The emergence of Majok Deng at both ends could be the missing piece of the Sixers championship puzzle. Photo by BOTI
Adelaide 36ers 88 defeated New Zealand Breakers 85
I seriously thought I was watching Darnell Mee out there in this one, but after a promise to me at the start of the season, Shannon Shorter delivered his best and looked a completely different player. His 23 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists was the performance that all Sixers supporters and media writers were looking for after the debacle of the previous fixtures. Majok Deng in the absence of Drmic has begun to look at home in his extended minutes with 13 points and was showing glimpses of exploding into a weapon for the Sixers.
Adelaide 36ers 97 defeated Perth Wildcats 86
It was all about Majok Deng tonight and from Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson’s admission, he was unstoppable. 16 points in the final quarter was exactly what the Sixers needed to put their stamp down as a championship contender and to show they have the difference between the other contending sides. The win was a crucial one that put the Sixers a win ahead but with a tricky away fixture against Brisbane, they could easily slip back to the pack.
Brisbane Bullets 77 defeated by Adelaide 36ers 89 in Overtime.
Watching this one was a strange game as you felt the Bullets through it were going to finally nail the Sixers down but again Adelaide’s depth stepped up. Deng once again went for a massive purple patch but if it wasn’t Mitch Creek it was DJ or Childress or Sobey that stepped up keeping the scoring ticking over despite the Bullets well laid defensive plans. The Sixers did enough to force it to overtime and from there took control with a 16-5 finish through DJ who dropped 24 points and 11 rebounds proving he is one of Adelaide’s most efficient away from home scorers.
Adelaide 36ers 100 defeated Cairns Taipans 90
If you were looking at this scoreline and you were Aaron Fearne, you’d be tearing whatever hair you had out. 190 points in a game doesn’t win the Taipans many games of basketball and despite again their desperation to play full shot clock ball, the Sixers simply weren’t going to allow it to happen a second time at home. A key moment out of this match was the performance of Brendan Teys with 14 points including four triples and Ramone Moore with 19 points . Teys was back to his pesky best and with Adam Doyle out for the season, his extended minutes as the glue guy and the lock-down guard veteran defender could be another key piece of the championship puzzle Joey Wright needs to fall into place. After an ankle injury, Moore is back at full flight and the all-round guard along with many on the Sixers bench is making a serious case for the NBL’s best sixth man of this season.
Sydney Kings 101 defeated by Adelaide 36ers 104
Similar to the previous match, if you get in a shootout with the Sixers you are probably going to go down but my goodness did a fireball Kings outfit give it a crack. The Sixers looked in cruise control and eventually as good teams do, Mitch Creek and Nathan Sobey edged out the Kings in the finish. Creek with a career high 30 points was the difference between the teams but clearly any team going up against Sydney should be aware of how potent they are with the shackles off (as Perth found out Friday Night). It should be noted too that over the last few games there has been a gradual improvement in Matt Hodgson in an encouraging sign for the Sixers.
So in summary after going 5-0 over the time period…
- Every Sixers player has majorly contributed in each of the five wins with still Drmic to come back in to the rotations.
- Nathan Sobey is more comfortable in his role and it’s shown in his off-ball output
- Majok Deng as a result of improved defence has enhanced his offensive game further
- They believe they can win any game regardless of momentumn
- Josh Childress has established himself as the third import the Sixers should’ve picked originally but is not wasting any time making up his minutes
- The roster is balanced with Drmic to return.
- Teams are forcing the Sixers to shoot from the perimeter but the Sixers have begun to hit a higher clip since that scouting report (40 percent on average in the last three matches).
And finally…
They internally believe they can beat anyone except Melbourne United (who they’ll need to prove against probably in the finals).
CROSS OVER DRIBBLE 