Yeah I reckon the 6ers should win this one. Wright will have to curb Wilson's self influence on the offensive end, but if his abilities can be properly utilised and doesn't play hero ball, he could actually be the difference.

Goodluck gurading Childress, will have to be a team effort, and hope Madgen is a little off! Something has to give in relation to Motum, he simply can't be going for 3 points in the first half against the Kings.

All in all, with the Kings coming from NZ, and crowd will be hungry for something positive to support, 6ers by 8.

The Kings will let him shoot 3 points still night if he wants to. They did it against the Kiwis.

Sixers must stop Childress to have any chance.
Expecting a high scoring and close game kings by 4.

It we show some sort of perimeter defence, we have a good chance of winning. If we play no perimeter d as has been the case the last four games, our losing streak will continue.

Stop Childress and Madgen (or at least slow them down a fair bit) and we're halfway there. Creek defending Childress should be an interesting matchup depending on Mitch's fitness.

Kobe24, I agree with Motum and 3 pointers. At least when DJ shot from outside we knew it had a fairly good chance of dropping. When Brock does it he seems to be a bit 'hit and miss'.

Can't see it happening but I wish they'd run a few plays to get Peter Crawford some open 3 point shots. Alas, I think he's joining a growing 36ers list of good outside shooters such as Dr Ng who rarely had plays run for them to show what they were/are best at. How these guys must envy Darryl Pearce, Al Green, Mike McKay, Rob Rose, Kevin Brooks, John Rillie and Brett Maher as 36ers who could and did light up from 3 point land (unless it was under Gary Fox's 'Red, Green, Amber' system which only confused McKay). Adelaide isn't a great 3 point shooting team anyway, so why not try to get one of the best in the league some open shots?

Personally I'd start with Gibson/Teys/Creek/Petrie/Schenscher and have Wilson and Motum start from the bench. Gibbo or Teys could guard Madgen while Creek could try to contain Childress. Again, can't see it happening. Expect Wilson and Motum to start, Teys at SF with Creek and Big Red on the bench.

I'm hoping for a 36ers win, but going on current form.......

I hope we dont see less Jack Toft work if the 36ers win less games. Whilst I dont agree with a lot he says, I do always enjoy the opening monologue. Good work sir!

Don't worry Matthew, I'll be around the place even if the unlikely event that the Sixers win less games.

I think the Sixers will win because Kings rely too much on Childress.

Kendrick Perry is just not up to it so far this season.

Cotter must be scratching his head on what he needs to do to get more from his import PG.

Other than Childress, their other 2 front court starters are serviceable but not great.

It has been great though to see Tom Garlepp get more confident from a Wildcats DP to the player he is today.

The key is defence.

If the Sixers continue to let opponents score 90+ PPG, they will keep struggling to stay above .500

@HoldenV8 "I'm hoping for a 36ers win, but going on current form......."

Going on current form we will beat Sydney. We challenged the (then) top team Perth and then 3 days ago we lost by 3 to the team with currently the best form in the league on their home court. Sydney is not as talented as either of those teams. So that is a good sign of form. Also the team is settling down more with Creek getting back into it as well as Brock.

I would say the Sixers will win this one easily as surely the basketball gods will agree its time for the Sixers to win. However, I think the heat will play a factor and so it is possible Sydney could win. I am still leaning towards a Sixers victory.

Jack's spot on, if the Sixers want to make the playoffs then we need to get back in the winners column this week. I feel like Joey has been making lineup decisions based on contract clauses/ keeping 'stars' happy. Coach needs to put everyone in roles that play to their strengths. There is plenty of talent but no results in the last few weeks.

I'm with you on the starters Holden, the Gibson, Teys, Creek, Petrie, Schenscher lineup is our best combination right now because it brings more experience, better defence and balanced scoring options.

