Using your term of cattle I think although did not have the players say Perth have I think comparable player for player we had equal team to most as lot of teams had under peforming imports as well.
Gilchrist certainly had the talent to be one of best imports and wonder under a stronger coach would have led to greater team output from him.
I supported Ninnis most of season but have to look how we could not close of so many games especially at home and how our second half of season was much worst than first.
Remember also he gets to pick the players within a budget of course like all teams.
Look at the Hawks if you want to know how to do it with a budget . Top experienced coach like Mcleod for Hawks a good start.
SOS must be encouraged by crowds all they have to do is make some hard decision and get the coaches and team right

yea think i agree hawks have shown the way - Sure SOS will make tough calls - crowds have been great - so support is there
success bring greater support -

Brett is on it, the SOS are in the position to make the decisions, just depends on what they wish to do..

I mean they can do anything really coz i'm still going to follow...not like i will jump ship just because of the coach...

makes it hard to watch, but...i'm not that shallow....i hope...

^^^ That was the prose equivalent of Wortho owning the Sixers.

676, we all have gooder grammar than youse ever have

nothin rongum wit me punuaton - its bout tim we all focus on leadership rolls for the mitty 6ers - cant have eother year of bein the wooden spooners -
could davo be answer

Fork Me!

I've got half an idea to wave a huge wooden spoon at the last home game. Might even try to get Scotty's and Tez's signature on it.

Reckon Ben Fitz will throw me out!

Ben will probably be too busy whinging at the refs I reckon Jack

I actually think there are many aspects that need to be improved. Game 1 we were told they were learning the ropes yet in my capacity I have seen nothing change.

I am not going to talk about specifics because it will give away my identity. But game night first game of the year things were pointed out to management we were told it would be sorted well Saturday night we were still pointing out the same things.

Anonymous you have no idea son. You must be smoking to much crack. Ninnis sucks at being a head coach, he has no structure in the team what so ever & doesnt know how to use his players. If we had another coach we would have made the top 4 no probs. Then you look at what ninnis did, got in 2 rookie assistant coaches, who have never been an assistant coach in the NBL. What is the deal with that. I mean come on. Dont get me wrong i loved ninnis as a player, but as a coach please...... he has no idea. He got t tech-foul against the tigers which cost us the game. he needs to zip it sometimes & do what the great Phil use to do is sit & watch the game not the refs. I could keep going on, so pull your head out & watch ninnis at the last home game at what he does, & dont worry bout your hair you muppet.

Ninnis has done little in his time with us. He doesnt have the ability to coach at a national level. Perhaps in hindsight, Smythe would have done a better job but thats the way it goes.
SOS have done a fantastic job is reassessing and structuring the clubs finances and setting up its progression towards the future. Anything they havent done has gotta be in the pipeline. It takes time to build a masterpiece.
Id certainly look for a new coach (ie Mark Leader) who might be a hard ass in coaching but has the poise and know how to win games. He might be Victorian but has taken clubs to Nationals despite being in 2nd tier basketball.
SOS will know what to do and I will be there in 10/11 again doing what I do naturally. Support the team thru and thru

When it became apparent during the Crocs game we'd find a way to lose no matter what, I asked if he'd prefer Scotty Ninnis or just S. Ninnis engraved on his spoon.

I never actually stopped and thought how insensitive it was of me not to get Cortez' opinion. Ah well - live and learn.

Random

I had a dream last night that ex-Sixers were upset as hell, tearing off their blue uniforms and throwing them in a pile at Scotty, while Brett had a small tear in his eye.

It was hilarious, as I couldn't understand a word Willie Farley (who kept turning into Darnell Mee) was saying - he had a crazy high pitched voice like the boxing dude from the Simpsons.

Weird. If I dream of bball, I'm usually on court, not in a Dr Phil-esque therapy session.

/Random

What are you on Anon.or just struggling with life.
Where is the sooking here and read the title and try to think about it as we will finish bottom for first time ever.
Which is dissapointing to not only us supporters but especially to those SOS owners who saved our club and League.
Obviously the first place you need to look is your coach who is responsible for selecting team then there match day peformance.
You cant start assembling your team until coach appointed.
You make a statement that Ninnis should be coach again then possibly you could give reasons why rather than the blank players crap and why we lost virtually every close game including some un lossable games and why second half worse than first half when injuries were in first half of season.
Looking forward to your articulate response

Cut corners, they started the season 3 months after everyone else! Why is it everyone on here knows everything yet nothing is the same. Who do I believe ??

