Week 8 - Derby Day 2: Electric Boogaloo

This is the week that the make up games are played for the A's, B's and Lady Reds. I have updated the schedules on the website and the stats are up to date.

Think that's it - if you are in town on Thursday night this week I have a gig at The Exeter on Rundle Street. I will be playing some of my songs from 9pm (be on for about 40 minutes). Oh ... did you hear that Orks, Jono and Crawf are starting a metal/crabcore band? I think they should be called Self Orken ... sounds satisfying.

To the reports:
A's (7-0) v B's (4-3) - I saw a few minutes of the game so I will create some dot points.

• Where are Hobbs and Tauny?
• Someone said "wow Corey is a lot thicker than Orks".
• Kartik made a nice spin move on the break for 2
• Lachie blocked Corey
• Phil made 2 long jumpers both with a foot on the line
• Palky went out for beers when the score was 12-4
• Palky came back and the A's were up 20.
• Phil made a crazy fadeway on the break - from my angle it looked like it grazed the edge backboard and went on an odd angle and went in.
• Orks got a big block on a 3 point attempt went down and missed a dunk - get the defibriultor - or do these action cancel each other out
• Lachy got a tech and fouled out ... removed shirt
• Phil made an awesome step through - he can get through crazy seems in D like no one else.
• A's win 40-25. A's - Phil 17, Orks 10, Jack 5. B's - Kartik 11, Jono 5, Manner and Crawf 4. 

C's (6-2) v D's (5-2) - Round 8 we had the dance with your sister round again, playing against the Ds. The Ds are at the top of the ladder at the moment and are really demolishing some teams. We went in with the same tactics as last time, don’t give up open threes. The first half was closely contested, early on Hendo got to the line, to which Palky could be heard saying “don’t worry teh C's can't shoot free throws”. 2/2 cheers Palky. Defence on both ends was the real winner, with contested shots being the best that was available at both ends. The Cs went in at half time up 15-13. The second half belonged to the Cs, with the tight defence even tighter and managing to get some good open looks. G hit 3 3’s at the start of the 2nd half to give the Cs a double digit lead. Our offense flowed for the rest of the half and we refused to give them any 2nd shots, outscoring the Ds 26-8 in the 2nd. Cs won 41-22. It also has to be noted that this is the first game where we have shot >50% from the line, 8/13 61.5%. Top scorers for the Cs were G with 12 and Marine with 11. Top scorers for the D's were Stu and Kobe with 6.

C's (6-2) v Southwest A - The round 6 makeup game we were against Southwest Baptist. With both teams already playing and having a win we weren’t sure how much either would have left in the tank. We got out to an early 8-2 lead in the first half with G hitting 2 3s. After that our offense was faltering and our D wasn’t keeping them off the scoreboard. The went on a 14-6 run and we were down at half time 14-16. The first 5 minutes was more of the same with our 3-2 letting them get to the hoop to easily. BB called a timeout and the switch to man was made. This had the effect of lifting our intensity at both ends of the floor with G and Madman getting hot for the rest of the game. We kept making the stops and getting buckets when we needed to keep a nice buffer to close out the game. Unfortunately our good free throw shooting couldn’t continue and we went 3/12 25%. Top scorers were G with 17 and Madman with 7, somehow getting credited with a 16 foot 3.

E's (7-1) v F's (4-3) - On paper, the E's we going in understrength - Max and Cam away, Brad out with an ankle injury.  Mike also attempted to join the Scouts for a Jamboree at Adelaide Arena, but realising he had worn his bball uniform by accident, managed to join the team towards the end of the first half at Marion. This paved the way for Foo and Dillon Hayden (our ring in from the G's) to step into the spot-light. With 5 gusting 6 E's scrambling against x9 F's, we did well to score on transition as well as against a prepared defence.  Whilst the F's did a good job of limiting Bubs from his usual domination around the key, they weren't able to cover Dillon and Foo as well.  Both teams struggled equally from the free-throw line, but in the end the E's were able to counter the F's when they gained momentum to come away with the win. Standouts - Foo 11, Dillon X?

G's (3-4) v SPOC D - Just to be different on Derby week, G-Force played a team from outside the club, this time… what, SPOC, again?  Don’t we always play these guys?  Both sides were missing players, SPOC’s D team suiting 5 players against G-Force’s squad of 7, which included special guest player Charlie “Pony” Baker.  Our pre-game briefing was, well, brief, as we anticipated the opposition game plan would be to chuck up rubbish and crash the boards, with the obvious exhortation to box out as we were missing our best rebounders.  The early part of the game saw little in the way of scoring, with both teams struggling to maintain possession, but SPOC took a slight lead. A SPOC time-out gave both teams a chance to regroup, and we resolved to take advantage of SPOC’s sluggish defensive rotations with some quicker ball movement, and run more to take advantage of our numerical superiority.  This strategy paid dividends right from the restart, with some slick passing resulting in an easy bucket to Charlie, and in spite of yet another SPOC timeout to slow the game down, we kept enough momentum to take a 12-10 half-time lead.  The second half was a similar dour struggle to the first, and although the SPOC boys had one sequence where they established a brief dominance on the boards, the G-Force defence stood firm and prevented them from capitalising on their multiple opportunities.  With the margin down to one in the last minute, G-Force controlled the end-game and the boards sufficiently to hold on and win 19-18.  Dillon and Tom both scored 7, Captain James T Kirk scored 3 and Charlie added 2. 

