Sydney v Logan

[JB]

Did anyone go to the game and can explain if Sydney is really bad enough to need 45 minutes to beat Logan?

Also why Sydney were wearing their away uniforms at home?

[Bort]

I've got to say, that bugs me a little - when I was growing up, white = home team (as I believe is still the case under FIBA rules). Was the reversal just based on merchandising?

[Keegan]

Did anyone go to the game and can explain if Sydney is really bad enough to need 45 minutes to beat Logan?

Yes.

Several problems for Sydney:

#1 They only have one player who can shoot somewhat consistently beyond five feet from the basket (Poto). She was badly off on Saturday night

#2 Besides Poto, the guards are pretty meh. Gilbert's dribble penetration did get them two key baskets in OT though. She seriously should get starters minutes next game - at least she hustles and is somewhat proactive on offence.

#3 Dalts hasn't adjusted her coaching that well. After seasons of having oodles of scorers, I don't think she's realised that she's got a lineup of non-shooters this season. She also seems averse to running plays for her stars - no idea why Poto and Afeaki weren't being run off more screens (especially Poto).

Watching the offence is painful. Remedying #1 and #2 would probably fix this though.

On the bright side, there's a lot less pouting on the Flames bench this year (besides Rhonda Price) and they actually hustle. Still, it's a big fall from being perennial grand final losers. Strange adjustment to make ;)

[dirtydigits]

keegan - spot on. there offense is horrible. they cant score points and there coach hasnt relised yet. pathetic.

[ballwatcher05]

perhaps the reasoning behind the white uniforms is that logan were in white the night before and considering the travel they had to wear blue?

as for sydneys offence. herrick had the first 3 points of the game off the bench and was done for the night after 2:40. not sure why this was however, provided a bit of a spark!
i was also impressed with kennedy. made the most of her time with some great hustle minus conceding a wide open lay up!

[Off_the_bench]

What a contest!!! Loving the effort by both teams.

Logan.. we were so close. I thought the Thunder played really well and I'll forever not understand why no one else here acknowledges the effort-especially after the showing the night before in Bendigo.

I think it was a case of us forcing the Flames into that performance. Our defense was sound, it was practically all bluff and I'll be the first to say that the refs let us get away with plenty- even though we practically had double the foul count of the Flames the whole game. None better than the Afeaki charge which should have been a 3 point play and the shooting foul in the last 2 minutes i think that we got when the game was on the balance-Purcell was passing the ball!!! :D the home crowd absolutely went berko!!! :lol:

I thought Veal had an ok game... made a few shots and threatened to set the fast break game alight with some trademark 3/4 court length passes but seeing as Poto and her barely matched up I was a little disappointed.

Sarah Graham continues to impress me and again was a key factor in the game. She shot the ball well and was a constant threat despite looking a little dodgy against the full court pressure Sydney put on.

As for the Sydney criticisms... Can't we just focus on Thunder positives!!! :P again i think it was a case of bluff defense and reffing. From what I can gather on the game, Sydney just shot a bad clip. They had countless of missed opportunities in the paint that were open and this was confirmed on the short chart. I can understand the pointers about Poto off screens, but Afeaki???? Mate she'd never get open- speed in the half court is not her strength and its not like screening action with post players is going to get her any more open shots seeing as she's a little bit undersized height-wise as a post player. Her strength in the game was definitely her back to basket post stuff. Forget screens.

For mine, Thunder did great to come back with that energetic, in your face performance after Friday night debacle. I thought we had put ourselves in the best position to steal a win and when you consider that we were ahead for most of the 4th quarter, and indeed the start of the OT, it is very disappointing to get so close and not pinch it. Sydney for that matter, grinded out a tough win, beating us and the 3 guys in grey!!! :wink: Wish they were up here!!! :cry:

We've got Graham on fire... just needed Cassie Smith on the floor now!

BTW, mightily impressed with the number of Logan fans in the crowd sat night. :o

[dirtydigits]

you can curl off screens you know. efeaki would go well with more screens, maybe something other than a back screen every now and then. yes she is at her best back to basket but she can shoot too. logan played a zone and zones are easy to beat but sydney couldn't do it. you can give credit to the logan defence but i still think sydneys offence was very ordinary.

[Off_the_bench]

Curl off screens??? really?? you don't say- I thought they were just ppl running into each other! :P

Doesn't matter what you do on the screen, if you haven't got the change of speed and direction needed you ain't going to get open unless your defender falls over! And at this stage, Afeaki is playing to her strengths.

Zone is easy to beat? only if you have a flat out shooters who can help spread the floor. And if it is easy to beat wonder why teams use it? I thought the girls did a great job bluffing the zone and this unsettled the offense. sometimes it won't hurt to give credit where its due, although I do maintain that the Thunder zone contributed significantly to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the zone. I think its too easy for "Flames" haters to keep blaiming this-that on the group as if they are the only ones that determine results without any regard for the opposition.

