Week 7 Results, Week 8 Game Times + Milestones Galore

MILESTONE: Thursday night, Stuart Macdonald will become the 9th player to play 300 games for the basketball club.

Stu has pretty much achieved everything that is possible to achieve in the basketball club. I could do a massive write up but it would take too long – just look at the list of his achievements … almost unparalleled – in my opinion he is one of the 5 best players to ever play for our club.

2013 – Best Club Man
 2009 – Club Champion
 2008 – A’s MVP
 2006 – B’s MVP
 2007 and 2005 – Wednesday MVP
 4 Time Players’ Player Winner (A’s x 2, B’s and D’s) – one of only two 4 time winners
 3 Lowbrowns (Wednesday night Medal)
 6 Saturday titles (A’s 4 – 2008-2011, E’s 2013, D’s 2014)
 Unanimously voted in as a Member of 20 Year Team for Old Reds
 4th in Points Scored All Time
 7th in Points Average All Time
 9th in Games Played All Time
 2nd in Free Throws Made All Time
 4th in Free Throws Attempted All Time
 10th in Free Throw Percentage
 4th in 3’s All Time
 9th in Fouls All Time
 6th most points for the A’s
 3rd most points for Crazies

Stu joined in 2005 and will become a Life Member of the club this year.

I will tell a couple of stories, in 2011 Stu did his knee and had to have surgery that kept him out of the game for 18 months. In the game he did his knee, Stu was playing amazing – he had 21 points at half time, scored 4 more in the first couple of minutes of the 2nd half – I would argue that he having one of the best games ever played for the club. He then blew out his knee. In 2013 he came back – and it was a work in progress … he joined the F’s – they went undefeated for the season … 17-0 going into the Grand Final. For Stu he was having a quiet season – he averaged 6ppg as he slowly came back. In the final – the F’s found themselves down double figures and nothing was working. In the 2nd half – Stu tapped into his former self and went nuts – he scored 15 in the 2nd half and played unhindered for the first time in the season. He hit a huge 3 in the last minute to get them within one and then Jay hit the game winner on the buzzer. From there Stu joined the D’s in 2014 and lead the team in scoring and had a huge GF to win back to back. This season – he is improving even more averaging 14 a game for the E’s in B Grade.

In every season Stu has played in from 2008 - his team has won a title.

In no uncertain terms – he is one of the best A Grade players ever winning 4 titles, he is a Club Champion and he is one of the great club men in our club.

Most of all, to quote a great man … “he changed Palky's life”.

MILESTONE: Brad Daniel is the latest player to reach 200 games for the Old Reds.

Brad joined the club in 2000 and played his first 6 seasons as the member of the B’s and is the current leader in games played for the B’s with 108. He won his first of 3 titles in the B’s in 2004 with Max, Roughie and Palky – he was the anchor in D and a timely scorer in the post – skills that he has carried across his whole time in the club. In 2006 he moved to the C’s, where he played 2 seasons winning a title in 2007 (I think his team beat Mick Hill’s team in the Qualifying Final as I recall). He was the team's leading scorer in the 2007 and also won the Players’ Player and MVP. In 2008 Brad moved back into the B’s and was awarded Best Team Man that year.

Brad become a Life Member of the basketball club in 2009 and then as often happens on receiving this honour (see Ben Christie, Ben Foran, Phil Motteram, Andrew Sullivan) – he moved away.

On his return in 2013 he joined up with the E’s – reuniting with Roughie and Max – they fell short this year but regrouped in 2014, winning the Grand Final in dramatic fashion. Brad won his 2nd Players’ Player in the 2014 E’s in the closest count of all time – winning with the last votes of the night (sorry Bubs).

Brad can always be counted on to be at all club events – regaling us with stories of some time he blocked the shit out of some guy. As you can see – he is a winner, both of individual awards and championships – he one of only 6 guys to win 3 Saturday titles and 2 or more Players’ Players – the other 5 (Jack Harford, Stu MacDonald, Andrew Williams, Nic Blair and Tom Lunn) all members of the Team of the 20 Years … pretty good company.

Well done Brad.

