Melbourne to romp home.

Without Prather going to be hard for Melbourne, Adelaide to win

I'm not confident even without Prather for them we're still down three guys and Prather is overkill on that roster. I wouldn't be surprised if Melb end up a better team down the stretch now with less cooks in the kitchen.
Then you factor in our 0-3 record against them this season, two of which were floggings.

In Adelaide yeah maybe but in Melb I've got to pick them.

United have to be the most under-achieving team in the league (apart from Sydney)

They have been swimming in the lukewarm inflatable pool of ordinariness with their floaties all season. Just doing enough to be dangerous, not enough to be taken seriously. Prather's absence will be missed and is definitely an opportunity for someone to step up.

Sixers definitely need to get a win to get some credibility. 0-4 against United going into finals is not a great look if they want to be taken seriously, or else be seen as the wingman of the league, eh. You know the guys who are always there for the ride, but really never quite get the girl. A great opportunity for the bench to lift.

It's in Melbourne so look for a handsome red headed fella called Squizzy who could possibly be on the Sixers bench. If you are at the game and see him, buy him a beer, he's a nice guy, even if he is a Tigers supporter.

This is the best time for a Sixers win

United by 69

Hurts Adelaide to be without Drmic, but on the other hand it helps them to be without Doyle. But I still like United in this one.

Hope the announcement of the new import comes at the game tomorrow. Love that idea, like Adelaide did for Childress

$$$ maybe the most overpaid team then?

Melbourne have one win more than Brisbane and Cairns, each projected to miss the playoffs. Given what they've spent on their roster, I think it's fair to put them in the under-achieving basket so far, even if they might fare better from here.

I hope both teams get out there and really take it on, could be a classic encounter, maybe leaning towards United by 5 points though...

anderson and barlow stucka few daggers in against us ...
need 20 from moore and 20 from childress to win this...

United posted on their Facebook that there's an announcement at tip-off. Can't see it being anything but the import.

Can. Noot. Wait.

Lasan Kromah coming back?

joey _ ' depth is the key ' ......

i think we only got 7 players this game..

Carrick Felix confirmed

Shorter looking good early but Adelaide need Chill, Sobey and Johnson to fire as well.

Hodgson is practically useless these days.

Hodgson has got to be the most disappointing player in the NBL. He looks like he could dominate at times but it is just not going to happen. Fortunately Humphries looks like he will be the Aus big of the future.

Mine also not working. Is it working for some people here? Tried Chrome, explorer and firefox and also app on phone and all are not working for me.

Goulding looking good early! Uh Oh!

@NBL

We're currently working on the issues with NBL TV and are looking to resolve them ASAP. We apologise for the inconvenience #ADEatMEL #NBL18

NBL TV network connection temporarily lost.

Hope it gets found soon!

Adelaide lucky to be within 6 after the first quarter!

I'll be expecting a discount on my 5 dollars. This is pathetic

I almost feel embarrassed for Hodgson.

Wesley just schooled Childress & Hodgson

That was a Wesley and-one. And he gets 2 foul shots on the other side of the timeout?

Now Moore injured unreal

Would it be an idea to start Deng and have Hodgson off the bench?

Hodgson is better than Ben Allen ..... Just.

What is Moore's injury?

Can't see anything as nbl tv still down

At 5:30 in the second quarter Wesley hit a shot and got fouled for the and one (where he rolled his ankle), making the United score 35, timeout called, after the timeout he came out and had 2 shots, missing the first and making the second taking the score to 36, that was a mistake, hope 36ers don't loose by 1!

Play by play only shows 1 ft made btw

Caspar Ware has been a complete non factor in this!

Man these refs right now are shithouse!

Not to take away from the Goulding quality

3 point land

Melb 11/24
Adel 1/11

Yes. Adelaide cannot win unless they make some threes from here on in.

Moller IS the second coming of jesus

Do Sportsbet pay out on the moral victory in this one from Adelaide?

Man these commentators couldnt be strokin melbourne or goulding harder, apparently theres no other crowd like melbournes and gouldings been back for a couple weeks...oh and apparently goulding is mr automatic, FG% of 37% is not Mr Automatic, homocide needs to shut the fuck up

Melbourne own the Refs

Apparently you get a tech foul for saying you got hit on the arm these days.

You also get a foul for a clean steal.

