It will probly be a blow out sixers by 25 points

Nice writeup, but Sixers will smash Tiggers. The only question is how many minutes will Steven Weigh play?

One Player getting large minutes should not WEIGH too heavily on the final result!

His 36minutes accross 4 positions like Jason Forte
will bring the margin down to pretty close
He's a big fan of 48minute games.

I am trying to understand why clarke uses weigh so much?

Hey . ya might get about 6000 then.

Would like to be there, but staying home means I can watch this, Bathurst and the SANFL Grand Final.
This game being televised will likely mean a relatively small crowd considering everything else that's on.
Will definitely make it to the next game, and probably the vast majority of the others.

Great, balanced start to the year for the Sixers.

How come Schenscher would never grab rebounds like that when his shot wasn't falling in Townsville?!

Melbourne my favourites for the wooden spoon though, so it's all in perspective...

Definately a good start to build on. Well balanced, and Schenscher would usually hit at least half of the shots he missed. 9 boards was good.

Will watch it again this evening and have a real good look at it then.

Good win to start the season.
Gibson really steadied the ship well. 12, 7 and 7 is a handy stat line. Did well to bring the team together after the melee.
Weigh seemed to benefit from having Gibson distributing it to him. Had his shot going and wasn't overplayed by Marty (was needed more after Petrie was sent off).
DJ was on fire early. Started forcing it a bit after half time like he does. 9 rebounds is encouraging. Will be in MVP calculations.
Cadee did a lot more than his stat line suggests.
Petrie did a lot of things well. Bit of physicality, bit of shooting, bit of finesse. His send off was BS, that was scarcely even a Techable.
Creek has become very efficient. Comes in and makes a difference.
Schenscher had a nightmare game offensively. Couldn't get anything going. Missed countless hook shots, free throws, most shots werent difficult. 9 rebounds and defence was pretty good.
Massingale looked lost. Got the ball at the 3 pt line, then didn't really look to do anything before passing off. You'd hope for more than that.
Crosswell isn't really necessary with Gibson and Cadee running the point. Doesn't have much of a role when Gibson can be that steadying head.

For Melbourne, Goulding was forcing it way too much. Didn't really get into the flow, just blazed away every opportunity. Braswell hasn't changed much from NZ days, makes hard things look easy, but doesn't really make others better. Scott looked huge early. Bit of a David Andersen look-a-like with his skill set. Probably their best offensive threat. Pretty typical Burston game, doesn't force anything, just gets it done. Anstey seemed to use those 4 for the majority of the game, with Walker added after Goulding was ejected. Lewis, Rush, Tomlinson and Greer were used pretty sparingly.

Rush played 30+. I think Weigh kept him out of the game.

Did you go to the game Isaac?

What I really liked was that our depth showed. In years past if Luke had that game we were in trouble, now we easily covered it and really spread the load. Though he is fairly ball dominant Gibson really makes a big difference in attitude and composure. Hopefully signs of things to come this year.

Hendo- Rush had 32 minutes.

Great first Win for the team, enjoyed the game, hopefully the crowd gets bigger as the season goes on and we keep the wins coming.

Schenscher great with his 9 boards, and blocks, with others scoring dont need too much from him offensively, id give him sort of the Reesy role of working hard inside at both ends, not looking to score much, my challenge for Schenscher is to lead the league in rebounds and blocks, with his size it should be a realistic goal.

Johnson - great, what you expect from him, my guess for the season is he will average around 20 pts 8 rebounds, and will be a MVP contender. Obviously needs to get a bit better defensively, with Schensch blocking some shots and Petrie in the squad not as much as an issue this year.

Weigh - for me was basically his best game as a 36er, played solid both ends, didnt really force anything,and his shooting was efficient as a result, he played the 3rd highest minutes instead of the highest which is good, and didnt mind him playing some minutes at PF, if him and Creek are going to be on the squad long term both playing around 30 mins, he is going to need to do this.

Gibson -Fantastic, welcome to Adelaide, basically gave us the Darnell Mee type game, statline similar with some good defense. Exactly what we needed. Keep that up he will fast become a fan favourite.

Cadee - looked good to me, nothing spectacular but controlled things well and didnt seem to stuff up.

Petrie - Fantastic, loved the biff, good to see some toughness back in a 36ers uniform, lacked it since Rees/Cat left, and a great game before being ejected rather harshly imo. Also scored better than i was expecting and played hard. Like Gibson welcome to Adelaide, if he playes like that each game he will be fast become a fan favourite, can see why he and Gibson were put straight into the leadership group.

