Unlikely on the road -
Start - Cooper,Ballinger,Holmes,Groves,Gilchrist.
Would give us good chance at it.

Cairns crowd are going to get after Chilchrist.
How he handles it will determine whether you have an outside chance.
Of course your guys still have to take care of business of ressurecting your offensive effectiveness, play the D, rebound etc etc.
One redeeming feature is Cairns aren't good enough to put scoreboard pressure on you as well, so you should be in the game. It'll be in 70's unless someone gets hot.

I want to be positive..

But stagnant offense, baffling zone defenses and some underperformers really just make me hope we at least don't have another 10+ point loss.

If we don't manage to pickup the win, I at least hope there are some positives to take away from it.

Has Adelaide sold a 'home' game?

The NBL website states "The Adelaide 36ers host the Cairns Taipans on Saturday night at the Cairns Convention Centre".

Given the trend of home teams winning I'm treating this as a sign that the Sixers will win tonight. You might be buying the beers Flinders 80.

Starting is - Ballinger Gilchrist Holmes Hill and Groves

Looks like Hill was the right choice..Now Cooper in for Holmes, after 5mins.

Good to see Ninnis get Herbert out of the starting 5, replaced by Hill who has 10 points in the first 6 minutes.

Sixers up 11-17 so far.

Brad Hill what a star.

Rich Melzer really is an idiot. STOP SHOOTING ALREADY! Never seen a big man shoot at such a low clip so consistently.

It's a shame we couldn't get a stream of this game as it would be a great game to watch!

lol Xztatik isnt it KEEP shooting Melzer when he is shooting that badly?

Score update from the other game: Hawks beating the Crocs 52-26 in the 3rd. Lol take that dumbass bookies!

Ty McKee is officially the hottest PG in the league, he has 15pts while Homicide is shooting 1/10.

Interesting start 31 to 21 at qtr time - sixers up by 10 and nothing from Ballinger.

Great first quarter by the Sixers leading by 12 31-19.

Good call ITA, but in any other week it's STOP because he's on my freakin fantasy team!

Cooper in foul trouble and Garlepp seeing his first minutes. 33-19 lookin good...

go you farkin 6ers come on push the lead out

Up 21pts!!!

NOW I WANT A LIVE FEED!!!!

Go you 6ers!!!

It's an exact replica of the Hawks-Crocs game!

Groves and Gilchrist are stars

Just got in, great to see the score. The boys must keep it going, we saw what happened in the tigers game after the half. Like the start of Hill as well, Herbert can play his role just as well off the bench.

Beware the dodgy 3rd quarter I say...

Brad Hill's shooting 7/7 for 15pts. Where have those haters gone?

Brad Hill needs to be the starting SG.

What offensive problems?

WTF

62 point first half?!

On the road?

C'mon Sixers...keep it up.

38 to 8 points in the paint tells the story

I noticed last season - Brad Hill played so very well in our AWAY games.

Brad Hill haters??? We're right here.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Half time DT points for those interested:

Cortez - 32
Hill - 40
Pitbull - 32

Hill Billy plays much better away. Some believe it because mummy doesn't tuck him in and he plays ANGRY!!!!

GO YOU HILL BILLY!!! Play like a demon!

Jonathan, do you mean starting SF?

33 points in the paint means we are actually attacking the rim. We did the same in the first half against the Tigers then after the half when they clogged the lanes we settled for jumpers. The key to our success is attacking the rim and if a shot isn't there look for our shooters.

Was there a brawl at half time or something?
24 seconds to go there was 1 foul for Jones, 2 free throws for Hill, a foul for Holmes, foul for Vale and Unsportsmanlike fouls for both Crosswhite and Herbert.

nice start to the 3rd!

9pts was what we scored in our 3rd quarters against TVL and MEL, we've got that in the first minute here!

72:36 Up WTF??

Pitbull really starting to dominate.