Wilson needs to play like a PG, run some sets and get other players good looks. A good start would be him and Brock running pick and pop/roll action to keep the scoreboard ticking over once the starters come out. Crawford's 3pt shooting would add a nice wrinkle to that if they swing the ball once Wilson draws the D.

I think the Sixers will be determined to prove themselves in this game, but Childress is going to be a giant headache if our guys don't start playing some better team D. At least we'll have Creek this time, as he is the only guy on the team with the combination of size and athleticism to slow him down.

Madgen is the other guy we need to shut down. Keep him away from the mid-range game where he excels and make him shoot contested threes as I really don't rate him from that range.

Hoping for a win, but even more important is signs that Joey has everyone playing the right roles and striving to win as a TEAM! Lets go Sixers!

KingJames.....I like the way you think.

We CAN win this one, but if we don't then something has to give.

36ers in trouble if Perry is carrying the Kings load. When Madgen and Childress get going, 36ers will be chasing the game.

Refs overcalling this game. Petty contact is been called.

So far in the first it looks like Gibbo is running the point and Wilson is playing the SG role. Hoo-bloody-ray for that. There actually seem to be some ball movement for the 36ers rather than one guy trying to do everything while ignoring team mates.

Creek and Teys seem to be doing a good job in Childress so far.

All the Wilson haters might be thinking again. Said it from the start of the season when the whingeing started. Wilson is a better player than Ervin.

He is still running plenty of PG tonight despite what the earlier poster said.

No one ever said Wilson was a bad player. What we've been saying is that he has an alarming tendency to be selfish on the court, which can often be detrimental to the team.

As for being better than Ervin? I'm not convinced he's better, but I don't think he's any worse. The guy can play, there is no argument about that. He wouldn't be playing professional basketball if he couldn't.

I'll admit he's doing well so far today.

The 36ers defence seems to be working today. There are good signs for the team right now.

Half time with Brett Maher and Wilson has basically just admitted that Gibbo is running the point most times out there. It seems to be working for Wilson which is a good thing. Maybe his best position (from a team POV) is playing the 2 spot where he can mostly concentrate on scoring?

Creek and Teys seem to be doing a good job on Childress. While he has shown some good moves, the ex-NBA player was clearly getting frustrated.

Madgen is still proving a hassle for this team. But with a 48-35 score at the half I'm not complaining. We can and should win from here.

Scored 36 points in the 2nd, a 2014-15 NBL record for a quarter.

I think Motum should calm down the trash talk a little.

He is coming off as a bit of a clown.

Just play the game and stop talking to Garlepp just because you made a layup.

They had issues first time they played... so it is what it is.

Good win by the Kings after trailing by 14 points at one time in the game. Good odds too. 21 point turn around good result for the Kings after their NZ loss.

And in fact I see it as a team wide problem..Gibson, Petrie, and others always talking to refs/other players.

A guy like Petrie should just focus on his own game because he is damn substandard at the moment.

Gibson looks frustrated and looks like he would rather be somewhere else.
Come to NZ Gibbo we"ll take you.

The Kings did really well to get back in that and win after being down and out at the half. Good to see the others step up considering Childress had an "average" game by his standards!

Adelaide choked that away too. Considering they've dropped 5 straight and have the Sunshine Swing next week they really needed this one.

Game still has 5 minutes to go on the television. Just saying.

The 36ers seemed to stop dead in the second half. Schenscher tried hard on D, but the team just lost the plot offensively, with a little help from Sydney's D.

Sixers won more games with Montreal than Motum... Just saying

Firstly lets give the Kings credit for a great game played.

Congratulations to Luke for now having his own poster, what a shame Childress is in it too.

That 'breakaway' foul on Petrie in the 4th should have been un-sportsmanlike. There was ZERO attempt for the ball.

How dare the Sydney Kings push the ball on that last play and go for the layup? Isn't that deeply disrespectful? /sarcasm

Wilson again the main contributor. Hope the 'most knowledgeable' fans give some due props.