Lady Reds (4-3) v St Casmir A - St Casmir are a good squad and have some good tough players - if the Reds didn't play with enthusasm they would not succeed. The Reds started well with Alicia hitting a couple of 3's and Megan hot some FTs and the stupidest looking side-arm hook/runner from the foul-line. Reds got out to an early lead but St Casmir hit back - they have they best shooter in the league and she started knocking down jumpers from everywhere and St Camsmir were getting into the heart of the D and hitting little jumpers. Wans, Georgie and Alicia were doing a great job on the boards and Georgie started to make some shots inside. Reds up 20-17 at halfime. The 2nd half was a bit of a grind - everytime they started to get away St Casmir came back - Megan made a nice step through move on the break and hit a little jumper, Wans hit a couple of baskets off offensive rebounds, Tracy did the same and Georgie scored inside on back to back plays. The Reds adjusted really well - getting out on the shooters and making less space in the key. They got every defensive board and were able to limit St Casmir to one shot. Alicia hit a crazy tough runner to close it out. Reds won 36-29. Georgie and Alicia had 10 and Megan 8. I felt that St Casmir were going to get on top but the Reds did a great job of digging in and making the necessary adjustements. They are starting to bring it together.

Palky's Super Top Trio - Week 8
3rd - Dan Foo
2nd - Brad Hughes
1st - Phil Harford

Games Times - Week 9.5
Games at Hillcrest

A's v SPOC A @ 1.00pm
A's v Knightsbridge A @ 2.40pm
B's v Oakden A @ 4.20pm
B's v Gateway A @ 5.10pm
C's v Taperoo A @ 3.30pm
D's v SPOC B @ 1.00pm

Games at Marion

E's v Hope A @ 1.50pm
F's v St Peters A @ 3.30pm
Lady Reds v Unley Park A @ 1.00pm
Lady Reds v Dunn A @ 2.40pm

G's BYE

Week 7 - New Uniforms, Same Result

Hope the new uniforms were to people's liking. I think they looked pretty good. From all reports some guys need bigger shorts and jerseys. If you can message me (Facebook, text, email) if you need a different size can you let me know - I will being them to training tomorrow.

So - I think we are going to move the Beer Bus Pub Crawl. There are too many guys going to be away and 3 of the main brewhouses we wanted to go to that will be closed. Let's go in summer when the weather is better, hope that's ok. 

Before we start massive thanks to Jimmy "JT Townie" Townsend for scoring so much over the weekend - think he ended up doing 5 games. That is in an insane effort - thanks mate. If you are hanging around after your games, helping out is always appreciated.

To the reports:
A's v Oakden A - Written by Liam - The A's returned from their annual unscheduled mid-season hiatus itching to play and Oakden found themselves in the path of the Reds. It was six on six early with Hobbs and Tauney out injured. About five minutes in one of the Oakden players got down low from behind trying, I guess, to steal the ball ending with, I think, a heel in the nose. And so five on six from here on. The lack of subs meant Oakden used all four timeouts through the game. About ten minutes of clock time in it was 12-6 (losing about 5 min through late start, injury, timeout and foul shots). Josh, a glistening nubile in the centre court showtime lights overcame a knock to the throat* and powered back some work inside and Jack had made a finish and got to the line. We were in a full court press and they were struggling to control the ball up the court. When they did, they were able to scrap some baskets with their big guy finishing well. Phil splashed from downtown and the defensive pressure continued to generate steals and easy finishes. As it turned out, our D was so good we could have stopped scoring about 15 min in and still won. At half-time it was 31-12 and we'd gone 6-6 from the foul line. The second half was more of the same. Phil got two more threes and Jack and Josh continued to finish well. Josh found some space and got a nice two-hand flush. The game had a good energy from the Reds in spite of the game situation and the time understandably used up in timeouts and the like. Keeping up that energy will be important in the coming months and to drop 66 points was a solid result. Everyone scored in an even team performance in the second half. Reds win 66-20. Orks 21, Jack 18, Phil 13. 

* Apparently he later reported on facebook that he had a bruised throat from getting hit in the windpipe. Much like this ... Actually no link, this is a family website.

B's v Knightsbridge A - Written by Mike -Both teams rocked up to the shops that should have been open, but due to management and staffing the trolleys started getting pushed down the isles 2 minutes late. Lachy was first past gate heading straight for isle 3, finding it without issue. Kartik headed for the confectionary isle, for a break and a Kit Kat. Phil and Tommo attended to a clean up in isle 7. Knightsbridge seemed to head straight to the freezer section coming out cold. One of their new players didn't agree with any of the shops sales and after arguing with security, was asked to leave. Mike then went through his trolley, adding three of the four items to his basket. Manners blocked a Knightsbridge trolley and despite knightsbridge's attempt to detour around him, simply ended in frustrated shopper. Despite Kb's attempt to slow the check out line using out dated payment methods, B's used self service to make their purchases and concluded their shopping experience ahead.

