Can't really decide on this one. Reckon it can be a repeat with a 2pt victory.

Heart says Adelaide by 2; Logic says Perth by 2.

Sixers paying well so i'm hoping for a first up win. 36ers by 5.

perth by 21

I have a gut feeling will be lose by less than 6 points but believe there is a chance of an upset win.
I am keen to see how Rhys Carter fits into the mix, along with sharp shooter DeVries.
And finally see the cheerleaders I missed so much for the last 7 months.
Id also like a 5500+ crowd and think thats doable for a sunday arvo that will finish before its bed time for kids.
And as a final act, see what the new Auto-Sprint Supporters Group does for our home games. I guess in recent years its either been the MC getting the crowd going, or one person in an area with the loudest voice. Interesting times!!!

If the Sixers can stay with Perth and not let them blow out to a decent lead and if Ballinger can stay out of foul trouble and get going offensively, they have a real chance at getting a win.
Will be interesting to see how Ng adjusts to the deeper 3

Perth by 15, but expect lead to get out beyond 20 at some point.

perth by 11

Court looks pretty sweet, nice clean shiny and reflective.

One of the greatest blocks I've ever seen by Winder just then. Mistake leaving him in on 2 fouls.

This chick on the microphone has GOT. TO. GO. This is some Kelli Underwood shit.

Is it just me, or has Ballinger hit the gym this off season? Looks massive on TV.

OMG nice block, Johnson looks OK

Mind you we have been bailed out by Perth's shooting.

Also looks like there are lots of mismatches after our half court trap.

The Bowleys are bombing with mikes. Get rid of em.

Also I love you One HD!!!!

We're seeing the effects of having Marty Clarke as coach. Similar to Dunlap, he expects everyone to be 18-years of age and balls-and-all. Works fine for Rhys Carter and the like, but will be interesting to see if all the players can adjust. If they can, and they buy into the system ..... unlike Dunlap ..... this could work. Early days, early days.

PS. Winder's block was ridiculous. Holmes turned around to smack out whoever climbed up his back and ..... whammo, it's my teammate.

Brad Robbins just checked into the game wearing black slippers and a haircut that would make Helliwell's mother proud. I thought the WNBL was played at Wayville.

Winder just dunked a ridiculous alley-oop all over Girly-Man Robbins, ala Rose over Dragic. Strewth, if Winder can stay on court, this could be an entertaining season.

Winder triple, then Girly-Man in the slippers takes him down hard on a break. Good to see Winder get up and hunt him down too. 36ers 50-43 at the third quarer and at this stage should get the surprise W.

great game so far devries awesome DJ good and Winder good would like to see him pass or do a team orientated play though

Darren Ng seems to be finding it difficult to score these days in the NBL. He looks fragile and does not have enough handle to get his shot off under pressure. If this is the case they would be better off getting rid of him because he is not going to give anything else on the court (defense) etc.
Just a thought.

How good was the Winder alley-oop three-point play???

Carter needs to put th three point shot away. U.G.L.Y

Well done - American Import , Troy Devries.
Last season, with Maher retired - I got very strung out for a while. Now I've survived.

DeVries is all class. I feel we were better with Johnson on the court too. The constant switching could get very interesting this season and we look tougher than we have at any time over the last 5 years.

WTF is with the chick announcer ? I feel very, very bad for her.....let alone the crowd having to put up with that crap. Get rid of her immediately.

Sixers by 5 did someone say? sweet victory and great game. Really liked what i saw with the exception that we struggle so much getting the ball in.

Anonymous, fair cop on the haircut then but it still looks terrible. Here's hoping Helliwell has a similar excuse but if I bump into him in a dark alley ..... you can ask him.

Great match - spoilt by the on-court announcer - pathetic!! She was only made to look less bad by the cloth-head guy who kept mumbling into his mike during the night - I couldn't understand a word he said.

If that girl's going to be there in future weeks, I'll bring a dog along to translate - only a dog or a bat could hear those frequencies!!

Also - what was with the low-key entrance by the team? The girl was squeaking on about something (I couldn't understand what she was saying) while the team ran on court behind her in silence. This is no way to built excitement!

