Hoops

NBL Grand Final Game 5, Pre-game fan banter

Nice story about Ferguson supporting his former Sixers teammates.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/nba-rookie-terrance-ferguson-reaches-out-to-his-former-team-adelaide-36ers-on-the-eve-of-their-nbl-grand-final-decider/news-story/8b146288d36026d45624cbc7682f831a

beefing it up to try rattle joey but he doesn't know so whatever

AC joint. Really?

Roy Ward:

Dean Vickerman says Tai Wesley has an AC joint issue, did some light shooting today and was icing it after. Should be right to play but will be put through some contact work later in week.

Hats off to 36ers for pushing it to a G5.
They may have struck on Melbourne's kryptonite. "THEY HAVE NO ANSWER TO 36ERS TAKING THGE BALL TO THE HOOP". Casper aside they all REACH....and REACH...... and REACH. The refs were wired for tacky tack fouls after G3 so they benefited there.

48-11 FTA is too stark to ignore.
Sobey I have to give credit to here. He and Creek lead the way.

Outcome still in Melbourne's hands but if they don't match 36ers desperation they could trip up again. Just because you are the best team does not automatically mean the other team rolls over for you.

Ware is worse in terms of playing for fouls. If any defence is remotely near him when shooting a three, he'll stick the leg out and hit the deck. Then do that 'point to my temple like I'm a rocket surgeon' thing. Shades of Harden. Infuriating, but it's on the refs to stamp it out.

On a side note, i respect Bubbles as a national player and a player who put the hard yards in to develop his game but the way in which he has conducted himself in this series is frustrating to watch.

There's only one game that matters in the season, and that is the final GF game.

The pressure is on the flaccid United to prove they're up to their marketing. They finished Minor Premiers and so all the pressure of expectation is on them to deliver. After getting a good break, they have been unable to put their cue in the rack after sinking the 8 ball.

Have they the stamina and mental capacity to finish off, or will they yield to the weight of expectations?

Guaranteed fans will get too caught up in emotion regardless of the refs whistle.

If the refs call the game as they have all series, we will get whingers.

If the refs call the game properly, we will get whingers saying there's a lack of consistency

Adelaide 0-8 vs. Melbourne this season. How sweet if they made it a 1-8 record and on the other side of the coin how bitter would Utd be.

Looked like the momentum had swung back to Adelaide in the last 3 minutes of that game. United made a good run on the back of Prather midway through the 3rd into 4th quarter.

There's no reason Adelaide can't win in Melbourne.

They've won in every other stadium in the NBL this season, and got tantalizingly close on Friday.

That said, the momentum is back in United's favour after the second half on Sunday. The 36ers scoring dried up, and X factor Childress wasn't there to create something special and get them going again.

Game 4 was the lowest scoring of the series and I'll back game 5 to be similar, with neither team to crack 100.

Melbourne is weaker than Adelaide, not just the bench:
So far in the series:

Starting 5's:
Melbourne: 265, -50 on +/-
Adelaide: 298, + 58 on +/1

Melbourne Bench: 120 index points, -15 on +/-
Adelaide Bench: 129 index points, -8 on +/-

This Finals series has been engrossing with all the back and forth. Both teams are worthy of being champions with their own unique strengths and weakness but neither being able to get an advantage long enough to take down their opponent.

I have concluded the only difference between Adelaide and Melbourne is a bit of luck and the occasional split second error of judgement.

Unfortunately, come Game 5, the spotlight will also be on the third team in this series, the match officials. The fact the public perception of their performance has been so diverse suggests their performances have been greatly inconsistent. Well, that is my perception.

For the sake of Game 5 and the series, it is my hope the referee performance pendulum, which appears to have swung greatly between home courts, settles on a neutral position. Hopefully the fans can focus on the performance of the two basketball teams instead of bringing the performance of the referees into the conversation. One can only hope....

I aim to witness game 5 in person, and will do so with no real confidence of either team winning. I will also be saddened to see season 17/18 come to a close and hope the competition is better come season 18/19.

C'mon Sixers!

Agreed Joey def is trying to be the next pop. It’s a bit painful not the slightest bit professional at this stage.

But as a 36er fan I can see how game 4 finished as a huge series breaker. They were tested they could’ve crumbled but they dig deep and United finished horribly. Adelaide will win this series, it’ll be third time lucky at Hisense.

Keys for Melbourne:

- Casper.
- Hit a reasonable percentage of threes.
- Boone controls the glass.
- Avoid foul trouble (easier at Hisense!)

Keys for Adelaide:

- Get an early lead.
- Shut down Casper.
- Hit a reasonable percentage of threes.
- Exceed United's energy.

Adelaide had no need to focus on the refs on Sunday - they were on the free throw line most of the game with more than a third of their points coming from there. Given the criticism of the league gifting United the championship, it’s funny how both games in Adelaide have advantaged the Home team. I think game 1 was the best refereed game - since then, the home teams have been strongly advantaged.

I think the air of invincibility and confidence has evaporated for NBL United.

Sixers looked a lot better when they focused on their game and not the oft indecipherable refs. As soon as Drmic got tangled up with Ware on the floor, Joey sat him down.

No idea what happens in Game 5. I just want to see a full 40 minutes of basketball from the Sixers without the prolonged lulls / lapses.

I guess we just go out there and do the best we can.

The best we can

Do the best we can.

We gonna do the best we can.

Gonna be a cracker of a game and a tough week to get through!

I reckon* Chill will be back!


*hope.......

I'm tipping this will go right down to the end. If Adelaide are to win, i think they'd ideally be down by 4 or 5 at three quarter time. For mine, the look better with a challenge in the last quarter than they do trying to maintain a lead against a desperate opposition.

My biggest hope is that we don't end up with an umpire's whistle or some other point of conjecture deciding the champion.

Actually mostly from interstate (going by the regular IPs I recognise).

I wonder if Childress will make a surprise return?

Adelaide have had leads in both Melbourne games so far, which shows anything's possible. But I do wonder if we'll get a United blow-out to finish what has otherwise been a close series.

Melbourne fans, why doesn't Majok Majok get played? Smith-Milner was -15 in 5 minutes yesterday though he was handy in his previous outing. The last time Majok got time, he had five boards including 3 critical offensive boards in 5 minutes. Obviously they've got solid options in front of him (Boone, Wesley and Andersen), but if you're playing Smith-Milner, why not Majok?

Does anyone know where we can find which nba games will be shown on ESPN this year? I understand ONEHD are no longer showing NBA?