36ers stun Wildcats,
100-92
Sydney have had problems looking after the ball and this
game was no exception. With 24 turnovers to the Breaker’s 12 Sydney were giving
themselves reasons to stay out of the game. Things could have been worse for
the Kings if the Breakers mustered more than nine points off those turnovers.
Bottom of the ladder Adelaide 36ers ventured west to take on
the yet to lose a game Wildcats. From out of the blocks the 36ers set the pace,
the Wildcats on the back foot. Simpson
and his donkey set foot on Australian soil to assist his battered team, one
still reeling the 36 point shellacking in round one, but tonight was going to
be different with the 36ers boasting not only Simpson but Adam Ballinger (the
donkey??) and the Wildcats without the smiling assassin in Damian Martin.
Things got heated when Steve Weigh gave Shawn Redhage a shove;
coincidently it was the exact same shove Weigh served upon Bubbles Goulding on
the same court a few seasons back. Nathan Herbert also gave Red Dawg a further
shove for good measure before the usual chesting up occurred. The aftermath
gave the Wildcats six consecutive free throws and possession, a situation we
have not seen in professional ball.
It is a cliché to say that it is ‘not your night’ but the
Wildcats could put up an argument that it in fact wasn’t their night, a five
minute patch in the first quarter returned one basket, two turnovers, two
consecutively missed free throws and 12 missed field goals which really set the
tone for the Wildcats for the night.
This is not to discredit Adelaide, they came in with a plan
that upset the Wildcats from the start and matched the usual Wildcat up-tempo
style of play and beat them at their own game, often waiting for the press to
over-commit before pushing the ball up the floor quickly. Good work on the win
boys, too bad it still keeps you in last position; however when you continue to
play like that your rise up the ladder will be a quick one. 60% from the floor
as a team is huge. Daniel Johnson scored 22,
Steven Weigh had 16 points, 10 boards and three blocks in his return to the Jungle and Crosswell played well for 15.
Steven Weigh had 16 points, 10 boards and three blocks in his return to the Jungle and Crosswell played well for 15.
The Wildcats will obviously learn from this game and are
expected to unleash in their next game, Watch out Wollongong. Redhage scored 21
and dished 6 dimes, Lisch scored 15 and Greg Hire welcomed himself to the NBL
as a fully contracted player with 12 points. Keep an eye on Hire, his energy
can create some awesome things out on the court.
Hawks pip Taipans,
69-64
After a slow start the Hawks finally got into gear, it was a
slow one but it was enough to get them over the line against the Cairns
Taipans. The game was scrappy but that is probably how both teams like it. The
Taipans were bolstered with the return of Alex Loughton who was good at free
throws but offered little else. We are certain Alex’s workload will pick up as
he is eased into full time duties.
On the other end of the court the Hawks were having free
throw problems of their own. First was the issue of getting to the line, the
second issue was the percentage and even then it was only two players. Glen
Saville’s one from two and Catron’s 2 from 6 the only free throws for Hawks in
the whole game combining for a lousy 38%. It was outside where the Hawks were
more effective going 10 from 20 from deep.
For the Hawks, Timmy Coenraad led the charge with 16 points
and Joevan Catron scored 15 whilst
Rhys Martin scored 12 and had 9 assists.
Rhys Martin scored 12 and had 9 assists.
Last week’s hero Andrew Warren was MIA having a shocking
night with stats so bad we cannot talk about it. In a characteristic result so
far this season Brad Hill was surrounded by the stock exchange. Hill ended the
game with 19 points, 7 boards and 2 blocks.
New Zealand 76,
Sydney 59
At least Sydney are getting better, right? A fortnight after
getting decimated by the Breakers by 37 points the Kings effectively halved it,
this time losing by 17 points. After a disappointing start and losing by 12 at
quarter time the Kings managed to pull within two points which turned out to be
the Breakers teasing the NBL’s royalty, the Breakers from there ran away with
the game.
Playing for the first time at Vector Arena the Breakers put
on a show. The court looked good, the crowd was large and the Breakers had a
big win. No doubt the boys are drooling at the mouth just thinking about
playing their next game there.
 |
| A police escort would sort the King's turnover woes |
Who woke CJ Bruton back from the dead? Bruton put on a
vintage performance finishing the game with 21 points and 8 boards, almost one
for every three point shot he missed. Gary Wilkinson pounded away for 20 points
and thieving Cedric Jackson ended with 6 steals and six assists. Cedric shall
giveth and Cedric shall giveth away.
Slow starts have dogged the Kings. It is always going to be
hard to get back into the game when you let it slide from the tip off. Julian Khazzouh scored 16 points and grabbed
12 boards, Jerai Grant is becoming the beat the purple army were hoping for,
Jerai scored 12 points and grabbed 6 boards whilst Aaron Bruce added 11 points,
7 assists and still has not missed a free throw winning the CBAB FTW challenge.
