Isaac
Years ago

Funny Narrow win at home continues Sixers streak

The Adelaide 36ERS have fought a dogged four quarters to scrape home with a 90-89 win over the Brisbane Bullets and extend their winning streak to eight games, the sixth best streak in franchise history.

Brett Maher ran out of time on one of the final plays, pressured into losing the ball with 3.4 seconds remaining, but the rare fumble wasted crucial time. After a time-out, the Bullets pushed the ball forward desperately, but Brisbane guard Lanard Copeland stumbled in the corner and the shot attempt was too late and too wide.

It was, though, far from smooth sailing in the home team's attempts to exact revenge for their elimination from the play-off race in 2004/05. A first quarter barrage from Stephen Black as he amassed 15 points set Adelaide aback before Dusty Rychart and Oscar Forman started to reel in the gap.

Forman had a tip-dunk off a 36ERS missed shot and then made two three-point shots to have 8 points at the first break, Adelaide down 24-27 after the Bullets' 4-15 opening.

The 36ERS kept the ex-Melbourne duo of Mark Bradtke and Copeland scoreless in the first term and Bradtke had no luck for much of the game, missing all eight attempts in the first three quarters of game-time.

His opposite in the paint, David Cooper, was similarly luckless, finishing with only 2 points and 3 rebounds in the game, but did have 4 assists.

Near the main break, Brisbane had extended their edge to eight before Jacob Holmes hit a jumper with a couple of seconds left to make it 43-49. Rychart had 16 points, but was overshadowed by the brilliant shooting of Black who had 22.

Starting the third quarter, the teams traded baskets, Willie Farley and Maher matching the treys from Brisbane's Black and Mick Hill.

A foul on Bullets' forward Sam Mackinnon as he tried to stop Holmes on the break, and a subsequent technical foul on Bradtke did not help the visitor's chances as first Holmes and then Maher made them pay, combining for 4-of-4 straight free throws.

Adelaide went into the last period up by a single point, though they gave up the lead before wrestling it back one last time. Bradtke made up for his shocking start, scoring ten in the clutch quarter on 4-of-6 shooting and finished with 15 rebounds including key defensive boards down the stretch.

For Adelaide, Holmes scored seven with icy-cool free throws under pressure and finished with a tally of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Mackinnon made his second basket of the half, with a crucial three courtesy of a Black assist, and the score was 78-82. Then, with the scoreline 81-85, Forman hit a clutch shot from range and Adelaide were down by a single point, 84-85. The end margin was the same, but favouring Adelaide, as Farley forced Black into a backcourt turnover and made a critical shot of his own to snatch the final lead.

Adelaide won for the sixth time at home this season and moved to a 9-1 record for 2005/06, one win ahead of the Sydney Kings. The 36ERS travel to Perth for a Friday night game against the Wildcats, while Brisbane visit the Hunter Pirates on the same night.


Adelaide 36ERS 90 (Farley 21, Rychart 20, Maher 20, Holmes 13, Forman 11)
Brisbane Bullets 89 (Black 30, Brannen 16, Hill 15, Bradtke 10)

Topic #4826 | Report this topic


Isaac  
Years ago

Thoughts: good crowd. Sunday night, crap weather, but people showed up.

After the game, Farley was a great crowd-pleaser. Stopped to bang on the drums a bit and fire up the crowd. Good to see as usual.

Can't complain about the result! Would've preferred to have seen Maher hit a two on that last play to make life tougher for the Bullets in their final 3 seconds. Still, we were on Cardiac Court, so it had to go down to the wire AGAIN.

Thought Mackinnon should've gone for the lay-up on that last play rather than kicking it out to Lanard.

Must be rough for Brisbane knowing that they could have won that game if Brannen didn't go 3/7 from the stripe, or if Bradtke didn't give up that tech.

Oscar is one shot off top ten in the league for threes. 17/40 for the season while Copes is tenth with 17/39. Would prefer to see him take/make some shots after half-time though -- has that tendency to do well early and then not get any opportunities for a while. e.g., Oscar has scored more points in the first quarters (45) than Maher (40).

Speaking of stats, Farley and Maher are outrebounding Oscar AND Coops the starting centre. Not bad from Willie especially, as Maher is already known for being a good rebounder for his size and position.