To the results:
A's (5-1) - BYE

B's (1-1-4) v Gateway A (3-1-2) - Written by Jono - The Bs started the game off well with even scores against Gateway (it was still tip off), for a while the game was close and the B's were in it to win it. Then a few minutes pasted and Gateway had a lead. Joel and Brendon hit a few shots and Phil was being aggressive inside taking good shots, unfortunately they were just not dropping. Half time 29-17 Gateway were up. The 2nd half saw Angus join the team after burning a Uni exam to make the game in time but he soon realised that was a bad idea, he hit a few shots and created some movement in the Forrest that is the B's offence. The 2nd half was similar, Brendon, Joel and Tim hit a few shots and Manners and Phil were being aggressive but the ball just wouldn't go in! Joel was a great addition on Saturday and the Bs benefited from having that extra forward on the court! Lost 36-54 - Jono 14, Joel 8, Gus 6.

Palky said something after the game that has stuck in my mind "you guys are so close to being better" as harsh as it sounds it is 100% correct, there is such a little distance we need to come for our game to go so much further and the Bs can actually start to be a threat in the Saturday A grade.

Jon 14, Joel 8, Angus 6

C's/White (4-1-2) v D's/White (3-4) - Bubs: Plenty of free throws were missed, first 10 minutes were really flat from both teams. We didn't build our lead with a run, just slowly built it over the course of the game. I need to learn to run whilst watching the ball. BB: They started in man. As Bub said we were tentative at first then we started getting aggressive and began breaking them down one on one. Road Train hit a 3. They switched to 2-1-2 and then to a 3-2, but our passing game in the half court was too good. Goody: I’d say it was a balanced team effort across the board, we didn't give them easy looks or second chances and we exploited some mismatches when in offence. If we'd hit some more free throws and a few unlucky rolls dropped we would have buried them! D's win 39-22. C's - G 11, Bubs 9, Moops 6 -


E’s/Yellow (6-1) v Knightsbridge A (1-1-5) – Written by Palky – Knightsbridge are solid and have a draw, 1, 5 and 7 point loses, they have a couple of good scorers and are active on the boards – Yellow would need to shoot well. Yellow shot well – Madman was hitting his jumper early, Palky hit a couple of free throws (showing you how it is done) and two 3’s, Stu hit a 3 and got a couple of layups (cos Stu is good at layups) … Thommo also got 2/2 from the line. Knightsbridge were getting good looks every possession and it was a bit closer than the score line indicated. Yellow up 27-16 at the half. The 2nd half was the Dangerous Stu show – he hit five 3’s and two crafty layups (as you recall he is at good at layups). Yellow were moving the ball well, getting it inside out with Thommo and Big A passing the ball expertly to all the shooters. Defensively Future and Madman were out on all jumpshots and the bigs were cleaning the glass. Palky got a late 3 and two more layups (one off and awesome outlet from Tom “Big A” Brady). Yellow win 61-31. Stu had 26, Palky 16 and Madman 6. Best game of the year for Yellow.


F's (6-1) vs Unley Park A (3-4) - Written by Max - The F’s went into the game wary of Unley Park who had been dropped from B grade a few weeks earlier. However the F’s started quickly scoring off the centre tip and were never headed again. The F’s displayed good ball rotation and made the most of their open looks at the basket. Mike was hitting jump shots from everywhere. Meanwhile Cam continued his recent run of good form, dominating on the boards at both ends, and making the most of his shot opportunities around the basket. At the other end, intense man defence was denying Unley Park any easy shots. The F’s went into half time up 28-13. The second half was more of the same except for a spell where the tiring F’s took their foot off the pedal, perhaps a sign that better attendance at Tuesday training might be beneficial. The F’s ran out winners 52-30. Cam and Mike had 12 points each, and Brad had 10. Thanks to Rough Justice for scoring, hopefully we will see his return to the court next week.

