching defence, Melb will have Kickert and even Tomlinson nailing 3pters again. 6ers love playing melb back into form.

From the NBL:

Northern Territory sports fans are set for a feast of top-level basketball after Minister for Sport and Recreation Karl Hampton today announced the return of National Basketball League action for the NBL Top End Challenge 2010.

"Basketball is a hugely popular sport in the Territory and I am excited to announce today that the official 2010 NBL pre-season competition will be held in Alice Springs and Darwin in September," said Mr Hampton.

As well as playing 12 games, teams will take part in an extensive community engagement program conducting coaching clinics in schools and communities across the Territory, and conducting hospital visits.

"The NT Government is committed to providing elite events for all Territory sports fans and this $200,000 agreement with the NBL cements us as a mainstay of the Australian basketball landscape," said Mr Hampton.