Sixers Star in Entertaining Opening Night Evolution

New import Eric Griffin endeared himself to his new home crowd with a solid 22 points and 6 rebounds, but this Sixers unit mainly did it as per in their stunning previous finals seasons by committee - Photo by Yahoo Sport Australia/AAP

THE WRAP Q BY Q

Ramone Moore grabbed the first ever bucket at the venue before Eric Griffin and Matt Hodgson dominated early. The show had well and truly started with back to back triples to Cameron Gliddon and Taylor Braun before Drmic hit back with a triple. Candidate for NBL MIP Will Magnay slammed one down for the Bullets but in a night where Nathan Sobey “Wan Kenobi” was returning, the other Obi, Obi Kyei put down a one handed flush you and the rest of Adelaide were looking for. Down 20-24, “Jumpin” Jack McVeigh began his night with a run a way layup before Kyei went coast to coast but Lamar Patterson finished the quarter with a superb cross-over dribble and finish to give the Bullets a 26-28 lead after one.

Sixers import Jerome Randle welcomed himself back to Adelaide with an 8 point run to open the second quarter including two massive triples to open up a mini break 36-30. Mcveigh then dropped a 4 point run of his own and perhaps the Sixers have found their new energy guy to bring the punch from the pine. Moore then picked off some sloppy Bullets play before Hodgson finally broke the run to give Brisbane its first field goal since the first quarter halfway through. Mcveigh then added another triple before Patterson tried to reverse momentum before being reversed back onto his backside by Griffin. Harry Froling started to get himself busy after a slow start to the season before Patterson got one high off the window with some user friendly rolling. Sixers veteran Kevin White then dropped a triple in front of the Sixers bench to cheers as opposed to jeers from yesteryear. The Sixers on the back of a 30-18 quarter and Sobey blowing an open lay-up leading 56-46 at the half.

Moore opened the third to Griffin with the alley-oop, Griffin then grabbed another one before Randle in the open court in transition finished high off the window. Magnay then got a slip pass from Sobey for yet another two handed finish before Daniel Johnson blew the open one and Patterson then finished at the other end. The Sixers were holding sway 62-53 halfway through with DJ then pirouetting for one under the bucket before Gliddon stuck another dagger from deep. McVeigh then dropped his own triple from deep to lodge a career best 16 points for the night. The Bullets strung together a few points before Hodgson fouled Griffin on the three point line scoring his fourth of the night and taking a seat. Sobey finished a spectacular pass for an alley-oop before Patterson dropped another triple with the Bullets closing the gap to 7 points, 79-72 at three quarter time.

Bullets import EJ Singler dropped his first triple of the night to open the final stanza before Jason Cadee quietly accumulating points dropped a transition triple giving the Bullets a 6-0 opening. Randle gave up an unsportsmanlike and1 to Cadee and the Bullets had levelled it up 81-81. Griffin got a couple of low post seals and finished with the deuces before DJ found an open Drmic in the corner for three and momentum was back with the Sixers. Bullets import Taylor Braun then hit the open three before Moore found a rolling Froling for the and1. Braun drained another from deep before Hodgson picked up his fifth and took an early seat. DJ then took the ball down the middle of the court with a little shimmy and finished strong and the Sixers had a 96-89 lead with three minutes to go. Magnay gave up the offensive foul then the bucket to DJ before a goal tend was overruled and forced Randle to find other ways to get it done. Randle then came up with just his 13th but most clutch points of the night as he finished a spectacular reverse layup off some of his classic handles. The Sixers outlasting the Bullets despite a Patterson late flurry and their first win of the 2019/2020 NBL season was complete 104-98.

COACH SPEAK

Sixers Coach Joey Wright was impressed with the reception of the home crowd to the new venue and also Jack McVeigh’s impact in the game, “The crowd was loud and the boys love the big crowd and atmosphere of the new venue. Jack brought a lot of energy and he finished strong around the rim.”

Bullets Coach Andre Lemanis despite a quiet game spoke highly of the contribution former Sixer Nathan Sobey brought to the game, “I thought he handled it well, he’s a damn good player and does some special things with his unique athletic talents.”

DO THE STATS LIE?

The Sixers run and gun was back with 28 fast break points for the night along with a high percentage of field goal shooting of 52.9 percent. The Sixers at their very best have multiple double figure scorers with 6 players hitting the mark and a seventh player registering 8 points. Ramone Moore both offensively and defensively was influential with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

The Bullets shot less than the magical 38 percent mark from last season from the perimeter and shot 60.7 percent from the charity stripe. After averaging 20 ppg against the Sixers in Adelaide in the last 6 games, Anthony Drmic and the Sixers put the clamps on Cameron Gliddon to keep him to just 9 points in the games biggest historic statistic.

WHATS NEXT FOR THE SIXERS

After a flat performance against the Kings (off the plane from Utah mind you) the Sixers energy came back in a flash but consistency is key and with the Illawarra Hawks Monday night followed by the Cairns Taipans next Friday night, the Sixers have a chance to prove that this evolution was not a one night performance only at the West End of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

ADELAIDE 36ERS 104 (GRIFFIN 22, JOHNSON, MCVEIGH 16, RANDLE 13, MOORE, FROLING 10) DEFEATED BRISBANE BULLETS 98 (PATTERSON 21, HODGSON 16, SOBEY, CADEE 13, BRAUN 11)