Did anyone notice their behaviour when the kids were leaving the court at half time and were trying to high five the Sydney players and they just totally ignored them, that is very poor don't really care how they behave on court during a game but when it comes to kids you can at least acknowledge them by going a high five!

The mistake I think they made was firing up the crowd. Why they do that every time they play at the Dome, I have no idea.

Because Brian Gorgjian is a complete and utter dousebag and the little dousebag know as kings player follow the giant dousebag leader.

You may think he is a dousebag but he is the best coach in Australia and his record says so. So typical of Adelaide fans bagging the opposition after one win. Why don't you do what you normally do and bag your coach! Tell me any team at the half way mark that high five kids in the crowd, especially when they are losing. They fire the crowd up because it called playing on emotion and passion, something Adelaide lacks.

Sydney seem to try to bend the rules in their favour as much as possible...and react badly when they are actually called on it as they were last night.

I mean come on, if the ref's whistle goes it's expected you get back on court, not use the opportunity for an impromptu time out.

Anyone know why Smith got his tech as he was walking away from the ref? Didn't think he'd be the type to swear, but might've been the case?

Sydney play tough, hard and arrogant - and their record shows that this works MOST of the time. It's not an attractive style to watch, and it's easy to see why no one bothers going to their home games ...

You don't necessarily have to swear to pick up a tech. Could have just pushed the ref's buttons with a comment in regards to the way he was calling the game.

Interesting though that the tech came well after they finished talking. Smith was about a third of the way back to the bench.

Melvin, Sydney get a reasonable crowd when the conditions are right (e.g., Saturday night and not on Fox) - e.g., 5k+ against the Tigers I think?

Here we go! The Kings created a lot of stupid opportunities for the 36ers because of their thuggish behaviour on court. No questions asked about Gorjian's ability as a coach, but the Kings were starting to make a good comeback early in the 4th quarter. If they stuck to the rules and played good basketball instead of thugs, they were on track to win it. The 36ers game alone did not win it for them, the King's behaviour helped them.

The Sixers are often criticised for not having enough passion, but please don't mistake what the Kings have as passion.

We were talking about it on the way home after the game and the general consensus was that each of the Kings could be compared to a spoilt child who has had his ball taken away! They are arrogant, expect to win instead of want to win  yes, there is a difference (before I get shot down for that!!!)

The Sixers clearly wanted the win last night and the like spoilt children, the Kings reacted with hissy fits. I was surprised not to see Worthington or Smith, or Saville for that matter, throw themselves on the floor and scream for Mummy.

If they were trying to fire Davidson up, well that worked didn't it?!!!! As Isaac pointed out&&.why the hell would you get the crowd against you at the Dome? Arrogant, childish and poor sports ...nothing to do with passion!

Well said Spinner.

Each of the Kings?

Draper? Penetrated and made tough baskets, yet didn't get to the line once. Could've had a legitimate complaint if he wanted to whinge. Tovey? Victor? Crosswhite?

Worthington, Smith and Kendall are prone to having a whine, I'm not going to disagree, but I don't think all the Kings can cop that allegation.

What do you expect.... they live in Sydney. For some reason Sydney-siders believe that their sh*t doesn't smell and that they are better than the rest. See it on a daily basis.

Anon 166484 "Targeting Davidson? What a joke. That guy gets into stuff every week and Sixer fans think he's being targeted."

Unsportsmanlike like fouls, verbal taunting, carter ruffling his hair. And it was Davidson all of those times. He doesn't get "into stuff every week", he just doesn't put up with the bullsh*t that thuggish team like Sydney serve up every week.

"Anyone know why Smith got his tech as he was walking away from the ref? Didn't think he'd be the type to swear, but might've been the case?"

He had a long discussion with Mills then as he turned toward the bench, mouthed a few expletives. He turned directly toward me as he said them. Thats when Mills decided to T him up.

Yes, from WA. I think he has a brother, Trent, who plays as well.

That Hodge play seemed like a flop from what I caught of it. Easy to ignore given the rest of his game!

smith is a sook, stinker of a game, he did sit out most of 2nd half but before that he was horrible, wortho has got game,......captain in waiting for the Kings......never seen Davidson shoot that well ever in his career = GOLD!

Hinder is the biggest knob ever in the NBL. LOve to see Jawai dunk it right on Hinder in Playoffs or boomers camp to show Goojian how SHIT hinder is!

"On the other hand, if I was I was Goorjian I would be embarrased by my teams appaling diplay of childsih and thuggish behaviour and if I were Smith, Worthington, Carter or Kendall I would be ashamed of myself"


I've seen this sort of behavior from every team Goorjian has coached, its blatantly obvious he tells his guys to go out there and foul, they get away with it and its how he has won his championships. Last night the refs called them up on it, for the first time in YEARS.

Goojian would no be embarrased or ashamed by his players, but i bet he complains ALOT about why they actually got called for fouls.

This is a team thats used to getting away with everything, about time they got called in a fair game, I wonder how far up the ladder they would be if every game was called like last nights.

There is no question that the "leaders" of the Kings acted like a pack arse-clowns but alot of it, I believe, has to stem from the coach. he has a God complex and looks like he believes basketball is his domain alone. Goorj is the most over rated coach in basketball . . . hang on I hear all of you typing up your statistics even before I finish. I concede he does OK in NBL, but that is only with a very strong team. Lets give him a developing squad with limitations, the hawks/pigs maybe, and see what he does. Or even better lets put him charge of a national squad and see how he performs(that actually hurt to write). Goorj has one style, when it works it looks good, but the minute you exploit its weaknesses it flops and Goorj does not alter his game, he just swaps the players in the hope of making it work.

