Author: Tristan Prentice

Defend like Drmic: The disconnect as Bruton described in the post match press conference was evident - The Sixers will need the energy and execution at the defensive end like Drmic provided on Thursday night - Photo credit to Adelaide 36ers vs twitter (Anthony Drmic)

4-Minute Read

NBL ROUND 3

Adelaide 36ers vs Illawarra Hawks

When: 5:00pm (ACST), Saturday October 15

Where:  Adelaide Entertainment Centre – The Ken Cole-seum

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

SWOOP BACK IN HISTORY

Adelaide 36ers vs. Illawarra Hawks Semi-Final 1 (NBL 2016/17)

Randle rolls Hawks as 36ers make statement

Hawks coach Rob Beveridge lamented his sides ability to not control the rebound count after quarter time. “We got smashed, you can’t win games of basketball if you don’t rebound, it’s hard to compete against the team that gets on the offensive glass” explained about this game

Jerome Randle had averaged 13 points per game against the Hawks that season but doubled that with a match winning performance as Adelaide took game one of the series, 93-78. In his first final in the NBL, Randle notched up 26 points and showed exactly why he was named the NBL MVP that season.

The Sixers were down 17-11 early but it was Randle with 7 points and Drmic who brought the 36ers back into the game at the offensive and defensive end. Drmic then brought the crowd to its feet by hitting the quarter time three-point buzzer beater, but the Hawks held sway up 27-24.

Nathan Sobey exploded the roof off the arena with a huge three and coast to coast contested layup to open the second with the 36ers on an 8-0 run and Sobey with eight for the quarter giving him 14 in the match. The crowd played the sixth man role beautifully shouting out where the shooters were on the floor and raised Sobey up a few rungs with a monster block on Nick Kay’s dunk attempt from behind. The 36ers went up 52-42 at the break reassuming dominance of the glass 25-22.

Even the clock couldn’t play defence on Randle as he beat it with a long-range triple and the 36ers constantly found the front position on the rebounds – the 36ers on a 12-5 run. The Hawks swung the momentum through import guard Rotnei Clarke and Tim Coenraad with long range bombs helped the Hawks claw their way back into it 73-65 at three quarter time in favour of the 36ers.

Adelaide continued with their post quarter time domination of the offensive
glass through Hodgson and Creek while turnovers were killing the Hawks and Coenraad looked like he’d dried up. DJ took over the last few minutes scoring wise shaking off his bug during the week as Adelaide took game one 93-78 in the semi-final series.

Adelaide 36ers 93 (Randle 26, Sobey, Johnson 16, Creek 11) defeated by Illawarra Hawks 78 (Coenraad 26, Clarke, Harris 10) at Titanium Security Arena

Key Matchups

Craig Randall II vs Wani Swaka Lo Buluk    

Randall started his Sixers NBL stint reasonably well but the 18 points did mask some deficiencies in the defensive end – it magnified the issues for the Sixers overall at the end of the floor. He needs to start at the defensive end with his game tonight and then let the rest of his game come to him.

One of the best defensive players in the league will likely see plenty of time on Randall trying to make his second outing very difficult indeed. Swaka Lo Buluk’s numbers overall have gone up after his breakout season with Sydney.

Antonius Cleveland vs George King

Cleveland looked so good when he penetrated to the rim on Thursday night – it was far few and between in on-ball actions on my watch. More of that will be needed tonight to create problems at both ends of the floor.

King must not be allowed space on the arc early otherwise we’ll see a repeat of Thursday night. The assignment will likely go to Cleveland to curb his former club’s replacement already shooting 57.9 percent with 11 of 19 for the season.

Anthony Drmic vs Alex Mudronja

When the Sixers needed a lift in intensity – the former provider of spark brought it. He was +11 when on the floor and if the starting five aren’t getting it done early – I’ve no doubt Bruton will call his name first to correct the defensive compass.

Mudronja will likely see some minutes against his former side and he’ll be keen to prove what his team let go. The back-up point guard minutes will be crucial if Harvey and co strike some foul trouble through the match – it may fall to him but as we’ve seen with his game; he’s capable of taking the next step.  

THREE QUESTIONS TO SWOOP ON

Did Kai Sotto not have enough minutes considering DJ wasn’t fully 100 percent?  

The thought certainly crossed my mind… It took till halfway through the third quarter for CJ to pull the trigger on getting Sotto in. It was potentially a mis-match in the Sixers favour but the JackJumpers were probably too mobile for him at the defensive end. This match has better matchups in Deng, Mathiang and Gak to come up against.

What’s the Hawks plan B when Tyler Harvey isn’t finding points?  

Another DP is shining for the Hawks in Dent and King dropped some big bombs from deep but getting it done by committee seems to be how they are doing it. If the Sixers can stop Harvey – then it forces that question to be explored further.

Who has to set the tone more at the defensive end for the starting five?    

Randall has to set the tone! The noise around his body language during the opener has been vigorously defended by Bruton but you can see the guy just wants to do better. He can do that with some tight guarding and athletic rim and passing lane protection and then watch the rain drop at the offensive end as the prize.

So who wins?

A nervy start and clearly some “jet-lag” kind of affected maybe not the fitness but the concentration and the execution at both ends Thursday. The Hawks have already done some jet setting of their own going to Perth but will not fear coming to Adelaide considering their recent record against the Sixers of 6-0. I feel the home-side tonight though will be better prepared, come out on top and break the streak to get their season underway – otherwise more questions will likely be raised.