Ohhh..and again...the Sixers conceded 90 points

Wilson played a great game at first, obviously under instruction. Began slipping late in the second quarter back to his ways and deservedly spent thee third quarter sitting down. Played some good minutes in the last quarter and then again slipped. Probably got the best stats but absolutely at team expense. I am not a hater, I just think he disrupts our team offense.

Great minutes from Luke today and some great defense overall but mediocre shooting all round. Offensive effort somewhat lacking. Shooting from range dreadful.
The early plays for Motum were terrible he needs to start outside or be hit on the move, hes too slow under the ring from a standstill. Umpires once again set about evening up the foul count rather than focusing on consistant calling.

Tick Tock, tick tock ....

Interesting to see if Boti continues his "team identity" rubbish or just say it how is.

Adelaides defence is fairly reasonable mostly it seems to be that ever familiar scenario of giving up soft baskets at key moments. Too many times they do the hard work for majority of shot clock and give up open 3s. Hurt them again today.

It's so frustrating watching them try and rubble up something at the offensive end. Team relying more on streaky shooting and little floaters around the basket as a result of overpassing the ball with no clear intetentions. I was impressed when we actually ran a play to get an open look from the arc, and it went down. Never saw that kind of thinking or creation again. Crawford can still shoot and either continues to be ignored or is forced into difficult shots. Seems hard for him to find any rythym. Sixers really just not doing a lot of the basics right.

Not sure what to think about the WilsonGibson scenario and brock hasn't been the interior player we hoped for as of yet.

Really need to iron out this problems soon or its all over, if it's not already.

Pretty hard to run a play when the coach just scribbles on his white board

6ers suck from coach to core players. Same old same old, yawn. Wilson is crap, plays in a way that when he is off so is the team ala he 3rd... so predictable, big shame.

If Clarke was in charge now the fans would be calling for blood, yet they aren't. What's diff?

What's the diff? This coach got to the team to the Grand Final last season, that's the 'diff.' That buys you some credibility and patience from fans.

MACDUB - have to agree about Motum. I've seen him twice and been unimpressed. In both games, he's talked constantly on the court but hasn't backed it up with production. In particular, his finishing around the basket has been poor and a lot to do with teh 36ers' poor starts in both games. Today, his frankly juvenile chat to Garlepp simply fired Garlepp up for his third quarter performance. Garlepp definitely won the battle between the ears. That, plus Schenscher's good performacne was probably why Motum was on the court for less than 20 minutes today.

Not sure people can point to Wilson as the reason the 36ers lost this one. The one quarter that kept us in the game was the second, where his points were the gap between the two teams.

It seems to me that the difference between this year and last year is that there is no offensive go-to guy in this year's 36ers. Johnson's departure left a big hole, offensively, and no-one has filled it. Motum looks to be at least a year, maybe two, from being able to do that.

And I wish people would stop saying Gibson needs to become more of a focal point for the offence. It's been a theme for the last 4 years (here and at the Blaze). The fact he's never changed in that time means that it's about him and how he needs or wants to play. The opportunities have been there for him. I've concluded he doesn't want to be the go-to guy on offence week in and week out. So making him that guy is not going to happen. Maybe that's why Ervin had and Wilson seems to have the licence to shoot?

Joey deserves a bit more grace.

He has had to deal with injuries, DQ who's game didn't transition well to NBL and the introduction of Motum.

Joey is making small tweaks, trying something different. We can only trust that he will find the fine balance in the next few games.

The Sixers have a tough stretch ahead.

TSV then CRN away back to back. Then Melbourne at home.

Then the Wildcats away . Then Cairns again at home.

At this current form you would think TSV away and CRN at home would be most likely making it 2/5 next 5 games.

Motum was pretty yappy for a guy yet to win in the NBL! Needs to be a dogged workhorse. Score or get to the line. I think something that really gave Johnson confidence as an offensive focus was knowing that he was such a good FT shooter, so he was comfortable with scoring or drawing the foul.

