Basketball On The Internet.

*FLASHBACKS, my weekly "lucky dip" where I just reach into my drawers of old Australian basketball stuff and transcribe whatever I find for you.

The "West End 36ers" of Adelaide had a game night program for all home matches in their 1986 championship year. This random one was from the night Hobart Devils came to town on May 3.

 

WHAT A START!

The NBL season started in a blaze of blocked shots, devastating dunks and spectacular shots last weekend, with Adelaide's own West End 36ers showing again they'd be in the running for the title.

The Sydney Supersonics also impressed. Down, and for all intents and purposes, out ... they picked themselves up off the mat and pushed the Sixers to a torrid finish.

It was the 36ers' game from the word go. Their first term 38-18 blitz put the game on ice and, ahead 64-43 at the break, it looked all but over for the Sonics. The fact Sydney actually cut the deficit to five spoke volumes for its character.

Sixer skipper Bill Jones showed he is heading for a boom season with a 30-point game - his NBL career high.

Elsewhere around the NBL, Sydney's 99-91 win over Perth in Perth suggests a long year for the Wildcats. It's still early days of course but matches won in the WA capital are worth pure gold. Brisbane was too powerful for Hobart, winning 115-83 but the Devils impressed against the Cannons in Canberra before squandering the lead and the game 95-98.

Illawarra was desperately unlucky, losing to Geelong 121-112 in double overtime and Coburg 103-104.

 

Tonight's Schedule

4.30pm WBC - South Adelaide Panthers v Launceston Lions

6.15pm WNBL - North Adelaide Rockets v Coburg Cougars

8.15pm NBL - West End 36ers v Hobart Devils

 

WE SHOULDN'T HAVE WON

Quote of the Week this week really should go to Geelong coach Ken Richardson, the man who masterminded West Adelaide's 1982 NBL championship.

Speaking after his Cats had opened the season with a 121-112 home victory over David Lindstrom's vastly improved Illawarra Hawks, Richardson said bluntly: "We shouldn't have won." How can a coach make such a statement? Easy. Check out this scenario.

With 30 seconds to play, Illawarra was leading by three points. Skipper Gordie McLeod was intentionally fouled as the Cats battled desperately for a steal. The new ruling on an intentional foul has it penalised with two free throws, PLUS possession from the side.

You get the picture. Illawarra is up by three, McLeod is on the foul-line for two shots and the Hawks to get possession after the penalty throws.

So what happened?

McLeod, a Moscow Olympian and a reliable free throw shooter, inexplicably misses both.

On the Hawks' additional possession, Geelong pulls off a steal on the side-ball and dual-Olympic forward Ian Davies buries a three-point basket for his new club! OVERTIME!

With McLeod leading the way, Illawarra recovers and has all the answers in the five-minute extension. But again it takes a 30-foot prayer on the buzzer by Geelong to tie the game and force a second overtime.

So it turns out Geelong finally wears out the Hawks to win 121-112 in double O/T.

"We really shouldn't have won," said Richardson. "They beat us everywhere for just about the entire match. If it wasn't for our ability to make three-pointers, we would've been dead for sure."

Truth is stranger than fiction.

Last year Geelong lost a match in similarly unusual circumstances. Leading Nunawading by three with 20 seconds to play, Richardson called a time-out on a Nunawading offensive side-ball. He gave his charges explicit instructions not to foul, surrender an easy (lay-up) basket but NOT a three-pointer. Richardson reasoned if his team gave up a two-point basket, it would still win. So what happened?

A Nunawading player drove to the hoop, James Crawford soared and blocked his shot. Wonderful, right?

Wrong.

The rejected shot sailed out to Alan Black beyond the 3-point line. He shot it as the buzzer sounded and, you guessed it, it was an all-net swish. What you may NOT have guessed though was Black also was fouled on the shot. He made the bonus free throw and Nunawading won by a point!

And you wonder why coaches have grey hair.

 

NBL SNIPPETS

*SPARE a thought for Illawarra Hawks coach David Lindstrom. In his debut last weekend, he watched his team squander certain victory against Geelong in double overtime, then lose 103-104 to Coburg in Coburg on Sunday. In what was billed as Ray Borner's long-awaited return "home", it turned out to be a disaster for the giant former-Giant. He sprained his ankle in the fourth minute and Illawarra virtually played the match without him.*

*IF you're starting to think that makes the Hawks' one-point loss to Coburg start looking pretty good, join the club. Bear in mind, Coburg's new U.S. centre Jim Foster dominated the game for 43 points.*

*LEROY Loggins, the Brisbane superstar who blew the West End 36ers out of last year's grand final, started the season last week in blistering form. He finished with 31 points against Hobart, after a 17-point first quarter.*

*ST KILDA's new American, Kory Bakkum, was carried from the court after injuring his knee against Melbourne. Bakkum, one of the heroes of the Saints' 116-110 win, crashed heavily into courtside seating only 46 seconds from the end of the game. He bagged 24 points and was sadly missed against Nunawading on Sunday when the Spectres won 103-98. Bakkum is doubtful for this weekend's matches.*