Won by 29. Jono 14, Lachy 9, Kartik 8. 

C's v Unley Park - NO REPORT. Lost by 13. Good 9, Kirkham 7.

D's v Southwest A - Written by Sime - The big billing was Reds v Seahawks on the Arena centre court, the D’s with a full complement of 8 for the game.  We knew the Southwest offensive plan was to feed their centre at the foul line every time down the court and he would then kick it to the wing if his shot wasn’t there.  While we played ok to contain their game, we unfortunately had another slow first half – we restricted them to 7 but only scored 13 ourselves.  Early on we were a little selfish, everyone was looking for their own shot, cutting short our offensive set and not necessarily choosing the best shot.  That and the fact we went 4 from 11 from the stripe (and 5 from 15 for the game) was disappointing.  Josh was busy early, Palky came on & dropped a triple, B-Frangers hit a nice baby hook and Kobe finished a beautiful spin move between 2 defenders on the post for a 3 point play.  We addressed our weaknesses at half time and came out looking a lot better, sharing the ball, passing quicker and looking for the extra pass for our teammates.  And of those passes, Josh laid off 2 of the best assists I’ve seen this year.  And he had a big block – he played pretty well despite going scoreless!  Ned was slicing through the key and dropped a trey as well, Brendon dropped one too, and Stu, Reggie and Palk briefly ran a little 3 man game to get some good outside looks, Reggie the beneficiary with 2 triples.  Despite still having back issues, Jon still (importantly) lifted the esky high into the back of the Range Rover and hit the boards hard on the court, as well as finishing a couple of his patented baseline drives.  We showed some good D again this week, keeping the Seahawks out of the paint, leaving them just holding the ball waiting for movement – and our guards’ quick hands to steal it away.  Final score was 32-13, Ned with 7, Reg with 6, Brendon with 5.  A good spread in the scoring though and a solid game by the team – votes will be hard.

E’s v St Peter’s Anglican A - Written by Max - The ‘E’s played St Peter’s Anglican this week for the first time. Offensively we started slowly, a little surprised by their height and shot blocking ability around the basket. Defensively our pressure on their guards punished them for a lot of sloppy passing which created transition opportunities. Some sloppy play of our own and sometimes one cute pass too many meant we failed to capitalise, only leading 18-6 at halftime. Sensing Saints vulnerability to on ball pressure and their tiring 5 man roster, we came out of the half time break in a full court man. It worked and we spent 20 mins totally demoralising the opposition. In the end I think Saints scored most of their points by catching us off guard with put backs of their own airballs. The ‘E’s were run away victors in the end 46-17. Bub’s dominated the scoring again with 24 points, Brad had 11, and everyone scored. Thanks to Flair for filling in again and Townsend for looking after the scoresheet for us.

F's v Hope A - Written by Mark - Once again the shorthanded reds were without their big (Bjork) and their small (Tone) so Jay stepped into the breach again. Reds went out in a man D and once again got instant results. Tim was on fire with 2 big threes and an inside runner for 8 points within 5 minutes. Hope were energetic and they had a couple of ball handlers and a few weight throw arounders. Toma, Trimmy, Hanzo and Jay all contributed in the half with Phil and Tim pulling in big boards given their height advantage. Scores ratcheted up 8-3; 10 - 5; we went on a run, they came back; Tim finished the half with another sweet 3 for 13 for the half and we went to the long break 23 - 15. Second half got ugly; our defence was great and our offence was non-existent. Meanwhile the umps went on a pea fest and 24 fouls were called for us for the game. Reds scored 1 point in 12 minutes and the niggling blue boys were coming back to 24 - 20. Hanzo made 2 huge swats for the game (one in the first half was probably a foul but the second half one looked absolutely clean). Even Lenny got incredibly frustrated with a straight up block that was called against him - but we kept our mouths shut (mostly) and played ball. Jay stepped up for a steal, the lay-in. fouled from behind called intentional + 2 and possession and he swished both (28-20). Tim
finished with a final cameo 3 and the game was done. Reds 31 - 21. An 8 - 6 second half is not memorable and none of us want to see it repeated. Once again, never headed, never hugely threatened but didn't put the game away as we should have. Still work in progress. Tim - 16; Jay 8

