Hawks by 15.

Hawks by 15 for me too. Playing well right now, got their full roster, and we're down a bit.

Hawks by 21.

Sixers to be down 25+ before the half. Will claw it back to 10 - 15 early in the fourth before dropping away.

Isaac, saying we are down a bit does that mean Oscar is out? how long for?

yeah does ne one know if Forman's injury is serious?

Hawks by 32.

Farley to do nothing all game then knock down 20 in the last quarter.

No, just meant that we are playing below our best. Haven't been too impressive over the last three games.

Ladder wise this is far from our worst season with Smyth as coach but it is the most frustrating season I have ever seen from the 36ers. It feels like we've been had more blowouts than any other year and the when the team is playing bad they are just hard to watch as they just aren't competitive.

And this week against the Hawks I sense the frustration will continue and we'll get blown out again.

I can handle if we have an average team that tries hard and plays accountable and comes away with losses, even finishing mid table. But has any team so high on the ladder had so many bad losses?

Smyth just doesn't seem to be able to instil a toughness required to remain competitive when we don't play well.

I've enjoyed seasons more where we've had less wins.

sixers by 5. not time to jump off the band wagon yet

definately right old school, i think sixers by 7. Back in 2002 we were one of the worst if not the worst team coming into the playoffs, our form wasnt great, but we just clicked and just happened to shoot the lights out. I think we still have that ability this year and, anytime we decide to click, like we did against Melbourne two weeks ago we will be close to unbeatable.
But it has got start with Defence.

I'm not about to give up on them. Sixers by 3.

Who's giving up on them?

Just time to face facts. This team is mentally soft, and they show no signs of getting better.

Away record to date:

Wins against:

Cairns by 2 pts. (Currently 5th)
West Sydney by 1 pt. (Currently 10th)
New Zealand by 27 pts. (Currently 11th)
Hunter by 2 pts. (Currently 8th)

Losses to:

Townsville by 8 pts.(9th)
Perth by 21 pts. (7th)
Wollongong by 17 pts. (4th)
Melbourne by 12 pts. (2nd)
Brisbane by 21 pts. (6th)

That's the results away so far. Apart from a 2 pt win over Cairns, no wins over a top 7 side. And the losses to the Wildcats, Hawks, Tigers and Bullets were all blowouts from early in the first quarter, where the final score was a lot less than it could have been.

Net away results so far:

4 wins with a margin of +32 points
5 losses with a margin of -79 points.

If you take out the blowout against NZ (which shouldn't count, as any team that can be beaten by 50 pts by West Sydney doesn't deserve to be in the competition), we have won three away games by a total of 5 points.

It is not hard to see why we are considered soft on the road. That record as it currently stands is woeful.

Upcoming road games:-

Wollongong
Melbourne (in Hobart)
Sydney
Perth
Townsville
Cairns
Brisbane

Only games where the Sixers could even be considered a chance is Melbourne (if the Sixers decide that playing is Tassie is a neutral enough location and play at their absolute best), and one of Cairns or Townsville if we get our act together by then (we have never taken out the sunshine swing 2-0 before). Perth may be a chance, but they killed us over there last time. All of the rest are looking like heavy losses.

We have winnable home games against the Pirates, Razors, Breakers and then Pirates again. But that's it. I think we will be lucky in the run for home with a 5 - 6 record. More likely 4 - 7.

Not much reason for optimism at this stage EC.

XY, these words will come back to haunt you one day. I will make sure that I remind you when that happens.

You forget to mention that the home games are equally as important. While the winning margin was not great, the win was there. The ladder position in based on number of wins/losses. It does not discriminate where it happens. I am not for one minute suggesting that a team who can't win away from home will be good enough to take out the championship, but for heaven's sake give them credit for what they have achieved, not only flack for what they haven't. If they are lucky enough to make the grand final, the contest will be fairly evenly matched in home versus away games. Their home record may pull them over the line. Sure they lost to Sydney at home, but they also won to Sydney at home this same season.

Phil said that his team had not prepared for the physical nature of Sydney's game. They paid the price for it. Do you think he will make the same mistake again? You just had to look at the effect it had on his team by having the time out and telling them to go out and give what they get. Much to Goorjian's disgust, it did have an effect on their game. They are capable, they just need to put the effort in every time.