I never thought I'd say it but BRING BACK BONZ!!!!

xztatik & Elite, lets start a petition to GET HER OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

They played nothing like the 36ers last year. Great to watch the hustle, the extra passes, etc. Good win and room to improve.

Ouch Monique is getting a battering. Atleast I'm pretty sure it was her. As for the game. I had to watch on TV instead of being at the game. That was a game to be proud of. Not with the way we scored but the way we finally are playing defence. Even Balls was playing pretty good defence and he was woeful last year. Kings and 36ers playing with some heart. Great to see.

Holmes had 18 rebounds and Adelaide won the boards. Perth didn't play horribly (both teams shot at a lowish clip) and made a couple of runs but the 36ers recovered. A few dunks in there as well - Winder's was great, Carter had one, Johnson too. Knight had one for Perth.

Adelaide 15% from three-point range - not sure that they'd shoot that badly again?

Hopefully they can play like this on the road.

Ok, that was the most amazing game of intensity I have seen for some time. Very proud of the boys for the effort.

The coach is up and about, giving tips unlike Ninnis who sat down and pondered why the club only gave him 100k.

Onto the announcer's. When did the club go looking for an annoucer? I never saw that ad.
The guy was very shonky but the girl really needs to work on her voice. In a defence chant, one minute she was the girl, next she was the tough guy out at Foxys Gym in Pooraka. And yes, from 7 rows back, I had no idea what she was on about half the time.

However despite the boos, she persevered but I think in 2 weeks time, maybe she needs a new position.

The refs were awesomely shit. Too much over reffing from Raoul Kirsten and Ray Hunt.

And lastly, where was the crowd participation? Were we still all at church?

To finish on a good note, I am pleased that no freebies were given out to corporates. Yeah, the fans missed out but its nice to see those who just rock up to get pissed got a beer and a game, no extra's.

Cairns might be a good game next week. Shame I am overseas. d'oh!

good to see the 6ers with some heart an intensity, no offence to the new courtside people, but Adelaide fans know basketball, dont try talk to em like little kids an give us instructions. im pretty sure we know what to cheer for an what not to. Beside that, good to see our bench stand up, im pretty sure last year we would of got rattled in the 4th an let that one slip, we nearly did it tonight but luckily Perth didnt hit some of the shots they had

I think this is a hard game to rate the team, they did some good things as well as some minor bad decisions. The shooting of both teams was HORRIBLE overall so I expect to see alot of improvment in coming games from the guys.
Winder showed he can be explosive, that alley oop dunk was freaking great to see!! and what a way to start your scoring career in the NBL. However some of his shoot selection left a bit to be desired..see how he goes could be first game wobbles infront of the home crowd.
Johnson and Dowdell were both solid performers for the minutes they receieved, nice to see Ballinger not having to stay at centre for most of the game.
Hill started off well, but faded into his usual silly mistake later on, this really has to be his last season to show he can either do the job or not, I think he will come up short personnaly but ive always thought that.
It was great to see the ball come onto the court with some confidence and team support, after seeing turn over and turn over last year in the same scenario.

Im pretty excited about this season after todays game, Winder and Ballinger didnt have stand out games by their standards and we still pulled up with a win. To me thats the biggest positive out of the game, all round contribution.

wow i was wrong and totaly glad.
Love the full court defence they did.
Cant wait to see what Winder can do when hes not in foul trouble.

Go Sixers

Exactly Isaac, the intensity and hustle was crazy. If we can keep that up all year we should be fun to watch at the very least. Any team with the best PG combo in the league gives themselves a chance. Good composed offence for the majority of the game and defensively the rotations were brilliant. They resulted in plenty of mismatches but when you have guys like Rhys Carter playing such tough inside D against bigger opponents you can get away with it.

Balls: Looked like a man with something to prove (ie he can play C) from the start. Was a beast inside. He even gave Knight a rib/hip injury with a nice shoulder in the post. Very nice defensive game too. It was great to see him get in Robbins' face after that dirty foul on Winder. That's the leadership and aggression we've been desperate for.

Holmes: Wow. His rebounding was amazing! 18 rebounds! 9 offensive!!!!! Holy shit! He was useless offensively but who cares. He won us the game with his hustle on the boards and was solid as usual on D.

Hill: Not good. He had a few sneaky rebounds but a terrible shooting day. It was good to see him attack the big guys in the paint but it looked like he was relying on a foul being called and, when it didn't come, the result was a few ugly looking layups.

