The Tigers had their taste of finals basketball, and Jacob Holmes indulged in a 38 course meal of basketball, destroying the Tigers, whose resistance to his at-will jumpshots was useless.

38 points and 20 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals.

A wild crowd (stats sheet said 850) put out the challenge to both sides to rise to the occasion. Eastern cast aside the nerves quicker, opening up a 11-1 lead. Holmes and Brad Davis were on fire early, Davis scoring most of his 12 in the first quarter.

23-14 at the quarter.

Holmes contiuned to dominate, hitting some ridiculous shots, as Eastern moved away to 40-17, thanks also to some sweet shooting from Jason Warhurst.

Mavericks defense was looking inpenetrable, as the Tigers again struggled against quality defense, as they have in the past.

Southern launched a single-pronged attack by the name of Joe Ingles late in the second quarter, Ingles driving through and pulling up for jumpers to give a slight hope, going into the half trailing 51-29.

The Tigers showed their first bit of real fight in the third quarter, with Ingles continuiung to fire, as well as Gerlach doing his thing, and Bowley hitting a couple of much needed (and long awaited) rainbow 3 pointers.

71-52 3 quarter.

I was shaking my head for most of the way through the fourth, as Holmes came up with a response for everything the Tigers had.

Southern never got the margin back within 11.

In hindsight, the 13 point margin is slightly flattering to Southern, who never seemed to make any consistent threat to Eastern.

Foul shooting was a big let-down for the Tigers- 18/34...if they shot 75 per cent, that's 8 more points...but I guess you can always say stuff like that.

Holmes should start wearing a cape if he's going to play like Superman.

Eastern Mavericks 97 (Holmes 38, Warhurst 13, Davis, Campbell 12) d Southern Tigers 84 (Gerlach 19, Ingles 17, Bowley 17, Hoban 10)

Well done to the Mavs for keeping their heads at a game few managed to do so.

Apart from the youth connection of Ingles/Gerlach/Braithwaite (who would have gotten more minutes in this one then maybe all season) the Tigers players sooked and cried all game.

Who ever thought getting Jacob angry was a good idea should see the video of his performance after being hit.

Tigers were lead wonderfully by their coach who should have been thrown out the way he carried on, jumping up and down and screaming any time a Tiger forced his way to the basket.

But for me worst of all was the crowd. Yelling at the referee's during the pre-game UNDER 10! game should have been a wake up call but the main event was even worse. When 90% of a club's supporters walk in drunk and even fewer leave sober things can't go well.

The so called Men In Black were at their atrocious worst and considering they're made up of Under 10 parents and at certain times up to four Commitee memebers and a junior coaching director the image these people give the Southern Tigers was emabarssing.

Leadership, Discipline. Two things groosly lacking from the Southern Tigers players and supporters at this one, proving very little has been gained by the so called merger.

I went to the game to support the Tigers, walked out with sore hands from cheering for the Mavs.

Hear the ROAR ... I for one would have rather not.

Well done LOGAN with comments like that you might just get that job with one of the British Tabloid Papers proving the point NEVER LET THE TRUTH GET IN THE WAY OF A GOOD STORY.

You must have run out of wool for your knitting or what ever you do at home so your next choice was to rub dirt in the face of the people who support their club to the max.
Your narrow minded critisism of the "Tigers Supporters" seemed to overlook the behaviour of the certain Mav's supporters and in particular a female coach whom managed to extend her foul vocabulary to the extreme.

Your assumption that 90% of the supporters walked into the stadium drunk was totally incorrect.

LOGAN GET A LIFE.

Well done to the 2 Tiger teams involved and their coaching staff and the supporters.

"MIB", Logan went to the game to support the Tigers. It's probably natural that they'd pick Tigers' supporters up for perceived indiscretions before those of a Mav's supporter.

I won't go into details I recieved at the game here, other to say sure 90% was probably an exageration but those that took the bus from m/vale that spoke to me were definately drunk and continued to drink all game.

I'm sure Eastern didn't mind as they would have made plenty at the bar.

I did see the incident after the game I assume you're talking about but without knowing why it happened I'm going to give all involved the benifit of the doubt.