Here come the make up calls

Pls shoosh Greer

What a farce

Wow. Awful call on Sobey.

These refs have again destroyed a good game

Plot lost...

I just love these unsportsmanlike calls. Really improving the quality of these close basketball games. /sarcasm

Referee circus yet again

As I said. Moral Victory for Adelaide.

That young ref is an absolute flog .

Who is this young idiot ref? I think he wants to stand out with crap so he can win ref of the year the same way Alyen has done for many years

Moral victories are worth sweet f all. Shoot better than 28% in the first half and you would have won too.

At least Goulding is honest about the refs.

Goulding said it. A lot of people frustrated in this league.

A world class product of full-time employees being let down by a bunch of people on causal. Are you F***ing kidding me

Oh dear.

Don't go for either team but Adelaide got totally screwed tonight. Absolutely pathetic reffing tonight that killed off what could have been a classic game. Can see why Joey would be angry

I'm so disappointed with this finish. Could have been a good one. This needs sorting out big time. What a disgrace.

Not a good look Joey going after Goulding but the NBL nned to do something drastically about the refs this is really starting to get out of hand now.

I have been flicking between the cricket, is Ramone Moore injured? COmmentator said he was a spectator now, he only played 15 minutes. ?????

"At least Goulding is honest about the refs."

"He flopped and got penalised, then complained. Shouldn't that have been a tech on the bench at that point?"

Was nothing to do about his flop but rather his interview after.

His flop call was nothing but a make up call when it looked like the game was over

Bald ref - what's his full name please?

The bald one is Tweedledee. Or was it Tweedledum? I can't remember.

Homicide saying the refs took the game away from Adelaide. No shit they did.

Referees might have earned a production bonus tonight
There is doubt in my mind as to whether they are being paid to be fair or flogs.

If foul calling had been consistent at both ends Melbourne's 21 fouls would have been more like 40.

Great comeback attempt from Sixers but the damage once AGAIN was done with Joey's disrespect for including an effective outside game in our offense.

From 3 point land
Melbourne 15/44 @ 44%
Sixers 4/18 @ 22%

I think 3 of those threes came in the last couple of minutes.

For all the controversy over the ability of the referees the buck has to stop with Joey and the great big hole he leaves in our offensive game.

Disappointed again and unless that imbalance is sorted we will not beat the better teams.

You are right Ayjay how dare Wright shoot 4/18 from 3.....

Didn't see the first half, so can't speak of their 3P strategy, but late in the third and then fourth, it seemed that Adelaide were pressing the advantage of Childress over the United benchie each time, and getting some high percentage buckets in close.

Sobey air-balled a couple, and they were missing Creek and Drmic.

That ending was close to a corrupt game I've ever seen.

What a farce. The referring needs fixing asap. 36ers partially to blame through. DJ and Shorter: Don't gesture, swear or abuse refs when you disagree with calls. They should always be techs IMO.

The refs didn't win the game for Melbourne, they just denied Adelaide any chance of pinching it.

You've got to wonder what needs to happen to prompt change? I'm almost certain that every NBL identity I follow on Twitter, except for the official NBL account, made mention of the poor refereeing in tonights game. When current players from all teams, former players, former coaches all with a stake or interest in the league think the refs are bullshit then maybe someone at the NBL needs to do something about that. That's two games in a round where suspect referee work at the death has resulted in the outcome of the game. A professional league would probably put out a statement and review the decisions in those games to appease the fans and stakeholders but that's clearly a lot to ask.

Getting teched for demonstrating that you got hit on the arm is almost as ridiculous as getting called flopping for falling over your own feet.

Time for import refs I think

Does anyone have a take on Joey's exchange with Goulding at the end? My money would be on him saying something like "tell them you're happy to win a game that way". I don't much like Goulding on the basketball court, but he always carries himself well off it and his post game interview was no exception.

Loco, Chris Reid

Where did Keys grabbed the player? He went for the ball. That ref is the worst ever and should be sacked.

Sorry is Moore injured? Traded him in my fantasy side and scores 5 points and only 15 minutes.

John Fairs; A bit proppy on an ankle after coming down on it in the first half.

went to the game (first in several years). With calls like that I think it'll be a few morw years before I bother again. Based on history that should mean United will be out of the league by then too. Fingers crossed!

