Tip-off: Wednesday, January 25, 7.30pm (local), Townsville Entertainment Centre

Last time they met: Townsville 99 (Schenscher 25, Crawford 13, Crosswell 12, Ellis 12) d Adelaide 97 (Ng 21, Howard 17, Holmes 13) OT, Round 11, 2010/11, Adelaide Arena

Holmes coming
These teams meet for the first time since December 23, 2010, and for the first time since long-time 36er Jacob Holmes made the move to north Queensland.

Holmes said as much as he is looking forward to the game he “can’t afford to play any differently” than normal given the playoff dogfight the Crocs are in.

The 36ers have struggled offensively since point guard Nathan Crosswell tore his Achilles tendon, their last three outings bringing just 68.3 points a game and 37 per cent shooting. Their assist to turnover ratio has been a horrible 0.48.

Stephen Weigh tried to pick up the slack against Cairns, making 8 of 14 field goals and finishing with a brilliant 21 points.Holmes will spend time on the 24-year-old and knows he must use his experience.

“Stevie Weigh is playing inside and out, he’s shooting threes and putting it on the floor,” he said.

“I am a little bigger than him so that’s something I can use in the post. But he’s had some big scoring nights this year so I have to make sure it’s an off night for him.”

New Balls?
The Sixers have also missed captain Adam Ballinger most of this season, taking away a valuable frontcourt perimeter option. But Holmes has been impressed with former teammate Daniel Johnson.

“He’s not Adam Ballinger, but he’s on his way.

“He’s playing great basketball and looking to score whenever he touches the ball.”

Johnson also appears to be feeling the absence of Crosswell, his output slipping to 11.7 points and 14 of 34 shooting in the past three games.

At the other end, Johnson is fourth in the league in defensive rebounding and fifth in blocks, but when Townsville go with a small line-up Holmes will be looking to drag the 212cm giant to the perimeter with his 46 per cent three-point shooting.

Many gears
Adelaide’s 24-point first quarter against Cairns showed how dangerous the 36ers are when allowed to play in the open court.

Holmes believes the Crocs will need to control the speed of the game better than they did against Wollongong.

“We pride ourselves on being able to play different styles of basketball,” he said.

“But we’ve still got to dictate the tempo and last week we had it dictated to us.

“From what I’ve seen they’re a team that can play a couple of different styles, but we’ll watch some tape of games they’ve lost and see how that’s happened.”

Pick and choose
Point guard Chris Warren may be having a down patch, but Holmes isn’t underestimating how dangerous he and back-up Everard Bartlett can be if allowed space.

“They run a lot of on-ball screens and a lot of up-the-floor screens to get their guys going at the rim,” he said.

“We’ve made a few good steps the past few weeks in defending the on-ball screen and I think we’re going to have to be great at that against Adelaide.

“At the same time, you don’t want to help too far because you have to get back to Diamon Simpson and DJ who are dangerous around the rim.”

The wrap
The Crocs can win their fourth in a row on Wednesday night and put a small deposit on a playoff berth.

The 36ers have an offensively potent line-up, but they haven’t functioned well post-Crosswell after being one of the highest scoring teams to that point.

Adelaide have struggled to play the game at the tempo they desire for four quarters. Townsville are the chameleons of the NBL and should have too much class at home.

Prediction: Crocs by 12