A solid effort by all the boys tonight with Maher just being inspirational. Great to see Nash being more positive and agressive out there as well. He played some good D, hit a few nice shots - he just needs to square up and look at the basket every now and then.

I said this a month or two back, but Farley's defense has slipped back worse than what it was before. I thought he had being making more effort getting through screens and playing his an off the ball, but tonight was probably his worst defensive effort I have seen. He certainly helped John Rillie on his way to 32 points. Late in the game he refused to pick him up and just stood there pointing to him hoping that someone else would pick him up.

At the 9 minute mark of 4th when Brett came out for Oscar, he asked him who Brett had been guarding, and Brett just opened up his arms in frustration and seemed to say 'dunno' and indicating in the direction of Farley and Oscar to speak to him. Didn't look happy at all. When Farley hit that massive three, he was too busy talking to the crowd instead of busting back on D and Maher was screaming for him to get back as Rillie was wide open on the perimeter in a one on two situation, but luckily the crocs didn't get the ball up court quick enough.

Obviously these are just a few examples (I could name plenty of others), but how much is Farley's lack of D going to hurt the team? Don't get me wrong, I love the guy and think he is an integral part of our great team, but his D could be the difference between us going all the way - it's much better when it's 5 on 5!

I'm there will be people who agree and disagree - so let's hear your thoughts.

Surely I'm not the only one who thinks that Smyth tends to leave his time-out calls too late during an opposition run? It's happened before, and tonight the Crocs reeled off 21-3 to open the third and we'd lost what should've been an insurmountable lead. After you have 10-12 wiped off your advantage, surely you call time and maybe make a sub or settle the team?

Good win. Crap crowd due to the soccer, but those in attendance still got into it.

I tipped us by 5, so close enough!

Gotta love watching Rillie just jacking it up in that second half. Would've liked to have seen a bit more from Abney in his first game at the Dome.

What can you do in 1 quarter when they shoot the lights out. Each 3 they put up they had a hand in the face and still nailed it. Rillie was shooting from way outside there is only so much you can do.
I was happy with the defensive effort in part, the high screens is my only concern, the switch is happening too slow or willie isnt working hard enough to either make the screen feel it or get around it. drop that shoulder a couple of times and make them know that their in you way if you arent gonna try and get around (even if it cost 1 or 2 fouls).
GOOD WIN, the crocs are a streaky team and i always felt they would come back just didnt hope it would be the 21 to 3 run that it was.

How bad was the crowd? estimate?

madskills, i don't know what game you were watching, but most of their threesere open apart from a couple of Rillie specials. He and Newley also missed about 6 WIIIIDE open ones that would have seen us behind going into the last.

Some poor defense again. Lucky to get out with the win on the back of Maher.

There was an announcement made at the start of the game informing people that the main speakers are inoperative at the moment and we had to have some emergency replacement speakers put in.

It was only known a few hours before the tip off that the speakers where not working and so we had to do what we could to get some sound happening.

3,788. That's the worst crowd ever if memory serves me right.

It's a shame that a once off event has killed the crowd average for this year. Got to feel sorry for guys like Paul Bauer if due to one game crowds end up technically falling again this year.

No the speakers will hopefully be fixed by the Tigers game.

Also heard that at 7pm only 2 people were in line to buy walk-up tickets.

If only they had more notice, would have got a bigger crowd on a Tuesday if they could have changed game times.

Agree with Isaac regarding the time outs, when the opposition are on a roll, call the time out to al least stop the game and gives the guys time to re-orientate.

These 3rd quarter drop out are a concern, its like they seem to take a while to get back in the game after half time. Don;t know the answer but hope it improves.

Regarding the speakers, I sit at the end behind the opposition basket and have never heard anything clearly all season. Had no idea what Phil was presented with before the game. Are there any speakers pointing in my direction?

There are normally as you can see when you look at the scoreboard the speakers are the boxes hanging underneath. You should see 2 pointing in your general direction.

Last night we had to scrape together 4 speakers that where placed in the corners.

If you where sitting behind the basket it is likely it was quiet.

As i said before we had to make do with what we had. Was not the usual but it was something.

Anyone ever tried to replace a stadium PA in under 2 hours?

