Sixers did have a great home record last year and the Breakers will have played on Wednesday night. Could flip a coin.

I think Burston is going to cause some trouble for NZ.

Maybe I spoke to soon. Injury list is out:

Matt Burston - Sprained hand - Test but expected to play

Burston could prove a matchup problem but do they ever give him the ball?
Ballinger will be marked by Awvee and unless he posts up he could have back to back miserable nights.
Holmes could get the better of Oscar.
Gilchrist and CJ probably cancel each other out, although Gilchrist will have to do more.
Penney,Groves could be heavily in favour of Breakers.
Bench has the Breakers all the way.

That was Darren Ng and Brett Maher on radio fiveaa just then ( Ben Fitz was in the studio also) but there were plenty of calls for Brett and Darren.
Burston is a finger (in the Cairns game) but should be ok to play. Gilchrist was cramp but should be ok.
They'll watch some tapes about guarding Penny and Bruton.
Davis and Maher will be there re retiring singlets .
Al Green and the like also will be giving new players singlets.

All depends on how the Brekers go against the Tigers I reckon. If they pull up well, I can't see the 6ers accounting for NZ.

Two very fine young men in the studio,tonight.
I'm sure the radio station and the listeners were impressed. Fine ambassadors for the 36ers and our sport.

Bit early to be making major statements about the use of Burston given that we don't really know how many minutes he played and the impact his supposedly strained hand/finger had on his time out there.

He played 23 minutes.

http://www.sportingpulse.com/round_info.cgi?a=MATCH&fixture=152456996&c=0-189-0-95997-0&pool=-1

But Burston isnt a guy you pound the ball into, he is a complementary player who is at his best catching the ball on his way to the basket from the high post, or catch and shoot from 15 feet in.

He can also create from the high post, but the Sixers have better options to create shots given Burston's high dribble, and I imagine that option would be used sparingly .

A good home record for the 36ers, a rude awakening to reality after the Cairns game, desperate to avoid the start of the season with 2 consecutive losses, NZ cannot consistently play as well in their first game which was at home for them and Bruton cannot realistically keep shooting 7 of 8 3's. All these factors tip the scale in the 36ers favour.

Let me see, Burston shoots 5 of 8 against Cairns. He grabbed 5 offensive rebounds so presumably he stuck back most of them, because I did'nt see the game lets say 4 of those OR's. That means he has 4 shots through your offence??? Hardly a "go to guy".
No doubt he will clear the glass and block up the middle which the Breakers will not be going to anyway so it is hard to see how Burston will threaten us.
Ballinger posting up is the only part of your offence that I think could cause problems because if he got going there then that might give him confidence outside but he will have to get it done in the trenches first. Ballinger v Awvee will be key.

The knock on the 36ers has always been you don't play good defence and you don't have a half court offence. Gilchrist gives you a legitimate start in the half court but unless Ballinger can isolate and get some room closer to hoop you guys are going to fall back on launching another 3, which won't get it done against the heavyweights.

I tend to agree with Bill, Burston can rebound, so can Rickett, Ballinger can post up, Storey can defend, Gilly can play, CJ and Penney aren't bad either. Sure NZ aren't going to shoot the ball as well as against Cairns (you guys would hope) but remember that only 3 Breakers were in double figures, Penney and Bruton had good nights but Oscar had a terrible offensive night which won't be happening again in a hurry and Storey hobbled around lost for a large part of the game. Abercrombie is still gaining confidence and Pledger didn't even touch the court. The Bear does his job week in week out. The Breakers are def not unbeatable tho and will drop games but I'm not sure if this will be one of them.

Bill, from the sounds of it, Awvee is seen as a bit of a defensive stopper for NZ? If so, I agree that his defence on Balls will be important.

But from the Sixers perspective, I think the most important thing is that our guards improve the way they defend the perimeter, especially against all those screens the Breakers will use. Penney and Bruton can and will shoot a good clip again if we don't put some pressure on them.

The Sixers ability to defend guards has basically been atrocious for the last five years or so. (Some of that was having a bunch of slow geriatrics running around due to having no money admittedly).

But Ninnis has been talking up the importance of defence since he got the gig, so I hope Sixers fans will start seeing the results of that this season! Only then will the Sixers start knocking off top teams like the Breakers on a regular basis.

GIVE HORVATH THE F#$#ING BALL!!!

Quite right Anon, but do you have the guard defence to repeat the Tigers effort.
And you definitely don't have the size to clean the glass like Worthington and co.
And the Breakers will be keen not to drop 2 in a row.

I would be surprised if NZ dropped 2 in a row