Yeah its going to 3, adelaide will sort what happend in game 1 out very quickly. Game 3 will be a cracker planning on heading over!

Whilst I wish I didnt, I have to agree with Anon #518017.

I think it is highly unfair to say the 36ers aren't legit based off 1 bad performance. We went on a huge streak to finish the regular season, does that not even exist anymore?
We got blown out by 30 in Game 3 of last years GF by Perth, but we were clearly the 2nd best team in the comp. Does that mean that the only legit team last season was Perth? No it doesn't, and despite the blowout, the team with homecourt was pretty much ALWAYS gonna win that series.

If Adelaide was to have a good win on Saturday, would we suddenly become legit again? Whilst I agree it was a very poor performance, wait until after the series to start labeling teams, and even then do so carefully.

Yeah Im with you Nathan, shaking my head at that assessment.

I think Adelaide might lose by 15. Its purely a gut choice but thats what I think will happen.

For the record, I'm not sure how we will go on Saturday. We've had the best home record of any team in the last 2 seasons (I believe?) so I can't see us losing at home, but Game 1's performance throws a spanner in the works. I'm thinking Adelaide by 5, but wouldn't be completely shocked if NZ won by 10 or so. I can't see another blowout, don't know if my heart could handle being teased with a big win streak, only to be knocked out in straight sets.

So it doesn't count for anything, water strong description. As no season is defined by just one game.

A 10 game win streak means nothing come Finals.

I agree with that to an extent, but a 10 game regular season streak means nothing, but a single final game defines a teams entire season? All I'm saying is, wait for the series to be over. If the Sixers lose badly at home, then you can say they weren't legit. But until that point it should be remembered that this is a highly competitive season, and all 4 teams are "legit".

Good odds today on the Kiwis winning it all ;)

A loss is a loss, be it by 30 points or 3, and the team moves on.
NZ got hosed by Sydney a month or so back, do you think that's worrying them tomorrow?

Adelaide are actually capable of completely reversing that scoreline come tomorrow. I doubt THAT will happen, but a win is definitely on the cards.

Finals ARE different, so it is just a question of how quickly Adelaide learn and adapt.

Personally, I find it hard to pick the winner, but both teams are definitely legitimate contenders.

Actually yes Perth were the only legit team last year and the 10 game win steak means nothing now.

Face Palm! Mystro that legit Perth team lost game 2 of an NBL Grand Final series, they didnt do that for kicks. Adelaide to an extent were def legit last season, but Perths talent ran deeper.

Mystro has obviously put the 36ers wiping the Breakers 4-0 last season right down the bottom of his memory! Adelaide certainly were legit, just not legit enough.

If Petre, johnson, Motum are going to get give up so much inside to Vukona, Wesley and Ibekwe we will only win by 10 regardless of our oft wayward 3 point shooting.
If Webster gets going again, it will be all over in two.
I expect Adelaide to come out with some energy this time but if we weather it early and get into a grind our inside game will prevail.

Adelaide to choke, Breakers vs Taipans final.

Adelaie by 10+, this series is going to turn very quickly.

The Sixers were due a loss and a bad game. They got that out of their system in Game 1.

Game 2 will be a completely different story. This series will go to game 3.

Yes the Breakers sucked last season , I put that down to no one was going to lose their jobs after winning 3 in a row and a import pg who wasn't up to scratch, especially when compared to Jackson. Ennis is was that good also, have you watched hm in the NBA? The kid is a freak, kudos to Perth for securing his services.

Adelaide was good by default, everyone else just sucked more than they did.

That is an unusually silly comment from you Mystro, considering NZ and Sydney were the only teams that didn't beat Perth last season, but I do understand you are trying to blur the memories from last year as much as possible.

One thing to claim a team is good by deafult, but when they take Game 2 of the Grand Final team, that makes them legit by virtue of the result. Couldnt disagree with you more on that default stuff.

If nz play the same way as Thurs nyt, they will sweep both Adelaide and cairns or Perth? Expect a Adelaide win, they have worked to hard to get swept and they have the players to do it. Just mental know, hope it's worth staying up to watch it at 9.30.

Good luck and no injures or refs to decide the out come.

Staying up to 9.30? That explains a lot!

