The Hawks did it by committee despite only 16 points to their new import duo in Preston and Hobson. Photo by 7 News.com
THE WRAP Q BY Q
DJ got a post up early but the first quarter was ruled by Sunday Dech as he came out with 6 early points including two early offensive boards, split by a Jerome Randle splitting of the screen and score move. DJ after a shotclock mishap drilled an and1 triple on new import Billy Preston who after picking up some quick fouls picked up his third foul and a nice long spell on the bench. Randle threw a ridiculous no look behind the back pass to Ramone Moore on the three point line and he splashed it but Dech with 11 first quarter points was rolling at both ends of the floor. Jack McVeigh drilled a triple to get himself going as the Sixers led 23-22 at quarter time.
Daniel Grida gave up some HJs early in the second before McVeigh drilled his second tre of the night followed by a nice DJ and1. New Hawks import Darington Hobson drained one from deep before Wright burned a timeout warning his team about keeping the Hawks hanging on. After a second timeout, the Sixers responded through co-captain Brendan Teys with two finishes off the window and a nice euro. Emmett Naar however was starting to dish up some sweet humble pie to the Sixers back court defence finding a deuce then AJ Ogilvy for a two handed flush. The last two minutes belonged to the Hawks as they went on a 13-3 run to end the second, the Sixers stunned 42-52 at halftime and some serious headaches from the energy of the bogey side Hawks.
Randle came out and drilled a triple to open the third before he dropped his little right hand dribble shake and roll move before Toddy Blanchfield got the ultimate shooters user friendly roll fro a triple off yet another O board. DJ then was left alone like Kevin on Christmas in Home Alone on the three point line for a triple then Randle came off a dribble handle off for a deuce of his own. Anthony Drmic picked up his second bucket of the night on the and1 and the Sixers had a 12-3 run in the first four minutes. Preston picked up his fourth trying to run over Drmic like it was college ball before DJ got done for a travel. Preston then finished a two handed flush off yet another missed box-out before he finished another one on the inside then took a hard foul from Moore but finished the and1 to have 7 points in half the minutes before he fouled out. Eric Griffin then tracked down Angus Glover and slapped his attempted layup against the backboard before McVeigh splashed another triple but the Sixers still trailed by 59-69 at three quarter time.
Glover dropped a triple at the start of the fourth before Joey blew another timeout followed by Timmy Coenraad one of the most dangerous corner three point shooters dropped back to back triples one in front and one opposite the Sixers bench. Another one from Dech on the glass and the lead had blown out to a game high 18 points not even some late scores from Randle or DJ could get the Sixers back into this one. The Sixers stunned, stripped and swooped 84-93 in the finish in a disappointing night in front of a record crowd for NBL basketball in South Australia.
COACH SPEAK (Written from NBL Website)
Adelaide coach Joey Wright was savage in his assessment of how his team approached the game and that was reflected by paid credit to the Hawks for wanting it more in the end which was reflected in their 16 offensive rebounds and 17 second chance along with 44 overall boards to 30.
“It’s always effort with rebounding, anticipation and effort are what rebounds are about. I don’t think they anticipated anything better than us, but they definitely played with a lot more effort in crashing the boards,” Wright said.
“I would say we underestimated them and it probably started two hours after we beat New Zealand. Just our attitude as a group was extremely unprofessional, our approach was unprofessional and we got an unprofessional approach.”
Hawks coach Matt Flinn was rightfully proud of his group and described it as one of the best wins he’s been involved in, and when you take in his long history as a player, assistant coach and now head coach, that’s covering nearly 20 years.
“It was definitely our best win for the season and right up there with one of the best wins at the club, for what we have been through and the we played considering all the setbacks we’ve had this year,” Flinn said.
“The boys did an enormous job and our defence was superb to keep Adelaide to only 84 points is a great effort.”
DO THE STATS LIE?
The Sixers had two players in double figures in their total of 84 but alarmingly shot at 46.8 percent from the field and had seven players score 4 points or less. The Sixers had 13 assists and got smashed on the rebounds 30-44, a key indicator of effort, focus and energy clearly lacking in this performance. They also shot 64 percent from the charity stripe while a majority of Randle’s 26 came in the bursts in the third and fourth quarter but when that wasn’t dropping the Hawks always had the ascendancy.
The Hawks did their gameplan by committee with four players in double figures with nine players scoring 7 points or more in the game (with Grida the only checked in player not to hit the scoreboard). They grabbed 16 offensive rebounds in their 44 rebounds and dished 22 assists in a solid all-round performance that teams must now be wary about.
WHATS NEXT FOR THE SIXERS
Well the Sixers didn’t do “the little things” that Joey implored late last week on the team and hence no one got their piece of the pie. All credit to the Hawks coming in with the mentality they did but in a weekend where no team above each of them on the ladder has won the Sixers missed the chance to buck the trend of this round. The game this late afternoon against Cairns is another one where the Sixers have another chance to bridge the gap to the top four and away from their competitors. The Sixers need to learn from the Hawks how to turn up to a game with a “do it by committee” mentality every night, if one or two are down others must step up. If the Sixers are relying on Randle and DJ only to get them by, it’s simply not going to be enough but with everyone else slipping up as well, this league is as even as its ever been and it only takes a change in mindset, application and nous for the Sixers to overcome that.
The question is can they shed the title of being “inconsixtent”, here’s hoping post-christmas they can…
ADELAIDE 36ERS 84 (RANDLE 26, D JOHNSON 19) LOST TO ILLAWARRA HAWKS 94 (DECH 18, COENRAAD 14, OGILVY 12, BLANCHFIELD 10)
*This article is a duplicate of an article written for publishing for And The Foul.net and may appear before or after publishing
CROSS OVER DRIBBLE 