Blaze v. NZ Breakers Oct 16th

[Go The Blaze]

Blaze travel to one of the toughest venues in the league at a time when they are coming off an absolutely embarassing home performance against the Spirit. This, like every other game for the rest of the season, is a must win for the Blaze. The Breakers will be hungry for a win after losing their unbeaten home streak to Cairns last week.

I can see us getting done by 20+ here easily. Rickert will have his biggest game of the year against us and CJ will run rings around Shane's 38 year old legs until he is forced to be subbed off by SOJ. The massacre will then well and truly be on once CJ unloads for 25+ against SOJ. The only hope we have is if Pero fires up for a huge game and Melmeth grows a pair, the latter of which certainly will not happen.

I think we'll come back at the death to make the scoreline appear more respectable than it really was.
Breakers by 15+

[Teve0]

CJ > Heal

Penny > Harvey (by alot)

Rono > Frank

Rickett > Melmeth


= Breakers by 18...

[Mammon]

CJ > heal + SOJ

penny > harvey + demos

4man == hawk

rono < frank + someone whose ass will b on fire

ricket >> melmeth


Topdog vs Underdog @ Home.


breakers by 30+.

[isaac]

Both teams looking to bounce back from a loss, but the Blaze might've been hoping to have that chance at home and perhaps against another team too? Can see the Breakers giving up some points in the paint however Bruton, Penney, Jones and Henare are a tier above Heal, Harvey, Joyce and Demos.

[NZB]

A game the Breakers must bounce back from. The way Phill Jones was talking after the Taipans loss was something along the lines, the Blaze are gonna be in for tough game.

The Blaze will come here desperate for a win.

It's a game we should win pretty comfortably, as I really don't see the Blaze bigs eating us alive. A game for us I hope.

[snakey]

I dont think the Blaze have a chance against the Breakers.

[Mammon]

unless frank post a double-double of 30pts and 20rbs while harvey make 10 3pts in a state of absolutely madness.

[Big Shot Joey]

I would be dissapointed with the Breakers if they don't win by at least 30

The Breakers were humbled at home last week and will rebound strongly against us. NZ are too big and too fast, not to mention an NBL standard team

[Soft Copy]

If the Blaze put a 48 minute game together, they could still be tough. And remember, they may well get 50 trips to the free throw line so, at 75% free-throw shooting, there's 37 odd points... and SOJ's gotta fire soon - this could be the big night!

[scooch]

Cannot see Blaze get within 20 especially if SOJ plays his usual minutes , from reports from a coupe of friends SOJ played 18 mins to long against the Spirit ,with the 4 v 5 contest enabling the Spirit to get momentum & the win

Prediction
Breakers by 25+ if SOJ gets his usual mins
SOJ - 22 mins
BJ - Tech foul - walls are starting to close in
Travel to Cairns with tails between their legs for another thumping

[Razorjohn]

what time does this game start in Aus? I am a bit confused with daylight savings.

I thinking 6:30?

[bad gambler]

what time does this game start in Aus? I am a bit confused with daylight savings.

I thinking 6:30?

Tipoff at 5:30pm EST

[Julian]

And at the super time of 2:30PM here in the west.

[bizzy]

The game tips of at 5:30pm EST and 5:00 AEST.

Basically it's currently 6:30pm in Auckland.

[Go The Blaze]

The problem is the Blaze simply can't rebound and it won't get any better tonight. The fact that Hawk is, I believe, our leading rebounder says it all (but then again, last year Jason Crowe was our leading rebounder). Rickert will more than negate Melmeth leaving plenty of put backs for the Bear, Forman...hell, pretty much anyone with a Breakers jersey on. If you can't rebound, you can't win. That explains our 0-5 start.


Cannot see Blaze get within 20 especially if SOJ plays his usual minutes , from reports from a coupe of friends SOJ played 18 mins to long against the Spirit

On another note, its interesting to see SOJ's lowest number of minutes came last week. It's almost as if BJ sensed the tide was turning and didn't want SOJ on there, as this could then be used against him as proof of SOJ's general patheticness (good use of English right there). From memory, SOJ hardly played in the second half.

[Tap Twist Snap]

Good to see there is live audio for this game. Would be good if the nbl could try and get this for all games it would make up for the crappy tv coverage.

[rimmer6]

is there a link to listen in for this game?!

[Tap Twist Snap]

http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=76331

Then just click on the Gold Coast Blaze @ New Zealand Breakers LIVE RADIO CALL on that page.

[From The Carpark]

On another note, its interesting to see SOJ's lowest number of minutes came last week. It's almost as if BJ sensed the tide was turning and didn't want SOJ on there, as this could then be used against him as proof of SOJ's general patheticness (good use of English right there). From memory, SOJ hardly played in the second half.

