Author: Tristan Prentice

The "sauce" of inspiration: Its taken some time for fans and especially experts to appreciate WA Aussie "Dirk" but one of the quietest 400 NBL game milestones is nothing to be sneezed at for the loyal Sixer - who started as a Melbourne Tiger  - Photo credit to news.com/NBL

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4-Minute Read

NBL ROUND 10

Adelaide 36ers vs Perth Wildcats

When: 7:00pm (ACDT), Friday 9 December

Where:  Adelaide Entertainment Centre – The Ken Cole-seum

Broadcast: Kayo Freebies, ESPN, www.nbl.com.au

SWOOP BACK IN HISTORY

FIVE DJ MOMENTS TO DIP INTO

400 games produces plenty of highlights but here are five of my favourite from over the journey.

DJ emerges to nearly steal it from his former Tigers side – March 18 2011

The night DJ truly showed what he was capable of was the last home game of the 2010-2011 season. Johnson notched 31 points at 55 percent and 13 rebounds against the Melbourne Tigers the Sixers went down by a single basket 76-79.

But the young WA recruit from the Tigers by Marty Clarke might have still ended up being one of the best things he ever did for the Sixers.

DJ finds his love for Snake – 1 February 2014

I remember this game very clearly in my memory when thinking about DJ in home games at the Adelaide 36ers Arena. Johnson had 33 points (23 in the first half) at a staggering 77 percent along with 8 rebounds but his all-round game that night and ability to close the game out with big shots (even though he didn’t get the last one) saw his team overcome the Taipans who along with another team – he would begin to dominate.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/gary-ervin-saves-adelaide-36ers-in-a-twopoint-thriller-against-cairns-taipans/news-story/9c6b4929152ed98b80ef8f7e0f4c0030

DJ downs Melbourne United – 23 December 2015

It was huge night for the Sixers big man as Adelaide downed a rival that’d been difficult to shake – he had 31 points and 7 rebounds just prior to Christmas 2015. That included another first half blitz of 21 first-half points on 5/5 three-pointers.

DJ went toe-to-toe with Daniel Kickert and eventually won as you’ll read

https://nbl.com.au/news/r12-report-energetic-sixers-blitz-melbourne-in-tense-finish

Ultra efficient in G1 of semi-final series

It was arguably one of the great man’s most consistent matches. He grabbed 8 early first quarter points but then finished with 16 points at 54 percent and 10 rebounds which perfectly complimented the rest of the Sixers lineup against the Wildcats

https://sacrossoverdribble.com/2018/03/03/sixers-defence-declaws-wildcats/

A Penchant for Perth – December 2 2019

The WA native in 2019 became the player to have scored the most points against Perth in Perth – he did that on the back of 29 points at 68 percent and a career high 17 rebounds. The Sixers thumped the Wildcats which the scoreboard never truly reflected – incredible.

https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/adelaide-36ers-down-perth-wildcats-on-the-road-and-show-they-can-be-a-topfour-team/news-story/31e21fa3cfebcd62862a5bb8d9f8042b

Key Matchups

Antonius Cleveland vs Bryce Cotton    

Cleveland was electric against the Wildcats the last two times they’ve met. In the home loss he had 22 points and in their away win had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He was a little quiet against the Kings with 12 points – expect him to go big against the Cats again.

The Sixers held Bryce for three quarters before he exploded for 12 points in the final term – if they can do it again they might be able to snare this one.

Daniel Johnson vs Brady Manek

There’s not much to say here but its the kind of night DJ can really get rolling – 21 against the Kings Sunday showed he’s still got plenty to offer.

Manek saved his season against the Sixers last time – 25 points with six triples. It sparked a resurgence for the import coming off 18 points against the Breakers on Saturday. He’ll need to be closely guarded this time around.

Kai Sotto vs Corey Webster

There’s a bit of pressure on the big man after being dunked on by Cooks and teams like the Taipans and Kings attacking him off the dribble. However Sotto still contributed 13 points and last time he played the Wildcats he had a solid 8 points and 3 rebounds in 12 minutes. All eyes will be on his teammate DJ but I get the feeling Sotto can be a matchup problem for the undersized Wildcats.

