Quality read. Looking forward to the game tomorrow tickets are booked and I'm bringing a bandwagon of friends with me to cheer on the Mighty Sixers.

Who knows a win tomorrow might register intrest from local media. We might actually see them on the front cover of the Advertiser. Wouldn't that be amazing?

sixers by 3.

Sportsbet had the Sixers @ 1.65 in Game 1 now $1.67

Not much of a deal according to SB.

I still think Sixers as Tigers (Anstey) don't know how to exploit Ervin being out.

Funny read. Thanks.

Tigers fan here. I don't mind the 36ers so I just hope for a good close game with a bit of drama in the city of churches. I also hope whichever team wins tomorrow knocks over Perth and shuts their arrogant mouths. :)

IMO Ervin deserved the week off too. His team mates and fans have reason to be very disappointed.

I really think the 6ers will get off to another great start tonight, and instead of the Tigers being able to gain home court momentum and get back, it could be a blowout of sorts. I would fear playing the Sydney Kings without Ervin, but not the Tigers, they havent done enough this year to really install true fear. Like Gaze said, this time of year its always going to be hard to win a playoff game on the road hence the Gm2 result. Game 3 is Adedelaides for the taking.

Will be on a knife edge all day waiting for this one.

Disappointingly stupid impulse move by Ervin - Gibbo, Teys or Cadee will need to step up.

Is Mitch 100%?

Also, I have a lot of mates super angry about ticket pricing - guys that where keen to get along. Not sure what sort of crowd to expect to be honest...

Let's go Sixers.

Adelaide are almost certainties to win this one. They have the best home court record in the competition, have a winning record against Melbourne, and more than any other team can cover the loss of a guard for one game. The events of the last few days will bring the team together and have them very fired up.

Helping further, no doubt there will be a full house of noisy fans to cheer them on. Apparently many were waiting for game 3, we shouldn't have the distractions of Thursday night juniors and late night shopping so Adelaide fans will be turning out in droves to support their team in this do or die battle. Expect a full stadium.

Melbourne rely on one player to win and that is unlikely to happen twice in a row and especially on Adelaide's home court.

It would require a massive choke from Adelaide for Melbourne to get up tonight and that is very unlikely to happen from this team as they have the best finals record in the league.

I don't usually get nervous before a game but I have to admit I've got butterflies.The 36ers will either blow them out or I fear it could be absolute heartache with Goulding hitting the buzzer beater.

There is two keys that could help the Sixers win.

1. Make sure Goulding doesn't get off to a great start.

2. Get Morrison in foul trouble.

To stop Goulding the Sixers should start Gibson, Carter, Creek, Petrie and Johnson.
Gibson is a great defender but always struggles to guard Goulding. However if Gibson guards Tomlinson, he will help to make it hard to get Goulding the ball. Also a frustrated Tomlinson usually plays bad and he can also switch onto Goulding and would have more energy to be effective.

Carter should be on Goulding every minute he is in the game (As long as he stays out of foul trouble). The key here is for Carter to be very active in offense and make Goulding chase him. In game 1 Goulding looked tired and then didn't have as much energy which effected his shooting. If we can get Goulding with a few early fouls also that would be great.

Creek has not looked confident in either game. If we start him and tell him to be aggressive this will be a great benefit and give him the confidence he needs. If we have him come off the bench and watch him second guess him self then he will have a similar game to 1 and 2. Creek will give us added toughness with the ability to guard the forwards unlike Teys. Teys has been playing great but every time he has to switch on a bigger player that cause all sorts of issues. A great idea would be to set up a pick and roll play for Creek and Carter. If ran correctly Goulding would be on Creek and Walker on Carter. Creek could then post up Goulding and hopefully get a foul or an easy two.

Neither Johnson, Petrie or Schesncher have been able to stop Morrison so it is important to keep taking it at him in the hope he gets in foul trouble.

Sixers have such a great home record however Melbourne have nothing to lose and I feel the Sixers will be tense, so that record doesn't mean that much in this game. We will need to play 4 good quarters if we are to win this game!

Can't stop all the Tigers weapons easily IMO. Balls was in some form in Game 1. Wortho yet to fire. Morrison will keep scoring unless Schenscher gets some time to limit him. I know they're not supremely coached, but I'm surprised the odds aren't level, to be honest.

