CROSS OVER DRIBBLE

The usual post-Halloween nightmare of Casper Ware scored 11 of his 14 points in the final 10 minutes when it mattered most - Photo by Getty Images

THE WRAP Q BY Q

The Sixers stunned the Kings with a 6-0 run to open the game with Eric Griffin putting on a glass display early before DJ turned Bogut inside out for a turnaround J. Jack McVeigh responded to his substitution in with a triple right in front of his team-mates bench before a mini-comeback led by Andrew Bogut started to shorten the margin. An unsportsmanlike foul on Obi Kyei tangling with Bogut was fairly adjudicated before Jerome Randle took the Sixers back out again with some buckets rewarding the Sixers defensive end of the floor as they led 24-12 at quarter time.

A 6-26 run from the Kings stunned the Sixers in the second led by import Jae’Sean Tate and Bogut with a Shaun Bruce triple having the Sixers tumble from their early seat on the throne. The Sixers then jumped onto a 7-0 run before the Kings levelled things up through the hot shooting Brazilian tearing strips of the Sixers in next stars Didi Louzada. The Sixers just behind the Kings after conceding 33 points for the quarter 43-45 at the half.

Anthony Drmic lifted the energy early in the third but Bogut’s influence including rejecting Kyei was telling in the match. A nervous moment came for Bogut with then what looked like Bogut’s second unsportsmanlike foul but the video review system found Tate had stolen it off him seconds before which saved Bogut from his second unsportsmanlike foul. Randle went to work to keep the edge on the Kings with the Sixers still trailing at the final change 60-69.

DJ came to life finally as he dropped 8 points in consecutive possesions but even the crowd was raised from their seats as a crazy crossover from Louzada to Tate for the alley-oop jam was warmly appreciated despite the Sixers need for a comeback. Ramone Moore was rolling mid-rangers like shelling peas and DJ was becoming the man that was starting to give the Kings sagging defence headaches. Tate got one on the offensive boards then found a mostly quiet Casper Ware battling a sore ankle open for a massive triple to tie the scores with 45.8 seconds to go. Pick and roll with DJ was the play with Randle slashing through but Tate denied him with the rim protection before Ware gave up an offensive foul at the other end. The last play was drawn up with Randle firing up a contested triple, then DJ had the reverse contested layup with Drmic getting the third board of the play and nearly getting the tip in as the game went to extra bang for your buck 86-86 into overtime.

Bogut dropped the hammer to open the period before a long stretch of almost scores with Randle pushing the Sixers out 91-90.  Louzada brilliance, Ware with a trademark “I’m sinking Adelaide in Adelaide again” iso bucket and Brad Newley from  the free throw line iced the game before Moore got a late long triple. The Sixers were left to rue their chances they had oh so close with the Kings remaining undefeated 98-96.

COACH SPEAK

Sixers Coach Joey Wright rued the chances his team had to topple the undefeated Kings but was overall proud of the effort, “They were too good in overtime and the difference was that they made their shots and we missed shots that we would normally make. There’s a reason why they are undefeated and the top team in the competition,” Wright said. “We had our chances to win in regulation time and Drmic and Johnson had a chance to win it for us but we couldn’t do it in the end. I told the boys to keep their head up, we played as hard as we could and hopefully we can turn things against Melbourne.”

Kings Coach Will Weaver was warmly receptive of his team’s effort defensively when they were challenged in the fourth and overtime period, “This what I love about our team so much they show great composure,” Weaver said. “Defensively we were really good in overtime and Casper Ware might not have had the best shooting night but he did some great things for us tonight.”

DO THE STATS LIE?

Daniel Johnson normally the thorn in the side of Bogut was contained for majority of the game held to just 4 points at three quarter time. In the final quarter he exploded for 13 points in a huge momentum shift for the Sixers. The rhythm the Sixers normally find from the free throw line was disrupted as they were limited to 19 attempts and shot only 68.4 percent from the charity stripe. The Sixers were also limited to 11 fast break points and although they had the “Sixers spread” going its one of the rare games they have lost despite having six scorers in double figures but only had 7 more points from the bench on-top of those scorers.

The Kings stuck to their gameplan keeping the Sixers off the glass with a whopping 71 rebounds to 61. They also despite a match percentage of 25.6 from the perimeter hit just under 45 percent from there in the fourth quarter and overtime when it mattered with Ware and Louzada finding money from the land of plenty. Lucas Walker had an interesting night racking up more fouls than minutes with four, at least he got a bucket to go with it.

WHATS NEXT FOR THE SIXERS

The Sixers missed a golden opportunity to dethrone the Kings but it is fair to say the team has got the right chemistry and personnel this years after watching them for five rounds. The improvements came where they exactly needed to from Anthony Drmic consistently averaging 9.2 ppg and 6.7 rpg, Ramone Moore being a more offensive threat his average up by 6 points per game to 13.8 ppg and the step-up of Jack McVeigh to 9.2 ppg and extended minutes. So we have a team that is competing but the real test with a run of United in Melbourne next week, Wildcats at home then Phoenix again in Melbourne will see if the Sixers are competing in the top four or fighting for a spot in the four.