36ers just seemed to wear the Kings run back and then lead. No desperation until it was too late.

We're definitely missing having someone like DJ as the focal point of the offence. So far despite his credentials, Brock Motum is proving a poor man's replacement. More playing basketball and less mouthing off is needed from him.

Agreed Isaac, other than probably Luke Schenscher who didn't stop trying at either end of the court, the 36ers didn't react to the Kings second half until they had turned a 14 point deficit into a 10 point lead. WAY too late.

Motum is probably used to talking to his team mates on the bench as that's where he has spent the last 2 years

Expect more of the same next week. Wilson back in Cairns.... should lead to about 35 shot attempts. Face palm...

Motum fan, but not anymore. Bring back DQ - he had some defence and pulled more rebounds in his last few games and put up a few nice shots too, turf Wilson - NBA D leaguers are champing at the bit to get a gig here, bench Creek and use him in short bursts as an impact player. Put Teys back in the starting 5 where he belongs and has earn his spot and Schenscher back on the jump. No time for this anymore, time to get on with it. Unbelievable, club problem plus the reffing and lack of money for 4 clubs is a concern for the health of the entire league. Can't fight the money train !

Well I don't think DQ is the answer to any NBL teams success... so can't agree about that. But agree Wilson is horrible for this roster, and so many US guys needing to play to show what they have to offer. Changes should be made.

I get the feeling from watching a few of the Americans that they're playing for their own nba prospects, not for the best for their teams

Carcass, Joey hand picked DQ. Great SEABL player and unfortunately didn't transition to the NBL. Shame.

Again?

Adelaide play Cairns next?

Go for the throat 36ers. Cairns are slowly rolling back down to the bottom and the time is right to kick em on the way down.

Just have to get the ball out of Wilsons hand, I can't watch him take the team on any more. Personally I don't think the hot subbing of the bigs has helped Motum. I think they need to play through him some more in the block so he can get some rhythm. I hope we can but I don't see us really turning this ship around.

Terrible second half by Sixers. Shooting comparison:

2P: 11/24 Sixers; 14/23 Kings
3P: 1/13 vs 3/9
FT: 9/10 vs 18/28

The Sixers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory

"Motum is probably used to talking to his team mates on the bench as that's where he has spent the last 2 years"

The past two seasons he has averaged 34 and 23 minutes.

Yeah, i'm sick of Motum's yapping.

It was particularly cringe-worthy when he pointed to the temple of his head a few times as he motioned to Garlepp (as if to say you're not using your brain Tommy).

It was quite ironical.

The 36ers will not get much further in the comp being so reliant on their offensive game.

I'd be a little concerned re: Petrie. He just looks like he is declining. Defensively he isn't as effective as he used to be. He always has brought the physicality, but now he just doesn't seem to have the same mobility to compliment that.

This loss was due to Wrights coaching and the Golden Boys (Gibson and Petrie).

How the Golden Boys escape criticism from the coach and on here I find amazing (hence the name the Golden Boys). Their 6 points in 57 minutes is not acceptable.

I would rather see Anthony on instead of Petrie as Petrie is an offensive liability at the moment. Anthony would give way more energy out there and Petrie could come off the bench when the other teams starters are out or are tired. It would be a win win situation.

Gibson played point guard most of the game while he was on and while I think they need to continue to try him there he was absolutely rubbish today. As others said he looked like he didn't want to be out there. Gibson played 18 of the 20 minutes in the second half and the Sixers were outscored 55-34. In the last 3 games he has averaged 4ppg @ 24% in 30 mpg, which other player in the NBL would escape critism with that sort of performance? You can't blame Wilson for all that! Even Gibson's defense has looked lazy. Gibson himself would say his last 3 games have been not acceptable, he wouldn't be blaming Wilson for it.