"Do you think he will make the same mistake again?"

You saw the game in Brisbane, EC. Common to the two losses was the difference between the intensity and defense of the two teams. I don't buy that it was just the physicality that lost the game to Sydney at all.

EC,

We might win every game for the rest of the season, but my words are no going to come back and 'haunt' me. I would love to see us playing better, but it is not looking like happening at the moment.

I posted this before the season started:

'Can Sixers win away in 05/06?' (#4022) 19/08/2005

"The Sixers managed a league best 14-2 W/L at home last season but really struggled on the road (5-11).

"Only three teams were able to break even with wins away last year (Sydney, Wollongong & Perth). Two played off for the GF.

"It is reasonable to say you would have to win 50% away in 05/06 to make top two and automatic qualification to the semis (no knockout finals).

"Losing a couple of close away games last year cost us an automatic place in the semis which would have stopped the Sixers being knocked out in one by a freak shooting performance.

XY, 19/08/05' "

Those words have not come back to haunt me. If anything, my prediction that 50% away wins in 2006 will get you a top two place looks a little low.

In all of those great home games you refer to, the Sixers did not put away any good side with a big win. In most home games this year there have been patches of time where Adelaide has looked disinterested. The Sixers probably didn't deserve to win all of the home games they have so far, as we were outplayed most of the game in some of them (e.g. the first Melbourne game and second Perth game).

As much as I love them when they are on fire, the Sixers have a mental softness that that is most evident in the Sixer's inability to consistently maintain intensity levels.

In every game where we have managed to get a 15 point lead, the Sixers have then gone to sleep and let the other team catch up. And in every game we have been losing, we have to be 25 points down before thinking of making a comeback. By then, the game is of course over.

The only time we have been consistently intense is in the last three minutes of close games. The results have been all wins.

As a supporter, it is the level of disinterest displayed by the team (except Maher, who always gives 100%) that is most disappointing.

At this stage the Sixers look like they will be knocked out of the finals in one again. All it will take to beat the Sixers in a one game knockout at the Dome is to bring an intense, 48 minute effort like Brisbane last season or Sydney last week. History suggests that the Sixers will not be able to lift their game high enough, and certainly not in a multi game series.

XY and EC both valid points.

When winning, Sixers seem to be disinterested and take foot off pedal allowing opponent to make comeback.

When losing (and it's usually by alot), the tenacity is slow coming.
The lack of intensity usually causes the blowout.

I think the team is reflecting Dusty's game at moment - he's the backbone. When he has poor game, pressure put on others to perform and team usually fails. He is an integral part of the team playing multiple roles (3,4,5) - rebounds/points/defence of opponent's tall timber essential to team's success. This may be becoming too much for one man to handle.

Off the cuff, my theory is that games so close to create excitement and get the crowd back into the Dome ;)

Nice stat from NBL site -

http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=featuredisplay&aid=2738

"Hawks have won three of past four against the Sixers at home by an average 29 points."

i think this series of 4 games coming up will determine the Sixer's fate!

A11 of the above are indeed valid points. The reason I don't give up on the team is because they know how to cross the line. In many of their games they have slackened off but somehow manage to get their act together just on time to get the win. That's what makes me think that as lazy and disinterested as they look on court, they do have control over the game. They showed this in the last quarter of the Sydney game. From the beginning we appeared to have no hope of winning it. In the last quarter it was like someone had lit a fire under their bums and played in a way that cut the deficit by 15 points. This was having an effect on the way Sydney were playing. All of a sudden their shootig accuracy declined. It was a dangerous time to finally see that that's what they needed to do, but all fouls aside, they could have made it. I too wish they could play like this for a whole game, it would make watching them a lot less stressful.

I still stick to my point about home games being equally as important because no other team in the league has achieved our record. The extra home wins we get will compensate for some of the away losses.

'I still stick to my point about home games being equally as important because no other team in the league has achieved our record. The extra home wins we get will compensate for some of the away losses.' EC.


Sydney are unbeaten at home. And have a better home record than Adelaide over the past 2 seasons.