While all along I expected it to go to 3 games...
Perth's desultory performance game 1 surprised many...
( Perth lose due to refs .. I just get bored ...)

I expect the Cats to string together a few minutes of winning basketball here and there, but those will likely be just small islands of hope in a sea of Adelaide continuing to come and come and come down our throats.

I expect it to go down to the wire. I can't see Perth putting in two flaccid performances in a row. They can win games through desperation, and I expect them to play this way on Friday. Last year Adelaide had big problems playing against teams that were desperate, they dropped their last 4 regular season games against teams who had finals aspirations to play for, and then when they had Illawarra against a wall they couldn't hold them back in the last two games. I'm assuming they've learned something from last year, but I still expect it to be close!

Well I hope you're right. I'm not convinced our hearts are 100% in it as a team anymore. Hopefully I'm wrong and we "play Wildcats basketball" again

I think Adelaide probably has too many weapons for Perth. If you shut down Cotton, you've shut down Perth offensively. But you can't do that with Adelaide. Stop Brandt from getting catches, stop Cotton, and stop Tokoto from getting on the rim and you've basically cut their heads off. Perth need a big game from someone else to win. Maybe if Steindl had a freak night from the three?

Perth will win G2, with 36ers winning G3 comfortably.

I agree Luuuc, there seems to be a lack of fire. Watching JP's interview yesterday he seems to have checked out. I hope they can get a win and make the series respectable.

I do enjoy the Brandt-DJ battles. Seems like each coach favours their guy against the other, and Brandt especially takes it personally, and then in reality, they largely neutralise each other. But more often, DJ avoids foul trouble and stays on court longer, converts well at the stripe, etc. Wouldn't have always been the case when Perth had Knight out there.

Wagstaff is always dangerous, but this iteration of the Sixers seem to have most sectors covered through versatile, athletic players.

Have they said what time the game would be on Sunday? If required.

Was just about to organise a dinner for my bball team on Sunday

3pm EDT in all likelihood, as that's been the SBS timeslot all year.

I'm under doctors' orders to avoid perth v sixers games , after 36ers shot about 8 points in about 30 seconds , so cattalini tunneled cortez groves who picked up the ball and threw it at schenscher .. I was hoping that the roof would stay on...
with the crowd noise... and my heart was going at a million miles an hour...I wanted to run onto the court...
If I'm here saturday morning .. you'll know I survived..

As we head into this elimination game I hold no fear in my heart.

I have faith in Trev and the boys. NEVER underestimate a champion. This side is still double reigning champions and will live to fight another day.

As with last years semi game 2 it's Adelaide's game to lose. Hopefully they're wiser for that experience.

Floppycats should get this one.

Expect a gritty game with plenty of zoning and fouling by them to slow Adelaide down. We should see lots of niggles behind the scenes too. Joey needs to put some oil on the boys so when the pussycats grab them they slip off

I just don't want to see a defensive mugfest spoil an potentially exciting game.

If the drug is loving the Wildcats too much, I will continue to SNORT IT UP like Whitney Houston

16 years without a championship all the pressure is on Adelaide to break that drought.
Even of they get past Perth, Melbourne will comfortably beat them

Melbourne are the favourites

No pressure on the 36ers we're not the ones facing elimination.

Perth will try to push the umpiring boundaries with a defensive mugging game. If the referees don't call fouls with consistency expect a huge melee probably somewhere about the third quarter.

Sixers beware being sucked into a melee.
No evictions or suspensions please.

If referees are reasonably consistent with their calls Sixers should progress to GF.

Only other way Perth could win is if we let them shoot the lights out from beyond the arc with multiple high % shooters.

"Perth scheduling was also due to venue availability."

Yeah, if you can't organise a home court, you forfeit 20-0

"They do a really good job of accentuating the contact," Gleeson explained speaking to media.
"They're masters at it. They lead the league in foul shooting. I think they've had 200 more foul shots than any other team in the league through the regular season."

Perth being outflopped....Gleeson just moved up another notch on the Flogometer.

Bloody hell Gleeson's already whinging and the game hasn't even started yet. Imagine what he's going to be like tomorrow night!

Haha, when you get beaten by 35, I guess trying to influence the refs prior to the next game is probably one of the only tactics you've got. Hilariously hypocritical stuff from Gleeson considering he has coached some of the biggest floppers in NBL history at the Wildcats including Redhage and Wagstaff. I love how he goes on about accentuating the contact, when you look back at game one - it has nothing to do with that, it’s all about the inability of his players to prevent penetration, maintain appropriate legal guarding position and play with verticality when contesting shots. Maybe he needs to spend more time teaching his players that rather then winging about the refs who provide him the best home cooking in the NBL.