I'd say the general consensus for Sixer fans reads something like:

-The SOS did a great job, especially given the circumstances - I don't think anyone is debating that.

-Ballinger, Burston and Gilchrist would start on just about any team in the league.

-Beyond that, we're not overly deep, but we're not horrible either.

-Given the personnel available, finishing bottom (or close to it) is unacceptable by this club's standards.

-Scotty is loved by Sixer fans, but unfortunately has not made the transition to Head Coach as we all hoped he would.

-Given Ninnis' relative inexperience (and theirs), Hill and Flynn we're, in hindsight, perhaps not the best choices for assistants.

-Tough decisions to be made in the off season, but looking forward to 2011 with the SOS onboard with lessons learnt.

yes tough decisions - finishing bottom and seems Ninnis was given a verbal for next season.
But we were not always a mile off the mark.
Leadership a lot has to come with the PG, of course.
We would love to keep Burston Herbert and the like, but 2 new teams and Goorj coaching NBL - gonna be interesting. Wouldn't like to see 6 or 7 new sixers players really.

When the clock is running down in a Melbourne Tigers game, you know that Wortho is going to come off a single on the left low block and then a double screen on the right elbow for one of his 3 pointers in the closing seconds.

When Symth was coaching, you knew that in the end of each quarter, one particular player would be isolated above the foul line. A completely different approach, but a simple one that the players adhered to.

Watching Scottys teams, irrespective of who the point guard is, i have not yet noticed an end game strategy or philosophy that the team adhears to, and to me that is the disappointing thing.

Ballinger Fan - We run the Hungry Hungry Hippo with one orange ball left.

Ok, so most of agree that Scott has not made the most of his opportunity but nor has Adam Ballinger. Great player? Absolutely. Great Leader? Not convinced.

Ninnis stuffed up by using his final time-out too early in the fourth so shouldn't the onus be on the Captain to lead the ship home? As our leader and clearly best player, he should have demanded the ball on that fateful final play. I would just like to see Ballinger assert his authority more so as captain.

As Loco previously mentioned Burston, Ballinger and Gilchrist are the only player that would start on any other team. If we are all honest then Holmes, Herbert, Ng, Hill and Groves would be nothing more than role players on almost every other team in the comp. Before they came to Adelaide or returned, none of them were regular starters on their previous teams.

Ballinger was not the right choice as captain. I would go Burston-Holmes joint captaincy next year. Let Ballinger just play as a leadership role does not seem to be his thing.

I would just like to know how any Captain could have asserted authority when they had Gilchrist and Groves on their team.

What are the Captains supposed to do when the Coach doesn't pluck the ball hogs from the floor if they are to selfish to pass where there is opportunity.

I can't really see any of the players/Captains yelling at them "Pass me the ball you hog"!

Shouldn't it be the Coach who holds the players accountable and says pass the ball or sit your ass down. I got so sick of watching Gilchrist not pass to a wide open Ballinger or NG or anyone throughout this season. It's the pointguards that are supposed to lead and I far from believe that Ballinger is wasting opportunity as the above post insinuates.

Scott has done very little to lead the team.

The best formula for success is Good Players Good Coaches.

I would just like to know how any Captain could have asserted authority when they had Gilchrist and Groves on their team.

What are the Captains supposed to do when the Coach doesn't pluck the ball hogs from the floor if they are to selfish to pass where there is opportunity.

I can't really see any of the players/Captains yelling at them "Pass me the ball you hog"!

Shouldn't it be the Coach who holds the players accountable and says pass the ball or sit your ass down. I got so sick of watching Gilchrist not pass to a wide open Ballinger or NG or anyone throughout this season. It's the pointguards that are supposed to lead and I far from believe that Ballinger is wasting opportunity as the above post insinuates.

Scott has done very little to lead the team.

The best formula for success is Good Players Good Coaches.

Isaac I agree totally both with choice of new captains plus Ballinger not suited, but if dont change coach cant see them changing captains after only 1 year

Maury45/anon (same IP), clearly you're a big Ballinger fan, friend or family of his, but I'm hardly the only person to have wondered if Ballinger is leadership material; there have been many posts on the topic.

It's not necessarily a grand insult, just doesn't appear to be quite his thing. Put the captaincy on someone else (or two players) and leave Balls to relax and play his game.

