U must have alot ove time on ure hands, cats should just put the bench on and just wrap up the starters in cotton wool. Don't think perth will be out to win in this one, finished on top, why risk an injury for a game that don't mean anything for both teams realy?

I'm thinking it will be more a game of quarters, four in fact.

Cats, you may be right. It think the first half will be very tight with lots of action. Second half might see more bench players and the gap pretty stable as both coaches have a strategic plan.

Neither team would won't want to show the other team any new plays, nor risk an injury.

"just wrap up the starters in cotton wool" well we do know the Cats are pretty fragile, so I guess we can organise some cotton wool, bubble wrap or nerf if you like. Should we organise some mums to wrap them up, kiss them better and say "there, there"?

Does Gleeson have the balls to limit Ennis' minutes leading up to the playoffs?

I have my doubts (not that I'd blame Trevor).

Yea bubble wrap is better at least redhage will get straight up again!! Soft? At least we don't cry after every call! Hope u guyz have some baby sitters there for joey and ervin and co? If not will send some with the boys

I think the Sixers will be looking for revenge after their embarrassing performance (during and post match) last time these teams met.

Predictions:

Gary Ervin to complain
DJ to not play defence

Hire to ask Ervin permission every time he shoots the ball
Redhage to be legitimately fouled and the crowd still call for a flop

Boti Nagy to be a twat on twitter

@ jack toft, another classic write up there only you can take the piss and get away with it.
I'm sure both teams will be going for the win but taking it easy.
We should definitely wrap Damo in cotton wool can't risk an injury. Adelaide should win by 5-10 points

Flop Redhage.
Floppage
Shaun Redflop.

Sorry Jake, beat you to it.

Further to alexkrad's predictions:

Wright to stare down the Perth assistants
Schenscher to miss open buckets

Redhage to flop
Redhage to play legal defense and the crowd still call for a flop
Wagstaff to flop

Martin to come up with a crazy block, steal or hustle play
Redhage to flop

Now now The Situation, don't be a Dip Wit......

You got me @the situation. I am now sweating like a gypsy with a mortgage as you took away my best work. We know your CEO likes a photo and tweet so maybe he can tweet some action shots of the flopster doing what he does best.

Do you keep forgetting your CEO started the unprofessional tweets?

Hahahaha....Perth fans make me laugh!

so much love...

peace pipe anyone?

or is it too late to offer?

either way itll be huge!

Game of the season is beckoning...

Go sixers!

"Course not, The Wildcats are an honourable, clean team - no dirty tactics from them."

Alright, I'll admit: if you were to map the NBL onto Game of Thrones, we would surely be the Lannisters :P

How good is it to have a decent Sixers team again? Its been a while ;-)

^ I dunno, in hindsight I probably wouldn't have minded if we had stuck with the status quo for a while.

It was late in the evening and I tried to recall the events...The clock strikes eight..bong!..,,,
The article was illustrated with a photo of redhage playing, above the caption " Shaun Flophage; What's in a name?"
Ervin ,like a superbeing from somewhere else, made 20points , 8/9 shooting in only 17minutes , saturday......
tovey and weigh have gone and things are a little bit exciting now.

Flophage. You people really need to pay more attention to how things would be pronounced.

Just try and walk around saying "Floffage" and see how long it takes before you're locked up in a loony bin.

Good to see ten and nine news at the airport to meet perth. Gleeson:"Of course we're expecting a hostile enviroment when we are in this teams stadium.Let's hope it's worthy of a final."

Either way, lets hope tonight is a good, tough, but fairly clean game of basketball and may the 36ers....ok I'll be diplomatic....best team win.

Diplomatic my arse. Go the 36ers!!!!!!

I think with all the crap that happened after the last time Adelaide and Perth played each other both teams, from the coaches to the players and club management, will be on notice to be on their best behaviour tonight. They say any publicity is good publicity, but I doubt the NBL or either club will want a repeat of last time.

But as a 36ers fan I hope we sent those pussies back to Perth with a rather large headache and a lot to think about.

No team can beat perth on there nyt, take tonights game, dont think they will win u guyz can have it the pussy cats finished top so not much to play other than the bench getting court time!

@Cats for Life. - "nothing to play for" that's bullshit!

These are professional basketball players! They didn't get to this level without being competitive and playing to win. You are just trying to cover your backside because Sixers WILL win.