Yes anon, Michael Aylen does live in SA but somehow I don't think where a ref lives leads them to be influenced in their calls? My take was that he was the best of the three tonight. Chris Reid baffles me week in and week out no matter what game he refs, he is usually responsible for absolute howlers and confusing, inconsistent calles. The young ref, Jon Chapman appears to call what he thinks he sees and likes to get in the way of the game flow and common sense. Very frustrating for fans a like. I find myself each game commenting on how ordinary so many calls are for both teams and I can see why the players and coaches are getting more and more frustrated given that they are impacted so much more than us fans.

Feel for the game. Absolutely Sobey hit it on the head, you don't make bullshit calls with 50 seconds to go.

@ Brunson
"You are right Ayjay how dare Wright shoot 4/18 from 3"

Joey is the coach and responsible for what happens at training and it is as plain as a wart on a withes nose that there needs to be some serious shooting practice from range.

Sixers shoot most of their points in the paint and they are excellent at doing that but they too frequently give up open outside shots through lack of confidence and drive into traffic to make much harder baskets.

The more our one faceted offense drives into congestion the more opposition contract their zone defense and with referees putting the whistle away we just continue to drive into turnovers.

Create a better outside scoring game and driving into the paint will be much more open as their defense has to reach and spread further out.

101 Brunson

Back to basics.

You don't practice shooting at training after under 14s, you practice in your own spare time.

No phantom call on Sobey and the follow on BS afterwards and Joeys game plan works. Our best percentage 3 Pt shooter and our best 3 Pt shooter are sitting on the bench injured.

You take Casper and Goulding out of that side and see how well they go.
4-0 won't save Melb at the end of the year when it’s 4-2

Fair Call Anon , the refs were terrible both ways .
And the Sixers did whinge way too hard , especially DJ.

I am a one eyed, biased, rose-coloured glasses 36ers fan.

In 25 years of following the game closely I cannot recall ever seeing a worst refereed game of basketball with more pathetically ridiculous calls.

What the f is with calling an unsportsmanlike in the last minute against a guy trying to put the offensive player to the line. Please provide footage of any similar refereeing call Abyssinia the world ever for comparison sake.

Seriously, the umpires have been terrible for ages but this game has me questioning a 25 year commitment to this league and this team. It's just not worth it.

LK fix up the umpiring or you have lost yet another fan. I will stick to watching NBA highlights.

My reference to Abyssinia is obviously deliberate because the standard of refereeing there is significantly superior to the NBL

What a farce. The referring needs fixing asap. 36ers partially to blame through. DJ and Shorter: Don't gesture, swear or abuse refs when you disagree with calls. They should always be techs IMO.

I think the common consensus is not that Adelaide should have won but that the ability to either win or have a close finish was removed by the officiating. Horrible end to what should have been a close game.

It seems that United must not miss the finals again.

This was a great learning point for up and coming referees. The correct call is not always the RIGHT call. When the game melts down and you are throwing Techs all over the place to professional players that is your management error.

They aren't learning. They're getting worse.

Considering how they played in the first 3 quarters Adelaide were lucky to get as close as they did. The refs did cost them a chance at winning but it was still looking like a very small chance.

Having said that if the NBL does have some close connections with true NBA now as LK and other NBL management have said. I think they should organise a retired NBA red to come in and do a full review of thebNBL referees.
Review the whole process, games, the level of teaching, if the should be full-time.
They need someone from the outside with no existing views or agenda to do a thorough review and sort this out. It is getting embarrassing and must be fixed to move the league forward.

believe me I'm never one to defend umpires...but

those intentional/unsportsmanlike fouls called late in the game are in line with recent FIBA rule changes.

Gone are the days of just grabbing a player to send them to the line. If you DON'T make a definite play of the ball it's to the line and maintain possession from the sideline.

The Sixers know the new ruling, they just played dumb down the stretch and still bitched and moaned.

read the rules...

He made a play at the ball.

Why is the UF so controversial? It was exactly the same action that has been called as an UF the entire season. Granted it is a new rule that many people aren't aware of but it has nothing to do with "playing" the ball - the term is unnecessary contact! Teys was beat on the cross over and pushed his arm across the body of the player to stop the clock. Its a part of the game that has been removed now, which is not the fault of any party to the game.

The game was still winnable for Adelaide despite the UF until Shorter and Childress demonstrated their utter contempt and were penalised accordingly.