G's v SPOC E - Written by Hitman - This week G-Force faced The Olde Enemy, this time the E-type.  Our pre-game plan was to continue our fine form from last week, and we also engaged in some wild speculation on what the SPOC game-plan would be, deciding that it was within the bounds of possibility that they might potentially chuck up rubbish and crash the boards. From the tip-off, the Redmen passed the ball around crisply, but too often tried cross-court passes that were easily picked off.  At the other end there was more rubbish being thrown up than on a windy day at Wingfield tip, and the Saints crashed the boards like alcoholics at an open bar.  G-force regrouped at a time-out and stopped throwing cross-court passes, and were rewarded with good open looks, but unfortunately weren’t rewarded with baskets.  Saint’s robotic approach and their sheer weight of possession resulted in baskets and at half-time they led 11-5.  At the start of the second half, G-Force’s ability to play basketball quickly narrowed the gap but in a second half marred by creative refereeing* (e.g. Dillon gets hammered by three defenders going for a lay-up – no foul; Dillon goes in for uncontested fast-break lay-up – foul called on defender three feet away) it was difficult to maintain any momentum.  G-Force got the score close but with the game in the balance in the waning minutes, Saints scored a couple of absolute fluke baskets, proving that sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, and they held on to win 18-13.  G-Force did themselves no favors going 2 from 9 from the line, but they were still better than Saints’ Moorfootesq 2 from 19.  Dillon top-scored with 8 points, Sam scored 3 and Will 2.  Many thanks to Phil Harford for his coaching efforts, and Ben Palk for doing the scoring.

Lady Reds v Adelaide A - The Lady Reds were up against old foe Adelaide. The Reds started well Megan and Alicia hitting 3's and Jordy getting to the basket. Adelaide were scoring through #34 and #4 who are both very handy players. Reds down 9-16 at halftime. Palk decided that the Reds needed to up the aggressiveness -  Palky was asking this to be done not in a manner that was conducive to women's basketball - Megan disagreed ... argument ensued ... uncomfortable for all concerned - expect maybe Palk and Megan. Alicia, Jordy and Megan all hit 3's and Jordy was getting to the basket but the D was a tad too porous and Adelaide were getting to the basket for layups. Reds lost 25-38 but it was a massive improvement on the first time they played them. With Georgie back the team is heading in the right direction with ball movement and gelling together and should be around the mark come finals time. Jordy 10, Alicia 8 and Megan 6.

Palky's Super Top Trio - Week 7
3rd - Jack Harford
2nd - Josh Orken
1st - Alex Bubner - back to back - HE CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL!

Week 8 Game Times
NOTE THAT THE C's HAVE 2 GAMES 
A's v B's - 1.50 @ Hillcrest
C's v D's - 1.00 @ Hillcrest 
C's v Southwest A - 3.30 @ Hillcrest   
E's v F's - 3.30 @ Marion
G's v SPOC D - 1.50 @ Marion
Lady Reds A v St Casmir WA @ Marion

SACBA Week 6.5 - Great Half a Week

This was supposed to be Week 6 but 4 games were cancelled as the courts at CBC were double booked. For what it is worth, I think that SA Church has followed the process and booked the stadium. The taekwondo organisation (who usually have the booking) had keys to the stadium, let themselves in early and refused to leave because the SA Church couldn't prove that they had the booking. So with that then said, it is my understanding that the games will be rescheduled on another week - I believe they will schedule the games in the morning for the A's, B's, C's and Lady Reds and then play the normal round's games in the afternoon.

So in light of the the calamity of the having 4 games cancelled I thought it would be amusing if I did a recap of Game 5 of the NBA Finals if it were played in the SACBA Church league - HAS SPOILERS SO DON'T READ ON IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE GAME.

*Written as if we are the Spurs.

SA Spurs A v Miami Heat A - Written by Palky - It is Game 5 of the Finals - we have been killing "The Heat" this whole finals series. As always Tony was late and didn't have his shoes on ... why he doesn't put his shoes on before the game I'll never know. I got a text pregame - Manu's dad took the car and he had to wait for him to get home so he will be late. Boris was hungover ... bloody Boris. Pop told us to open in man with Leonard on Heat's #6 and Danny on the jerk weasly complainy kid #3 and Dunc on the tall Raptor looking guy #1 - they decided not to play their annoying PG #15 and started the old shooter #34 with the nice jumpshot.

The game started at the 18 minute mark cos the scoresheets weren't filled out properly and Heat didn't have a scorer - the massive guy who looks like Bill Russell had to score. We didn't start very well and Steeeeeve kept calling stupid charges and travels - they really are his favourite calls. Heat's #6 was on fire and make a bunch of shots and they got out to a big lead at the end of the first qtr. 2nd qtr we couldn't work out which direction the possession arrow was facing and the Heat got the jumpball even though they won it at the start of the game. Manu arrived (even though the refs didn't think he was on the scoresheet) and started shooting well and got a massive dunk. "The Heat" just kept calling timeouts - so the clock kept running - are we there to talk about basketball or play basketball? The 3rd qtr started a bit late - Patty couldn't find his ticket ... he told us all that it he handed it to Pop at the start of the game - turns out it was in his wallet. Lucky he was on fire and made a bunch of jumpers. Boris was playing well but he almost wasn't allowed to play cos his shorts are slightly a different colour to his jersey. In the end we won pretty easily and won the title, our 5th in 15 years. Woooo! Leonard 22, Manu 19 and Patty 17. Tony was 0-10 in the 1st half but made 7 of 7 in the 2nd half ... crazy little French bugger. Leonard won the Players's Player MVP.   

