3 imports not bad.

Sixers by 3.

Kobe-for-MVP thats not an advantage having Chappell playing also :P

Hooray! So far the radio is working for me :-)

KingJames, have to agree.

he can warm the bench :)

Radio working fine. Live scores doing nothing atm :-|

Not seen he scores. I took the sixers at +5.5. Think its fairly solid, but not a lock.

radio?

yeah radio is on but no scoreboard.

radio

kad, I got Adelaide at $2.98.

8-8 early in the game.

Now 13-10. Hodge getting pushed around in the paint. Phil calls time-out.

I dont like it any more. God damn it, why is Sutton on court already?

Scoreboard has kicked into action.

6:43 in the 1st

36ers 10
GC 13

Balls & Hodge our only scorers so far

Why is Sutton on this early?!

This is why Adelaide cant have nice things. I cant get over Sutton playing these minutes.

Get rid of sutton.

please!!

so frustrating.

IS Mike Chappell playing or not

Chappell?
what do ya think?

ouch, ng out is going to suck.

It sounds like Axel might have found parts of his game on Orchid Avenue. Hitting some buckets early.

Ninja is Back!

Hard to tell.......stats are about the same as if he was!!!!!

Sutton 3 fouls already, hopefully he fouls out so Phil can't put him on

hahaha "phil looks like he's asleep there sitting back in his chair"

GC 27 - 36ers 22 at 1/4 time.

NBL LiveScores has just died. Like Gomer Pyle used to say.......
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.

LiveScores is sort of working but every now and then it keeps jumping back to the first quarter with 1:26 left.

Hahaha. I thought these guys on the radio were ok until they said;

"Hodge has a very comfortable shot on him doesnt he?"
"Yes he does.."

2nd Quarter
7:00

GC 40
36ers 35

Anybody having problems with the radio ? I do not seem to be able to log on to the host but winamp working fine as I can log on the abc and radio sport in new zealand from the same nbl page.

Working fine for me today.

Usually I have constant biffering problems with NBL radio but all good thus far, touch wood.

No dramas using itunes

Kad and skip

http://203.62.165.84:8003/listen.pls = Is this also what you are listening to ?

um, think so yea.

Yeah, i got it running in iTunes (on osx) fine.

5:13 in th 2nd

GC - 44
36ers - 39

Copes and Frank having works.

47-43 copes at line for the bonus

NBL.com is a disgrace...... perhaps a petition AUS WIDE should email them to try and get a new NET TEAM to run the site!

Clearly the commentators have done their research..

Ask the tigers announcer what he thinks of the live scores. Had a whinge half time at a Tigers game a while ago. Wish Chuck was there so it didn't fall on deaf ears.

GC 54
36ers 51

2:11 2nd

Jason Crowe firing up big time.

23 points thus far.

37 fouls at the half??? Talk about foul fest. Must be very annoying to watch the game stop and start so often.

We have to switch up and put Davidson on Crowe, he is killing us atm.

Scoreboard still stuck at 1:26 to go in the first. I hate the NBL management with a passion.

GC - 63
36er - 56

HALFTIME

Hodge on 18 points

36ers 3pt% = 8% :-(

Excellent foul shooting keeping us in touch, 21 from 24 with Coops the only one to miss.

well you can only improve on that percentage you would hope.

All 3 pointered out from last night ?

Ha! Twice in 2 days ive seen shot-clock malfunctions! This game and yesterday portland vs new york.

dont say that.

CMON SIXERS!!!!!!!!.

Has anyone got live scoreboard working?

They might have to call this game off if they don't fix the scoreboard soon.

not started due to the shot clock issues

live scoreboard working. game hasnt startin due to shot clok problems

NBL.com are clearly running the GC shot clocks too....

Not working for me whatsoever. Weird.

Couple of minutes into the 3rd and its
GC - 70
36ers - 62

Time to turn it on fellas! Hodge has to be given complete and utter control of the offense! Playoffs or not, the GC are team of dicks IMO....go get some respect Adelaide!

GC 77 -69

Blaze out to an 11 point lead.

We need to do something about Crowe.

Why are GC a 'team of dicks'? Kobe.

