Ouch that hurts us alot, will we see Montreal play the sf?? or Teys with a smaller line up?

Hawks need to take advantage of this and get the win.

I would say more concerning is our leading rebounder is only pulling in 6 per game

Trouble for the Sixers. Montreal and Crawford need to step up. Be interesting to see if he is good for the Townsville game

A big ace just dealt to the Hawks.

The team who wins the rebounds usually wins the game (8 from 12 so far this season) Coenraad leading the Hawks, but Ballinger offering plenty of oomph off the bench with 4.5 rig and 8.8 ppg

This will be the big test for DQ IMO. With Creeky out, the Sixers would probably start: Luke; Peach; DQ; Gibbo; Jamar This allows BJ to cover Balls and Teysie to wear Oscar down when Luke has a rest.

Hawks have been starting: Nevill (19.6 mpg); Coenraad (22.5); Forman (30.3); Carson (34.4); Ervin (35.5) so likely match ups would be:

Schench vs Nevill
Peach vs Coenraad
DQ vs Forman
Gibbo vs Carson
Wilson vs Ervin

Those match ups look pretty exciting actually and DQ has the opportunity to prove his knockers wrong. He probably has a yard or two on Oscar, so the Hawks captain will need to rely on cunning.

The Hawks bench is shallow and they have been giving the bench 57.8 mins/game to share after the starters get 142.2 min/game. Defence is the Hawks strong point and the Hawks games are not high scoring affairs.

The loss of Creeky seems bad for the Sixers, but I think this will be a chance for Joey to press DQ to showcase what he can do. I would like to see the tall DP have a run and I think we will see a fast game as a result.

This is not good news at all.

If Forman is matched up on DQ we need to throw it to him every time in the post.

Maybe the 7'1" guy who plays for Adelaide can grab some rebounds.

^Once you hit 7'1" you're not allowed to grab rebounds. Just ask the guy who plays for Wollongong.

Lets be honest, this was a 50/50 game for the Sixers in any case. Creek has probably been our best and most consistent player so missing his presence will heavily favour the Hawks now.

I think our guards will be too slow for Ervin & Carson and we dont have the defence to recover. Gibbo will try and wear one or both of them out (at seperate times) by playing physical but I'm not convinced that will work in our favour.

Predicting another loss, especially now.

I also agree with Anon 499120. However, Dean wont do it!

teys started last season. jarrid frye shook it, baked it, then he hung it on the wall. ' don't reach out for me. ' he said. ' caint you see i'm drowning too.'
things are tough out there. hard workers everywhere

Not sure DQ was bought in to grab 10+ brds a game...would be nice if big red grabbed a board or two!

The Oscar vs DQ match is a goodone...both prefer the 3 ball...if anything I see DW as having the advantage as he is good in the block and and get out is trans.

the issue for us will be guarding Ervin & Carson...we are slow on the perimeter...I love Gibbo but he isn't staying in front of either guy and Big Red ain't block shots!

Tornado, can you blame them? You're not going to offload Gibson, Petrie or Creek. Guys like Crawford, Daly, Teys and Anthony aren't going to be on much so there's no room to upgrade significantly there.

That leaves Wilson, Montreal and Schenscher. Wilson is top five in scoring so far and was decent in the game I saw. Reckon you can get a significant upgrade on the Montreal money? I'm not so sure.

That leaves Luke who is probably overpaid for his production, but you'd be cutting virtually the only local in the team and the only guy with size for his position when an issue appears to be that the team lacks height.

I don't think there's an obvious road for a club to improve this team without killing itself financially by making multiple changes. If Wilson was a real dud, you could try going for Rhys Martin and then cut a local to add an import big, but Martin isn't a homerun and any new import is a risk.

Even if Nevill was available, you can see that the Hawks are underplaying him now for whatever reason (I don't know - haven't watched him play there).

Not saying I think this 36ers roster is going to make the grand final, or that Wilson is especially marketable but I think in this case the best bet for fans is to get behind what's there. The pool of players and budget to chop and change is just too limited.

That's what I was hinting at Isaac...Dean wont do it because he doesn't have the funds to do so.

Wilson might be top 5 in scoring but he is putting up a lot of shots at an inefficient rate to be there...I'd be happy if he passed more once he got into the paint.

And, the team lacks effort more than height at the moment. Not boxing out is inexcusable no matter your talent level - they are the basics!

It's very early and they've lost to the two teams who have looked the best so far. I think after a few more weeks we'll have a better idea how they shape up against the rest of the comp.

Anon #499165...it may be Joeys team but he was hamstrung with who he could pick.

Schenscher for example is still on a hefty contract resultant from the Marty Clarke era - not much Joey can do about that.

This year to last year.
Wilson for Ervin
Crawford for Cadee
Daly for Carter
Montreal for DJ

The top 3 are like for like. How can Montreal replace DJ? The area we are losing out is the rebounds from DJ and the extra 10 points he scores. Montreal just has to rebound and score 20 points a game. There you have it folks.Easy.
And now he just has to cover Creek aswell. Easy as pie.

