Week 7 Preview Digby-Anderson

I was going for the Spurs in the NBA final ... not a great result for me. This Spurs related gag cheered me up.

A's v The Corner B @ 1.50 - The A's just got over the line last week. The Corner played a good game against Gateway (in a loss). The Corner have good shooters, they play solid D and have some size inside (their biggest player doesn't really play inside). It would be nice if the A's could win because it would really help the B's cause ... the last time we asked the A's to win a game for us they fucked it up. Don't fuck this up! 

B's v Saints A @ 1.00 - Saints are the arguably the best team in the A Grade at the moment. They have shooters in McMichael, Scammell and Ness, 2 good scorers in de Cure and Good and they have size in Hautop, Bobo and Kong. You never know who they will bring out - but any of their guys will be a solid match up. The last 2 times the B's players Saints they beat them (in the last game of the year) and the Elimination Final (Palky's best win ever in the basketball club). Saints struggled with our frantic defence and versatility in offence. Looking at the stats - it is the best offensive team in Saints v the best defensive team (us). Have a look at the Saints spread of scorers - it is going to be tough to stop them all so it might be a pick your poison. Saints will be favourites to win but if we come ready to play then it should be a great game.  

C's v Holdfast B @ 1.50 - Holdfast are one of the most interesting teams I have ever seen ... let's leave it at that. Holdfast will not be able to handle the C's size. They only way the C's won't win this game is if they play down to Holdfast's level. The C's will need to be focused and ready to go, play as a team, find the extra shooter and pound it inside. If the C's get the win, they will move to 7-0 ... and then some comparisons will start with another great C team ... TOOOT TOOOT! 

D's v Saints B @ 1.50 - I haven't heard much of Saints B's this year - I am guessing that they aren't too flash ... but I bet they have players with hyphenated names. I'm going to make a guess on their playing style ... offensively they will throw up stupid shots and then they will relentlessly crash the glass. The D's need to rebound, not turn it over and run the break and they will be fine.

E's v Oakden A @ 1.00 - If Garfoot is playing the E's are in trouble, if Garfoot doesn't play then the E's need to stop the penetration of the guards and make them shoot outside shots.

F's v Northgate A @ 2.40 - From the G's report when they played them last time "It also became clear they relied heavily on their guard #14 who was doing all the creating and scoring for them early, with some assistance later in the half from forward #44". So I would say from that ... you should try and stop #14 and #44. Our G's beat the by 7, so I am guessing that the F's will go to 7-0.  

G's v Saints D @ 1.00 - The F's beat Saints D's last week ... we want this trend to continue. It is all about blocking out and keeping Saints off the glass and don't turn the ball over. I just checked the scoresheet to see who are SPOC D's good players ... two of their guys have hyphenated names ... and people say PAC people are blue bloods. The G's need to focus on stopping #2 Stefan Crotti.

Lady Reds v  Unley Park A @ 3.30 - Unley Park A are the best team in the A Grade - they have size, play great defence and have good outside shooting. They have a solid team and really good players. The Reds showed a lot last week - their D was the best it has been all season, played with the required amount of effort.

SACBA Week 6 Results - Basketball do yes, Basketball do no ... Basketball do guess ... squish like grape

Why the long, somewhat ambiguous, title to this week's blog entry Palky? Because ... if you don't know that quote, it is from the Karate Kid - the Macchio/Morita version ... not the poxy Smith/Chan version. The Karate Kid is my absolute all time favourite movie and it is 20 years old this week. If you young fellas haven't seen it 1. you suck cos it is awesome ... you have never known a time without the Internet so it is so easy to get and 2. get all over it cos it is amazing. I added a sweet video this week in the F's review - to show "no mercy" on Saints. I think I have seen KK maybe 300 times - and I really like the Cobra Kai ... they are the "bad guys" but I think they are the thing that make the movie great - LaRusso is a whingy little shit who brings everything on himself. I think that the Reds are Cobra Kai ... Saints are LaRusso ... except we win in the end.

Here are some of my favourite youtube KK clips (I'm including clips from I, II and III).

