Centrebet have Adelaide as favourites in both QLD games this round.

Crocs paying 2.75 and Taipans 2.45

Ah, no offence to the 36ers, but get on that. These are both teams that thrive on home court, very different beasts. Crocs are getting things together and Cairns will be so desperate you could smell it from the other side of the country. Big danger games for an Adelaide that is carrying some injuries that will be exacerbated by the two games in two days deal.

Adelaide have been looking great, but reckon this trip could be tricky. A 2-0 would be magnificent, a 1-1 would be par, an 0-2 would be unfortunate.

Apart from the games in Perth, pretty much every game is tough to predict this season. If the Crocs play like they did in Melbourne the 36ers will have to play very well to win.

I would love to see the Sixers go 2-0 on the weekend, but I think the Crocs game might be a tough one. The Sixers love a fast transition and the Crocs will be looking to slow it all down, so I'm expecting a bit of a grabby game by them. The Sixers will be wanting to get the win, but not tire themselves out.

The other Ace for the Crocs is the niggles of the Sixers, back, ankle etc.

I think the pressure is on the Crocs to get the win. Anything less than a win by them would be an epic failure by them.

I think "epic failure" is gilding the lily, but I'd consider it to be setback for Dennis' boys if they fail to defend home court here.

Speaking of which, I hope they can get a crowd out for this one and send them home happy, they could surely do with some momentum to keep the franchise afloat.

yeah, maybe not epic, just talking it up!

People need to realise that Cairns, relative to their record, are actually one of the worst teams in the league on their home court over the past two seasons. THEY DON'T PLAY WELL AT HOME!

FYI, the Crocs want to play just as fast as Adelaide do.

The 36ers are definitely due for a loss, I reckon, one way or another, they'll come away 1-1.

Some good stats there Jack, but I reckon the Sixers pose some serious matchup probs for the Crocs. Ervin and Cadee will be too quick for their guards and I don't see who's stopping DJ. On the other hand, Petrie should be able to handle Conklin and Creek / Frye should have enuff size and quickness to counter Blanchfield/ Pace. Only thing stopping a Sixers win is complacency/ too many injuries IMO.

Beantown, if Petrie plays single coverage on Conklin, Adelaide are not going to have a good night. He'll go for 30 at the very least.

Crocs have to be favourites here.

They match up very well against the Sixers. Not sure what Beantown is talking about...

People are really underrating Conklin and Pace, still.

No one in the league can guard Conklin one on one (at least no one he has played...Matt Knight or Redhage would give him a good crack). He's way too quick even for the relatively mobile Petrie. He torched Mark Worthington, Lucas Walker, and everyone the Tigers threw at him last week, and Mika Vukona has been unable to slow him.

If you slow the game down and let Townsville's atrocious halfcourt D lose them the game, you'll walk right through them. Go through DJ and Schenscher early and often. Don't try to beat them in the open court with Ervin, at least not every play down the floor.

For all his ability to romp through frontcourts, Conklin has only had one game over 20 points. Had 11 points in The Great Torching of Melbourne. This season he's scoring at under 50% and averaging 3.9 RPG. 16 PPG overall indicates consistency but doesn't quite make him an elite threat.

Danger game sure, but 36ers should be favourites. In Cairns, they'll be backing up against a desperate team so who knows.

Cant wait for this game and really have no idea who wins, it's going to come down to who gets the speed of the game to suit them best. Im tipping Adelaide by 1 just because!

Mick, Conklin would take a massive shit on Redhage's head if they went up against each other--too much strength.

The reason Conklin isn't scoring more is because he is always being crowded after a couple of made shots. He has no offensive help in the frontcourt, so he pretty much always has 1.5 guys defending him.

He's also terribly streaky. When he's cold, he is sub-zero.

I think the sixers will beat the crocs by 4. I'm not so sure about Cairns purely because its the second leg of a road double.

Conklin has also been absolutely shafted by the refs in most games though. As they stop calling him as a "fresh meat rookie import" and start calling him like a normal human basketball player he will only improve.

I'm not sure what a bye round does to a young team like the Crocs though...I think it would have made them complacent, especially after a road win against Melbourne.

Should be a good game.

Mick and Stats, I'm going by what I saw of the Crocs early in the season. Kerron Johnson blew by Markovic at will so Ervin should do the same. Conklin may have improved, but he seemed inconsistent to me when I watched him. He'll certainly have to have a big game to offset the Sixers front court. Sixers could lose if they play badly (see Hawks last week) but if they run Crocs off the three, I don't see how they put up enough points to win.

