SACBA Week 10 Results - Derby Week II - Electric Boogaloo

First things - sorry for no blog last week - I have been so flat out. To report, Beerfest I was amazing - it was a great day ... I think the 15 boys that attended will agree that it was a great day - it is something that we will defintely do again.

To more important matters - Intercol is this Monday July 22. The rivarly between PAOCBC and SPOC will continue - it is the Rebel Alliance (SPOC) vs The Empire (us). The games will be at the new PAC Gym (the Deathstar). The C's are playing at 6.30pm, the B's at 7.30pm and the A's at 8.30pm. Please make sure to come along - especially the guys who aren't representing a team ... come and support the guys in your team that are playing. All the F's are coming to support Jay as he plays in the B's ... to steal Stu's joke ... they have Jay Pride! We want everyone there - all club guys, the Lady Reds, friends, families, partners ... we need a big crowd.

This is always the best night of the year - we will attempt to defend the B's and C's trophies and win back the A's trophy which has sat with Saints for too long. This is our club's best and finest tradition - please come out and support the squads. If you can't make it you can follow on twitter with 3 separate feeds:
The Official Old Reds Twitter https://twitter.com/paocbcbball
Mark Hendo Henderson https://twitter.com/MrMarkHendo
Mark Yates https://twitter.com/mark_yates  

#Intercol

A		#		B		#		C		#
Tauny	Schmidt	4		Mick	Hill	7		Ryan	Williams	4
Tom	Hobbs	5		James	Davey	10		Tim	Wong	5
Corey	Gaard	12		Ben	Palk	22		Phil	Farrer	11
Josh	Orken	13		Jay	Nguyen	33		Mark	Henderson	14
Phil	Harford	20		Mitch	Wildman	42		Nathan	Graham	21
Jack	Harford	30		Billy	Wilson	50		Chris	Woodrow	24
Liam	Golding	43		Andrew	Williams	53		Simon	Miller	31
John	Foo	45		Lachlan	Campbell	55		Matt	Williams	33
								Alex	Bubner	55

After the game we will be heading back to the Seven Stars for some free beers and snacks.

To the reports:
A’s (6-3) v B’s (7-3) - The A’s and B’s match up again – these games are never fun. The A’s were missing Phil, the B’s were missing Ned and Palky’s jumpshot … if you have seen it anywhere please let me know, I need it urgently for Intercol on Monday. The B’s jumped out of the gate, up 11-2 with Jamie hitting a couple of quick 3’s and a lefty layup that was later described as “the business”. The B’s played tough D – switching between man and zone, Hobbs hit a 3 and Tauny hit a couple of jumpers. The A’s were getting loads of offensive boards but just didn’t finish. Darcy hit a 3, Goody scored inside, Mike got a nice tip – B’s up 20-13 at halftime. The 2nd half was more of the same – the A’s came back early with a Jack j and Liam triple but the B’s kept them at arm’s length  – Jamie hit two more 3’s and Darcy made a layup on the break, a 3 and a tough j. Goody was a force inside – scoring and cleaning the glass … the B’s bigs held the A’s bigs scoreless. In only the second time in the A's /B's debry history* the B’s won 38-29. For the B’s – Jamie had 14, Darcy 12 and Goody 6, for the A’s Liam had 9, Foo 7 and Jack 6. From my standpoint, it was a great win to be a part of – especially after being pantsed the first time we played them when we lost by 30. The B’s are clicking as a team, we are playing so hard, we are a tight group, we all know our roles and it is showing. Hopefully this is a wakeup call for the A’s – they need to bond as a unit if 1. They are going to win Intercol Monday and 2. They have any hope of winning their 6th straight title … they are champs for a reason … they will work it out.

Talking about history, if you have 20 minutes read this Facebook Newsfeed of the history of the world ... pretty good http://www.collegehumor.com/facebook-history

C's (9-1) v Holdfast A (6-4) - This week we were up against Holdfast A, 2nd team in the league.  After our dismal effort against the 3rd placed team last game, we knew something needed to change. One word - Intensity. Especially on defence and stopping the fast break. The last time we played these guys we dominated in the first half, only to have them play well and shoot ~70% in the 2nd half and we scraped away with a 5 point win. We started the game well getting good looks but struggling to get it in the hole. G opened the scoring from a nice tip from Phill but missed the next 5 or 6 and had sit (it was cold!). The bigs were dominating the glass on both ends of the floor. I don’t think Holdfast got and offensive rebound all game, which was good because our tough D cause many poor shot selections. The paint was where we did the damage in the first half, with 24 of our 30 from inside. After Holdfast’s first sub it was clear that we only had to guard 4 people on D, with a loose help defender. This made it very hard for Holdfast’s 2 “stars” to get easy looks. Our talk on D was great all game, calling out screens and switching effectively. At half time we were up 30-9, a very similar position as last time. With how we played last game and how Holdfast played the 2nd half last time, we were wary of letting the game slip away. To quote Palky, we had to step on their throats and finish the job. And that’s what we did. With us scoring easily in the paint they tightened up inside which gave our shooters much better looks. They later switched to a 3-2 but it was already all over. It was clearly the best game we have played all year. We were switched on and focussed for the whole game, never letting up or going to “garbage time”. Final score was 62-25. We shot 62.5% from the line with Manners coming back from 0/4 last game to hit 2/2.Kobe had his best game of the year and was unstoppable on the O glass. G had 20, Kobe 14, Phill and Madman 10.Bring on Intercol!

