Preview: Sydney v Adelaide (Round 9)

When: 2pm (AEDT), Sunday 4 December, 2022

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

Broadcast: 10 Peach; 10 Play; ESPN; Foxtel; Kayo; Sky NZ

Who won last time?

Adelaide 92 (Randall 24, Johnson 17, Cleveland 17, McCarron 15) d Sydney 82 (Walton 23, Vasiljevic 15, Noi 12, Simon 12) – Round 4 at Qudos Bank Arena

Adelaide came ready to play in Round 4 after some off-court trash talking from Sydney, Antonius Cleveland and Robert Franks propelling them to a 19-10 advantage. The Kings made their move after interval, surging ahead with guard tandem Derrick Walton and DJ Vasiljevic dominant, but eight quick Daniel Johnson points midway through the final term turned the game again, and Craig Randall sealed the deal with a massive late trifecta.


What happened last game?

Sydney let another late-game lead slip in Cairns last Monday, leading by 14 with eight minutes to play and by eight with two remaining. But Xavier Cooks fouled out and the Kings crumbled, eventually falling in overtime. Adelaide again came charging home on Friday, climbing a 19-point mountain to win in remarkable fashion down the stretch. Cleveland was the dominant force all night, while Franks made the free throws that mattered.


What’s working?

Defensive energy – After trailing by 17 early in the third term, Adelaide scored 29 of their final 46 points playing off live turnovers and defensive rebounds. They connected at 48 per cent on those plays, compared to 38 per cent playing from dead balls. The reason they could compile so many fast points was their hand pressure and passing lane anticipation, forcing 11 turnovers and holding Cairns to 9/30 from the field (30%) over the final 19 minutes. In the opening 21 minutes, the Snakes shot at a 47 per cent clip and had seven miscues.

Xavier Cooks – In his past two injury and foul-interrupted outings, Cooks has played 33 minutes and delivered 38 points on 17/22 from the field, 14 rebounds, seven o-boards and the Kings are +20 with him on the floor but -18 without him. That includes a 12-24 capitulation in the final seven minutes of regulation and overtime in Cairns, highlighting their rebounding and defensive deficiencies at the four-spot when X isn’t on the spot.


What needs stopping?

Brick city – Adelaide’s city jerseys looked spectacular on Friday, but they should have been earth red to commemorate the 36ers’ shooting efforts of late, which has seen them brick 80 of their past 111 long-range attempts – an average of 6.2 triples at 28 per cent. While there has been discussion around whether the Sixers should sign a third import, they desperately need someone who can consistently spread the floor for their array of versatile athletes.

Fouling – The Kings mastered their physicality last season, and it held them in good stead to open NBL23. But since the change of officiating leading into the FIBA break they haven't adjusted, giving up 29 free throws per game in their past three outings. Tim Soares and Jordy Hunter have committed 23 fouls between them in those games, severely weakening their interior game, especially with Cooks limited. The Kings were +17.5 per game on ‘ones and twos’ in their opening eight contests, but have averaged -3.3 in the past three.


Who’s matching up?

Xavier Cooks v Robert Franks – While Cooks hasn’t been able to miss, Robo had a booboo on Friday, shooting 3/18 from the field – including 0/6 on twos outside the no-charge area – but he was outstanding in his match-up with Keanu Pinder, keeping the MVP candidate to just 12 points on eight shot attempts. Cooks and Franks played each other to a standstill in Round 4, the X-man held to nine points on 4/11 and Robo just 13 points on 5/16.
 
Tim Soares v Daniel Johnson – Tim’s averaged 4.3 fouls in his past four games as the whistle tightens, resulting in just 16 minutes per night. His naturally dropping defence was exploited from deep by DJ Hogg and will be tested out by Johnson, who has quietly re-found some form with 27 points at 56 per cent and 17 rebounds, including five important o-boards, in his past two games. Can he rediscover his long-range stroke and make Soares pay?