And yes... when you're only 2 wins for the year with downs we've had, you cling on to every positive you can come up with! :wink:

[rondo]

A team is only as good as its players, Sydney are doing what they can with the team that they have.
Curious to know what happened to Watman???

[dirtydigits]

Doesn't matter what you do on the screen, if you haven't got the change of speed and direction needed you ain't going to get open unless your defender falls over! And at this stage, Afeaki is playing to her strengths.

so your saying afeaki can't change pace or direction????? she belongs in miniball then. if she can think she shoudl just read th screen and she will get open.

off_the_bench - for a thunder fan, you certainly are passionate about the flames. is your last name dalton? that would make a whole lot of sense.

[dirtydigits]

[quote="Off_the_bench"]Zone is easy to beat? only if you have a flat out shooters who can help spread the floor. And if it is easy to beat wonder why teams use it? [quote]

and teams use zone because they dont match up well. sydneys best shooters sat on the bench for most of the game. playing them might have helped!

[InfectiousS]

I like Afeaki as a player... Her athletism and style of play reminds me a lot of Cox. Except she rarely puts together back-to-back good games... ?

I also have not seen her "fit" since her first couple of years out of the AIS. She's been at Sydney for what.... around 6 seasons now? As far as i'm concerned, considering her potential she has been a massive underachiever. Dalton has obviously exhausted her "development potential" on Afeaki. This should be a break-out season for her, considering everyone agrees that Sydney's personal are quite raw this year.

Maybe its a case of Afeaki making a move to a different program under a coach who can "develop" her game. OR maybe there is something to be said about Afeaki's team loyalty... (a quality that hasn't been evoked in many FLAMES players... I wonder why) and perhaps the only personal that requires changing is the coach... = only common denominator left really?

[Off_the_bench]

Doesn't matter what you do on the screen, if you haven't got the change of speed and direction needed you ain't going to get open unless your defender falls over! And at this stage, Afeaki is playing to her strengths.

so your saying afeaki can't change pace or direction????? she belongs in miniball then. if she can think she shoudl just read th screen and she will get open.

off_the_bench - for a thunder fan, you certainly are passionate about the flames. is your last name dalton? that would make a whole lot of sense.

:lol: dirtydigits... no change of pace or direction??? and thinking will only get you so far if you don't have the physical capability to get it done. face it, she's a post player at this stage and if you were actually there or have watched a few flames games with some intellect on tv you'll notice what I was refering to. But alas, it was too much to ask... ppl on here have already worked out that you are an idiot and a have basketball iQ of a chinese take-away dumpling!!! I would've advised you get on if you actually have any REAL sense of basketball only but you're actually quite entertaining. One would think that you are a fan with huge opinions but no basketball intellect- which is ok by the way. (that first line is a classic!! :lol:) or wait for it... a disgruntled player or associate of one that was wrongly done by... say... a Dalton??? :P

as for me being a Dalton, i thought your line of thinking would have at least identified me as MARK DALTON!! I mean I am the GM of Logan, who'd you think I'd go for and she is my sister?? :lol: :lol: but I can be whatever you like in your head- cousin Dalton, grandma Dalton, grandpa Dalton.

If you look through my posts, I will defend anyone- any team that I feel I can comment on if they are ripped into without any real conviction. Waiting for your next piece of "i secretly hate the flames and will get on here and hope no one can put one and one together" comment.
I like Afeaki as a player... Her athletism and style of play reminds me a lot of Cox. Except she rarely puts together back-to-back good games... ?

I also have not seen her "fit" since her first couple of years out of the AIS. She's been at Sydney for what.... around 6 seasons now? As far as i'm concerned, considering her potential she has been a massive underachiever. Dalton has obviously exhausted her "development potential" on Afeaki. This should be a break-out season for her, considering everyone agrees that Sydney's personal are quite raw this year.

Maybe its a case of Afeaki making a move to a different program under a coach who can "develop" her game. OR maybe there is something to be said about Afeaki's team loyalty... (a quality that hasn't been evoked in many FLAMES players... I wonder why) and perhaps the only personal that requires changing is the coach... = only common denominator left really?

Without a doubt after the loss of some big name players last season, afeaki definitely needs to step up, in past years its been easy to coast along behind the coat tails of big time team mates but not this year. if sydney are to sneak into that finals position, Poto will need her help for sure.

[FeelinDaHeat]

Doesn't matter what you do on the screen, if you haven't got the change of speed and direction needed you ain't going to get open unless your defender falls over! And at this stage, Afeaki is playing to her strengths.

so your saying afeaki can't change pace or direction????? she belongs in miniball then.


You might have to buy out her contract if you want her to play in your mini-ball team. Then you could run all the screens you want!!! :lol: [quote="Off_the_bench":3o0gefx4] Doesn't matter what you do on the screen, if you haven't got the change of speed and direction needed you ain't going to get open unless your defender falls over! And at this stage, Afeaki is playing to her strengths.

so your saying afeaki can't change pace or direction????? she belongs in miniball then. if she can think she shoudl just read th screen and she will get open.

off_the_bench - for a thunder fan, you certainly are passionate about the flames. is your last name dalton? that would make a whole lot of sense.