COD Prediction: 36ers by 10 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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Rise over the Phoenix: It was history for the pride of Adelaide as the first NBL team to defeat an NBA franchise in a history going back to the World Club Championships of 1995 - Photo credit to The New Daily

4-Minute Read

NBL ROUND 3

Adelaide 36ers vs Tasmania JackJumpers

When: 7:00pm (ACST), Thursday October 13

Where:  Adelaide Entertainment Centre – The Ken Cole-seum

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

SWOOP BACK IN HISTORY

NBL X NBA 2022: PHOENIX SUNS VS ADELAIDE 36ERS

It might have been only last week but we have to swoop back on the moment in history that changed the landscape – and nearly cost us our imports…

For the record I was flying home from the FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup and decided I might just tune into the match just to check on the progress of our team – you haven’t seen that many mini fist pumps in the middle seat of a plane but definitely would’ve not been the only one acting like twitter had melted.

24 of 43 from beyond the perimeter did the damage uncorking the piping shrike genie of SA that CJ Bruton has been building in this team but for one day it all clicked and showed the scary NBL proposition the Sixers could be. The master DJ set the tone from the start with 8 points in the opening stanza and again just defies logic how a player his quality can go for a donut in an NBL1 game then perform on the world stage – but everyone knows he can flick that switch on and off at will now. It lit the spark as every player from Dech to Drmic even Sotto got in on the three point party – it was the imports however that worked like clockwork.

Randall, Franks and Cleveland contributed 35, 32 and 22 for a total of 89 of their 134 and is the kind of production offensively the state has been crying out for since the combination of John Gilchrist and Adam Ballinger in the late 2010s – yes we’ve had some brilliant scoring imports but not with that consistent combo point per game production.

Key Matchups

Antonius Cleveland vs Milton Doyle    

The Sixers went hard after Cleveland in the off-season and won out on his services. The 28 year old guard averaged 14.2 ppg shooting it at 46.9, 6.6 rebs and 2.3 assists with the Illawarra Hawks but already from the preseason – those numbers are likely to spike north. Its his ability to defend at the elite level on-top of this is what they got him for players like Doyle who have given the Sixers trouble in the past.

Doyle has started his NBL season with 16 ppg at 42 percent, 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game and with those “Darnell Mee” like qualities at both ends. His 32 points and 6 assists in the JackJumpers overtime win over the Bullets in 42 minutes showed he belonged and he’ll cause the home side some serious headaches you feel.

Daniel Johnson vs Jack McVeigh

The enigma of DJ continues to flummox all but he is in a race to be fit for the opener tonight. Regardless if he plays again he’ll cause the ants of Tassie some angst with his crafty moves and ability to flick the switch and go into efficiency mode.

McVeigh is the barometer for the Jackie’s and he’s started 2022 very well – despite a lean start for his side in the W column. He will again bring the energy and bounce as he always does but his game has sneakily evolved to a new level as shown by his MVP in the Blitz. I think he’ll spend sometime guarding his old teammate in DJ or switching at least between him and Franks via Fabian Krslovic.

Sunday Dech vs Sean McDonald

Prior to the season I thought how could the Sixers lineup operate without Sunday in the starting five. He was such a key integral part of the defensive setup but with the talented three imports coming in – fitting McCarron and Dech into the starting guard spots was going to be tough. Perhaps the new role of off-the bench for Dech adds to the Sixers depth overall in a way thats “well its a luxury to have” and that could shape the Sixers into a title contender.

Speaking of sparks from the bench – McDonald has been just that for the green and white. He has already played over 100 minutes in four games after a complete 29 minutes across 8 games in 21/22 to notch 24 points including 50 percent from beyond the arc. There’s definitely something Scott Roth likes about the 22 year-old and we are likely to see more of it if he keeps bringing it like he has first few games of the season.  

THREE QUESTIONS TO SWOOP ON

Is what we saw in the NBA games the style the Sixers will play?  

We all hope so! The Sixers scored more than 25 points per quarter against the Suns, shot the ball at 55 percent plus and won the rebounds 40-36 and grabbed 28 assists to go alongside 24 of 43 from beyond the arc. Against the Thunder it was a different story with one less quarter under 25 points but still managed to shoot 37 percent and dish 22 assists. Compare that to the season averages of 42 percent from the field and being number three in competition for rebounding with 43.5 per game. Maybe the Sixers are already looking for the extra ball movement and more aggressive attack on the rim highlighted by being number eight in free throw attempts – already its a 21 attempts average in their NBA games.

What will Scott Roth do with import Rashard Kelly?  

He does throw it around doesn’t he? Needing to make changes immediately especially without the services of Will Magnay – Roth decided from the start that Kelly he would use off the bench. He’s the do it all so far from what we’ve seen with 15 points, 7.2 rebounds and shooting 42 percent per game and you wonder whether a start at the three or four spot is not too far away despite the solid form of Matt Kenyon.  

Is this the second coming of Randall at the Sixers?    

Sixers fans fell in love with Jerome Randle when he came to town but like that meme of looking over the shoulder – another “Randall” may steal the limelight. Craig Randall II shoots the blizzards out of it coming from the G-League with an average of 26.7 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.3 assists – as coach Bruton describes a “big guard”. The Long Island Nets DBG (designated bucket getter) was the most improved player and had back-to-back 40 point games – the last Sixer to have a 40 point game was also you guessed it… so there could be some synergy for the Sixers.

So who wins?

A huge home crowd is expected for a mid-week game which is saying something and these fans in the City of Churches have been starved of success. We know the JackJumpers play tough defence but you just feel the Sixers will show some maturity – overcome first game nerves and close this one out with some attack on the rim play, more patience on offence and get the season off to a solid start.

COD Prediction: 36ers by 12 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

Cluch Radio

Please continue to support SA basketball news and features content being written as well as national/international with the Pick and Roll – with our recent influx of work we are making content all free to read again but need constant contributions to make this happen. If not keen to subscribe then please message to receive direct debit details