G's (5-0) - BYE

H's (2-3) v Burnside City A (0-6) - The H-Bombs returned to the hardwood after their maiden win last week, to face yet another team in the lower echelon of E/F grade.  The opposition gave the impression during warm-ups that they were as short on talent as they were in stature.  This impression did not fade when the game started, the H-Bombs scoring directly from the tip to establish a lead they would never relinquish.  During the first half they continued to score steadily, dominate the boards and play solid D, although the lack of ability of the opposition to pose a credible threat in any aspect of the game contributed significantly to the one-sided nature of the contest.  In fact they only had one player who appeared to have any basketball ability or height, and they didn’t bring him off the bench until half-way through the first half.  The score at intermission was 23-11.  With the result of the game never in doubt, and zealous officiating causing individual foul counts to rise, the second half defence by the H-Bombs was much less intense, allowing the Burnsiders to pick up a few easy baskets late in the game and make their score respectable.  The final score represented the closest margin of the second half, the H-Bombs winning 39-29.  All seven Redmen scored, Rhys scoring the most with 13 and Sam backing him up with 8.

Lady Reds (6-1) v Hawthorn A (0-7) – Written by Palky – 2nd v Last … it wasn’t the best game of basketball, the Lady Reds were too big, fast and skilful for Hawthorn who were a little underskilled. Lots of layups, lots of offensive boards, lots of jumpers. Not much more to say really … other than Georgie hit a 3 (her first ever for the Lady Reds). Win 56-7. Rachel 13, Claire O 12, Alicia 12.

Palky's Player of the Week - Week 7 - Stu MacDonald

Week 8 - Game Times:
PAOCBC As vs Gateway Baptist A - Adelaide Arena - Ct 1 - 4:20
PAOCBC Bs vs SPOC A - Adelaide Arena - Ct 1 - 1:00
PAOCBC Cs vs PAOCBC Es - Adelaide Arena - Ct 1 - 1:50
PAOCBC Ds vs SPOC B - Adelaide Arena - Ct 1 - 2:40
PAOCBC Fs vs SPOC D - Adelaide Arena - Ct 2 - 1:00
PAOCBC Gs vs PAOCBC Hs - Adelaide Arena - Ct 3 - 1:50
Lady Reds vs St Casimir Catholic A - Adelaide Arena - Ct 1 - 3:30

SACBA Week 6 results

MILESTONE: On Saturday – after 17 seasons of takings stats – Troy Tirrell finally played his 200^th. Troy (AKA Trev) has one record that no one will ever beat – he is the only player to play every season for the Old Reds Basketball Club … he has played all 23 seasons since the club was started in 1993.

Troy joined the club out of school and has been with us ever since. This is only his 200^th game in the stat keeping era but he was an integral member in the 6 years stats weren’t kept – playing in and running the Wednesday and Thursday teams as well as the Saturday B’s. He was one of the early leaders of the club and helped solidify its future as we were growing. Historically he is one of our most important members.

Trev has won 2 titles in his time in the club – one with the all-conquering D’s in 2005 (a team that had a 30 point per game winning margin) and the G’s in 2013 that had a great finals run. He was also a key member of the 2009 E’s that had a great run all season only to come up short in the Grand Final – Troy top scored. He was a key player/coach/organiser for the B’s in the 90s and early 2000s and he now lends his veteran savvy to the younger squads in the club.

He has won 2 team MVPs – one in the B’s in 1997 and in the E’s in 2009 and Best Team Man for Wednesday in 1994. He was the Club’s first Life Members (along with Sean Heylen) and he was the first player to play 20 years and he will likely be the first player to play 25 years.

He becomes the 20^th player to play 200 games … took him a while.

Well done.

A’s (5-1) v Oakden A – Written by Lachie - Coming into the game, down Corey and Parry, the A's knew they would have to step it up after last week. With LeBron wanting a man defence and Jack saying no, the A's started in the customary 2-3 zone. Big boxing out from Mike and LeBron let Liam go for double figure rebounds in the first half, with Fast Break Foo and Down Hill Jack getting out for easy fastbreaks. Garfoot started turning it up and making some tough contested shots, but aggressive defense from the guards soon brought this to an end. In the half court offensive quick movement inside got easy cutting layups for Foo and Liam, and big post moves for LeBron. Why doesn't he do that every week? When the defense started getting sucked in Mike and Liam made it rain. LeBron getting double boxed out meant Jack started racking up offensive boards and a few sweet tip ins. Oakden tried to make a late run in the second, but momentum was stopped by a wily timeout after back to back threes. PAC 65 - 28 Oakden. Jack 18, LeBron 14, Foo 12, Mike 12, Liam 11. Free throws 12/16. Much improved.