I think they have done a great job up there.

Do agree however that we need to start lifting and it's our D is where it needs to start!

Oh YAY Phil going back to the zone defence.

woohoo zone dosnt even last a minute and we get scorched. back to man to man at least phil recognised that!

Dr. Julius Hodge.............

www.nbl.com.au Live scoreboard

www.nbl.com.au NBL Radio

Cooper 5 fouls (3 in the 3rd qtr) need Dench to actually play some Basketball if we are any chance!

1:53 left in 3rd. Blaze by 13.

1:53 to go in the third.

GC 91 - 78.

End of the third. GC 94 - 84.

Crowe 31
Harvey 23

Hodge 26
Copeland 14

giving up 94 before three quarter time. are we playin D

GC 94
36ers 84

at the final break

we may have gave up 94 but 84 at 3 quarter time is a pretty good score i think if we started playing D and put a leash on Crowe,Harvey and Melmeth we may give ourselves a chance.

getting smashed on the boards,
outrebounded by 10 in only 3 quarters...
Casey Frank getting 8 offensive boards is pretty huge.

Hodge on 28 but just gave away a tech foul. :-(

tech.

101 - 93

8 minutes left

bye bye playoffs

I dont like being a sixers fan today.

Margin back to 7.

But copes is trying to change that!

COPES FOR 3!

down by 6

Oh damn, now I've lost the live feed too.

Did I hear the Gold Coast announcer calling out the time left on the shot clock before or was it the commentator?

I swear the Hawks got fined by the league for their announcer calling out the team foul count at the end of a quarter (admittedly, probably trying to fire up the crowd against the refs).

Audio feed is now very, very patchy. e.g., more dead air than actual commentating.

The announcer counted down the end of the 3rd quarter.

113 - 102 GC with 5 minutes left.

Isaac, I thing the fine was for pointing out the foul discrepancy against the home side.

Back to 6 points

Last time out used with 2 mins to go? Does the madness ever end?

Hodge is the only one playing

Why is Ballinger off??

All the feeds are working for me but I can only get online during commercials for 'So you think you can dance?'.

2:34 to go, Blaze by 8

Harvey fouls out.

Blaze 113 - Sixers 102

Ballinger not in or are my live stats screwed?

1:16 to go......blaze by 5 after an Ng 3

5 point margin!

Good Question Spinner

Stats has shown him as being off most of this quarter??

121-116 1:16 left....just another close but not good enough effort. This is exactly what the fans have had enough of, as this 6er team should be beating teams such as the Blaze by 10-15 IMO

Hodge called for a charge on Pero. Fouls out. Uh oh! Commentators seem to agree with the call.

Still a five point game though.

Hodge Charge, fouls out with 50 seconds to go.
Down by 5

50 seconds to go. 36ers 5 down.

Frank scores 2 and gets the foul. Out to 7.
:-(

Frank with a three point play. Bugger.

Game over. Season over.

game. i just dont understand.

blaze have got this one! Must congratulate the blaze for an amazing debut season!

Game out to 10.
GC at the stripe. 20 seconds left. Game Over.

Game out to 10.
GC at the stripe. 20 seconds left. Game Over.

Could still edge out Cairns if we win the next game and the Taipans don't win again? You wouldn't want to put the house on it, but still mathematically possible?

Tonights game really has summed up the season.
Put in a superstar effort one night against a quality outfit only to lose the next game to a team we really should be able to win against.

Thats a bit harsh - Sixers put up a very good effort tonight - but ran out of legs in the 2nd half. Hodge seemed quiet in first half - but still had 20 at the break (12/12 from the line) Ballinger started well but seemed to have an issue with his back and struggled throughout. Ng hurt an ankle 3mins into the game. Had some sort of padding on it so may have been a previous injury he aggravated. Really hurt the team when he went off and he wasnt near 100% when he came back - but tried his arse off. Coops battled hard as well. Copeland - great to watch and IMO should have been on when game was up for grabs ibstead of Dench. Davidson - Ok but nothing amazing - hard to say he was good when Blaze guards went off for over 60 between them. Dench - soft - overrated - dissappointing.
Coach...I actualy thought he did OK. kad - last tmeout was called with 2 mins to go and was a good move. Coach actually detailed 2 plays and both were executed perfectly and on he first Dench had a wide open 3 in a corner to cut lead to 5 - he missed and then while he was daydreaming his man Frank came dow and made a simple unguarded dunk...game over! Howdge then fouled out - 50/50 call. He was awesome - and the commentators were right - his shot looked smooth and while its a bit flat he was awesome from the line. He also is the spark this team has missed and his attitude feeds the other players making them all lift.