The Greatest Sports Montage Ever
Yes Snake, We Do
Wax On, Fuck Of
Behind the Scenes (for fans) Part 1 (there are 12 other parts ... all very cool) including Macchio Screen Test and LaRusso/Miyagi Audition
Macchio talking KK (40 minutes)
Sweep the Leg filmclip
How I Met Your Mother - Johnny Lawrence
 
The stats are all up to date here. I'm a nerd for stats but not as much as this guy for WoW... but not as much as this guy.

Milestones:

Matt "Madman" Williams played his 300th game for the Old Reds on Saturday. Madman became the 7th player to play 300 games (in the stats keeping era) for the club. He joined the club in 2003 at the ripe old age of 33. He joined the D's (with Palky and Flair) and showed that he was an incredible shooter. He soon became a member of the A's and was a member of the A Grade Champion teams in 2008 and 2009. Madman has been a member of the Thursday team for a number of years. There is no question that Matt is one of the best shooters that has ever played for the club. As well as being a great shooters, he is one of the smartest basketballers to play for the club. His game has not dipped as he gets into his mid 40s - he is playing better basketball in the last 18 months than he has ever played in the club. I'm sure I speak for all of the people that play with him that he is one of the most favourite people to play with - he is a great passer and a savvy defender. Well done mate.

To the reports:
A’s (4-1) v Knightsbridge A (2-4) – Knightsbridge were not great against the B’s in Week 5 but they looked better in their man defence … they came out in it against the A’s. No Corey and Purge (who is on the mend), Tauny came in as the 7^th for the Reds. Foo popped his shoulder in the first play and didn’t take part in the rest of the game. The Reds looked a little flat all game – little bit too much “me” and not a lot of “team”. Orks was dominating low and had 8 in the 1^st half. Down 4 the A’s switched from man to zone and it paid off immediately getting the lead back by half time with Liam hitting a 3, Jack getting to the basket on the break and Liam hitting a short j one the buzzer (23-21). The 2^nd half was a grind – Phil got a runner, Jack got a lovely one handed put back, Orks scored low and hit a couple of FTs, Tauny got a put back and Hobbs hit a big 3. Reds D was solid and they got the job done but it wasn’t overly convincing – few too many people wearing the angry dacks. Reds won 39-35. Orks had 12, Hobbs and Jack 8. It’s good to have Orks back … as a tribute here is a 14 year old girl playing Eddie Van Halen’s most iconic guitar solo Eruption.     

B’s (4-2) v Happy Valley A (4-1) – We had yet to see Happy Valley this year – they came up from C/D Grade and our C’s hadn’t played them yet. The Reds have been playing solid D in the A Grade and are the leagues stingiest team holding their opposition to 27 points – and this game would be no different. The B’s held Happy Valley to 3 points in the 1^st half and 13 for the game. If the defence was great, the offense was a touch off. We crashed the boards hard and Ned hit a three 3’s but we missed a few too many open layups and were a bit sloppy. We won 41-13 and have snuck along at 4-2 record (if we hadn’t thrown away the game against Gateway we could have been 5-1). Ned had his best game with the B’s and had 11 and Darcy had 8. I asked Mike after the game if we were 28 points better or if Happy Valley were that bad … he said they were not very good.     

C’s (6-0) v Cherry Saints A - Written by Madman – The C's were still missing Manners so Billy was called in to play shooting guard (the biggest SG in club history). The first half belonged to the C's and to G in particular.  G hit 4 3s and 2 2s to outscore our opponents by 5 points by himself. Phil was also on fire, hitting a crazy Tony Parker-esque Michael Jordan-esque runner from the free throw line. At the other end, our defence was excellent. Half time, Cs up 33-11.  To start the second half, Cherry Saints themselves switched to man and, as usual for Old Reds basketball, we did not immediately handle it that well.  After about 5 minutes of lacklustre basketball, G called a time out and was really quite cross.  (Madman was on the bench at this point and does not believe that G was really quite cross with him).  The team responded but, offensively, our output was never going to match the first half but our defence remained stifling. We were victorious! 47-23. G finished with 18, Phil 10.  Cherry Saints were cherry frustrated - getting two Technical Fouls in the cherry last minute of the game.  Their #55 refused to shake hands with any Old Reds at the end of the game saying that "it wasn't us it was him".