LOL, it's hard to please you people. Constantly going on about how he plays his son for more minutes than he deserves and how SOJ shouldn't be on the court at vital moments of the game. When he actually does what is suggested, he still cops it because obviously his mystical psycic abilities saw the loss coming and didn't want SOJ involved.

Makes you wonder why his psycic abilities didn't see the other four losses coming and take him off for those games as well if that's his strategy.

[Cussy]

Thanks Puff Puff Give.

[Julian]

D. Joyce @ HT: 10PTS (4/5 FG 80%, 2/2 FT 100%, 1 AST, 1 STL)

[rimmer6]

could i get a half time score please anyone? proxy wont let me onto nbl

[Julian]

HT NZB 59-57 GCB

[rimmer6]

cheers

[Tap Twist Snap]

When the going gets tough.. the blaze choke again. Without crowe there pulling off miracles this season the blaze don't have the backbone to beat any team. As long as other teams fight for the win this season against the blaze they will all win. I hope there are some changes before the next home game or it will start to get ugly.

[Julian]

FT NZB 120-108 GCB

D. Joyce @ HT: 10PTS (4/5 FG 80%, 2/2 FT 100%, 1 AST, 1 STL)
D. Joyce @ FT: 10PTS (4/5 FG 80%, 2/2 FT 100%, 2 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK) in 17:55.

Looks like Daddy managed SOJ's time real carefully in the second half to preserve the nice stat line.

[bizzy]

When the going gets tough.. the blaze choke again. Without crowe there pulling off miracles this season the blaze don't have the backbone to beat any team. As long as other teams fight for the win this season against the blaze they will all win. I hope there are some changes before the next home game or it will start to get ugly.

I think that is a bit unfair. The game was really a 4-5 point game. CJ hit a big shot which killed of the Blaze's run.

If Harvey's 3qtr court heave to end the first had of counted, and Pero hit his 3 late in the game could have been a different story.

IMO a much better showing by the Blaze - especially with Whitehead.

Any idea why Hawkins was out? Been sacked? Injured?

[SINE]

Any body have a idea what happened to Hawke tonight or did he not travel with Blaze ?
Not a bad effort but it sounded like the Breakers always had a answer to a Blaze fight back , if i was a breakers fan i would be worried about their defence to concede 108 pts from the offence that the Blaze play could be some big scores posted against them in the near future ,
Sounded like Whitehead stepped up tonight .but like i said it sounded like there was a lack of defense from the Breakers , well done to Vanderjact sound like he had a solid game not bad considering the game time he has had this year , On to 0-7 in a couple of nights in Cairns

[Tap Twist Snap]

It's the same as happend against the spirit. This time in a 28 second period blaze go from 2 points behind to 9, it just shows if you put in a decent effort they can't mount any defense. At the moment i'm struggling to come to terms with buying a season ticket for a team that has no fight in them. I'm sure i'll calm down about it soon but they are really really anoying me. I support some teams in sport that don't do too well at all but none that seem to just fold when the heat is put on them.

[bigdog]

Hawk warmed up, but sat it out. Injury I would say.

Far too much whistle in the game, although a more even display than last weeks debacle. I defended Gooden last week, this week he just got carried away... For example he stops play for the ball boys to mop up under the baseline, when the ball is at the other end. Put it in your pocket. I thought Andy and Gavin reffed a better match.

Melmeth isnt anything like the player he was when he was at the Breakers. SOJ equipped himself quite nicely which disspointed me greatly. Pero, my hero, didnt have a great game - his shot was off and picked up niggle fouls. Whitehead caused problems on the drive and got Foreman and Boucher into foul trouble. Heal and Bruton had a ding dong old battle. Heal probably had the better game but down the stretch when it counted Bruton was the man.

For the Breakers, they are now struggling to get a 3 pointer up. Sadly miss Vukona or another 4 man battling hard down low with Rickerts. Lemanis rotated his bench better, benefitting from having Behrendorf back in the line up. Still didnt play Jones enough - the man is money under pressure.

[SINE]

Bought season tickets last year and enjoyed it but was annoyed of the court time SOJ was getting ,but after hearing what BJ did in the recruitment in the off season getting rid of Crowe hirirng a pensioner to run the point so SOJ was guaranteed minutes ,saw were this was going pre season so i just buy and go to the games i want to see and not feel guilty i have to go because i have a season ticket ,talking to quite a few people last game night they feel the same way you do and if by some miracle the Blaze stay in the league next year i think the season ticket sales will take a huge nose dive .Hope fully thing might change by the end of the season ,new coach a good p/g i dont think your pain will go away ,

[Essen]

Breakers struggled to contain Whitehead because they were in foul trouble. He did well and showed that he has the potential to cause mismatch problems in the league. However I wouldn't put it solely down to poor D. Heal and Harvey were also brilliant at times hitting incredible shots.

