Hawks a wee bit plucked
TweetUNUSUALLY disengaged, Illawarra last night could not keep up with the 36ers in Adelaide, outworked by the Sixers in front of another adoring home crowd.
It was a good size too, given the fact AC-DC was playing up the road at Adelaide Oval, and loud, especially when Anthony Petrie was throwing down dunks or Jerome Randle befuddling defenders.
An 11-3 boards edge for Adelaide at quarter-time explained their 33-24 lead, Daniel Johnson bouncing back for his first big game against a rival "name" big, Mitch Creek, Lucas Walker and Brendan Teys not afraid to get their hands dirty scrambling for balls.
Kirk Penney had a 14-point first-half for Illawarra but finished with 15, Kevin Lisch the Hawks' mainstay.
But after Petrie attacked Oscar Forman early, the Big O was noticeably quiet - he scored the first basket of the game and finished with four points - while AJ Ogilvy also lacked his usual impact.
A few of the others barely showed up, giving Illawarra some cause for solace considering it only lost by 12.
TOO HOT TO HANDLE: Jerome Randle befuddled Hawks defenders.
DJ lowering AJ's colours was a big story of the game, the 36ers' 2013-14 NBL All Star Five selection scrapping, hustling, and playing hard all over the floor for his 15-16 points-boards double, along with three assists, two steals and two blocks.
Today: MELBOURNE hits New Zealand with Hakim Warrick back in the line-up, which bettors on this game should factor in. So too how healthy Cedric Jackson might be for the Breakers after banging up his knee in Sydney. I'm still liking the Breakers but I understand if you want to jump back onto United.
I LIKED Cairns for the upset in Perth and only have a bit of doubt about that now because there's only usually one big upheaval per round and Townsville already achieved that in Melbourne. Ah what the heck, as much as I respect Perth in the pinch, it holds no special fears for Alex Loughton and Matt Burston (both from Perth) or Cam Gliddon and Mark Worthington (both from Bunbury) so sticking with the Orange.
Last night: 36ERS 89 (Randle 20, Petrie 16, Johnson 15, Teys 11, Creek, Ere 10; Johnson 16 rebs; Randle 6 assts) d HAWKS 77 (Lisch 19, Ogilvy 17, Penney 15; Coenraad 7 rebs; Penney 6 assts) at Titanium Security Arena.
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Sixers-Hawks match report: http://bit.ly/1kOi8Mi