How good are these 36ers! Not a trouble in the world! With mastercoach Scott Ninnis, good form on the road and two superstar imports... wow.

does this reflect on the players that maybe the coach was right at training

Wow! brad Hill 7/7 frm the field for 17 points...Gilchrist on fire...can't put a foot wrong tonight so far

Surely we can't lose from here.

hahaha I like it Xztatik, sounds like i can pencil this one in now...

Love your work X,

"mastercoach Scott Ninnis" The cream always rises!

Lets Go Sixers!

Think mine's stuck. Hasn't moved off 77-42 for a while now...

Philllllll Jones 4 fouls Melzer throws up enough he has to score some time

Here we go. the 3rd qtr curse!!
Lead slowly fading =P

Jonathon, dont you curse us! you go knock on some wood right now!

Uh oh, 0-8 run...

Balls 3/9 - unusual...

Cooper on court.

Since he has been on we have gone from 77:42 to 77:50 - co-incidence?

Yeah Hems, looks like he's still playing mostly at C with the low minute counts for Garlepp and Coops.

Don't care if they win the quaretr by a couple but it was 10 - 0 after 2 min

77-52 has not moved for me in a while.

There we go, Cooper's earnt his pay check for the night.
Finally got his Block.

now it moved in our favor :-)

Brad Hill still 7/7?

One thing that has been over looked is that we have 4 turnovers at the end of 3 quarter time compared with their 13! Great effort!

5;38 77:42, Holmes off, Cooper On
5:12 Cooper fouls
2:47 2 pt missed
2:02 Block made
1:41 Turnover
1:38 Foul
1:38 Melzer makes the 2 FT
1:38 Cooper off, AB back on

In those four minutes, we went from 77:42 to 77:52.

AB & Holmes on bench for those four minutes

A lead of 39points was our biggest - 'only' 27 now at 3qtr time.

Jacob just quietly putting away a nice double-double. Brad Hill afraid to ruin his perfect night I think.

Time for Molly I reckon...

clear that bench Scotty - thunderbirds are go!

JH 10+ boards for the second tiem in a row. Say what you want about him, but he's probably the best rebounder in the league.

Best rebounder in the league!! Get out of here he hasn't even got one offensive rebound tonight :P

Pound-for-pound I agree 24.

Guesses for the final margin? I'll say 37.

Easy twenty four. I understand all the blood in your body has rushed from your head to another part because of this awesome game....but lets not talk crazy.

Molly on court - Carpe Diem!

MOLITOR IS ON!

MOLITOR IS ON!

Surely we can't lose from here?

Lol! Run a play for Molly, quick!

Do you think EC will comment on the fact that Dusty had more turnovers then the entire Sixers team? :P

Good to see Ninnis give some meaningful minutes to Garlepp and Molitor. Great win - both imports escape the heat for at least another week.

Hahaha KJ!

37 POINTS!!!

Great win, I am more excited than the Silver Fox

Wow X your boy Melzer came through for you on the score! He must have felt bad for u as he played bad for u when he was on ur GM Team :P

We were perfect from the line as a team tonight until Herbert missed his second attempt!!

Surely that is cause for moving him on!?!? ;P

Did Gilchrist have a point to prove putting up 6 3's and hitting 5 of them? Whaat a shooting display from all the team.

Will be interested to see how poor Cairns were defensively, how sloppy they were and how our D was. Still, you have to be playing some alright ball to win by that much, especially wen we pumped the lead out early.

Great win Sixers!

8.7 rpg (after tonight) on the season for Holmes. Second best average in the league. Deal with it.

Trust Me - the SIlver Fox is pretty damn excited right now :-)

Scrap that last post, BEST in the league.

Rumour has it the Silver Fox is dancing on the rooftops....

Just looked at the stats:

When Cooper on: Sixers to Taipans 31:24
When Cooper off: 75:43

Cooper on: lead increased at 0.46 points per minute
Cooper off: lead increased at 1.29 points per minute

Good win, now for NZ. Hopefully they can build together on the road and get some confidence from this. Just one thing, everyone stay level headed we don't need the major high and low attitude here.

