|
RELATED Home Results Ladder Forum Leaders Teams Players Poll Links Photos Venues Contact Schedule Highlights |
Posted: Sat Nov 21, 1998 at 5:35 PM ET He may be the oldest man in the national basketball league, but 41-year-old Leroy Loggins continues to defy the youngsters, leading Brisbane on a late surge and a 16-point win over defending premier Adelaide at the Powerhouse here today. Loggins top scored with 30 points and was named most valuable player of the match Brisbane won 112-96. With three minutes to go, Brisbane was only one point ahead at 91-90, but the Bullets still had plenty of fire and Adelaide had no defence as Loggins and his teammates rolled over the top of the 36ers. Steve Woodberry scored 27 points for Brisbane and solid contributions came from forward Mark Nash (16) and 203cm centre Thaddeous Delaney (13). Brisbane coach Brian Kerle, clearly delighted with his side's second win in a row following its shock victory over Perth last Sunday, said he was particularly impressed with Woodberry. "We've got a class player in Woodberry, he's the real deal, there's no doubt about that," he said. "We were asking Steve to run the show out there for us, to score and play defence and it's very hard to get a player like that and he's doing a great job. . On Delaney: While he's not the offensive threat that we'd like, he fits in to the team and I've always been very big on team chemistry and I think we've got a very good bunch of young guys here for the future."
In a match where the lead changed hands almost as often as the Sixers changed line-up, Adelaide imports Kevin Brooks (25) and Darnell Mee (18) worked valiantly all afternoon alongside tireless 202cm forward Martin Cattalini (18).
Adelaide captain Brett Maher was unusually quiet in the first half, kept scoreless by the Bullets defence, but fired in the second half with three three-pointers to put the Sixers in touch in the dying minutes.
Sixers coach Phil Smyth said two byes in six games had unsettled his side and there still were a lot of inconsistencies to iron out.
"The guys are more disappointed than me, but I see it more as an opportunity to see where our strengths and weaknesses are and work on them," Smyth said.
"If we had won all our games so far we'd probably be playing within a comfort zone and I don't want them getting comfortable.
"We're looking forward to getting back on track against Newcastle in Newcastle next Saturday afternoon."
|