36ers were unsettled flying from the 'gong straight to NZ. They are back on familiar ground and win tonight will be keen to fly in fly out of NZ with a win on Monday night. Believe that Joey can have them focus on next 2 games and the Grand Final will look after itself.

its one of those things in life; u get it right on the night, u win. u don't; u lose.

game 1 wasn't our night, game two????

hope im wrong but I tend to think nz might just be able to beat us at home. insurance again!

Home court, end!

I think Joey has shown he can make the right adjustments and generally this Sixers team has shown a never say die attitude this season, so I expect them to bounce back. I think the keys to the game for the Sixers are to keep Jackson out of the lane, restrict Webster's scoring and get Motum plenty of shots (only 8 shots in game 1).

I don't stay up to dribble shit on forums

36ers trumped Thursday night, Thunderbirds trumped today by Waikato and Australia demolished by the kiwis in the Cricket today, geez we're having a bad run

Thats me 2 posts above.

Can someone PLEASE tell Jarrod to s l o w d o w n when he's doing his on-court announcements!!!! Last match, we could only pick out the occasional word here and there and had no idea of what he was trying to say.

However, when Dean grabbed the same microphone that night, he was crystal clear and we got every word. Ditto on previous occasions when Bonz had the same mic.

Do the 36ers always choke in the finals ?

Anon, is it choking or the opposition playing at or near their potential? No one ever said the Breakers would be easy beats.

If Adelaide has the leagues best front court then you could probably say the same for NZ's back court. And their front court is not too shabby with the likes of Abercrombie, Vukona, Ibekwe and Pledger.

Regardless of the results, this was always going to be a tough series to win.

Yeah, they seem to be choking again.

49-39 to the Breakers at halftime. Great team effort by the Breakers keeping the fantastic individual performance of Jamar Wilson at bay.

Too many passengers so far. We need Motum and Teys especially to get rolling.

Gotta give 36ers props for their winning streak though, well done.

Hope 36ers fans enjoyed their winning streak

Why are pretty much all South Australian teams perennial chokers

Adelaide are playing terrible basketball.

All I can say is well done to the Breakers and I would strongly think that the NBL Championship will be heading back to Auckland for another year. They have showed up to play when they needed to.

All I can say is that I hope Cairns beat Perth. But based on the past few days I would think NZ will win their 4th title.

Plain fact, they were too strong for Adelaide this time.

We got outplayed massively. Hard off to NZ
They pulled our pants down and poked our dates

NZ were better than I ever expected them to be. All the credit to them, all we can analyse our opinions off is current form, and the 36ers had been in white hot form, but NZ had our number and some. Game 1 was a bit of a one off shit happens type of thing, but tonight we were outplayed in every area for 40 minutes. Such a sad shame, but well done Breakers, guess we weren't legit after all.

Hey sixers147 maybe you should change your username to sixers048 as a tribute to Motum's field goal shooting.

Yep, Sixers were legit until last Thursday. Breakers went to another level and the Sixers didn't know how to match them.

Still could have been worse.

It's not unusual for a team to make a big charge into the finals and then run out of steam, especially when playing a group of experienced internationals playing around a great import in Jackson.

NZ were awesome in this series, will take some beating, although Cairns (or Perth) will present a very different challenge to Adelaide.

Did anyone else think DJ should have been starting weeks ago and should have been playing more minutes... wasn't all that keen on how Joey used him throughout his return.

Id love to see Cairns and NZ, some great styles of play going at each other there.

"Hey sixers147 maybe you should change your username to sixers048 as a tribute to Motum's field goal shooting."

Paid.

Well done to the Breakers, far and away the better team of the series. The game was just terrible to watch. Whilst we didn't get blown out early, the signs were there. So many lazy turnovers, coupled with just not finishing under the rim. Took so much effort just to get a couple of points, and then NZ just comes down the other end and gets a fairly open layup because of just general poor defensive switching and spacial awareness.

I wanna say NZ are my pick for the GF, and I give them credit for winning, but the Sixers were so bad it's hard to use them as a measuring stick. Honestly don't know where our form over the last 2 months has gone, not that it should have translated perfectly, but to lose by 40+ points combined makes no sense.

Motum injured still? Felt like he wasn't on the court as much as he should have been, or maybe it was his lack of impact, I don't know. Would have been interested to see how BJ would've played this series, in for maybe Schenscher, with his hustle, and of course playing against his home team.