Nice production from hill and tez and gilly. Its good to see they can win without balls going off who looking from the stats got his shots but they did not fall.

Yep good recovery by Melzer.

Agree with twenty four.

Garlepp pretty good in 9mins.

DT Scores:
Pitbull - 68!!!
Cortez - 46
Melzer - 32


...now we just need Mr. Kirk Penney to have an 'unfortunate setback'.

Jack Toft - you need to do the same for the rest of team for that stat to mean anything. Not saying its wrong, just that the same could possibly be said for other players, or Cooper's rests may have coincided with Melzer being rested - lots of variables.

This is my Hoops debut and i can confirm I have gone outside to high 5 as many people as possible and threw a few new moves in my dance because "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN ABOUT"

OMG it's him!

Star Struck - the Fox has spoken! Oh to be a fly on the wall at his place! Instead of streaming the game, we should have just streamed him watching livestats....

KingJames, its your lucky night. I will make a comment. His turnovers tonight was a reflection of the quality of performance the whole team put in. When you have experienced an exhausting game the night before and then travelled nearly 2,000 kilometres to play again the same day, you might understand what it means to lose focus. Its a good thing that you can pinpoint these shortcomings on a night like this because I doubt you can do it any other night.

Anyone get a bet on sixers to win $3.50. Just made myslef $70, go you sixers

hey just a random question, do they do the silly huddle thing on the road or just at home?

After our performances against both Perth and Melbourne, I was always confident!

Well done guys! Much better performance and with Ballinger not having a big impact. Now lets just hope that we don't turn around and follow it up with another shocker in New Zealand. Agreed Jack Toft, Cooper should be sent back to Norwood. Hard to believe that in 15 minutes of court time, our centre can only manage 1 rebound whilst racking up 4 fouls! Not a strong player on the offensive or defensive end. Would rather see one of the younger guys getting his minutes

Sure is an interesting season - for the Crocs lost here by a point, then beat the Tigers in MEL,the very next day - look at our last 3 games...
NBL had us top then bottom now 4th..
And - The Silver Fox makes a debut on Hoops...

EC - hook, line and sinker.

I'm surprised you allow Dusty and the Crocs room for error dur to their schedule - I've never seen you give the Sixers the same benefit.

why not just say "The Sixers smashed them, Ninnis coached well, and both imports tore it up. Oh - and dusty is a has been role player who turned it over 7 times."

Credit where credit is due. Huge win on the road in a season where road wins are worth gold.

Flinders $3.80 ;) Very happy here.

Great win by the boys in a last straw MUST WIN game, but it dosn't end here. A huge effort needed in NZ next to keep it alive!

Yeah I agree I was shocked to see Copper getting a gig after watching him in the last ABA season - did'nt do mutch there either especially offensively, Garlep looks a mutch better prospect , a better threat on court and has a good shot etc.

Great turnaround , lets hope then 180 spin hasn't already started back the other way with quick fire complacency . This has been going on for awhile with the schizxers .

thedoctor, I don't know what planet you are from but I have always given the same consideration to all teams with tight travel schedules, especially the 36ers. Don't forget, this is the team I follow. It was great to get a win tonight on the road and I am just as happy about it as anyone who has posted but lets just wait a few more games. I am not knocking a good win but tonight had circumstances that went in their favour. Apart from that, if they are capable of playing the way they did tonight, what happened the last 2 games? Its called inconsistency. Happy for the win? Yes, confident? maybe after a few more games.

"The Sixers smashed them, Ninnis coached well, and both imports tore it up. Oh - and dusty is a has been role player who turned it over 7 times."

Beautifully put, doc.

"When you have experienced an exhausting game the night before and then travelled nearly 2,000 kilometres to play again the same day, you might understand what it means to lose focus."