:lol: dirtydigits... no change of pace or direction??? and thinking will only get you so far if you don't have the physical capability to get it done. face it, she's a post player at this stage and if you were actually there or have watched a few flames games with some intellect on tv you'll notice what I was refering to. But alas, it was too much to ask... ppl on here have already worked out that you are an idiot and a have basketball iQ of a chinese take-away dumpling!!! I would've advised you get on if you actually have any REAL sense of basketball only but you're actually quite entertaining. One would think that you are a fan with huge opinions but no basketball intellect- which is ok by the way. (that first line is a classic!! :lol:) or wait for it... a disgruntled player or associate of one that was wrongly done by... say... a Dalton??? :P

as for me being a Dalton, i thought your line of thinking would have at least identified me as MARK DALTON!! I mean I am the GM of Logan, who'd you think I'd go for and she is my sister?? :lol: :lol: but I can be whatever you like in your head- cousin Dalton, grandma Dalton, grandpa Dalton.
[/quote:3o0gefx4]

Classic!! :lol:
That is all.

[FeelinDaHeat]

A team is only as good as its players, Sydney are doing what they can with the team that they have.
Curious to know what happened to Watman???

Good point but i think that people are just used to the Flames winning in the regular season and people expectations are obviously not factoring in the team that Sydney have this year. As for Watman, she sat on the bench but out of uniform tonight at the AIS game tonight. Not sure if she's injured.

[dirtydigits]

I love you too off_the_bench. This seems like the start of something beautiful between us!

I’ll try not to get personal but its pretty clear I have hit on a tender nerve here… your response just makes me more confident that you are actually a Dalton. Obviously an aggressive one, so maybe you are Karen? I am not interested in cyberstalking your past posts on the boards Rumpelstilskin… but I’ll still read what you have to say.

I am obviously a Flames fan. Why else would I attend their games? As a fan I care about how the flames go this season which is why I visit this forum. Unfortunately I can’t claim to be a disgruntled player, but I can see why you took that line of thinking because there seems to be so many.

I think you are confused about my views. I think afeaki is a good player I just don’t think Sydney is getting the best out of her. You said ‘she'd never get open- speed in the half court is not her strength’. I agree that speed is not her strength, I just suggested that it is change of pace that can get you open from screens. believe it or not, you don’t have to be asafa powell to score off a screen!

Yes she is post player but as an undersized post player maybe the coach should look to step her out of the paint every now and again! Heres another tip for you… screening can force teams to switch where you will get a ‘miss match’. I would give you a definition of a miss match but I wouldn’t want to insult your superior intelligence…getting tips from a Chinese dumpling might hurt your feelings.

Now im not saying that afeaki should be constantly run off screens. From the sidelines it looks like the flames have been running the same old boring offence and it is not helping there cause. All I am saying is a good coach makes the best of a bad situation and I don’t think that is happening right now. I am not here to put YOU down, just express an opinion. Yeah YOU probably don’t have the talent this year but surely YOU can do better with what youve got.

[Off_the_bench]

I love you too off_the_bench. This seems like the start of something beautiful between us!


You had me at "hello" dirtydigits... you had at me hello! :lol: You said it... we're a match made in basketball board heaven! 8)

I must say, that was the most intelligent thing I have ever read from you... perhaps its timely that I acknowledge that you do have some IQ when you are not rattling off "anti- flames sentiment"- which i find abhorrent about any team/any player but am beginning to understand seeing as you are just so angry and bitter about Sydney's plight this year. You clearly have a vested interest in the team's progress.

You are obviously still deluded and definitely an angry person with karen Dalton if you think I am her. :lol: :oops: I love commuting down and back- love it! :D I would be incredibly surprised if any coach came on here on a pseudo-name and spent time on the boards the way we have. they surely have too much to worry about and plan. But again with your anger, you probably wouldn't put it past her hey? :wink:

and no confusion about afeaki... if you read an earlier post... i too brought up the change of pace- which relates to speed- and direction. and I don't really know how the Flames are playing her this year but if they are playing to their strengths then that would explain why she is in the paint. She's always been a back to basket player and like any player it would be good if she can work on other facets of her game and develop another area. I'll use Hollie Smith as an example- for someone her size I wish she had better post moves besides moving out to the mid-range for twos.

I am not here to put YOU down, just express an opinion. Yeah YOU probably don’t have the talent this year but surely YOU can do better with what youve got.

You can express whatever opinion you choose to do- its the beauty of the boards, but understand, as I have said before, that if you go on here and talk gumby like you have before you're most recent post, then expect to be treated like an idiot. Express an opinion that goes beyond personal attacks at the coach/player/team and actually has some merit then people will take you seriously for someone who tries to present as a "fan".

And don't worry... its only "stalking" if one person doesn't like or approve it! :P