*Palky edit - this a crazy report ... I'm not sure what of these things did or did not happen - they actually won by 1 – 44-43 when Liam hit a game winner on the buzzer. Jack 18, Mike 8, Foo 7. I'm guessing Lachie is LeBron.

B’s BYE

C’s/White (3-1-2) v Influencers A – Written by Palky – The C’s would need to use their speed and nous to beat the young, athletic and unorthodox Influencers who surprisingly beat the E’s two weeks ago. By using their speed and nous, the C’s/White easily took care of business against the young, athletic and unorthodox Influencers. Just so everyone knows – don’t play man against the C’s – they love it! Their guards can beat their player of the dribble and BB, Tim and Dillon are all willing passers and Goody, Bubs and Hendo are too strong around the hoop to stop. The C’s set up their dominance early – establishing Goody in the low block. Defensively they were able to stay in front of the Influencers and make them take contested jumpers, they gobbled the boards and then ran and ran and ran with Moops and Bubs* getting on the end of the break (Moops had some amazing layups). The C’s won easily 50-22 and they are now starting to get it together as a team – I think they might be the team to beat. Bubs** had 20, Tim with 17 and Dillon 7.

*Worst name for an 80’s Cop Show ever.

**Palky’s Player of the Week

D's/Reds (3-3) v E's/Yellow (5-1) - Written by Palky - Yet another installment of Reds v Reds but in this case one of the Reds are the Yellows ... but they were wearing white. Reds in Red were missing Road Train so Morgan filled in in his place (can we call him Road Train Junior or Freight Train or Convoy). Yellow started well against the Reds' zone – hopefully I am not letting the cat out of the bag here … you don’t play zone against Yellow – they will kill you, too good at passing, too good at shooting. Palk, Mad, Stu and Future all hit 3’s and long jumpers, that spread the middle to allow Thommo to score inside. Marine was scoring for the D’s – but only a bit – and Yellow went in up 25-9 at half time. The 2^nd half Reds did what they should have done from the start and played man … and it was a grind. It was a mission in free throw futility, put nicely, when Thommo is the best free throw shooter on the court you know it isn’t pretty. Ned (AKA Tan Chino*) was getting to the line but airballed not one but two free throws. Big A and Thommo were too big inside, Stu and Foo a bit too crafty for Yellow. Simon hit some late baskets – a nice runner and a couple of jumpers for Red. Yellow win 33-17. Yellow – Stu had 10, Thommo 8, Future 6 – Red – Sime 6, Marine 5, Tan Chino 4.

*Because he wears Tan Chinos

F’s v Cherry Saints A – Written by Max - The F’s had a big win against a depleted Cherry Saints team earlier in the year, but this time the F’s had only 5 (with Brad still recovering from the flu) and Cherry Saints had a full roster. The F’s applied early pressure with a man defence but dropped back to a zone after 6 minutes to better protect the keyway. The F’s looked good on transition with Josh finishing strongly on a fast break. Darcy was controlling the play and shot a nice 3 pointer. Lots of sloppy passing hurt the F’s though and they held onto a 9-8 lead at half time. In the second half Cam was mega on the boards at both ends of the court, scoring on a couple of put backs and a nice drive. Brad also started to find his touch inside. The F’s used all of their timeouts to catch their breath and drain the clock. With time running down and the F’s sitting on a small lead, Cherry Saints ran a full court trap on the tiring F’s. This caused a couple of turnovers but also left them exposed with a couple of lob passes over the defence resulting in easy buckets for the F’s. End result the F’s ran out winners 34-26. Brad had 10 points, Cam and Darcy had 6 points each. Big thanks to Lenny for scoring for us.