"Psychological Edge going into finals - pure and simple, not to mention the passion involved given the last game."

You think that the winner of this game puts themselves in a better position to take home the title?

It really is a meaningless dead rubber.
At least there's AFL back on tonight.

If Adelaide and Perth end up in a finals' series, the first game of that series is likely to be the one that will decide the outcome. If tonight's game is a convincing win to either team, it will be a massive psychological boost for that team going into that first final.

If anyone feels that Trevor Gleeson doesn't understand that well enough to care about how the Wildcats approach tonight's game, they're sorely mistaken.

Keep in mind that the Breakers lost to Perth in the final round last season in a dead rubber. They barely got out of second gear and lost convincingly. That turned out ok for them.

Here's a hint to all Adelaide fans.

After the game check the NBL ladder and see if you can work out who is on the top.

But,
lets' hope the NBL staff didn't go home for the weekend and leave the LIVESTATS for 4 important games, in an absolute 0-0 mess.
Please!

Nbl live not working. No surprise there.

Ervin = flopper

Hey Jake, Gary Flopvin hahahahahaha

To be fair to Ervin, I think that was more like a dive than a flop

Jumping all over the place, Livestats,
sometimes we get 1 minute then the old 0-0 thing again.
At least with 3 games, it keeps you really busy!

Jake will now brag about giving us a hidding.

Sixers did it for Jake.
Well done Adelaide

Does anyone know what happened to Gibson, missed it. He walked off in the race so hopefully not too bad.

Some of the most amazingly bad umpire calls I have seen this season. Just wow!

DJ needs to step up, if he thinks playing pathetic D like that is going to win a championship then its time for him to go else where.

Schensher continues to warm up in time for the finals. Played big today and his presence was the difference between a win and a loss.
Carter and Teys played some good D on Ennis. Carter seems to be working more and more into the teams system.

Gibsons injury...Hope he is ok as his shooting lately has really put some wins on the board.

Ervin played his best quarter of the year today. His drives and passing out of the lane was something we really need him to consistently do.

I don't think either team put in 100% but we did a really good job holding off some of their drives and plays. Will be a big confidence boost coming into the finals.

Gibson half-limped in to the tunnel but by the time he was there, he seemed to be walking ok.

Its a pity that we won't finish with an equal regular season W-L record to Perth. Tonight's win actually saw the season series tied at 2-2, but in those 4 games Perth scored 333 points. Adelaide scored 334.

Can't get much closer than that, even if Perth finish the season one, two, or three games ahead going into the finals.

Oh Freo give 'em the old heave ho - at least you won something tonight guys!

What was up with Ennis? Did he pull his heart muscle?

Look forward to hearing all your lame excuses

Official attendance was 6,253 according to the game report on the NBL website. Kinda surprised we didn't hit 7k. It wasn't even out largest home crowd for the season.

Just watching the TV replay and Ervin said his back is bad and he not sure how he is playing so that sucks. Was just a good entertaining game, the end margin not really reflective of how close it got.

Just watching the TV replay and Ervin said his back is bad and he not sure how he is playing so that sucks. Was just a good entertaining game, the end margin not really reflective of how close it got.

No lame excuses needed for a dead rubber game.
Burdon and U'u didn't make most of extra time but at least Damo got some rest.
Sixers win season series by slimmest margin but if we meet again in finals its 0-0 and a new series.
Also liked Schenscher's game tonight.

Check out Perth's minutes spread.. they were never playing to win, played stretches with their whole bench out there when they should have been playing the starters to catch up.

Wouldn't be surprised to see them drop the game next week too. Probably be a few dollars on it actually.

I'm a Sixers fan but why do people still thing Cadee is any decent? People bag Teys but he is far better than Cadee in less minutes.

Teys has improved dramatically from the start of the season, is deserving of some respect.

Rets ro rixers, rets ro!

