abney 12 boards already!

wow a tech on brett how often do you see that!

Commentators: "I was saying they're 15-10, but they're 19-10 - even worse. How do they compete?"

Sixers pull it back from 20 down to be 10 down. Come on!

We have Hambour and Gower on court yet we're in contention. Bizarre. Ouch, Newley hits three.

Farley sits. Has Smyth conceded the game? Crocs are running almost their best 5. Sixers have Hill, Nash, Hambour, Gower, Rees.

Who's proud of that coaching effort? Down by around 10 and giving up with 4 minutes to run. Preparing for the Cairns game? Pfft. Go for the win while you can get it.

I don't play under him and I'm no real student of the game so my opinion should be almost entirely disregarded.

That said, I'm sometimes embarrassed as a supporter of the team when things like this happen. Four minutes to play and could make a run at it, but he concedes the game to concentrate on Cairns tomorrow. Yeah, maybe that's a smart call, but my gut feeling is that it's unsportsmanlike. I don't like that. Not good for fans watching the game. Not good for the team morale IMO.

And the guys have been running for 30 minutes. Is another 4 minutes really enough to give up on the game? Now that we're guaranteed third spot, why don't we just forfeit the last two games?

And the same thing happened last year against Cairns when they gave up a game to get what they considered a preferable finals run. Maybe it's shrewd, but it's not in the spirit of the game.

Crocs have only just subbed a benchie on with less than 2 minutes to go.

As the commentators just said: "Look at the scoreboard. It's an 8 point ball game and Phil Smyth conceded the game with 4 minutes to play."

Agree with you Isaac, why even show up if your just going to give up on the game, even when you have a chance of winning? You rest your players when the game is a blow out, not still a winnable match.

Yeah we do have to play again tomorrow but If you were offered a 1-1 result from the sunshine swing you would probably take it happily. This should have been a win and tomorrow nights game i would expect to be even tougher. If we had the chance tonight Phil should have gone for it. Thankfully it looks like the Hawks went down by 3 in OT so we are still looking ok to hold 3rd.

Isaac you are spot on. I mean, and let's say for a moment that you would be happy going 1-1 on this road trip, which game would you be trying to win: Townsville has been shit all year and to be honest we should be able to beat them even without Dusty. If it was me, I would have wanted the guys busting their asses to win tonight and then we'll see what happens tomorrow night.

Every time you lose to a team like Townsville you end up having to beat a team like Cairns or Brisbane.

That said, it was good to see Gower and Hambour get a run, and at this point I will mention that Hambour outscored BOTH centres who play ahead of him.

What is up with David Cooper?

Also, as far as Smyth goes, he sat on his ass while the score went from 47-47 to 76-58 and did ABSOLUTELY nothing! So no, they were not trying to win that game. That's not really the attitude you want to see from a club in financial peril.

Another point - I'd rather they go into the play-offs at least feeling competitive as players, with a bit of fresh experience at really fighting back from a medium deficit in a final quarter to try and win a game.

If they get destroyed by Cairns and Brisbane (both more or less full strength), then it's been a while since they really took a clutch game by its throat. I'm not saying that they'd forget what to do, but they'd have more confidence with that recent experience and familiarity IMO.

thats a little knee-jerk reaction. I know he dies this from game to game but who would you replace him with that is BETTER, not the same. If you get rid of him you must upgrade not settle for less, i think he is still the man for the job but maybe they need a little introspection at times.

Again Isaac is right. We are now faced with the realistic possibility of going into the playoffs on a three game skid, rather than with some momentum.

Not at all smart.

I can't wait to see what Burgess does to Cooper and Rees tomorrow night!