It's not often the commentators on games are supportive of the refs but even they commented on the call being 100% right.

Teys made a play at the ball

He didn't grab or push Hooley therefore it’s not a USF

I get the rule is there to stop the hugging that used to go on to stop the clock, that isn’t what happened

When trying to intentionally foul, it's probably best to try and draw a charge rather than using your arms

The USF on Teys was arguably correct, but then why was Shorter called for a common foul when he committed an identical foul on the very next possession?

A: the refs make it up as they go along. Hence Sobey picked up the offensive foul late-game that had no business being called in the context of that game, Goulding picked up a flopping tech when he was legitimately bowled over, and DJ picked up a tech for... what, exactly?

http://basketballvictoria.com.au/1387-2/

I found this online. Suggest watching the video from 10:30 and having a look at 13:00 min mark (The foul on 9w). The answe is here.

Where was the 6 point play?

It's simply a matter of Fiba having enough brains to write in a 'late-game' exemption to the unsportsmanlike foul rule.

Either that or NBL thinks outside the box and doesn't officiate the Fiba rule

Is anyone talking about Hogdson's poor play?

For someone with high hopes this year, he was an absolute non-factor last night.

The fact that he cannot spin to his right in the post is his most glaring down fall.

Is he prepared to work hard on his game to devolved a right baby hook (like what Brandt has with Perth).

On a side note, they said Chris Anstey was his mentor, not a great choice for his game as Anstey was a perimeter player.

Although he plays for Adelaide I would like to see him develop for the Boomers and not just rest on his laurels.

Thoughts...

Having just watched the replay:

The tech on Goulding for flopping - wrong.
The offensive foul on Sobey - wrong.
The unsportsmanlike on Teys - questionable - could be argued he was making a play at the ball but can actually live with it being unsportsmanlike.
The tech on Childress - couldn't see but would say over-reaction.
The common foul on Shorter - wrong (it was less a play on the ball than Teys)
The tech on Shorter - wrong.

The reffing in that last minute was, at best, laughable.

I also just watched the replay. You can hear the telling statement from ref on the Teys call

Teys - I played the ball

Ref - no, you grabbed him

He clearly didn't grab Hooley at all

So , I read majok was out , but he played a good game with hodgson doing a weigh .
sixers development players trying to guard ware ... not a pretty sight...

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/current-and-former-nbl-players-slam-referees-after-controversial-call-in-melbourne-united-win-over-adelaide/news-story/ea5912e0fb0c46f59aab35f79100843c

NBL head of referees Scott Butler weighed in on the unsportsmanlike foul against Teys.

"It's actually correct, it’s 100 per cent correct and it can’t be anything else but that," Butler said.

Butler, who reviews every NBL game, said the referees did a “solid job”.

“You’re always going to get those really high pressure, bang, bang, decisions where it all happens at once ... and you need the slow-mo to be 100 per cent the call was right,” Butler said.

“By and large the guys did a solid job on what was actually a difficult game to referee.”

Well said, Snooch.

The only way it is correct is if the ref deemed Teys may no play at the ball, which by what he said to Teys is what he determined. The fact that he was wrong should see the ref concerned suspended

The NBL need the Umpires to clean up their attitudes as much as the shitty officiating . They are arrogant clueless little power merchants . The game is Unwatchable at present .

Teys was just plain beat on the play, and committed a bone head foul.

Nobody is arguing it wasn't a foul. Of course he was trying to foul. The fact it was called an unsportsmanlike when it could be argued he was making a play at the ball is what is up for debate. That and the 2 techs and a couple of other bad calls before that.

Give it a rest. No one abused the refs. Certainly not Shorter.

Why should we just "get over it"? We're the paying public and if we're not happy with the product because it's being ruined by poor officiating then we are entitled to call it out. The officiating was abysmal in the final minute, there's no other conclusion that can be drawn.

Perhaps the refs should look back at how the refs of days gone by handled situations like that. Guaranteed it would have been a hell of a lot better than that.

A lot of people don't understand there is no longer a professional foul. If you are trying to foul and your intent is to foul, then that is unsportsmanlike. The intent of the game is to put the ball into the basket and try and stop the other team putting the ball in your basket. No where in the intent of the game was it conceived that people would intentionally foul, gee we played 50 years with an intentional foul rule.

