Oh and does anyone know if Hill is playing? i gather Burston's still out?

Who is playing?

spewing can't go...
Anybody gonna give score updates etc?
Cheers in advance!

I'll try and give score updates.

Hill and Burston arent playing

Thanks Skip

We will actually be broadcasting stats (Hopefully!!!) through live stats.

Link is http://linky.com.au/glkbf

livestats stopped 1min into 2nd qtr

Must be an all in Brawl or something :P

We are down 42-39 at halftime

9, 5 & 4 from Gilchrist in the 3rd, in a 32/17 qtr to have a 12pt lead going into the last

Nice!

How big is the crowd?

Johnny G - 1 assist and 2 boards off a triple double!

Nice win by the 36ers. 92 - 78

3rd qtr looked big awesome news that we won!

Good one. Thanks for the updates.

Man that was a good game, and Gilchrist is impressive (lightning speeds) Cortez was on point and Balls was his usual self (dominant) and i thought Jacob played an awesome game too, all round good win by the boys...

yeah it was a good game, the crowd was actually bigger than i was expecting. Thought gilly took a little while to get going but he was fine. He can get to the basket well, and rebounds well for his size. For mine they did not go to ballinger in the post as much as i would have liked. Tez was fine but he did chuck a few, filled in at the 1 well.

I think the team will be fine and our ability from behind the arc will help push out some leads/get back in the game. Its a little hard to know exactly where we are without the full squad playing though.

You can easily see where the butch hays comparisons come from with regards to McKee.

Overall a good first look, the keychain they gave out with the tickets was in the wrong way and had a typo but the rest was fine. Bring on the season proper.

About a thousand there. Gilchrist lit it up in the third with some wonderful steals,rebounds,pace and skills. Ballinger 20,Holmes 18 played great.
Groves with his 3pointers as well as a few from Ng and Herbert. They look pretty good to me.

Hawks also looked impressive so it was heartening to see our guys step up and get the win.

Gilchrist is lightning quick, I'm going to be watching all season for him getting into passing lanes and making steals.

Gilchrist blocking McKee my favourite highlight of the game.

Gilchrist was solid but McKee looks to be a better player

What's the story with Molly? Looks like he warmed the bench for the game.

It's good to get a pre-season win and to get the team plays down pat, but I am just concerned that we haven't heard about the U23 spot and now is the time for those guys to get some court time and impress

Word from my man in the West league was that Garlepp was a gun last season and very difficult to beat. Considering he got some minutes, should we expect an announcement this week?

Garlepp looked fine to me, he missed some shots but did not look out of place. One thing on Gilly is that he does take a little while to get his outside shot off.

Mr Toft

Garlepp isn't under 23 so he is not factoring into the equation. As far as I have heard, he will be hanging out trianing with the team, and will be on hand if someone is put on the long term injured list, or whatever it's called.

I think will try and sign him up for next season though depending on the make up of the team?

Re Molitor not getting game time - I don't think it's important that he gets a run or not if he is the U23 who is signed, because in a 40 minute game, the bench will not go much more past 3 deep. Considering the sixers haven't had their full squad together much due to injuries and absentees, and still haven't, then I would think that Ninnis is trying to get as much game time with his "new regualars" together as possible?

Whats with the music mans selection today i.e Ice Ice Baby and Nothing but a Houndog??? ewww!

Give Skip a break, it was just a pre-season game...although I will say, regardless of the actual songs, the sound system sounded terrible and was up way too loud...during timeouts, 'Twist and Shout' and 'Nothing but a Hound Dog' were overbearing and annoying. Hopefully some more comprehensive sound checks are done before the season commences.

You are kidding aren't you Dracula - we got a new sound system that is not designed for a venue like the dome supplied by a company that sells plasma TVs you can't expect much more.

Don't expect anything more from the current PA system until they get an audio engineer in to install real PA equipment

As has been mentioned - Burston has been the best/most impressive of all, at training.

That was worthwhile there today for $10, a very good game....Would imagine we'd beat NZ here , the way we played, plus Burston.

