Adelaide 36ers @ Wollongong Hawks
Wednesday 25 November 7:30 PM – WIN Entertainment Centre
The Adelaide 36ers (6-4, 3rd) will play bitter rivals Wollongong (7-4, 1st) for the second time this season when the two teams face off against each other this Wednesday at ‘The Sandpit’ in Wollongong. The 36ers won their first clash this season, downing the Hawks 83-76 in Round Eight. Adam Ballinger had 17 points and seven rebounds for the 36ers in that match, while the import tandem of John Gilchrist and Cortez Groves had 15 points apiece. Mat Campbell racked up a game-high 22 points for the Hawks and Cameron Tragardh added 18.
The Hawks’ American import Tywain McKee had an uncharacteristically low-scoring game last time around, so expect him to be looking to make amends in this one. He had an NBL career low of just six points, and went 0-of-6 from three-point territory. McKee has only scored in single-figures on one other occasion in his 11 games in the NBL thus far, and that was against the Melbourne Tigers when he returned seven points on 4 November. Every other game he has scored at least 18 points, and he’s racked up over 20 points on six occasions. The Hawks have a 5-1 win-loss record when McKee scores 20 or more but are just 2-3 when he doesn’t.
The Wollongong Hawks have won their past four straight matches against the 36ers at The Sandpit. The last time Adelaide won on the road in Wollongong was on 24 September 2006, when the 36ers scored an 89-85 win.
Overall, the Hawks hold a 20-18 edge in all-time games played against the 36ers in Wollongong, but Adelaide have a significant 48-26 advantage in the all-time win-loss record between the teams.
Sixer Jacob Holmes needs just 46 more points to reach the 2,000-point milestone with Adelaide. With a career high of 28 points (co-incidentally recorded against the 36ers whilst playing for the South Dragons on 7 February 2007) it seems likely Holmes will need to wait until the 36ers’ game on Friday against Townsville at least to reach that mark. His highest score in a 36ers uniform is the 27 he had on 8 November 2003 against the Melbourne Tigers.
The NBL’s two best scorers go head to head in this one, with Hawk McKee leading the league in points averaging 18.7 points per game followed closely by Adelaide 36ers’ star Adam Ballinger (18.0ppg). The last time a Hawks player led the league in scoring at the end of the regular season was in 2006, when Cortez Groves (now with Adelaide) averaged 24.1 points per game.
Wollongong and Adelaide are the two best rebounding teams in the NBL currently. The Hawks are averaging 40.9 boards per game and the 36ers 40.2. The 36ers rate so well largely because of Jacob Holmes, who is averaging a league-high 8.5 caroms per game. The glass might prove critical in this game however as it will feature five of the top ten defensive rebounders in the league. Adelaide’s Holmes is averaging 6.5 per game which is the best in the NBL, while his teammate John Gilchrist is also ranked in the top ten (4.6, 7th). Wollongong’s trio of Larry Davidson (4.6, 6th), Glen Saville (4.3, 8th) and Cameron Tragardh (4.3, 9th) are also in the top ten for defensive boards.
This game will also see the NBL’s two leading assist-givers square off in what is sure to be a fascinating point guard battle. Gilchrist is currently the league leader in dimes dropped, with 4.3 assists per game, while McKee is ranked second at 4.2.
The venue scoring record for ‘The Sandpit’ is 45 points, which was recorded by diminutive point guard Kavossy Franklin for the Hunter Pirates on 13 February 2005. Adelaide’s Adam Ballinger has three of the top seven scoring performances ever in the building however, having scored 39 points on three separate occasions when he was playing for Wollongong.
Cairns Taipans @ New Zealand Breakers
Thursday 26 November 7:00 PM – North Shore Events Centre
The Cairns Taipans (6-8, 7th) host a return bout against the Breakers (6-6, 5th) after scoring a 77-64 victory over New Zealand last round that squared the season series between the teams at 1-1. That result sees New Zealand maintain a +7 advantage in the points differential between the teams with two matches to play.