^ Kerron Johnson wasn't nursing a back injury, Ervin is at the moment. Could make that a much dicier proposition.

Beantown, I'm going by what I see from the Crocs every week.

Anon, I think they'll put Gibson on Pace simply because of the size difference between Gibbo and Blanchfield. But if Pace works Gibson on the block, then you'll probably see Frye go on Pace. Hard to say.

God-damn, of course they have a home-court advantage. One of the biggest advantages in the league. Those rims are pretty different to anywhere else in the league as well.

Also hard to say whether Adelaide will be happy with 1-1. I think they will be neutral actually, maybe somewhat disappointed.

Crocs will play mostly zone so not sure if Ervin will blow by an individual opponent as such, but that's what Townsville want, the oppo PG putting their head down trying to beat people and dribbling into traps. Whether they can do that with Ervin we will see.

Anon, no doubt they are the best in the NBL.

Have a look at win percentages, they would show otherwise. It's not just people cheering in the stadium that contributes to an advantage. The rim and net combo 'looks' entirely different than anywhere else in the league, plus the rim is painted black. The Crocs would be more used to it and know how soft it is, so they know how effective certain shots can be.

Also, a crowd serves as reinforcement for good plays, which essentially helps the home team play the way they want to play.

It'd be real nice if the league standardised it's rims and nets. It would make the league seem more professional on telecasts and would actually help scoring because players would be more familiar with the hoop, regardless of the stadium.

That's something I actually pointed out to a Crocs administrator in conversation and they complained that if they were to go that way, it'd be "a whole $400 per rim and net".

Agree SS. Need to standardise rims as well as quality control on floor decals.

Beantown: as said above the Crocs rarely play man. They trap and fall back to a zone. Ervin will see lots of looks from basically every Crocs player not named Greg Vanderjagt in the backcourt alone. And if they decide to go man, you can stick Markovic on Gibson and put Pace on Ervin. Then you have Norton and Mirko off the bench who are both quick and defensive-minded.

The Crocs give up lots of open threes due to their insistence on zone d. Adelaide arent great from deep at every position. I just think this matchup is not good for the 6ers. They may win the title this season but the middling crocs will give them headaches in the interim.

I expect we'll go 1-1.

If the 36ers go 2-0, we will already have had our greatest number of wins already, beating our 8,8 and 9 win seasons previously.

Yeah, shit. I must've looked at them at the wrong angle in the stadium. The lighting is weird and they aren't perfectly orange from below.

I am wrong, but I absolve myself from blame for the rim colour comment.

http://www.crocodiles.com.au/di/library/townsville_crocodiles/14/ee/conklin_im5hdijy13ze1ddzphb4fn5t5.jpg?t=-711044503&quality=90

To justify my above comment

I'll concede that point about zone guys. Outside shooting is not the Sixers strong point. What's the Crocs transition D like though? They'll need to get their reversing boots on if the Sixers run it like they did against Perth! I'm still confident the Sixers will win this one.

Crocs transition D is great, it's their halfcourt D that has let them down in the past.

I think the question that needs to be asked is where Townsville will get their points from?

Sixers have some pretty good and crafty inside players and are good at drawing fouls and cleaning the glass. DJ offensively should be a real concern for the Crocs...and I wouldnt be so sure about giving the Sixers open looks from outside. Whilst they are not great shooters from beyond the arc, they do have players that can hit them and they are streaky so you dont want them getting early ones.

At TSV, J.Pace looks pretty good
In CNS, S.Weigh - the player to beat all players
and should be a full hose in ADL next week
when he returns, but he is unconcerned
He's got plans of his own, to set up his throne
whena he returns

6ers should beat both teams really, but its a tough road trip. I do expect them to beat the Crocs, I just dont rate them anywhere near good enough to compete for 4 quarters. But id be surprised if the 6ers could make it a double and knock off the Taipans as well. Cairns have been so close lately and are so much better than their record shows. Unless they have now got to the point where they feel its just too mch ground to make up this season, IF they come out just as hungry as they were against the Cats in Cairns, 6ers tired legs will hurt them come 4th quarter time. 1 and 1 record will be a great success for the 6ers.

Looking on the Team Metrics of LPtA, for all the talk of how will Townsville do on the glass, they have the best dReb% in the comp (and correspondingly, allow the lowest percentage of offensive rebounds to their opponents). Their statistical indicators are all very good.