As a tigers fan I am embarrassed. Not because of the way the boys played - they couldn't have shown much more courage - but because of the so-called 'Men in Black' 'supporters'. I was sitting only a few metres away from them all game and their language around small children, their own children in some cases, was disgusting. It is hardly 'supporting their club to the max' when they have to resort to verbally attacking opposition players, and even opposing supporters. They have given the whole of the Southern Tigers Basketball Club a bad name and bad reputation through their actions last night, and I suggest that they all take a good long look in the mirror before next season's tip-off. Can't wait for it.

I was present at the southern vs mavericks game and being a tigers supporter i think that the "men in black" supporters were doing just that, supporting. Especially with the boys not playing well they needed every bit of support they could get to keep going. Yes it wasnt their best performance but i believe that the mavericks supporter who abused our mascot and the under 10 players around it was appalling!!! I happen to agree that it was not right that some supporters were drunk but they were not doing anything except supporting their team and being vocal was part of this!! Whoever is critising the crowds, get a life! For one, it wasnt just tigers, mavs were just as bad. And two if you go to an abl mens final match and expect some quiet clapping and a few whistles you need to wake up, of course they are going to be vocal and support their team, its called loyalty!!!!!!!

OK why was the Tigers mascot at Mt.Barker (EASTERN's home court) in the first place? It should never have been allowed to be there. For one, it stood, waving it's arms around, under the basket while Mavs players were shooting foul shots which is a huge no no.

THAT Eastern spectator has been talked about previously on the Sixers forum and all know what she is like. I agree that two Mavs supporters; One adult and one junior (who was responding to an Tiger supporter with a megaphone in the stand - again why he/it wasn't removed I have no idea) maybe went too far. That doesn't compare to the behaviour of so many Tiger supporters. I too was stuck beside some quite clearly drunk Tiger supporters and their behaviour and language, in front of some very young children was inexcusable.

As I said I went to support the Tigers, thats why I made the trip. I ended up quite enjoying the Mavs win.

Well if maverick personnel had a problem with the mascot and megaphone person then they should have done something about it rather than coming on here critising someone for doing something for their team! I think if you have a problem with the parents swearing then you werent focusing on the game wen holmes was running down the court cursing the ref for not giving him a call....wot kind of example is that sending the juniors from an elite player! You seem to be quick to critise the parents logan, but maybe you should look at the players on the court that you seemed to be clapping! there was more than one occasion wen maverick players were abusing the refs much worse than spectators.

I too was at the game. The Tigers look very under prepared for Finals basketball. A lot of their offense during the year was based on Pochintesta launching 25 shots a game. No one seemed willing to step up. Snake was great,having his typical 19 point, 9 rebound, 5 assist, 4 steal game.... but did he really step up when they needed it?! I don't think so. Ingles tried hard, shot realtively poorly (1/7 3s) but chipped in 6 boards and 4 assists.

Bowley tried, then gave up and started beating on his girlies brother.... wise move. Jacob proceeded to embarrass the Tigers. 38 & 20, yet hardly even needed to try.

All in all, it appeared the Tigers were just not ready to play with the big boys in Finals bball. Clarke puts his all in, and loves the Club, but is he in the league of a Brenton Campbell? I think not.

Just imagine if Tigers had kept Campbell & Trebilcock... a good PG (making Clarke a very good backup) and a solid (albeit very soft) 5 man, plus Snake, Pochintesta, Hodges X 2, Bowley & Hoban. Now THAT is a side that would compete with the big boys.

Omar,

You like so many are so willing to shoot Jacob down. He should class when constantly bumped, slaped, pushed and blatantly grabbed. Never did he return the favour, prefering to simply beat the Tigers by winning. Yes he had some things to say, I did not see him swear or abuse the referees. He got hit, a lot, but for the most part simply played the game, something the Tigers, for the most part, didn't do until the 4th quarter.

And I am not Maverick personnel, I am sure they will take the high road and be happy with the win.

clarke as a backup PG, don't think so mate... runs the show

correct me if im wrong, but i believe he was taken off in the first quarter with the tigers trailing by 7, he came back on and they were down by 16.

If Jacob was "cursing the refs" as Omar suggests, I have no doubt the refs would have had no hesitation in slapping on a T.

So, I sincerely doubt Omar's claim on that one.