After a mid-season slump, remember it was Burston who called a players meeting? He was not the captain, nor a veteran, nor was he the best player on the team, and he was in his first season as a 36er - in fact, he'd barely come back from injury but still knew something had to be said.

I said on here that he seems an easy going kinda guy, but I thought was right, rather than Holmes. Although that might've been Holmes didn't like Hodge on the team, and before Burston was here.

Yes, that is correct, this workplace has plenty of staff who Sixer's and Ballinger fans!

Balls shows alot of emotion which we need but I think your right Isaac, not a captain person.
Having said that, Holmes's performances arent captain material either. He has guts, works hard and has passion but cant take the ball and do something with it when needed, which I think a captain needs to be able to do.
Burston I guess could do it, havent seen much heart from him on court but that doesnt mean the players dont.

Theres really noone else in the team that could be a captain thou, so do we blame Balls for not being captain material, or once again Ninnis for not providing his captain a solid structure to work with?? Would anyone else have been able to step upto the role this year.
Maher had the experience so could have, but I dont know if anyone else would.

I'd say Burston would be my choice right now, then Ballinger .
BUT - Just for a second there channel 7 news flashed something about their news tomorrow will run a Jacob Holmes story.

I'd give Balls another go especially if Scotty & the the current team are sticking around. It would be a kick in the guts for Balls to lose the job if all the coaches remain.

If the coaches are not re appointed I'd go with Burston. IMO although Jake has all the attributes of a good captain however he should only be playing limited minutes off the bench

Are the above posts confirming the coaches are signed for next year correct?

Hold up..........

Need to look at the big picture here..... Loco WTF...

When one bloke starts having dreams of a number of guys getting their gear off and strutting around naked, and then transforming into other random naked blokes then it's time to take a step back...

On a serious note, we have been blessed with a truly great leader for a number of years in Brett. I think his retirement left a larger hole than what people actually realise and/or are willing to admit, both on and off the court.

The problem is that whilst Brett was still running around no one was developed and pushed into a leadership role or was tagged as the new leader. Before Holmes left I believed that he may be that guy, I think I even mentioned his leadership whilst he was at the Goons, but I don't think he's carried it over upon his return.

The problem with developing leadership is consistency in the ranks, something Adelaide hasn't really had and when they did they relied on Brett. I was an advocate of Brad Davidson playing his season purely as I believe that he would of filled the roll. Davidson bought the leadership, had earnt the responsibility or leadership over many campaigns and was respected.

To be brutally honest I don't see anyone currently on the roster that would flourish in the leadership role, and even in a few people, would actually be a hindrance.

I agree with Maurie. Scott's the one who's not up to the job....Never was, never will be. Stick to coaching juniors...

Isaac I totally agree with your comments regarding Ballinger. In no way is taking the captaincy a slur on his basketball. Alot of sportspeople play their best when they don't have other team obligations. The captain does not need to be the best player but the one who leads with the required heart and desire to help bring the best out in their team.

For example, many people questioned Collinwood's decision to make Nick Maxwell captain but he quickly showed leadership beyond his playing capabilities. Even in the NBL, Russell Hinder in Townsville is captain because of his passion for the Crocs and the game of basketball.

Jacob Holmes should be captain and I was surprised that he wasn't this season. I believe the captaincy and its responsibilities would help Jake take his game to another level.

Anonymous, you clearly suffer from NFI, No F***n Idea. Brad Davidson was a great player, too many injury pron. You want a captain that is 9/10 times going to be on the court playing, not sitting on the bench. Holmes should have been captain by far, even tho he needs to practice his jump shot he is still an awsome player

Disagree with you on the Davidson comment mr-sixer. Davidson wasn't really that injury-prone where he missed a tonne of games, but he did play banged up and maybe not at a 100%, which to me, means even more. He showed heart, dedication to the cause, leadership and balls. Something this current team lacks a bit of.

His last two seasons he played in 26 games which I think is enough.

There are no tough decisions to be made for next season. It could not be more obvious what needs to be done. I just hope SOS have the guts to do it with no regret. You have to look at it as a business decision and nothing else. No indiviual is more important than the club and preserving its history of success. There should never be any regrets at making decisions that would stop the compromise of this success. The current coaches and team have brought shame to the respectable name of the Adelaide 36ers. That has to be stopped.

Jake, you are assuming that Ballinger wants the captain's role. He may be happy to give up the responsibility and concentrate on his game.

TR - Or change dealers.