Kobe24, not really such a sad shame. It's actually quite funny.

Well played NZ. They well and truly outplayed us and I would be surprised if they don't win the title.

I think Motum's injury must've been worse than they were letting on. There's no way Joey would have played him so sparingly if he was fit.

Was anyone else scratching their head at Joey's decision to keep pressing the Breakers tonight? I reckon we gave up 20 points in easy layups and probably got them to cough it up about twice.

Ultimately, the Sixers lacked two things all year that eventually cost them in this series:
- Defensive toughness/ rebounding around the basket
- More consistent perimeter shooting

Firstly... NZ were extremely good this series. They came to play and dictated terms from the first second of game one, til the final siren tonight. They deserved to make the Grand Final, based on the last 2 games.

But yeah, as good as they were, for the most part, we were just as bad. Very disappointing way to see our season end. I really do feel like this year was our golden opportunity to go all the way. The team we had, doesn't and really shouldn't come around very often. This team doesn't pass the mental math test. Doesn't really make sense that we could afford it, but we could, and we needed to make the most of it. I have a real 'we blew it' feeling going on. Adelaide sport seems to be in a bit of a hole at the moment when it comes down to crunch time. We're really good in regular season, then can't finish it off.

Be interested to know how much of Motum's play can be attributed to his injury, and how much was just that he was playing horrible, and how much part NZ's defense played a part. Didn't even average 20 mins per game. Shooting was horrendous tonight. Just bad. Bad bad bad. Do the last 2 games define his season though? No. He's had some bad moments, but you'd have to say that he's played at the level you'd expect from someone with his resume more often than not.
Teys just fell off a cliff at the end of the season. He was one of our best players early season (when we were bad), then it seemed the better we played, the worse he did. Until this series, where he was bad as ever, and so was everyone else. Mid season, I would have had him top 3 on the list of players we have to keep, now I'm pretty take it or leave it. Kind of feels like he had his grace period where he went from getting no minutes, to showing what he can do. Late last season, early this season. Then defenses started paying him attention and he didn't respond to it.
Gibson's stat line doesn't look too bad. Until you realise he scored 8 points when the game was completely over. You'd have to say he's been a disappointment this season for the most part. Gets his fair share of assists, but he lives, and usually dies by the jump shot way too much. He's our captain, on paper, probably our best player. You'd absolutely keep him if possible, but he has areas where he could and probably should be doing more. I kind of get the feeling we won't be seeing him in a Sixers uniform next season.
Creek's been the big shining light for us this year. Been impressed with a lot of what he's done. He'd be a scary player if he developed a consistent jump shot, that he wasn't hesitant to use. He's shown he can knock it down at times, but often tends to shy away. Has a lot to offer, and I'd be probably most disappointed if we lose him out of our entire roster.
Little bit surprised by DJ's 16 and 7 tonight. Didn't think he was that level good. Knocked down his free throws, which helped. He was ok. Wasn't the issue. Hopefully we can hold onto him, with a preseason with the team, and some of the new tricks he's added to his game from overseas, could be back to being our MVP again next season. I'm not sure a team can be a championship with him as the focal point, but if we can surround him with a comparable level of talent, he fills in a lot of offensive gaps.
Petrie was somewhere between ok and not too bad tonight. Reasonably typical game from him. Doesn't do much pretty stuff, but plays a role. Could definitely do more, but could have been worse. He offers us the most 2 way ability of our 4 bigs. Fairly important to keep him imo.
Wilson had a good first half. Then tended to force it too much in the second half. They pretty much defended 4 foot away from him on the perimeter, to make him take 3s, then collapsed heavily on him when he drove in. Got his points, like he always does, but at a pretty low clip. He's probably going to win our MVP, which, is hard to argue he doesn't deserve. He's been streaky, but he's probably the only player whose been a consistent threat every game this year. He forces it, often way too much, but he's at least trying to make something happen, which you'd have to say is something quite a few others are guilty of not doing. Keep if you can, don't if you can't. A bit of a yes with an if, no with a but kind of situation.
Crawford might or might not be retiring after tonight (not sure). Has had a fantastic career, but he's basically a 1 trick pony these days. Good shooter, but teams know that if they can stop him making the outside shot, he really doesn't offer anything else. That said, our team has a need for 3 point shooting, so either way with him.
Schenscher comes to the end of his contract. He'd be in line for a substantial pay cut you'd imagine. Still has something to offer to a team. You can't teach that height, but he's a 20 minutes or less player these days. Price is right, you keep him, but you don't get into a bidding war for him.
Daly is one of those players who is really good in the lower divisions, but just doesn't have the game/height/athleticism etc to compete at NBL level. He doesn't really have any outstanding qualities. Not a great shooter, defender, playmaker etc, just has ok level abilities across the board. Hard but true, he's just not up to it.