Webster bit back hard against the Breakers with 26 points and showed he is far from done. His recent form is solid against the Sixers too grabbing 18 points which helped him break from his slumber. Webster is awake now and that spells danger for all teams in the NBL.  

THREE QUESTIONS TO SWOOP ON

The Sixers started slowly 8-21 last time – how do they avoid it?  

Contrary to popular opinion, they need to play off the emotion of the night and put the ball in DJ’s hands early to put some pressure on the Wildcats front court. Then turn it up defensively against the Wildcats back court at the other end.

Why is Luke Travers not hitting his targets right now?  

The lack of starts has been puzzling for the NBA draft pick so finally the move has been made that should’ve been made weeks ago for the Wildcats. Travers is now into the starting five with Blanchfield coming off the bench – it not only resulted in 4 points, rebounds and assists but better balance for his team.

Where does DJ rank amongst the greats of the 36ers?    

Hindsight will tell us more at the end of DJs career and while his name doesn’t quite yet rank amongst Maher, Davis, Green and Pearce – I’ve no doubt a #21 will be hanging up there sometime in the future.

A championship is the only thing missing from his resume – and he’s still hungry to get that you can see.

So who wins?

The Wildcats were magnificent over in Perth and Adelaide were ordinary against the Kings. The form-line of these two is hard to follow but this game with the play-in positions this season in play – this series between these two could be pivotal. Its 1-1 currently and with DJs big milestone – the key is once again the rebounds and if the home-side can control the glass they should find a way to get a very important win.

COD Prediction: 36ers by 21 points

Catch all the action tonight at the arena on Cluch Radio with Tristan “TP” Prentice and our special comments guest whether you’re at the game or watching from home

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Enter the Matrix: Keanu has turned out to be the "one" after leaving the Sixers - in discovering his "fit" its resulted in a Boomers appearance and a career defining season for the Taipans. That is a threat to his former side tonight  - Photo credit to Keanu Pinder 

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3-Minute Read

NBL ROUND 9

Adelaide 36ers vs Cairns Taipans

When: 7:00pm (ACDT), Friday 2 November

Where:  Adelaide Entertainment Centre – The Ken Cole-seum

Broadcast: Kayo Freebies, ESPN, www.nbl.com.au

SWOOP BACK IN HISTORY

STEVE’S MEN WALK OFF WINNERS?

In the top five most controversial finishes to an NBL fixture and even today, many fans, officials and players aren’t even sure who won Round 3 of the 2005/2006 season between these two teams. Was it 94-90, 90-90 or 92-90 at the end of regulation? Did Dusty get his shot in the hoop with 0.7 seconds to go? If you thought tensions were high between these teams because of former 36ers Martin Cattalini and Darnell Mee crossing enemy lines, they blew out after this clash 12 years ago.

Another enemy of the 36ers beyond the arc in Gary Boodnikoff got it going for the Taipans but Dusty and Jacob Holmes had the 36ers in front 26-20 at the first change. The clash of Mee and Willie Farley then went up a notch as both picked up their offensive games but the 36ers still led 47-44 despite the Taipans closing the gap. The last half was a struggle as Dusty and Boodnikoff went bucket for bucket, three quarter time 67-65 then leading onto the finish. Taipans tied the game 90-90 heading into the last play when Dusty made the play and an elated 36ers team felt they had the game giving assistant coach Steve Breheny one of his best wins as coach with Phil Smyth unable to be present for the match.

The Taipans protested through their coach Alan Black as his players continued to warm-up believing that overtime was inevitable, the 36ers in amazing scenes had already bussed back to the hotel for recovery. Eventually the NBL came to the conclusion that Dusty’s shot had counted and the result stood with there being no playing time left to get an equaliser up also the 36ers had refused to return to play out the remaining minutes if there were any.

