put up a couple air balls as well

It could have been his lack of defense too, Sutton plays some great defense when he is on, willie just didnt seem to be interested at the defense end.

He was not well, lacking in energy. May have been coming down with a bug. Looked very weak and lethargic.

Ah, but where's our friend Nick to tell us Willie is a great defender because he made the All-Star game.

Maybe it's just a case of Smyth finally realising that when Willie doesn't get going early he becomes disinterested and cruises the rest of the way.

3 fouls in the first would have been that reason #111410 but nick at least looked like scoring

Double Clutch, my point was that Willie is a good all-round player, but you're right, Willie defence was non existent last night.

i'm a willie fan, you take his bad shots with his good, but his sulking last night was horrible. When he finally did get back on he did not even raise his hands on the baseline ball and just walked around and was dragged a minute later. He did not really support his team or the fans that much after the win and i thought it was a horrible display. Even if he was pissed at phil for not playing him more he should at least support his team mates better. Should spur him on next game i hope.

Has noboby read my post earlier on. Farley was ill last night. Tell me how well all you Willie baggers perform when you are sick?

EC, was that confirmed or was it your assumption? Earlier you said that he "may have been coming down with a bug" which sounded like a stab in the dark.

I was surprised when he got put back in only briefly. Noticed him sitting a lot and wasn't sure why - stats show 1/9 FG but I can't remember him specifically doing anything that deserved him being dragged.

And was also surprised to see us run Maher, Coops, Timmons, Copes, Majstro in the crunch and not have Farley out there.

The reason willie played so bad is because I jinxed him saying that he would score 30 in an earlier post. I couldn't have been more wrong :P

Maybe he was sick or maybe he wasn't but I think the other players where playing great so they just kept running with them. Thats not very consistent of Smyth because if Nash plays bad he gets more minutes :P

Straight out of the general's mouth.

If Farley was ill then his minutes and performance were fair enough. If he was benched just because he wasn't playing well (and Helms should get some credit for that), then I'm ok with that too. I would just like to see that policy rolled out to everyone else on the team as well.

Maher magnificent, Copeland played a beauty, as did Cooper, and some good games from Mastro and Timmons. Sutton ran the offence well (Maher gets more room when he is on the court) and his defence on Brad Davidson was great. He just needs to work on his j. Nash didn't have the usual negative impact. Some of his passing was actually quite brilliant. His inability to make either a jump shot or a free throw is still a massive liability though. Horvath committed some brainless fouls, and the fact that he is naturally foul prone is amplified by the Sixers lack of perimeter defence (read TOTAL lack of perimeter defence when Maher and Farley are in the game together).

I also thought that was the worst performance from an officiating crew all year. Lately it has been much better (after watching the Breakers games I wish we could have Alan Godden ref us each week), but last night Haines, Filmer, and Hunt stunk the place up big time.

Credit to Singapore, who hung in there when they could have been blown away. Does anyone else think that Larry Davidson would fit in nicely to the Adelaide system?

Not a massive crowd, but I thought the noise level was pretty loud. Good to see us hang on for the win!

Maher for Player of the Week!

Yeah, Larry Davidson is a good prospect but as Boti alluded to this week, isn't going on to bigger things in a hurry. Really has the potential to push his way past Knight and Melmeth (solid but not outstanding players), but seems to just get reasonable stats behind the team leaders.

I guess I'm not really looking at him necessarily as a starter, but just as a solid backup. I've got to figure he's on the same money as someone like Nash, and given that, I'd prefer someone like Davidson. Stephen Hoare would be another one who would be great, though I hope he is getting paid more.

We tried to get Hoare at some stage in the past - another good player, but you'd assume Seamus has his wallet fat and contract locked up.

Nick,

So the guy can't play defence, but is a good "all-round" player? Being a well rounded player would include playing defence.

It would also include playing hard in all 4 quarter no matter what your stats, keeping the ball moving in a motion offence, attempting to collect loose balls, supporting your team-mates etc all of which Willie doesn't do.

But of course Ebi Ere likes him and apparently I'm just a fan who knows nothing about the sport so I should keep my mouth shut while you force your opinions on the forum. Thanks Nick.

EC,
Just becuase Phil said he was sick doesn't mean he was. Phil is not going to come at and say I dragged is butt because he doesn't play D

#9754, you obvisouly want a bit more Willie?