Even without Ervin, should still be 36er's game to lose, their home record has been exemplary.

Darth Martin to Jack Bendat's Emperor Palpatine. I've always thought Bendat had a certain evil mastermind air about him.

He is Palpatine, in Yoda's body.

How good is the cutting Frye decision?! Not only has moving teys into the line up worked along with carter playing well, fitting in and making an impact in the game. Plus covering the absence of no ervin. One of the best decisions in a long time for the club.

^ Can't argue with that.

I think 36ers will win.Not sold on the Tigers but there barometer is Worthington and he gets going early and hes due watch out.

Adelaide are deeper and more talented than the tigers imo. I would feel more comfortable against melb in grand final but don't think they will get there.

We have won without ervin a few occasions.Tonight we play without two imports for tge first time in Sixers finals history

Don't give Wortho any threes in the second half.

Or in the last three seconds.

The last three seconds are usually in the second half. ;)

I think with Wortho alot of it is his mindset. Gets sidetracked by bad calls.Would expect they will go to him early to get him involved.

I figured it needed the double-emphasis

I would love to play the dirty 6ers and not to listen but if ervin played we would've beat the tigers and perth! So go d 6ers

Can we get a "cats4life to english" translator in here please?

It is another world over in the west...

I think u understand!!

Looking forward to the game. Can't help but feel anger towards Ervin for putting himself (and the team) in this position - regardless of any opinion over his guilt, It was a stupid stupid bloody thing to do.

Less than 3 hours to tip off - GO SIXERS!

Ret row Rixers, ret row!

* clap *
* clap *

That's the spirit!!

Could be the end for Gordon Liddy and his catchphrase tonight :)

no the Spirit where from Sydney

Wortho will pull one out of his hat tonight....im predicting a tigers upset by 3

36ers are a much better team without Ervin.

Their offense doesn't stagnate.

The flow and rhythm is unbelievable

Got em on the canvas, now kick em in the nuts...figuratively

Why is the crowd booing Goulding?

Neutral fan..just wanted to see a good game.

God, worse game of the season.

But happy for ADL. You guys deserve it..deadly team.

Perth Adl is going to be crazy.

Hopefully the league lets Adelaide keep the points from today's win and use it as a handicap for the Perth series.

Good point statsheet but I think Adelaide will be competitive and could even push Perth to 3 games

Oh I know. Would just be nice to have that 30-40 point cushion at your disposal

What was the crowd number, didn't look good.
Do Adelaide want a winning NBL team or not?
36'ers fans, when they're winning, are pretty ruthless.
Never ever predicted this one. Solid job overall, congrats to Cadee.

I don't think anyone saw this coming tonight. The win maybe, but not the 39 point blow out.

And why wouldn't 36ers fans boo Goulding? All things being equal.....he doesn't play for us. That's a booable offence to start off with.

Good to see Cadee and BJ Anthony do something with their minutes.

Lets boo the guy who was on the other end of a strike? Just doesn't make sense to me. Im not much of a fan of booing anyway so probably just me. If anything they should be booing Ervin who got them into that pickle and potentially ruined their chances. Again just me though.

Embarrassing for Melbourne losing is one thing but shooting 26% from the field and Walker top scoring with 11 is just shocking.
Anstey's days numbered?

I've always thought 36'ers crowd went further than good old fashioned booing.Now save it up for Perth, their fans don't dish it out like they used to. Shame!
Nick Marvin says most of them aren't basketball people anyway. (whatever that means)

Anstey's days are FAR from numbered.
They've achieved a lot this season.
Being competitive in front of a decent number of paying customers is what it's all about.
They've done that.

Wow, great performance by Adelaide. The GF will be a cracker between two great teams. It could go either way.

On the Melbourne side, I can't help but think they need to cut Wortho loose. His body language is terrible and he exudes negativity.

Crowd number was a real disappointment. I don't know the reasons but the 36ers need to address it. Not being able fill the stadium for this sort of game is a really sad reflection on the league.

"Some of the calls Daniel Johnson gets ... man"

Id have to say its pretty balanced with the calls Schenscher doesn't get. It is a bit credulous that some players get easy calls while others are mauled.