D’s (4-2) v Saints C – Written by Simon - The D’s faced off against Saints C’s - which would be a good test on the strength of our respective clubs.  The start was a bit of an arm-wrestle between the reds & the blues, our turnovers in the 1^st few minutes kept Saints in the game.  After a time out, we focused on our game plan – force bad shots & keep them off the glass and to just run our own game with our better skills & shooters– as well as looking after the ball.  The team rallied after that and began to put some space on the scoreboard to an 18-13 half time lead. Kirkham made a welcome return from illness, dropping 2 bombs in the first, Wildy was aggressive & finished some good drives, Reggie hit a couple. Once we were in gear it was just a matter of continuing this for the 2^nd half, as Saints didn’t have the offense to score against our man D. Their main threat was the drive, and their centre was handy down low with a couple of spins – he beat Krantz a couple of times early, but Krantz owned him after that, a great defensive effort. With our work on the glass we also opened up a bit of a run & some transition baskets, Jono, Pritch & Crawf running well to create opportunities. Saints kept trying to drive & crash, but continued to hold the ball out in front of them, much to Reggie’s delight. Wildy also kept driving & hit a couple of sweet passes to Krantz & Crawf and we pushed the lead out, outscoring Saints 16-10 in the second. Final score was 34-23, Kirkham had a classy 14 for the game (incl. 4 x 3s), Wildy 6, Crawf & Reggie 4 each. 

E’s (2-4) v Dunn A – Written by Diamond - It was always going to be a tough game for the E’s against Dunn and we started well showing an ability to score inside as well as consistently making outside shots. As with most of our games this year we were solid defensively against Dunn’s inside play. We stayed close to Dunn all game, but ultimately was not able to close the gap in the second half and lost 29-37. Considering we were missing our two tallest players it was a strong effort by the E’s and probably one of our best all-round games this year. Bubner had 14, Moorfoot and Max 5.
Credit where credit is due – Moorfoot went 3 of 6 from the line and hit 2 from 2 in one trip. He’s now up to 27% and is not even the 2^nd worst FT shooter on his team … that honour goes to Brad Daniel who is 4 of 16. Bubner needs to keep working – he went 0 of 3. As team the E’s are shooting 29% - 27 from 92 … this shooting makes me brain hurt*!

F’s (6-0) v Saints D – Written by Brownie - The F’s had a full squad out on Saturday for their bout against the better of the two SPOC teams in our division. We came out firing early with plenty of ball movement in offence and some good looks that gave us the early lead, with Jay dropping a handy six for the half. Our passing let us down across the board giving SPOC a few opportunities that fortunately they weren't able to convert. Our opponents came out hard at the start of second half, scoring a few early points on the back of a couple of early fouls. Despite this, we found our feet again quickly, with Road Train dominating inside the key on both rebounds and scoring and Udit clearing plenty of boards. We got into a bit of foul trouble in the second but were never in too much danger. Jon H started converting, Phil kept his cool despite getting picked on by the refs and Stu and Jay helped manage the ball around the top really well in offence giving Brad some good scoring opportunities throughout the second, getting 6 for the half. A great game (our highest scoring of the season) with Road Train finishing with 16. We won 52-26.