Question - Same 36ers team but replace Gibbo with an import for his cash (assuming import ability aligns with salary), 36ers a better team?

Pretty much agree with all of your assessment there Hendo, except that you're a bit harsh on Teys. He seemed to lose confidence in his shot about halfway through the season, but he remained a very good defender throughout. I think he has the size, athleticism and skill to be a starting two guard. He just needs to back himself.

I think the 36ers would be crazy not to keep as many of this group together as possible. With a pre-season they could be scary. Don't forget the nucleus of this NZ team have had 3-5 years together.

It's really sad to see it over so very quick. I wasn't expecting for us to be "back at the drawing boards" so soon. I thought we at very least had another game in us.

But in the end, we were outclassed. We were outclassed by a team that is together not only during the NBL season, but most are together for the Tall Blacks and for teams in the NZNBL. This is a team with big game experience at this level. Adelaide were proven to be pretenders in this series, despite arguably having the better line up on paper.

The bits of the game I did catch on TV were woeful for us in both games. It's almost incomprehensible how we played. It was in the starkest of contrast to our last 10 games.

People are going to want to play blame games now. I have a few fingers to point, but they wont be at the usual suspects.

Finger point number one - Luke Schensher. He has an admiral season off the bench last year. But this year he has kind of just coasted through the year without doing anything to prove his hefty pay packet. At first chance I would be relieving the team of him for perhaps an import centre who is a bit younger. Luke's best years are long past him, and I can't justify a guy playing the way he does, on the minutes he gets, getting the kind of money he does. He is at borderline retirement point.

Adam Gibson - It's an understatement to call him 'unselfish to a fault'. It is a fault of his. When injuries plagued us, he tore the league up for 2 X 30 plus games. One of which was the most complete game I have seen in the NBL in recent memory. But Adam just wants to disappear into the background too much. He wants to be the glue guy doing the little things, and that is great, but when he can't get the little things done, he infact does very little. He is reminding me a bit of our 2011 dunce Stephen Weigh, who could have been doing so much more, but delegated himself to galloping around looking like he had talent, but not actually really utilising it. I am a fan of Gibbo, but is it time to put his head on the chopping block?

Peter Crawford - A ball of uselessness. Has he been worth having on any team since 2010? I highly doubt it. This is a guy who was meant to be giving us some veteran influence and a steady hand at the 3. We have recieved neither. I would have kept Rhys Carter sheerly for his energy and much more reliable shot.

Jamar Wilson - Jamar is the better of this group. But my beef would be he looks to pad his own stats before actually doing what the team needs first.

As for Brock Motums performance, I think the "big time" game and the injury got the best of him. I would definitely have him in the team next year.

For me - this is the 36ers key elements

Mitch Creek
Daniel Johnson
Petrie
Brock Motum

Maybes -
Adam Gibson
Brendan Teys
Jamar Wilson

F--- No's! --

Peter Crawford
Luke Schensher.

I think the 36ers could do with an inside ring protecter, and a bit of a livewire on offence. I would try to get Rhys Carter back, and I would look for an import centre. I would consider my options for either an import swing man or point guard before giving either Jamar Wilson or Adam Gibson a spot. Adam Gibson would be a difficult cut to say the least, but come on, the guy needs to actually DO SOMETHING and I can't remember him ever stepping up in a big game.

I think that's not a bad option Tornado, but assuming the Sixers keep DJ, Motum and Petrie, they would also need to find a genuine, tough big who can defend and rebound. That's not Schenscher, so he could end up being the odd man out. BJ is a possibility, but whilst he's strong he sometimes seems overmatched against taller front lines.

NZ need to have restrictions as they have a serious advantage. Half their team play in the national league, they have 2 imports on top of that, a player from Guam which is supposedly in Oceania, I would love to see how Adelaide goes with 5 boomers and 2 imports.