Uniform update - Fingers crossed I will get the uniforms this week - I was told that they would be here yesterday. If need be I will have to give them to you Saturday.

To the reports:
A's v B's v C's - Scratch Match by Phil - Since the association had a sizeable cuffaffle booking a stadium, the As, Bs, Cs and lady reds found themselves game less on this chilly Saturday. Jack arranged for us to have the school gym booked last minute for activities, and despite a large number missing games we had a solid turnout of 7. Those who attended were part of a fiercely contested game of 3 on 4, that began with orken proclaiming that "I'll pick the 3, because whoever is on my team will win." This bold statement was followed up with a much bolder team selection; forgoing a Orken-J Harford buddy ball arrangement by selecting Foo and P Harford to play against J Harford, Liam, Angus and Brad Hughes. The 3 began playing a 2 high 1 low defence, and after conceding back to back layups this was shifted to a 1-2. Brad Hughes then referred to this "The Spear" (patent pending), which proceeded it broke the game wide open. After getting a stop, the trio began scoring with Phil hitting 3s and Orken and Foo getting on the ring at will. This was the curse of an extra man; thinking someone else would help and rarely would this occur. The 4 then increased effort levels and began exploiting the numbers game furiously. Many a layup was had, with Angus in particular dining out on many extra passes. While every team needs someone to get on the end of all the unselfish passes no one expected Angus to reincarnate himself as Mick 'Down'Hill quite so effectively, but low and behold Angus put on his snow boots and skied his way down those steep slopes nicely. It truly was a spectacle, with verbal jousting from all parties providing fruitful entertainment. The game suffered a blow when someone resorted to the shameful level of vacating his bowels to use as a 5th defender in the key, for which the game suffered momentarily. The game went back and forth, a seesaw affair which eventually saw the quartet victorious despite a spirited effort from the trio. Final score 2 games to 1. Votes will be shared by all, but Brad Hughes will take the lions share for his all round effort and Orken for his iron fisted effort that would have pleased Stalin greatly. Live long and prosper.

D's v Taperoo A -  Mouth guard, check, Protective gear, check, Thick skin, check - the joys of playing Thug-eroo. The D's had their full team with a crooked Jon with a back injury and crook Kobe with a cold. The Reds started well with Sime hitting a 3 but the game was a grind early - Taperoo were getting to the line and making some tough shots. Ned and Moorfoot came off the bench and gave the D's a lift - Moorfoot was super active around the basket and made a couple of shots and Ned was getting to the front of the rim for easy layups. Reds up 16-13 at half time. The 2nd half, we started in full court pressure to make Taperoo speed it up from the standard glacial pace that they play at - it had immediate results. We forced turnover after turnover and Taperoo were taking bad rushed shots - Sime, Frangers and Stu scored on the break, Ned and Moorfoot came off the bench again and were getting baskets - Moorfoot hit a crazy fallaway jumper - one of those "NOOOOOOOO ... good shot" kind of shots. Palky hit a 3 and Road Train got a sweet layup in the lane. D's won 43-30 - Ned had 13, Moorfoot 9 and Stu 6. It should be noted everyone scored in the 2nd half. It should also be noted that the D's played super tough D and Big Jon and Kobe cleaned up the boards - it is such a luxury when the team plays great D and the big guys get every D board. 

Do you know what is better than one report ... two reports.

Written by Sime -The D’s packed the bigger esky for the long trip down to Marion Fitness and Leisure Centre.  We were greeted by a giant queue of people, perhaps eager to buy a little of the quality brand of basketball the team had been selling so far this year.  Unfortunately (for them), they were queuing for some gymnastics.  So we squeezed our way down the 7” gap down the side of the court for our game.  This week we faced off against the Taperoo Angry Birds, always a challenge for the body (I still have the bruises to prove it).  We started slowly, Taperoo keeping pace with us through a couple of cheap baskets and unexpected jumpshots.  Reggie opened with a 3, before Ned and Josh got busy, thankfully finding their way to the key marked in black on the dark floor, with 7 & 5 for the half.  At the break we held a slender 3 point lead at 16-13, but we were playing down to a scrappier brand of basketball that would never lure the gymnastics crowd in.  Because Taperoo were bringing the ball up slowly and trying to control the tempo, we upped the pressure, which had the desired effect of speeding up the game, with an added bonus of a few turnovers, pounced on by the hungry back court.  In the 2^nd half it was a great all round affair, with everyone scoring and the team scoring a lot more on the break.  Stu got into the mix and hit a nice 6, as did Ned with his drive too quick for the D.  Overall we were hungrier, and although both teams were in the bonus both halves, we had the cattle to run the game out and build a nice lead, winning 43-30.  Ned finished with 13, Josh 9, Stu 6.  On a really positive note, we went 9 from 11 from the stripe. In addition to being generally twisted, the Road Train pulled off a heroic effort to take to the court and still rebound up a storm, and Kobe grabbing everything else .  Palky unfortunately then hurt his back in the dying minutes, hopefully it’s a speedy recovery for both of them.Thanks to James Townsend for manning the pen for us this week.

