And that no call on Ng is about the 4th foul not called on Woollongong so far. Sigh @ NBL lack of consistency.

i'll use this thread.... The hawks are trying to cover burston with gruber. We have missed it 3 times. Defence is great. Gilchrist is on.

cheap shot mckee

Great work from the guys, healthy lead at the half now to bring it home.

great 1st half... Shut their crowd up. Gilchrist keeping it hot in the half. Ng busting his ass on defence. Hawks have missed a few easy ones.

Gilchrist looks impressive on live stats.
Did we swap Burston - Cooper over about 3 times in 2 mins. As live stats said ?

yeah... Looks like burston tweeked his lower back

Great half!!!

That's the best team-D we've played all year by a fair way.

I don't expect Pitbull to keep scoring that easily but then again Balls will improve as he gets more looks.

Tez is driving me crazy. I shuddered when he hit his first few, I knew he'd get confident and start jacking them up over and over. He has the worst shot-choice in the league, it's so frustrating when he's such an awesome penetrator.

Oh and these home refs can suck my chocolate salty balls, every week they keep lowering the bar. I want to punch those retards in the nooots for that call on Ng when he supposedly 'clipped' Campbell, meanwhile he gets his head cut off by Coenraad taking a three at the other end with the ref 2m away. It seems Tragardh is above the law on the rebounds too, he's pushing-out every single time.

Erh I was happy at the start of this post, now I'm mad. *checks score* Happy again.

hahaha....wtf, we got lucky on that no travel call.

Good timeout by Ninnis. We're starting to look very sketchy on offense, couple of easy turnovers.

Hahaha @ the commentator calling Burston 'Conrad'.

tez needs to put the fade away jumper away... Ugly...

I've never in my life agreed with Shane Heal before.

For the love of GOD Cortez... try passing.

COOOOOOORRRRRRTEEEEZZZZZZ ffs!

Shane Heal is a great commentator but I don't think anyone would consider it disrespectful if he took the time to correct BT every now and again. HoLmes with an L, Ng, Burston's not Coenraad etc. etc.

We'll hold on...

Groves was hot early and really cooled. Gilchrist however is killing it.

molitor should get some minutes this game hopefully

Coenraad missed dunk hahaha...nothing's going right.

Great win with a very nice margin. 1 down 1 to go.

Ok sorry but I've crossed the line here, I want a new import. I can't understand how anyone could be that dumb on the court.

But forget that sole negative, that was a brilliant win on the road. Completing the double against TVL would be massive, Pitbull doesn't have to do much more to get POTW.

It seems (without seeing the game) Gilchrist - Groves
came out firing and we led start to finish with comfortable win against the top team on their home court, giving our bench a run, also seems good for Friday.
I can't really comment on Tez being dumb on the court,
was great, last game here and could have a good one Friday and will be interesting to see him guard Hodge here.
Great result in this game, with Gilchrist POTW.

Saw the game on Fox. Groves made his eight points in the first quarter and didn't look like hitting anything after that. Really disappointing when you think he's going to have a good one and it goes down the toilet. Also in this game, some of the softest fouls ever were called whilst Ng gets dumped on his ass on a 3 and noone cares! Plus the refs don't seem to know what constitutes a travel any more - they don't get called when they obviously travel, but do get called when they don't! Good team effort all around

Only one game in, but that's a brilliant outing and Gilchrist has to be looking good for POTW unless he struggles in the next game and someone else performs well (didn't stop Rychart!).

Fourth win in a row including two now over one of the current top teams. Right now, we're second on percentage alone and still Burston's being eased into his minutes. Well done to the team. Knock off the Crocs and we're outright first.

Oh and we were well and truly out rebounded considering we killed them. Couldn't believe how many offensive rebounds we gave up, sometimes as many as 4 in a row

Yes offensive rebounds, I know I shouldn't have, but I laughed at the 4 in a row with 4 threepointers missed.
I'd guess, like us , Cortez Groves thought he was gonna have a good one, the way he started.

Even his first few shots weren't good choices.

Up.

Down.

Up.

Down.

Down.

Down.

Up.

Down...

Aw - wished I saw it...
Anyways I love the way he guards - pretty smart and clever...

Heal also said that Groves can go for 0 for whatever, but also said he can go for between 30 and 40 some nights........still waiting for that, forgive me if I dont hold my breath.

Tez looked like he really wanted to put on a show for the old fans. Lets not forget he had his best season in Wollongong.

...because he played to his strengths and didn't jack up threes all night.

It makes you wonder what Ninnis is telling him.

Nice Win for you guys. thats the second comprehensive win by you guys on the road. this road wins are huge. there like double the points. that also means you guys now have the head to head advantage over the Hawks right? seeing how even the ladder is, thats huge.