Lets all hope its a Cairns NZ grand final, cant stand the thought of PERTH making another grand final

A confident Teys is a solid back up SG with some time split at SF - definitely not a starter!

Sixers need to improve in 3 areas over the off season;

-Defense
-Perimeter Scoring
-Athleticism & Strength

I think you keep;

-DJ (Starter)
-Motum (Starter)
-Peach (Bench)
-Schenscher (Bench - Only at the right price)
-Creek (Starter)
-Teys (Bench)

I like Gibbo but he is also the most frustrating player. I think you keep him but give him the Pg role and recruit an import SG like a Willie Farley. I think we need to stop with the 2 Pg's experiment unless you're bringing in Rotnei Clarke.

NZL much like Perth are playing within the rules in regards to imports etc. C'mon Sixers 147 how about losing with dignity. When the Sixers lost 7 straight I for one thought they were gone. Adelaide made playoffs despite many on this forum thinking they wouldn't.

Paul, I agree with you. I don't think we should underestimate the impact NZ's finals experience had on the outcome of this series.

I hope the Sixers are able to bring back most of this team, though I do have this feeling that Gibson may choose to move on. Other than that, maybe Schenscher is the odd man out (as per my comment above).

In all fairness NZ are basically a national side playing against clubs of a nation.

If Gibbo wants to leave then I dont think he is that big of a loss - easily replaced with an import. If he wants to stay then I think a legit Sg and a rim protector like Gladness/Ibekwe is in order.

Tornado, I reckon Teys is a better athlete than Madgen and he has shown that he can hit the three as well as drive and score in a variety of ways. I agree he still needs to prove he can do that consistently, but the possibility is there. Taking the next step really depends on how much he believes in himself I reckon.

Beantown, Madgen possesses the attitude and grit you want for Finals basketball though.

My concern is that Teys is just too nice?

We definitely didnt play with or even exude the swagger in this Finals series that we had throughout the 10 game win streak.

I agree that it's in Teys attitude Tornado. He does need to develop self belief and a bit more of a competitive edge to his game if he wants to take that next step. Hopefully he sticks around and then we will see.

I definitely think he is a keep at this stage but off the bench.

It's hard not to laugh at some of the idiots here who consistently accuse Perth fans of being arrogant.

It's clear now that Adelaide were never going to make a show of this. Streaks and wins against poor opponents count for nothing in the finals.

Seriously, all those nongs repeatedly claiming the 6's would sweep the series, that Joey should win coach of the year, and insulting those who beg to differ, should take a hard look at themselves.

Adelaide have a good team, and if they can stick together next season they'll be a force again. However I feel they need to focus more on defence.

NZ were just too good this series. I think they will go on to win it all. However I would prefer Cairns to win it.

The umpires were pathetic for both teams tonight.

Agree with Beantown. Joey made poor decisions tonight! I don't think Motum was injured but rather just having a poor game however Joey should have persisted with him as we needed his scoring ability. When Gibson is having a bad game (which is most games these days it seems) he still plays extended minutes.

Gibson tried to come out and lead for about the first 4 minutes and then went into his shell again. Then when the game is over he starts to hit his shots. Poor series by him. As others have mentioned you could get more value from an import.

Teys is a strange one. If you start him he plays excellent however if you bring him off the bench he struggles. Tonight he was second guessing him self and had a bad game.

Why didn't we play a zone? At least try it! In both games NZ shot at over 50% so I can't see why trying a zone especially when Jackson is off wouldn't have been a bad idea.

Yeah, Joey was out-coached in this series easily.

I think a bit of zone would've been worthwhile. Just to give them a different look.

I felt like Joey was trying too hard tonight to find the right combinations of players as well. He seemed a little impatient rather than sticking with a group for a few mins.

Some of that may have been forced on him because of whatever was up with Motum. But I didn't like decisions such as giving Crawford extended minutes when he had to defend Webster at the other end, or taking Creek off the floor for extended minutes though.

Before anyone jumps the gun, I'm not saying sack the coach or anything though! Over the course of the season Joey has been very good for this team, integrating two key players mid-season and getting things back on track when they went very wrong with that losing streak!