G’s v Golden Grove A – NO REPORT. Won 15 – 42-27. Morgan 16, Hanzolo 8, Charlie 7.

H’s v Saint Peters A -  Written by Hitman - After a month-long hiatus caused by a combination of a bye, a balls-up and a birthday, the H-Bombs returned to the hardwood against St Peters Not Old Collegians - finally, a game against another team in the lower half of the E/F grade.  The opposition were quick to concede the two points for not having a scorer even before tip-off, and equally generous in conceding points soon after tip-off.  However, after the initial scoring burst, the game never reached any great heights due to the creative refereeing, calling an early foul on Kara when there was clearly no contact – a fact conceded by the opponent - but later in the game, they allowed other contact of Taperooesque proportions to go unwhistled.  After a half with few highlights beyond the early scoring flurry, the Redmen went into the break leading 11-5 (including the 2 points for no scorer).  The second half again began with an outburst of scoring, with Troy nailing his second triple for the game before it again turned into a grind, although with more scoring than the first stanza.  The Redmen did enough to maintain their lead, a couple of times SPNOC drew within a couple of buckets, only for Rhys to get a steal and a weaving coast-to-coast bucket to push the margin out again. The final siren was a welcome end to a frustrating forty minutes, the scoreboard reading 28-21 for a wire-to-wire maiden victory to the Redmen.  Rhys led the scoring with 8, Reid and Troy with 6 apiece.  Thanks to Mike for earning us 2 points by picking up the pen.*

* No, you don’t get to add them to your stats. 

Lady Reds (5-1) v Adelaide A (6-0) - Written by Palky – Another chapter to the Lady Reds v Adelaide battles … it has pretty much been a one sided battle with the Reds only beating them the once in 4 years. Both teams were undefeated going into the game and they are clearly the best 2 sides. The Reds started well with Alicia hitting an early 3, Megan and Rachel scoring on the break and Georgie scoring inside. Tied at 10 – Adelaide went on a 12-0 run and went into halftime up 22-12. The 2^nd half – the girls got down 18 and decided to matched up. This threw Adelaide off their game and they started to comeback – Megan and Alicia hit 3s, Rachel scored inside and hit a couple of free throws and Claire and Georgie both scored inside. Adelaide only stayed in it because they hit their free throws – going 9 of 10 in the second half and the Reds lost 28-35. Rachel 8, Georgie and Alicia 6.  

SACBA Week 5 Results + NO GAMES THIS WEEKEND!

As (4-1) lost to SPOC As (3-1) – Written by Mike Hill

Another day, another win for the A's. *

A's bolstering a full strength squad**, against Saints newly formed side with Crazy Chris and Kong. A's got out on the break early to kill the game***. Some late points inside from Kong kept the game respectable****. A's winning 60-40*****. Player of the day was Jack Harford as per usual******.

*We didn't win.

** Liam was out sick and Corey was late

*** We were down the whole game.

**** Our late scores got us within 2 with the ball and 12 seconds to go but we choked the possession.

***** We lost 41-39

****** Jack had his worst game but was still our best player.

Probably needed this loss to wake us up to playing half-court offence.

Scorers: Jack 12, Foo 10, Corey 9.

The A’s went 16/33 from the line. Lost by 2.

Bs (1-1-3) lost to Oakden As (2-3) – Written by Jono
The B's started off the game ok, the scores were pretty even but we kept a lead for most of the half, Tim was getting to the ring and drawing fouls, and Crawf got a few baskets to keep it close. Garfoot started to hit some long 2s and we were down 19-16 at the half. Second half the B's the game was pretty similar to the first, Phill was a good presents inside getting plenty of D boards but our problem was in our offence. At the end of the game we started to throw a few stupid fouls and it looked like emotions came into play with a couple silly unsportsmanlike fouls. Manners got a ridiculous tech and the end of the game just fell apart. the B's lost 44-34

The B's are starting to have some good moments on court but there is still a lot we need to work on.

Scorers: Jono 12, Tim 11, Phil 6.