Creek - great game, very efficient, always plays hard, makes things happen,played basically half the game, wouldnt mind seeing him given 25 mins per game, but around 20 isnt too bad, didnt mind the coaching rotations overall.

Massingale - didnt seem to do much, but didnt seem to stuff up too much either, and only played around 10 mins, i basically see him in the Ng role so was ok as im not expecting him to be the next Farley, aslong as he doesnt shoot 0/10 or have poor shot selection, not shooting in this game was ok with me, but would have liked to see him play a bit more at the end and get a few shots up, but neither good nor bad for me, this game. If we can win by 20 with our import not shooting/scoring and not playing much we have a good/deep team.

Crosswell/Pero - didnt play much and are great depth players to have on our roster.

Coaches - rotations/match ups seemed to be good, using Weigh as the 3rd option instead of trying to make him the man is what needed to happen and seems to have released the pressure from him and allowed him to play a great and efficient game. Good start to the season imo.

Its only against Melbourne, was expecting atleast a 10 point win, so a great effort, but not getting too far ahead of ourselves, as Melbourne wont be a playoff contender imo especially without Ballinger.

And Tomlinson came in for Goulding and didn't do much.

Adelaide's depth was the big difference after half time.

Petrie elbowed Goulding to the head - I expect sure that's why the refs gave Melbourne the shots and possession after the melee. I suspect he won't be playing next week. Admittedly, Goulding started the melee but I was pretty happy that both players were ejected. I like to watch basketball - not fights. Most likely the sight of 6 players in a wrestle on the floor is the highlight that will get the most TV time out of this first round and that's not a good look for the league.

It was a great game, pity the crowd was down.
Luke was held constantly and that affected his offence. Whenever Burston set a pick he would push out with his arms. Scott did a few little dirty things behind the play that were not spotted.

Highlight was the Petrie ejection, not so much for the ejection, but for having the stones to stand up for a team mate. Well done, that's the spirit winning teams have.

CJ looked a little lost, but I think he has only had half a dozen trainings so he will fire up. Weigh shot well and rewarded Marty.

Great start by sixers 1-0 :)

The group looks very balanced and will only get stronger as they play more together. Coaching staff have put together a very good group and will be able to show everyone that they are very good coaches. All the best for the season Marty and Mark!

Tigers on the other hand look like they will have a tough year. Plenty of talent on the roster but already you can see that the rookie coach will be in for a frustrating season. They will win some games due to talent but will find more ways to lose the win... Shot selection is already an issue...

Totally agree Jack re Petrie. Good to see one of our own look after his team mates. I'm sure he won plenty of fans today and he played well in the first half as well. Good to see the crowd get behind him and back him up.

The team seems to be really well balanced this season IMO. We have multiple guys to cover every position with multiple scoring options and decent defense today at least. Looking forward to the next match.

What happened with the Petrie ejection? Didn't get to see it but all the feedback seems positive which is interesting considering it's such a negative result in a game?

Im a huge fan of Petrie, rated him after watching him light up SEABL with the Gunners.

He'll end up being the best buy of all the new guys.

I need to confirm it on the replay I am watching now, but this is what I believed happened.

1. Creek driving to basket, fouled "awkwardly" by Herbert (your basic, dirty, professional foul)
2. Creek tells Herbert that's pretty low foul
3. Scott comes in a pushes Creek from behind (the umpires actually do end up calling an unsportsmanlike foul, but it doesn't seem to go onto his count)
4. Petrie tells Scott that's not how you treat one of my team mates
5. The players form a scrum
6. One of the refs joins in the scrum
7. Scrum falls to the court
8. Players separate.
9. Refs scratch their head and devise some way to negotiate out of the situation
10. Petrie takes an early shower

sorry Goulding, I have got Scott angst on my mind!

AK-47 - this is what I saw:

Creek was hit by a Tigers player in the run of play. Not a big hit but it was clumsy and looked slightly crude. Creek didn;t react but Petrie was alongside and pushed the Tigers' player away. There was nothing in it at that point - Petrie Creek and the Tigers' player were all turning away.

Goulding then charged in from the other side of the keyway and grabbed Petrie. The two got into a clinch that players from both teams then ran into. After 4-5 seconds of grappling, Petrie elbowed Goulding to to the side of the head and the two collapsed with 5 or 6 players on top of them. Refs came in and broke it up then ejected Petrie and Goulding, each with a disqualifying foul. They then gave the Tigers 2 shots and possession at the other end of the court.