Loved every minute!!! :) sleep easy kobe24 and sixers 147 don't mind seeing cairns in the gf but you got an upgrade from a spoon to a broom!

10 in a row but ure team was to slow! And I will actually be backing nz all the way in the gf! Jackson has to get MVP!

Motum who?

To late, love the live coverage. Didn't realise randomly you announce ure league MVP.

They have already announced that Conklin is the MVP, fully agree that Cedric Jackson deserved it though. Just like Ennis deserved it last year.

Well, in the end, they pulled a Richmond.

Yeah, they choked

Totally agree with GWB and that coaching choices cost us. So often it seemed like the wrong defensive match ups were on and left to run for too long. Schenscher's minutes were completely useless. The number of times he gets stuck around the 3 pt line defensively to leave the opposition centre completely open under the rim is a joke. Crawford used to be ok but is past it and a liability on defence. Creek, Johnson and Motum were all sitting at times which left us with limited options offensively. A completely frustrating series and back to square one next year.

I think the 36ers would be crazy not to keep as many of this group together as possible. With a pre-season they could be scary. Don't forget the nucleus of this NZ team have had 3-5 years together.

Now that I think about it, there has to be a question mark over Jamar Wilson. He often plays very selfishly. Id be dropping either him or Gibbo, maybe both.

Slept very well Cats for life, once you can admit what you have truly been exposed to be its easier. Sadly we just weren't the title hope compared to NZ.

In both games, we were defending out to the perimeter, chasing around a shooter like Webster. Their bigs had room to operate in the low post so often, or for penetrators to make it inside. We have the perfect bigs to operate in that same situation, but lack the shooters to give them room.

When Crawford is that shooter but is 32.9% 3P this season, I think that's a problem. The rest bar Motum and Wilson were quite average from long range. Guys like Petrie, Johnson and Gibson who've been handy in the past were down at the 25% level.

At the other end, NZ could afford to clog the paint so we ran into multiple opponents every time. Felt like we were killed on the boards, though it was a minor 34-38 loss.

Jackson is a supreme all-court player and completely controlled proceedings yet again.

NZ looked like they should run riot over whoever they face next.

> It's clear now that Adelaide were never going to make a show of this.
> Streaks and wins against poor opponents count for nothing in the finals.

Sorry, but that's some classic 20/20 hindsight, and BS to boot, IMO.
Adelaide had genuine form and were a legit threat to win it all going into the playoffs. They were the form team of the comp, and definitely had the talent to do it.

All I got out of that SF series was proof of how much of the game is played in the mind rather than on the stats sheet.

NZ are an awesome side, but Adelaide could have and should have done better. I really think they don't need to change much, personnel-wise, to take the next step.

yeah, that's the problem. we need to drop the guy who ranked highest in MVP voting for the 36ers and will win the 36ers' MVP. Seriously, Wright got Wilson playing unselfishly in the second half of thenseason and he was a fundamental part of why we made the finals. He's also one of two players who maintained their formform that runin the finals. And we should drop him and keep players who failed tha test and have failed it before? Repeatedly. The first strategy would be to find an attacking point guard who can replace Gibson. Same money but can consistently give you points as well as create for other players. With Gibson, you get one or the other with the occasional game where you get both. About 4 of those games this season.

Dazz - the 36ers made the finals off the back of winning 13 of the last 14 games of the season. They beat every team in the league and most of the wins were on the road. If NZ, Pert, Cairns, any other team made the finals that way, I'd have backed them to win the semi series as well. To call ALL people who made that call 'idiots' and say their views were based on 'streaks and wins against poor opponents', is petty and just plain wrong.

Dunkin Dan, the opponents weren't poor, NZ Perth and Cairns in there aswell as a top4 United team at the time. Hence the confidence behind that streak from many.

In slightly good news Cairns are paying $2.25 tonight against a Cats team that is short on players.

> Dunkin Dan, the opponents weren't poor,
> NZ Perth and Cairns in there aswell as a top4 United team at the time.
> Hence the confidence behind that streak from many.

Kobe24, I totally agree with you. That bit at the top of my post with the ">" in front of it was me quoting someone else so that I could disagree with them.

When you beat *every team you play against!!* it's ridiculous to say that the opponents were poor.

I think the biggest issue for Adelaide was Motum's injury.

