Sixers should be too strong, but the Breakers have surprised me too. Looking forward to the Sosa/Shorter matchup.

The Breakers have really surprised me how well they're playing without Penney

Penney's missed a few and played little minutes in another I think.

I can remember that game the commentators just talked about the Breakers first NBL game against the 36ers and they blew us out of the water in the first quarter. It was a disgrace really and around the time the club should've pulled the trigger on Smyth.

Breakers are looking good. Cut turnovers down. Shooting well. Sosa starting to perform. Newbill looks the goods. Adelaide have got some firepower but they can be erratic.
I like our chances at home.

This is ugly.

So is the stream always a pointless endeavour for me trying to watch NZ home games. I've barely seen five minutes of this game.

Mitch looks like he's dropped a bit of explosiveness this year. Don't know if he's intentionally conserving his energy or something, but doesn't attack the basket like he used to.

Breakers court surface slippery like they had indoor soccer on before the game.

Sobey and Shorter seem hell bent on stuffing up my Game Day dreamteam aspirations this week.

Mitch Creek on fire.
NZ matching us tho and killing us from range!
6ers 2 frm 6

Could Sobey have benefited from oppositions focus on Randle last year?

Although he was knocking them down last year, too many pull up mid-range Js for Sobey I think. Needs to attack the hoop more (as he hits a 3).

Mika pushed him off when Shorter landed on him.

Mike fended him off with both arms. I would do the same thing if someone landed on me too, but that's what Shorter was upset about.

Mika*

No need to be so salty chief. Adelaide had plenty of opportunities to win that game. NZ the better team tonight.

Great game Mitch Creek!

NZ exposed sixers main weakness. Sixers need to be better from three point range having shot only 5/12 for the match. NZ 11/30. Many great inside plays but too often blocked or ball thrown away. NZ pretty much matched our inside game and won from range. Sobey hit a late one to make us look slightly better stat wise but too little too late.

Sixers must shoot and hit more shots from the three.

We also gave them extra chances as they won the rebound count in the second half.

Sixers need to close these holes in our game if we are going to bring home the elusive prize!!!

Well done NZ.

Top of board not the top of the support along the top. Pretty sure there were some horrible calls both ways at the end.

It was an interesting arm wrestle by what I consider two of the top three teams in the comp in these early rounds. The veteran play of NZ leading to solid execution offensively and defensively was good to watch and they really tidied up their defensive transition which forced Sixers into some unsightly half court sets at times.

I think the reffing has been pretty ordinary again (both ways) for each NBL game I've seen this season, 36ers or not. I really hope the league can keep investing in referee development, it's really needed to improve the quality and consistency of umpiring. I don't think the missed/ordinary calls both ways had any great impact on the outcome on the game.

Mitch Creek - love his continued development of getting to the rack with ease. Sobey struggling hurt us and can someone teach Hodgson to catch the ball under the hoop!?! :(

Finally, offensive rebounds will be the downfall of the Sixers this season if they don't clean that up. Currently giving up an average of 16.5 O boards per game. Too many second chances leading to buckets, less opportunities for them and more effort going out on D.

Childress with some nice drives to the hoop in this game. He's gonna be a tough matchup for Andersen or Wesley coming off United's bench

What stood out in the last quarter was NZ offensive rebounding

Too many 2nd chances.

Disgraceful display from the referees, missed shot clock violations, missed travels, missed out of bounds, not good enough for NBL level.

Anon 654718, who do you "seriously" consider the two or three top teams might be at the moment after 6-8 rounds? Not sure if you've seen many games yet, or the ladder, but here is the 4 on the ladder after tonight's games for you:

NZ 5-1
Perth 4-1
Adelaide 4-3
Melb 3-3

NB: two of Adelaide's 3 losses have been by 2 and 4pts...

* edit, 6-8 games, not rounds...

Sixers need to be better from three point range having shot only 5/12 for the match. NZ 11/30. NZ pretty much matched our inside game and won from range.

Kobe, I don't think even you believe that 12 3pt attempts is enough in an entire game

You've got to take what the defence gives you.

For mine, Adelaide's issue was defensive rebounding and not being able to disrupt NZ's ball-screen for most of the game, not how many triples they took.

Afraid or defended tightly on the arc?

Of course, not to say it's the only cause. But the three-pointer opens the floor, which is imperative for a team like Adelaide. They were making the ones they took, so keep going. If anything, to keep the Breakers honest

Kobe, I don't think even you believe that 12 3pt attempts is enough in an entire game

For a bloke who spends his time here correcting people, I would've thought you'd have enough nouse to understand what I'm saying

Two game round so would be happy with a 1W1L, but you would think this was the game we would get the W.

From our timeouts, this was not the game we have been training for this week.

"They were making the ones they took, so keep going. If anything, to keep the Breakers honest."

I haven't rewatched the game but maybe they were making shots because the were taking open ones? They shot 55% on twos, so I don't think shot selection was the issue.

NZ controlled the tempo most of the game due to Adelaide's struggles with defence and particularly rebounding. How many triples they attempted is a side issue.

I agree it's a side issue. But they should have shot more.

That's my point. Was never a big, sweeping claim

Would hardly day the NZ controlled the tempo. The 36ers played their normal fast paced style, what NZ did had no bearing on that.

NZ won the game on the O glass creating multiple chances for themselves. NZ got 21 rebounds from it starting bigs compared to 36ers 10. Breakers bigs had as many O boards as the 36ers total rebounds.

36ers starting PG had 9 rebounds , next best was 4!

Should also point out the glaring anomaly that the 36ers shot 58 2's for 12 FT attempts while NZ got 22 FT's out of a game where they shot 46 2's.

36ers attack the rim as noted above and got very very few calls while NZ jacked up 30 3's and got lots more FT's without an inside centric game

"Would hardly day the NZ controlled the tempo. The 36ers played their normal fast paced style, what NZ did had no bearing on that."

Adelaide tried to play fast themselves, but they couldn't speed up NZ for large parts of the game, which is a key part of the 36ers' plan.

The Breakers made them defend for long stretches in the half-court and they struggled with that.

Paul - seriously? Lordy

Couldn't speed up NZ? Sounds like you didn’t watch the game and only looked at the stats

That's what I was thinking about you. Have you watched NZ at all this season?

They walked it up regularly, a couple of slow passes with subtle cutting action, then picked their moment to use the high ball-screen and pick Adelaide apart.

Had they converted a bit better that was a comfortable win. Except for a few patches, that game was played on NZ's terms for the most part.

We'll have to agree to disagree!

Should also point out the glaring anomaly that the 36ers shot 58 2's for 12 FT attempts while NZ got 22 FT's out of a game where they shot 46 2's

Mr I have to correct everyone , it's an indication of game style. 36ers attack the rim while NZ are happy jacking threes

But if NZ are getting fouled and going to the line, that naturally decreases their number of 2PAs.

So, do the maths