How am I supposed to know what kind of sound system the Dome has? alls I know is that today, it sounded terrible.

Why should I "not expect anything more" when I don't know what the Dome has to begin with? Why is it too much to expect a decently configured sound system, when in 3 weeks the season starts proper?

Saw the game and below is my assessment of the playing personell.

Jacob Homes and Adam Ballinger outstanding.
Cortes Groves, Nathan Herbert, Tom Garlepp and John Gillespie well above average.
Darren Ng and David Cooper gave average performances.

We will be a good side provided AB stays fit. Burston hopefully will add the X factor that will take some of the load off his shoulders.

We seemed to have the devil's own job against a zone defence and our foul shooting has not improved. I liked the look of Garlepp's game and maybe it would be fortuitous if Dave Cooper suddenly lost interest in playing at NBL level.

Something got under Gilchrist's skin in the third which he took extremely personally. It provided an excellent few minutes of play.

Bring on the new season.

I noticed Gilchrist Gets pretty mad at himself if his shot doesn't drop or he get a silly foul...

yeah i saw that with gilly as well, i think he and mckee were going at it a little. He had back to back plays where he drove hard and got a fouled right after a bit of chat between the two.

Thanks for the tip on Garlepp

Gillespie's ability to break a press was another pleasing thing to see.

Gilchrist and Groves are a pretty good defensive back court and both have great vision. Gilchrist certainly turned it on in the third quarter and his opening dunk is the only dunk i recall from the game. Groves also only took one off balanced shot, he had a great shooting percentage which i think is the key to his game.

Garlepp looked pretty nervous to me, but he is pretty good insurance to have at training and also if Burston or Cooper fall to injury during the season.

For those who went today, are you happy with what Gilchrist will bring to the 36ers?

Yes

A: Yes!!! So far i like the Man!

Happy with Gilchrist,
and pleasantly surprised by Groves.

Gilchrist was good. Seemed to play better in the third as others have mentioned when it seemed like his battle with McKee got a bit personal. Very nice ball handler, hope that with his ability to penetrate the key that his free throw percentage will improve coz he might spend a bit of time on the line!

I too am suprised with Groves. I also watched the game in Whyalla in which he was very good. I must admit I was one of the people who was worried about the recruitment of Groves, but if he can keep this up he will be a good fit.

Yeah, Groves was putting up bricks in the warmup but produced some good 3 pointers in the game usually after a left hand move.

Both Groves and Gilchrest are quick and with good vision and gave some great assists i.e. they keep the ball alive, but give the ball off when appropriate.

Ng did'nt look the same player as I see in ABA where he dribbles/keeps the ball alive etc. In the first half I can't recall him putting the ball to the floor once or taking anyone on (team instructions?) , in the second he got some good shots mostly on the move. He also played pretty good defence.

Jacob played are very good game and I've finally figured out why some of his open shots look so awkward and unreliable - he starts his release from way in front of his face (most good shooters have it close to the forehead). This results in a pretty straight shot, but relatively flat and hard to have consistent air and length. He actually shot really well with a left turnaround jumper which coincidently resulted in a much closer to the head/eyes shot.
Come on Balls give Jacob some hints, if he could hit 3's consistently ALA Catalini at his prime he would be a complete player.

With Hill not playing in the pre season matches, would Holmes now have taken back the starting SF spot? i think i remember there been talk of Hill likely to be the starting SF earlier in the pre season.
Glad to hear people are happy with Groves and Gilchrist, i think (on paper) they are in the top couple of back courts in the league along with CJ and Penney in NZ, and with Ballinger being the best PF, Burston would be in the top 3-5 Centres and Holmes is a solid and proven starter i think our team is looking good and i like the balance.

4 of us were talking in the 3rd qtr, saying that Gilchrist hadn't odne a lot, then he got a hard foul going to the hoop and really turned it on form there.

At that stage he had 3pts, 1 reb & 4 assts (Half Time stats) and added 11pts, 8 rebs & 4 assts after that

Jonno, I think you're right, there is a very good chance Holmes now starts the season at SF. Its basically between him and Herbert, while Hill now has his work cut out to earn some decent minutes I reckon.