Huge win by the team tonight. Crowd was down but on a Tuesday night that is to be expected really.

Gibson needs to really keep up tonight's performance when we play Perth. Him defending and shutting down Goulding was amazing and will go a long way to helping us win the GF.

Really looked desperate tonight and just got the job done!

schenscher also plyed great d - some big blocks

Yeah the initial booing really did not make sense but I joined in, anything to get the boys up. But after that flop it was fair game, that was truly disgusting. Disappointed in the crowd number but like last time I think the people there tried to make up for it.

Glad we are back in a GF but it will be a hell of a slog to try and get over Perth.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that game.

Absolute Sixer onslaught.

Hard to believe it will be there first grand final against each other. Looking forward to it.

The tigers tonight made basketball look really difficult. What a shocking performance from a lazy ass player in Wortho, he can't be included in any Boomers squad

Great job from Adelaide though, played hard nosed defence and had confidence in their offense

what a game to think we had it up to a 47pt lead

must be one of the biggest semi finals loss in the NBL

question marks over the future of Wortho's $$ value and Tomlinsons ability to stay in the league at all.....really bad performance on a big stage.

Biggest loss of the year?

Did D-mac have a go at Goulding for the flop of the centaur?

Karma for a team that flops so horribly.

League needs to stamp it out - crap to watch.

And yeah, agree re: sell out the Arena.

Tomlinson played at SOJ level tonight, Wortho was useless. I'm not a tigers fan just don't like to see teams waste money on players that are overrated

Good catch Steven! I think you're right that this will be the first GF series between Perth and Adelaide. Correct me if I'm wrong but Sixers:
Lost to Bullets 85
Won 86 (Bullets)
Lost to Giants 94
Won 98 and 98/99 (SEM & Titans)
Won 2002 (Razors)

That's every Sixers GF series and not a cat to be seen!

Coaching by Wright and staff was terrific tonight, made the right adjustments from game 2 and it showed.

I'm not a huge Cadee fan but give him credit for stepping up when needed. Great team effort, DP's excluded everyone had at least 5 pts.

I thought Tomlinson was horrible, If I was Farrakhan and I was coming off the bench for him I would be furious.

Joey's strategy of leaving Tomlinson and Greer open all night and not giving Goulding an inch of space worked a charm tonight, well done Sixers.

Christine Goulding gets hit in the man parts. Hard to miss he is one big man part, or as Adam Hills would say " He's a dick"

I am happy to be wrong about Gibson not being able to guard Goulding. He did an awesome job. As I suggested if we can get Morrison in foul trouble and stop Goulding having a big first quarter we have a great chance to win it.

Goulding is an absolute disgrace with his flop. The NBL doesn't need players that act like that in the league. What a poor role model he is for children watching the game.

Skip I am wondering what you said to Goulding and what he said back to you? He deserved it whatever you said.

The only thing that was close to Gouldings disgrace flop was that one particular umpire who made so many bad calls throughout the game. His first brilliant call was when Creek was on a fast break Walker made no attempt on the ball and hit him from behind yet that idiot ref calls just a normal foul. Hopefully he and Mayberry don't get any finals games.

Awesome performance by the sixers. Great to see the team back in the grand final. Adelaide did get the better of the calls tonight but some of the fouls by Melbourne were just stupid - Morrison in particular. Him picking up that fourth foul signalled the end of the game.

What has happened to Wothington? Five years ago, he was mvp calibre in this league. Now at only the age of 30, he really has declined significantly. His shooting and ability to finish around the basket are nowhere near what they used to be, and everytime he misses a shot, he looks to the refs to bail him out, often when there is little to no contact or a clean block. His demeanour is also terrible and can't be good for the rest of the team. Why has he gone so far backwards? Is it that only Goorjian could get the best out of him? He should be nowhere near the boomers team at the moment.

With our 3 biggest wins of the season being without Ervin, you have to wonder if the team is actually better without him. I know he has had some huge clutch performances this season, but considering his age, it might be a better option to let him go in order to try to hang on to Cadee (who was very impressive tonight) and go for a higher priced import SF.