White (2-1-2) defeated SPOC B (2-3) – Written by G

It was a shaky start for the Whites, shooting 6 airballs in the first 5 minutes. We steadied the ship, started putting together some good offences and getting the ball in the hole. The only thing letting us down was turnovers and getting back on D. We went in at half time up 11-8. The 2^nd half was freer flowing for both sides. We were getting some great extra passes for a better shot and hitting them. Tim and Bubs were getting open and hitting jumpers, Tim outside the key, Bubs inside. With about a minute and a half we were up by 4, but someone thought this wasn’t close enough and turned the ball over for an easy layup at ½ way. We steadied again and played good D and chewed the clock. They got the rebound with 15 seconds to go, Bubs does the smart foul at ½ way and SPOC don’t bother calling a sub or timeout and we win by 2. Bill Jr. (nfi what his name is) tried to argue that calling a sub didn’t stop the clock whilst jamming his finger into the instruction sheet exactly where it says that subs stop the clock. Also he’s salty when they lose.

It was a great team win and showed some good signs of gelling. But there is still a ways to go.

Score: 27-25

Scorers: Bubs 14, Tim 9, Goody, Hendo 2.

Reds (3-2) defeated to Knightsbridge A (1-1-3) – Written by G

Being down 4 players Corey and Morgan offered to fill in. The Reds had control early on but let Knightsbridge back into the game through not getting back on D. Knightsbridge scored 8 points in the last 3 minutes to go into half time ahead 14-13. The second half was a struggle with the Reds not being able to put the ball in the hole and lapses on transition D. Then in the last 5 minutes the Reds went on a tear outscoring Knightsbridge 10-3, Winning 37-30.

Scorers: Jay 14, Corey 12, Morgan 5.

Yellow (4-1) lost to Influencers A (1-4) – Written by Palky

After 2 years (almost to the day) on the sideline rehabbing from his leg injury, Tim Purgacz returned to the basketball court … it was great to see him out there and testament to his hard work to get back on court. The E’s were down Big A and The Future, so this would be a tough one against the quick and youthful Influencers. Up against the man, Yellow were getting great looks with nothing falling. Stu and Thommo did the bulk of the scoring. Influencers hit so many rubbish shots – banked jumpers, fall away j’s, contested 3’s – it was a frustrating game. Stu had a shot to tie it with 20 seconds left but it didn’t fall. Yellow with their first loss – 28 to 35. Thommo 11, Stu 9, Corbel 5. Free throws 8 of 20!

Fs (4-1) defeated Northgate A (2-3) – Written by Max

This should have been an easy win for the top of the ladder ‘F’s against the bottom of the ladder Northgate, even without Brad and Rough Justice. The F’s never really got going though and other than a few good plays looked flat. Cam did his best around the hoop with some strong rebounding and put backs. However Northgate got far too many offensive rebounds and second chance opportunities. Northgate clogged up the lanes on defence and the F’s couldn’t convert their outside shots. Again the game was marred for both teams by horrible umpiring. It was inconsistent and at times unfathomable. It might not have changed the outcome but made for an unenjoyable game. It’s a joke that the two umpires responsible are employed year after year. The F’s went down 30-21. Cam scored 7 points, Mike and Darcy had 5 points.

Gs (4-0) Game to be replayed

Hs (0-3) Game to be replayed

Lady Reds (5-0) defeated Trininty A (0-5) – Written by Palky

Palky was enjoying a cold one after a tough loss, so missed the first 30 minutes of the game … and the word missing is used loosely, because he didn’t “miss” anything. A top v bottom clash – the Lady Reds played down to Trinity’s level and won 26-6. Lots and lots of free throws. Trinity didn’t seem to happy. Megan scored her 4 points when Palky was there so at least he saw that. Georgie and Tracey 7, Megan and Claire 4. Next game is a big one against Adelaide.

Game Times:

NO GAMES THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!

Venues:

Wayville Stadium – Rose Terrace, Wayville

Adelaide Arena – 44a Crittenden Road, Findon

Marion Leisure Centre – Oaklands Road, Morphettville

Westminster School - Allison Avenue, Marion

Trinity Baptist – Bedford Square, Colonel Light Gardens