Wright would do the exact same thing! Please open your eyes for a bit, I have. Adelaide played awesome but perth can play a whole lot better than sat night.

Peoples eye's must be sore watching those banners come down every year at perth arena! Hey I love my team and I'm getting sick of it to! One more won't hurt.

Driving to the lane every time to initiate contact and if there or not the refs will call it so what's the difference in flopping? I'm not being a smart arse?

Player driving trying to make the ref call the foul or a person going down to get the charge?

This is all to soften the refs up and make them lenient and then going full WWF sludgeball on us tom night. A desperate man coming off of a 35 point annihilation staring down the barrel of the end of an era. Go out with some dignity Trev.

That's his job and his not the only one has said that pre game ala hawks a dirty player's.

From what I can tell from comments above Adelaide is naughty for driving? How dare they make basketball exciting and fun to watch!

If you take the game to the opposition and they can't handle it good for you.

Everyone was ok with vickerman saying it and then proceeding to get the calls, but we have a double standard for perth. I for one can not wait to see the complaints flying from united and 6ers fans when ware gets magical freethrows, followed quickly by sobey getting the same.

Adelaide are not the only team that drive, they do get rewarded for driving more than any other team, evidenced by their fta. Why would other teams keep driving if you are not getting the calls? (this is not in reference solely to perth)

6ers are a very good team, they don't need 30 free throws a game, they aren't all james harden attacking the paint.

This is so funny. Fans saying not to call a foul because their own team find it hard to score and will lose if the other team gets rewarded for being fast and good at penetrating on offense.

As for Wildcars fans......

"If the drug is loving the Wildcats too much, I will continue to SNORT IT UP like Whitney Houston"

Wildcars. Oops. Obviously I meant Wildcraps

One of my best comments that.

Trev's comments are good stuff. Classic mind games

Good stuff if you're desperate and insecure.

I'll get a stick

Even if we manage to drag them down to our slug it out game style tonight and get a win, it is only delaying the inevitable, i haven't seen anything in the times we have played in Adelaide this year that would make feel any different. You'd hope after the pantsing last week we'll come out breathing fire tonight, but sadly that hasn't been the case all season, i'm happy to be proven wrong, but i don't see it with this team. The hunger does not seem to be there like the last two years.

We cannot run and gun with Adelaide, they are a good side, and we don't have enough offensive weapons to put them to the sword, and slow the game up. I'm expecting a sweep to be brutally honest, i'm a realist not a dreamer, we just aren't goo enough across the board this year.

As i said happy to be wrong, but i just don't see it for us this year.

Good guys up 28-15 and 36ers looking shell shocked.

Who's chirping now boys??

Cotton and offensive rebounds killing the 6ers in that qtr. Perth clearly have come out the more desperate team and Cotton lighting it up is clearly energising everyone. Sixers just need to hang in there, some real boneheaded plays by a few players at the moment.

Good home cooking by vaughn, making sure he doesnt foul out brandt this time

Trev has the boys nice and FIRED up

Newley?? where is Trigger?

Here come the refs for Adelaide

Turned it off and going to bed.

Couldn't stand all the referee whining (especially from Gleeson).

Foul shoots!!!!! Make 70% and the differences would be 4-5 points and not 10

I see it my way, i get insulted you see it your way and i challenge the interpretation of the rule seeking explanation. Get a life

Why is Newley so cocky after his poor season

Vaughan Mayberry is actually a fine referee

Aylen has never been for perth, the gear isn't cut at all in adelaide is it

Aylen has never been for perth, the gear isn't cut at all in adelaide is it

Aylen for perth, and I'm called delusional...

what?

dont know what to think about this half

the wildcats gave everything ans 36 ers still in this game
could get ugly in the 2nd for the cats

Some frustrating calls/non calls for both teams. Perth have been more composed but Sixers have been their worst enemies from the stripe and unnecessary turnovers.

HE has now

what a f*ing shame

lead was up to 17

cats can't keep up with the lead

definitly gonna lose this one

FFS Vaughan!!!!!

Derek Cooke nearly hit DJ with some serious secondary contact!!

No body wants a johnson flop? Lucky cooke slipped cause it looked like he was about to show johnson what it really feels like to go down that hard.

Cats doing a good job of not giving up the lead. 36ers just not executing on offence enough to get to the front, big last quarter coming up. That Johnson and Cooke play was pretty hilarious though.

Cotton was cleaned up, no foul?

Lol clock down to 15 when cats got that over the backcourt line. That rule still exist ?

Any sixers fan calling home cooking is a disgrace, not deserved.