As far as Mavericks personnel having a problem, and posting on here, I dont see any of that. I see 2 people who went as TIGERS supporters stating how appalled they were at fellow Tigers supporters behaviour.

I have not seen 1 representative from the Mavs post on this thread.

The Tigers mascot should NOT have been there, and if it was, should purely have been in the stands, definitely not court side.

Fortunately, ABL games are not known for needing security, so last night could not have been controlled by any one.

Maybe people commenting should focus on the GAME, and not what happened off court.

He runs the team to 5th. He's OK at that. I doubt they could go any further with him playing 35+ mins.

Same can be said for Bowley. He played div 2 his whole junior career. He was exposed last night.

Both have had great seasons, and both are top blokes. I just don't see the team progressing with those 2 playing BIG minutes. Both are very solid backups.

Logan, were you standing courtside when jacob threw a punch? - Were you there when ref ignored it.

I have been involved in the game from games administration perspective for a number of years. I have never seen alcohol served courtside before! I have never seen mascots - whether they had a "right" to be there or not - assaulted by spectators.

I also do not believe that ABA level games should be played on
parquetry floors.

I support the home game advantage idea for ABA finals - however - the ABA club responsible must conform to certain standards, and clearly with respect to serving of alcohol, I beleive they did not.

On the matter of spectator behavior. I applaud the tigers spectators for turning up and supporting their team - which is much more than can be said for many other teams. I have witnessed this year very passionate support from members of this "new" club. Sure their exuberance can get a little unruly occasionally - but basketball at the state league level has missed the passion that the tiger supporters showed last night. Good on them.

Finally, those that beleive that spectator behavior should be identical at a senior state leage game to a junior game - PLEASE - go to the back of the room - you just dont get it!!!

Not sure re Bowley's entire stat line but from what i have seen he finished with 17 (and should have had more except for poor free throw shooting).

Thats more then can be said for some other Tigers... I give him credit for trying to get things going with some perimeter shooting in the 3rd.

Hoop Addict?

Those thinking that drunken, unruly, loud, obnoxious and generally boorish behaviour is good for ABA, run down to Target this week, they have a 50% sale, and get yourself a clue!!

The majority of support for ABA Senior games comes from the juniors. If parents beleive the sort of behaviour that has been reported in this thread would occur at games on a regular basis, not only will they stop their kids from supporting the senior games, more than likely the parent will be off buying that child some football or soccer boots, or a netball uniform that very same week.

Those people involved last night (regardless of what side you were there supporting) need to take a good look at yourselves, and your behaviour, and question whether, if you had kids, you would like them to witness your actions.

Hopefully the rest of the ABA finals can progress without these things occurring.

Let me also add that there is only one team who's offence is based around 1 guy taking 25+ shots every game... Fact is, he is more inclined to shoot 30+, last night he showed us why.

Memo to The Pen- Where were you when the Tigers were down by only 6? Granted it wasn't for very long, but we certainly had it to less than 11, and not just at the 0-0 start!
Memo also to the Men in Black- as a long time supporter of both the club and basketball in general, I was also embarrassed at your behaviour last night, particularly at the guy whose only comments were "He's got nothin' Joe, he's got nothin'!" and a derogatory comment about a players size which I won't repeat. If the Tigers are going to be respected, we need to earn it, and behaving in this way is not the way to do it guys!

Omar, in regards to your comments about Maverick players abusing the refs and creating a bad impression on the young players, I did not witness anything that could be classed as abuse. Sure they questioned some of the calls being made or not being made but no more than any other game. I believe they had good reason to do this because on several occasions I saw calls that should have been made against Tigers players but the refs overlooked it. In a game of such importance a ref alone can make or break a team. When you talk about the eliteness of Jacob Holmes, you would also understand that the eliteness is there because he is professional enough to know when a ref makes a mistake.

Jacob gets a lot of attention from opponents that try to frustrate him out of his game and it very rarely works. All top players get that. He's a notch above the rest of the league and makes that very clear every week. He's not the tallest, fastest, cleanest shooter, most aggressive or strongest, but he was meant to play basketball (and has a good combination of the above attributes!)