G’s (2-4) v Golden Grove A – Written by Hitman - This week the seven-man G-Force faced the five-man Golden Grove outfit.  Significant absentees for the opposition were the bearded Man Mountain and Clappy Gilmore.  Pre-game I warned the troops that the Grovers were unorthodox but effective, and they were not to be underestimated – and so it proved, during the first half they took several awkward shots that went in.  They also picked up a couple of baskets on the break, gifted by some poor passing from G-force who couldn’t seem to tell the difference between red and gray.  We made so many turnovers in the first half I thought we had opened a Baker’s Delight franchise.  We went into the long break down 14-7 but in spite of our poor showing so far, we didn’t feel out of it.  The gift of 2 points for No Scorer during the break helped narrow the margin, and the fact all four fouls called on the opposition were on #10 also gave us reason for optimism, as we expected he would pick up his 5^th foul very quickly.  Alas, when the game restarted we picked up where we left off with our poor passing, our play was as ugly and sloppy as a bulldog eating porridge. Golden Grove quickly rattled off 10 unanswered points in their typical awkward style, while we barely managed a shot due to our repeated miscues.  When we finally did control the ball enough long enough to shoot, the centre of the ring (if not the ring itself) all too often proved elusive.  What also eluded us was the 5^th foul on #10, every instance of contact involving him was a mysterious no-call, which only added to the enigma of the game’s refereeing.  The final score was 34-17 and sadly the margin was a true reflection of how we were outplayed.  Brendan battled hard for his 6 points, Reid scored 5 and James 4.  We need to put this game behind us now, and regroup for next week’s big game against Saints.

Lady Reds (3-1-2) v Cherry Saints A – This was an important game for the Lady Reds – this was a 4^th v 5^th clash and would create a gap between these 2 teams. Jordy started well and scored 6 early points. Before the game we spoke about stopping #11 but she hit 3 straight jumpers with the Reds lacking a bit of fire in defence. Cherry were crashing the boards hard and banked a number of silly shots. Lady Reds down 12-17 at halftime. The 2^nd half, the urgency in D picked up and this lead to the Reds turning the screws and running the break. Megan had a great half – she hit 2 long corner jumpers, hit a couple of Free Throws and got a couple of tough fast break layups (I had no idea she was that quick … makes me wonder why she doesn’t run that fast in defence**) . Late in the game - Wans got an O Board and put it back for the score, Alicia hit a big 3, Loz hit a crucial FT and Georgie scored late to ice the game. Reds had a great win 35-29. Megan had 12, Jordy 10 and Wans 5.

Palky’s Super Top Trio – Week 6
Some big games this week – tough one to pick.
3^rd – Ned Young, Josh Orken, Mitch Kirkham - TIE
2^nd – Jon Read
1^st – Nathan Graham

Game Times – Week 7  

Date	Team	Opposition	Time	Stadium	Court
June 22	A	The Corner B	1.50	Powerhouse	2
June 22	B	Saints A	1.00	Powerhouse	1
June 22	C	Holdfast B	1.50	Powerhouse	2
June 22	D	Saints B	1.50	Cedar	1
June 22	E	Oakden A	1.00	Cedar	1
June 22	F	Northgate A	2.40	Cedar	2
June 22	G	Saints D	1.00	Cedar	2
June 22	LR	Unley Park A	3.30	Powerhouse	1

*If you don’t like Jacko’s work … how about Capper?

**I’m gonna be in trouble for this one.  

SACBA Week 6 Preview - Do You Have A Problem With That Mr Lawrence?

For those interested – check out Purge’s blog here – it makes for a really interesting read as he discusses his basketball past and keeps track of his injury.

Few important games this week.

A’s v Knightsbridge A – A Grand Final rematch from 2012. Knightsbridge have gone backwards from last year losing their 2 best players C. Bell and Gemo as well as role players Wood and Nicolacopoulos. The players they have replaced them with are good players (#34 Meredith can shoot and #21 is a good scorer) and they still have Nathan Bell and Scott Foreman is still one of the 4 or 5 best players in the league. The B’s beat them pretty easily but they played them to a stalemate when they switched to man – so I expect they will come out in man this week. The A’s should win pretty easily.  

B’s v Happy Valley A – We haven’t seen HV play (their game against the A’s was postponed). They looked to have a couple of good players – B’s will need to come out ready to play like there were against Knightsbridge. The B’s are starting to get it together – they are back to playing great D and they are playing more as a team. They are starting to show that they can once again be one of the top 2 teams in the league.

C’s v Cherry Saints A – It is the day of Saints - those in blue and those of cherry format. Cherry Saints came down from A Grade. Everytime I have seen them they have different players but they have a couple of good players. Thier centre is verstile - good touch around the basket and can shoot 3's and they have a crafty guard who can get into the lane and get to the line ... you will sick of him getting touched and letting out the Kobe yell "AHHHHHH!" They have 3 decent bigs so it will be a good size match up.   

