Basketball On The Internet.

WAYBACK Wednesday was a weekly feature I wrote last season for Adelaide 36ers website, which now you can revisit, see for the first time or completely ignore!

ADELAIDE 36ERS V WOLLONGONG HAWKS

THE SANDPIT, WIN ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, MARCH 28, 2002

ADELAIDE put itself within one win of a fifth consecutive trip to the NBL semi-finals when it shattered reigning champion Wollongong 107-90 at the Sandpit in Game 1 of the quarters.

The reigning champs, who so cruelly dispatched the 36ers from the playoffs in a gripping Game 3 semi-final the previous year, had no answer this time.

It was hardly “revenge” for the tragic end to the 2001 semi-finals but, considering Adelaide swept the Hawks through the regular season and now were one win from a quarter-final sweep, 2001-02 had been a fairly emphatic reaction.

Adelaide turned a tight Game 1 at the Sandpit in the best-of-three series into a runaway rout of hustle and hard work.

After weathering the Hawks' flying start, Adelaide's defence started to choke Wollongong in the second quarter, holding it to 20 points on 8-of-24 shooting.

Matt Garrison was tough and smart, Brett Maher made difficult shots look easy and Rupert Sapwell was back to the player who made himself a cult hero in Adelaide during the 1998-99 championship seasons.

The score was 50-50 at halftime but the foundation laid, the 36ers unleashed a 33-18 third term, including a 9-0 run in which David Stiff, Mark Nash and Paul Rees all were prominent.

Willie Farley drained the colour from the Hawks' faces with three 3-pointers and some slick steals as the Sixers outrebounded the home side 18-5 for the term.

Game, set and match.

But not yet game, set and series.

Game 2 at the Clipsal Powerhouse surely had to bring the best from the desperate visitors.

“Anything's possible but at the same time, it's got to come from the group,” a clearly dejected Hawks coach Brendan Joyce said.

“We rotated a lot of people. But when you're rotating people to find effort levels, you know you're in a little trouble.

“What I've learnt is if I'm going to go down, I'll go down with a group of people that are having a go and not shirking the issue.

“That's why a few guys sat for quite a few minutes.

“I'm not going to point the finger at anybody publicly but certainly privately, that's just not acceptable from a team point of view.

“We're renowned as a group of fighters. That's why we've been successful. Really we need to re-establish our self-respect and team respect right away.

“Throughout the year you have highs and lows. You touch on videos, books, guest speakers sharing their success and you hope obviously a lot of that rubs off. But you can only do so much of that. You've got to look within sometimes and it's just got to come out.

“At the end of the day you can look at motivational tools but the motivation has to come from within.

“We're severely tested right now.”

For Joyce and Wollongong, the joys of the 2001 championship run abruptly ended in Adelaide.

But the rot set in at The Sandpit as Farley led the third-quarter avalanche with 11 points, Nash adding eight on 3-of-3 shooting including two triples.

It was the swarming Sixers' defence which most rattled the home side, only seven-foot centre Ben Pepper causing Adelaide any consistent problems.

David Stiff ignited the 36ers with a game-high 13 rebounds and scored their first seven points, on his way to 16, plus five assists.

Wollongong, with Pepper standing tall in the keyway, hit 10 straight points to seize an early 17-7 lead.

But as the Sixers' defensive resolve stiffened, the Hawks' feathers began to ruffle, Garrison – a part of the Hawks’ title run a year earlier – now annoying Melvin Thomas into foul trouble and Sapwell providing tremendous energy off the bench.

Called on for bigger minutes, Mike Chappell hit some shots but with Maher firing, Adelaide took the lead before the interval and was in good shape, having weathered Wollongong's best.

Farley and Nash aggravated Glen Saville out of the contest but the game had shades of deja vu - the Sixers level with the Hawks here the previous year in that classic Game 3 of the semi-final series.

After Pepper opened with a dunk for the Hawks, Stiff slipped the defence to tie it, Farley stripped Charles Thomas and the Sixers were on their way.

Out 61-54 - a seven-point lead the same as last year, Wollongong called time-out as this quarter-final opener continued to mirror the 2001 epic.

But from the time-out, Adelaide left no doubt this was Game 1 of a new era, Stiff extending the lead to nine, before Nash and Farley stroked three-pointers.

Farley with another triple pushed it to a 72-59 lead and when Pepper miscued a defensive rebound to Sapwell, he coolly popped it into the bucket for a 15-point cushion.

The Sandpit was silent after Wollongong's hasty second time-out when Stiff grabbed an offensive rebound, threw it to Maher who made it 76-59.

The Sixers' offence had sizzled but it was being generated by terrific team defence forcing the home side into self-doubt and error.

With a quarter to play, Adelaide was out 83-68 but Chappell's three to start the final term, followed by Mat Campbell's coast-to-coast drive looked like igniting the Hawks.

Adelaide's attack momentarily spluttered to a halt, so coach Phil Smyth injected Sapwell for a tiring Paul Rees, the 36ers ahead 83-73 and some semblance of life in the Hawks.

Sapwell immediately drove, was fouled, stroked both free throws and another 12-0 Adelaide assault was about to strangle the life from the Hawks.

Farley working down the shot-clock and feeding Jason Williams for a 3-pointer from the corner made it 95-73 and the Sixers were heading into  Game 2 at the Clipsal Powerhouse with a powerful mental edge.

Pepper led the Hawks with 22 points at 62 per cent, blocked two shots and grabbed seven rebounds in the 17-point loss.

For the 36ers, Nash (foot) came through unscathed, Stiff (16 points, 13 rebounds, five assists) and Sapwell (19 points at 80 per cent, 11 rebounds) both at their playoff best.