kings by 3

Melbourne wont get proteted by the refs on the road like they do at home.

The Kings are crap this season but the Unitards seem capable of out crapping any other team. If Melbourne's shots drop then they win easily since the Kings' pathetic defense will let them fire at will.

Kings by 8

Geez, neither team looks like they know what defense is.

What is it with the Kings constantly banging out instrumentals during gameplay? Terribly annoying watching the game on tv. At least Rosen or Homicide isn't commentating.

That aside, good game so far. Surprised the Kings are in it at the half.

Thornton is so bad

Can Ranae and Tom come back to Adelaide next year?

I think he would slot into our system well once we loose a couple of players at season end

Kickert just scores so effortless on the court. He had some open looks off of penetration and typical frantic Kings help D, but a good deal of his shots where just really solid post moves on decent post defense.

I think Carter and Cadee watch too many Warriors games with the way they shoot contested long 3s early in the shot clock - Carter in particular. He has never been a good enough % 3pt shooter to warrant being let off the hook for some of the shots he puts up.

Childress and Warrick both put on a hell of a show tonight, but Melb just got more contributions out of more guys, especially in the 2nd half.

Entertaining game though, and good to see a nice sized crowd too.

Mel by 20 + oops

Melbourne wont get proteted by the refs on the road like they do at home.

Oh if ONLY this was the case! At least 3-4 really shocking calls in an otherwise ok affair, but jeez... The bad calls were really bad...

On the whole, fairly happy with the effort from the guys tonight, Melbourne just had too many options and hit their fair share of tough shots... It's actually a nice change to see Kickert get inside the 3pt line as I hate it when teams camp outside and live or die by the outside shot...

Majok was too tough inside and we didn't have anyone to compete with him, and with a much stronger bench and cohesive unit, Melbourne were too tough... A handful of really shit calls didn't go our way, which, considering who we were playing, isn't surprising, but Tommy, Gus and Chill were great... Tommy keeps finding his form, some great passes, shots and such, Gus is really flourishing with the extra time and keeping his fouls down, some great boards as well... And Chill came through healthy, praise the basketball gods...

Missing our starting PG (the team needs to take the blame for this as Markovic should have had a quality replacement made WEEKS ago) and our starting 5-man, really puts us behind the 8-ball every single game... I really hope that we can get a more decent replacement for Jules, as I've given up hope on Markovic and his "tonsil problem" getting resolved, and Thornton keeps proving that he's a waste of space... A couple of nice passes tonight, but his moms shirt said it all tonight "do better"...

On the upside, the crowd was great again tonight, not quite as big as last time, but I think better quality... The atmosphere at the new place is SO much better than the SEC, and there really isn't a bad seat in the place...

Fans of the losing team claiming the winning team got the better of the refs, didnt see that coming!

We could talk about the Brandt block/foul and a couple of other calls all night, but IMO the refs weren't the reason the Kings lost - Melb played better. Warrick was a menace any time he had the ball remotely close to the hoop (and sometimes much further away), Kickert had a career-night type of game that was not entirely the fault of the Kings D, and Goulding had a great 3rd.

Kings got great contributions from Brandt/Childress/Tommy, but not a lot else really.

sadly the Kings do not have the shooting talent and skills required to win these games.

Connelly i think has at least put some heart into the team and i would like to see him coach next yr. There has been improvement in most of the players since he took over.

At least with Connelly as coach you get some entertainment on the sideline even when the on court action is sub par.

The Kings D this season has been easily the worst in the league.

Having a real point man would help too.

With 2 or 3 changes they could be a good team for next season.

Owners, CEO and coach?

For all the scoring Tommy has given us lately, he can't guard wings on the perimeter or bigs in the post on the other end. A true tweener. I think Cadee has been a fair bit better on D this year than last, and for all the flak Thornton cops he is a solid perimeter defender who fights to get around screens.

I hope Connelly is back next year to keep a bit of consistency. Let go of Markovic, Carter, Thornton, Khazzouh, keep Cadee (aim for 6th man rather than starting PG)-Childress-Garlepp-Brandt-Hill, sign a steady import PG with a few years experience in a European league, an Aussie starting SG (bring back Madgen?), and round out the roster with an Aussie NCAA-returnee and some size for the bench.

^ I forgot Prewster. I would definitely bring him back next year.

I can't agree on Connelly, the Kings need to find a proven coach. I'd be chasing Nenad Vucinic personally, the guy has a world-class tactical mind and knows the style of play here.

The problem is, to get a coach like Goorjian or Vucinic you've got to sort out the front office.

I don't think the CEO is a problem so far. The rest yes.

Fans of the losing team claiming the winning team got the better of the refs, didnt see that coming!

As AngusH said, they weren't the reason the Kings lost by any means, but just because the Kings lost doesn't mean they weren't shit calls... Melbourne just were the better, deeper and more polished team... The Kings were actually not as terrible as they usually are guarding the perimeter and they still made some TOUGH shots... Kings just don't have the weapons, even with Chill back...

Anon, show me where the Kings fans are saying that Connelly is a great coach? I appreciate his enthusiasm more than I did Cotter sitting there like a muppet and taking the bad calls like a bitch, but nowhere have I seen Kings fans suggesting he's a great coach... I heard him in Grandstand recently and it's good that he's realistic about the position, hopefully he can help put some good things in place, get some connections for next season, but we REALLY need a more experienced ACTUAL coach...

Who is commentating tonight?
Please don't let it be Dwayne Russel.
United by lots....should be high scoring.

Nepotism at it's best. His brother was with the Kings lets get him a gig. He really isn't that good, but let's get him over here to develop players and assist Cotter. That's exactly how we got him.
Retards.