The way Goulding charged at Petrie, I immediately wondered what history there might be between them from the Blaze days. It certainly was a pretty big over reaction to the in-game situation. I wonder if Statman can shed any light on that?

DB5, yeah, I was at the game.

Why'd the Tigers get the shots? I swear they called tech/USF on Scott, then double disqualifying? Oh, USF was on Petrie. Oops.

Goulding must've said something pretty bad?

Herbert?

Creek drove, got awkwardly fouled by Walker.
Walker fell into Petrie, who sort of half fended, half pushed him.
Goulding came in and pushed Petrie back.
They grappled for a bit. Petrie's forearm was sort of in Goulding's face.
Others jumped in and created a melee.
The players fell to the ground in what could either be construed as a forceful shove by Petrie or Goulding simply losing his footing in the melee.
They rolled around for a bit while others half wrestled, half tried to break it up.
Then it broke up.

Then the umpires worked came up with ejecting Goulding and Petrie. Both were the main perpetrators, neither did anything that would warrant ejection. Others may also have been teched, but I can't see how it would have been another Sixer, maybe Scott or Walker at a stretch.
Then after all this, Creek's free throws were taken away and somehow Melbourne received 2 shots and possession. I simply can't work out at all why Melbourne ended up with it, unless Petrie was deemed to be who causes the melee, which is possibly fair, but I'd argue it was more Goulding.

Petrie got a DQ and an USF
Goulding a DQ
Walker a foul on Creek

Refs originally signalled an USF on Scott which was warranted IMO as he was the one that caused the tussle to go to the floor then put Petrie in a headlock

Refs then changed this decision for some reason and assigned the USF to Petrie hence Tigers got 2 and possession. Creek should still have had 2 shots though.

Dont know how Petrie can get 2 fouls out of this when he was involved as much a Goulding. In fact Goulding could be deemed the agressor for getting involved with Petrie and Walkers' chest beating

Best part was refs incessantly blowing their whistles thinking that will stop the fun and games.

Looked like Petrie shirt-punched Goulding to me. You know, whatever that move is they've mastered in the AFL.

It wasn't Herbert you goose, he isnt even playing in NBL this season let alone for tigers...
The awkward foul was by Lucas Walker.
Goulding is the one who made a nothing event into something. He is also a goose...

Watching the replay, looked half like Petrie shoved and half liked they both tripped and stumbled? Hope there aren't fines though my reaction watching live was that Petrie could be in trouble.

My view of it was both Petrie and Goulding had half smiles on their faces but the weight of everyone else coming in pushed them over and escalated it.

Interviewing Peach earlier in the week he was talking about Goulding and I certainly didnt pick up any malice, the opposite would be closer.

A great game to watch and great to see Cadee and Petrie making a solid difference.. I agree with the above that Petrie might just be the pick fo the bunch out of the new guys... The team looked a lot better with him and DJ on the floor, which might end up relieving some of the pressure off Big Red allowing him to play better too...

The ejections were absolute bollocks and the refs should send out yet another apology for overreacting... Petrie and Goulding were too busy grinning at each other, both having come to the defence of their teammates until Scott got involved and others dragged them down, Scott getting Petrie in a pretty severe headlock and Walker trying to get amongst it as well... If anything, Goulding was the one that blew it up, as both Petrie and Walker weren't going to get into it...

If anyone misses a game next week it will be an even bigger travesity than how the refs handled the situation on the day...

Totally agree with anon #121. Music a big negative. Short stings are fine. Playing loud, irrelevant pop songs over the game just squashes the game and takes the crowd out of it.

First half wasn't too bad; could often feel and hear what was going on in the game, then the bad old patterns started to re-emerge in the second half.

Seems as though the guy gets so involved in the game he forgets the music is even bashing away. At times was even drowning out the court announcer.

I find it ironical that there is almost no music in the intervals/when there is no game action, and when some sound might be good, but the racket starts as soon as the ball is tossed up.

I repeat ... excessive loud music alienates the crowd from the game.

Plenty of positives in the game though.

Watching on TV, it looked like Petrie threw some sort of shove/punch that might get him in some trouble. I have a feeling he'll get a fine and banned for a game or two.

That was Clarke just then on radio - no further action
NBL happy with the way it was handled.

He spoke to Ballinger after the game , out for 3-4 weeks or so. 2 seasons of injury..........
Melbourne only 5points in the last might be a record
Fans will wanna see Creek flying
We needed a bit of toughness so we chased Petrie and Gibson. Petrie will become a bit of a crowd favorite
'I don't recall NZ losing 2 in a row at home for many years , but we might be able to get them.'