I know it's only round 2 but tonight's game is a Litmus Test for Melbourne.

I see it could be a long night for Adelaide, United have a great balance about them and look equipped to win for right now! Months later who knows with injuries and other teams movements, but they should take care of Adelaide by 12... having said that was sure the Crocs would lose by 20 last night!

I just don think Adelaide have the scoring power to go with them.

Dare I say it, I believe this one will be played above the shoulders!

For the 6'ers to get over the line they will need to come out all guns blazing and with the right mental attitude, because the Ballers are good front runners.

If this is how it goes, I am hoping for another grand stand finish like last night, fingers crossed for a single figure result, no particular favourite just want to see another cliff hanger...

Yeah, unfortunaely he won't be lighting it up for you guys either ;)

United if they open up all the valves should blow Adelaide out of the Arena and into the parking lot. Slowly but surely we will see the demise of Jack Toft as his Adelaide 36ers life force is drained from his body.

Matthew, you should know the force is strong in me, look into your heart you know it to be true.

whats kenyon mcneail's status for tonight ??

This will be a fast, free flowing, high scoring game and a win to Melbourne. 95-85 I'll predict with plenty of above the rim highlights from Warrick, Walker and plenty of hot shooting from Ere- who's due- Daniel Johnson, and Melbourne's impressive bevy of scorers.

Looking forward to it!

I don't see this going well for my boys, think Melbourne will get it done relatively easily unfortunately. Our perimeter D is generally horrible and United's first 5 are stacked with shooters.

Either way, it's gonna be an exciting game to watch.

This is the last time you'll hear me say this but I'm going for the Sixers - Block your ears 'Cats fans. Somebody has to show they're beatable.
If it bleeds, it can be killed!

Mcneail status would be sketchy as it has been both games. Ebe will be up or down a couple of kilos, it fluctuates. Hopefully he can prove me wrong and make some big shots like he used too years ago... this is a huge game for the 36ers, sounds dramatic but these early ones can set you up in a lot of ways for the season.

My heart says it'll be a close one, my head says the 6ers will be on the wrong side of the ledger to the tune of 20 points. Just can't see them getting it done with a hobbled import against the most stacked team in the league. As mentioned 36ers are historically terrible on perimeter D and United have plenty of boys who can fill it up from out there. I just hope being embarrassed out of last weeks game lights a fire and gets a few guys motivated to put in a big effort this week.

Sixers by one. Ere three pointer on the buzzer.

My head says that United will be far too strong at home, but my heart says ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump... so I'm a bit torn on this one.

Are you 36ers fans always this pessimistic?

Yeah, United should win, form would suggest, by 10 or 15 points

But anything can happen. Shooters can have good games and bad ones, and if anyone's due for a red hot game it'is, as you know, Ebi Ere. If he goes off for 20+ and one or two other Sixers play well then this should be a cracker.

Either way it'll be fun to watch

i want to see the 6ers get out and run. Killed the Wildcats early, so many easy points in the 1st quarter. I think they should play Creek at Power forward, go small and try and run teams off the floor. Melbourne can run too, but havent looked great defensively this season.

HOLT!

Camo = Horrible

Holt is really impressive. Explosive, good shooter, and creates for others.

Does anyone know if there are match stats anywhere this season?

pref live game stats...

Goulding with the matador defence.

Defensive lapses like that are the exact reason United have failed in the past few years and its why you can't be sold in them.

Offensively focussed.

They score easy but give up buckets just as easily

Ballin Fan,

For Live Stats,

Just go to the NBL WebSite and click on the game you want the stats for at the bottom of the screen.

Its funny how much United's energy levels change between offense and defense.

Offense comes around and they're active, sprinting, running hard, talking

Defense comes and they're passive, half asleep and almost just want the possession to just be over even if that means giving up buckets

That call in McNeill was horrible BTW.

Mcneil nice bit of range. 6ers hanging in there... Ebe needs to make some shots take the pressure off the other guys. And yes he is toll fat.

Anon,

Agree it is definitely not a flop warning. On your other point the referees aren't there to spend the whole game discussing the finer points of each decision to a coach that is really only trying to get an advantage.

The refs need to focus on the game. If a coach wants an in depth discussion they can do so in a break.

