bugger :( Should have known better to let them get my hopes up. Pace would have been perfect for the sixers! Finally someone that actually gets to the basket! Oh well I guess the benefit of Plan B is that it is going to be a bigger player who probably will thrown down some nice dunks... well fingers crossed!

They are now looking at Julius Hodge taken at 20th in the 2005 draft by the Denver Nuggets, the same draft where Andrew Bogut went #1

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22919632-12428,00.html

Julius Hodge announced on ch.9 news confirmed.

That would be a massive pickup,he was on my dynasty team on NBA live just last year lol.

think he got shot in his rookie year, and it put him back. Was on the bucks roster for a little, but has been pushed around some teams.

201cm SG could slot in at SF for us easy.

OUR SEASON IS BACK ON TRACK!!!

Hodge is also the same kid that is very lucky to be alive after being shot in a drive-by shooting during his rookie season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2401667

Comments from him pre-drafting:

Strengths: Very effective offensive player who has been a force in the ACC since stepping on the court as a freshman & Very quick reflexes and fast running the court & Player with very good ball handling, vision and passing ability, especially for his size & Takes the ball to the basket often, despite lack of strength & Extremely competitive player who has become one of NC State's best all time players & Comes from NYC and has all the AND 1 moves, but has toned his game down well & A good free throw shooter, but is struggling in his senior season &

Weaknesses: Very weak physically, and there is real cause for concern about this considering his age & One of those players who has very bad body strength ... He has a hard time putting on and retaining body weight during a season & Lacks great range on his shot & His outside shot lacks consistency & Not a great athlete, doesn't get off the floor well & May lack a position on the next level due to his strength and shooting concerns &

Notes: Was ACC player of the year in his Junior season &. Promised his mother he would get his degree before going to the NBA and followed through with it &

He's only been on two teams in the NBA, the Nugs took him in the draft and then he was traded to the Bucks with Lil Boykins for Steve Blake where he was eventually waived. He played on the 2007 Sonics Summer League squad.

George Karl liked his attitude a fair bit. Going off a Karl interview he's one of the only kids that he's coached that wanted to go and play in the D-League as a 1st rounder just so he could play and get some time.

36ers needs a Grizzard - but more consistent - type of player.

Hope he has a great game on saturday , not so much for the result , but simply so you can see what kind of player the 36ers should be targeting ! Just need to be able to deliver everytime and not most times.

"Very weak physically" "Lacks great range on his shot & His outside shot lacks consistency & Not a great athlete, doesn't get off the floor well"

Gees looks like we got another quality import! Was he the most cheapest import going or something? His stats don't look that impressive either (Not counting his NBA stats because that is unfair to compare).

It's not really fair to judge him at this stage but he sounds like he is in the mold of Willie Farley but can't shoot with the athletic ability of Chappell (If that). Ill be still interested to see how he goes and hopefully he makes me eat my words.

Kingjames - The pre draft assessments from NBA draft net. judge on NBA requirements and skill sets and considering these occur when players are between 18 and 22 years of age i think it is fair to say that not a great deal of that would be of concern .
Like the fact that he fulfilled his promise to mother and earned a degree , IMO this shows a level of maturity and dedication not always present in American Ballers .

hmmm where is pace playing right now?...and he chooses that over the 36ers? sad isnt it.

In the CBA for the East Kentucky Miners. Believes that his numbers over there give him an NBA chance so is staying put. (IMO, I'd guess that if Carlos Powell is likely a superior player and hasn't been able to get himself a proper contract, then Pace has a smaller chance again - shorter, not a better shooter, etc.)

BTW, TR, the headlines are going to write themselves (if they sign him) when the 36ers play the Bullets. ;)

Yeh and for NBA standards, all the NBL players are unathletic and cant get off the ground. Hence why they are playing NBL and not Europe or NBA. KingJames you really gotta think before opening your cyber mouth. This kid got drafted top 20 in the NBA...why would that happen if he is so rubbish? I think we have enough shooters anyway, we need someone that can get to the rim and draw the defence and Im hoping Hodge can provide this.