Really? Well what was his excuse for having 5 turn overs the night before then?

Twenty Four is Holmes going to stay as the number 1 rebounder in the league once Burston returns? Yeah didn't think so.

Brilliant Sixers, woeful Cairns.
Hard to know what to make of the game?
Are Cairns THAT bad? Are Sixers THAT good.
What happenned to form? What happenned to home court?
Maybe I'll reserve judgement till after Breakers game.
Enjoy your win though meantime!

If you are a Cairns fan, what effect the schedule on your team?
Caned on road, next night caned at home?
They have to get a ball handler though.

EC. If dusty ( and any of the cairns team for that matter) were exhausted after their pathetic showing against the Blaze - and yes I was there so I saw it all - then they have More issues than the sixers have ever had!! Icant see any way that they won't finish bottom, by a long way!

Statman, you are probably right.
They seem to have holes all over. Poor defense, no inside offense, poor ball handling, ineffective imports, not a lot happenning for them.
Tough schedule doesn't help but you have to play through that.
Not sure what type of game Melzer is playing. It's almost like a small forward/shooting guard. When did he last post up? Mills is just an enigma!
Dusty,Dusty, Dusty....... what has happenned to your game.
When did Crosswhite last get in to the paint?

This is all the same shite people were saying about the Sixers after two bad losses. Cairns have a terrible 26 hour period and all of a sudden they are doomed?!

Just as Adelaide was after their losses to Perth and Melbourne, just as Melbourne was after their losses to Townsville and Gold Coast, just as Gold Coast was after their losses to Cairns and Perth, just as New Zealand was after losses to Melbourne and Adelaide, just as Perth was after losses to Wollongong and Cairns, just as Townsville are after losses to New Zealand and Wollongong.

May as well give the Hawks the trophy now! Although I suspect their turn for a losing double might be this week.

Paul, you couldn't have hit the nail on the head any more accurately. That's exactly what I am trying to say. People do forget very quickly when the shoe is on the other foot. Well just to remind everyone, I will refer to 4 topic headings in the last week where the opinions were all doom and gloom.

36ers vs Tigers tonight - 57 responses
Scotty is very concerning - 47 responses
Theory 36ers trained too hard after Perth - 50 responses
Gilchrist is a sook - 27 responses

A total of 181 responses yet in the last 14 hours its been all about how bad the Taipans are and how brilliant the 36ers are. Also if anyone remembers only 4 weeks ago, they beat Adelaide. Doesn't necessarily make them good, but what does it make Adelaide?

Let's wait a bit longer please. One good game does not win a championship although the joy of it can and should linger on as long as possible.

Hear Hear Paul, but that is too logical.
Being a fan means being passionate,
having opinions, right and wrong,
analysing, right and wrong,
rubbishing, right and wrong,
and above all else being right, and wrong.
That's what it is to be a fan!!

Dumbfounded. If anyone can explain that resultt to me it would be most appreciated.

I badly need to see a replay of that game somewhere

I was at this game and firstly I would like to say that each and every Sixer must have taken everything that was said about them in previous posts to heart. There was just no stopping them - they played like wounded bulls with very big points to prove and prove them they did.

Unfortunately it was at the expense of my team but it had to be some team. Our shots weren't dropping, our defence was bad and our point guards are a worry. Coach found it hard to say anything after the game.

All Sixers fans should be very proud of this win (annihilation) and have faith in your team and coach. I just hope my team can do it next game.

mball, good luck to your team, they deserve better.

Without seeing the game, I can only guess.
I was thinking about Cairns travelling on Sat,but Crocs did that and beat Mel by 35points. So that doesn't necessarily follow.
That we seemed so unlikely to win,sometimes is the reason we win.
Those that don't rate Groves will find it harder to understand, and we don't see the best of Hill at home.
A little bit of Holmes and Gilchrist probably best,last night.