I reckon Montreal will end up averaging around 15 and 5, he is currently averaging 11 and 4 in limited minutes due to injury/cramps 1 game, foul trouble in another, so if he gets that sorted plays 20+ mins regularly i think he can get 15 and 5.

Now with Creeks increased production they could just about cover DJ between them across the season.

2014
DJ 19 pts 7 rbd
Creek 8 pts 4 rbd
Combined 27 pts 11 rbd

2015 so far
Creek 15 pts 6 rbd
Montreal 11 pts 4 rbd
Combined 26pts 10 rbd

so not too far off allready covering it between them, if Montreal can get to 15 pts 5 rbds consistently and Creek can stay fit they will be ok with that imo.

They need to play better team defense consistently, have been really good in patches, get the ball moving better, get a bit more offensively/scoring from Gibbo and Peach and a few more boards from Schenscher and they will be ok. Not impossible imo.

Losing Creek for anygames this season hurts, as Creek is going to be heavily relied upon now if we are going to be any good, as i have suggested above.

1-2 start with 2 away games is ok, but not great, but they need to win Thursday without Creek which will be tough to stay on par imo.

sixtiesrockstar...no way is Daly for Carter like/like.

The size difference with DJ being bigger is a factor, but not a huge one imo as he was hardly a defensive enforcer, but yea sometimes that big body inside/around the key is very handy, his height combined with his speed and athleticism probably helped him more offensively most of the time.

Playing Schenscher a bit more this season helps cover that.

To be honest i did wonder if they should have given the last spot to a guy like Tim Lang, even guys playing locally like Mottram, Truslove, Pero ie another big body instead of Daly (nothing against him, im a fan) just to give the team more size, but not convinced its a huge deal either way, especially when you look around the league.

Aslong as Schenscher is ok to play around 20 solid mins each game then we are ok size wise imo.

If they run a C/F rotation of something like,

C Schenscher (20)/Anthony (10)/Petrie (10)
PF Petrie 25/Montreal 15
SF Creek 25/Montreal 10/Crawford 5

They will be ok imo, not too many bigger at each position in the NBL.

oops meant

C Schenscher (20)/Anthony (10)/Petrie (10)
PF Petrie 15/Montreal 25
SF Creek 25/Crawford 15

Anon #499166 - the game's Thursday night, not Saturday night, in case you're intending to go

'tennews understands brendan teys will be his replacement.'

Teys will relish the chance for more opportunity.

DQ will continue to improve as he finds his place in this team.

Big Bird will be needed to offset Neville.

Mitch out makes it tough for Adelaide. I thought it was a real 50/50 game with him playing, so have to favour the Hawks.

Big key for 36ers is for Teys, Montreal and Gibson to keep Coenraad off the boards, his rebounding has been very important for them this year. Which team best harnesses Wilson and Ervin in their personal battle will also have an advantage.

@tornado
I suppose Carters output against Melb United of 0-6 from the field in 16mins is way more like than anything Tom Daly can do. Never mind the occasional airball 3pt shot he does.

No way is Daly better than Carter. You cant take SEABL games as a barometer.

I think Crawford for Carter and Daly for Cadee are better comparisons anyway.

Sixtiesrockstar...there are many more facets to the game of basketball than shooting. And dont give me 1 game as an example, every player has an off night every now and then.

From what I have read on here NZ fans have been very impressed with Carter, doubt they would have the same glowing report of Daly in the same situation.

As an Adelaide fan for as long as I can remember I have seen both play alot and there is no way if I had a choice I'd be picking Daly over Carter.

I'm still dumbfounded as to the love affair with Daly from Adelaide fans....can you please fill me in?

Daly definitely could develop into a solid player, look at Shaun Bruce stepping up this season in Cairns.

Daly isn't nearly the pro Carter is yet though, but as I said, Daly has taken Cadee's spot on the roster, not Carter's.

Cadee's numbers in Sydney so far: 2 PPG in 14 MPG. 1.5 RPG, 0.5 APG. 1/4 FG. A non-factor at this stage.

I've always thought Cadee was very over rated as a player. I dont believe he will ever take that next step because his shooting mechanics are ugly and he doesnt have a strong body to help him at either end of the floor.

Daly for Cadee is neither here nor there in my opinion. You'd probably favour Daly because he is a better shooter.

I'd favour Daly because he's cheaper and I don't have full confidence in Cadee being worth the money. I'd like Daly to put up some threes, but he knows that there are usually better options out there on court with him.

And on Crawford vs Carter, I don't feel like it's a game changer nor a problem for this roster.

According to Joey a few minutes ago, Creek will be out for 4-6 weeks which is marginally better than the 6-8 weeks that they feared at one stage.