The main reason I always worry about Holmes starting at SF is his inability to hit outside shots. But it Groves, Gilchrist and Balls all shoot consistently from long range, then Holmes shooting may not be as big an issue as it has been in the past.

We are in a better situation this year whichever way it goes though, because if Holmes shooting is hurting us, Herbert is looking like a solid long range shooter based on pre-season.

Hoping that the Sixers finally turn the corner this year and can challenge for the top 4!

I think Holmes might initially start, but not at SF.

??? Isaac, what are you suggesting?

Do you mean start for Burston?

Or play him at guard?

The first one is bad, because it would mean Burston's injury is still a problem.

The second one is worse, because it means Ninnis is crazy and wants to start a forward who can't shoot threes or drive to the basket instead of one of our imports!

You're baking my noodle here Isaac! I don't see how Holmes could start anywhere BUT SF!

I guess from what Isaac is suggesting that maybe they will start Ballinger at Center and Holmes at power forward (While Burston is injured). If this is the case the coaching staff has gone crazy! I remembered we tried this against Melbourne last season and lost by about 30!

Who did they start yesterday? I had something else on and didn't see the game, but would've guessed: Gilchrist, Groves, Herbert, Holmes, Ballinger?

So if Burston is coming back over the next couple of weeks and hasn't been playing pre-season games with the team, they might ease him back in, right?

Rebounding is what saved the game!!!!
When they finally starting getting most of the defensive boards and started crashing the offensive glass they looked a lot better.
Hopefully Burston can help, because they could be a very good rebounding team.
Gilchrist looks like I good leaper and he grabbed a few contested rebounds.
Ballinger and Holmes are excellent rebounders, Cooper is decent. Hill and Groves are good jumpers and Herbert looks pretty strong so he should be able to box his man out easily.
NG is probably the only weak rebounder in the team and even he as a good leap to make up for his lack of strength.

Gilchrist was also very good at driving, drwing the tall defensive player and dropping off a short pass to Ballinger for a layup.
Last year they would have kicked it out for a jumpshot.
Some more points in the paint would be a huge advantage.

Isaac, 36ers started with:

Gilchrist
Groves
Herbert
Holmes
Ballinger

I hope we aren't forced to start the season still nursing Burston's knee! I was under the impression they were just taking things easy with him while it was pre-season, but that he would be ready to go for game one.

Didn't suggest they would be nursing his knee, just slowing reintroducing him to the side given that he hasn't played in the pre-season games.

I thought that would have been a no-brainer too Issac.
Would expect to see us start the season with
Gilchrist, Grooves, Herbert, Holmes, Ballinger due to Burstons lack of pre-season and injury concerns/recovery. Even if he was 100% fit I would rather bring him in off the bench even early after a few minutes.

There arn't alot fo BIG teams this season (except Perth HUGE!).

And the first game is against Cairns who would start Crosswhite in the middle and play Rychart for decent minutes somewhere in the paint.

For mine, Herbert could be one of the most valuable signings they got - he played very good D, has a great shot and got some very nice looks.

I agree about Ng, I'd like to see him attack the D a little but it was more that he had many looks that for a shooter like him, are basically wide open looks. It doesn't have to always be a 3 ball; a good look from 15 feet is still a good shot to take for someone like him. Brett Maher used to be automatic with those shots - Ng, with practice, can be too.

One thing that annoys me though is the under usage of Cooper - he has the height to be a really good finisher down low, and the Sixers offence could really benefit from having an extra target in the low post. I find that the Sixers offense, as effective as it is, is often extremely predictable; the ball gets passed around until someone has an open look, and while it does get inside sometimes, they can also get into trouble when the shot clock gets low and an open shot can't be found.

I'd love to see some plays run for Cooper and Burston to get into the low post and play with their back to the basket, with Holmes and Ballinger as rebounding threats I think it could work.

Black Dracula, I liked your post until you started talking about running post up plays for Cooper :P The guy has no offence at the ABL level and you want them to sometimes make him the focal point of an offence? lol that is pretty funny.