After suffering a five-game losing streak, the Snakes have now won three of their past five games including the past two straight. Both New Zealand and Cairns scored their first win away from home this season in Round 9, with New Zealand downing Townsville and Cairns beating Melbourne at ‘The Cage’ for the first time ever.
In the game between these two sides last round, Dusty Rychart did the damage for Cairns with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Rich Melzer added 17 points. CJ Bruton was the only Breakers’ player to score in double-figures in that game, with just 10 points.
In the two games played by Cairns and New Zealand thus far, the Taipans trio of Rich Melzer, Phill Jones and Julien ‘Skip’ Mills have been the leading scorers for Cairns with an average of 14.5 points per game each. Breakers superstar and reigning league MVP Kirk Penney had 32 points in his one game against the Taipans prior to sustaining his back injury, whilst CJ Bruton has averaged 19.0 points per game against the Snakes in two matches this season.
Penney is expected to return to the Breakers’ line-up this week, and should provide a significant boost to New Zealand. Interestingly, the Breakers have actually gone better without Penney in the line-up (5-4), than they did when he played at the start of the season (1-2). The Breakers have however seen their scoring dip without Penney from 84.0 with him in the line-up to 81.9 without him. The all-time numbers also show the true worth of Penney, with the Breakers going 46-96 (32%) in their history with games where Penney wasn’t in a Breakers’ uniform and 37-28 (57%) where he was.
The Taipans hold a 14-9 edge in the all-time win-loss record against the Breakers and also lead 7-5 in games played in New Zealand.
This game will see Breakers’ veteran Tony Ronaldson become the first NBL player ever to play 650 games. Ronaldson has an all-time career 421-228 win-loss record as a player, and has won more games than any other athlete in NBL history. Ronaldson also now needs just 15 points to reach the 10,000 career points mark. He will become just the fifth player ever to reach that milestone.
NBL Record for Games Played
649 Tony Ronaldson
612 Andrew Gaze
567 Leroy Loggins
554 Mark Bradtke
532 Lanard Copeland
524 Brett Maher
518 Ray Borner
508 Paul Rees
504 James Crawford
489 Anthony Stewart
Note: Next closest active player is Glen Saville (Wollongong), with 472 games who is currently 16th on the all-time list. Should Saville play all 17 remaining Hawks’ home games, he would finish the regular season tied in tenth place with Anthony Stewart and then break the 500-game mark and take sole possession of tenth in the playoffs, should the Hawks qualify.
Adelaide 36ers @ Townsville Crocodiles
Friday 27 November 7:30 PM – Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre
The Adelaide 36ers (6-4, 3rd) meet the Townsville Crocodiles (6-7, 6th) for the second time this season with their initial clash going down to the wire. Their first encounter went down to the buzzer before the 36ers snatched a thrilling one-point victory, 90-89, at the Distinctive Homes Dome. In that game, the 36ers tandem of Adam Ballinger and John Gilchrist scored 24 and 21 points respectively, while Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams had a game-high 32 points for the Crocs.
That total by Williams was the equal-third highest individual scoring effort of the season thus far. The highest score so far in 2009/10 was also by Williams, being his 37-point effort against the Gold Coast Blaze on 16 October. Adelaide’s Adam Ballinger has the second highest score this season, with 36 points, recorded on 7 November also against the Blaze.
Top 10 Top Individual Scores – Season 2009/10 through Round 9
37 – Corey Williams (Townsville) – 16/10/09 vs. Gold Coast
36 – Adam Ballinger (Adelaide) – 7/11/09 vs. Gold Coast
32 – Corey Williams (Townsville) – 9/10/09 vs. Adelaide
32 – Shawn Redhage (Perth) – 9/10/09 vs. Gold Coast
32 – Kirk Penney (New Zealand) – 24/09/09 vs. Cairns
32 – CJ Bruton (New Zealand) – 8/10/09 vs. Melbourne
31 – Mark Worthington (Melbourne) – 14/10/09 vs. Gold Coast
31 – Mark Worthington (Melbourne) – 21/10/09 vs. Adelaide
29 – Erron Maxey (Gold Coast) – 14/10/09 vs. Melbourne
29 – Corey Williams (Townsville) – 30/10/09 vs. Melbourne
The highest ever score by a Sixer against Townsville was the 41-point effort of Brett Maher on 17 November 2000. The top individual score by a Croc against Adelaide was also 41, recorded by Rimas Kurtinaitis on 25 June 1993. The venue record at The Swamp is 61 points by Shane Heal for the Brisbane Bullets, set on 23 September 1994.