Could have gone eiher way if some shots dropped but I suppose live by the sword....
In the end the Blaze were fresher and able to execute well when it was needed and got the win to take a GC side to teh finals for teh first time - WOOHOO!

Isaac - yes the courtside announcer did count down the shotclock a couple of times - one time it helped out McGregor wh then hit a prayer on the buzzer

this is the best HOOPS thread for AGES!
I didn't see or hear the game and loved reading the posts!
Thanks to all contributers!
Pity about 36ers.
Go Lightning!

Statman, if that was a violation to the rules, the courtside announcer will only get a slap on the wrist but the results do not change. Doesn't matter how much other teams cheat and the 36ers are disadvantaged by it, nothing changes. It has absolutely pissed me off this season all the crap we have had to endure. The refs, the scheduling, the rough play by other teams causing injury to our players. The scheduling especially pisses me off because in Adelaide we have a purpose built stadium that the 36ers would get priority over, yet we put up with schedules made up to fit in with bookings of entertainment and convention centres. Its twice in 2 weeks the team have played one night and travelled the next day for a game that same night. How you recover so quickly is beyond me, but not beyond the NBL. The should not even consider scheduling a team to play 2 consecutive nights and especially when there is travel involved. The schedules have been tough for other teams also, I admit that, but I don't think it has been as bad. Believe it not, we have been absolutely screwed this season. I have not noticed it in previous years but this year has been shocking.

On a positive note, Hodge had another great game tonight, unfortunately he didn't get enough help from the rest of the team. He should still be a certainty for POTW again even though tonight's game was a loss. His personal performances this weekend have been outstanding.

EC - Get off your high horse and stop looking for conspiracy theories....The Sixers this year have been inconsistent and whie they have had a couple of outstanding games, on the whole they have not been good enough and will finish outside the playoffs because they didnt win enough games.
EVERY team has had issues with the draw and travel. EVERY team has had issues with umpiring at some point.
Te Sixers this year have not been consistently good enough to play finals - end of story!

As for teams never having to play on 2 consecutive nights... did you complain in the 80's and 90's when the Perth/Adelaide "doomsday double" was a mainstay of the schedule?

Statman, I didn't follow the basketball in the 80's and 90's. Whether the Sixers have been good enough to make the playoffs is a matter of opinion. If you fit into the best 8 you make the playoffs regardless of your win/loss record. The number of Sixers games needed for them to make the playoffs amount to just as many as the controversial ones that would have seen them winning a game. These are the ones that have made the difference. Another controversial call came with just 50 seconds left in this game where Hodge was fouled out after knocking over Pero Cameron and being called for a charge. We are talking about a man who is half the weight of Cameron. Its like bashing into a rock, the rock should just not move, yet Cameron was knocked over. Was he knocked over or flopped to the ground to make it look that way? A ref with half a brain would know that it could not happen realistically. 50 seconds left into the game, 5 points down, a perfect pass to Ng who was open just outside the arc. One would have to assume there was a strong possibility he would have made that shot and only been down by 2 with 50 seconds to go. Don't you need to ask what if questions? This is the sort of rubbish calling that has been happening throughout the season.

Yes you are right in saying that a team with that sort of win/loss record does not deserve to make playoffs, but then the NBL would have to change it to make it the best of 6. Only that way you can guarantee that the teams making playoffs have done it by winning more games than losing. If you have a chance of making the best of 8, there should never be any unfair disadvantages thrown at you so you don't succeed. And if there are, you have every right to be angry about it.

run into pero hard enough and he will fall. to suggest that he must have flopped is stupid.

ec you offer so many excuses its incredible. we tried hard but we fell short. tired, ng and ballinger injured. give up on the pathetic excuses. every team has 50-50 calls go against them!!!!!