36 ers should suck the refs di*s

Childress Wakanda'n

good advice from an expert practitioner of that tactic ukaussie

Where else in the country do you see that call that often

Players running on the court, if the wildcats did that and nothing was called this forum would explode. Sixers its all good

Some terrible calls down the stretch, continuation on that Sobey break wasn't there and then creek stayed in his cylinder while cotton flopped,

feel sorry for Cotton

Really? How about the one dj got away with? The sobey non foul and non continuation he got. Please

Cotton clearly exhausted - uncharacteristically missing two free throws in the final stages.

Anyone want to explain hiw that was the first foul in that sequence?

Cotton in front c'mon Gleeson

Oh Trevor - what a great example you set

bye bye catties

Brooms baby, yeh!

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH
BBBBBBBBBAAAAAAABBBBBYYYYYYYY'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shut up Gleeson. Go suck on your moobs.

I wonder, did Chill brick the second shot to avoid the cats timeout and last second shot. ?

Well done Adelaide outplayed and out coached us. Offensive rebounds were the difference. Good luck in the final.

Cats would have swept melbourne easy.

Sorry, I missed the final score - what was it?

Wagstaff had the inside position on the free throw... weak sauce dude. Hustled by Drmic, that's embarrassing

this league's a shame
those refs are a shame

hahaha fuck the wildcats!!!

Lots of anonymous posts. Is that because Pussycat fans can't write their own names? or are they too embarrassed ?

Don't know how we won this but rebounding like that again will cost us. Glad we are through but hate this Melbourne matchup.

Solid game. Perth/Cotton with a hell of a first Q, otherwise it was pretty much Sixers all the way. So glad we finally get the finals we deserve, should be an entertaining series.

Two awesome games to finish the semis! What great finishes.

Great effort.

So Cotton carries his team again but did his contract shape Perth's outcome?

At least try not to capitalise every third word on all your posts, salty Cats fan, to give the illusion of multiple people who share the same views as you.

An mvp spent most of the second half on the bench, was on one leg otherwise. Carried by some dubious calls down the stretch. Be confident, good luck with it though.

And one final whinge. Who shot more in the paint? Who got more fta? Home cooking? Just know ware jr and goulding get all the sobey copperfield fouls and then some.

Any Cats fan blaming the refs should leave and never come back, we blew an 18pt lead at home.

Too many inconsistent players, i wonder if Lemanis is re considering his choice of Wagstaff, after his 1pt 3 rebound game tonight.

Is that the first road playoff win by the Sixers since that epic comeback against the cats back in 2003? If so that's a long time between drinks!

Impressive by the players to just stay in the game and be within striking distance at the end, even though we weren’t executing with the normal efficiency on offence. Childress then came up big and got the team over the line. Perth clearly relied too much on cotton and he seemed to have very little has left in the tank at the end but still had an incredible game!

Can’t wait for the grand final!

And J had his final winge! The night gets even better!

Nah uncle phil i always have something for you.

Enjoy your finals series, they are fantastic. Go to the games, lose your voice and savour it. I know ;p

Good let the Perth clean out begin.
Melbourne to win 2018 title.

I wonder how Devondrick Walker would've turned out

There were just a few seconds - after Damo hit Cotton for that and-1 - when my money didn't quite feel safe.
But really, Adelaide are just too good.
We've got the right grand final coming up. It's got potential to be a good one.

Proud of how hard the cats fought.
I'm almost happier losing tonight than scraping home and then copping another 30 point hiding in Adelaide.

Cotton going nuts in the first quarter made this game seem more even than it probably was. Gleeson got his way and lots of ugly contact was let go.

home cooking? oh right, so when the foul count is like 26 fouls to 11, that's OK at Perth Arena in favour of the cats. But when its close, or someone wants a whinge, its home cooking. Gee whiz J, you cant have your cake early at 13 points the lead early in the second, to choke and then blame reffing. fair suck of the sav mate

The question now is will this series take a toll or spur the 36ers on? Melbourne have had a nice rest but will that help them or slow their momentum?

Melbourne don't really have momentum, they played like crap in the semis.

The time off is goood, they can put some polish on what they're doing.

I don't reckon Adelaide would want a longer rest than this. The greater risk is Melbourne getting stale I reckon.

Melbourne hasn't shown signs of being stale defensively for months. Offensively they were stale in the NZ series. The break can only be good for them

Feel the pain Wildcat supporters! Feel the anger, disappointment and sadness. Tonight was payback for 87, 89, 91, 96, 02/03 and 13/14.

I've waited almost 20 years to see the Sixers enjoy the euphoria of knocking the Cats out of the finals!!!

I will enjoy this moment, it will probably be another 20 before it happens again! :-)

Meh, can't win them all. Balance just wasn’t there this year. Congrats to the 36ers, just to good at the end of the day. It’s a bit funny reading all the "Perth Hate" comments, regardless of their form this season, what the club has achieved in the last decade has been outstanding.