Don't really agree with the Cadee bash, but I do agree with the Teys statement. He's really starting to warm into his role. Did some nice hustle plays, made a few nice shots. Didn't look out of place at all.
Also liking the defensive intensity Carter is giving us at the moment. Has his hands in everything and puts in max effort at all times on the court.
After Perth went on the run late third term, early last, Petrie stepped up and made some important plays to steady the ship and turn the game back in our direction.
Hoping Gibson just had cramp. That's best case. If need be, give him the game off against Sydney, we have 4 Point Guards, we can do without him for a game if he's carrying a niggle.
Schenscher is really getting after the rebounds at the moment and has finally remembered that he's 7 foot 2 (or whatever) and is using that height. Created probably 4 second chances out of nothing tonight.
Gibson and Ervin keep making big shots. Ervin probably doesn't pass the ball as much as he should, but while it's working, and he's scoring at will, it's not an issue.
DJ doesn't really appear to be putting in much effort, but still contributes on the scoreboard, which is important.
Creek came in fired up tonight. Wasn't forcing things, but played very aggressive.
Overall a positive game. Perth were clearly holding back and could have upped the intensity significantly, at least it appeared that way. But still, a win is a win. And a good win against a direct rival 2 weeks before the playoffs can never be a bad thing.

Perth looked distant tonight.

Very disappointed not to see Rehage live up to his Mr Floppy moniker - in the absence of any flops, how can we call him Mr Floppy?

Jake, Perth were in cruise mode tonight. That was clear to everyone. They were playing to get some minutes in to the young guys, and to avoid injury to their key players. If you think otherwise, you're dumber than I first thought.

Jack Toft, try Gary Erdive.

Just watching the replay and Gibson was by himself and just seemed to stumble and roll his ankle, very strange the way it happened.

@The Situation, Should we call Mr Floppy pointy elbows instead?

Big weekend for SA with crows v power on Sat 29th.
Perth final hopefully on Fri 28th or Sun 30th so it doesn't clash with AFL on the sat night

You can call him what you like.

Of course Perth fans will say they weren't playing for a win. Perth fans always have excuses at the ready. Lost the series and had your arse handed to you twice.

You're totally right Murray magpie we had our arse handed to us twice and were thrashed in scoring aggregate 334-333! and we only finished 1st on ladder.
No one can beat the sixers!

That's not right anon. The first grand final game, if Perth is in it, will be Monday April 7 at Perth Arena. Ticket info for all the finals has already been circulated to Wildcat members

Not sure Perth were resting their starters when they played around the same, if not a touch more than Adelaide's in minutes?

Gibbo is ok by the way, no serious injury. Given we are a definite lock for second don't be surprised to see him rested for Sundays game.

Fantastic logic, Tornado.

Only Beal played more than 30 mins for Perth, Damo played less than 20.

How is it logic when it is fact?

Perth's defensive intensity wasn't there tonight that was obvious to see. But who told the refs and the score bench to rest? Never seen such deplorable reffing and twice the shot clock wasn't reset after clearly hitting the rim

"Here's a hint to all Adelaide fans.

After the game check the NBL ladder and see if you can work out who is on the top."

"You're totally right Murray magpie we had our arse handed to us twice and were thrashed in scoring aggregate 334-333! and we only finished 1st on ladder.
No one can beat the sixers!"

"Fantastic logic, Tornado."

God, when did Wildcat fans turn so petty and pathetic with their responses? We know Perth is the ladder leader and they've been in every playoff series since the beginning of time, while the 36ers fans are enjoying a little bit of success for the first time in ages, no need for this "you still suck" stuff.

Perth lost, for the second time this season in Adelaide. Accept it as what happened with a bit more than snarling distaste. If the 36ers manage to beat the Tigers and Perth beat their opponent in the semis, it should be some very good and tough basketball, worthy of our historic rivalry back in the 90's/early 00's. Everybody wins.

KET, one of those comments you quoted was a dig at the Sixers. The other two were in response to Sixers fans rubbing it in for last nights loss. Geez, if you want everyone to remain polite and classy after a game, that goes for your guys too.

Tornado, comparing Perth's starters minutes to Adelaide's is not the point. There has been no game this year that the entire Perth bench has played for a stretch like they did last night. Whether it was starters or bench players on the court, there was a lot less defensive intensity and effort on the glass than most other games.

Someone needs to give @thesituation a hug

Burn!

Ok anon, you're obviously correct on the GF dates and letter I have sitting in front of me from the Wildcats listing dates (including April 7 as the first game) for the GF series if they make it, and how to get tickets, is obviously wrong. Hopefully someone from the Wildcats is reading this forum so that they can see the error of their ways from you.