I think we're averaging about 2 coaching F-bombs per televised game.

Teal paint ain't cheap!

It probably also helps explain why everyone keeps stepping out of bounds.

Kickert gets a remarkable amount of open looks for a guy who shoots a ridiculously high %.

Still not sold on Melbourne's D, but if their threes are dropping they are going to be tough to beat.

Couldn't hear if he said something, but that seemed like a soft tech on DJ...

Does Ebi have a pass button?

He does, but it's like pulling off a Mortal Kombat fatality.

2 McNeail air balls in a row.

Yeah, yikes. He's played OK outside of those.

Ere isn't good enough to play heroball while a teammate stands near him wide open. Going to be a long season if he plays like that the whole time. Pass the ball!

Scoreline could've been worse given United were hitting a lot, so there's that at least.

Reckon we did alright tonight considering U ited are the measuring stick thus far. Not an Ere fan BUT think he shows fight and can still play. I wouldn't persist with Kenyon as he is not up to it. Yes it's early but rather make the call now than latter. The season is going to be real strong and with Webster coming back makes NZ good again and having a top import guard a must.

McNeail has had exactly one game where he was relatively healthy. He looked good in the preseason, I don't think I'd replace him unless there was a particular stud they had in mind. Ere is probably best served as a 6th man/bench spark plug at this point of his career. Throw him on, and if starts the game 0/3 from the floor, sit him back down.

Ere's had 2 5 minute bursts where his shot was dropping. Other than that, he's effectively just missed shots and turned the ball over in the 3 games.
We're definitely not getting enough from our imports so far.
Good to see Gibson taking the game on tonight. 17 and 7 is a great return. Would be nice if he did it more than 3 times a season though.

Ebe has to go. His style was amazing once... but this season will slip by sooo fast if mistakes arent rectified. Im actually surpirsed people arent more annoyed at his signing. Ofcourse our aussie talent has been solid again... but that needs to be taken advantage of with atleast ine legit import. Im fed up, Joey would be happy though off at seasons end and gets to chill with his boy in boring ol adelaide in the mean time.

Damn the way he is going cut one of the imports and take on Bartlett once Webster is back, he is killing it in perth!

Id like to know how long Marcus Camby thinks we should persevere with this roster as is...

Unimpressive win by United tonight. They might be 3 and 0 but that performance was one they've hopefully already forgotten. Except Kickert who shot the lights out, Warrick who got his short jumper happening and Majok who toiled hard on the inside.

As an overall team performance though, totally sub par. How Many open shots looks and open lanes they want to give Adelaide in that first half? Sheesh. And how much poor offence did they want to play? After last week, that first half was like watching SEABL or something.

As for Adelaide, they need to find something. Walker looked like a shadow of his former self, Mcneaill hit two 3's then struggled for the remainder, Ebi found some looks for himself and will hit his stride and start hitting eventually but can't afford to take too much longer otherwise it'll be a looooong season for the 36ers.

Ps Isaac why did you delete my comment on Ebi earlier!

LV for me as un flashy as United were, thats the key to having genunie talent, they have enough guys to cover others off nights or even team defensive off nights. They are legit, 3-0 is a very good start and even better if they have room to improve upon it!

As for Adelaide, Ebe has no issue creating his own shot, he just can't make enough to warrant him taking them, and he wont pass which is going too piss off his team mates quicker than the season slips. Mcneil is simply not that great, injured or not, Joey screwed the pooch in this pick up. Dont care how amazing he was in Vegas. Read an article yesterday that approx 21% of the NBA guys playing right now will be cut by game 1, so the 36ers better be looking!

United is looking defensively weak. They have too much talent to drop a game at home against A 36ers team who isn't hitting their shots. But if they play like this against the good teams they can forget about it.

Agree on import change. If Wilbekin misses out of the 76ers he'd be perfect. Problem is I doubt Adelaide has the $$$- appears McNeaill is their lower budget import. But yeah if they do have any $ I'd look to upgrade. His credentials aren't great. He starred in Portugal but my quick investigations suggest it is a very weak league. Not even remotely anywhere near the NBL. Either Adelaide didn't have much $ to spend or Wright has just made a bizarre decision.