Coops was under the basket with the ball but instead of taking the shot, bounce passed it to Balls and we lost possesion.
Holmes on the bench walked past Ninnis and said I'm ready to go back on, but Ninnis told him to sit down.
(Anyways- don't blame Jacob for trying to get back out there as he had 18points , at that stage and close to our best player)

Still dont like Cortez Groves. Does he know how to take a 2 point FG attempt? I used to love his game when penetration was the main part of his game in the Gong but since then he is way to 3pt happy. Did he even attempt a 2 yesterday? Yeah he hit his shots yesterday and will have a few good games but he is not a great 3pt shooter, just a streaky one. If he would penetrate and stick to shooting the open ones id be fine with him. He will have a few back shooting games in a row, the crowd will start getting on him and he will start to struggle.......just like at the Dragons. Not just baging him for no reason, just settles for way to many bad 3 pt attempts, drives me nuts.

Don't recall him taking a 2point attempt, now that you mention it.
I didn't really see him at the Dragons, but played pretty good yesterday and looks alright at training.

Great transition game but I'm not rating these 10min quarters at all - I missed 6hrs of SANFL for 1.5hrs of 36ers but not regretting it.

Groves penetrated a fair bit but looked for Ballinger inside or an open kick-out once he got there. Thought the passing by both our imports was brilliant. That is a very dangerous combo.

In the 4th when Gilly stole the ball from Rhys Martin (such a dud) and went on to draw the foul and score the layup, that was play of the game. It would've gone off if there was a real crowd there. I was even about to stand up until I realised it was a pre-season game.

Holmes was excellent and sitting courstide I got a good view of his on-court leadership. Captain.

For Wollongong, McKee is a star, Tragardh is ready to bust-out again and Tim Coenraad looks like he could play a big role this year.

What was with the little guy on their bench, no.45. I actually thought he was a kid with down-syndrome who was chosen to be their mascot or something until he came out and knocked some 3s in practice. I'm not paying him out he actually looked like that.

i was wondering who that little #45 Delaney was to. How tall is he?

Groves did penetrate well a few times in the first half, but second half just resorted to pull up 3's off the dribble. Id be happy with him if he would continue to penetrate and not abandon it for off balance 3's.

I have to agree with you X, Holmes showed some great leadership out there from what i could see!

vanexel, if a guy has 15 points from 13 shots, and adds eight assists in a win, I don't go too far out of my way to look for negatives.

I think 1 shot might have been off balance close to time clock and another close to time clock, with not much hope. I think.

In all seriousness, who listens to Boti in an organisation like the 36ers?

I spoke to RH last season, and the word from him was they feed Boti what they want as he is the only print media in town...otherwise they keep it to themselves, they need the exposure and so hence they need to give him something, when Boti gets a shut out, he has to run stories to keep himself going as it is his job too..

If the 36ers wanted to get to the fans they would do what te US do and get twitter and facebook and the likes going and run everything thru there, but only hard core fans would read it so they have to get stuff out via print...

i prefer the guy that fills in when Boti is away on elave anyway, better stories with less personal preferences..

IMO, Boti's priorities of his passion for the 36ers and his intention to do his job trump looking out for particular staff/owners. No doubt as with any one in a similar situation before he will give a grace period (like any decent fan does) before building pressure if he believes the story at hand is a drive to change imports.

Boti put pressure on the club to replace recruits far later than some fans themselves did - the same went with Chappell, Tyndale and Smyth. His pressure never seemed rash or rushed to me.

I know I'm going to sound like an apologist, but I remember thinking that Boti was dragging his feet on Chappell and asking him about it.

It remains to be seen whether Groves will do enough, but he's not shuffling around (Chappell) or fumbling it away (Tyndale), he just missed shots in Darwin. Still had eight assists on Sunday, 11 in one game up in the Top End, from all accounts is still quick. Let's give him a chance first - the season is yet to even start!