E's v Golden Grove A - Written by Max - This week the E’s had the opportunity to avenge their only loss of the season to Golden Grove Baptist. We got off to a quick start making the most of their inability to have 5 players at the arena for the tip off. Pritch was getting amongst the scoring early with a couple of strong drives at the basket. Everyone was running hard to create opportunities and unselfish teamwork saw 6 of our 7 players get on the scoresheet in the first half. Their frustration started to boil over with us and with the umpires.  ‘Late Player’ top scored for us with 6 for the half to see us with a 24-8 lead! Bub’s exploded in the second half to rack up 18 points, for a career high 20 points for the game. He was on the business end of everyone’s passes and created a few opportunities himself. Despite a few passages of sloppy play late in the game, the E’s kept the pressure on to go out winners 52-25. 

F's v Spicer A - Written by Lenny - With 3 F stars scratched in Matt Trim, Tim and Bjork it was really appreciated that Jay was able to come out to give us 6 players. A little touch and go with one player heading to the Powerhouse instead of Marion, but we got there. We needn't have worried too much as Spicer only were able to field 5 too. They were younger and taller than us but we went out with the game plan and jumped out of the blocks. Playing man for D, we were up 6 - 0 in no time flat with Jay hitting little J's. Then their 55 clumsily fouled Jay on the break and ended up with his nose plastered across his face - blood on the court and 5 minutes of lost play while the umpires just let the clock run. They were down to 4 and we were up 8 - 0 when Jason with his broken nose came back on the court and hit 2 and 21, Mike Whitehead (and Old Red) also stepped up to score from longer range and his son, James Whitehead (also an Old Red) banged around inside for nothing. We went to the half 10 - 8 up and not totally happy. Second half we ran better, D was tighter and we were getting more ball inside offensively with Phil finishing off and Tone stepped up to counter his 4 fouls with 2 steals and a couple of lay-ups. The half split 13 - 9 and we were victorious by 6 (23 - 17) - we never really looked as though we would lose it but there were times where we weren't that convincing either - still room for improvement. Phil had 10, Jay 8 and Tone 4.

G's v Spicer B - Written by Hitman - This week G-Force faced the might of Spicer*.  Judging from the unforced turnovers the Spice Boys committed during their warm-ups, they weren’t expected to trouble us if we brought our G-game.  Pre-game the plan was not to take them lightly, but play hard and continue to move the ball in offence as we have done in previous weeks.  From the opening tip** the Spice Boys were under pressure, even when no Redmen were in the vicinity of the ball, repeated unforced turnovers gifting us extra possessions.  We had some initial difficulty turning these bonus opportunities into points, except for Will Harmer, who seemed to have no trouble send the ball through the hoop.  This inspired the rest of the team to follow his lead and at the end of the first half, where we dominated all facets of the game, the scoreboard read 27-5, and which included a banked three for the Spice Boys. The second half featured a better performance from Spicer, which combined with a drop in intensity from the Redmen, and aided by some favorable refereeing (the three-second rule being waived for Spicer for the duration of the match), all added up to make the second-half scores much closer than the first.  The final score was still a resounding 47-22 victory.  Will and Reid equal top-scored with 12 and Dillon added 10. 

[* Spicer Church is in St Peters, making them yet another St Peters team in Church ball.]
[** taken by James, to everyone’s surprise, and won by James, to everyone’s surprise.]

Palky's Super Top Trio - Week 6.5
3rd - Phil Walker
2nd - Will Harmer
1st - Alex Bubner ... I'm surprised he wasn't arrested after the game ... I have never seen anyone abuse a team that badly.

Game Times - Week 7
*All games at the Powerhouse

A's v Oakden A - 3.30
B's v Knightsbridge A - 5.10
C's v Unley Park A - 4.20
D's v Southwest A - 4.20
E's v St Peters A - 2.40
F's v Hope A - 1.50
G's v SPOC E - 1.00
Lady Reds v Adelaide A 1.50
As always - can check game times here

SACBA Week 5 - Rivalry Round

Hi all,

So you should have received the rest of the year schedule via email. You will note the games are all over the place so pay careful attention every week where you are playing. FINALS ARE SEPTEMBER 6, 13 and 20. Please don't book holidays during this time ... especially if you are arguably the most important player for the A's ... whoops ... to late. 

PUB CRAWL THIS WEEKEND. We are starting at The Seven Stars. It is starting at 12 noon. We will be leaving The Seven Stars at 12.40pm. If you want food get the Seven Stars early and order straight away. Big A has come up with the most inspired Pub Crawl ever. We will be heading all over the fine city of ours on the 99 Beeline Bus. Bring a $2 and $10 note because there are a few little things planned. Plus bring more money for food and beer. See you there - it will be cool as ... like if Tarantino made Star Wars

To the reports:
A's (5-0) v Gateway A - NO REPORT. A's had to play Gateway twice in 3 weeks. A's beat them 39-36.Phil 15, Tauny 8, Hobbs 7. The undefeated season rolllllls on! The A's winning is getting as predictable as every youtube clip.