I was at the game tonight, here's my thoughts:

I haven't seen the boxscores, but Blaze (crowe and harvey) seemed to shoot a high 3pt percentage.

We couldn't contain crowe in the first

Crowd was disappointing size, but the announcer and music was quite good, as was the Time-out breakdancers

The refs were terrible. There were three or four calls that were awful.

No Maher or Motts? Did they play/get injured in the Brizzy game?

Balls hardly played the 2nd half and spent alot of time standing behind the bench, so i'd guess he was injured.

At half-time they had a 'dunk-off' with four blaze development players.

Did SoJ skip class the day they taught dribble penetration, all he seems to do is take air out of the ball around the 3pt line.

EC - on the contentious Hodge charge call...

Ive said it was 50/50 as are most charge block calls. Hodge had penetrated and spun and was wildly out of control as he passed the ball and hit Pero, and yes he hit him hard. There was no question if the contact was hard enough to warrant a call - the only question was did Pero have correct position and no lateral movement. As the ref on the baseline with a perfect view called it he obviously assesed that he did have position. Ill stick with it being 50/50 as I didnt have perect position but for you to say that seeing as Pero actally fell over he possibly flopped is a bit rich. Also there was no massive rant from the Sixers bench at the call so Im guessing they didnt think they were too hard done by on that one

Peter - totally agred on junior Joyce tonight - he was shocking in what was easily his worst game of the year. Glad you liked our breakdancing guys :)

Maher has been injured since before the Brisbane game. Mottram was injured in Cairns and hasn't played since then.

On Hodge's charge, the commentator said he thought it was the right call and while he was no Bruce Palmer, he seemed fairly impartial.

Peter, Maher and Motts are both out injured and didn't play against Brisbane.

EC, just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you!

XY, show me your degree in Psychiatry and then be the judge on whether I am paranoid or not. Not a single person has confirmed that the call against Hodge was an accurate one and coming at the point in time that it did and fouling out the main player for the team equals controversy to me. If it was 80/50 why not give the benefit of the doubt? This whole season has been full of 50/50 calls going against the 36ers. Statman, you criticized my comment on scheduling and yet you yourself said that the 36ers put up a good effort but ran out of legs in the 2nd half. Wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that they played the night before and travelled the next day to play again? Statman, you also say every team has had issues with the umpires this season. Does that mean every team does not know what they are talking about and just want to whinge, or does it tell you something about the quality of umpiring this season? If the umpires had been consistently accurate all this season, then the results could have been different. Dont get me wrong, the 36ers have not done enough this season to deserve a spot in the top 8, but under the NBL rules, could possibly have made it if so much beyond their control did not go against them. I am only talking about numbers, not the effort to prove worthiness of getting there.

oops, 50/50 not 80/50.

EC, the refs would be impacting all teams and doing so (presumably) equally (or close enough to it). Same with the schedule - at least we're not Perth or Singapore - their flights would be horrible. Worry more about the things that the team can control.

e.g., 69 fouls were called in the game. You could assume there were quite a number that were subjective/contentious/etc. Only Hodge got a tech. That charge taken by Pero wouldn't have taken Hodge out of the game if he hadn't reacted and got the tech earlier. When I heard re the tech over live radio, that's when I suspected the game was gone.

EC - I said that all teams have had issues with scheduling - and also reasons to winge about the umpiring. This was not to say that it cost the Sixers the game - rather to show that all teams have had issues this season at some time or another and that your continued conspiracy theories that the Sixers are hard done by and the league is out to get them are garbage.

You also mention benefit of the doubt in the charge oin Hodge - Surely your not suggesting that Hodge get given the benefit of the doubt because he was the best player on court?

Hows this for an idea - maybe Hodge should have controlled his emotions and shut his mouth when he picked up a soft call for his 4th and not continued to yell at the ref and pick up a Tech?

I suggested nothing about being the best player on court. What I said is that when a call is 50/50 it can go either way.

like when davidson kicked the ball is brisbane got a tech and left us with only sutton to be pointguard .

