CROSS OVER DRIBBLE

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

Adelaide 36ers vs. Illawarra Hawks
When: 7:30pm (AEDT), Friday 20 December
Where: Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
Broadcast: NBL TV, SBS On Demand/Viceland, Twitch TV

Last times they’ve met:

Rd 3 2019/2020: Illawarra Hawks 92 (Brooks 31, Ball 15, S Froling 12) defeated by Adelaide 36ers 98 (D Johnson 21, Moore 16, Randle, H Froling 15, McVeigh 14) at WIN Entertainment Centre (The New Sand Pit)

SIXERS SHOT BACK INTO HISTORY 

ROUND 21 1995: KISS FROM A ROSE FORCES HAWKS TO FACE MAGIC    

This week we head back to the final regular round of the 1995 season where the 36ers had sealed their position in the finals bracket in 5^th were looking to take some momentum into the finals series. Wollongong had come flying through from the bottom of the ladder but a win for them would draw them against a much less fancied finals opponent than the South East Melbourne Magic, so there was still plenty on the line. The opening half was a tight affair as the 36ers led by their guard Brett Maher and “chairman of the boards” Mark Davis took the lead, but champion Hawks centre Chuck Harmison and regular 36ers trouble-man power forward Melvin Thomas had the 36ers only up by two points at the half, 42-40.

In the third quarter the 36ers made their move, in his sadly last season with the club, import Robert Rose came to life to score the majority of his 21 points in the second half as the 36ers took the ascendancy in the match. A 28-18 third quarter saw the 36ers take a 12-point lead into the final change with the Hawks un-able to break anymore than two points into the margin in the final stanza. The 36ers would then move onto to face the tricky Newcastle Falcons while the Hawks would find themselves in a match up against the Magic and after taking game one would bow out of the finals series the first week.

Adelaide 36ers 84 (Maher 22, Rose 21, Davis 17, Ninnis 11) defeated Wollongong Hawks 74 (M Thomas 23, Harmison 18, Lafleur 13) at the Clipsal Powerhouse 

Key Match-Ups 

Jerome Randle vs. Sunday Dech

When your import point guard has two outstanding performances and still isn’t happy with his game, you know he means business. Randle traditionally has struggled against the Hawks and averages a career 18 ppg against them but in eight of those matches he scored less than 15 points. His kryptonite has been Kevin White who now sits on the Sixers bench as the co-captain but even still against the Hawks earlier this year he dropped only 15 points in their only game against them. With a home crowd and some momentum behind him, Randle knows its time to really dominate an inexperienced back court and end this stranglehold Steel City has over him.

If anybody can do the damage defensively for the Hawks its the rise of rookie Sunday Dech. Dech has held in the Hawks wins his direct opponents to 14, 12 and 22 (In Taipans Scott Machado) so he’ll need to do a job on Randle if the Hawks are any chance of taking this one.

Daniel Johnson vs Billy Preston

Okay its time DJ to rock after some quiet in-consistent performances in recent weeks and for the Hawks he is a huge challenge to guard. The Hawks settled bigs in Ogilvy and Boone will struggle with his pick and roll and perimeter game as evident when they played them in Round 3 when he dropped 21 points.

Preston is an unknown quantity and looks to have the ability to go with DJ and as the key import power forward will have his hands full with the experienced Sixer big man. Preston is a former McDonald’s All-American and was recently cited in the G-League with the Texas Legends. Helping cover Harry’s younger brother Sam as an injury replacement, the big man really needs to make a splash this week in the NBL if the Hawks are to stop DJ from spinning his tune.

Jack McVeigh vs. Tim Coenraad

After a blistering start to the season, McVeigh has been a little quiet since start of November averaging 2.6 ppg in 12.6 minutes per game but still shooting at a high clip of 42 percent per game. This game against the Hawks produces the perfect opportunity for McVeigh to get some quality minutes and confidence again to produce the big minutes at both ends of the floor for future games.

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, if you are a Sixers defender this Friday night and you see a number 22 on the floor in a red (or white jersey) then you better get your skates on and close out that three ball. Coenraad if you look at previous matches is in my top five deadliest corner three-point specialists of all time against the Sixers, he is money consistently from that corner. I’d consider him to more of a threat than Blanchfield although careful attention should also be paid to the microwave man beyond the arc as well.

The Last Play

One team resembles a kitchen draw with some sharp tools but unsorted utensils that are mixed together while the other seems to know exactly which draw they are in and where they fit. The Hawks on the road have been inconsistent this season and with two basically brand new players working into rotations they may jump out of the blocks.  Like a set of a parents getting that last minute Christmas shopping done however I expect the Sixers to run in and get the job done as quickly, efficiently as possible and have the presents wrapped in time for delivery under the NBL wins Christmas tree.

And with a predicted temperature of over 40 degrees outside, the Sixers may also be having some Hawk for pre-christmas dinner this Friday night.

36ers by 14pts

*This article is a duplicate of an article written for publishing for And The Foul.net and may appear before or after publishing