"Melbourne don't really have momentum, they played like crap in the semis."

Yet they just swept the breakers??

Here's hoping Adelaide can wind up Melbourne in three and we can get on board with the Crows.
Five games is overkill!!!

Well done Sixers! What a finish!

"I wonder how Devondrick Walker would've turned out"

From what I remember when he initially signed he was just about as athletic as tokoto, With a smaller vertical. But was also a bit of a dead eye from 3. Think tokoto had about 4 threes all season.

Given steindl being a bust for perimeter scoring I can only see walker putting the team in better balance offensively, cotton basically the only guy you couldn't afford to sag on and maybe wagstaff for 1game only.

Perth need a restructure imo, that much is certain.

Unloseable? Other than Bryce Cotton going nuts in the first quarter the Wildcats had nothing. Adelaide won the other three quarters and frankly I'm surprised Perth came as close as they did.

I said at half time Adelaide were in a pretty good position.

I was at the game tonight and thought it was one of the best games ive seen. Not happy the cats lost of course but didn't expect them to win the series against the sixers anyway. The writing has been on the wall for most of the season due to their poor decisions recruiting wise. Their interior D and rebounding has been below their usual standard. Childress and creek were superb and took advantage in that area.

I cant see melbourne beating this sixers side and after tonights come back win they will have even more belief.

Melbourne just give us fits though.

Ahhh, Wildcats supporters in this thread.

"As a Mistral employee once told me
You're only as good as your fans"

(TISM, Play Mistral for Me)

At half time, I said to the wife, if the 36ers can cut out the turnovers, they can win this. When Cotton scored off of the great pass from Martin with not long to go, I was just about ready to think about game three.

Perth's new favourite Movie: "Gone in 60 Seconds"

Adelaide were the much better team for 3 of the 4 quarters. Managed 89 pts even with shocker of the 1st qtr. Perth only have 2 avenues in Cotton and Tokoto. Occasionally Wagstaff and Martin will hit some 3's and Brandt stays out of foul trouble. He is just way too aggressive and physical all the time. No need to be banging and hitting opponent every play. Once Cotton was down they have nothing. If Sixers shot F/T at around 80% they would've won by nearly 10. With DJ having shocker of a game we manage to find others to step up which is a good sign for Grand Final series. Not sure if we have anyone for Boone though. Drmic as a bench player really stands up in clutch wether it is defence, rebounds or being in the right place. A good commodity to have.
Perth stuffed up by not acting when Knight retired. Sixers proactive by acting on Childress. Just goes to show how crucial one decision is in the long run.
Tokoto probably sealed his fate with that fumbled rebound at the end.

Replay of last night's game on Foxsport 5 now.

This will be twice as nice.

' Refs want this to go to game 3 . They get more money. '
Joey told his players at a time out..

( Alan Black - the best commentating I ever heard ...Perth radio.)

I just watched the recording of the game. I noticed the last 71 seconds of game time took 15 minutes to get through. For me, that really killed the excitement that had built up through that last quarter.

It was suspenseful, yes, but somewhat anticlimactic. There were extended delays on a couple of sets of foul shots, multiple time-outs and multiple breaks in the game for fouls and other violations. Essentially, the game turned into a sequence of short flurries of game time, sandwiched between minutes of nothing or not much happening.

Personally, I would have preferred fewer interruptions and more sustained excitement rather than the stop-start finish that happened. I ended up fast forwarding through the interruptions and foul shots anyway.

alan black said it was gonna be a tech straight away as soon as shorter ran on the court..

Entering the court when not permittef is an auto suspension too.

Tech for running on court, please, the amount of time you see coaches actually on court during play is more then you would think. Happens all the time, ( not in danger of getting in the way of play but still should not be on the court). Need to be all over this during season before calling it in a semi.

Sixers deserving winners with Cats not that far away, its a fine line. Remember they were written off last year way too early. Always tough in finals to beat ( OK except in Game 1 ). As a Sixers fan couldn't be happier, surely for the neutrals and the NBL in general it has to be good to see 2 new teams have a crack.

Must say these threads are much more entertaining when it is not so Ref dominant, but Ref's do drive emotion in any sport.

I dont like Shorter. His antics mainly and even after they had won he kept on giving it to the crowd. Should definitely have been teched for running onto the court.

But hes been very good for the sixers though

"Funny how the Wildcats Facebook page doesn't post a final score graphic whenever they lose but have it up immediately following a win.."

Anyone who criticises Wildcats social media is just a crab. They have been setting the standard for social media and keeping fans informed for a long time now. No the final score was not on FB, but it is every other time, win or lose, and it was all over Twitter.

'Cats needed some of this...

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10216413603636284&id=1341753993