Tornado: townsville are one of the highest scoring clubs in the league. Scoring isnt a problem for them. Opposing PGs getting inside at will is a problem though...

Alright, place has been too quiet today, time for some arbitrary feather ruffling ;)



Out of curiosity, although Adelaide has a 5-0 home form, tied for best in the NBL with Perth, the 36ers have a 3-2 road record. Losses to Perth and to Melbourne, with two wins against NZ (one a miracle fluke, the other at their less-fortress-like North Shore) and the third against Cairns by 3pts. This latter victory was actually the start of Cairns' loss streak (and no doubt they would love to see it end against the team that started it).

Is this a good away record or is it a potential stumbling point?

Of course, by road win %, they're the 2nd best record (60%), behind Perth (83%) and ahead of Sydney (40%), the only other team with multiple away wins.

This is the sort of team I would like to see Schench and Johnson on court together. Really stretch them under the basket and use Schench's hook shots and posts ups with DJ's speed to the basket to make them work hard.

Mick, Sixers average 90 points per game and Townsville 85 - FWIW. Pretty close...as I expect the game to be. I think the Sixers by 3. They'll want to get the early win to ensure they come away from the double at least 1-1.

Nathan, in Cairns, we were up and had a big lead on the road. Have done the same in NZ. Perth was without two starters.

With an 8-2 record the 36ers have already equalled the win totals from both 2011-12 and 2012-13.

We should win tonight, should win tomorrow night. Lets see what happens.

Go the Adelaide 36ers (its nice to be excited about this club again).

Soon.

Also, dear people of Townsville, please attend.

I am not worried about either game.. Adelaide is deep enough to give good players adequate rest each game during the sunshine swing and not lose anything on court. They should be favourites for both..

Sixers will win if we can step up our outside game and improve our shooting from range. As long as we are barely average from range we will continue to have to work incredibly hard to bring in very close wins and inevitably we may have some close losses. Full credit for our current ability to never give up in crunch time and thus far to close out some super close games. We dont just need to improve our 3 point % but the number of attemts which must be about the lowest in the nbl. Someone might have stats on that. Hope we get up tonight.

Go sixers!

Have just seen the Crocs lineup on NBL.tv and it would seem Mitch Creek is now a Croc.

I think that graphic is a bit of a croc LOL

At least the commentators knew better and didn't mention his name in the Crocs lineup.

Mitch Creek starting, Jarrid Frye on the bench.

Damn, Steven Markovic has hit 5 3s in a row for Townsville.

For anyone who's watching, do you think Joey overloaded the team with information in that quarter time break? Would the guys take all that in, or is the volume of information detrimental to the guys because they may over think on the court?

Good game so far. Markovic on fire early, but you'd think he will regress to his average over the course of the game. Pace is a worry from mid-range on the smaller Gibson. Might need to keep Creek/ Frye on him.

Townsville playing well, but I'm happy with the Sixers only being down 4 after the first quarter, considering how well the Crocs have shot it so far.

Stats, was a lot of info at the qtr time break, but I followed most of it apart from the play calls, which I obviously don't know. Probably okay, given the players should be more familiar with what Joey wants than I am.

This is an excellent game

The refs are being rather savage in calling Adelaide for travel....it has been rather one sided on that part of the calls.

Big loss for the Crocs if Hinder can take no further part. They have so little height out there.

Beantown, I understand that, but it is different in the heat of the battle (especially considering the pace of play). It's all well and good to understand and apply it from the couch, but when guys have to make multiple split decisions per set the back of that info, it makes me wonder.

Can anyone qualified give me their experience and point of view?

The way Adelaide perform on the court, they seem to know what they're doing though.

On the back of that info*

And I didn't mean to make it sound like you're not qualified, Bean. (If you took offence to that.)

Where's the "like" button

I thought I was eminently qualified to comment from my position on the couch, beer in hand Stats! ;-)

In any case, the Sixers certainly seemed to follow Joey's plan to prevent Markovic getting easy looks at three from the top of the key. They also got their transition game going as he wanted and attacked the Crocs zone the way he suggested.

Massive coaching improvement over what the Sixers have been used to for sometime!

Just saw your comment Stats. No offence taken.

Haha, nice. Enjoy your beers. Sixers by double digits I reckon

Some nice younger players on the Crocs team. Norton has done well so far and I have seen Blanchfield and Djeric do well before. Dennis has them playing really well too. They're just lacking too much size and talent up front IMO.

