women will be close - suzy dominated last time but we have summerton back in.

There isn't really a weak link in the league at the moment with the bottom half of the ladder starting to pick up its game to compete.. and the last 2 play off spots are still up for grabs. Townsville are going to give Adelaide a good shake for most of the game but I just don't see them being able to sustain it. Adelaide is a bit too strong inside and too deep outside. I will give it to Adelaide by 12.

Townsville love giving up open threes but Adelaide can't really shoot, so this is the one team they sorta match up well against. Unfortunately, Townsville also love giving up open layups and Adelaide has plenty of guys that can finish at the rack.

Dennis is getting his bigs to blitz ballhandlers on the pick and roll and it's absolutely killing us. He needs to revert to a more conservative approach and have his bigs drop down. How do you expect Vanderjagt or Hinder to blitz a pick and roll? They are quite possibly the two slowest players in the NBL. Then you have Holmes and Conklin: slightly more agile but terrible defenders both.

This "disruptive" style simply isn't working. The only team getting "disrupted" is the Crocs. He doesn't have the personnel to play like that. You have to adjust.

I think this game will be closer than many think but Adelaide should still get over the line. What's the bet this is another game the Crocs lose in the first half, then start trying some point before three quarter time but ultimately come up short?

Holmes is not a terrible defender. Ease up.

Looks like another decent crowd. Looks like a few platinum seats and, some gold corner seats and south upper are still available. Im thinking around 6000

Adelaide are too good to drop 2 in a row at home and should take this by 10+.

My bet is a 6,100 crowd.

Sounds like a good crowd considering the BBL game.

Btw, the "its too hot" to sit inside a stadium excuse for non-attendance makes no sense when you see thousands of people sitting outside in the direct sun at Adelaide Oval. Smdh

As good a player as Ervin can be he can also be a bit of an Achilles heel for the Sixers. They have enough talent without him needing to be the man. His game is more suited to a team that needs him to dominate because they have few other options. Hence his best season was at the Hawks where they could afford to live or die by how well Ervin played. Yes he can be spectacular at times but will also cost this team some wins when he has an off night. I think we saw a little of that last week. As I have said before they might actually be a better team with Cadee quarterbacking even though he may not be as good a player as Ervin.

fstos - i agree with you about that in some ways.

it's been a great game so far, Adelaide look like they are ready to dominate but Crocs are making most of their chances early on... good crowd too by the looks

Another social performance by the umpires, particularly that one umpire who got over ruled a couple of times. The umpires made so many bad calls for both teams.

Earlier in the season Ervin's stats was in the top 2 in the league and now that he is in a slump we jump on his back. Ervin is coming back from injury and is obviously struggling to get his form back. I think his main problem is the fact that we are the worst 3 point shooting team in the league, so therefore he becomes less effective as teams can just double team him when he drives. He will be very important for us when the playoffs come around.

I am a fan of Schenscher but recently he has been playing out of character. Last game we needed his experience to help us get some points, instead he decides to take a jump shot just inside the 3 point line (The coach benched him for most of the game after that). This week he started off with a running hook shot from far out that wasn't close. Later on he shot from just beyond the foul line. In the second half he shot just inside the 3 point line. All poor shots and out of his range. Usually when he gets the ball in the post and takes his time he either gets a good shot up or makes a smart decision to pass the ball. I will commend him for his tip jam however.

On a positive note another great game by Gibson. It would have been up there as one of his best games as a Sixer. His shooting form at the moment is excellent. Creek continues to shine. Hopefully he can get some more minutes as he deserves them. Cadee is looking very confident out there as well. Johnson and Petrie were solid.

Official Attendance - 5,737 which isn't bad considering we lost last week and the fact that Adelaide has gone through just about its hottest week on record. It gives the 36ers an average attendance of 6,242 for January so well done 6ers fans.

NBL Stats aren't up yet. We won 92-79 yet according to those wonderful people from Perform.....the game hasn't started yet and the score is still 0-0.

Gibbo again stood up to be counted with 28 points @ 60%, Mitch Creek is getting back into form with 15 points and a lot of energy, and while DJ wasn't outstanding he still managed 16 points and 8 boards.

Adelaide are now 12-5 under Joey Wright. Its the first time since 2009-10 that the 36ers have won 10 or more games in a season. In 2012-13 Melbourne made it to the playoffs with just 12 wins.....

Any boxscores anywhere?

It's ok, found one: http://www.foxsportspulse.com/round_info.cgi?a=MATCH&fixture=431740173&c=0-189-12322-276108-0&pool=-1

Yes i am waiting for the stats..

Keen to see the teams but also Schencher's rebound numbers. He seemed to touch a lot of balls that he could not quite control.

What did people make of BJ starting in front of Peach and then being substituted one minute later?

Petrie wasn't quite ready for tip-off for some reason, so BJ was rushed in for him. Probably blew out a sneaker in warm-ups or something.

Pretty easy win. Gibbo and Creek playing great ball atm. I think Creek should be starting at this point, he is starting to really shine and Frye is struggling to make an impact.

Ervin still struggling to recapture his best. I know he needs to play to work his way back into form, but I think he needs to play a few less minutes for now.

Bit disappointed in DJ's rebounding of late. He got smashed by Ogilvy last week and I noticed that he has dropped back to less than 7 rebounds per game. Earlier in the season, he was right up with the league leaders, so not sure why he has dropped off so much in that area.

"Ervin at moment just a turnover king"

He had 1 turnover and 8 assist.

Even if people think he is forcing it he is still getting assist which we need to give him credit for.

That's what it was. Petrie was out there and then the official came over with the clipboard to Joey/KB. BJ on for the first play

Dont disagree with you often King J but those stats don't cover the forced shots or panic throw the ball anywhere once covered etc etc. that Ervin did .
Breakers game showed how much better we play with team leadership of Cadee and Gibson and we were productive last night when Cadee on .
We have a lot of talent depth out there now and will exploit teams with teamwork not taking on the world actions from import PG.
Thats my thoughts anyway .

Last nights stats leaders for the 36ers were:

Points - Adam Gibson (28)
Rebounds - Luke Schenscher (12)
Assists - Gary Ervin (8)
Steals - Daniel Johnson (3)
Blocks - Anthony Petrie (2)
Turn Overs - Adam Gibson (2)


And just for the hell of it, for the Crocodiles:

Points - Peter Crawford (15)
Rebounds - Jacob Holmes (8)
Assists - Mitch Norton (8)
Steals - Steve Markovic / Josh Pace / Russell Hinder (1)
Blocks - Jacob Holmes (2)
Turn Overs - Steve Markovic / Russell Hinder (3)

How many in a row is this for the Crocs? They've quietly racked up 7 or 8 losses in a row...

Does Dennis need to rethink his coverages? Opponents are repeatedly getting around the 100 pt mark. Townsville have no problems scoring, but can't play defense to save themselves. Which is funny, because at the start of the season everyone was saying they would have the OPPOSITE problem.

Whilst Holmes is on the roster Crocs will never get anywhere.

Hinder / Conklin / Vandy rotating through the 4/5 is fine.
PC and Pace at the 2/3 and Norton / Markovic / Djeric rotating through the 1/2 would make a huge difference. Crocs made their runs with Holmes on the bench.

Townsville have played eight of their past nine games against the top three teams, so it's not really a surprise theyre on a losing streak.

The biggest problem for the Crocs isn't the trajectory of Holmes' shot, it's his FGA per game.

Why is he shooting north of 10 shots most nights?