Anon861

This was exactly the point we well maury initially was trying to make (but if you have more than one person writing on the same computer than the opinions are not very valid apperently. don't exacly work in a place that warrants more computers.

it's gotta start from the top. in any business. the hierarchy needs to be solid and the players then follow suit and DIRECTION. We reckon there was a huge lack of respect for the coach, players and captain this season as above someone mentioned there were alot of hungry hungry hippos. that and the coach did nothing to enforce some authority. thats not how the tigers or other teams get the wins surely. they want success for the team the pride to win games, not build statistics.

thats just my opionion anyways.

As someone else said, taking the captaincy off Ballinger doesn't necessarily equate to a "kick in the guts" - he may well even welcome the move.

It's all predicated by who's coaching in 2011 and what squad we wind up with - we don't even know what players we're choosing between here.

good point loco but i do rekon it seems a kick though no one would really want to give up captaincy. no one even knows who will be who next season.

"OH OH you have the same IP address as Do Da - HeHeHe"
Get a life and write facts not S#$%.

Anonymous # 871,

How about making an effort then and filling in the name section so we can tell when we are reading a post from a different person rather thna have a myriad of varying commenst posted under anonymous.

Im still yet to be convinced that massive change is actually needed.

If Burston was fit and you had 2 qualityimports then Im sure Ninnis would have lkooked like a guna nd you would be in the finals.

Yes Gilchrist had great numbers, but so did Jason Crowe when he played up here.

If you had a McKee at point and a quality scoring SF you would all be singing a vastly different tune right now.

That said, the buck has to stop somewhere and the coach is normally the first to feel the wrath of the club in any sport when a team doesnt perform

Statman, I have similar thoughts, but can you risk a season where you make one change (e.g., just Ninnis, or keep Gilchrist but replace Groves) only to have similar difficulties in 2010/11? The risk is replacing Ninnis only to find that Gilchrist is problematic next year and the coach wants him gone. Or just replacing Groves to find that the side still collapses in the fourth and the problems run deeper.

I thought Gilly was done for 12 months-ish? Isn't that ballpark for an ACL injury of this type?

Yeah, that was the "up to 12 months" case - just accounting for the occasional random post on here about him staying for next year or Ninnis having a verbal for another year, etc.

Cant believe posters are saying that Isaac ,myself and others want to dump on Ballinger.
We are suggesting that on the surface it seems that the captaincy doesnt sit that well with Adam and that a stronger captain might help in 2010-11.
Clearly if this can be arranged with Ballingers support.
The only defenites most posters are saying is that
Ninnis unfortunately is not up to at this level and with NBL inexperienced coaches we havebeen found wanting in direction and leadership along with real NBL nous.
General feel is also that both imports need to be replaced along with Cooper and Molitor.
There is divided opinion on whether Hill should be replaced as well.
I think Hill should be given another go just leaving
the 2 imports which change regularly anyway and the 2 least used players .
Surely that is not seen as a overhaul in anyones opinion,
But change in coaching is a must to get the club back on track and for SOS to show that they are not prepared to put up with such a disastrous finish to year.
Only good thing about finishing bottom there is only one direction you can go

Hate to point it out Bretts, but being bottom of the ladder does not necessarily mean the only move you can make is up. You can stay still in that position. A second year of staying still on the bottom rung of the ladder would be deemed worse than the first year because you haven't done anything to change it. This is why there is a necessity to make some major changes next season.

Or ABA.

Just saying is all.

Ballinger was the captain his junior and senior year at Michigan State. So I am pretty sure he can handle being captain of the 36ers.

Gotta feeling Ninnis offered Ballinger for a number of years and Adam was 'honoured' to get that (while NZ were seriously chasing him)

While only yesterday Flinders Uni made a press statement about the court order.

Anons with the same IP addresses.....OWNED!

Being a good captain doesn't necessarily come easy, when Maher first became captian Mark Davis was still playing although in a small role. At the time, we used to comment that for a captain Maher didn't talk much during matches, Davis used to often call the players together for a huddle.

And Maher's early seasons he had the support of more mature experienced players, Darnell Mee etc, making the job that much easier.

Ballinger seems to have stepped in as captain, mainly because there wasn't anyone else. Give it some time and appoint Holmes or Burston as co/vice-captain to give some support.

On a side note, I thought Gilly's injury was worse than just the ACL, but also damage to his medial ligament....hence the longer recovery time????