So you cant wait to see what Burgess
does to Rees and Cooper. Mutley your obviously not a sixer supporter

I will not pretend to know more about the game than what Smyth does nor any of the posters on this forum who really are quite cluey about the game but if we are guaranteed a 3rd position on the ladder regardless of what happens now, why would you over use your main players. Have you all stopped to think that its not just this game he is happy to throw away but the last two as well as long as he doesn't over do it with his main players and risk injury. The most important game to us now is the 1st playoff game at home. Nothing changes that at this stage. He needs all his key players fit and healthy for that one. If it means resting them for all 3 of these away games and giving them a good chance to heal any minor injuries, then that is a good move from the coach.

Should we drop the next two games, and the Hawks win theirs (one is against the Razors), we're fourth I think.

3rd place is by no means locked away for the Sixers.

3. Sixers W19 - L11
4. Hawks W17 - L 13

Sixers to face Taipans Away and Bullets Away
Hawks to face Tigers at Home and Razors at Home - Keep in mind they rested Saville last night and Ballinger only played the last 11 minutes of the game (5 of which was OT)

AS Isaac mentions if we drop both they win both than Hawks will go to 3rd based on season split.

Friday, October 14, 2005
36ers 113 v Hawks 103

Wednesday, November 9, 2005
Hawks 112 v 36ers 95

Friday, December 16, 2005
Hawks 96 v 36ers 93

Just saw this quote from phil, explains his attitude a bit better grrrr

36ers coach Phil Smyth was philosophical about the loss and said he wasn't overly concerned where the team finished.

"Third or fourth place isn't an advantage either way," Smyth said.

"Although it was a loss there's some things we can take from it.

"Townsville rebounded better than us and defended better than us."

It may not be of concern to you phil if you finish third or fourth but is for me! Finish third, win the knockout final and your coming to Melbourne :-)

Finish fourth, win the knockout and your going to Sydney.

Looks like it will probably be the Bullets again in the knockout final so that will be a BIG enough ask anyway.

Maybe that's what phil is indicating, dosnt matter if we finish 3rd or 4th as the knockout is to hard for him and breheny to coach. :-)

"Townsville rebounded better than us and defended better than us".

That bothers me as those are two things that are primarily to do with effort.

And Anon, as far as my not being a Sixers fan, that is bullshit. But I won't begin to sound positive about the chances of Cooper and Rees against Burgess. Cooper has not scored for 2 games and Rees should never have been signed again as he simply cannot step up and fill the void when Cooper struggles anymore. Unlike what Hill has done in the past couple of games, and even Gower, Rees just CANNOT step up anymore at NBL level. It amazes me that the same people who are happy to bash Oscar for "only" averaging 4.5 rebounds a game are quite happy to let Rees slide by averaging 2.0!

In AFL Kevin Sheedy has always lived by the moto

"you dont flirt with form"

ie always do your best to win all your games and never 'throw' a game - his reasoning has always been that you gain much more from a win (confidence, performing in clutch situations, posistive fans, etc etc) than you get from resting players and taking it easy.

I agree with that and hate it when I see Phil sit on his arse not seeming to care about the result of what he percievs to be meaningless games. Your paid to coach wins - not losses so how about showing some passion for ALL games not just the ones you feel like!

and on Rees..I think he can still do the job he was recruited for - 10 mins a game as a backup and enforcer - its the fact that coop is struggling so muchand forcing Rees to play so many more minutes than is showing up his age....get Coop playing to his potential and Reesy wil start to look better too

anyone thought that maybe putting the guys in for some minutes is good for the team and their experience? Remember there's finals around the corner.
A lot of you complain that certain players don't get minutes, then you complain that they are getting minutes but the shouldn't be on and Smyth is 'giving up' or 'throwing' the game.
Give me a break!
Yes, seems we're locked in for 3 or 4 finish with home court advantage for knock out game and doesn't matter which position it is unless you're trying to pick the most suitable path through the finals.
What does it matter that Gower or Hambour etc are on for more minutes than you might expect - is good for their game and the team overall. What benefit is it that Farley/Maher play the full game? Crocs not in finals, but Cairns are - more important to play/beat Cairns than Crocs as might even line up against them.