Isaac, if Hodge hadn't reacted earlier and got a tech foul, he would still have been in the game but the foul still had an affect that Ng who received the pass could not score on it. This is the difference between being 5 down and 2 down with 50 seconds left to go. Also without having checked the schedules this season, can you point out any games where Perth have had to travel to Brisbane or Cairns the same day they play after having played the night before. Same applies with Singapore. The distance in travel is nothing when you have a day of rest before a game. My complaints are specific to playing one night and then again the next with travel involved. Twice in 2 weeks for the 36ers, both resulting in losses. In the Brisbane game 2 weeks ago, they looked exhausted before they even started. I don't care about scheduling on a whole except that this type of scheduling is far too gruelling and a little one sided. And this is also after here in Adelaide, we do not contribute to the scheduling problems.

EC, Statman said 50/50. The commentator said he thought it looked like the right call.

Pero might be big, but if he's standing square his centre of gravity can only sit above his feet. Move it outside of that area (not hard when you're big from front to back) and he'll fall.

Had they called a block on Pero, the continuation (Ng's shot) could well have been waved away.

As for the schedule, Gold Coast had to play in Sydney and then back-up at home the next day. Seven times they've had two games in three days in different venues (including a game in Auckland then in Perth).

Sydney have a back-to-back in different venues this coming round. Townsville had two in November alone, and finish the season with another. Razorbacks had one in December. The Dragons have three back-to-backs this season. The Bullets have three as well, as do the Slingers.

Adelaide have the two you've mentioned, but no others.

But Hodge would still have been in the game. Call me stubborn if you wish, but I have strong opinions on what happened no matter how you look at it.

Yep Stubborn you sure are EC :)


I was at the game - 3 rows behind the 6er bench. Saw all the above issues with my own eyes. What are you basing your strong opinion on?

He would've been in the game had he not got a tech from the refs (which is something he had far more control over). You're pretty stubborn for someone who presumably wasn't at the game!

See my comments re the schedule above - you just seem like you're reaching for excuses. We replaced an import (so did other teams). The schedule isn't a walk in the park (same for other teams). We've had injuries (so have other teams). We've had 50/50s go against us (so have other teams).

Gold Coast were full strength and at home. We were backing up, down 1-2 starters, and Ballinger and Ng played somewhat injured. And we still made a real game of it.

He still would've been in the game had he not gotten himself a T earlier, too... but you discounted that earlier because all you wanted was Ng's 3 to count. Which is it? 50/50 calls are just that... 50/50. As Isaac says, deal with the things you *can* control (IE - not getting a T).

You make most 36ers threads unbearable, which is a big reason why I rarely read/reply to them anymore. Just sayin'...

what's the gripe EC, is it the travel aspect or having to play back-to-back games????

My criticisms ARE for the things you can't control, but should not be thrown at you unless they are accurate. The 36ers made a huge game of it considering the deficencies they were facing. This is also the reason that Hodge being left in the game until the end could have made the difference. He was playing well enough to have made it a possibility. I was not at the game, but I am not the one who referred to calls as 50/50. 50/50 suggests it could go either way, or in one case in Saturday's game against the Bullets, an indecisive decision from the refs resulted in a jump ball. Why would you have 50/50 calls when the jump ball option is there and treats both teams equally? I will tell you why, and that is because it makes the refs look incompetent.

Isaac, you still didn't answer the question about Perth and Singapore's schedule. I am happy to stand corrected if you have the answers.

Your question is ludicrously specific. As I said, Singapore have to travel back and forth and still had three back-to-backs. We have had two. All teams have had a rough schedule.

EC, you're changing your tune, in one post you're saying it doesn't matter about Hodge getting his 6th, it was the missed 3 from Darren, then in your next one you're saying the opposite. As Ricky Martin would say you're switching sides like a Gemini.

If it was a 50/50 call that happened to not go our way then what's your problem? Seriously. It wasn't a blatantly incorrect call (which is probably the conclusion you drew after reading Boti and getting yourself all fired up) and if the refs let it go to give us the benefit of the doubt then that's not really fair on the Brisbane fan equivalent of yourself.