The Crocs have won their past six games against the 36ers played at ‘The Swamp’ in Townsville. The last time the 36ers took a win away from a roadtrip to Townsville was way back on 5 December 2003. In the early days of this rivalry however the 36ers owned the Crocs on their home court, with Adelaide winning their first eight straight games in Townsville. Overall, the 36ers have a 12-10 win-loss record against the Crocs in Townsville, and a 30-17 advantage in all games played all-time between the teams.
The Crocs are currently one of just two teams with losing records on their own home courts. Both Townsville and Melbourne are 2-3 at home this season. The Crocs do however have the best away record in the NBL this season. The Crocs are 4-4 on the road for season 2009/10, whilst no other team in the league has won more than one game away from home.
Looking at the stats for this season, second half fadeouts have been an issue for Adelaide. The 36ers are averaging 43.4 points per game in the first half of games, but just 38.3 in the second. That is a differential of -5.1 in the second half. By comparison, the Crocs slightly improve in the final two quarters, averaging 43.0 in the first half and 43.1 in the second.
Adelaide’s Darren Ng needs just two points to record the 1,000th point of his NBL career.
Gold Coast Blaze @ Perth Wildcats
Saturday 28 November 7:00 PM – Challenge Stadium
The Perth Wildcats (7-4, 2nd) play the Gold Coast Blaze (6-6, 4th) for the third time this season and second time in two weeks when they face off at ‘The Jungle’ in Perth this Saturday night. The Wildcats won their first meeting on 26 September 89-84 in Perth, but the Blaze bounced back last round to record an 84-79 victory on the Gold Coast to level the season series at 1-1. The result also levelled the points differential between the clubs at zero, with both teams having scored 168 points in the series, making this game three critical to both teams.
So far against Gold Coast this season, Shawn Redhage has been the form player for the Wildcats, averaging 28.0 points across the two games. Erron Maxey has led the scoring against Perth for the Blaze in 2009/10, averaging 18.5 points per outing.
For the record, Perth are the only team this season who suffer a larger second half slump than the Adelaide 36ers, with a -6.0 differential. This figure for the Wildcats however was undoubtedly impacted by their club record low of just five points in the third quarter against Gold Coast last round. That was the lowest score in a single quarter ever for Perth, surpassing their previous low of 7 points set on 27 May 1998 against the South East Melbourne Magic.
2009/10 First half scoring versus second half scoring
Team First Half Score Second Half Score Differential
Adelaide 43.4 38.3 -5.1
Cairns 37.8 36.9 -0.9
Gold Coast 43.5 42.7 -0.8
Melbourne 42.5 41.1 -1.4
New Zealand 39.6 41.6 +2.0
Perth 46.6 40.6 -6.0
Townsville 43.0 43.1 +0.1
Wollongong 40.2 42.9 +2.7
This will be the Blaze’s fifth trip ever to Challenge Stadium and thus far they have an 0-4 win-loss record at ‘The Jungle’. The average winning margin for the Wildcats in those four games has been a healthy 10.0 points, although the last two wins have been be single-figures (six and five points). In their history the Blaze have yet to record road wins against two teams in the competition – Perth and Melbourne. Overall, the Blaze and Wildcats have met eight times with the Wildcats holding a 5-3 advantage in the all-time head-to-head.
These two clubs continue to be the two highest scoring sides in the competition, with the Wildcats averaging a league-high 87.2 points per match and the Blaze 86.2 (2nd in NBL).