DeVries: Nice all-round game. He put up his fair share of shots but his passing was very nice and he out-rebounded most of the big boys. Good to see he has the ability to play big minutes like that, with a good chunk of them at SF.

Winder: Statistically it wasn't a great game but he had a huge effect on the game. Was instrumental in stopping Perth's run in the 3rd quarter and turning it back on them. Probably had the best block and best alley (sorry Ninja) I've ever seen at the Dome in the same game. He's just the perfect PG for this team. He plays with heart and was Robbins-like defensively, you know, without being quite as dirty.

DJ: Pretty much delivered what we all expected. Some quick offence with very little defence or rebounding. Only played 11 minutes but that's all he deserved when you consider the form of Dowdell.

Speaking of whom, very nice game by JD backing up the frontline. Looks like he's in a weights battle with Balls and was solid at both ends of the court. No problem at all with him as a backup big. He's as good as any big I've heard mentioned as a possible Herbert replacement.

Ninja: Just couldn't quite get into the game against that tough D. Their little guys worked the screens very well and closed out on him every time. 'I wonder', please, I think Darren has shown what he can do in the NBL and he's actually bulked up quite a bit since last year. Stupid call.

Carter: Hustle! Love it. The period in the first half with Winder off on 3 fouls was always going to be pivotal and Rhys stepped in nicely. Gives up nothing on D and showed his flexibility by defending almost every position on the team. As for his outside shooting...

Refs: HOW DOES THE MONOPOLY MAN STILL GET A GAME? I ask this every game. I give up. It was actually a pretty good game by his standards. Overall it was pretty poorly officiated. Fair enough to let the soft stuff go in such a high-intensity game but it has to go both ways. There was no consistency. Redhage and Robbins get away with murder.

BRING BACK BONZ!

I will go against the masses and congratulate the sixers organisation for using monique as the roaming mic. It was refreshing to hear a female voice on the mic at the start of the game. She much easier to hear then David who was too timid and does not have the right type of voice for the PA system at the Powerhouse/Dome. Additional credit for putting her in Sam Harris's singlet too, she looked the part unlike Dave was too understated in every aspect.

Constructive feedback: Don't force Monique to cojole the crowd into shouting Defense or go "whoosh" on successful foul shots. Loved her enthusiasm but there was too much to early which worked against her,she needs to pick her moments better. Give her another go but tapper back her involvement to breaks and time outs perhaps and tell her to relax.

It was also a great game but a larger crowd would have been better. How did it look on the television

So you could actually understand a word she said ?

Just on Dowdell.....definitely our new glue guy.

X,
good call.
I think the Hillbilly may struggle to cement that starting 5 spot.
Perth played the man too much. Redhage was more focussed on bumping than actually doing something constructive. Not too sure about Robbins' headband. The guy next to me said he reckons he wore it to cover the circumcision scar.

Poor Monique, she sounded like an ex-wife. Bring back Luke.

Good way to start the Marty Clarke era tonight. I've been hearing that the team has done a really tough pre-season and it really pulled them through the fire tonight.

The Sixers intensity, especially early, was awesome but the Wildcats certainly didn't lay down. They kept coming back at the Sixers and it was great to see them weather the storm, when last year they would certainly have folded.

Devries was the key reason for that. The guy can do two things the Sixers have lacked since Maher retired: he can shoot from anywhere and he makes good plays under pressure.

Winder had a couple of impressive plays, but he has to be smarter with his fouls and Marty should have dragged his @ss for repeatedly trying to go 1 on 5 a couple of times (I think in the third quarter). I hope he works out, but tonight was not a good showing. I reckon he's a shooting guard as well. Carter should start at the point and Winder and Devries should play the wing positions where possible.

The Sixers generally did a textbook job of breaking the press, until late in the game when I think they were feeling the pressure a bit more. Nice to see DJ getting on the end of those press breaks and nicking easy points too. He had a good fast post move he scored on as well.

Holmes, great boards mate. You're a warrior. Agree with what someone said earlier about Balls being chiseled this year. He's definitely been in the gym and I thought he did a great job on Matt Knight, fighting on the boards with Holmes and the others all night. Had 4 blocks too.