*NUNAWADING's NBL delegate Bill Palmer is in such demand as a TV commentator, the Brisbane Bullets fly him up to the Queensland capital to call their home games.*

*COBURG's second import Willie Simmons arrived last Saturday morning. The 211cm centre made an outstanding debut on Sunday, opening the match with a sky-hook, then a slam dunk. He finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks.*

 

WEST END 36ERS V HOBART CASCADE DEVILS

Sixers

4 Darryl Pearce, 8 Peter Ali, 9 Raymon Wood, 10 Mike McKay, 12 Peter Sexton, 14 Bill Jones, 15 Al Green, 20 Dwayne Nelson, 32 David Spear, 33 Mark Davis. Coach: Ken Cole. Manager: Jeff Coulls. Trainer: Keith Woods. 

 

Devils

4 Steve Bowden, 5 Paul Simpson, 6 Brennan Stanwix, 7 Warren Stanwix, 8 Jerry dennard, 9 Peter Mann, 10 Dan Van Holst Pellekan, 11 Steve Carfino, 12 Murray Shiels, 14 Jeff Acres. Coach: David Adkins. Manager: Alick Smith

Officials: Geoff Weeks & Greg Love

 

4.30, Women's Basketball Conference

South Adelaide Panthers v Launceston Lions

Panthers: 4 Michelle Ahmatt, 5 Raelene Burroughs, 6 Vicki Orlick, 7 Kirsty Ahmatt, 8 Debbie Arsego, 10 Dianne McMahon, 11 Donna Dunbar, 12 Jo Clark, 13 Carol Andrew, 14 Karen Bowley, 15 Marian Djurasevich. Coach: Phil Smyth. Manageress: Helen Ahmatt

Lions: 4 Jo Armstrong, 5 Angela Heald, 8 Angela Warren, 9 Kaye Clarke, 10 Junella Tuck, 11 Julie Bresner, 12 Phillippa Restall, 13 Liz Warren, 14 Trudi Jordan, 15 Narelle Clarke. Coach: Barry Hodgetts. Manager: Lyn Larsen.

6.15, Women's National Basketball League

North Adelaide Rockets v Coburg Cougars

Rockets: 5 Michelle Weir, 6 Jan Stirling, 7 Fiona Glidden, 8 Anna-Lisa Stabile, 9 Pat Mickan, 10 Laura Giaretto, 12 Marina Moffa, 14 Vicky Daldy, 15 Anne Somers, 21 Sue Skinner. Coach: Kay McFarlane. Asst: Kay Cox. Manageress: Helen Buvinic.

Cougars: 4 Jan Morris, 5 Sue Pickering, 6 Michelle O'Connor, 7 Leeanne Grantham, 9 Sharon Castledine, 11 Paula Hetenyi, 12 Karin Maar, 14 Cheryl Chambers, 15 Chris Frangos. Coach: Tammy Good. Manageress: Sue Hunt.

 

WEST END 36ERS V HOBART CASCADE DEVILS - PREVIEW

THERE's much you can expect when the 36ers play the Devils but one thing few would expect is a Hobart victory.

While Adelaide and Hobart have some things in common (they're both capital cities, their teams are both sponsored by local beers) in six NBL clashes since the Tasmanians were admitted to the big league in 1983, the Sixers hold a 6-0 streak. The NBL single-game pointscoring record is 160 points - set by Adelaide against Hobart in 1984.

But it is true the two clubs have things in common. For example, they are the relative babies of the NBL. The 36ers came into the league in 1982 while Hobart is the newest chum.

But while Adelaide has had only two coaches (first Mike Osborne and now Ken Cole), Hobart has tried someone new each season. Keith Scott (83), Danny Adamson (84) and Charlie Ammitt (85) had the hotseat before David Adkins was brought in this season to finally help Hobart achieve its potential.

The difference between the two clubs to date has been the 36ers' consistency. Adelaide finished 7th in its debut 1982 season with a 15-11 record. In 83 the 36ers played in the league's Western Division notching an 11-11 record which left them outside the playoff top four. Hobart was eighth with a 2-20 mark but improved in 84 to sixth in the West with a 4-19 record. The Sixers were third in the Division on 16-7 but bundled out of the playoffs by Nunawading.

Last year the 36ers fought out the final against Brisbane while Hobart, with its 2-24 record, held up the NBL ladder.

Head-to-head comparisons reveal Adelaide has a 63% success rate, winning 62 of its 97 NBL matches. Hobart has an 11% success mark, winning 8 of its 71 games.

All that could change this year. Coach Adkins has recruited possibly the most exciting new American guard into the NBL, Steve Carfino, to go with naturalised American centre Jerry Dennard (who played here with Central District) and U.S. forward Jeff Acres.

Powerful Aussie centre Murray Shiels, at 210cm, is the type of pivot a program can be built around and Adkins is confident the Devils this year will shake off the easybeats tag.

Last weekend Hobart took Canberra to a three-point decision in Canberra. Those same Cannons beat Adelaide by two in a practice game here a fortnight ago. The Devils easybeats still? Not likely.