Obviously When Gilly gets into that kind of Zone, he is very tough to cover. the whole team feeds off of him.

Thanks Cats Fan, it was a huge win.
I am really impressed that we can pull that win and run almost the whole team for real minutes. We have so many who can contribute. One guy has a quiet night, others continue to step up.
The Hawks shot poorly, but our D was good

Very interesting situation now with the point guards:

Gilchrist struggled guarding Homicide in their one matchup i saw,
Homicide got smashed by McKee a week or two ago,
and Gilchrist 3 times now i have seen has gotten the better of McKee.

Interesting sometimes how matchups unfold.

Speaking of that clueless commentator (no not the Hammer, the OTHER clown) did anyone hear this exchange in the first half:

HEAL: There goes Melvin Thomas, still sets a good screen, can't see anything! (ok I'm paraphrasing)

COMMENTATOR X: Who?

Great win by the Sixers tonight. First time I've seen them in a few weeks and it was great to see how many guys were pressuring their man and deflecting passes/ disrupting their opponents offence in the first half.

So good work Scotty, it looks to me like they are starting to scrap the way you used to back in your SE Melb days! Progress!

Second half I thought the guys coasted, but fair enough since they never let the Hawks back in and they'd want to be fresh for the Crocs.

First half the offence was better, with the team looking like they had a plan to score in mind on a regular basis. 2nd half fell back into bad habits too much, but can't complain when you lead by double digits for the entire 2nd half!

Groves FFS you are the most frustrating import we've ever had! Good D once again but for crying out loud learn to get your shots in the flow of the offence!

Only other comment: improve your rebounding boys! If the Hawks could make a basket in the second half they would have made a game of it with all the offensive boards you gave up!

All in all, great to see this team progressing. Watching tonight it was clear to me that this team is learning and playing with more purpose than they were at the start of the season. Hope it continues! Can anyone remember the last time the Sixers won two straight on the road? Must have been a long time!

Gilchrist > McKee >>> CJ > Homicide

Huge win Sixers.Does it get any better than this??
Must have got it done at defensive end.

Hawks dreadful at HOME, 29/22/52 shooting %'s.
Coenraad, Campbell, no FG.
Points in paint, 42/28 tells the story.
Maybe Hawks have been playing above themselves and now finding their true level.

Posts seem to indicate Sixers can improve.

Awesome game, awesome win!

Bean I think the lack of basketball knowledge by BT isn't such a bad thing, the who is melvin thing could well be a question plenty of casual tv watchers were thinking themselves.

Enjoying the banter between the commentators this season, didn't think I would to be honest.

I was gonna visit my son last nite and watch FOX, but he had a graduation thingy .. so I missed seeing it.
I had a quick look on ozhoops and a coupla Hawks fans mentioned Cortez Groves a wonderful athlete,but with NFI, doesn't play to his strenghts. John Gilchrist drove right all night.
Kinda been mentioned on here re Groves and that no one has seen Gilchrist drive left.

rebounding wasn't that bad. A lot of the hawks offensive rebounds were due to sav coming from the weak side and from the perimeter. The bigs muscled up pretty well inside. Sav is still a great jumper. Who ever the sf was who was covering sav needs to learn to box out.

interesting question..... Can hill and ng co-exsist on the same team. Ng confidence looks lacking on offence.

Has Burston lost his confidence? I know he was injuried but he isnt the same old self, he looked awkard running around! it could be just me

What a great win where our defence was massive with great intensity.
Been impressed with Gilchrist from 1st game but he was unstoppable in this game with a great inside and outside scoring and assists .
Massive pick up for us well done Scotty etc on this recruitment.
Nobody else was standouts but all worked hard on defence and scored most times had opportunity.
Feel that Gilchrist etc could get Ballinger inside and missed him with a open shot a few times.
But keep getting wins like that then who the hell cares how we do it.
A positive is that Burston is still a long way from his best and if can keep him fit will add a lot in tough games and free Ballinger more.
The only negative and that is looking forward to see how far we can go is Groves.
His game is so streaky at the best not only in his scoring but his defence goes from good to terrible in one half.
I reckon the NBL 2 worst imports played in this game in Gruber and Groves.
I know they wont make a change but if did and got it half right then the unthinkable at start of season is possible.
Final note though well done to Scotty etc as coached well and by their tactics or Hawks bad defence or both we had a lot of good assists for open shots

Share top spot on the ladder with Perth now as well. Good work boys.

I was extremely impressed with that win, particularly defensively. Wollongong had one of those nights where they couldn't buy a basket (I almost felt sorry for Coenraad, but sympathy is always a stretch for me), but I thought our rotation was excellent, and we did not let the Hawks get the ball inside at all.