Only 7 TOs for the Sixers to half time. I'm surprised about that, considering how many travels they had! They need to cut down on those and continue to run Markovic and Crawford off the three in the second half. Other than that, I think the Sixers should win this if they continue to attack in transition and get the ball in the paint.

Clever change from the Crocs to double team our post players. Sixers haven't seen much of that this season. Hopefully Joey gets the Sixers to adjust again.

When will the NBL fix the ref problem? Leadership isn't the issue. It's the guys on the ground...

It's so embarassing trying to convince people to go out on a limb and watch an NBL game with you when there is a million better things to do on a friday night and then have them ask you to explain call after call that are inexplicable...

Does anyone know if the NBL website show all the live stats for games currently being played? I cannot find anything for the Sixers/Crocs game but there are live stats for Perth/NZ game.

Refs stuffed us over in that one. That charge on Johnson at the end was a huge flop, at this level the ref should be able to discern that, terrible call that gave us little chance towards the end.

Worst charge call on DJ with 3 points in it ever. Bank the easy two, and this was a real game.

Other than the flop, pretty good d by the crocs in the 4th.

Anyone pick that Markovic would own the PG matchup? Not me...

Two massive games in a row for him. Hopefully his average early season form was due to his ankle surgery recovery and the best is yet to come...

Yeah it was a flop at the end, but it also was a charge, if you go by NBL precedent.

No penalty for flopping in the NBL. Conklin did nothing illegal.

The crocs were warned for flopping earlier in the game

It was not a charge, there was virtually no contact at all.

Yes...maybe not in the NBA.

In the NBL that is a charge.

Not saying I agree with it (i don't). But that is called a charge 8/10 times in the NBL.

C'mon DJ moved his hips 4 inches to the left. That was easily enough contact to knock a 100kg defender down.

I know it is called far more regularly than it should be, but by calling that, you are encouraging the defender to flop every single time a player posts up. There was probably less contact on that play than many of the other normal post up plays throughout the game where the defender didn't flop. Does the NBL need to go down the NBA route and fine players for acting like that if the refs are unable to tell?

Great game overall. Credit to the Crocs, who hustled hard to makeup for their lack of size and made a lot of savvy plays when it mattered. Josh Pace made some huge blocks at critical times late and then followed that up with key baskets under pressure. Markovic MVP of this game by a mile. He's improved a lot from his showings early this season. Crocs have a nice core with Markovic, Pace, Blanchfield and Conklin. Get these guys a legit centre and they would be top 3 for sure.

Sixers played a decent game, but the Crocs showed them that they need a plan to counter quick double teams. I thought the Crocs turned the game when they stopped DJ and Petrie from posting up. Up to that point, the Sixers were scoring at will, but after that they were forced to try other methods of attack and they weren't nearly as effective.

Why didn't Creek play much?? actually did not see him on court at all, I did missed the start though.

It is technically but when have you ever seen someone actually shoot free throws for it, as opposed to the NBA where people are cited weekly for the offense...

Crocs just to good.

Crocs just too good

Who the hell is Friar for the 6ers. These commentators on NBL.TV should learn names. I get so annoyed with that

@ando:

They called Brian Conklin "Ryan Conklin" up until last home game. Just consider it lucky they got Frye's name in the ball park, considering he's an opposition player...

If we are going to mention the charge on Dj, we should also mention frye getting bailed out on a jumper falling over the baseline with no contact from Conklin too. Were a few touchy calls going both ways. Sixers shot 4 above their average with 94, but crocs shot 13 above their average to win.

It was a great game to watch with some great counters from both coaches, sixers doubling pace in the post down the stretch forced a couple of turnovers. Then pace moves early to beat the double to score and then dish to Conklin to score.

Just bloody pumped for the crocs, playing great team basketball

Surprised to learn that we lost.. but not at all worried or phased by the fact. even if we lose tomorrow we are still second by a fair margin. But lets obviously hope that doesnt happen... By rights, I think it shouldn't... Cairns reminds me of the 36ers last year... all the right peices but just cant make it work.

Official attendance at The Swamp - 2,909. Pretty dismal really.

Really really need to get Frye in the gym shooting foul shots. Atrocious form

Oh and have you seen the image for the latest 'PC Guide' column on the NBL website...jesus. Hide your kids, hide your wife.

Frye (Friar according to the NBL.tv commentators) was generally good tonight, though Joey mixed it up a bit and started Mitch Creek.