Can anyone tell me why Gibson fouled a 88% foul shooter at 1:16 to go in the game with the sixers down by 4? Do we now feel our defense is so bad that we have more chance at stopping them scoring by making them shoot foul shots? Or was this Gibson's weak attempt at a steal? Wright didn't seem to complain so perhaps it was a team order. IMO this was a very poor decision. If the Sixers get a stop, score down the other end they are only down by 2 with 40-50 seconds left in the game with the pressure on the Kings to get a score.

Teys must wonder what he has to do. He has been playing excellent of late and his reward is sitting on the bench. To his credit he played awesome and should have been rewarded by starting in the second half!

Aylen with two amazing blunders that could have cost Sixers the game (We still deserved to lose and Sydney were hard done by a few times in the first half and that foul by Petrie should have been an unsportsmanlike however I wonder how it would have altered the outcome).

1. To end the 3rd quarter Perry tries to shoot the 3 from close to half court and Teys was perfectly set and takes the charge. Aylen was right there and makes no call. The buzzer had not gone. Since the ball had left Perry's hand it would have been a loose ball foul and Teys would have had 2 foul shots. He would have probably made both and the Sixers would have gone into the 4th quarter up 7 instead of 5. It doesn't matter if it is 1 second into the quarter or 1 second to go into the quarter a foul is a foul and should be called. The amazing Aylen could have made the call but decided not too.

2. At 4:43 in the 4th quarter Madgen shot fakes a 3 then goes into the motion to drive, takes the contact and then throws up a shot and gets 3 shots for it. I understand if a player is in the air and the offensive player then jumps up to take the contact and attempt a shot but for a player to be making a move to drive, takes the contact and then throws up a shot I think is totally incorrect. That means if a player is beyond half way and knows they are about to take contact they should just throw the ball up in the air and be awarded 3 shots by Aylen's rules.

Agree with others saying Motum needs to shut up. If we are winning games constantly and it helps firing him up then fine but at the moment he is playing bad and we are losing.

The only positive out of this game was seeing Schesncher comfortably knocking down 2 foul shots.

Hate to dispute your reasoning, but you are wrong with 1. At least - you don't get foul shots for an offensive foul EVER.

KingJames....

To suggest that Gibbo and Peach are the 'golden boys' and are beyond scrutiny is wrong. Those two have stood up to be counted in the past and a couple of below par games does not warrant that comment.

I would imagine they are pretty dirty with their own effort. Furthermore Peach did get 13 rebounds thats more than Luke, Brock, Creek and Anthony combined.

There is something not right about Gibbo in the last 3 or 4 games, his interest levels have dropped off, is it an injury because his standard of physical defence is not there.

Also...point 2 about Madge's 3 point shooting foul.

Refs have been paying that for years.

If Creek was jumping straight up, yes, I would agree, but Creek was flying towards Madge's direction and Ben was clever a) to draw the foul b) almost in the same instance throw up a shot.

And no this would rarely apply at the half way line, refs use their discretion and are mostly correct in not paying half court heaves.

Is anyone else not convinced of Motum's Euro Step?

Whilst it has worked once or twice but it doesn't look smooth, it looks slow and often put him in a worse scoring position like that blown layup in the 4th.

Re Gibbo, did you see the huge serve of not happy Jan that Joey gave Wilson late in the 4th. Gibbos best games have been without WIlson not only on court but not playing at all. Maybe there is more too it, maybe Joey is not great to be around when Wilson and others are playing as he is stuck with the lemons in the team. Joey is smarter than thinking a good stat line makes a great player. If that was so we would still have Ervin, He got some servings of not happy Jan last season too..

The other thing I have noticed is that when the calls from the refs switch to mid court crappy make up calls but not equalised under our basket as they should, the team breaks down. I watch all the games of all teams and seeing it in other teams too. Time for the 4-5 teams at the bottom to raise the reffing issue. maybe they should get highlights reel made up to prove their points. Not taking away lapses in teams games but a monkey can see what is happening this season.

I don't understand Joeys rotations anymore and how often and how many he switches. Are they all that unfit that they need rotating so often.