The final score was 92-90 in favour of the Sixers but in reality, we’ll never really know the final result…

Adelaide 36ers 92 (Rychart 28, Holmes 19, Farley 16) defeated Cairns Taipans 90 (Boodnikoff 21, Mee 17, Cattalini 14, Decker 10) at the Cairns Convention Centre

or did they???

Key Matchups

Antonius Cleveland vs DJ Hogg    

Cleveland continue to be a huge barometer for the Sixers. Since the FIBA break he’s averaged 16 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.3 second chance points. Thats an increase of 3 points and 2 rebounds per game in the Sixers 2-1 run.

At the other end the Taipans import has started to find his groove despite dropping his average 14.7 since the break. He did rattle off 12 points in the last 8:30 before fouling out to finish with a huge 20 point game Monday night against the Kings. The 26-year-old from Ohio looking like the type of player the Sixers could have problems with.

Daniel Johnson vs Keanu Pinder

Make no mistake and I say it every year, DJ loves to shake the snakes. In his career he still averages a healthy 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds against the Taipans since 2012. He’s always been a difficult matchup for the team from North Queensland and also has a career best 38 points back in 2020.

Speaking of hard to stop right now – not only did he call it out on twitter but he delivered Monday night against the Kings did the son of Tiny. It was one of Pinder’s most complete performances this season with 30 points and 13 rebounds – he is playing with unconscious confidence. He’s not over thinking it and everyone gets to sit back and watch him do his thing. Watch the below to see what must be watched out for particularly after Xavier Cooks fouled out.

Sunday Dech vs Tahjere McCall

Its not only Drmic that is seeing more minutes since CRII departure but Sunday as well. Dech also plays reasonably well against the Taipans with an average of 9.1 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists compared to his career average of 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists. Since 2019 its been 10 points per game so look for him to impact off the bench against a team he enjoys coming up on the fixture.

“He’s the man I built the team around” declared Adam Forde in a recent interview and McCall has the game and the tools to really cause the Sixers some headaches. In a slightly differing role on return from injury, he’ll be used potentially for impact tonight as its working for this humming first unit in Shannon Scott, Hogg, Buol Kuol, Sam Waardenburg and Pinder. The Sixers ability to guard the wing athletic three has been a challenge in recent seasons and although improved, McCall is one they can’t afford to find form against them.  

THREE QUESTIONS TO SWOOP ON

Pinder looks the game-breaker in this one, how do you stop him?  

It seems like a simple ploy but if you can sit him with foul trouble then you force the Taipans to dig into their reserve rotations with currently Majok Deng and Lat Mayen filling those roles. The challenge is he’s been quite disciplined in this area averaging 3.5 fouls per game.

If you are the Taipans when do you bring McCall back to the starting five?  

The old saying is if it ain’t broke don’t try and fix it and Kuol has filled the position required while McCall has been injured. It could be even tonight or next game that the import returns to the starting group – but what Forde’s got going with the Taipans right now and his main guy is working so why change it?

Do the Sixers fans have to change their expectations on our star man Daniel Johnson?    

He is 34 years old now and likely in this season and towards the next we could see DJ make a shift to first up off the bench – thats not a bad thing if the right person can fill the front court role he has held for so long. The reality is that Kai Sotto and Kyrin Galloway aren’t quite ready for that starting position and DJ is still good for a 20+ point game every so often and tonight looms against his favourite side as one of those potential nights out for the champion Sixer.

But 20+ night in night out might be a distant memory you feel…

So who wins?

At the start of the season I would’ve pencilled this one in but the Taipans first months of this season have been electric and they are a genuine threat to win away from home tonight. The Sixers however as we’ve talked about numerous times need to keep this roll going since the FIBA break – since then you can see the shift of mentality that this team trust each other more and I think with a big home crowd on a Friday night they’ll find a way to expose the youthful Taipans. That’s why I think it will be a double figure win to either side but fall the way of the home side this time around.

COD Prediction: 36ers by 11 points

Catch all the action tonight at the arena on Cluch Radio with Tristan “TP” Prentice and our special comments guest whether you’re at the game or watching from home

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