First 12 seconds of the game you mean. There was certainly a discrepancy in free throws and fouls. However, I think it would be more a case of poor defence putting the team under pressure and then making it difficult to contain without fouling.

Our defence really needs to be worked on or we don't have a chance of winning it this year.

GC scored 20 points in the first 5 minutes of the game. Similar to when they played here. We need to start out with much better defence.

Foul count was 26-17 if you exclude Hodge's tech.

There's often a lot of complaining about the refs in Perth threads on OzHoops too. As I posted, the foul count discrepancy wasn't that outrageous and the trips to the line might've arisen as much from being in the penalty and fouling shooters as anything else?

A high turnover count looks to be the main issue, at least going by the boxscore.

Will be interested to hear from Statman if he went to the game.

Yep - I went to the game - and its laughable hearing people condem the refs just by looking at a box score.
Sure there were some soft calls - but as per usual it was the inconsistency of the refs that was bad - not the fact they favoured one team over the other. As for the disparity in free throws - this was due to some late fouling to stop the clock and the fact that the Blaze actually drove hard all night and teh Sixers didnt move their feet on defense.
Hodge got a T yes - and it was deserved as he was mouthing off at the refs - got 2 warnngs then got called, hard to complain there. Was probably lucky he didnt get another one as he came off as he dropped a couple of f bombs that were very audible.
Shensh also could have got one as he was clearly frustrated and when subbed off late threw his water bottle like a missile and nearly hit people standing at the bar, he then went on to kick the advrtising sign and break it - and then didnt the crowd get into him!

Well it sounds like Luke and Jules weren't too happy with the refs then.

But I agree with Statman, you can't condemn the refs without actually seeing the game. A discrepancy in the foul count usually just means that one team was committing more silly fouls.

Threads like this make 6ers fans look like Port supporters :P

If the Blaze ran their offence like they did here recently, I for one give credit to the Blaze for the win. And don't ANYONE give me that shit where you block the lanes & double the screen cliched wanna-be spert crap. Defence will ALWAYS be reactive, & ANY pre-emptive double-teaming will open it up for another player, & 1 on 1 gambles are at best, be a 50/50 chance of coming off.
I refer you know-it's to the highly predictable, Mr Ricky "Amazing" Grace. Not sure of the exact quote, but it went something like:
"They all know I go left, I always go left & I'll keep going left. They can't stop me."
Did Brian Goorjian work out how to stop Ricky? Hell no.
Could Brian's robots stop Ricky? Hell no.
The Blaze won & desereved to win. We had the yips & as Isaac mentioned, turnovers should be factored into the loss. If the Blaze scored at a respectable clip from our TOs, then there's the game gone, right there.
BTW, I don't accept the fouling to send them to the line call. I noticed from the live scores, that we had 6 fouls to their 1 in the final quarter. They then fouled US, to send US, to the line as the game progressed. Smart move. We needed 3s & they sent us the line for a MAX of 2.
Out-played, & out-coached. Give 'em the win.

Anon #218857, how many 36ers games have you actually been to. I hope for your sake that your comments come after experiencing first hand every one of their games. If not, shut up.

Why can't they doubt that the refs have been a major problem in each of 11 losses (home and road) without having seen all the games? Very few games I've ever seen have been significantly impacted by dodgy refereeing.

In this case, they were responding to someone saying, following the live scores:

I realised after Balls was called for a foul within the first 2 minutes of the start, how the game was going to run.

EC - If people cant pass comment on a team unless they have experienced every single game they have played first hand then this would be a very quiet forum.

Everyone knows that the refereeing standards are not at the level they should be but the seemingly constant whinging on this forum that the refs are biased aainst Adelaide and causing the team to lose s quite frankly laughable.
Last night the Sixers came up against a team who were white hot to start the game. The Blaze couldnt miss. They also had a plan to keep Shenscher and Ballinger out of their comfort zones and to agressively push the ball up the floor.
The Sixers looked a little complacent and thought they would be able to 'turn it on' in the 2nd half and take the win. When it didnt happen their 3 big guns in Hodge, Balls and Shensh went to water and started bitching and moaning. This in turn pretty well killed any chemistry in the group and the Sixers were teh ones who looked like they were on the bottom of the ladder - playing as indiiduals and with a pretty crappy attitude.

Actually Statman I DO think the refs are biased for and against some teams. I definitely thing any team run by Goorj usually gets the benefit of the doubt no matter where they play. And until recently I would have said the same about the Tigers. This seems to have changed recently and in their game against Adelaide the Tigers were picked up for some of things they had gotten away with in the past which impacted on the result.

Not much of a mention by Boti or Ninnis in the couple of articles on AdelaideNow about dodgy officiating having a significant influence on the game.