I am liking the Sixers after five rounds and if we can turn the Ken Cole-sseum or “The Nest” into a passionate environment that we can defend as fans, they are every chance to be amongst the best in the NBL come the latter part of the season…

ADELAIDE 36ERS 96 (RANDLE 23, MOORE 18, D JOHNSON 17, DRMIC 11, FROLING, GRIFFIN 10) LOST TO SYDNEY KINGS 98 (BOGUT 18, LOUZADA 17, TATE 16, NEWLEY 15, WARE 14) IN OVERTIME

*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. Sydney Kings
When: 7:30pm (AEDT), Saturday 2nd November
Where: Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
Broadcast: NBL TV, SBS On Demand/Viceland, Twitch TV

Last times they’ve met:

Rd 2 2019/2020: Sydney Kings 102 (Newley 18, Tate, Kickert 16, Moller 12, Ware 10) defeated Adelaide 36ers 80 (D Johnson 26, Randle 16, Drmic, Moore 10) at Qudos Bank Arena (The Kingdome)

In Adelaide- 10 Nov 2018: Adelaide 36ers 81 (Froling 23) lost to Sydney Kings 93 (Newley 26, Randle 23) at Titanium Security Arena (The Fortress)

SIXERS SHOT BACK INTO HISTORY

January 20 2016: Randle reigns over Kings in “new” Fortress

January 20 2016 remains one of the most iconic games in Sixers modern history, the stranglehold over the Kings was under threat and they were planning to steal the match in the newly refurbished “Fortress of Sixers.” Enter the game where most Sixers fans fell in love with the “Ant-Man” himself Jerome Randle…

He produced a season-best and NBL career-high 41 points at 76 per cent, with 5-of-7 threes running down the Kings in a blistering final term. For almost three quarters the Adelaide 36ers played not very Sixers basketball with the Kings ahead 65-55 with 2:42 left in the third period, Sydney took control of the contest through a first half in which Adelaide seemed to be riding as passengers maybe knowing they’d just get over their bunny team at home yet again.

The Sixers through the dazzling display of Randle blew the Kings lead of 17 points at the final change to kingdom come romping home to a 96-89 finish. The biggest highlight of the quarter was when Randle put ex-Sixer defender Jason Cadee in the spin cycle bringing the crowd and the players to be merely spectators in the “handles” Randle show.

Adelaide 36ers 96 (Randle 41, Ere 19, Creek 15) defeated Sydney Kings 89 (Childress 27, Garlepp 16, Cadee 14, Prewster 10)

Key Match-Ups:

Jerome Randle vs. Casper Ware Jnr

Lets be honest, Casper Ware Jnr has had the wood over the Sixers for many years and rarely has a bad game against them, he averages a career 16 ppg against the Sixers. He is by far in the top three best 2-way guards in the league and that spells trouble for the Sixers however the match-up the Kings always dread as the above shot back in history shows is the Randle one. He averages for the Sixers a staggering 24 ppg against the Kings in his last 6 games prior to this season for them so this ensures to be a compelling match-up of not only which teams aggressive point guard can score but also which team’s defensive men in Kevin White and Sydney’s newly signed replacement player former Sixers import Deshon Taylor can put the stocks on them.

Daniel Johnson vs Andrew Bogut

While the above match-up is a case of King v King, in the chess game between the Sixers this match-up is always an intriguing one and one worth watching. They both play distinctively different styles of offence and defence and in the past DJ has always checkmated Bogut however the last few match-ups including the recent one in Round 2 has seen the points either split even or go to the Bogey man. He is much more fit and has better help side defence to support him this season. Now that he’s adjusted to the “NBL” style of officiating after a few years back, DJ won’t find it so easy and simple as dragging Bogut out to the perimeter on pick and pops, rolls and weak side cuts as he used to.

Harry Froling vs. Daniel Kickert

Froling has been a bit of a thorn in the side of the Kings last season and generally has good games playing against a much smaller bench front court for the Kings. This season they have a bit of extra coverage in that area but the main one that will give Froling a few headaches is Kickert. His offence has the potential to spread the Sixers defence allowing back up forward Craig Moller to crash the O-glass for boards and scores.