D’s v Saints C – Go Reds! This year we have lost to Saints A’s, B’s and E’s … we need to start beating them. This is a great opportunity – the Reds need to come ready to play. Tough D, intensity at the loose balls and clean the glass. Saints will be Saints – chuck up junk and crash the glass – they have been programed to not stop playing, so a 10 point lead is never safe. The D’s need to soften them up for the C’s Intercol. Tenderise!

E’s v Dunn A – Dunn area quality squad – you need to get to their shooters and stop their big guy inside. They play solid defensively so you need to take the opportunities that are given to you (see; Free Throws and open layups).   

F’s v Saints D – Saints D’s are almost as bad as their E’s … don’t take it easy on them. We do not train to be merciful here.

G’s v Golden Grove A – These are the guys that have won back to back titles (they also beat Palky’s squad in 2009 … something I still have not gotten over). They have a good team – they hustles hard, crash the boards and make really unorthodox shots. The G’s have their work cut out for them.

Lady Reds v Cherry Saints A – This is a really important game for the Reds. They dropped points against Unley B when they shouldn’t have and they need to beat the teams around the same place as them in the ladder. Cherry Saints play hard, they have a couple of good shooters, they play solid D and rebound well. The Reds need to play some of their better ball to get over the line but they should go in as the better team.

Date	Opposition	Time	Stadium	Court
A's	Knightsbridge A	3.30	Powerhouse	2
B's	Happy Valley A	1.50	Powerhouse	1
C's	Cherry Saints A	2.40	Powerhouse	2
D's	Saints C	1.50	Cedar	1
E's	Dunn A	1.00	Cedar	1
F's	Saints D	1.00	Cedar	2
G's	Golden Grove A	1.50	Cedar	2
Lady Reds	Cherry Saints A	2.40	Powerhouse	2

SACBA Week 5 Results

2 weeks ago Purge posted this blog comment:

"Don’t forget what a privilege it is to be able to play this game with a great group of (team)mates - just got home from a tough loss but during the game we lost a mate to a season ending knee injury. Enjoy it while its there".

Well in something that was unfortunately very prophetic - in the layup line before the A's game today - Purge went up for a layup, he slipped and landed hard. As he went up he blew something in his knee in a gruesome injury - didn't look good. The ambulance had to come and take Tim to the hospital.

The diagnosis has come back and it looks like he ripped the patella tendon off the bone - the tendon is intact and they will likely need to wire the tendon/bone back onto the bone. He will most likely be out for the season.
 

Purge joined the club 6 years ago and immediately changed the club culture. He came into an A's team that had lost three straight Grand Finals - games they could have won. The A's were a team with great talent but played as individuals - selfishly in offence and lazy in defence. Purge was one of the key people in turning that around - his focus on playing team basketball and instilling an intensity that permeated through not only the team but also the club. Purge is a winner - he doesn't put the ball in the basket a hell of a lot but he makes plays that win teams basketball games. He will always come up with a key stop, a key rebound, make a great pass - he works as hard as anyone that has ever played in the club. It is no coincidence that the A's won 5 straight A Grade titles after he joined the club.  
 

Purge was rewarded last year when he was voted in as a member of the PAOCBC Team of the 20 Years.

I know I speak for everyone when I wish him a speedy recovery.

Stats are updated here. 
To the reports:
A's (4-0) v Happy Valley A - GAME POSTPONED. Purge fell on the court and couldn't be moved until the ambo came. The game will need to be re-scheduled.