Derrick Walton v Antonius Cleveland – Walton was the star in Round 4 with 23 points at 55 per cent and six dimes. Will CJ Bruton deploy AC to him again, or will Sunday Dech get the job? Given Cleveland torched Cairns with 22 points, eight boards, four dimes – including 13 points and three dimes inside the opening 10 seconds of the shot clock – and two crucial final-quarter steals, perhaps allowing him to roam off Justin Simon is a recipe for success.

https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1598614609480790016


Who’s saying what?

It might sound strange, but Thursday’s tough comeback W might have been the 36ers’ best performance of the year.

That’s strange because it was Adelaide’s third-lowest scoring night of the season, they shot 38 per cent from the field and coughed up 20 turnovers.

It was a far cry from the polish of their road wins in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne, but the Sixers already knew they could win scoring big.

What they didn’t know – after being ground down by Tasmania and New Zealand – was if they could win the kind of struggles that playoff games often become.

“You’ve got to find ways to get some of these games,” coach CJ Bruton said afterwards.

In reality, Friday’s second half was their best 20 minutes of NBL23, a 46-28 mauling where they found the balance between playing fast off their defence, without gifting their opponents scores going the other way.

That’s not easy to do against Cairns, whose grappling defensive style forces plenty of mistakes, and whose impressive athleticism and shooting converts that into points.

“Turning the ball over against a team that lives off turnovers, and having 11 in the first half and seven in the first term really set the tone and led to transition buckets for them,” Bruton said.

“I reminded the boys at half-time that there’s two halves, right now the effort (level) we need to play at, the intensity we need to play at, there just needed to be an urgency.

“The casualness was like watching an NBA game when they’ve played 50 games.”

https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1598622939360133120


The challenge Bruton has set his team after showing their second-half wares against the Snakes is simple.

“Playing with urgency from the jump, and setting the tone early,” he said.

“I want to see that consistently, especially we’ve got a month coming where we play a lot of games and they’ll come thick and fast, hopefully we’ll respond to that and play the way we did to start the second half.”

That’s something they did with aplomb last time they travelled to Sydney, jumping nine ahead in the opening 150 seconds and only coughing the Spalding up 11 times for the game.

“The way that we controlled the tempo for that game, the guys stuck to the scout,” Bruton said.

“Sydney’s Sydney, playing at home they made a run, they're a talented team, they weren’t first place for any other reason than they're great at what they do.

“They showed that in the fightback and the way they played, but I thought the way (Mitch McCarron) controlled the tempo and constructed our team to execute at the end of the game to get the win was definitely a key.”

Defensively, the 36ers allowed just nine fast break points, 11 second change points, only six made triples and 15 trips to the free-throw line in a disciplined display.

“Holding Sydney to 88 points, they're the hottest team in the league in transition,” Bruton said.

“They lived in the paint against us tonight, there’s a few things that we’ll clean up.”

https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1597181528857088000


That paint dominance, fuelled by the penetration of Derrick Walton and DJ Vasiljevic, who expertly exploited the open side via pick-and-roll after ball reversals, left coach Chase Buford ruing some wayward shooting.

“I actually thought we played really well through a lot of the stretch, dominated the game in a lot of areas and couldn’t make a shot, and they did, so credit to them,” he said.

“We score 58 points in the paint to their 28, we shoot 46 shots in the paint to their 29 and still get out-shot from the foul line.”

Of course, the 36ers went 14/35 from long range to win that game, with Craig Randall 6/11.

While they are not that same bomber squad anymore –  and will again be without Anthony Drmic – Sydney are still wary of the floor-stretching capabilities of Robert Franks and Daniel Johnson.

“Last time the Sixers were here, they killed us on the offensive rebounds and their pick-and-pop play,” Vasiljevic said.

“As a group, we'll have to cover that better, especially with players as dangerous as DJ and Robert Franks shooting as well as they are right now.

“Obviously they had Craig Randall last time they were here too, but I feel they are a different type of team now, one in which plays better offensively and defensively.

“We know they'll come out hungry, so it's up to us to be ready to go come Sunday.”