Music man, it did seem quieter last night, which was a pity given the presentation to Phil and the presence of the army, but as you said given what happened a least we had some sound and congratulations for organising it so quickly.

I find the music and entertainment to be great compared to any other sporting event I have been to. When you are used to high quality you start complaining about the little things.

I noticed that there seemed to be more balls and food given out to the crowd last night, was that a one off to make up for the speakers? I thought it was another good addition.

Also how do you get to shoot for a $6000 plasma TV?? Where do I enter for that competition?

Thanks for the feedback Anthony, hopefully things will be back to normal next game.

We have been giving out Kit Kats every game so far and last night was a switch to Christmas Bertie Beetles.

The balls have been done one game beofre as a way of picking people to enter competitions at half time.

As for the Plasma, the Seals fired a rocket into the crowd in a time out and the person who caught it was the guy who got to shoot to win prizes.

There were other prizes he could have gone for with easier shots but he went for the half way plasma!

As for the presentation to Phil it was done by the new General ( dont know his name but he replaced Cosgrove). It was a photo taken at the dome of the Army guys that did a display opening night.

Thanks for all that information, I'll keep an eye out for the rocket.

In hindsight I think he should have gone for the smaller prize.

Hi all,

Appreciate all your feedback. The crowd was disappointing but I think we need to put it in perspective.

Wednesday games never sell well, anywhere in the league. And the main reason they are played those nights is to accommodate Fox sports and their coverage. Games live on Fox also reduce numbers, coinciding with the earlier tip off time.

And of course the soccer. Australians love their sport and when "one-off" occasions arise like last night, the sporting public jumps on the wagon to help get our country over the line. All things considered, we're not hitting the panic button just yet.

Hoping to bounce back with the Tigers game next Saturday night, and planning to put some stuff in the paper next week to advertise.

To answer Isaac's question yes, Smyth does leave his time out calls WAY too late. Remember a game a couple of years back (against the Crocs) when we blew a 15 point with three minutes to go in the game and lost largely because he just sat there (though due credit to Charles Thomas and Jason Williams!). Last night was no different. After the Crocs scored the first seven in the third to cut the lead to 13 it should have been timeout and regroup (and Oscar and Rees in for Holmes and Cooper). Instead, he waited for a 21-3 run and then called a TO, which achieved nothing. Agreed there is not much to be done when Rillie and co are shooting like that, but surely that's one of the best times to use a time out, just to stop the momentum.

All that said, Smyth has a terrific record and really never has been the type of coach to through a lifeline timeout, prefering instead that his team plays through it. It is sometimes frustrating watching it though as Adelaide was SO OBVIOUSLY out of synch at the start of the third that a timeout was definitely required.

A good openning to the third by Adelaide and Townsville would have given up and been beaten by 30.

I couldn't agree more Mutley.

Smyth is obviously an outstanding coach but his reluctance to call time-outs is a re-occurring problem.

The 21-3 run makes this criticism an easy one to make as the whole stadium was calling out for a time-out when the lead was cut to about 13 and we were obviously out of sync.

However, I recall many other games where we have let a hard earned 12 point lead get withered away to nothing through a mini 2-3 minute drought that could have easily been arrested by a time out.

Not only has this occurred in regular season games but also knock-out finals with the Brisbane (home) final and Melbourne (away) final coming to mind.

What makes it even more mind boggling is that Smyth/Breheney are productive in their time outs and we consistently come out of a time-out with a few well executed play.

if i was to make i note, please bring the drummers out from behind the soft sponsor signs, their wound gets muffled. On the actual game it was pretty good especially the nice amount of blocks. Oh a phil does call his TO to late.

About 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter, I was also screaming under my breath for Phil to call a time out. He did however explain upstairs after the game why he didn't until it seemed too late because that point did get raised. By calling a time out when the game was going so much against us would be like him harping at the players to pick up their game. This can sometimes be more disruptive that productive. The team was well aware of what was happening and being left on their own, they understood the situation and that they needed to do something to reverse it quickly. Luckily they did do that in the last quarter to come out 7 points ahead. I didn't agree with it because by calling a time out, he didn't necessarily have to scream at his players, but was good to stop the momentum of the opposition. But then again, he is a multi championship coach and I am not.

dats bullshit

And that is an educated comment.

so what was this one 'event' that ruined crowd levels? was it sound related?