I thought Teys had a clear play at the ball during the crossover and intent was to get the ball and not foul. He seemed pissed he fouled in the first place. Then couldn’t believe he got an unsportsmanlike. Shorter intent was only to foul, therefore should have been called as such. The Sixers would not have benefited from an early foul strategy hence you didn’t see anyone yelling to foul either.

Scott Butler was a flat referee, he always played second fiddle to Aylen and Mildenhall in the international arena. The direction and confusion which is this season comes from him. Noted Aylen kept a low profile and wasn’t clearly a visable part of the last minute.

I've never seen such a reaction to the refs as this. Even Homicide after the game and NBL players from other teams on twitter saying "they were confused by what they had just watched"(obviously being polite and avoiding fines). It looked to be a close finish but we got screwed.

By "we" I mean all the fans watching not just 6ers

The sooner refs understand it is an emotional game the better. Players and coaches are playing for the future. Suck the whistle rather than blow it too quickly. The good refs like Mildenhall etc were able to talk to players which built rapport. Today's refs can't help themselves. You can bet a bad call which is challenged will always lead to a tech. Time refs were stood down for being too precious until they realise the game is not about their ego

Lots of past players and coaches getting on social media to vent about the refs the last few days. According to the game review all the calls were fine though. Get you're heads out of you arses NBL!

Qean

Agreed. Communication skills are definitely needed at all levels of refereeing. Players and coaches also need to be able to communicate. This needs to be facilitated by the league.

IMHO, the standard of refereeing can't be fixed quickly, but the communication issues could be at least partially dealt with through better planning before the season begins. Get the refs together with the coaches pre-season. The NBL need to decide what style of game they’re trying to encourage and communicate this clearly before the season starts. Then in-season, provide all coaches with a legitimate forum to air their grievances appropriately and keep it "in house". People are less likely to be emotional once they’ve had time and are away from the heat of the moment. Refs might be more prepared to acknowledge, “Yeah, not my best call” in a more appropriate environment. Review post-season. Tweak for following season.

As it stands, it’s a bad look for a league that wants to grow.

How many times do you hear a coach post game say their is no point contacting the league with an issue because they know they won't respond. Definitely communication problems.

Just watched last 3 minutes of this. (Had office Party on Friday...).

Love em or hate em, the 36ers are an entertaining team.

The Sobey offensive with 50 secs left was horrible. A really bad call.

But I have no issue with the Teys USF. If you're going to clumsily lunge across your opponent in a poorly diaguised attempt to stop an upcoming fast break, you probably deserve to get penalised for that.

The Goulding flop was probably the right call under the current interpretation. The current interpretation is dumb though. But that's a different issue.

I hope these two meet in the playoffs, cos there will be some feeling!

In the last 3 minutes there was only one obviously bad call.

Doesn't quite justify all the salty tears I just noticed when looking through this thread!

Yeh there were at least 4 bad calls in the last minute but I'm not really going to argue it any more. I've outlined which ones were wrong

I know the rules. The calls were wrong.

And it's got nothing to do with passion for my team- 2 of the wrong calls went against Melb and 2 went against Adl.

I just want to bring this thread back up to hear what the whinging Adelaide army has to say about the USF's on Barlow and Te Rangi tonight?

You can argue about the rule all you like. But it does seem that the Teys foul was in line with the current interpretation based on those 2 calls tonight

Those calls were different due to the wording "in order to" stop the fast break in the adjusted rule making intent relevant.

Teys' foul wasn't fouling in order to stop the fast break, he was fouling to stop the clock, something good refs around the world understand under the new ruling.

Unfortunately, the refs boss trying to support his ref by saying it was 100% has created a false precedent that will see some bad calls made from here on in that hadn't been made in the first 10 weeks.

Adelaide was 2 points down with 16 seconds to go. United scores, it's more or less game over. Stopping the fast break and stopping the clock are one and the same thing at that point in time.

Whether it is to stop the break or stop the clock, if its in transition there is no difference.

Any news on Moore's ankle?

Sorry, that was me above.

FSTOS, Joey Wright said in Sunday's presser they're not expecting Moore or Drmic for this week's game but are hopeful Creek will play.

Still the worst finish to an NBL game I can think of.

any guesses on how much nbl refs make per hour of their time given to do each game?

probably about $5 an hour