That tech really wasn't at a good time for us. Goulding was stone cold to that point. He gets a lay-up in transition, then makes a big 3. So the tech then lost us a possession, sent him to the line for 2 more, then he made a big 3. 0 points in 18.5 minutes of playing time and he still goes into half time with 10 points (and he's got his confidence up now heading into the second half).
Not sure how to feel about that one. We won in a close one, but I more consider it to be we let a blow out become a close game, then just managed to hang on. Good that we did win, but after that first half, we never should have needed to grind it out to win.
DJ was pretty much on the court for all of our good play and off for all our bad play. First quarter, plays first 8:35. Score 22-11 (+11). Subbed off until 2:13 into second. Score now 24-17 (-4). On until 7:50, Score now 48-23 (+18). Off until Half Time. Score now 53-33 (-5). On start 3rd until 3:11, now 57-41 (-4). Off until 3:55 in 4th quarter, score now 77-71 (-10). On until end of game, final score 90-87 (-3). So in 23:28 that he was on, we were +22, in the 16:32 he was off, we were -19. Just an interesting stat I noticed. (also, there was a period of time where we had Schenscher, DJ and Petrie all on the court at once, pretty sure we were negative during that time).
Not sure what the story was with Creek. 10:49? Didn't play at all in the last quarter, only got 3 short bursts of playing time.
Ervin is a big time player. When we need a cool head to steady the ship, he's invariably that guy. Gibson proved last season that he can't be trusted to close out games, Ervin is the player we need and are lucky to have him.
On Gibson, thought his first half was extremely impressive. Passing and shooting. Pretty close to the best half of basketball he's played as a 36er. Second half, not so much.
Looks like the scouting report is in for Frye. Clog the lanes, dare him to shoot, send him to the free throw line, draw fouls on him. He's somewhat one dimensional in his play (similar to another SF import we once had), hopefully he has other elements to his game.
Schenscher played well. His +/- is probably almost the opposite to DJ's, but I struggle to blame him for that today. Worked hard rebounded and made his hook shots. Couple nice blocks too.
Peach wasn't great tonight. Got called for fouls everytime he went near anyone. Grabbed some rebounds, but wasn't up to his normal Peach level.
BJ had a similar night to Peach. Wasn't nearly as effective as he has been this season.
Cadee was ok in his normal limited minutes and undefined role. Nice 3 on the siren was important in the end.
Teys got donuts across the board in his 4 minutes.
Ubaka shouldn't still be getting an import gig in the NBL. Can't shoot anymore, looks slow, doesn't penetrate at all (or really bounce the ball for that matter), defense has never been his forte. Melbourne would have been a scary team with Dennis instead of him, they need to cut their losses and search for a better alternative.
A lot of Melbourne's offense is run around setting multiple screens to get Goulding and/or Worthington open. Doesn't really surprise me Tomlinson had so many assists, it was the other guys that were doing a lot of the work for him, he was just passing to whichever of those 2 managed to get free for the shot. Still 15 assists in 40 minutes is extraordinay.
Worthington loves playing the 36ers. Pretty much never seen him not score 20 against us. Shot wasn't falling in the first half, but more than made up for it in the second.
Goulding too. Once his shots started falling, they didn't stop. He's like a completely different player this season, his game now matches the confidence level he's always had.
Ballinger is all too familiar with our rings. Best game of the season for him easily. Looked like the import Ballinger of old in patches today.
Morrison and Walker provided rebounding, but otherwise, outside of the main 4, they didn't really get much service.