The Last Play

Its seems just when we finally reached a breath from the “Revenge of the Ex-Sixers” series, the Kings spring the surprise yesterday of signing Deshon Taylor to the line-up so guess that story line is up again in what is proving to be one of the richest NBL seasons for back-stories in a decade. His signing is a big one for the Kings as they look to start a new reign over the Sixers in Adelaide. The undefeated Kings are going to be one of the toughest match-ups Adelaide face all season and with the basketball IQ driven mind of Will Weaver at the helm, the Kings have all the pieces in place to cause the Sixers their first loss at home. I think this is going to be a really tight contest fought all the way to the finish and after all is said and done, its the Randle vs Ware match-up that will decide this one. History says Ware is the man in Adelaide and I think his 2-way play may be just the slight difference but I hope for the Sixers sake a bit of Randle magic can hoist the Royal blue colours up in the Ken-Cole-sseum.

Kings by 3pts

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

Jerome Randle led the scoring with 22 points at 52 percent from the field when his team most needed but was ably supported by five other Sixers in double figures with 22 of those points coming from the pine - Photo by ESPN

THE WRAP Q BY Q

Early favourite for Rookie of the Year Kouat Noi put up 10 points in the first five minutes in an explosive start for the Taipans, former Sixer Majok Deng opening his account with an alley-oop jam. Sixers star Jerome Randle was showing the handles though dragging the Sixers back into the game dominating dangerous guard Scott Machado early. Spark plug Jack McVeigh entered the game pulling up for a transition triple but The Taipans shooters and big Nate Jawai however were able to generally do as they pleased on offence putting up 22-30 at quarter time.

The second quarter belonged to the Sixers as they turned up the defensive heat on the Snakes and began to suffocate their shooters early. The Taipans however got out by as much 30-38 halfway through the quarter before the Sixers flicked the switch. Taipans kryptonite DJ and a masterful display of ball control, finishing under pressure and big shots from Randle lifted the Sixers to 25 points in a five minute blast led also by a highly efficient Anthony Drmic. The Taipans had however the last say with “Space” Cam-eron Oliver had lift off for a alley-oop jam to end the half with the Sixers taking a slim lead 55-49 after a slow start.

A quiet first half from Machado was alleviated from the Taipans early in the half as he lit up for 8 points for the quarter and was steadily fighting back to influence the match. The block machine in Eric Griffin began to set the tone defensively and Randle continued to push the score out for the Sixers. Despite the Taipans keeping the Sixers in more of a half-court game, the Sixers dominated the offensive glass creating opportunities for themselves to hold the Taipans 84-69 going into the final quarter.

The Taipans bit back hard at the start of the fourth with Deng and the “Cannon of Canberra” Mirko Djeric putting the Snakes on an 8-0 run to open the quarter. But it was Randle’s handles and the steady hand of DJ once again that held off a fast finishing Snakes despite a flurry of threes from Oliver and Djeric closed the margin back to four points. A final turnover as Drmic picked the pocket off money man DJ Newbill off the inbound with 20 seconds to go sealed it for the Sixers from the line.

COACH SPEAK

Sixers Coach Joey Wright highlighted the impact of Randle and the equally important minutes once again of McVeigh, “I thought Jerome was big tonight and that’s why we brought him here, that’s what we want from him. He (McVeigh) followed me around me like a bad smell this summer and bothered me all off season every day to practice and keep getting better and it’s paying off for him.”

Taipans Coach Mike Kelly spoke about his import Cameron Oliver and the teams positives on offence and some constructive criticism around his defence through four quarters, “It was good offensively early but we got on the back foot defensively in the second quarter and they just attacked and starting good about themselves and we couldn’t stop them. Cam is a really good player and can score the ball and I like the way he goes about it and it took some big shots to get us back in the last and Cam was right there.”

DO THE STATS LIE?

The Sixers setup the game as mentioned earlier in the second quarter in a 25 point burst in five minutes on the back of keeping the Taipans off the three point line and just to twelve field goal attempts. Six Sixers hit double figures and in the second half the Sixers got to the charity stripe to keep ahead in the game shooting 92 percent for the match from 28 attempts.

The Taipans had a mixed bag of plus and minus statistics sharing the ball around for 24 assists but also produced 16 turnovers. Their bench was also productive with 21 points and also shot just under 50 percent from the perimeter which kept them in the game. Kouat Noi scored all of his 10 points in the first quarter but only saw three more minutes in the game after his hot streak at the start.

WHATS NEXT FOR THE SIXERS

Its the “rise” of the Phoenix next up for Adelaide today as they play a team that can expose the weaknesses in Adelaide’s defence at the small forward spot. After being handed a basketball lesson by the Wildcats on Friday night, Mitch Creek and the men in charcoal and green will be very keen to light up the Sixers in the Firepit in another of the many “friend vs foe” matches this NBL season promises and that makes us “hungry” to know where the Sixers rank in the order of the Phoenix…

ADELAIDE 36ERS 101 (RANDLE 22, D JOHNSON 19, DRMIC, GRIFFIN 13, MOORE 12, MCVEIGH 10) DEFEATED CAIRNS TAIPANS 97 (OLIVER 21, NEWBILL 18, MACHADO 14, DENG 13, NOI 10)

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