Sporting a pre-game taped head, SA player Brad Newley took to the Sixers like Rambo to the Jungle. Photo by Flipboard
Newley’s 26 points and Randle’s 23 points broke an eleven game losing streak and consigned the Sixers to their fourth loss in a row in a carefully orchestrated master plan from the “Gaze realm of the East.”
THE WRAP Q BY Q
The first quarter started with a desperate Deleon (despite already knowing it would be his final game) leaving it all on the floor early. The Kings however got the jump early through Newley and Randle jumping out by 15 points in a shocking unlikely slow start for the Sixers. Gaze was controlling the game like a maestro from the bench setting Andrew Bogut on Jacob Wiley and Anthony Drmic while David was “wearing” DJ like a tight fitting glove. Nathan Sobey “Wan Kenobi” called upon his force to grab 6 of the last few minute points to close it to 15-27 but the Sixers looked way off it early.
Kevin “Delisch” stole it early in the second but a spark came from the Sixers when young beast Harry Froling got the Sixers rollin in the second as he dropped 15 points in the quarter to breathe them back to life before “Wild” Kyle Adnam awoke nightmares of the first game last season to give the Kings a solid lead at the half 43-49.
The Kings and Sixers traded buckets through the early part of the third quarter with Froling putting the Sixers within 7 points but on this afternoon, the Kings would not allow the Sixers to get any closer like a Sultan realising he’s been under mind control from his Grand Vizier (tickets on sale now Adelaide crew). The Kings master plan was unfolding as Newley taped head and all wrapped the Sixers heading into the fourth as the Kings held a 10 point lead, 63-73.
Newley and Randle continued the dagger beyond perimeter show with another splash of revenge triples before Froling and Deleon launched a last hurrah to try and reclaim the throne that had once been their’s but as is the case in most finishes this plan from the K-Team was not gonna fail as they emphatically closed an unwanted chapter in their history with a Bogut dunk.
COACH SPEAK
Sixers Coach Joey Wright described the loss and the outcomes from the match as “Collateral Damage” as the Sixers shortly after the match announced they had mutually departed with veteran import Adris Deleon. “It’s disappointing that we came out in a game where we should have been fired up and ready to go, giving up a 22 point lead head start is way too much leeway.”
Kings Coach Andrew Gaze despite the adversity said the Kings didn’t talk about the streak but relied on executing it in the planning. “We exposed them early and set our defence up early, we got really good production out of our guys offensively and played much smarter, we’ve felt like we’ve been close to beating them for some time but our offence tonight was more systematic with some motion and that really helped us.”
DO THE STATS LIE?
After two players shot 9 of 12 from the perimeter last time they met, the Sixers shot 18 percent on 3 of 16 attempts all three makes by one of the biggest men off the bench in Froling. The Sixers had 14 turnovers of which the Kings scored 16 of their points while in the opening 7 minutes when the Kings took their ascendancy DJ and Sobey had only 2 points between them of the Sixers 7 points.
The Kings stuck 5 triples in the opening quarter emphasising their quality ball movement and the Sixers lack of energy in the opening quarter. They also recorded 22 assists for the match and had three 20 plus point scorers for the first time since Shane Heal was coaching them.
WHATS NEXT FOR THE SIXERS
I would like to introduce a new terminology for the NBL which I think every club would’ve done in its history at least once that I can recall
Fillimport (noun fi-ll-import)
Def: Under the current contractual guidelines of the NBL, an import that is recruited for low cost and subject to the teams needs in terms of filling either a role in the short term over the preseason and first few months of the season or serves a purpose until an out of contract import of need becomes avaliable.
Our case in question is the departing Adris Deleon, this is not a criticism but merely an observation and what coach Wright pointed out the last couple of days is absolutely spot on, your third import spot is a game changer but also must be filled by a particular type of player. Some clubs do not use it (i.e Perth Wildcats) and some have already triggered it (take the Brisbane Bullets and Alonzo Gee). As Wright said it would be very interesting to see if non-import players came under the same scrutiny as I believe along with many experts if all players were under the criteria our imports were, Deleon would be one of the last to be cut so far this season. However as the cookie crumbles Deleon has “filled” his role to a tee (hence the term I’ve coined above). He has performed his role, won a game off his own hand and given Wright time to find out about his team without breaking the club’s budget. Certainly Deleon’s impact will go down as not one of the worst in the Sixers history (Scott Christopherson fighting for that mantle with Kym Taylor) and if he was about five years younger would’ve have no doubt been around longer. However now the Sixers know what they really need, what has gone with the departure of Mitch Creek and Josh Childress and have triggered the change. The question is who will lineup against the much improved Hawks this coming Saturday in the outgoing import’s place???
My guess is everybody get your cameras out Saturday, strong sources say its Conger time… TT (Drums emoji)
ADELAIDE 36ERS 81 (FROLING 23, JOHNSON 14, DELEON 11, SOBEY 10) LOST TO SYDNEY KINGS 93 (NEWLEY 26, RANDLE 23, LISCH 20)
CROSS OVER DRIBBLE 