Townsville break Gold
Coast, 78 - 70
Queensland clashes involving the Blaze don’t seem to have
the stigma a Crocs v Snakes game has but this does not mean that they are any
less intense. The Crocs rallied hard to head into the major break with a five
point lead only to be rewarded by having five fouls called against them two
minutes into the third and nine fouls in total for the quarter.
Despite every effort and surge the Blaze put up trying to
inspire the win, their score was always going to be south of Townsville’s, just
like their geographical location and just like their current place on the
ladder. Many predicted the Blaze to be contenders this season however we are
yet to see that. Mark Worthington finished with 13 points and 8 boards
including a wide open dunk late in the game which poses a question. Does Wortho
dunk often? James Harvey dropped 17 points but had no support from his bromancer.
As for Townsville, they will not be happy with their reckless
turnovers late in the game, particularly Elvin Mims (17 points and 9 rebounds) who
injects energy into the Crocs had four of his five turnovers down the stretch.
Michael Cedar who managed to bank a three ball off the glass finished with 12
and Holmes, PC and Blanchfield rounded out the double digits scorers with 10 apiece.
Hawks go down to
the Tigers, 74 - 82
In the last game of the round the
Tigers travelled to the “Gong” to take on the Hawks, who were dealt an early
blow by having reliable big man Larry Davidson ruled out of the clash. The Loss of Davidson was going to
have the Hawks playing small ball for the game and relying on import Joevan
Catron to fill up the middle.
Catron didn’t disappoint top
scoring with 18pts and grabbing 6reb and dishing out 3ast, rotating the ball
well on the perimeter creating open shooters, he would have had more than the 3
assists on the stat sheet were it not for the dismal 28% shooting from 3pt land
from the Hawks on this night.
Helping on the scoresheet was Tim
Coenraad who had a serviceable 13pts and 6reb and Tyson Demos with 10.
 |
| Showron was kept in the showroom |
What could have had more impact
on the scoreline was the Hawks reluctance to use new import PG Showron Glover who
seemed to make plays every time the ball was in his hands and in his 4 minutes
on the court managed 2pts and 6ast. The Hawks controlled the game for
the first 3 quarters, at times hold a lead of 12+ points, but the comeback from
the Tigers was lead by none other than Patty “Skills” Mills.
Mills was carving up the Hawks
defence, splitting double teams like Dwayne Wade and getting to the rim,
hitting spot up 3’s like Reggie Miller and showing why he is the fastest player
up the court in the NBL since Ricky Grace. Mills had 20pts for the game and
was efficient in his shooting going 4/8 from beyond 3 and was 7/13 for the game.
The rebounding and general dirty
work down low was handled by Matt Burston who along with Lucas Walker had 6reb
each, but the scoring load was handled by the usual suspects for the Tigers
offensively.
Cam Tragardh had 12pts, which is
a little below his usual scoring average, but he did actually play some defence
and had a tough battle with Catron down low, Ayinde Ubaka had 14pts and was 4/6
from beyond the 3pt line Daniel Dillon also had a decent night offensively with
13pts.
The only worry so far for the
Tigers is the total irrelevance of Ron Dorsey and his inability to produce
anything more than a “Also Played” on the stat sheet, with so many small
forward wing players on the Tigers, if he fails to start to produce could he be
the first import to go, or is his contract to bad to see a buyout happening,
the Tigers want to see you do something Ron, they do Ron Ron Ron, they do Ron
Ron.
Can’t
Buy a Damn Thing Award
This award was close to going to
Luke Nevill of the Wildcats for his 0pt 1reb 1ast and 2 turnover game and a
“Luke Who” type of performance against the 36ers.
But it was actually a 36ers
player who gets the award this week, and if you remember your CBAB terminology
this player went all “Krispy Kreme” on us this week.
We present this week’s award to
Darren “The Dr” Ng who had an almighty donut on the stat sheet and didn’t
register anything other than 3 or so minutes on court.
Here in WA we don’t have a Krispy
Kreme donut franchise store, and we thought Adelaide didn’t wither, but it seems
the Dr brought his own dozen with him.
Gimme
my Change Award
There were no real outstanding
candidates for the award this week, a lot of great performances by many
individual players, it seems the real winners were the hoop fans who managed to
catch a glimpse of their team.
But this award should go to the
36ers this week, getting back their franchise player Adam Ballinger inspired
the team to come out and defeat the highly favoured Wildcats on their home
floor deserves respect.
It seems the 36ers are the Cats
bogey team and maybe that the old school rivalry may be heating up again to go
back to the days of old, well done Adelaide, enjoy it while you can.
love it how you suggest that sixers/wildcats push and shove was instigated by adelaide. also, shawn redhage is a dirty prick on the basketball court, you cant argue that.
I didn't suggest it was instigated by Adelaide. I said 'things got heated when Weigh gave Redhage a shove'.