36ers - will be close.

is burston good to go ?

cant wait for the 5th!!

Hawks are an interesting team to match up on.

Davidson acts as their center but really Tragardh is their center which makes mismatches. Opposing teams usually put their center on Davidson who draws out his man to the 3 point line making it more easier for Tragardh to work inside. As a result, if we start Burston he should guard Tragardh while Ballinger should guard Davidson and be wary of his 3 point shot. A 3rd of his points come from 3's!

We are probably better off Starting Holmes over hill for defensive purposes on Saville. However, Hill is athletic so he probably is a good match up also and offers more scoring.

Containing McKee is vital if we are going to win this game! That is where it probably will be decided. Gilchrist can start on him and then give Herbert a chance to guard him. Herbert seeing some minutes on Saville is also a good idea.

We will probably start with Ballinger, Holmes, Hill, Groves, Gilchrist and struggle with the Hawks size in the first quarter until changes are finally made.

If the coaches have done their home work we could certainly win this. However, from the form of just beating Cairns and Gold coast I think we will lose by 10.

Gotta feeling Burston would start - I think.

I hope so Camel31

I'd be starting Ninja over Cortez for this one. Tez needs a kick up the rear and Ng needs... something. Worth a try.

Larry D is as good a matchup for Balls as you will find, it will be a real test for him.

6ers by a point in 2OT.

How is the aircon these days at the Dome? Last time I went to a game with a 40 degrees day was when it was a Lightning double header when Lauren Jackson was in town, I think off memory we played the Kings.

Looking forward to the game tomorrow night, should see another close one. We have been spoiled with those this season.

It is still amazing to think that halfway through round 8 only one team (Townsville) has won more than one game on the road this season (Townville are 3-3 when away). So far 80% of all games have been won by the home side this season.

Just goes to show, to be in the finals you just have to keep winning at home, and jag a few wins away. This will be one of the true danger games for the Sixers though.

Preseason battle between McKee and Gilchrist was awesome. John Gilchrist seems to keep his head together and paces a good tempo when he faces a tough match up. If he plays like he did in that preseason clash, it will be an awesome game.

Key to the 36ers is for their offence to get the ball to Balls early and often. When that happens defenders panic, and good things happen.

Stopping McKee will be important. I rate Gilly, but defensively I think he can be lacking in motivation, especially if he has a slow start offensively. Herby will give his all trying to stop him, I think giving him some time on McKee will be a good call.

Sixers will need to fire on all cylinders to stand any chance.
Ballinger will have an edge in mobility or height whoever they mark him with. Repeat of last week could tip the balance.
Defense will be the key. Whoever can put the pressure on their opponent could come up trumps.

Saville has been quiet this season and he could make his mark felt.
Hope your Sixers boys put a good fight and cause an upset, but logic says Hawks by 6.
This must mean Sixers will win easy?

Im with the sixers on this 1, gotta go with the home team at the mo and Ballinger is playing decent as.

The weather could go against Wollongong. We have had a week to acclimatise to the heat.

IF you were going to bring Tez off the bench than I think Herb has shown that he deserves a crack before Ng.

Neither of them are shooting all that well at the moment but Herbs defence has been pretty impressive and will be needed.

Have many tickets been pre-sold?

Rate ya post KingJames.
Question might well be what will Hawks do to quieten 2 POTW in Balls and Gilly?Can these 2 reproduce the brilliance ...errr again?Will the Heat affect the home team(all week) or the travelling team(suddenly feel it)?
It could come down to who WONT cramp first or suffer a blood nose.Anyone behind the 36ers Bench please bring a fan for the players.

"IF you were going to bring Tez off the bench than I think Herb has shown that he deserves a crack before Ng."

Yeah Herbie has been in better form, I was just seeing this as a chance to bring Ng back into some form, rather than leavin him in the exact same role, in which he's been struggling.

Anyone noticed how similar these teams are in structure? They match up really well:

Davidson - Burston
Tragardh - Ballinger
Saville - Hill
Campbell - Groves
McKee - Gilchrist

Behrendorff - Cooper
Gruber - Holmes
Jackson - Molitor
Coenraad - Herbert
Martin - Ng

Can't wait.

Will Cooper be the game clincher tonight?

air-con better be working tonight

I think the TAB rates them similar also.
Maybe Burston game clincher tonite.

A hard game to predict but if I had to I'd go with my head and predict Hawks by 11, but I had a headache today took two asprin and felt much better,so I'll go with my heart 36ers by 5.

That was Adam Ballinger on TV news,just then..
'sixers by 10'

lets go boys, sixers by 7 about to crank the old radio for abc 891 coverage of the game...

Burston only 10mins -still not fit yet.
Maybe Groves - game breaker ?
Good contribution from 6 or 7 players really

yeah good win tonight, don't know what got gilly so agro tonight. He came good in the end but was worried he would drop off. Tez played well, hit his shot and had an all round good game.Looked like Darren got the cramp again but good to see he could play through it. Oh and air-con was on so big ups the the guys for that.

Good team effort tonight. Everyone chipped in and did their bit.

Gotta question the coaching wisdom of continually going back to Hill when he is completely out of form and there are other better options. He played half a match in a game where nothing he touched went right. Airballs, insane drives, bad passes, soft hands - it was not a good night. Yet he started most quarters and was overplayed when Ng, Herbert or Groves could have seen more minutes and have had a more positive impact on the game. He seems like a confidence player, so hopefully he can start hitting some shots and make his way back, but until then bring him in off the bench. I hope to see Burston, Ballinger, Holmes, Groves and Gilchrist start when Burston is fully fit or maybe Herbert for the time being.

At half time I was getting ready to come on here and say "a good performance by the refs", then the second half happened.

No match report tonight *disappointed sighs from everyone*.