The Situation, when a team wins, they get to enjoy it. I realise you're not used to being the losing side, but the 36ers fans really aren't 'rubbing it in'. Disputing Perth fans' "we didn't play properly anyway" is not 'rubbing it in'.

This is how it goes down:
36ers win
36ers fans enjoy it in a way which doesn't seem out of the norm for any fan base
Perth fans say 'whatever we weren't trying anyway'
36ers fans say 'k sure wink wink nudge nudge'
Perth fans get pissy and say 36ers fans are 'rubbing it in'.

I've always been a big fan of the way Perth is run and the way Perth fans act, but of late it has just been petty insecure remarks, which is made even more absurd by the fact that Perth is still first - it's really not necessary. I'm starting to think there's a real heightened sense of importance creeping in. If I was a Perth fan, i'd let the 36ers fans enjoy the win, and be a bit more tolerant about it.

If you insist that 36ers fans are being unreasonable, than be the 'bigger man'.

I'm not saying anyone is being unreasonable. I just see both sides are equally as guilty as each other at stirring the pot. Like the first 20 or so posts in this thread (or maybe it was another thread?) was filled with a bit of banter, then one guy steps in and singles out Perth fans. We can give as good as we get, and vice versa. Just don't single us out.

As the saying goes don't give shit if you can't take it back.
Fans on both sides have playful jabs at each other, really harmless I don't see what the fuss is about.

And to be fair, seeing comments on Twitter such as "not in our house" and "Adelaide own Perth" kind of need to put in to perspective.

Perth fans were in the same scenario last season. Final round dead rubber, NZ "rested" and got drubbed in Perth. I personally didn't celebrate because I knew exactly what was happening, and what would happen.

"As the saying goes don't give shit if you can't take it back."
I think those words are more relevant towards Perth fans in this thread....

I see there is upset over the Redhage flopping thing. The dude flops. Everyone knows he flops. The world knows it. I'm a Spurs fan, Ginobili gets the same treatment. I know how this works. Find your inner peace on this matter.

And to be fair, seeing comments on Twitter such as "not in our house" and "Adelaide own Perth" kind of need to put in to perspective.

To be fair, Perth struggled in both matches against the 36ers at Adelaide Arena.

Perth are the best yes, but they're not the only team on the block. 36ers are back in the playoffs, embrace the rivalry, it's on for young and old!!

That's a completely separate matter. I know he has a reputation for flopping. I just highlight other players flopping to question why there isn't the same disproportionate outrage in those incidents.

Thanks for missing the point KET.

Trust The Situation to be involved in such a situation. It's a pointless argument that's going nowhere haha.

Daily source of comedy here I tell you.

Reminder that the 2 point loss in Perth was without 2 36er starters.
In 2 other games 36ers have been up by over 20. The head to head is only 1 point total and that is all that it needs to be.

This thread has dragged out I agree Statsheet.
Let the grand final series decide IF Perth and Adelaide get there.

Trust Statsheet to be involved with pointless sniping.

One good thing about Perth that will encourage Adelaide fans is they know how to lose a Grand Final series.

Probably the most notable thing recently is Ervin's efficiency.

He and Gibson haven't played all their cards yet, I think we'll see something special from those two specifically this playoffs.

Jack you're right unfortunately but NZ won't be there this year so anything can happen.

Jack Toft, that joke is decades old.....just like the Sixers last playoff appearance.

One good thing about Perth that will encourage Adelaide fans is they know how to lose a Grand Final series.

Jack Toft, that joke is decades old.....just like the Sixers last playoff appearance.

Couldn't help but chuckle, now that's banter (and cried a little as well)

Quality, not quantity.

36ers can't hold a candle to Perth's lack of finals conversions

To be fair, I don't think Perth were considered favourites over NZ the last 2 years.

I hope Ervin had a word to his team about that alley in the last 10 seconds. Disrepectful.

I hope I'm wrong, and probably will be, but there is a possibility that Perth and Adelaide won't face each other again this season. One or both might bomb out in the semi's. Nothing is ever certain.

Back in 1994 I coached a team to win the SA under-14 rugby league grand final. The team we defeated (44-0 I might add :D) had gone through the entire season undefeated to that point and from memory their average winning margin was 20+. Going on that they should have thumped us, but as I said, nothing is ever certain.

As stated though, I hope I'm wrong. I hope that it does end up being an Adelaide vs Perth Grand Final series. Anything less would be a let down.