The team had been playing around the offensive brilliance of he and Wilson, and with Motum producing next to nothing Wilson was left to carry the load and the rest of the team weren't getting the usual opportunities the attention that duo were attracting created.

Just as importantly, Motum's inability to board meant Adelaide's running game couldn't get going and NZ controlled the tempo almost the entire series.

The Breakers were awesome and well-prepared, so might well have won the series with Motum fully fit, but it would have been miuch tighter.

Sorry I'm too tired to read it through.... just like in High school haha

Gibson is a good player, but you do have to question his leadership.

Vukona is the guy to turn around and say "lets get on with it..forgot about the refs".

Whereas Gibson doesn't seem to have that leadership and will be the first to complain to the ref about a call.

I feel Gibson's game really goes downhill when he gets frustrated and mad with the refs. I'd expect that from a rookie, but you'd expect him to fight through it.

Not saying the Breakers don't complain to the refs because they do..but the Breakers have personnel who can turn around to the team and tell them to get over it..whereas Gibson and Joey set the tone for the 36ers complaining. (Anyone hear that audio of him in the background?)

What was the crowd figure out there?

Still Drunk in Tahoe.... Commiserations to the Sixers

I would keep Gibson but he needs to stop thinking of been a team player all the time and trying to get other players in the game and start scoring more.

I would let schenscher and crawford leave.

The point remains, all the crap and hoopla preceding the finals was irrelevant. And that's not hindsight, I have been saying it for the past month in response to the gibberish of 6's fans.

Once you make the finals, you have 2~3 game to focus on, that's it. Streaks are irrelevant, and in the NBL nobody cares who beat who during the season.

Furthermore you have to play finals basketball.
Basketball, like may sports, has a huge mental & emotional component. During the season, games are employment and there is always next week. Come finals, its do or die, there are no honourable losses, its either win or go home. Theoretically there should be no difference, but there is. Sporting history is littered with inexperienced teams who had great runs into the finals only to fail when it counted.

I was never on the Adelaide hype-a-wagon, but like many I thought they would do better than they did. Saying "it's clear no" isn't hindsight, its a statement of fact: It is clear, now.

HAha told you Sixers would choke again
Good on Conklin MVP BY A COUNTRY MILE!!!! HATERS

At what point is losing necessarily "choking"?

A couple of months ago the 36ers were second to last.

expect the bullets to chase after a few ex qld players in teys, petrie etc.

not much to smile at this series however, sometimes best to let it go.

one team wins the championship, it wasn't us and might be NZ. goodluck to them and whoever they play. hopefully they get the 3 bunnies from last nights game who reffed. drag the game out with the stop n start crap. call fouls by all means, but stop start shit really doesn't showcase the sport. 3 tools doing what they do best!

Sixers contested the grand final last year, they were not an inexperienced finals side.

I agree with a comment someone first said last week - the 13/14 game win streak to reach the finals from a seemingly impossible position was, both emotionally and physically, the Sixers' "final". Every game was a knockout grand final - then they hit the real stuff and were spent. They didn't have another gear to go to.

The Sixers are more than most a confidence team. There are a number of players who drop their heads when the going gets tough which is a real concern. It was a concern in the grand final last year (games 1 and 3). It was a concern in the seven game losing skid and the Melbourne disunited home thumping. It unsurprisingly reared its head in this series. Not sure who you blame or how to fix that.

For all that, I would be keeping this team together as much as possible, with only one or two positional upgrades if they present themselves. Save the import spot for to replace any key departing player or if the core is retained for that bit more punch.

My fear is that those leaving for greener pastures might make that strategy impossible. That would be a mistake for those players if they want a championship, as this squad is only a key piece or twos do a full season together away.

For me i guess its what do you read more into the positive of being able to win 10 straight, or the couple of poor finals games, also taking into account some of our finals losses last year??

I probably read more into the finals issues, but i still wouldnt be tearing this team apart.

Id offer Gibson and Schenscher reduced salary deals, both have a spot on the team but neither can be among the top 2 or 3 highest paid guys on a title team imo, Gibson will never be the star he needs to be to command the money he is rumoured to be on, to me he is a rich mans Rhys Carter, or like a Hinrich for the Bulls in the NBA, he will never be an elite scorer but is a good solid player, hustles most of the time, decent defender, decent distributor, can shoot but isnt really a scorer. Schenscher is a solid player at both ends imo, but not a star and is past his best. To me id offer Schenscher around 80k and Gibson around 110k, take it or leave it, if they leave we will be able to replace atleast one of them with a import, where we could likely get better bang for the buck. But ideally keep both.