Come to think of it, Adelaide fans deserve better also. If the 36ers can play as they did last night, then it is criminal to think about how they played the previous 2 games. They need to come out and play every game, not just the ones that they have a point to prove.

EC thanks for the kind words. Yes, Cairns does deserve better. When you look at the team on paper they are a very good team but on the court they just couldn't get it together last night or Friday night. It's not much of a trip to Gold Coast so I don't accept travel as an excuse. Sixers just did everything better last night.

I would agree that Adelaide fans deserve seeing that type of game week in, week out, also.

Camel 31 - "That we seemed so unlikely to win,sometimes is the reason we win." - agree absolutely.

KJ, you know I love to argue with you on here, but I really can't be bothered if you're just going to ignore FACTS and bring up hypotheticals that you and I both know aren't relevant to the discussion (at least I hope you do, otherwise you're completely missing the point - at their peaks, Dwight Howard will have averaged more boards per game than Shawn Marion, but that doesn't mean that Marion's rebounding ability was any less than Howards) than there really isn't any point discussing it.

I don't really care, because I was only giving Jacob props for his work this season and didn't intend on setting anyones nose out of joint, but I'll leave you with this: since 2003, only ONCE has Holmes averaged less than 8 boards per - last year, when he was playing behind Schenscher, Balls and whoever our import at the time was. Not bad for 6'7, relatively unathletic 3/4 man, wouldn't you say?

BTW, can the NBL site get a decent stats system! No league leaders for averages, and no career averages, only totals....

Oh, and I'm NEVER, EVER buying Baktarin, purely for the fact that the ad on the NBL site may be the most annoying thing I've ever had to put up with.

Twenty Four, he is a good rebounder but not the best in the league is what I am saying. Best for his size? Probably.

I think the Sixers win was a combination of better coaching (Hill starting, better team rotation), Sixers pride as well as nothing to lose on the road, and also Cairns playing the night before.

It was a great win and confidence booster. However, I wouldn't be reading too much into it as we face NZ next which will show us where we are at.

Twenty Four, I also agree with you about the NBL Site how hard is it to put averages up for all stats! and that stupid Advertisement, I will NEVER buy that product either for that reason!!

King James,
You need to give Holmes more credit for his rebounding. Twenty Four is spot on - review the stats for the last few seasons, they don't lie.

You clearly have no idea if you think just because he's shorter or less athletic than the other guys, he can't rebound. Have you heard of a guy who used to play in the NBA by the name of Dennis Rodman?

"review the stats for the last few seasons, they don't lie"

He finished 3rd in the team in rebounding last season and then you want to compare him with the best rebounder in the NBA for many years if not ever? He wasn't even the best in his own team let alone the league! Where did I say he can't rebound?

As I said he is a good rebounder and perhaps (stats prove it so far) the best in the league for his height but he is NOT the best rebounder in the league. His stats are currently inflated due to us having no center. If Burston comes in and Holmes continues to lead the league then ill be more then happy to eat my words.

EC - I wasnt jumping on any bandwagon and saying the Sixers are awesome, more I was saying the Taipans were crap Friday night and I couldnt see them improving.

Paul, I agree there has been a lot of teams written off after a couple of bad games but after what I saw Friday night Cairns just arnt up to standard.
Jones is a great 6th man - but when the opposition target him for special defensive attention he struggles
Crosswhite - just isnt good enough to be the #1 big option.
The imports are average at best, yes they will have some good games but more often than not they wont. Dusty just cant get the style of points he normally does with this team around him.

They are a budget team and at the moment look like it. I would love to see them improve and reward their fans who go see them but I cant see it being a happy season in Cairns.

As for the Sixers, good win, you can only beat the opposition taht turns up, but lets not get caried away that they are world beaters. Lets see how 'Pittbull' as X likes to call him does against a decent PG this week.

King James, I am a fan of your's but I think you could at least say that Jacob is the best rebounder we have.