Weak is an overstatement. But Uniteds D definitely doesn't look *good*.

Same issue for Adelaide, went blow for blow with a high quality team for three-and-a-bit quarters before falling in a heap when the going got tough.

Compare the way Adelaide tried to hit hero shots against Perth and Melbourne to how NZ hung tough and executed against the Wildcats. That's where Adelaide need to get to.

McNeail looked good tonight, and I reckon those airballs were pure fatigue after not playing a lot in recent weeks. He'll be fine.

Ebi started well but he needs to be getting his shots out of the offence, not going one-on-one on repeat possessions. He needs to produce soon.

Melbourne are an unconventional team, but if you let them get in front they have so many guys who can make plays to keep them there.

Eli's game has never been to get his shots within the offence and for years he was amazingly and out of this world good at it... but that time has past him and his aging body.

Im just so flat on this 36er team, luckily the rest of the league has some really exciting talent to tune into, I'm pumped for Kings Crocs tomorrow, Kings will have a much better showing and Hawks may have just found there rhythm. Hope Penney backs it up. So definitely interest elsewhere, unfortunately, just not for the team I have season tickets for. I actually feel sorry for the Aussie talent on this squad, awesome core wasted with poor import choices, which in the NBL will always be key to a solid playoff run.

Ebi*... dont think we have an Eli haha

Its undeniable that the Sixers need more output from their imports, but there are positive signs.

Both Ere and McNeail are looking to be more assertive on offence, which is what the Sixers need when the offence is stagnant. Sure, the shots didn't drop as much as we like but it will improve as their match fitness improves.

Buts its not all on the imports, Creek and Waxy also need to step up to cover.

So when would you follow through and cut one or both, if the shots continue to miss. I could go out there get paid a bundle to miss a heap of shots, not a big positive in taking shots as an import, its the makes that make a career...

Kobe there is no set date or number of rounds played or amount of missed shots that triggers letting an import go.

Its a mix of many factors.

Money - Is there any for another import?
Player attributes - When not scoring do they offer anything else to the team? Defence? Hustle? Leadership?
Availability of replacement - is there another of the right fit available, when can they join the team?
Team dynamics - Will removing 2 valued team mates upset the team's morale?

"Ebi's game has never been to get his shots within the offence"

I would say his strength in the NBL has been getting his shots out of the offence, picking his moments on good teams and being devastating when he does.

The one year he went beyond that was 08 when Brisbane lost key players and had injuries, forcing them to rely heavily on Ere and Bruton for scoring.

Ebi Ere was a questionable decision from the beginning. We all expected he was going to have his occasional night, but what this team needed was quality shooters and Ebi is streaky at best.

We also did need assertive guys who WANT the shot, but this guy is just taking ill advised shot one after the other.

I would wait on McNeal. He really hasn't had enough time to show what he can do. As for Ebi Ere, I would give him another round or two to show that he can actually convert more than he misses or I would be looking elsewhere.

Surely there is a younger guy who can make some of those shots?

Agree Mark, Ebi needs to show something quickly.

Camby, I understand the questions your asking, and many have been answered and action needs to be taken many would agree after just 2 rounds.

You cut one or both within an allotted time, and the $$ will available. The team wont lose morale its a business after all and its all been done before. No player prefers losing over off court happiness with a teammate. There are more than a few replacements that will be available shortly if not at already. Neither of these guys are playing much defense and the 36ers have many voices in that squad. In Ebi's case he cant do much of anything anymore besides jacking up shots. 3-12 wont cut it for the role he signed up to.

Not sure about other 36er fans, but I've already started coping the imports are shite txts... gonna be a long season!

I guess we dont know the money situation.

But *if* Ebi is getting paid the same $ as Warrick, Beal, Conklin, Cedric etc then he needs to start doing something in the next 2 or 3 games otherwise I expect he will go.

But like I've said in here a few times, his numbers in good league s overseas mean he *should* start performing. You'd think....

Mark-e-Mark, there is 100% other guys available to make those shots. This is lazy recruiting and some people were trying to take the piss with this signing. Who conducted the contacts this season....