Dowdell and Johnson did a good job of scoring off the bench, scoring 14 points between them on 6-9 shooting in 20 mins of action.

Pleasing to see that, despite all Perth's pressure, the Sixers had less TO and more rebounds tonight. The 13 extra shots they got from winning those categories basically was the difference in the game. The prime TO culprit from last year, Brad Hill, had zero tonight and looked much more under control out there.

Positive start tonight against a really tough team. I shudder to think what Perth's guards will do to the Tigers guards, not to mention the Kings Damien Ryan and Rod Grizzard (Cooper will be ok though).

"Not too sure about Robbins' headband. The guy next to me said he reckons he wore it to cover the circumcision scar."

Haaahahahahhahahahhahaha that's freakin classic!

Monique's chants were just cringe-worthy. She sounded like the "Leave Britney Alone" tranny. It'd be rough dumping her after one game, Big Ads, I agree. But I really don't think she is fixable from tonight's effort. Give her a job behind the opposition bench taunting the players so they lose their hearing or something.

Yeah cant fault Monique for her effort level i just could not hear anything. Spot yelling, get here levels correct and choose your moments and it will be fine. The guy was just a mumble.

Also what the hell is with charging to get into the parking out back now? I had to park in the streets and i'm sure that will get tiring for the local residents fast.

should be stop yelling.

"I shudder to think what Perth's guards will do to the Tigers guards,"

No joke Beantown. I look forward to watching that.

I disagree on Winder re his selfishness. I think he took the game on at a time where that was needed. Perth were on a huge run and he single-handedly returned the momentum in our favour when everyone else was wondering how to respond to the pressure. That (and the foul trouble) meant we didn't really get to see the playmaking side to his game tonight, but that doesn't mean it isn't there when needed.I'm happy with him at PG, the only thing that could change my mind is the form of Hill. Good call on his ball handling though, zero turnovers is a big positive.

Very good result against a team that will probably come close to winning it all. The intensity on defence was great, I didn't notice too many second chance points - and there were a lot of rebounds- which is definitely a change from the past.

I think the team mentality has changed noticeably, players are backing themselves more and dont seem to be afraid to make mistakes. A good example of that would be Hill, he didn't have a good game but he drove to the basket strongly and took open shots when they presented themselves.

DeVries and Carter should be the ball carriers, they are very composed under pressure. Winder wasnt so effective with the ball but its only one game.

Two things stood out that need some work, recognising full court pressure/traps etc a bit quicker, and there were also times when the offense slowed down because of over dribbling but for a first game i'm sure these things will sort themselves out.

As for the female on the roaming mic it was a bit of a disaster, but she should get a second chance to get it right.

X, I agree that Winder was good in the sense that he fought back and tried to change the game when Perth were piling on the pressure. He did have a couple of plays that helped switch the momentum a bit.

Overall though, it was just concerning to see him go into one on five mode a couple of times rather than moving the ball and trying to make a composed play. It gave me horrible memories of last year's team when everyone would stand around waiting for Gilly or Groves to make a bust or glory drive to the basket.

I hope Winder turns out (not least for the sake of my Fantasy NBL chances) but I thought his ball-handling looked pretty suspect tonight and he also showed zero ability to run the team like a PG should.

Hey - go easy on the court announcers - wasn't the most spectacular "entertaining" game to watch - one for the basketball purists. Hard to get excited about "D"

i thought perth looked beatable from the start, without a big shot blocker in the middle the 36er 3's & 4's were going to the basket with ease!!

shot changers /intimadators stats will never show up in the box scores!!

Lets all ease up on the MC bashing eh? Don't shoot the messenger I say.
We should probably be directing our "feedback" (some would call it abuse) to the Sixers board who no doubt were the brains behind this genius idea of Roving MC, which i don't think has ever been a hit.

Give the girl a break, it was the first game, her first attempt, and lets face it - the sound system at the Dome is terrible, it would make Kamahl sound like Daffy Duck.

I recall not being able to understand a word that Nathan Strempel was saying during Boomers vs Argentina and the post game on-court interviews.

So rather than push an enthusiastic young girl into depression, how about we ask the Sixers management to fix the PA system, and give her a fair go.

6 dream team points Beantown. Blalock is on the table :D...