Gateway wrote "Prince Alfred's rise on the SA Church Basketball stage may have been confirmed on Saturday afternoon, but Gateway coach James Smith also drew positives on his own team despite the poor performance displayed for much of its 3-point win.  Smith said his team did not play the way he wanted them to play but did enough at critical moments to win the game.  "If you don't play at your best you get into a bit of dogfight and even at your best you're still going to have to fight really hard to get the result you want. But in the end we were able to be strong enough – and I think that is a good sign – we were able to be strong enough when it counted."  He acknowledged that Prince Alfred was a much-improved side and had to take much of the credit for the tightness of the contest. "We might just be a step or two in front of where Prince Alfred are coming from.  We were really strong in the last 10 minutes of the game, where we looked like we just had that little bit more experience to play the game the way we wanted to play."  The coach said the Thunder managed to tighten up its defensive efforts in the second half, restricting Prince Alfred to 43 entries inside the keyway after conceding 25 in the first half.   "I think in the end that won us the game," Smith said.  He said although Gateway was on top of the ladder after losing just one game in the first five rounds, it was conscious of how much of the season remained.  Next week the Thunder comes up against Prince Alfred B, led by former player and Jultopia representative Michael Hill, who remains a good friend of Smith.  "Mick will know a lot about us and we know a lot about what Mick's like. He'll be keen to do well," Smith said.  Gateway plays Prince Alfred B at CBC Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Prince Alfred 39 d Gateway 36 (Vucetic 21, Horskins 8, Smith 4)".

B's (3-2) V SPOC A - B's v Saints over the last couple of years have been great contests. The B's are underdogs but they play hard, hustle and get on the glass. Saints have lost a lot of talent (Scammell, de Cure, Charles, Heim, Proctor) over the last year but still have 4 quality players (Good, McMichael, Hautop and Bobo) and some solid younger players. Reds started well - Lachy getting inside, Big Phill and Tomo were huge inside and Jono was getting out on the break. They let Good have a few too many open shots and the refs made some strange calls. Reds down 2 at halftime. The 2nd half was a grind - Phill again was proving tough inside and the Reds were battling super hard. Hautop was proving tough to stop - making jumpers and getting to the basket. Mike, Phill, Lachy and Tomo were scoring inside and attacking the O glass but the open j's were not falling Reds lost 34-39. Phill had 9, Mike 7 and Jono 6. Saints shot 9/20 from FT line - B's shot 5/15 and they lost by 4. Hmmmm ...   

SACBA A Grade Ladder

PAOCBC A - 5-0
PAOCBC B - 3-2
Gateway A - 3-2
SPOC A - 3-2
Oakden A - 1-4
Knightsbridge A - 1-4


C's (4-1) v SPOC B - Written by The C's - G was late/hungover so he missed the first 10 minutes so he had his team write the report. Brad wrote "I remember that we took the lead from the tip, we passed the ball through hands and everyone got early looks. The bigs were devestation on the offensive glass which gave us 2nd chace points all game". Hendo wrote "I remember Goody working the foul-line like a superstar and finding Fancy with pretty dishes which he occasionally finished. Having said that - none were as pretty as this". Palky remembers the tiiiime! C's were up 26-22 at half time against a pretty talented SPOC team and won 49-34. G 16, Goody 11, Fancy Krantz 9.

D's (4-1) v Unley Park A - The D's first big test (not against our C's) against the very good Unley Park side. The first half was an arm wrestle - not the greatest advertisement for basketball, way too many turnovers. Kobe got a good and 1, Moorfoot blocked the shit out of some fool. The D's D was good (double D) and we were limiting Unley to one shot and Road Train was cleaning house on the boards - Reds down 10-13 at half time. The 2nd half, the Reds kept up the good D, Ned scored in a nice shuffle cut and then got a massive block at the other end - it was very impressive. Stu then went freaking mental - he scored off a nice cut, hit a 3, scored on an and 1, hit another 3, then got a tip in and the foul. The Reds were forcing Unley to take contested 3's and nothing will fall on the terrible Adelaide Arena center court rings. Reds won 34-22. Stu had 20 and Ned 9. Josh and Ned's blocks were as sweet as a few of these purchases.   

E's (4-1) v St Casmir A - Written by Max - The ‘E’s were surprised early by St Casimir’s ability to generate fast break opportunities off of defensive boards, allowing them to a storm out to a double figure lead. Their #15 was scoring at will with 10 points for the half. With better help defense the ‘E’s started to clamp down and hustled hard to generate transition opportunities of their own, pulling the deficit back to 5 points by half time. Bubner dominated the scoring in the second half, proving unstoppable with his short range jumpshot around the key. The E’s showed glimpses of their potential, looking best when driving to the hoop and then feeding to the cutting big men, though exposed at times on the defensive boards giving St Casimir far too many 2nd, 3rd, and 4th shot opportunities. St Casimir rallied again late in the second half on the back of a 3 pointer to draw within 4 points, but Mike Tye showed his experience and exerted control on offence with a set of safe hands and patience to run down the clock. He helped seal out the game with nice three point play on a strong drive to the basket. Another balanced game for the team with everyone contributing on the scoresheet, Bubner leading the way with 16, and Max with 8. Free throw shooting was better too this week with the team shooting 5/6. Final score 41-33.