Yes, Dr Bullshit and averaged 0.9ppg in 2mpg. He really lived up to his top 20 draft!! If you are going to credit him for getting 20th in the draft u can then acknowledge those stats!

As I said its not fair to judge him yet! But so far the info on him doesn't look too promising compared with Pace!

Are you stupid. 2 minutes per game, after being shot, and your going to judge his nba career. Technically if you want to talk stats he averages 24pts/48 minutes. There is no point in analysing his court time at the NBA level as there were factors which greatly affected that. What im saying is he obviously has some skill and talent if he was selected in the top 20. Your just looking negatively on the whole situation...oh btw, what was Shane Heal/Andrew Gaze's NBA records like? They're bad players to, right?

King James, Dr Bullshit he hasnt even signed yet + lets just wait and see for all he no he will dominate.

Im just being optimistic i think he would be good for the team in more ways than one.

KingJames - you can read any NBA players predraft weaknesses and conclude that they're rubbish, you need to look at strengths as well, balance the 2 out and see how they will fit into what we're looking for.

Another perspective could be: Wow, this guy sounds amazing, was drafted in the first 20 in the NBA so he's clearly got talent, and check out what these reports say about him

"Very quick reflexes and fast running the court & Player with very good ball handling, vision and passing ability, especially for his size & Takes the ball to the basket often"

"good free throw shooter"

Top 20... that is far better than what Brad Newley got drafted. Would you consider him a bad player?

hell why arent we after kevin garnett,it must be so easy to grab a guy who wants to play here for far less than thy could get in europe and expect him to be a superstar.maybe some of u guys should apply to be recruiters for the team as it seems such an easy job.as usual people want to criticise yet know next to nothing about the player.getting an import has never been an exact science and every club gets them wrong,just look at sydney and the revolving door.lets just wait and see who we get and pass judgement once they have time to settle,hell i recall people wanting to get rid of K.B after his first couple of games were stinkers and look how that turned out.

Actually the way I read it he had those stats and then got shot! So that blows your great 20th pick out of the Window theory.

Once again "As I said its not fair to judge him yet! But so far the info on him doesn't look too promising compared with Pace!"

I disagree Fess. There are lots of college players finishing their career and only a limited amount of spots in Europe/NBA. Plus there are sporting agents one could use to find the type of player a club would need. I would say it would cost a bit of initial money but the investment would be worth it if a team was to do a sufficient amount of searching.

Guys,

can anyone work out where Julius Hodge is currently playing ?

Boti says he "is playing in Italy's Serie A with Cimbero Varese." but the Cimbero Varese website says he is not in the "La Squadra" or "Prima Squadra", cut or injured? Anyone out there with Italian?

Has Boti got it wrong or has he just done a wiki and assumed that that was correct? In any case it is probably better for us if he is currently not playing with anyone. Means it is cheaper for us, and he can get here quicker hopefully, certainly sounds like the right fit.

whatever the case i'm sure he can contribute more than what we were getting in the past and I think just with the athletic divide between nba and nbl he should be able to provide a handy option for us. I don't really see that we can loose on this, pace or hodge we are going to get a new face who is not scouted by any other team and will provide some excitement.

Looks like he left Cimberio (ranked last) for Legea (second last)? Not sure.

I am a Nuggets fan, and a 36ers fan, and I was always hoping for Julius to succeed, it just didn't work out on the NBA for him. He should of never been drafted as high as he was, it's just that the nuggets GM at the time (kiki vandeweghe) was, to be honest, an idiot. In Julius' only start with the nuggets, just before he was traded to the Bucks, in 19 minutes he got 4pts 6ast and 2stl. I really think he contribute in the NBL, he just wasn't made for the NBA.

Also, his range doesn't extent out to the NBA three point line, but he's much better from the international line, which is pretty much just a mid range jumper in the NBA, so that shouldn't be a problem.

I like the way that someone (presumably one of you lot) has updated his Wikipedia profile to say he's on his way to Adelaide to play for the Sixers. Shame you put it under the NBA heading.

This kid will be good if he signs for us, bank on it.