Great first up win!

Great to see them stand up to perth and not back down to their physicallity and harrassment, looks like we wont have the soft tag anymore.

Thought Johnson did well in not a huge amount of court time, runs the floor well on offense we should definatly look to hit him with some long passes on the break like they did, he will run rings around alot of the slower/bigger centres.

Dowdell after 1 game seems to be a good pick up, big guy who does a bit of everything and isnt afraid to play inside but also can shoot, if he keeps that up for the season he will definatly be a good back up pf/c, he is also only 23 i think, probably could develop into atleast a Hinder type if he keeps that form up,

DeVries was awesome, sort of the closest thing we have had to the great Maher. Handled the ball well under pressure, was composed and scored well, all good to see and means with him and a pg on the court we should alaways get the ball up the floor reasonably well and get a composed offence run most of the time.

Winder was ok, pity he got into foul trouble early, but seems to play hard both ends, be very athletic and given the shots he was taking, seems to have a bit of a scorers mentality so hopefully will generally score well, but also run the offence.

Holmes as many have said is a warrior, loved it when towards the end he had the ball at the top of the 3 point line, 3 guys were hassling him, he steps into one and flattens him and makes the pass,

perth just seem to be a bunch of hackers, just rough teams up and hope they cave in, im glad we didnt cave in and hence beat them, a bit like the old goorj style which i was never a fan of, i know its effective but yea, its ugly,
the smyth led 36ers (especially first 5 years) teams usually beat them and hopefully the current team can use there offensive skill and hard working/fighting attitude to push through it and show these types of teams up and teams of that mould. Redhage can actually play better if he actually plays properly and doesnt just try pushing everyone around,

In defence of the Roving MC's it was a pretty tough crowd!
The style of game made it hard to get excited as it was low scoring and scrappy.
Hopefully next week the crowd wont require so much revving up.
Well done to the Sixers for a huge win and also well done on the effort Mons, im sure many of the haters on here wouldn't have the guts or flair to do that job.

3rd Quarter. Around 4-5 minutes to go.

and the block around 4 minutes to go in the 1st.

"average d"

-____-

"MB & DB were not the problem it was the equipment... I thought that was obvious?
Apparently the volume had to be lower than normal because of the TV broadcast as well.

People that booed, bagged and continue to diss online when they get home.... you should be ashamed of yourselves. What makes you any better?

If the league and the sixers are going to return to the "glory days", why dont we try posting about what was good and what is missing, rather than bagging what is being tried in an effort to get bums back on seats."

Because this effort is not going to get bums back on seats, it's going to drive them away.

I call bullshit on it just being the equipment. It wasn't. She was terrible.

Would I do any better? Well probably but not by much and that's why I'm not out there getting paid for it.

People aren't going to lie on here for the sake of her feelings. I think it's pretty clear that it would be a much more enjoyable basketball experience with a better announcer. More enjoyable basketball experience = more bums on seats. That's what we're going for right?

X, Shiny Brasswell polished up nicely on the weekend, so I might not trade him in just yet!

If anyone is worried that the club might not get the message. Have a look at their facebook page. It's a crucifixion! I fell sorry for her if she's reading all that but it looks like the fans have spoken.

Xztatik, I think you've hit the nail on the head with your last statement.

If management gave us a better court announcer, I think the experience would have been better for first timers.

In should be said that if the dude who calls the starting lineup, if he can produce a good announcement, why cant others.

As for booing, I think most people like the communication aspect of whats going on. If you cant understand someone, you dont listen and show ignorance.

I think all in all, she tried. Whether its the microphone, the acoustics or whatever, she wasn't up to it despite her enthusiasms.

She might get a friendlier welcome in 2 weeks time.

Props Sixers on slogging out a W when everyone had just written them off as cannon fodder.
Devries is a great signing, nothing too flashy but solid in every department and cool under pressure.
Winder had a great second half when he wasn't trying to do it all by himself and Holmes and Balls showed everyone how it's done inside.

Great stuff Sixers.
Won the effort and enthusiasm battle easily. Staved off Perth's run and stayed positive.
Took Perth's inside game away (Knight non factor) and they were rattled trying to get up a shot. Consequently they were woeful from everywhere.

The new floor announcers really need to start by getting a better sound system. I couldn't hear anything but a loud whining noise.