Other than that the game was boring. To me again, the game was too much of a stop-start affair though the foul count I imagine wouldn't be as lopsided.

The scoreline is a bit closer than the game really was to be honest. I think the Breakers were always comfortably in control however just couldn't put together a killer run to blow the game out.

[NZB]

Breakers clutch at the end. Jones, CJ hitting game-clinchers.

Breakers always led. Blaze hit some big shots earlier to keep themselves in it.

Blaze still have hope. 0-6 is a tough position to come back from, but it's still possible for them. Whitehead I was reminded how good he can be.

[NZB]

C.J. - Heal and him was a good match-up and Heal did well to shake him off a few times. CJ was clutch from the line and sealed the game with a three-pointer. Now I don't mind as much when he moves to the 2 when Henare's in. He can be aggressive.

Kirk - shot wasn't quite on tonight, but he did a great job of getting to the line

Forman - still getting taken off the dribble by quick/ball-handling SFs...Frank had a couple of good AND-1s in succession. Made a couple of threes, a crucial lay-up down the stretch. Also had the ignominy of having a 3 bounce off the shot-clock and in.

Ronaldson - hit a few early shots, and then muscled his way into the lane for a clutch basket late.

Rickert - did well once again with some nice passing. Good game all round, did airball a free throw. Some picky fouls.

Henare - made a clutch 3 at the end of the third, has done ok this season I must admit, I've always been a skeptic of his.

Jones - superb off the bench again. Clutch three-pointers, a big AND-1 on Harvey on a back-door cut...made a four-point play. Did everything that was needed.

Boucher - still afraid to take shots for fear of embarrassment. Some soft calls against him limiting the PT he can get.

Behrendorff - as bigdog alluded to, big man rotation looks a little better with Behrendorff back in the game, I hope he practices his three-point shots because he took a few tonight.

[Big Shot Joey]

LOL @ all the Whitehead compliments, last week you guys wanted him sacked.....anyway Juaquin has had a bone spur in his foot for a little over 2-3 weeks and is now looking at 6+ weeks on the sideline because he ignored doctors orders to rest it.

[Big Shot Joey]

We were within 4 points with 2:30 to go in the 4th, and then Breakers turned on the afterburners and ran away with the match.....hook, line and sinker right there! thinking we had a slight chance to come up with a huge upset.....that's just fkn cruel, I would have rather lost by 50 than come close and blow it.

[Go The Blaze]

I think Whitehead would struggle to replicate those numbers against any other team in the league. Put him against any team that has two genuine rebounding threats, and he is totally ineffective, especially with no other Blaze bigs able to help him out.

Refereeing again needs to seriously be looked at. For the purposes of getting new people to come and watch the games, constant whistleblowing is terrible. The Breakers had a packed house last week and then the referees decide to set a new NBL record with the foul count. In no way am I blaming them for the outcome of tonight's game- but who knows how many potential fans are being lost because of a boring game thanks to a massive foul count.

I was listening to the call on the radio, and I distinctly remember hearing that Daniel had two uncontested layups as well as a couple of open shots because of someone else creating a turnover. As I've said, SOJ has stats that make him appear 10 times better than he is. At least he hit the open shots when he got them. But it's still interesting to see how BJ is manipulating his court time.

The bottom line is that without some goddamn rebounding and some offensive creation, we aren't going anywhere. Harvey's numbers are down because shots he took last year are being taken by Heal. At the end of the day, we're no better off.

[Sherlock]

We were within 4 points with 2:30 to go in the 4th, and then Breakers turned on the afterburners and ran away with the match.....hook, line and sinker right there! thinking we had a slight chance to come up with a huge upset.....that's just fkn cruel, I would have rather lost by 50 than come close and blow it.

lucky your team doesn't feel the same way because their effort / performance tonight was a step forward ...

[angry ant]

Looks like Whitehead stepped up after Joyce said the imports needed to improve..

[Sherlock]

Harvey's numbers are down because shots he took last year are being taken by Heal. At the end of the day, we're no better off.

completely irrelevant .. Harvey's numbers are Harvey's numbers ... It's the Melmeths's, Cameron's, McGregor's, Frank's et al and serious lack of import contribution that should be the talking points as why the Blaze aint winning :idea:

ffs, when will people give this blame Shane Heal thing a rest ?

