The games were against probably the two worst teams in the league (Hawks would be if they were without those two bigs for all their games).

We just beat the Hawks and then smashed Cairns in the second half. However, Cairns had played the night before in Perth which made a difference.

We would not have been better without him!

If we had played two top 6 teams it would have been a way different story. However, these two games was exactly what we needed for everyone to build their confidence up.

A good player that draws a crowd. Plays 40mins , top scores. Or more minutes and scores from everyone.
Also the fitness of davo and paora comes into it
As with maher and bruce had fitness troubles earlier

KJ, are you in a relationship with Hodge? IMO we in the long we are WAY better of without Hodge. He causes so many distractions and takes away from the team more than he gives.

Hodge if you look through the smoke was a poor defender and a player with NO jumpshot. He let his man on D get past him time and time again and IMO this led to Balls, Schensch, Jacob, Coops etc picking up fouls.

Are we better without Hodge IMO yes!

From 6th to 4th in 3 days Hodgeless. If Hodge had a point to prove by not showing up for Wednesday's game, he did it at the wrong time when 2 wins were a probability even without him. We now pick up Grizzard for the remainder of the season. I would say the last laugh is on the 36ers.

This has given other players an oportunity to step up and forced them to take every shot available rather than look to feed someone else. We have plenty of inside shooters and although Julius may have been the best going inside it was done at the expense of our existing players. We will be better off as a team if his replacement is a more versatile team man and a better shooter from range as its obvious that the rest of the boys score better without Julius there taking responsability themselves rather than trying to pass it on. We definately wont handle the better teams without another class player though. Some fantastic individual performances tonight and absolute commitment from the entire team. One of the best games I have been to and Im still coming down. Well done guys!

But we are playing good ball as a team now, when we were getting beaten or winning close games, we had more individual stand outs!
The other thing im concerned about is, we are playing really good ball, will grizz fit it straight away or be a disruption??? I hope ninnis just eases him in to the team and find his feet at his own pace.

I am one of many who was entertained by Julius.
Everyone has stepped up wed and sat

at the moment i don't think we are better just due to hodge being another scoring option and i think the boys are running on emotion a bit. Once grizzard comes in in i think we will be fine and possibly better as a team unit. I think its easy to just get caught at looking at two wins against lesser teams and draw the conclusion we are better without him.

Bizzy, the question was if we are better off without him. There is no way this team is better off without him! We might be better when we have Grizzard.

A win against the Hawks without two of their bigs and we just get over the line. Then a big win tonight based on destroying them in the second half after they had played last night in Perth. Those two teams (when hawks are down two big guys) would be the worst two teams in the league. So both of those games are not good examples to use to say this team is better without Hodge.

I agree that Scott should ease him in as we dont want to lose the improved dynamics that have come out in the last two games. We need him to compliment the team not change it.

Grizz 15mins to start with.

KJ, I don't often disagree with you, but we did still win the last two games, whereas we lost the one before WITH Hodge, against Gold Coast, who ARE the worst team in the league.

Your point is valid though, whether we are better without Hodge in the long run. At the moment the team appears to be unified in their disgust at what he has done, and is functioning as a team with greater intensity as a result. That said, we'd still need another import to allow tonight's performance to be replicated against stronger opposition.

I am not too pessimistic about how we will go against stronger opposition because you need to ask the question, who are the stronger opposition? Are they the ones who stand higher on the ladder. Are they not the same ones that recently have been given a jolt by the shaking of the ladder by the teams standing below them? We are down 1 import at the moment so its not likely we are going to win the grand prize with the team as it stands. Provided Grizzard fits in well and provides some quality contribution, the 36ers are right up there with them.

OK, I'm a nut-case so cut me some slack.

KingJames, you are the man. Who saw that coming? ; )

I've enjoyed both of our Jule-less games, not because they were wins, but being down a major player, everyone picked up a step & shared responsibility. Brett's worn the extra workload, Aaron's been brilliant & Davo's brought others into it while demoralising any upstart that dares to play him. Jake's relished the broader scope of his game role. Brad Hill keeps growing with every game & was still effective despite the refs determination to keep him out of the game. Winnie hasn't backed down on returning from a lengthy injury, while both Luke & Adam have been absolute powers.
Loved seeing Hobe's get time tonight. He's looked great in warm-ups but been unluck with the lack of game-time opportunities.

Mutley, in that loss to the Blaze, didn't Scotty bring up that we went into that game too cocky? Or that the guys were complacent?
Could be wrong.

It was Boti, I think , mentioned NYE on the gold coast, and the players with their wives and friends, as well as Scott's comments.
I think was more why we lost. I wouldn't blame Julius for losing that game.

Yeh, that was it, thanks Cam. : )

Scotty also criticised the preperation of the players. Said something like "we're not at the level where we can just rock up and expect to play well".

They showed tonight they don't need him.

I wonder when the Julius jokes will start flying? When the space shuttle exploded, we had jokes before the pieces even fell to the ground.

Anyone heard any good Julius jokes?

Julius made the funniest joke about himself:

Something about having a great jumpshot and scoring on pull up jumpers.

Skip

Any signifigance in the song "Joker & The Thief" by wolfmother played before the game last night?