Unfortunately though he seems to subscribe to the Diamon Simpson free throw shooting method. And we all know how well Diamon shot from the FT line for the 36ers.

great win for the Crocs

So Townsville are now in the top 4.

No matter how temporary it's a big achievement for a team EVERYBODY had written off as wooden spoon certainties before the season.

Imagine if Dennis had a proper centre to work with...

Great effort, they are consistently putting together long stretches of their style of play now and making even good teams second guess themselves. Early days, but Dennis is doing a bit of a 'Gordie' with the way he gets his team to disrupt the other team, albeit with a different style.

Pace is a unique player. I love how he takes guys down low and goes to work, and he is a solid defender who can guard 1-3. It's rare to see a guard with a go-to post game, and it's great to see.

However, having a 2 guard that can't shoot outside of fifteen feet leaves of lot of 3-point opportunities on the table.

There isn't much to say about Dennis. He has these guys playing the right way on both sides of the ball, and seems like a great guy off the court. What more could you want from a coach?

You'd want to hope Townsville continue to work on their pick and roll coverage and they will be able to disrupt teams in the grind-game the same way they do in the open floor.

I'd honestly like them to keep this team in its entirety for next season, obviously minus the retiring Russell Hinder. Replace him with a solid center in his prime (like Nevill...lord knows they have the cap room) and you have a contender.

As said above, you don't even need a Nevill...even someone with HALF of his ability and you'll be very solid indeed. Obviously centers who can walk, talk and chew gum are easier pontificated over than signed...

They haven't, but combine Kenny's salary with Rusty's and you have, what, 80-90k to offer SOMEONE...?

Better than nothing..

Wow I didn't see Markovic lighting it up coming at all.

Spectacles like this will hopefully bring the crowds back to the Crocs.

They deserve a better crowd (for that game) than that.

6'ers did very well under the circumstances, I think they'll be pumped for the Cairns game.

A 'solid centre in their prime' for $80-90k? Is that realistic? Well done TSV team, shame about the TSV people who couldn't be bothered getting behind their team. Even when Cairns is at their lowest they still pull 3500.

The Crocs are a solid team offensively and defensively. I like Pace and Markovic is getting better. Would like to see a legit C on their team next year.

Another observation. Norton gets to the line well.

Once Norton rediscovers his stroke from downtown he is going to be a force. He doesn't get off the ground enough for a little guy when shooting the three. It's almost like a free throw. I think there's too much backspin and sidespin on the ball as well.

Was it Norton that had a nice stroke but it was re-trained out of him?

That's what someone on this forum with some kind of inside scoop said a while back: that someone at the Crocs worked with him to change his stroke. I'm guessing it would have been one of the assistants...

He used to be a pure shooter...now he looks as though Jake Holmes taught him how to shoot...flat arc with sidespin.

Having said that, this season he is the best free throw shooter in the league, while last year he was pretty unreliable. It's just his 3 pt shot that is still average.

Also...lots of guys are great shooters in juniors but then with the extra length, speed, and defensive ability of pro defenses they lose their touch a bit. It's also different being able to shoot the ball 30 times a game to find a rhythm, then turning pro and only getting a couple of shots. I

As an entirely unqualified commentator from the couch, I do think it is a technique problem with Mitch though. Flat footed, too much spin (both backspin and dreaded sidespin) as well as the release being far too slow. Great shooters all take less than a second to get their shot off, and the best take less than 0.8.

Gee Townsville really needs to get to the games or they will lose their team for good. Can't understand why they don't want to. Apparently the stadium of Townsville won't be getting the upgrade it was promised.

I dont know if you can blame "townsville".

The onus is on the crocs as a franchise to get people thru the door.

Their marketing strategy is not nearly creative enough, and a lot of their advertising comes off as very amateurish.

The people of townsville don't have to DO anything.

You cant fault their effort though. They are working hard in the community with countless volunteers doing more than their fair share. I just think the strategy and execution is a bit tepid.

Agree with that. Need to get more than 2,909 to the Townsville games.

I had a gut feeling this was going to fall the wrong way for the Sixers. Townsville just a bit desperate and had a few things going their way.

That is an incredible stat that DJ had not been fouled out in an NBL game before. Perhaps the NBL do need to have a standby ref. Or a least get the stadium announcer to put out a call to the crowd for someone to have a crack! (the mascot and/or a cheerleader to be used to select the emergency replacement of course)

DJ has fouled out 6 times in the NBL

I thought it was unusual that he hadn't, thanks for clearing that up Muzz