Yeah Mcneail is def on dirt cheap $ his biggest asset is his 'import spot' situation. Ebi is being paid, and exactly his $ amount is guaranteed until a few more games in. Hence the call needs to be made if this club is legit about finals and has the guts to run the club like a business that wants to succeed not just exist.

*isnt guaranteed

@Kobe

Don't want to sound condescending but who are these "100% other guys available to make those shots"?

How is it that you know about them but Coach Wright doesn't?

Are their asking price within budget? Are they even wanting to come play in the NBL?

Coach Wright has a good record of getting good mileage out of his players. Now I'm not even saying just have blind faith in Joey, but lets give more than 2 weeks for his squad to realise potential.

Joey has kept and maintained a strong Australian core, but he has been off base with imports over the past 3 seasons he has been here.

Gary Ervin was an obvious selection to make, but he has left me scratching my head at a few of the others.

Ebi Ere might not get dropped. You have to remember, that Ebi is Joey's 'guy'. That would be like Joey dropping Adam Gibson. You can almost guarantee where Joey is in this league, Adam will follow.

It was a questionable decision to begin with, and one I now feel justified in criticizing. I called Ebi a "chucker", and that is what he has proven to be.

Be fair. Give him 2 more rounds. If we don't see improvement, I think the hammer has to come down.

If your best game has long left you and you are in poor playing shape and what you used to have is not suited to team style then another 2 games will be of great help to tell you exactly what you know now .
But sure give Ere 2 more games to stink and we all get frustrated and we drop another 2 games and our numbers drop in home games and there is even less inviting for money to spent to get a actual professional import that would be that little extra this team needs.

The number of valued replacements already cut or about to be is huge in the US right now, and guys are desperate, not to sit by the phone putting on weight hoping for a call... they want to play, show off their game. Joey knows of them, Im not saying he is clueless he simply has decided to go with his 'guy', lazy self motivated pickup. So now you're admitting 2 rounds isnt enough, ok thanks for that was wondering. I think based on the 3 games, 2 more rounds of this and its over anyways, thats how tight this season is going to be. So thats my call, he was abad choice, real bad from the get go, and he wont have a lot of move to improve in the shortened NBL season.

Well yeah anon, thats basically what I'm saying. Its pretty frustrating.

I would not be surprised at all if some of Starks, Ere, Mcneaill, Prather go. It's always been the case that if you are an import and you are not performing and neither is your team that you are in trouble. But it seems there are more guys available now, the talent level in the league has increased presumably due to European issues so that would make import changes more likely. Management will look to improve any weaknesses in their teams.

Probably take Prather off that list. He did ok last night

Not even if James Ennis is available?

@Kobe

Yes there are likely players out there as good as Ere willing to play, but we don't know if they will take NBL money. Its easy to say they are desperate but they have to uproot their family, is it worth their while?

You suggest Joey 'going with his guy' is lazy. I look on the positive side, Coach Wright knows Ere's qualities, the energy and leadership he brings and trusts his man. That trust between player and coach is worth something.

You have also used the word 'admitting' when suggesting I believe 2 rounds isn't enough. Admitting would lend to some notion of guilt, there is none. I have specifically stated there is no magically Round number where we start culling imports.

Put simply, we need time to allow Coach Wright's plan to evolve. I don't doubt that the team will have milestones and reviews of where they want to be at certain times. These will be an opportunity to assess then, but most teams don't start culling after 3 games.

I could not disagree with you anymore. Players play, the families will move if the guys is a legit chance of making a career out of it so weird to use that as a issue. The money will suit the guy who is not getting paid, these guys want to the NBA soooo bad because the $$$ drop off if they are cut is huge and they have to take it. You didnt give any indication about when you would pull the trigger so ateast cleared it up that you think 2 rounds of this shite isnt enough for you.

Exactly my point anon, it aint working and this season is a sprint not a marathon, it'll slip away so quickly. And this team is so close to being a really balanced tough to guard squad. If we had scouted and recruited the EQUIVALENT of Ebi Ere 8 years ago, we would be title favourites or there abouts, as is, going to compete win some but not challenge for the good stuff. The season set up does not allow for time to settle in, the offseason work is more important than ever before.