Obviously back to back games aren't ideal, but in the NBA they play 3 or 4 games pretty much every week, and sometimes they play 5 games in a week so it's certainly not beyond the realms of physical capabilities, especially considering how much more physical the NBA is.

Does anyone know what the record is for 'charge' calls in an NBL game? There must have been nearly 10 last night. Which is really funny because the discussion would suggest there was one one.

Tough game to watch with way too much whistle.

Agree with Statman, Copeland was on fire in the second half. He should have been on the court way sooner than a last minute sub for Hodge foul-out.

Blaze foul shooting disgraceful and one of the reasons the 36ers were able to stay in the game. 36er rebounding pretty average which suggests fatigue and probably the main reason for loss.

The Blaze courtside announcer calls out the remaining shot clock time just about every time it gets to 3 seconds with Blaze in possession. This has been happeneing all season. Unfortunately last night he decided to start razzing the 36er free throw shooters again, rather than letting just the crowd do it. Didn't have that much effect (Hodge 13/13 wow), but never-the-less not good form.

Crowd was one of the smallest this season, but Sunday night games are really a wasted exercise. Lots of rain on the Gold Coast all afternoon plus first day-nighter on live TV would also keep a few away.

As established on my thread on scheduling, Bullets game was probably originally supposed to be in Brisbane on Saturday but had to be swapped to Adelaide because of Brisbane Motor Show at the Convention Centre.

I'm sure Statman and other Blaze readers would agree with me that we'd be happy to welcome any 36er fans as 'honourary' Blaze followers for the playoffs. (Hey Isaac how's 'HOOPS GC' coming along??)

Finally, the 36ers must lead the NBL in the category shortest average hair length, coaching staff included!!!

billo, I am definitely not changing my tune. I am basically saying that the controversial call has had an affect on the game in one way or another. How did I say that it doesn't matter that Hodge got his 6th but it was the missed 3 from Darren that mattered. Getting his 6th was a direct result of Darren missing the 3 opportunity. Its all relevant and it all matters.

"If it was a 50/50 call that happened to not go our way then what's your problem?" billo, where's your passion. Does it not matter to you that a game could be lost on an incorrect call? Perhaps not, perhaps I assumed you are a 36ers fan. Also I wasn't talking about playing so many games in a week, I was talking about playing on consecutive nights when the soreness of the previous night has not been relieved. Ballinger a classic example.

Also hate to point it out to you but there is no Brisbane fan equivalent to me, I am also a Brisbane fan. I was thrilled that the 36ers got the win on Saturday because I considered that game to be the hardest one of the 4 to get and winning that would give us a good chance of making playoffs. In view of last night's game, I now wish we had not taken away the opportunity from Brisbane to get closer to 2nd spot.

NBA teams can play 4 games in 5 days....its pro sports people. It can never be an excuse as it happens to all teams in this league.

The season wasn't lost because of a 50/50 charge call.

To not make the play-offs, this has to be the worst performance of a Sixers team in its history....expecially after the coach promising so much.

"Also I wasn't talking about playing so many games in a week, I was talking about playing on consecutive nights when the soreness of the previous night has not been relieved"

I assumed you could do the maths when I said NBA teams sometimes play 5 games in 7 days, but apparently not. To spell it out that's at least 2 games they're playing after having played the previous night in the space of 1 week.

And please don't question my passion about the Sixers just because I don't share your narrow mindedness. Harping on and on about a call which by many accounts was correct and which I don't think you've actually seen isn't the same thing as passion.

My first reaction when i saw the call was flop. Granted it was at the opposite end to where i was sitting, but Pero was retreating and Hodge did spin and change direction. Didn't see a dropped shoulder (but could've been there), and didn't see contact in the middle of the chest (but again, could've been there).

I don't think that was as bad as the call preceding Hodge's T. A blatant moving screen (actually, calling it a screen may even be a stretch) called as a defensive foul.

But inconsistancy has seen this season slip. Beating the Kings and Bullets have shown our potential, but not being able to put together consecutive games is what separates good teams from playoff teams.