Thanks Statman for the word on the game. I can't say I'm surprised at all, we only just beat them here recently with the Blaze 1st half running hot. As much as some seem to think you can just switch the opposition offence off, it ain't gonna happen when their tails are up & brimming with confidence. Always a step ahead, & you're always on the chase. No surprise that that's when fouls start to rack up & they get sent to the line. Anyone seeing a pattern here?
Anyway, to the sooks, someone mentioned in our home game victory that Casey Frank copped a shitload of fouls in the very start of our home game, did that set the tone for the reffing on the night? Did we cheat the win?
Can't say I'm impressed with the cry babies here. Never have been, never will be. Time to grow up.
BTW Statman, you'd have to be lov'n Bowen on the team. : )

Love it when he is switched on and focused, the game before he went 0-10 so needs to be mentally ready every game.

Whitehead is the really good one at the minute - he is getting some great numbers due to hussle and effort - and his enthusiasm is catching on with the whole team.

Sunday against the Crocs will be interesting to see if the group can maintain the levels they were at against teh Sixers.

The Sixers were outplayed on the night. Simple as that.

Now I am usually critical about the reffing in most games (as half the fouls are legit, the rest are bogus "make-up" calls). And I'm sure the Blaze game was no exception. However fouls are fouls, and you can easily make up the deficit with shooting.

The foul calling situation in this league needs to be run over with a fine tooth comb; but teams can still win with good shooting. Blaze won... we lost.

We can be thankful that we've won a few against them.

Statman:

"Whitehead is the really good one"

He's the Zit-factor alright, put more pressure on him & he'll bust out. I'm with KingJames, pore defence is to blame.

Statman, I only have criticisms against the umpires in the home games that I attend (every single one of them). My criticisms come from what I see with my own eyes and I know what I see is crappy officiating. What the 36ers came up against last night was a team that although they beat in Adelaide only a few weeks ago, the 3ers had a tough job at doing so and only narrowly got the win. Surely you plan you next game against the same team bearing in mind the problems you've faced last time and working towards overcoming it. The 36ers went into this game already having played a preview of it. Its like going into an exam and knowing what questions are going to be asked beforehand. The 36ers are consistently inconsistent if that makes any sense. Its been the same pattern of play all season where they do something fantastic only to prove they can't maintain it. So much talk about Hodge being the best import in the league. Last night Bowen was. Sure Hodge gets double teamed but then where are the screens that the rest of the team can put up for him. Where is the 36ers player that in undefended while his opponent is doubling up against Hodge? This all goes to the weakness of this team and the weakness of the coach to find a way to overcome this. Can you tell me that it is something new to Ninnis that the opposition put 2 players up against Hodge? By doing this, they have 3 remaining players on court, we have 4. Tell me what it is that I am not understanding here.

How can you expect the players to keep it together if they are frustrated when their coach stands up and looks frustrated and challenges the refs on a regular basis?

Dana, it's not like every single coach in the league (present and past) hasn't expressed frustration with the referees? Smyth used to do the same (and wore techs now and then for it).

EC, maybe the home court advantage is worth something now and then? Blaze came out hot, played a better game, etc. The Dragons lost to the Crocs. There are upsets and although it's frustrating, they pop up in a tight league.

Smythe only started doing it later on. He started off being very calm quiet.

From a few rounds back, here are the tech fouls per team. Interestingly, I think Lemanis is a coach who is is often up and yabbering at refs but has zero. To an extent (e.g., his, Ninnis, Gleeson, etc) I don't think it's excessive or problematic. And I certainly don't think Hodge for one is going to pick up anything from Ninnis - if he plans on picking up a tech for talking shit, I'm sure he will manage that independently!

2008/2009 Tech Fouls
6  Gold Coast (Whitehead (2) Frank, Heal, Joyce, Bench)
5  Perth (Bench (3) Loughton, Crawford)
4  Melbourne (Anstey (2) Bench Hoare)
4  South (Bench (2) Vukona, Ingles)
3  Wollongong (Saville (2) Campbell)
3  Adelaide (Hill, Hodge, Schenscher)
2  Cairns (Crosswhite, Mee)
1  Sydney (Smith)
1  Townsville (Robertson)
0  New Zealand

Isaac, players and in particular imports that are generally paid the most should not be looking for any sort of motivation to lift their games. They should be giving 100% every time regardless. This is another reason I had a problem with this game and that is the 36ers did not go into the game with the right frame of mind and the intention to give it their best shot. Ninnis confirmed this and gave several reasons as to why it was so. To me, that is not good enough. You have to give it 100% every time as an individual and as a team. I acknowledge that it is the nature of the sport that you have off days and good days, but going into a game and consciously not playing the best you can is not acceptable.