I'd let Crawford go, his replacement will depend on points and $$$ remaining after the other spots are filled. Either find another shooter, or a good, athletic, versatile sf, i dont mind Leon Henry for this spot, to back up Creek.

Im in 2 minds about Wilson, he was an important cog in alot of our wins, but also over dribbled and took a few too many stupid shots at times too. Id consider bringing him back , but also on a slightly reduced salary say around $110k and if he is able to get him to explore naturalisation which if possible could make him an even bigger asset. he is also reportedly a good club man which is important too. But he has to be in move the ball distributor mode more than scorefirst mode, otherwise it cant work.Also depends a bit on Gibson, if he leaves id definitely keep Wilson, if Gibson stays id think of replacing Wilson with a Farley 2.0 and use Gibson as our PG, like D Martin at perth.

I liked BJ Anthony, he was hitting form when he got hurt, id offer him a 3 year 50k deal, put him on injury waivers next season if he cant play and have him doing clinics and stuff like that around the club, he could take the Petrie role when Petrie retires, i love his toughness.

Can we have DJ and Brock on the same team??? given they cost alot and neither provide much rim protection which can make it hard to play them together, a bit like the issue we had when we had DJ and Ballinger, both are too good and expensive to not be able to play together for large chunks of the game, so this needs to be sorted out or 1 needs to be let go, id side with keeping DJ but obviously depends on contracts, etc.

The 2 things i think we lack are rim protection and a good perimiter scorer, both are not easy to find especially with a lot of money spent on Aussie talent, which i dont really want to let go. This is where i think we can afford to be tough on Gibson and/or Schenscher salary wise and even replace one of them with an import, as we could pick up an import who could fill one of those needs better, or at worse could put up similar stats for half the price of there current rumoured contracts.

If Angus Brandt isnt locked in at the Kings id try and get him or find someone like him, but for some reason i think he is locked in at the kings, and that style of guy isnt easy to find.

Daly is cheap and ok but if can get someone else at a cheap enough $$$/points wise could look at it too.

Id be aiming for something like

C DJ or Brock/Schenscher (or Angus Brandt style guy, maybe an import Scott Morrison?? if Schensch too expensive)
PF Petrie/BJ Anthony (or injury replacement ??another big tough guy)
SF Creek/??Leon Henry (a good athlete, unselfish, hustles hard and defends is basically what im after, a 3pt shot would be a nice bonus too if we can get the perfect guy)
SG Willie Farley 2.0/Teys
PG Gibson/Daly

Would love to add a really good shooter if we could fit one in, at the back up sf or in Dalys spot, but not sure who is out there that we could fit in under the caps.

If we want to keep Jamar Wilson at the import spot, consider 2 things, using Jamar as the scoring sg, or let Gibson go for a Dave Thomas style import swingman, even Torrey Craig would be a somewhat good fit for this role and cheaper than Gibbo at a guess. I doubt Joey would let Gibbo go unless its Gibbos decision, so i have included him in and replaced Jamar with a scoring 6'6 swingman. Im guessing we would have around $150k-170k for the import.

My targets would be guys like Andre Emmett, Orlando Johnson, Ricky Ledo, Glen Rice Jr, DeAndre Liggins, Patrick Christopher,Terrel Harris, Morris Almond, DJ Kennedy, Ronaldo Major, Andy Rautins, Mychel Thompson, Elijah Milsap, Trey Johnson,

HOME TEAM
A. Gibson: -6
J. Wilson: -9
B. Motum: -7
A. Petrie: -11
M. Creek: -7
D. Johnson: -4
B. Teys: -8
L. Schenscher: -10
P. Crawford: 5
T. Daly: 2

ROAD TEAM
C. Jackson: 15
C. Webster: 2
T. Abercrombie: 13
M. VUKONA: 11
E. Ibekwe: 13
R. Carter: 8
A. Pledger: 0
T. Wesley: 0
R. Te Rangi: -5
D. Bailey: -1

DJ will be suitng for the 36ers next season as will Brock if he doesnt make the NBA.