Minus Roberts, maybe the one side we aren't undersized against. Hopefully the Kings aren't jet lagged and it's another close one.

Kings by 11.

Kings are loaded this season. We have 11 NBA players on the roster. Go Kings !!!!!!!!

Shorter was given the 2pts for Drmic's and-1 at 1:14 left in the 3rd http://www.fibalivestats.com/u/NBL/642573/pbp.html

These refs are outrageous!

This is what I expected in the odd game from Ramone Moore

Moore killed it.

I expected he would be well suited to Wright's system and it looks like he is.

Shorter did some nice things tonight. He's a big unit for a point guard too, combined with the athleticism of Sobey and Creek and an extra big to come, they will have a more physically imposing line up.

My early prediction is Adelaide are looking stronger than last season.

And yes refs calling the soft stuff. Early tone for the season?

If so good luck stopping talented scorers.
I'm Thinking of casper/cg43/Prather especially Prather going to the hoop

Give credit to Sydney for staying with Adelaide most of the game. They looked jetlagged. Ellis looked good when he made good decisions, which don't include trying to post up Hodgson. Leslie could be good once settles into the NBL style of play.

The Kings will rely heavily on Newls and Lisch. Cadee is Cadee, don't expect anything different to previous years. For his sake, I hope Blanchfield can find himself a valuable role in the team.

Humphries and Pineau don't look NBL ready, and Singh just looked totally out of place. Thoseby should be their 11th man. They need to replace Singh with a big import.

Otherwise, it's gonna be a long season for the Crumbles.

"Can the commentary stop telling us how good Cadee is, did FA till bombing late in game when all to late"

Could not agree more. Heal and Harvey are always saying how good Cadee. Can't half tell there friends. He hit a few 3’s late and that is it period. He can’t stop a bus at a bus stop.

Yeah, jet lag definitely kicked in that 2nd half, but Moore and Shorter (awful carries aside) made key plays down the stretch and did enough to get the win.

Not too concerned. Humphries looks OK when the Kings aren't giving him the ball outside the arc and expecting him to make decisions with it.

Unfortunately, AngusH, the centre is going to get the ball above the circle in a high post offence. I thought Creek's decision to pull the chair out and let Humphries fall into the paint was pretty funny, by the way.

I would be happy if that scrapped the entire high post offense altogether to be honest. Well, as long as they don't bring the shuffle... We should be getting the ball to Ellis and Newley in the post a whole lot more than we are, and if we are going to rely on 3s like we do, I'd rather Humphries butt be 3 feet from the hoop to get boards.

AngusH, you should have a word with Mr Gaze!

The only person AngusH should be having a talk with is a psychiatrist.

Zing!

Apart from the individual brilliance of Newley, Lisch and Cadee, the Kings looked ordinary. Ellis is good in the 4, but is deficient as a 5. He has been scouted and that spin to the right is predictable and well defended by Adelaide. Leslie looks ok, but so far does not look like a Cotton, Ware or Trice.. Humphries looks unsure with the ball, and some under 14 errors. Pineau is not NBL level and Garlepp should be getting more court time. Adelaide did not even play that well, missing an import and they still won. They scored way too easily in the paint and out rebounded the Kings 16-4 in the second half. Lack of depth showed as whenever the Kings' bench was on, they started losing. Time to get import centre JVG, otherwise it's going to be a long season.

Lisch has been unable to shoot well since probably the midway point of last season. He didn't even shoot .400 last year. His misses don't look good. FT make the stats look glossy.

Leslie's foul trouble was a major factor. He was great early. Chemistry still awful. Just a few memorable passes in the entire game from the Kings. They'll get better.

Sixers looked solid. Are going to get some big scores as they get used to each other. Would have won that by 15+ but for Cadee making an appearance in the game and hitting those big 3's, and then giving the ball back with some sloppy turnovers. Nearly fell off my chair when Shorter hit 3ptr after seeing his shooting live against United. Nearly double digit assists and can actually defend which was the big downside of having Randle who's defence deficiencies were really highlighted against the Hawks in the finals last year as they targeted his non-defence.
Shorter can actually defend in the paint against bigger players and holds his position well, not letting them push him under the basket.

Sixers better both on defense and in depth this season and will only get better.

The import Adelaide are considering is quite interesting. Not what you would think of as a big, but can serve as a PF if need be.

Don't we have 8 SF's already though....

Any further news on this 3rd import Isaac?

From what you have said, it doesn't fill me with confidence.

No, sorry. But hope it comes through. I know it sounds like a mistake in theory given the SF/SG glut, but it could work. Decent enough rebounder.

Maybe the plan has evaporated, so who knows.