[angry ant]

Looks like Oscar is enjoying playing defence this year.
http://nbl.com.au/site/_content/image/00120552-image.jpg

[Big Shot Joey]

We were within 4 points with 2:30 to go in the 4th, and then Breakers turned on the afterburners and ran away with the match.....hook, line and sinker right there! thinking we had a slight chance to come up with a huge upset.....that's just fkn cruel, I would have rather lost by 50 than come close and blow it.

lucky your team doesn't feel the same way because their effort / performance tonight was a step forward ...

No doubt it was a better performance, considering we were undermanned aswell makes it look even better, don't get me wrong I'm proud of the boys for being stubborn and giving it to Breakers but in the overall picture it was a step backwards, not just on the standings but for morale aswell, tonight once again proved we can't put together 48 minutes of basketball.

Demos had 12 minutes but did nothing with that opportunity, I'm hoping Brendan doesn't use that as some sort of excuse for keeping him pinned at the end of the bench near the waterboy.

[Sherlock]

[quote="Big Shot Joey":3va38inb]We were within 4 points with 2:30 to go in the 4th, and then Breakers turned on the afterburners and ran away with the match.....hook, line and sinker right there! thinking we had a slight chance to come up with a huge upset.....that's just fkn cruel, I would have rather lost by 50 than come close and blow it.

lucky your team doesn't feel the same way because their effort / performance tonight was a step forward ...

No doubt it was a better performance, considering we were undermanned aswell makes it look even better, don't get me wrong I'm proud of the boys for being stubborn and giving it to Breakers but in the overall picture it was a step backwards, not just on the standings but for morale aswell, tonight once again proved we can't put together 48 minutes of basketball.

Demos had 12 minutes but did nothing with that opportunity, I'm hoping Brendan doesn't use that as some sort of excuse for keeping him pinned at the end of the bench near the waterboy.[/quote:3va38inb]

trust me when I tell you that it's performances like the Blaze turned in tonight that are so often the first step towards better times for a team in a slump ... They can take a lot from the game tonight but I guess it's how they carry that into saturday night against Cairns that's the key ... If they put in another insipid display, it's back to square one again ..

[Julian]

Demos had 12 minutes but did nothing with that opportunity, I'm hoping Brendan doesn't use that as some sort of excuse for keeping him pinned at the end of the bench near the waterboy.
It you wanted to punish someone on the Blaze wouldn't you seat them next to that gigantic cock of a fitness trainer?

[Mammon]

man, phill jones is the hottest man in the team atm, imo he should make an international comeback next year.

[Big Shot Joey]

[quote="Big Shot Joey":umr2r4jt]We were within 4 points with 2:30 to go in the 4th, and then Breakers turned on the afterburners and ran away with the match.....hook, line and sinker right there! thinking we had a slight chance to come up with a huge upset.....that's just fkn cruel, I would have rather lost by 50 than come close and blow it.

lucky your team doesn't feel the same way because their effort / performance tonight was a step forward ...

No doubt it was a better performance, considering we were undermanned aswell makes it look even better, don't get me wrong I'm proud of the boys for being stubborn and giving it to Breakers but in the overall picture it was a step backwards, not just on the standings but for morale aswell, tonight once again proved we can't put together 48 minutes of basketball.

Demos had 12 minutes but did nothing with that opportunity, I'm hoping Brendan doesn't use that as some sort of excuse for keeping him pinned at the end of the bench near the waterboy.

trust me when I tell you that it's performances like the Blaze turned in tonight that are so often the first step towards better times for a team in a slump ... They can take a lot from the game tonight but I guess it's how they carry that into saturday night against Cairns that's the key ... If they put in another insipid display, it's back to square one again ..[/quote:umr2r4jt]

I wish I had the same faith as your showing for us, but recent games have proven otherwise, this is one of those slumps that cannot be fixed with just one good performance we are 0-6 and have Cairns away and then the Hawks away (what a match that should be) and then the Breakers @ home (who are now officially our bogey team) and then to top it off the tigers @ the cage within the next round and by all rights we should (will) be 0-10......the truth is we have been at square one since our round one match against the Bullets last year.

[Big Shot Joey]

Demos had 12 minutes but did nothing with that opportunity, I'm hoping Brendan doesn't use that as some sort of excuse for keeping him pinned at the end of the bench near the waterboy.
It you wanted to punish someone on the Blaze wouldn't you seat them next to that gigantic cock of a fitness trainer?

The trainer, I think sometimes he mixes his green pills with the blue ones :wink:

[Voice(s)]

ffs, when will people give this blame Shane Heal thing a rest ?