D's (5-1-4) v E's (5-5) - Written by Simon - The stand fast & evacuation sirens were sounding as the D's warmed up for the derby, perhaps a warning not to watch out next 40 minutes of ball. The teams traded baskets early before the E's opened a margin - they wanted the ball more. We struggled against the man defense & the E's knowledge of our individual games. While we agreed we needed to spread the floor, keep moving and screen off the ball, screens were non-existent either because players moved too early or everyone wanted someone to screen their man so they could get free (& not screen themselves). As a result the offense was scrappy & at half time we were down 22-11. The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half is hard to describe as a game of basketball, 2 teams running up & down the court throwing the ball away without a single score. The E's broke that drought, we called a time-out & switched to a zone, and stepped up our intensity for a mini-comeback which looked much better. We cut the margin but it wasn't enough, going down 30-23. The voting was hard as no-one had a particularly good game, Crawf was strong early, Jono worked hard & was aggressive in scoring 11 of our 23, although it was a lot being done single-handedly. Lunny lived up to his Enforcer tag and controlled the paint. We need to play a better team game though and get away from just one-on-one contests all the time - and to look after the ball. We turned the ball over 6 or 7 times from dropping the ball or letting it through our hands. We need focus - to take training and game warm-ups seriously, each part of our game preparation. Let's start that focus for the game against ladder leaders Oakden next week.

F's (10-0) v G's (5-5) -

Written by Downtown Chris Browne - The F's got out to a good early lead with the help of an early triple from Brad despite some missed shots that we really should have converted. That lead was slashed when Brendan found holes all through our defence and we weren't hitting shots that we should have, with everyone missing from the field. Phil and Jay pitched in with four each from the half, Jay scoring 2/2 from the line. Only leading by 4 points at the half we changed our game plan to focus our defence on Brendan which paid immediate dividends. Jay played some very tight D and the box worked well for the first few minutes and we started converting in offence. Brad went nuts in the second, hitting a further three triples (the last of which was an ugly bank). Road Train got fired up and started yelling at people and scored six for the half, with Jay contributing six as well. Our defence got lazy again and the Gs started hitting quite a few shots from the field. We didn't crash offensive or defensive boards anywhere near hard enough and needed a timeout to compose ourselves and get our focus back. Udit got to the line twice and although we stuffed up a few easy breaks, we'd done enough to get over the line. In the end it wasn't a bad win, but we need to play better than we did if we are to win the flag this year. Brad scored 20, Jay 10, Road Train 8 and Phil 6. Fs won 49-31.

Written by Hitman - This week G-Force faced a team of pleasant chaps from one of Adelaide’s finest educational institutions wearing a familiar uniform.  Last time we faced them, it was a case of “too much Nguyen”, they were more like the J-Grade than F-Grade.  Perhaps sensing that we would take steps to limit Jay’s influence this time, the F-Grade had Jay and Stu switch jerseys in an attempt to confuse us over who to guard*.  As a ploy it was an utter failure, as we went into the game without any plan to guard anyone at all.  And it showed as the F’s romped out to an early 10-0 lead, highlighted by Phil doing his best Kobe impersonation** on a classy*** reverse lay-up.  However, G-Force regrouped and proceeded to dominate the rest of the half, keeping the scoreboard flipping over**** while playing stifling defence.  It was only a couple of baskets from Brad that kept the Fs in front, 17-13, at the break.  Unfortunately, that late performance from Brad was a portent of things to come.  The second half started like the first with the Fs getting the early buckets, then G-Force slowly clawing back.  Then Brad really stepped up his game, following up his early scores inside with a triple of triples, putting the result of the game beyond doubt.  G-Force still battled out the game to the end and outscored the rest of the Fs 18-17 for the second half, but unfortunately Brad’s 15 second-half points on top of that made the final score 49-31.  For the Fs, Brad totalled 20 points (including four 3s) to just get his team over the line, Jay quietly added 10, Road Train worked hard under the basket for his 8 and Phil scored 6.  For the Gs, Reid scored 9, James and Brendan both scored 8, and Sam added 4.

[* Might not be the real reason.]
[** Chris “Kobe” Woodrow, that is.]
[*** Or shorter rhyming word.]
[**** Once again, no electronic scoreboard, so the bench had to use flip cards and a stopwatch.]

Lady Reds (7-1-2) v Unley Park B - See that "1" in the middle of the bracket there - that is a draw that came against Unley Park B ... a team that is 2nd last ... that kind of result wasn't going to happen again. The Reds were down Loz, Jordy and Wans, so Megan's 14 year old niece took to the floor. The Reds came out firing - Georgie was scoring inside with ease, Emma hit a long j, Alicia hit a short turnaround from the fouline and Tracey and Megan were scoring on the break. The Reds D was stifling like it has been all season and they were up 27-5 at halftime. The 2nd half Cam took over - hitting a long j, couple of FT's, scored on the break and hit 2 more FTs. Georgie was still dominating low and put on a couple of Olajuwon-esque post moves ... Gageen Olajuwon. Emma hit another long jumper and Megan and Tracy were still scoring on the break. Reds won 45-10. Georgie had 16, Tracey 10 and Cam 8. The Reds are in striking of Top 2.  

Palky's Super Top Trio - Week 10
3rd - Nathan Graham
2nd - Brad Hughes (continuing his awesome season)
1st - Jamie Dollard

Game Times Week 11
Huge week this week - 3 games vs Saints (which is great after Intercol). The B's are playing Corner - the biggest threat outside the top 4.
 

Date	Team	Opposition	Time	Stadium	Court
July 27	A	Saints A	1.00	Powerhouse	1
July 27	B	The Corner B	4.20	Powerhouse	2
July 27	C	Coromandel A	3.30	Powerhouse	2
July 27	D	Oakden A	1.50	Cedar	1
July 27	E	Saints B	2.40	Cedar	1
July 27	F	Saints E	3.30	Cedar	2
July 27	G	Northgate A	4.20	Cedar	1
July 27	LR	Dunn A	5.10	Powerhouse	1