So how many rounds do I have to wait to bring out the "I told you so"s?

Anons lineup seems a lot more reasonable and balanced but again, it just looked like a case of "pass it around outside until someone gets more open than anyone else" for the most part on Saturday, just lucky they managed to score 90+ points, but their defence was atrocious...

48-28 points in the paint to Adelaide... wow... everyone was just waltzing into the paint unchallenged... embarrassing...

Let's just hope that that particular statistic was down to jet-lag (although it happened from right at the tip off) and improves... but a lot of the problems extend beyond that...

The offence was built around the perimeter to open up driving cutting lanes (there are a lot of shuffle principles in it, which is a good thing), and in the first half it worked.

When they got tired in the second half it turned into pass around the perimeter and jack it up, which opened up Adelaide in transition and they just drove into the paint at will, especially past Cadee and Thoseby.

The Kings will win their fair share of regular season games, but the sad thing is had they just kept Maric in this squad they'd have a very balanced team now. Strange decision.

He'd also be great to mentor Humphries and Singh.

but the sad thing is had they just kept Maric in this squad they'd have a very balanced team now. Strange decision.

He'd also be great to mentor Humphries and Singh.

The way the team is balanced the Kings should've kept Maric and gone with a budget import wing instead of Pineau or Singh imo

Fatigue definitely played a part in the second half, but even without it, I doubt the Kings would've won that game. From what I saw, Adelaide committed numerous silly turnovers that made the game closer than it really was.

IMHO the team balance you guys are talking about isn't really a major problem. Its the coaching that's most problematic and its not only the X's and O's. Sadly, I've formed the opinion that Gaze has no clue how to utilise his players correctly.

Paul is correct that they will win their fair share of games as the players start to get used to each other and what Gaze wants to run. If they seriously want to contend for the championship, I think changes need to be made and preferably early in the season.

For all that talk about ditching the shuffle, its still there, albeit a simplified and expedited version of the old one. Gaze need to implement a lot more than what he's shown so far. I'd love to see more pick and rolls, particularly with Humphries and Leslie or Blanchfield.

He could try reading up on Tex Winter's bible and implement some triangle as well, particularly when Ellis is in the post. Compared to last season, he has enough offensive rebounders now to make that work.

Defensively, he needs to drill them hard on switching defence and stop fooling around with that small ball starting line-up. Its only going to put Ellis and Blanchfield in foul trouble and negate any offensive advantages he thinks he'll have.

Seriously, to put Kings fans out of their misery, just release Garlepp if you're not going to play him and go get Dunigan or similar import that can protect the rim. Ellis is an offensive stud that shouldn't be hampered with tough defensive assignment every night and the same goes with Blanchfield.

I think Dunigan was overrated a bit by fans because he threw down some mean dunks, but even with that said he would be perfect for Sydney.

He's been playing in the NBA-D for a couple of years, so might be enticed by a good pay cheque. He'd be awesome for Humprhies to practice against each day.

The Kings need to change up their rotations and have more bite coming off the bench, which you could do with Dunigan in the line-up. Blanchfield and Ellis at 3 and 4 are great rebounders, so play them initially with Humphries.

Humphries/Dunigan
Ellis/Pineau/Garlepp
Blanchfield/Newley
Leslie/Thoseby
Lisch/Cadee

That team has good depth and plenty of options when they go to the bench, where they were smashed by Adelaide last week.

It's like Gaze is just playing his five best players as the starters rather than thinking about how the team functions over 40 minutes.

As much as it will cause an uproar among some Kings fans, I actually agree with your thinking of having Newley come off the bench paul. In fact, I'd even try to get Lisch to come off the bench as well if Cadee can hold the fort.

I reckon they could get away with a starting lineup of Cadee, Leslie, Blanchfield, Ellis and Humphries. Injecting Lisch and Newley would be a massive boost that can change the flow of the game. Both will still play 25-30 mins but coming off the bench may help them perform at peak efficiency in the 4th qtr.

As for why I kept bringing up Dunigan for them, I wasn't even thinking of his dunking prowess. I was thinking of what type of Centre would be the best to pair Ellis with. From what I saw during Ellis' stint in Kansas, he was most potent when paired with an athletic shotblocking, offensive rebounding, energetic 5.

Say what you will about the fatigue in the 2nd half, the lack of defense was there right from the tip off, so I think there are very little excuses for them at this point...

Sadly, I've formed the opinion that Gaze has no clue how to utilise his players correctly.

It's like Gaze is just playing his five best players as the starters rather than thinking about how the team functions over 40 minutes.

It's all a matter of how long will the Kings management take to come to these logical decisions...