Guys try to put things into perspective

Game 1 beat NZ comfortably. They obviously had injured players

Game 2 we where beating Perth who at this stage look like a top 2 team, for majority of the game. Perth hit some big shots in the 4th. That game could have gone either way.

Game 3 Played Melbourne who are the title favourites in my opinion. Won the first quarter. Should have been winning at half time. Melbourne pulled away a bit in the 3rd/4th but we still competed hard and suffered against home court calls. Defensively we were great keeping such a great offensive team to 84 points. Offensively we need to do better.

If we were 3-0 we would be championship favourites at this stage. We could have been 2-1 but are 1-2 which is where we were expected at this stage against two top quality opposition whom we held our own against. It is not cause for panic stations 3 games into a 28 game season after playing the top 2 teams.

King James, Cats finished on a 16-0 run or something and we could not find a basket. At 63-63 we fell apart like something out of a horror movie. Breakers would've lost to absolutely anyone that night, completely decimated with injury, and was never going to beat United, even when we caught United on an off night. IF we were 3-0 we would lucky, not favourites.

If we had recruited like we should have, we should be championship favourites and in that discussion. Our core is brilliant, the NBL is still built on how good at least one of your imports are, both of our are below par.

You are not getting a better player than McNeail for the money they are paying him. Once he recovers from his injury he will be a solid player for this team and wont play a passive game unlike Gibson.

Gibson came out excellent and then went to sleep and then padded his stats in the last quarter.

The great thing about this team is our key scoring players are excellent at foul shots. Johnson, Gibson, Ere, and McNeail all need to find a way to get to the line.

All have come down to earth about Hodgson however he deserved more minutes last night. Still managed to grab 6 rebounds in 9 minutes. I would like to see him playing with Johnson in, so that Johnson can feel more comfortable shooting the 3 knowing we at least have one rebounder in there

Ebi is the issue was never going to be mcneail for what he is getting paid healthy or not... he has come simply THAT cheap! Gibson has always shown glimpses of owning a game and really only did so against the Breakers last season. Ebi being the go to import is the odd man out that can be rectified. He aint giving you big numbers nor working hard enough to get to the line anymore.

Kobe24 we were leading the majority of the game until that point. Perth then hit 2 big 3's and got 2 foul shots to make them up by 8. Stunned that we went from such a strong chance to little chance we then played desperate basketball. However you still have to give credit for the Sixers for being in a strong chance to win it until those last 5 minutes.

United aren't going to lose too many at home or many games this season. So to compete hard was a positive sign.

Two games next weekend will determine if Ere will come good or not. He just has to play smarter, get to the line or drive and pass to the open man and most importantly pick his shots. I am in favour of them letting him go at this stage but happy for him to prove us all wrong next weekend.

"Sixers have had a very tough draw early. Let's wait until they play a middling side such as a Cairns to make a correct assessment."

Agreed!

Disagree with that. The teams we played are the teams we need to be happy to play and beat, if Adelaide had the weapons needed, we would've been able to turn that 8 point lead against Perth into a blow out for exmaple. We deserved to be in the discussion after last season, and we have fallen off quickly after a weak of season recruiting drive imo, this team will not win the title, and I'm not cool with that i guess is my beef! Anyways I'm done for now, point is clear, will be an interesting next 4 rounds.

Thought Sixers were okay, but they just give way too many easy open baskets. Just like last season. Kickert hitting 6-9 from 3ptis is just ridiculous. Too many times they have players getting lost in defensive switches and end up with 2 players chasing down the same guy. As soon as Kickert hit a couple that was it the shots from deep dropping from everywhere and when Tomlinson starts hitting them, your chances of beating United is slim. When your defence gives up 50% from 3pt you will nearly always lose. Funny how United loves shooting against crappy sixers defence.

If Adelaide fix their execution down the stretch, at both ends, they're a quality team. As it is, they're resembling the Marty Clarke era 36ers.

King James your optimism is great but it's also hard to bear. Fact is Adelaide missed lots of gettable shots last night and lost by 9. Regardless of how good United might become, they gave the 36ers plenty of opportunities and the 36ers didn't take them...

On another note what on earth is going on with 36ers fixture

Dec 12
Dec 23
.....
......
......
...
Jan 8

??????

What the heck.