There are limits to fair hassling I think, and from what I've seen, Jacob can be pushed a reasonable way before it'll become a problem (i.e., Jason defending him earlier in the season: Jacob started talking to the refs and wasn't liking the attention, but he didn't hit anyone).

Bad language from frustrated players is to be expected too (not preferable, but if you handed out technical fouls for every instance of bad language, it would be a bit crazy). I don't think it's much of an excuse for reportedly uncouth supporters to drop blame back on players -- they're out there trying to win an elimination final; you're clapping and yelling in the audience... I'd rather a kid learnt that it was passable to use bad language on the court than in supporting a team too.

Good job this season billy. Could have been a different story with your full team.

RE: Bowley - as I said, he did try hard, he was simply out matched. 5 boards in 40 mins from your starting 4 man. Having said that... Hoban had 0 in 33 mins. Tigers were out rebounded 54-41.

Bowley finished with 17 points, but 5/11 FTs are a killer.

I was happy to see Tristan get 12 minutes, though his 1/5 shooting left a little to be desired.

I also felt Tim Hodges may have deserved more time. He played 13 minutes, and while he didn't set the world on fire offensively (2 points on 1/4 shooting) I thought he was the best equipped to guard Jacob. Bowley isn't strong enough, Hoban isn't mobile enough. I thought Tim could have done a bit better with more time.

Realistically, shooting 33% for 29 points in the first half killed the Tigers. Eastern took the air out of the game and silenced the crowd before they could even fire up with an 11-1 start.

With the Mavs, I question why Joel Goodenough even starts. With the season Warhurst has, surely he's surpassed Joel? Warhurst played 28 mins, 13 points on 4/9 (2/6 3s), 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 turnover compared with Goodenough's 23 mins, 5 points (1/4... all 3s)1 rebound & 3 assists. Besides, I like Joel's enthusiasm on the bench... he gets fired up!!

I thought Ben Madgen did alright in his 11 mins. He's had an injury interupted season, but managed to grab 4 rebounds in his time. His shooting was a bit off (1/4 FGs, 1/4 FTs) but he hustled well, played good D and ignored stupid heckling from the Cuevas clan.

I don't believe the Tigers without Pochintesta last night where a team that lacked finals capability. If they played all 4 quarters in the same manner as they played the 4th, the outcome of the game would have been completely different. They have the capability, they just lacked the consistency. As far as the Tiger's supporters go, I thought it was great that they got so many of them out there and did show lots of passion and excitement about their team, but you can do this without resorting to foul language. You can also do this without excessive alcohol. In fact, you make much more sense and are much more convincing when you do it sober.

Hoop Addict, if you are going to rely that closely on stats, you may aswell not show up to the game. 5 rebounds in 4 minutes it may have been, but i was there and i seriously doubt it. Not to mention the number of times Bowley and Hoban boxed out the bigger guys for Gerlach to come through and mop up. Obviously you are a narrow minded idiot if you can not see that there is more to rebounding then the numbers in the columns at the end of the game. As for Hoban getting 0 in 33 minutes, there would not be a bigger JOKE in the entire game. I would say MOST supporters would remember a big O board in the 4th for a solid finish... Seems the stats people are too busy recording Jacobs missed Field Goals...

Well - simple fact.. Jacob got 20 boards, Bowley got 5. That makes a BIG difference. And yeah, Bowley did box out, many times... only to see a bigger, stronger Jacob or Benny T simply out match him to get the board. Not going to win too many games losing the rebounding count 54-41, are you?

Well, well, well!!!!!
It seems as though there is a hell of alot of bitching going on in here then!!!
How about we all just take a reflective view of saturday night.

1.) U/10's game was the starter to the evening. May I ask what the hell those little tackers were doing playing before the Main Game?? These kids will be scared for life after that!!!! Great work to who ever planned that!

2.) Alcohol Consumption is always going to be an issue, but when the mav's condone it, who cares! I'm sure there were some eastern dudes having a chugg!!! Some of the Tigers supporters were trashed (including myself)but that is what happens on saturday nights! Deal with it all you nerds out there!


3.) Respect the game for what it was! It was a historic evening for both clubs!

4.) Let sleeping dogs lay!
The stats are finalised! The cheering has stopped! The Game is over!