After 1 and a half seasons of poor performance and frustration, its just an expectation that the 36ers will recruit someone who will create miracles and turn it all around. I don't have a problem with the negativity shown by posters on this topic because there is a lot listed under this player's profile that one should be worried about. He certainly does not sound like the answer to the 36ers problem. If we don't know enough about him to expect that he won't be any good, we also don't know enough about him to know that he will be good. He just doesn't sound good enough for what the 36ers need right now. If we are just looking for someone slightly better than Chappell, then that is not the answer to the problem and why bother anyway. Just write another season off. If the 36ers are serious about salvaging this season, then they need to look at someone who atleast shows a better profile.

Julius Hodge Info:

Height: 199cm / 6'7'
Position: Guard
Born: 1983
Team: Legea (Italy) (2007-08)
Nationality: U.S. Virgin Isl.
Agency: Assist Sports Mngm

http://www.eurobasket.com/player.asp?Cntry=ITA&PlayerID=46102


Julius Hodge Stats:

http://195.56.77.208/team/tbd.phtml?from=2007&to=2008&club=SCF&type=d2



Hope this is helpful guys? You can read it for yourself but i have my opinion on his stats.

KingJames holy cr@p you're a tool, u know that site where u got that info on him, i found that too, funny how u immediately took out the negatives and left that whole bit that said...

"Very effective offensive player who has been a force in the ACC since stepping on the court as a freshman & Very quick reflexes and fast running the court & Player with very good ball handling, vision and passing ability, especially for his size & Takes the ball to the basket often, despite lack of strength & Extremely competitive player who has become one of NC State's best all time players & Comes from NYC and has all the AND 1 moves, but has toned his game down well & A good free throw shooter"

and how the hell is he "in the mold of willie farley" is that the only shooting guard you could think of? Farley wasnt a slasher like Hodge.

Boti's article has now been updated and is worded "has been playing.." fair enough

i remember when i saw the Chaser guys live and they kept editing their Wiki profiles

yeah now Wiki says he is coming here

I like his Pre-College nickname:

"Da Jules of Harlem on His Way 2 Stardom"

Everyone should just chill. He might not even sign with the team yet. I wonder what is the real reason behind Pace not signing.....

fess,

Kevin Garnett is contracted to the Boston Celtics, so I doubt we'd be able to get him.

Of corse hes been playing look at his stats.

When I saw that ch.9 news footage of him playing, I thought how young and mobile and agile he looked.

cant find anything else of note on him apart from one of him getting dunked on.

looks Alrite.

Relax Xztatik! The reason's I focused on the negatives was because what do we need out of the small forward position? Someone that is Athletic, someone that is somewhat strong for their size, someone that can jump, someone with a versitle game that can hit outside shots as well as take it inside and is also a good defender. Like a Liam Rush! Of those 6 things we need, 4 of them are mentioned in the weakness section! 1 of them is mentioned in the Strengths section and the other one wasn't mentioned at all. That is why I focused on the Negatives and that is fair enough I think!

Obviously its hard to go by NBA scouting reports but thats all we have got to go on atm. I am actually hoping he is a great player and as Boti pointed out in the paper he comes from the same agent as Darnell Mee. So if he is anything like Mee then he is going to be a great player!

I said he is in the mold of Willie Farley as they are similar size's it seems. I didn't mean it in terms of Basketball ability. Also good to see you included that he is a good free throw shooter but some how managed to miss the following part of the sentence which said "but is struggling in his senior season" (ended up with 67%).

Man , was that last layup a travel ? Seems to be all arms and legs flapping everywhere .

"heres the man from Harlem"

echos of Al Green

ciao

hi!i'm italian. julius played for my team Cimberio Varese but....he's a disaster...
he isn't the old julius hodge...

sorry for my english

luke

ciao

hi!i'm italian. julius played for my team Cimberio Varese but....he's a disaster...
he isn't the old julius hodge...

sorry for my english

luke

I disagree, only a European with english as a second language would apologise for better grammar than most people on this site can manage ;-)

'he isn't the old julius hodge...'

Sounds like a good replacement for Mike Chappell, both not playing like they used to...

For those doubting it, it definitely traces to Italy.