Offensively, not too bad, but I wouldn't bank on Gilchrist hitting threes like he was all the time. I definitely thought that the offense was less stagnant than it has been at the last couple of home games.

Gilchrist obviously superb. I loved some of the penetration. That was probably the most I have been impressed by him. Ballinger was rock solid, Hill efficient, and I actually thought Burston added something as well. Molitor looked that far out of place at the end of the game that it was laughable. As for Groves, he was terrific early, and that was when we won the game, but at the same time he faded badly.

I think the really amazing thing is that we are equal top half way through the season, and I don't think we have gone close to firing on all cylanders yet.

Friday night in Townsville will be very interesting, given their poor home form, and you'd have to think we would be arriving on a high.

Also, the timeout that Ninnis called in the third quarter when the Gong just started to chip away at our lead (though we were still up 14) was probably the best I have thought he has read the tempo of a game. We regrouped, and were never seriously challenged thereafter.

Every team has six or seven wins, bar Melbourne, which is quite incredible. And no team has consistently played to their best. Everyone has still founds things to criticise about Adelaide, NZ have been poor on the road, Cairns up and down, Perth were tipped as favourites last week and then had a five point quarter, Crocs have a bad record at home, and so it goes.

Great win but who else gets the feeling the fat lady is nowhere to be seen in regards to the four bottom placed team.

Some video of last night's game:

http://www.vimeo.com/7826341

Hawks had a shocker, shows you what 11 days off can do to your shooting. The 36s really benefitted from the amazingly low shooting percentage of the Hawks 29%. The Hawks put up 70 shots and the 36s 67 so I don't think anyone could say that the 36s beat them on defence. I agree that the refs had no idea about calling travel at one stage Cortez left the floor and landed with the ball still in his hands no call. One of the features of the game was the persistence of the Hawks, even at the end Saville and team mates were still having a go and the ball was still not going in. I wouldn't be too confident if I was the 36s good luck to you the Hawks were having a really bad night. The good thing for the Hawks is that they've had that night now and with a bit of luck they probably won't have another one like that this season.

Sore loser much?

"The 36s really benefitted from the amazingly low shooting percentage of the Hawks 29%. The Hawks put up 70 shots and the 36s 67 so I don't think anyone could say that the 36s beat them on defence."

...and why do you suppose they shot at such a poor clip???

TR, I wouldn't say Ng's poor form has much to do with Hilly TBH. They're vastly different players, I wouldn't say they clash.

Their health really.
And Groves gets into my team 'cause physically he's still got it (not as good as he was) and I'd tell him to stop jacking up threes and to play to his strenghts

TR - Not so sure that Hill and Ng co-existing is an issue.

Ng and Herbert co-existing whilst managable having them both on the court at the same time just dosn't seem to work.

We run Gilchrist/Tez/Hill/Holmes/Balls than we end up running

Tez/Ng/Herb/Holmes/Balls (or Coop, hopefully Burston starts taking that spot more regularly)

Would much prefer Ng and Herb to be sharing the backup 2 spot (maybe even try starting one to give Tez a bit of a wake up?) unless either one is having an exceptional game than you might play Herb & Ng together.

You are right about the "sore loser" thing Isaac. Pass the ball, thank you for not giving Adelaide any credit at all for strangling your team and FORCING them into 29% FG shooting. That is twice now that we have owned your team this season. I suspect that part of your frustration is that you have been delighted (as have I) by Wollongong's success so far this season, but that you have been sitting there waiting for things to fall apart. Well, they did on Wednesday night. Your time on top of the ladder has been improbable, impressive, but over.

The only clash between Hill and Ng is both tend to require the team to make the spaces and the openings for them to shoot.

Ng isn't a pick and pop player, or a guy who could make his own shots like Maher; he relies on plays to be centered around him shooting. Granted he's on fire when he gets the open shot, but he'd be a much better player if he worked on making his own shots more.

Hill is exactly the same, never really drives to the basket unless the corridor opens; never really seems confident driving to the basket when the lane is crowded. Considering he'd have Burston and Balls waiting inside, he should just throw a pass off the lay-in out to one of them for the 12ft Jumper. Only other complaint about Hill is that he puts too much power behind his shots. The man can easily get 15-18ppg if he works on the old "soft touch" technique.

Big Marty, it almost comes across that Hill has decided what he will do with the ball prior to receiving or starting his move.
If he could learn to pull out when he's driving against 2 or 3, drive and dish it would be fantastic.

The pro's of course he rarely takes bad jumpers early in the shot clock that others on the team do WAY too much.

Notice we still hesitated on the catch and shoot with 3 or 2 seconds left on the shot clock!?!

Sorry anon one of them is not going to leave as both their Dads are owners I think both have something to offer . More to the point is we have too many guard type players and with Gilchrist playing 90% game time doesnt leave a lot to share