In relation to that; as it has already been pointed out in the thread; people in Adelaide cheer when there's something to cheer about and heckle when someone needs a bollocking. This isn't Cairns, Townsville or the Gong where you can do a playschool sing-a-long.

Back to the game though; if Balls can harden up on the inside; now that the charging circle is in, he can just shunt out anyone for a layup or post move. The man can really back down someone fast as hell.

Devries could be the next Triple Double man in the league with his game last night; really deceptive ball handling. Quite a few nice stutter moves before draining a 3.

Beantown - "Monique's chants were just cringe-worthy. She sounded like the "Leave Britney Alone" tranny."

That is as funny as it is harsh.

I wasn't at the game, but I assume it was her making noises during free throws for Perth? If so, I agree - that shit has to stop.

1. Best intensity i've seen from the 6ers for YEARS
2. Jacob, for the love of Jebuz please dont shoot
3. Coaching change already justified. Just hope he doesn't run our team empty by game 14
4. I like Winders heart, his head just needs time to catch up.
5. Why didn't we have logos in the paint?
6. Why am I asking questions at the end of a dead thread?
7. Amazing - look what happens when you box out? We get rebounds.
8. Rotations were logical, smart and timely.
9. I just read point 8 again. Never thought I'd write that about the 6ers.
10. When we get the ball inside we look good. I think this needs to be the new team tattoo.
11. Thats enough.

all i can say is that alley was awesome, good to see someone already posted it on youtube. i wont be getting much work done today.

http://linky.com.au/9xcq6

We should give the courtside announcers one more chance.

If it was the sound system that was the problem, then how come we could understand the court announcer perfectly fine during the game?

The problem was she shrieked and he mumbled. An audience also doesn't appreciate being spoken to like they are retarded. That was incrediably rude and they should be axed on that solely, let alone the fact that they were terrible.

Why didnt the club advertise the role?

People aren't going to lie on here for the sake of her feelings.

i really liked monique, i thought she did the best she could. When she did the dancing with the magpie at half time my kids loved it.

But as for her brother, he kept looking at the running sheet, hide under his hat, i just dont think he is a public figure like his sister. She basically had to run the show by herself.
My thoughts were to have her and Nathan Strempel together, as he is funny and i think she will grow on people, but like i said my kids loved her.

One more thing about the court announcer, I am all for trying new things and trying to get fans excited but when it doesn't work move on and try something else don't come back on the mic and treat us like children because we didn't do what you wanted us to.

The Doctor, just want to point out that the quote below is NOT mine, as you posted above. I wasn't at the game and really don't want to be associated with bashing the MC.

Beantown - "Monique's chants were just cringe-worthy. She sounded like the "Leave Britney Alone" tranny."

peanut, Strempel is in a different pricing category.

I watched on tv, and was getting really annoyed at the screaming during foul shots. Was that the announcer, or some highly strung chick courtside?

Strempel has just moved to Melbourne too.

DB5, one of the dancers makes funny coyote noises during opposition free throws. Might've been her.

I didnt notice the announcers on TV at all.

Thanks Isaac. God it sounded awful.

Great game boys. Dowdell, thanks for stepping up in my FNBL team!

Winston Gruberguiger:
5. Why didn't we have logos in the paint?

Agreed Beagle.
I liked the look of the court. Easy for new fans to recognize 3pt area. Keyways look good at FIBA size, and no logos (weren't they too slippery last year?)

Nice clean crisp look. I understand why they normally have them though.

Uniforms looked good as well.

Yep i asked this earlier, caught me out and i think in the long run is a bad decision as they only had a handful of cars there. I parked in a street nearby and i'm sure this will get tiring for local residents.

Perth injury mentions:

Matt Knight - Hip - available to play
Jesse Wagstaff - Wrist - available to play

Hood Sweeney made a business decision not to renew, simple as that.

Sponsorship is promotion. Promotion works when you get new business. If marketing yourself that way doesn't bring in business and you're not #1 basketball fans, then you review your decision.

The best sponsors IMO are those household names; West End; Holden; Toyota; Farmer's Union etc Public deal with them direct and make small, repetitive purchases. A company that deals with businesses and is a little "dry" is difficult to connect with from the public's perspective.