5.) Jacob is a force! He would have had 38 & 20 no matter who he was playing against!

6.) Trash talking supporters are a part of all sports! Foul language is a part of trash talking! Foul language is offensive to some! If you are offended by it bring ear muffs! If you are worried about the poor children picking up bad language, you better put them into home education because there is far worse on the oval at lunch-times.
Build a bridge and get over it!


J bags has spoken!

JC- when did it get back to 6...definitely not in the fourth...I commented to my friend in the fourth that the Tigers would get it back within 10 at least, so i knew they didn't do that in the fourth. Third quarter? My bad if I'm wrong.

TIgers definitely missed Pochintesta, because when they are struggling against focused defense, as they have many times, Pochintesta is the one who is willing to attack, and quite often score. 20 points from him certainly would have made things interesting.

Does anyone remember a few years ago when there was a whole lot of talk about Port Power fans being unruly, and they did some campaign or something to curb swearing etc in the crowd due to children around? That's in football, at a PORT POWER game!!!! If it's considered bad there, then what many Tigers supporters were doing Saturday is defeintely out of line.

Awesome work by the Tiger boys to give acknowledgements to their fans straight after the game. A great season for Tiger basketball, on and off the court.

J bags,

You may have spoken but for one I won't be listening to you any more if you really believe point 6. Anonymous has it right when he said:
"A heckling crowd is half the fun, lanuage must be curved to a point, just get witty not foul mouthed."

As I wasn't at the game I am not making any comments at what happened however your belief that using foul language is clever and acceptable is not on. I hope your comments were being affected by the previous posts/happenings on the night.

MIB, I sincerely hope that your not parents. If so, then I feel sorry for your kids teachers & the thousands of people, that over their lifetime, your kids will abuse.
You just don't get it, do you?

There is no excuse for foul language at any sporting venue, especially in front of kids. Omar to try & justify it by saying that it happens on the court is absolute crap.

I'm no wowser, I love a drink while supporting my team but acting like trailer trash reflects very poorly on your club.

The SANFL have had to put in place 'dry areas' for families to watch the game so that they are not intimidated by drunk supporters, I hope that doesn't happen in the ABL.

Paint your face, scream, jump up & down BUT don't use foul, obnoxious language & belittle players, doing so just shows the world what a dickhead you are.

Or better still. Take your kids and go to the footy. Basketball will be better off without you and anyone else like you.

here it is Hoop Addict..... when clarke plays decently over 40 minutes, the Tigers win. Both meetings clarke has had with campbell this year, the Tigers have come away with the victory.how many tiger games have u been to this year?

11 or 12. Do you really believe Clarke is a better player than Campbell?!

I honestly rate Campbell far higher. Perhaps I'm alone in that opinion. Regardless, no one can doubt he'd be very handy if he were still playing down at the Cage.

After careful deliberation I would like to retract my last point! Foul mouthing is not great, but it is a fact of life! My witty and smart ass comments have given alot of pleasure, both to those reading on the forum and at most tigers games.

The main issues are that I would like to point out is that this was a historic game and there are a few other things that we should be thinking about rather than afew random comments!

I am still proud to call myself a tigers supporter! Simply becuase there is alot of love for the team and we are all proud of what the boys have achieved this year!
Keep It up!!!!!

J-bags you are an ambasador!

J bags,

Well done on your retraction. I will continue to read your witty contributions. You certainly possess the skills not to resort to foul language.

Tigers certainly performed well this year and were unluckly to be impacted by injury problems at the wrong time of the year. This is on what we should be focussing.

i agree tigers fans are great in the way they support there club but no need to drink 25 cans and then show up they did that at the pasadena home game earlier and looked like idiots when all they could come out with was abuse towards several sturt players. so some class.

After all the chatter that has gone on about the supporters, and i am not trying to defend those responsible, lets not let a few bad apples spoil the entire bunch.

Applause to all those who showed up at Mt Barker on Saturday night... I think it speaks volumes of the love for the game both teams supporters have, that is unless those 850 odd people ENJOY sitting in a tin shed at near zero temperatures on a Saturday night???

Damn it was COLD!!! my toes are still thawing!