F's (2-2) v SPOC C - Written by Lenny - Facing our traditional rivals, SPOC put out their C's against our F's (gee it must be embarrassing for them). Staines was marshalling a middle sized and athletic Saints crew and the F's fielded Tim Corbel for the first time (who over time will be a huge asset for the club). We started in an extended 2:1:2 but Saints got the first looks to be out 5 - 0 in the first 3 minutes Tim came into the frame and scores were put back on a more even keel - 5 - 4. GW2 (Phil Walker) was the ghost who wasn't walking ; Phil tried to come out on his bung ankle but realised after a couple of minutes that it wasn't going to work and so we were down to 7 dropped into 2:1:2 but Saints were putting the foot on the pedal and got it out to 13 - 6. Bjork stepped up with a good luck + 1 and Jon hit a J but we were being hurt inside and scores were out to 22 - 11.  Then to ice the cake for them their # 14 came into his own and hit 2 three's and half time scores were 28 - 11. 2nd half was far more of an arm wrestle; the F's defensive effort stepped up - starting in a 3:2 stopping the outside shooter and Toma, Tim and Bjork were attacking more in and under. Bjork ended up spending a lot of time doing sit ups on the ground, but Ben's guts and determination could never be questioned. The 2nd half really showed that we could do and went 15 - 11 to Saints; Tim hit a sweet 3 and Toma got inside for 6 points overall, if we keep on with the second half sort of intensity and gel as a team we will continue to improve Both Tim and Toma had 8 points in a 43 - 22 loss.

G's (1-3) v East Allstar A - Written by Hitman - G-Force faced the four-man East All-Stars, who assured us their fifth player was on his way as the game began (albeit belatedly).  G-Force’s pre-game discussion had centred around the word “intensity”, possibly a reference to the large tent city out the front of the stadium.  It certainly wasn’t a reference to the subsequent game, where the early going lacked any great drive, both teams were content to pass the ball around the perimeter and take jumpshots.  An early All-Stars’ time-out gave us an opportunity to adopt a better strategy of attacking the basket, which was more successful.  Then two events occurred in quick succession, both of which changed the fortunes of the match – the clock ticked over the 10 minute mark, and the missing fifth All-Star turned up.  The first event meant that G-Force were awarded the match on forfeit, the second meant that the even contest swung slightly the All-Stars way, the score going from 8-all on his arrival to 18-14 in their favor at the half.  Unfortunately, this trend continued in the second half, their gangly youth with the Orkenesque reach grabbing plenty of rebounds and blocking several shots, while his teammates made plenty of buckets, two of the All-Stars combining for 25 points for the match to equal G-Force’s combined output.  The final score was 36-25, reversed to a 20-0 scoreline due to the late player.   Reid Amos topped the G-Force scorers with 8 and Sam finished with 6.

Lady Reds (3-2) v Unley Park A - Unley won the GF last year and this would be a good measure for the Lady Reds. Unley have a big girl ... as in tall ... not the other kind of big and she was proving tough to stop down low. Megan hit a jumper, Alicia hit a 3 and Claire hit a nice hook shot in the lane. Megan hit Tracy with a sweet bounce pass (probably the 2nd best pass of the season by anyone in a Reds jersey* ... Megan like Boris Diaw ... he would have been proud). She followed up the sweet pass with a crazy runner on the halftime buzzer - Reds down 11-14 at halftime. Once again I didn't see the 2nd half cos I was warming up for my game. It looked like the tall chick for Unley was killing it low. Alicia hit a 2nd 3, Jordy was going nuts attacking the basket and Megan scored on the break. Reds just couldn't get the stops when they needed them and lost 27-32 against last year's Grand Finalists. Jordy had 8, Megan 7 and Alicia 6. Reds were 1 of 9 from the FT line ... Hmmmmm ....

*The best of course being Jack's flip pass to Orks a few weeks ago. Orks may or may not have dunked it.

Palky's Super Tops Trio - Week 5
3rd - Phil Farrer
2nd - Alex Bubner
1st - Stu MacDonald  

Game Times:
Next Weekend - BYE ... go to Pub Crawl
Week 6 - June 14.

Venue	Date	1:00	1:50	2:40	3:30	4:20	5:10
CBC	June 14		B's v Gateway A	C's v Southwest A	A's v Knightsridge		WA v Dunn A
Marion	June 14	E v Golden Grove A					F's v Spicer A
Marion	June 14	G's v Spicer B	D's v Taperoo A

*Note the venues