Agreed Isaac, why they fire our crowd up i dont know....Thanks BJ you jerk

Harvard, a developing squad is probably what he has had the last couple of years - Worthington, Crosswhite, Kendall and Tovey are solid contributors to the team (three are starters) and none of them have been in the league that long. I would say that what he has done (style of play and worthiness of Boomers places aside) is near prototypical of the benefits that can come from investing in and developing young talent.

I thought Smith and Worthington sulked a bit last night but thought Goorjian was much milder than usual. Definitely out-coached though - let his team play right into Adelaide's hands.

Spinner and Skud are on the money with their comments.

Sydney forgot they weren't playing at home and the refs called them for things that they normally get away with.

Hodge dived better than Louganis in the 84 Olympics, but he is awesome in his attack on the basket. a few turnovers again, but created a lot of opportunities for himself and others.

BRING ON WEDNESDAY AND THE WILDCATS!!!

Skud, I was thinking along the same lines as you. The Kings would not be getting away with that behaviour from their coach if the coach himself didn't train them that way. The loss to the Kings last night did not matter much as far as position on the ladder goes, but what really ruffled their feathers was the reality that last night's officiating threatens the rest of the season. If they make the grand finals, they may have to play respectfully and to the rules. This could cost them the championship because they rely too much on the rough and larikkinish methods they adopt. If Aladdin appeared right now and granted me a wish. I would wish for last night's refs to officiate the grand final series.

I'm with Harvard 1500, I'm no fan of Goorj's either.
Last night with less than 1 minute played in the game, scores locked at 4 apiece, Goorj calls a time-out. WTF.
Brian, you were out-coached, out-played, & your team lost. Sheesh, & it was against this year's 36ers. I'm happy.

I have never liked the way the Kings target one or two players for extra treatment. Last night, whether it was in play, or behind the play, or outside of the play, or after the play, whichever King was nearest to Brett Maher was under instructions to stick out the elbow or whatever else, with not just little pokes but quite a few heavily illegal hits.

Kings made a mistake of trying to rough up Davidson also. Clearly he really enjoys a rough game and performs best under those sort of physical conditions. Just not smart.

I laughed for about a minute straight after Hinder threw the ball over his sholder into the third row of the crowd apparently in an attempt to put a shot up. Got me chuckling about it again now just thinking about it!

Btw, you think it is a coincidence that Maher gets injured every time he plays the Kings?

"outcoached"

Did i really see this in Isaac's post, I have asked for the last 2 years, who is a better option than Phil, i still have not been convinced of an answer, and after last week in Perth and this week against the "best coach in the NBL' Maybe...just maybe, it was the players he had?

Im interested in opinions on Hodge now you guyts have seen him, granted he is exciting to watch and could become a crowd fave, a couple of lingering questions tho..

is his shooting good enough?
does the risk of turnovers worth it?
does he flop a little to easily?
is his attitude (sooky) good enough for us

Dont get me wrong, i loved watching him and have no doubt he gives us something, would you sign him for next year based on what youve seen?

Damn i miss the dome...sounds like a great night.

He missed the two shots I remembered him taking outside the key, but the rest easily made up for that. The risk of turnovers was worth it and could be managed with time. Only flopped once and I think he was just being sneaky. Didn't sook much or at all that I noticed - looked like the happiest guy out there, was calling for the crowd to fire up, etc.

I think this season, Phil has the chemistry the team didn't have last year and with the import change, are back on track. Has copped it re defense and development in the past, but with Davidson and Ballinger in the defense has stepped up, and development is less of an issue for this season.

IMO, Isaac is spot-on in his assessment of Hodge.

I just hope the spectators bring their voices to wednesdays game as well!

I like the way Julius attacked Glen Saville early, getting him 2 quick fouls. I suspect Sav is not a natural thug, but had to obey team rules and foul Julius in those two instances he was beaten off the dribble. But Sav shoving Ballanger from behind for about 4 meters trying to push him into the scorers bench was out of character. He ended up playing only about 16 minutes, after being our destroyer in prior contests.

Smith only played 13 minutes, so either he was injured or he was actually being being disciplined by Goorg for his stupid tech foul or just being stupid generally. Every other King played more minutes. But both Sav and Smith were disappointing in many aspects of their game and attitude.

I still reckon Phil's the coach the players would prefer. Specially Balls!

I think you are right re both Smith and Saville. Spent very little time on court and I can only assume it was because Goorj was laying down the law.

Goorj also dragged Wortho the moment he had his brain fade in mid-court trying to defend Davidson (who is one hell of a speedster), and then gave away a tech after vehemently complaining that it wasn't a blocking foul (dreaming...).

Not sure that you really could blame Goorj for the teams behaviour on this occasion. Sure, his teams always play hard, and there might have been the usual team orders to try to ruffle up the 'soft' Sixers, but I don't think he would approve of any of the techs or unsportsmalike fouls they unnecessarily gave away.

I think Goorjian partly wrote off the game soon after half-time and just left the rest of the team to see if they could win it against the odds. Then rested those two vets - neither even hit the court in the fourth. I can't imagine that will be a popular view and can only say it's a gut feeling. Neither Carter or Kendall played that well and both kept getting time. The Kings just didn't need the win as much.

Adelaide broke them in that second quarter and they were screwed.

Ten points down at half time is not really the time one would usually close up shop Isaac, especially if you were the top side and can't handle not winning like Goorj (not in a bad-sport way but in a neverending desire way). But I admit the rotations in the second half were unusual.

"dousebag" (n). A large hessian sack full of water. Used to put fires out?