Nothing wrong with Holmes and his rebounding

Squid I don't believe he is. I would say Burston is. It's pretty trivial anyway

Holmes does a good job going at the boards.
Burston is better at it.
Ballinger has been good training at centre ,without Burston,but Adam's last few games - no good.
MAYBE - and who can predict, for NZ in NZ will start favorite - a better one from Ballinger = another upset win for us.

Fat chance Carmel.
I will be disappointed if Breakers don't win by 15.
Ballinger is a face the basket shooter someone I think we will contain easily.
Groves and Gilchrist will not penetrate against us and unless they can hit consistently from outside it will be lights out.
Holmes is a workhorse count on 10 and 10 every night.
Brad Hill and Ng will contribute but I have to say we have too much firepower.
But then it's sport and who knows!

Bill- I just saw last night's Cortez Groves spectacular, on our TV news.. oh ..my goodnes..
( a little bit of Gilchrist,some Hill and Ballinger)
You'll be in a little bit of excitement , over there, on Thursday , when you see that.

Fantastic athlete Cortez, but like Homicide overdoes the penetration. I do rate his defense though.
I think Abercrombie, Boucher can contain him.

Points in paint will be key. If Cortez and Gilchrist can get there and convert good luck to them.

Hill is just as good and he can pullup and shoot so I think he'll be tougher to match up with.

Our post up game though should get the job done.
One advantage we do have over here is our floor. Its slippery as hell and takes a bit to get used to.
Watched replay of Sixers/Melbourne and note your guys content to just get ball over half and didn't look to make Melbourne pay for trapping. Still you will have gained confidence from Cairns flogging.

If Groves starts hitting the three look out (story of his career, when he hits the jumper he is almost unstoppable).

But I agree with Bill, the Breakers have smart defenders who can cut out penetration (look at Bruton on Williams) if they dont have to get in their grill to stop the jumper.

Prob comes from experience defending those type of players internationally.

"Fantastic athlete Cortez, but like Homicide overdoes the penetration."

Sorry Bill, I usually rate your comments but that is the worst call of the week. One of Tez's biggest problems has been settling for the outside shot and not penetrating enough. Luckily in the last 2 games he has turned that around.

Great win Sixers especially on the road and good to see team bounce back so well together.
What was even better seeing Gilchrist hit some 3 s if he can continue to that then he can become one of better PG in comp. And that also will help Groves and Hills game as opposition cant sit back and block up the keyway to stop them driving .
Re Groves over doing the penetration I think he does because he outside or jump shot are very average although could have a spasmodic day on in that area but hasnt done it yet for us in that area and have more confidence in Hill developing that area with more confidence.
Breakers will slow our penetration down and will be a big challenge to back up Cairns game .
However Adams game at the moment is a bit of a worry
but how well has Jacob played with our big man shortage.
Well done to Scotty and team lets go to NZ with same determined attitude.

Xztatik bow to your superior knowledge, you've seen a lot more of him than I have.
But what I have seen of him, he shakes and bakes a lot before driving and I can see other players standing around waiting to see what is going to develop, and there are no cuts, flashes etc. Becomes 1 on 5.

Saw replay of Melbourne game and I couldn't believe how your guys settled for just getting over half (against trap) and settled for half court setup. Instead of being aggressive and attacking hoop. Happenned once and Ballinger got to line.
Also Ballinger never sees ball, because team mates don't look for him and don't try to get it to him even when he's wide open.
15 to 23 foot jumper is automatic for him, muscling it up inside is not really his go. He gets anxious and rushes a bit when he does get it. Storey will pick him up I guess. That will be interesting.
If Rickert or Oscar mark him he could do some damage from perimeter.

That's a fair point about Tez holding it up a bit long before making his move, I have noticed that, but usually he is still effective with it. Maybe his teammates could do more to give him an iso or make themselves more of a threat, but the last thing we want is Tez to become a jumpshooter. Also, his hands are pretty good in traffic, so even if he can't find a shot, he rarely turns it over.