B's (3-2) v Knightsbridge B (2-3) - This would be an important game for the B's - the top 3 in the A Grade is pretty clear - Gateway, Saints and our A's. For the B's we need to take care of business against the other teams. With The Corner coming up with 4 wins from C Grade and getting a forfeit win on Saturday (they are now 5-0) the B's need to beat teams like Knightsbridge. Knightsbridge aren't the team they used to be - they are missing C. Bell, Gemo, Wood and Steve N from last year. The B's started well - their D was intense from the opening tip - Jamie got a steal and layup, Lachy got a fastbreak layup, MIke hit a 3, Goody inside for 2 and the foul, then 2 of 2 from the line (he obvioulsy reads my blog) - we were up 14-3. Palky then got kicked in the guts and went down like a sack of shit - being winded is second only to being hit in the nuts as all noise/no real damage injuries. Well that awoke the beast from his slumber - he hit a 3 on the next possession. In the closing seconds he hit his second 3. Reds up 20-8 at halftime. The 2nd half was pretty scrappy - Knightsbridge switched to man - the B's got good looks but just couldn't finish but their D stood up, Jamie hit a late 3 to snuff out any Knightsbridge comeback. Red won 29-19. Jamie 7 and Palk 6. The B's D is back to last year's level - they were swarming, intense and helter skelter. Mike is stepping up as the team leader - he is controlling the team - guarding the other team's best player, playing point, rebounding, shooting.

C's (5-0) v Southwest A (1-4) - The C's were still missing Manners and G was away so Billy was called in to play point (the biggest PG in club history). The C's were playing new relogated Southwest. The C's are a big team and early they were crashing the glass hard - Phill, Thommo and Hendo all got second chance baskets and Madman hit a couple of jumpers. The C's D was really solid and they were up 15-7 at halftime. In the 2nd half, Billy's offense came alive - hitting a corner jumper, inside for an O board and a couple of 3's. Hendo, Kobe and Thommo were still getting to the basket, Madman hit another jumper and BB got inside on the break with his patented crossover/banker. Reds won 42-23. Billy 12, Thommo and Hendo 8. Not to go on about it but Free Throws ... 4 of 17 @  23.5%. 
 

D's (3-2) v Knightsbridge B -  It was action stations before the tip-off in the D’s match up against Knightsbridge – the umpires not happy for the D’s to play in their usual white top/maroon shorts against the all-white strip of Knightsbridge – ‘but you’re always red’.  Thankfully with 2 PAOCBC teams already playing there were a number of guys still around with the maroon singlets – nothing like putting on a cold sweaty uniform when it’s not even your sweat.  Thanks to the guys who quickly stripped to help the D’s (after I walked up to them Arnie style and said ‘your singlets, give them to me’) *. With the singlets already worn in, it would have been nice if we’d hit the ground running, but we were slow out the blocks against the athletic youth of Knightsbridge who want to run – a lot.  Our control and decision making in this style of game has been a little hit & miss, and in pushing the ball we were called for several travels and a couple of charges, as well as just turning the ball over.  Krantz was brilliant early, causing all sorts of trouble inside for the smaller Knightsbridge & Crawf & Jono were working hard on the glass.  2 of their shooters dropped some rubbish shots and they went to half time up 22-16, Krantz with 5 and Crawf & Jono with 4 each.  Wildy was back after 2 weeks away & ran hard, impressively chasing down their quickest kid on the break. Pritch ran hard too, although didn’t quite get the reward on the break with possibly the worst unsportsmanlike foul ever when he went for the ball and the guy turned mid-air to collide back first into Pritch.  Apparently it was impossible for Pritch to be making a play at the ball with the guy coming back first at him. Our D was better in the 2^nd half, Reggie we held their main shooter to 1 point in the 2^nd and overall we went point for point with them but couldn’t make up the deficit.  We couldn’t buy a shot from outside, and probably didn’t work it in as much as we should.  Jono took the ball under his arm & at Knightsbridge, with 9 for the half (including 5 trips to the line – giving you an idea of his aggression and the sheer number of fouls called for the game – 28 – strangely enough 9-5 count against each team in each half).  In the end it was a disappointing finish as we are a more talented team but had an average day, going down 38-31.  Only 3 of our 6 players scored in the 2^nd half, and with one of those a single point, we need to spread the scoring and provide more options.  Jono finished with 13, Krantz 10 & Crawf 5. Bring on Saints in 2 weeks’ time. 
 