Just to put a dampener on any argument that part of why Perth lost is that they didn't play their starters for long periods of the game.....their starting 5 of Beal, Martin, Ennis, Redhage and Knight played for a combined total of just over 124 minutes. Ervin, Gibson, Teys, Petrie and Johnson played for a combined total of just over 120 minutes.

Considering the size of the win, that would suggest Adelaide's bench contributed a lot more than Perth's managed. And that might be a worry for Gleeson, if his starters get shut down in any way, be it low scoring or foul trouble which keeps them benched for long periods of a game, who from the bench other than maybe Wagstaff or Hire is capable of stepping up?

Holden V8, that's ridiculous logic according to @the situation.

Holden, that comparison is irrelevant. Perth's starters were rested compared to the amount of minutes they normally play, not compared to what the opponent does. Burdon and U'u both played more minutes than they have all season. Jervis played more than he has for long time (based in whenever Knight has been healthy to play).

The stretch of play in the second quarter where the entire bench got a run had not happened all season. Martin played 18 minutes. Considering his recent form, do you think he'd been relegated to the bench for another reason?

Tornado, see above. It's really not that hard to work out.

By the way Holden, I agree with your second paragraph. Bench depth has always been a concern all season. We go 8 deep, but only 6 of those guys are legitimate scoring options. The reason it hasn't been an issue much is because, as I said, the final two guys just don't get much of a run.

Adelaide do have a deeper line up in guard positions that is one weakness for Perth.

@the Situation, you're also making the assumption that Adelaide's starting 5 played the same amount of mins as they usually do. Gibbo only played 23 mins and Schenscher and Carter for example played a lot more than they usually do.

I actually don't care how much or how little the Sixers starters played because it is entirely irrelevant to the Perth starters playing less than what they normally do. Surely you can understand that?

"Hopefully the NBL will go A-H-H for the grand final if Perth is in it for the sake of having Sunday-Friday-Sunday TV broadcasts as per usual, not 10pm on a Monday night."
Won't happen. The grand final dates have already been announced by the Wildcats.

A-H-H ruins home court advantage, too.

Perth lost to Adelaide this season. That is all

^ Their semi final opponent is Melbourne. That is locked in.

@the situation - I understand what you are saying but you implied that the reason the 36ers won was because Perth were playing to get some minutes into the young guys and to avoid injury to key players.

What I was pointing out was that the 36ers themselves were of a similar mindset, hence the minutes comparison.

So whilst the minutes comparison isnt relevant to how Perth normally play, it is still relevant to the win.

Man, some of you gents just don't know how to keep a lid on.

"A-H-H ruins home court advantage, too."

Have you got any stats from the days of A-H-H in the NBL to compare with H-A-H?

Was there any report of a left shoulder injury to Damien Martin?

Even as a 36ers fan, you have to admit the guy is tough as nails, springing straight up and not batting an eye lid after being crunched into the floor when Peach landed on top of him as they were both diving for a loose ball.

Not sure if anyone else at the game saw it, but a bit after that one of his team mates come down on him in a rebounding contest & he immediately grabbed his left shoulder, grabbed it another half a dozen times in the next few minutes & then effectively sat the rest of the game.

I assume he would finals play with his arm in a sling if needed.

No reports that I've heard?

He may have played reduced minutes but so did Gibbo, therefore Martin didn't play reduced minutes.

Speaking of injury what's the latest on Adam Gibson?

Situation. ... Agree with your logic. Perhaps Gibbo also has a shoulder strain and in turn, Martin has a tweak to his ankle. That would keep everything even for the concerned sixers fans?

"Have you got any stats from the days of A-H-H in the NBL to compare with H-A-H?"
No, but the away team should never have played more home games than the home team. The 2-3-2 format for the NBA Finals had the same problem.

If the home team wins game one, all of a sudden the higher-seeded team is facing two elimination games.

Look at it this way -- it's seen as a major advantage to play a basketball game at home, thus we can probably argue the home team winning every game.

That means in formats such as A-H-H or 2-3-2, the onus to win the game and save the championship is on the team that placed higher in the regular season. The situation should be reversed, rewarding the higher placed team rather than the'challenger'.

Purely from a competitive standpoint, that's how it should be structured. Logistics is another matter.