@XY, thank you for pointing that out. You are correct and I am wrong.

15
-
1 A1 jumps to attempt a try for goal. A1 releases the ball, returns to the floor with one foot and is then fouled by B1. Was the foul committed during the act of shooting?

Yes. An airborne player who is attempting a try for goal remains in the act of
shooting until he returns to the floor with both feet.

I'm sure the rotations are clear in Joey's head, but do not appear clear to the fans. Are they clear to the players?

Perth seem to have the clearest rotations and it's almost at the stage where Trev can just chillax on the bench and let the players call it.

KingJames, if it was the Madgen call where he'd fallen over and then had another shot, that's been rewarded in multiple leagues for a long time. Can't really argue about that in the context of this game.

That loss was entirely on Adelaide. You could see from the body language that they weren't bothered as the lead was whittled away. And then when they were down 2-4ish, I remember thinking after a dodgy Wilson move "He doesn't think the margin is critical yet". All the momentum was with Sydney and every 36er should've been fighting harder to hold the bigger lead much earlier.

Is the problem more about players knowing their role?

Mitch Creek's role was very clear yesterday and he did it very well holding Childress to 4 points at half time.

What was the role of some of the other players? Is there too much variation and change in the team?

Yes Jack, I couldn't keep a track of what everyone was doing yesterday. Creek did do a great job and Teys when he was on. The trouble was the mix of players on together. There was along stingy there too where Teys and Creek weren't on when we fell behind and Creek was taken off earlier after he had a monster run. Felt like I was back in Clarke days. Hate saying it but WTF Joey ??? No excuses but can't help think he refs are getting some directions on quarter by quarter what to call in the first few minutes and feels like some teams know exactly what they can get away with in that time, then they pull it back. Sixers fell straight in to the honey trap. I want to go back and review ll the games to see if there is a pattern, thinking there is. Anyone up for the challenge.

Marcus...the Euro step is the only move Motum possesses in his arsenal - good or not, its all he's got!

Anon...if the fitness was left up to the players then what is Ben Brugman employed for - he is supposed to be strength and conditioning?

I'm starting to agree with what Anon #504699 said.....

Going on what I've seen of him both in his 5 games with Adelaide and his games I saw before that.....if Motum was an NBA player and a Boomers member then DJ should be a shoe in for both.

Motum's defensive game is supposed to be better than DJ's.....but if it is then he's only just better and is balanced out by DJ being a better rebounder. And so far the difference between their offensive games is night and day.

As for the rest of the 36ers......again aside from Luke Schenscher they basically came out after half time with the attitude that a 14 point lead was good enough and the game was already won. There was no urgency shown even when Sydney hit the lead.

I honestly don't know the answer to the teams problems right now. Hopefully Joey Wright does know and hopefully the players respond to it.....and Soon.

Apparently Gibbo has an option for next year... I thought it was weird, especially with a BrisVegas and possibly a Tasmanian team rumoured to be coming in...

re: rotations, watching them play Perth a couple of weeks ago, couldn't believe how quick he was changing the players. He didn't seem to let them get any rhythm together. Where as the Wildcats made no changes in the 1st 5 or 6 mins. It's almost like he was trying to coach an AFL side. Not that i'm complaining certainly helped us out.

I would have thought Tassie has a ready made point guard to recruit.

not that i expected to win, although we did beat sydney once in the last two seasons. but if cairns start the same as friday, we'll win

814, the chemistry might be there, but there has been so many changes that instead of an exothermic reaction, it's an endothermic reaction

The 36ers also trend towards maximum entropy.

sometimes, they could be described as a thixotropic fluid

"I would rather see Anthony on instead of Petrie as Petrie is an offensive liability at the moment. Anthony would give way more energy out there and Petrie could come off the bench when the other teams starters are out or are tired. It would be a win win situation."

+1 for the BJ Anthony Fan Club :)