That Goulding flop was pretty horrible and that stuff should be stamped out of the game - a small fine would be appropriate.However Even though he had a bad game tonight, he has had an incredible season and I love his game. He is one of the best shooters I have seen and considering his reasonable size and good athleticism, he still has more potential and should be a part of the boomers team. I beleive he should be the MVP, as if you take him out of the team, they end up with the spoon.

Very excited about this grand final series!!!

King James - Never spoke to Goulding and wasn't aware he spoke to me.

Sorry Skip wrong person then.

Does the big shove by Worthington into Teys back in last get a look at. Put both elbows up and just dropped him...

Walker not Wortho. Apologies, kind of

Nah just move on now. Enjoy the win and let's get a W in Perth.

Goulding is so streaky, unlucky for Tigers that Venus wasn't in alignment with Jupiter, or whatever else it is that controls his shooting talents. Together with Wortho, just a horrible display.

At least the best two teams made it, would've been a let down if the tiger's won. I did'nt even bother watching after 5min 3rd, tigers had no idea and four goulding to be Mvp? Score how much u want, but when the is a place in a gf up for grabs and u rip out that? Well done adelaide and hope it's a great series and all the best.

Great game, loud crowd.

Looking forward to the GF series

Sour Grapes!

Anstey has proven himself a clown when fronting the media on numerous occasions, and this one just adds to the list.

Have to agree with somewhat with Anstey comments from the adelaide crowd, booing Goulding when he first gets on to the court to show your displeasure is acceptable, but not every time he touches the ball, its not as if it king hit a sick kid in a wheelchair

"I think they (36ers) are a better team without Gary Ervin ... I was really hoping he'd get off.

"I was disappointed he got suspended because I think he hurts that team more than he helps them."

^ Yeowch! Hard talk from the defeated coach.

C'mon Chris, really.

What a lame attempt to deflect scrutiny of your teams deficiencies and mental toughness. You (and Wortho) failed to suitably prepare your team for the hostilities that awaited them.

This was an all or nothing contest against a quality team and in front of a crowd still receiving assistance from sports pshycologist in overcoming the damage done by four years of ineptness. Adelaide fans are still hurting and haven't progressed to the healing stages of grief.l (yet)

You and Shane Heal have a vast personal experience with hostile Adelaide crowds that you should have tapped into those experiences to get Chris ready for the reception he would face. Hell Ervin's behavior was being put up by some as being inevitable and justified given Chris influence on the turn of events. Surely that would have prompted some concern, Joey's comments in the press should've have confirmed any doubts.

I really think it was also just a point of focus that the crowd used to rally around, something to unite with and boost our team. I was surprised it was sustained as these things normally fade out over the game but I think we just wanted the win so bad.

Uncle Phil.
I have no doubt that Wortho tries to be too many things, a super overall controlling player for his team. He desperately wants to be the leader even tho not the Captain. He's been too connected to his coaches previously. Maybe needs to rethink his role/position for next year. Wortho of past has been missing too often this season, is 30 old for him?

Bubbles flopped when he was standing next to a former team mate and friend in Petrie, is was a sad event and the only thing left intact for him by the end of the game was his immaculate concriege style haircut. His rep is in shatters, the refs were not impressed with his actions.

As for Ervin, he has a point to a degree, the 6ers shot selection was better, BUT against Perth we will require his speed and transition offense off every rebound we get. 6ers have beaten the Tigers WITH Ervin several times including his 27point explosion in game 1, so he is just coming across as sad as usual. Quite frankly, Anstey's opinion is void on this, the GF is the Adelaide 36ers situation to deal with. He's got a whole off season to accumulate more fue1 tickets.

Super D by Adelaide was the difference last night. Goulding could not get a look in, they had no one else who could step up, and whilst i would have preferred to play the Tigers-everyone could see they were a one man team ,and were prone to blow outs and barely giving a yelp once they got behind against a good side. The best 2 teams this year by a mile have made the GF.

Just hope the Wildcats can go one better this year, should be an awesome series.

Still think this 36ers team is better without him.

No disrespect to Ervin. Any team would want him.

Gibbo just controls this offense perfectly and the rhythm and timing of the offense was like clock-work last night.

Part of that, I think, is because Gibbo never goes too fast for his own good, like Ervin can sometimes do.

But also, Gibbo has played a few seasons with the likes of Creek, Petrie, Johnson, Cadee, Schenser - so that's why he gets the rhythm/tempo/timing so well.