I always have to laugh at the supporters at Basketball, Footy, whatever who pass derogatory comments towards the opposition star player(s) - in this case Holmes. The person doing the talking would have never played the sport at that level and never will play the sport at that level!!

The unruly ones in the crowd on Saturday night obviously have never played the game at a high level themselves otherwise they would have been there to appreciate the game from both sides. Sure, give your team some support but there is certainly no place for foul and abusive language.

That sort of stuff would be coming from non-basketball people anyway because as I said, anyone who has played the game at a reasonable level in their time would have been quite happy to sit back and watch Jacobs performance and enjoy - even if they were a Tiger fan.

This is certainly the case for the many people I know, and myself included!!

Hoopy! The Jury is out on your calls!
Forget Campbell! Forget all the players NC Tigers have had in the past! Look at what we have!Look at the foundations that have been layed by this current crop of youngsters!
Your comments are not called for! Back up your guys! That is exactly the wrong attitude to have!

Team 1? Did you go to the sturt game? I think you'll find that the comments were not trashy and rude! They were more sarcastic and amusing!
I can remember at least 3 non-consecutive occasions that I had half the bleachers in stitches!!

Fun Bags

I think Clarke is a good player. You wouldn't want to leave him alone on the 3-point line and anyone that requires defense like that is useful to a team. He has more scoring potential than Shepherd for one thing, but I think they're both decent contributors.

And Bowley has just been stuck with the tough jobs in some recent games (against Oscar or Jacob -- those guys benefit from devoting a big proportion of their lives to the games -- shooting, gym, etc). Those two can outplay Bowley, but he's not a basketball player by trade -- get those three out in the vines and I wouldn't touch wine from Oscar or Jacob!

He's improved in the last couple of years from what I've seen and from the boxscore he was a few free throws off leading his team in scoring and being second only to Jacob in the game. He might not start on every other team, but he'd be an early sub on most of them at the worst. If the Tigers had another big guy with size (I can't remember, but I don't think Hoban is very tall, right?) I don't think you'd see Bowley having to hold down the key against opposing teams with two sizable players (Forman/Gower, Whitmore/Bradley, Holmes/Trebilcock).

I have a few things to say to Hoop Addict and the like&

I was at the game the only thing I will remember is that there was 800+ fans at the game going crazy this should be celebrated as a great night for local basketball. Regarding rowdy fans maybe everyone should have a look back into our great games history and find out why backboards were invented (and no it wasn't so Timmy D could dazzle us with his 15ft jumpers) Look it up!!

As far as Clarke, Bowley and co are concerned I cant see it as particularly relevant that they grew up not playing Div 1 junior ball every year (I played Div3-5 until ABA) this group has been together 3-4 years and has sent 1 player to the AIS the last 3 years (yes Jo will be there) how many clubs can claim that whilst steadily improving. If anything this gives the group more fuel /desire to prove themselves and their doubters wrong (see Detroit Pistons)

I can tell you that the Tigers are one of the tightest-knit teams in sport I have ever seen as well as one of the hardest working. Add to that the leagues biggest fan base and increasing home ground advantage and next season will see them take that next step.

Anyone who thinks 2 wins over Fville, an unlucky split v North, a 10-8 season and a 1st finals appearance isn't a big step in the right direction might want to check themselves. Once the group finds that week in week out consistency watch out above. BTW the avg age of the group is just 22 years old :)

If you want to help us on our way you have 2 choices

a) Take the Hoop Addict etc approach and bag our players  this will only make us work harder or
b) Get aboard the Tiger Train (respect to j-bags and crew) and come along for the ride

Either way the Tiger's are Rising Up

Peace

Those people talking about the lack of Division 1 experience in Junior ranks as a reason for the early demise of the Tigers in the finals, should check their facts- look at Hodges (2) Clarke, Gerlach, Ingles, (not sure of the others junior careers). In themselves they make a fairly formidable 5 and all have distinguished themselves at Div 1 level in Juniors.
Well done to all of the Tigers- we are all so proud of you!

You Guys and Gals,

better be ready for the roar, and the stories of progression and success that is Southern Tigers Basketball Association.

Southern Tigers Supporters are the most passionate in the game.

Southern Tigers Officials have regrouped and ready for the challenge.

What about those FREE uniforms hey???