Great win though. Keep it going Tezza!

#257283 - From where I sat (Stats Bench), no way could you say anything bad about Anthony Mundine (and believe me I am not a fan).
He had a heap of photos taken with people from the crowd, at half time and a lot more after the game as well.
I am also sure that Al Green took him down to talk to Peter Walsh (ABC Radio) with about 5 minutes left in the half time break, so I don't know what you saw!

Tywain McKee was well held by Tez, Pitbull and crew

11 lead changes for the game

Pretty good win tonight.
McKee was dirty all night, so was Saville.
Davidson and Tragardh looked like they were going to be a real handful at the start, and Campbell was hitting his shots whenever we gave him space (which was most of the time). Was a bit strange that after Davidson was very promising and looked to have our measure in the early stages, he was then subbed off and didn't check in again until after half time. Didn't appear to go in for any treatment either.

Firstly, credit where credit's due, Cortez was
probably our best tonight. Didn't force things, did some nice drives, knocked down some shots, some good assists (9 in total). Their defence at times had some huge holes and we managed to take advantage of that. Tez mostly, Ng, Herbert and Cooper also.
Ballinger had his moments, but had a few uncharacteristic misses too. Didn't have the sort of delivery tonight as he did last week and seemed a bit troubled by the defence at times. Davidson and Tragardh matched up well with him and even Gruber had his moments. Still managed to top score for us and contribute like we come to expect.
That was easily Herbert's best game at the club. Hit his shots, really had Saville's measure and did some good things off the ball.
Ng's shot was back tonight, and he didn't hesitiate to use it which was a good sign. Even did a few good defensive things which was promising.
Cooper had a nice cameo again. Needs to have a bit more range than he does, but did some nice drives for lay-ups and seems to have picked it up recently (by his standards).
Something seemed to have Gilchrist rattled tonight. Just wasn't on his game at all in the first half and was looking more and more frustrated. Had a big spray to Tez at one stage when he fired off a ridiculous pass that went out of court and Tez had no chance of realing in. 2 points to half time, but regained some respectability in the second half.
Holmes was a beast on the boards and did some good defence, but was caught napping at times in offence and didn't really look to be much of a threat.
Hill had a really dirty night, nothing at all went his way and the more he tried to do, the more he managed to dig himself a hole.
Burston clearly looked underdone, so that hurt us due to their size at times. We appeared to be soundly beaten on the boards, but the stats don't suggest so much. He really struggled to get into our offence and didn't seem to know where to go to get the ball at times.
Wasn't a particularly well coached game IMO. At stages we had Gilchrist (who wasn't scoring), Holmes (who wasn't scoring), Ng (who couldn't break free from his man), Cooper (who isn't a shooter) and Herbert on the court. It was never a recipe for success and the game reached a bit of a stalemate while that set-up was there. They struggled to score due to our defence, we struggled to score due to who we had on the floor. Hill was probably overused for the game he was having and considering the games Herbert and Ng were. Hopefully Herbert can keep it up and Hill can regain some form.
We're now sitting in a pretty good position on the ladder, with Perth a clear leader and Wollongong and us both with the bye next week. Still think we lack something for us to be legitimate contenders, a healty Burston may well be that. And a consistant Groves like tonight would provide the spark we need against the best.

I'm pretty sure we won by 7 and Groves got 15.
NBL have 2 versions - 5point win and Tez 17.

Mundine originaly said that he would be unable to do ABC interview at halftime, but Al asked him to do it.

Yeh, Anthony "The Man" Mundine....

I had "an interview" booked with him in the carpark at half time - don't tell me he chickened out by talking to the ABC instead.

Well done Sixers (6-4).
Key stat for me was 18-24 free throws compared to Hawks 7 from only 9 attempts.
Groves broke out of slump and was difference. Will give him and fans confidence going forward.
Defensively Sixers must have done the job to contain Hawks, who couldn't get anything going offensively.

Any word on the crowd?

I thought it was down a little bit, but still very good. 4,500?

4,832 was the 'official' crowd!

news adelaidenow (boti) - has Groves the standout with 17points (9assists) and a 5point win..
(and yes crowd 4832) Just had a feeling we won by 7 and groves 15.. anyways- great team win.
(We still don't see the best of Hill at home.
in our best player,away.)

Very good win for 6ers.

That solidifies our hold on third spot - good foundation to work from.

Sixers looking ok for all the dooms day talk. Considering Burston and Hill's injuries, a new point guard, 6 new players, Groves coming back from a serious injury, to be 6-4 and in third is a good foundation, as Isaac said.

Groves has now had three very good offensive games, and his defence has been very good. If his offence continues to be inconsistent Adelaide will be fighting hard for a playoff spot, if he can put more of those games together the Sixers could push for a higher berth.

Burston will help Groves when he gets his match legs, as he is great at getting to position to receive from a penetrator.

The article Boti sent in was at like 9:40pm .Almost the earliest i had seen.Most have publishing times of @12:00 ish.So I'm thinking a 'bit' rushed(always writes a good article ,never any stinkers)?

Gilchrist will be much better once he undertands that the game is not all about him.

Ch9 - 5pt win ch7 -7pt win....
Don't think Ballinger travelled when they showed that.
Saville did I think, not called.

Once again my comments on Hill are justified. An airball hahah ohh god hes a horrible player, ofcourse whos to blame, him for sucking or Ninnis for putting him in the team.

I will admit stand up performance from NG tonight, first time since the first game hes really done anything. Why he cant learn to shoot his shots on a nightly basis instead of this inconsistancy.


I really am getting sick of seeing Ballinger playing centre, both himself and Holmes are having to work overtime on the boards. While they do a good job when the other team has 3 talls and we have Cooper who was playing well, and Burston sitting on the bench I just wonder wtf Ninnis is thinking.