Pigs, the Facebook group is about 800-900 strong and the Twitter list is 600+ and it's hard to know how many of those Twitter followers are legitimate customers. It's unlikely that the social media approach alone will hit the primary target markets (I suspect that's 30+ year olds - couples and groups of friends).

The mainstream local newspaper will still be a key method of hitting the broad market who might not be on Facebook/Twitter, and social media is going to be a key way to reach under-30s going forward.

Spot on Isaac on all counts

Yeah nice answer Isaac, obviously something you have thought about before..

I am critical of Boti, but mainly because in the past I have thought where the 36ers needed good coverage, it received negative and it was hurting the team and the game IMO..

Boti can put pressure on the club anytime he wants, but if at the time they did not have the means to pay out and recruit again...what does his pressure do really? Put a negative feel into the camp..

If the 36ers need good coverage, they must pay to advertise or get PR/publicity help. Boti's job isn't to provide free positive advertising and the club/sport are fortunate that they often get something approaching that for more or less nothing.

e.g., right now, when a few fans have shown criticism of Groves, Boti has been very positive this off-season. He didn't rush to judge those who've copped criticism: Chappell, Dench, Hemmerling, Smyth, Tyndale, Hodge, etc - all received a solid grace period IMO.

What does his pressure do? Maybe sell papers? You know, his job?

I think expecting glowing praise and ticket sales from him is a mistake many people make - that's not his job.

Mark Cuban wrote an article a while back suggesting that clubs even pay their local beat writer (or contribute to their wage) to expand their coverage and maybe get a bit more influence. I think Boti may have, in the distant past, received some sort of retainer for some level of involvement?

Boti has his favourite targets and cops a lot from the junior club ranks, but I think he's a decent, passionate guy who does a solid job of representing basketball in our main paper and getting people talking.

Reading Boti's articles are the only non Crow articles in the paper.

At least we get coverage!

If every town had a Boti Nagy the NBL would be talked about a lot more. Flawed - yes, still a good journalist - yes.

I think this group will be given their chance as players and coaches and administrators have been before. They're fresh, so no doubt that would buy them a bit of time.

Still, I'd rather give Groves the benefit of the doubt before I start wondering how a reporter will call for his sacking! The games are shorter and the team is more even across the board - the production load expected of Groves is not necessarily as high as it might've been for Chappell IMO. 13-16 PPG, backing up Gilchrist better than other back-up points will, bit of defense - that will deliver them what they're after, I suspect.

Don't want to get accused of pushing the bar lower, but I think that's realistic for a third option on a fairly level team. Even last year, the Breakers (a high scoring team) had Penney and Bruton putting up the best scoring numbers, and then Jones, Rickert, Ronaldson and Forman were all around the 12-14 PPG mark.

Ideally, Ballinger and Gilchrist will be top dogs in Adelaide and the rest will put in 8-15 PPG (bar Coops and Molitor, obviously).

Placate fans is a bit harsh - they think they saw someone poorly used at another club and saw an opportunity. It's not a ridiculous gamble IMO. I think they were looking for value-for-money with their second import signing and may well have got it. Expenditure on players has potentially almost halved, and they've put what could be a comparable team on court.

These owners aren't just trying to placate fans or con anyone or anything like that - they're trying to build a stable club (moderate spending being part of that), win games and provide entertainment to customers - all things that they absolutely should be doing.

Davidson was good and would've provided value to this team but had he lost part of the season to injury, you have Ng playing back-up minutes again. Groves looks to have been pretty healthy through the pre-season.

Lots of time to discuss failings once they've hit the court a few times in a real season with the team.

Anon, did you see Sunday's game?

Groves was a good contributor (12 ppg - second or third on team, 40% 3pfg) on the second best club in the comp at the time he got injured. A good player and an excellent signing by the Sixers.

I wonder how many times the Groves knockers actually saw him play last year, and how many just assume because he wasnt getting his usual 20ppg he was playing poorly?

Agree with you guys defending Groves. He looks like he is progressing nicely at this stage and lets not forget that AWESOME DUNK in Darwin someone so kindly posted here a few days back. He must have some speed, hops and a decent crossover still to pull that off!