E's (2-3) v Taperoo A - Written by Diamond - Playing Taperoo, nobody was expecting anything other than a physical game. I'm not saying Taperoo are dirty ... but Dwyane Wade is a little shocked when he watches them. The E's looked good early, moving the ball well to find holes and get good shots, drawing 10 fouls from Taperoo in the first half. However, true to form the Es did little to capitalise from the charity strike shooting 5 from 15 and going into the halftime break down by two. The E's composure in the second half was impressive as we focused on playing basketball and not getting drawn into the darker side of a degenerating game. Our composure was most evident in a continued willingness to attack the basket and draw fouls, unfortunately our foul shooting didn’t improve, making 5 of 11. Failing to capitalise from the foul line ultimately cost the game, losing 24-25. 
 

[Palky's response] 10 of 26 ... 10 of 26 and you lost by 1 ... if there is a better example on why you should practice free throws here it is. 10 of 26. I am going to call Megan's 14 year old niece and ask her to shoot 26 free throws this week ... I bet she makes more than 10. You know you can't shoot 10 of 26 and me not have something to say right? I am so glad I don't get to the line anymore just in case I start missing and be a hypocrite ... that said I have been once this year ... 2 of 2. 

[Palky additional] She went 17 of 26. Now I was going to give you all some tips on how to shoot better Free Throws ... but I will let this guy do it instead, I hear he is pretty good.  
 

F's (5-0) v Spicer A - Written by Brownie - Brad Hughes was out again this week and the F’s came up against a considerably taller Spicer than we encountered last season, limiting our options in defence to exploit their poor ball handling. Our D was strong in the first keeping the opposition to only three points, despite racking up eight fouls for the half. Our ball movement in offence was good but a few shots wouldn't drop and their big guys made it hard to convert inside. The second was much better in offence, despite the fact that (or maybe because?) Road Train spent a bit of time bringing the ball up the court while Jay was getting plenty of looks playing inside the key. Ball movement again was great and there were some good looks on the break, though our defence slipped a little allowing Spicer to score 8 for the half. Jay clearly read Palky's email last week and managed to drop 6/6 from the free throw line. A good team game with excellent ball movement in offence and balanced scoring across the team. Jay got 10, 6 each for Stu, Brownie and Phil, 4 each for Jon H and Road Train. F’s won 36-11. 
 

G's (2-3) v East Allstars - Written by Hitman - G-Force’s opponents this week were the mighty East All-Stars. Anthony, James, Wade, Irving, George … no-one on their team had these first names. Like last week, we aimed to use our longer bench and youthful exuberance to run over the top of the opposition. Unlike last week, our opponents were willing to run right back at us, and a rapid end-to-end affair ensued. An on-court call to change to man defence didn’t quite work and allowed their point guard #8 to get creative. A mid-term lapse in concentration gave up a couple of uncontested fast-break baskets and the signs were not good. Regrouping after a time-out and reverting to zone, G-Force got back on track and were the better side going into the break. In spite of the speed of the game, the scoreboard hadn’t moved, in fact it remained resolutely blank throughout the contest, only at the change of ends were we able to check the scores and found we were up 14-13. There was no let-up in the pace of the game after the intermission, with neither side building a break of more than a basket or two. Their #5 got hot from outside and dropped a couple of 3s given them a narrow lead. Our defence then stepped up, forcing several turnovers, but we couldn’t capitalize at the other end. Finally, we broke the drought late in the game to be down just 2 points. We needed a stop, but #5 stepped up and hit another 3 points to push the margin to 5, probably the largest of the game. The margin was too great to bridge in the time remaining, at the final call of “Time” we were down 31-34. To emphasise Palky’s mid-week post about the importance of foul shooting, they went 6-7 from the line, we went 1-5. Brendan led the scoring with 13 and Troy added 6 in what was another balanced scoring effort. Thanks to Simon for performing the scoring duties.
 

Lady Reds (2-1-2) v Edwardstown A - Win by Forfeit
 

Palky's Super Top Trio - Week 5 

3rd - Thommo Oliphant

2nd - Jamie Dollard

1st - Mike Hill

NO GAME THIS WEEK - BYE

As there are no games this week you can have this funny picture instead.