Team looked like thet have been having more fun without Hodge, which is a conatgious thing and I have found the last 2 games real fun to watch and get involved in! Luke is a joy to watch, we have been in need of a clear cut pure centre ever since i was Bradtke, and to see him take guys on, stand up to Catt was awesome within itself.

Add Grizz and a few dunks a game, and this will be a very exciting conclusion to the season in Adelaide. Rod should only be playing 10-15 against cairns and build that up a little against the Crocs. BIG BIG WEEKEND UP NORTH FOR ADELAIDE!

Jack:

"I wonder when the Julius jokes will start flying? When the space shuttle exploded, we had jokes before the pieces even fell to the ground.

Anyone heard any good Julius jokes?"

Yeh, the Mutual Community (sponsors BTW) bits, parts, pieces line. I'm sure it's been done to death.

Funny thing is, if Julius had played Wednesday night & announced afterwards he was returning to the States to seek a ten day contract, he would have been unpopular but would not have attracted the amount of mud that has been thrown in his direction.

As a player, I think he added something to the team, but he isn't good at managing his own publicity.

Bizzy (Boti):

"Julius made the funniest joke about himself:

Something about having a great jumpshot and scoring on pull up jumpers."

If I had the loose morals of today, I'd score on any babe that lifted her jumper, cardigan, camisole, slip or whatever.

A win against the Hawks without two of their bigs and we just get over the line. Then a big win tonight based on destroying them in the second half after they had played last night in Perth.

Depends which Hodge is playing. Consider the NYE game where Hodge decided to play at the last second and then his opposite in Bowen lit up for 25 or so in the first half before Julius decided to rack up stats. There's a video from that game of Hodge calling for the ball in the wing, not getting it, and walking off in disgust.

That's a long way from the happier days.

I'd rather watch an actual team like what we've seen in the last 7 days, or the Hawks or Spirit, than renegade soloists to the detriment of the side.

Hard to say definitively whether we're better with or without, but we're 3-0 with a single import. Yeah, we beat more average teams, but we also lost to the Spirit and Blaze with him.

5-4 record with him. Four of those wins were at home and three of them against Hawks (barely), Crocs and Blaze (barely).

The esteemed Houndawg of OzHoops fame (and a rare appearance here as Hound) is not a big fan of Hodge's and I've grown to value his argument. Another OzHooper, The Customer (a shit-stirring Cats fan), suggests that Hodge is along the same lines as Rashad Tucker - inclined to rack up stats, but not necessarily to the success of the team. Interesting to consider at least.

There's been a different feel to the Sixers in the last 7 days for mine, not unlike a franchise facing administration; the team has seemingly solidified.

One concern, as someone mentioned above, is that they're running on pure emotion. We have a tendency to drop the intensity and become complacent once we've strung a few wins together. Here's hoping that's not the case.

In regards to the "are we better off" issue, it's a little more complex than a 'yes/no' answer IMO.

From an external point of view, team chemistry is better. The guys seem to be having more fun and are playing as a unit. On the flip side, scoring options and options to penetrate are down.

Grizz' impact remains to be seen. We do seem to be playing better team basketball and individuals seem to have stepped up their game in Julius' absence.

Personally, I'm very excited about our play off prospects and am enjoying the basketball I'm seeing from the guys.

I agree, under strength Gong and Taipans sides are not exactly a true litmus test, but all the guys can do is beat the squad they're playing on any given night - and they did that. Convincingly.

I think it was Hound.. I must admit that I didn't take much notice of it. Because I was a big Hodge fan, and he wasn't. But, anyway.. he was on news adelaidenow, posting on a Boti article, about a month ago. Tyndale v Hodge , so I just laughed.
But anyway, the sixers without any injuries, he'd take Tyndale.. With a lot of injuries, Hodge.

I had that conversation with Hound about Tynnie v Jules & I agree. We both feel Tynnie was the right player for a fully fit team. He was young & had a chance to be eased in alongsides the greats of Brett & Brad. Luck didn't pan out & he was in a situation way over his head. I watchout for game attitude/expression from the players while on court & there was a game here where he was clearly unhappy.
Jules wasn't an instant success, but that's understandable when being introduced mid-season to a vastly different team from last year. I enjoyed Jules' game immensely, but wasn't aware of the distractions off court. He involved the crowd, smiled a lot & really looked to enjoy playing for the 36ers. Let's face it, 6k came to see Jules play on the no-show, I wasn't alone.
It's been very fortunate that when it all came to a head, that we've had players returning from injury. No player likes being side-lined with injury & when they return, it's relief for their team-mates having another body & one that's fired up being there. It's also another set of skills that the oppo coach has to scout & shut down.
Winnie coming back brings hustle & he was clearly loving being out there.
I've thorooghly enjoyed the last 2 matches & that's documented here. I'm sorry the whole Jules thing got so ugly, but I'm really looking forward to having Grizz on board.
The only negative, is that I'm not a fan of players wearing the #1. No biggy though.
I've got a good vibe about what's to come. Not getting carried away, but it's going to sweet ball, win or lose.

Hey guys, it's 13:15:49, where's the dissing?