Simon Kerle is that you? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this Shane Heal's third consecutive 0-6 start to a season? You do the maths. :wink:

[Go The Blaze]

completely irrelevant .. Harvey's numbers are Harvey's numbers ... It's the Melmeths's, Cameron's, McGregor's, Frank's et al and serious lack of import contribution that should be the talking points as why the Blaze aint winning

It's not completely irrelevant at all. None of our big men are superstars now and none have ever been considered as superstars. The difference between this year and last is that last year we had a PG who could create space for his teammates, meaning that the perimeter defence didn't just collapse the middle as it does now. It's impossible for our big men to score when we don't have any offensive system that allows them room to move because none of McGregor, Pero and Frank have the tools to create their own shot. This is how every basketball team in the world works. Heal can go for big numbers to the detriment of his teammates just like Iverson did on all those 76er teams.

It's natural to be critical of Heal when you brought him in to a playoff team at the expense of an otherwise excellent player, and when your coach predicted you would make the top 4 with him in the team. You only have to look at all of our fowards' (including Hawk) offensive numbers, which are all way down, to see that the impact he is having on the entire team is starkly negative. And the records with his previous teams would prove this.

[Sherlock]

ffs, when will people give this blame Shane Heal thing a rest ?

Simon Kerle is that you? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this Shane Heal's third consecutive 0-6 start to a season? You do the maths. :wink:

And if basketball were a one man game you might have a point ... I'll continue to run with this because I'm actually watching training sessions and watching games and I can see what's going on and it isn't Shane Heal who's the problem ... nuff said

[Go The Blaze]

What the hell are you talking about Sherlock? Obviously the very fact that Heal's teams have had these sorts of records proves that his impact on the entire team is completely negative.

[Brew]

I would hate to see the Blaze WITHOUT Heal.... i think people would start talking about winless seasons.

[From The Carpark]

What the hell are you talking about Sherlock? Obviously the very fact that Heal's teams have had these sorts of records proves that his impact on the entire team is completely negative.

Well far be it for me to disagree with your very obvious proof, but can you explain how his impact was so negative that they managed to make the playoffs in their first season after starting a season 0-6 and suffering through a midseason coaching change?

So what you're saying is the terrible start was all Heal's influence, but the rest of the team managed to come together as the season went on and make the playoffs despite Heal?

[informant]

Bye Bye Joyce, Hello Wright/Tomlinson/McLeod and of the above seriously!!! Although I heard that Wright will be linked in with the re-vamped Bullets but still, Tomlinson and McLeod might be a nice change down the coast...

[SINE]

ffs, when will people give this blame Shane Heal thing a rest ?

Simon Kerle is that you? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this Shane Heal's third consecutive 0-6 start to a season? You do the maths. :wink:

And if basketball were a one man game you might have a point ... I'll continue to run with this because I'm actually watching training sessions and watching games and I can see what's going on and it isn't Shane Heal who's the problem ... nuff said

Sherlock have been to a number of training sessions and games myself and what is practised at trainings is different on game night ,how many dumb 3 pointers do you see shane throw up at training and how many pressure 3 pointers does he throw up game night to be the hero ,yes heal in the team was a mistake especially when you consider Crowe made room for him Crowe played as a P/G heal plays point me first whatever second and his defense is pathetic for the amount of minutes he plays its killing the Blaze and yes he scores points but he has a hell of a lot of looks and Crowe scored his fair amount but his assist column was always being added to aswell ,in other words BJ sdrewed up the Blaze for the benefit of his son and a old mate ,

[badassmofo]

MEMO TO OWEN TOMLINSON:

BRING BACK JASON CROWE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Essen]

I've got two criticisms of the Blaze and neither relate to a particular player.

1) Too many open looks given up on defence. Seriously. All the teams the Breakers have played this year have made an effort to contest the three-point shot. Often, we've been good enough to hit them anyway. Yet last night the Blaze gave away far too many easy looks. We weren't hot but if the Blaze had actually contested those shots properly it could've significantly turned the game.

2) Their offense is a lot of one on one. Last night they had Heal and Harvey hitting from the outside and Whitehead benefiting from the better of a mismatch plus the Breakers in foul trouble. This is not a particularly great offensive scheme and as mentioned before, the Blaze have several players that can't really play this style of game. If Heal and Harvey had been off and Whitehead not had that advantage then the game was a serious blowout.

Blame Joyce before blaming the players. The squad is not bad at all.

[isaac]

Anyone else think that Tom Hyde is quite a decent commentator? Tuned in to the RadioSport feed last night and thought he did a great job (aside from those odd burping noises). Helped given that the live stats seemed to be less-than-perfect with 10 minute quarters and a few numbers being off.