Ervin might help against Perth.

But hopefully last night's display has reminded him that he doesn't have to be the "be all and end all" and that he doesn't need to take over the game.

When he goes into that mindset, its either an outstanding game (which 36ers win) or an absolutely terrible game (which he shoots his own team out of the game)

You can't have the mindset against someone like Martin either.

36ers have to pick and chose the Perth weak links -- Damian Martin is obviously not a weak link LOL.

Redhage, Beal, Ennis can be a bit vulnerable on defence, so exploit those

I enjoyed the hostile crowd immensely. It's finals; would you rather they sit quietly and golf clap?

I assume the crowd was hot on Chris early due to the JFK like head snaps if there's a player within 10m of him; shades of Gaze with the refs falling for it quite a bit.

As for the late boos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL0L64yplDU

Want to explain that one Anstey? "Swollen man parts"? Really?

Enjoy the break... which might also possibly involve a career change.

And although sour grapes, I don't like to say it, but I don't entirely disagree with the "Adelaide are better off when Gary doesn't play" comments.

He makes some 'interesting' decisions down the stretch that don't really involve the other 4 guys on the court.

Still, as someone else said, he's come up big on occasion too. I prefer Carter's leadership come clutch.

Ervin can win games and he can lose games. Id rather have him than not

Anstey's comments will only further motivate Ervin for the GF series.

Sixers better without Ervin, arguments could be made for both.

1 thing is for sure, this is Gibbo's team...he is the heart and soul of this club - something we haven't had since Mahersy. He is the only player other than Martin who can have such a massive influence on a game without worrying the score board.

He led his troops by example yesterday and they followed. Glad he's in the Blue!

I thought the entire series was exciting.

The Hawk is a bird you can pluck and skewer easily. The Tiger on the other hand...

Tiger fillet mignon is a delicacy, but when you're dealing with 100 kg of T-bone tiger steak, you can't just whack it on the grill, flip it quickly and expect a great meal. You would end up with ingestion issues.

Tiger t-bone needs to be marinated and then it takes time to cook. I'm glad the series went to three games and I hope the GF series goes 3 games as well.

thomo - it would be one of the biggest margins in NBL semi finals. It's not the biggest, though. I watched the 36ers beat Newcastle Falcons by 48 points in the 1985 semi final: 151-103, at Apollo Stadium.

That was a 48 minute game and there wasn't much defence played!

I'm not sure if that's the biggest margin in NBL semi finals or not.

biggest margin is below i think :(


Home Club Logo North Melbourne Giants 165 FINAL Away Club Logo Perth Wildcats 110
12:00 PM / Sun 8 Oct
Melbourne Sports & Entertainment Centre (Map)

^^ yep that from memory is the biggest!

sorry i stand corrected, below is bigger.


Canberra Cannons 142 F Sydney Kings 82
12:00 PM / Sun 8 Oct

You can't have the mindset against someone like Martin either.

36ers have to pick and chose the Perth weak links -- Damian Martin is obviously not a weak link LOL.

^^ those 2 games were on the same day , from memory , back to back telecasts too of massive finals blow outs

Great win and great game .
Whether Goulding deserved booing from start of game or not ,it certainly added to the electric atmosphere .
It was like the good old days and cannot wait for Perth to play GF game here.
I think we play better as a team without Ervin but same time happy available for GF series . Think should not be in starting line up but expect will be.
Shows give Cadee good court time and responsibility and he will reward you but ple--aaa--se give away that stupid gun in holster routine .
Thought Petrie was a major part in how we dismantle Tigers in 1st half .
Gibbo was at general best. Maybe good idea to tell young Simms good idea to practice shooting at warm up rather than those 100 dunks so when get opportunity can actually put ball in ring. Chances are in a NBL game a 4 ft player getting a dunk very very remote.

"Probably worth having Gary in the team against Perth just to force someone like Martin to get tied up defending him."

We're talking Gary Ervin here, not Rotnei Clarke ;)

Is it right that Goulding only had 5 shot attempts? That sounds terrible considering his possible MVP status etc. Is this something that Anstey should have made a priority? Get an open shot for Goulding. Understand that Adelaide played some good D but surely Goulding could have been used better.