More double-doubles from Jacob and Dusty, both are top five in the league on the boards. Jacob's been pretty reliable with his fourth quarter free throws recently. A string of good games for him actually.

30 from Black makes him the leading scorer in the league, and he's leading the assists category also. Impressive first half from him tonight.


Danger game in Perth perhaps? They're 3-0 recently and beat Melbourne in Perth.

Reply #55562 | Report this post


Jimmy  
Years ago

Another nail biter but another win :D:D all good.

But i wonder, how good are we really? Are we really that good...knowing how good sydney and brissy are/can be, can we keep this up. I noticed that nashy got a few minutes...i hope he can come back firing. From where I am (NYC) it just feels as tho we are overacheiving a bit or are we playing good ball (plus i know a little luck is helping out as we havent been on the better end of close games in previous years). Is Jacobs shot landing? I notice he has improved his shooting a little and is working as hard as ever on it. Also how is oscar going and coops? The usual 3 are fkn brilliant as always.

ANywya, go the 36ers and I look forward to hearing of more wins...maybe with greater margins ;)

Reply #55568 | Report this post


EC  
Years ago

Isaac, just a quick response to your statement "Must be rough for Brisbane knowing that they could have won that game if Brannen......". After the first couple of close wins, I felt that way also, thinking to myself if only this and only that the Sixers wouldn't be in this tough situation at the end of the game or the opposition could have won it if they had done this and that. However its happening so many times that this type of reasoning is irrelevant. You can't win a game by such a close margin that many times unless there is a strategy involved. I feel that in the last few minutes, whatever deficit the Sixers have needed to make up, they say forget what's happened until now, this is the job ahead of us. I think its more than just luck, its being able to deliver under pressure. We won't win every game with a good margin because so many of the other teams are so talented themselves. By winning close ones we show that we have an edge over them. If the Sixers continue this way, I can see the rest of the season being an excellent one and a championship coming our way.

Reply #55569 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

Sure, that's fair enough. But an unnecessary tech costs your team two points. That doesn't help. If these visiting teams would just shut their mouth, they wouldn't be giving that up.

The home crowd thrives on those sort of moments too.

Reply #55590 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

thought hills minutes were limited once brett was in foul trouble. He had a chance against some of their younger guys. real good crowd as well, looked more filled than the last game to me and the drums are helping make a vibe, although sometimes i think the play the D-fence beat to much and it kills the usual monotone clapping beat. Good game overall, bring on the next.

Reply #55592 | Report this post


Moses Guthrie  
Years ago

Well, courtesy of a few family and work commitments (and free tickets from Dusty Rychart - thanks Dusty!), I made the 500km journey to the DHD on Sunday night.

Was impressed with almost everything about the new presentation. The big screen is great - on a low budget - but stats etc could be easily added. The lights out trick and spotlights is so simple yet so effective, and the intros are great.

Not sure about Bobby's prom night joke (I must've missed something) and to a point, I agree with Bobby Joe (or whoever it is) at Bullets.com - maintain the class and put away the ass.

Navy Seals were funny and well involved, cheerleaders were good (remind me to wear glasses next time - row "L" was too far back!!), and the hot dog wasn't too bad either (but strewth, the poor guy in front of me - the breath must've been terrible).

A big hi to the old(er) lady who sat next to me. Been attending games since Apollo, never played, kids only played at low levels - was a great night and we shared some great stories.

So to quote Bruce McAvaney, I could go on and on, but I already have. Well done on a huge improvement to the night as a whole, and keep improving like that and you'll sell the place out again.

Oh, and the team was good too. Damn Farley - he was near unguardable at times, and Rychart - well, after giving up free tickets - he's the man!!

Reply #55991 | Report this post




You need to be a registered user to post from this location. Register here.



Close ads
Little Streaks - The fun and interactive good-habits app designed especially for kids.
Serio: Tourism photography and videography

Advertise on Hoops to a very focused, local and sports-keen audience. Email for rates and options.

Recent Posts



.


An Australian basketball forum covering NBL, WNBL, ABL, Juniors plus NBA, WNBA, NZ, Europe, etc | Forum time is: 11:22 pm, Thu 28 Mar 2024 | Posts: 968,026 | Last 7 days: 754