I noticed that shot at the supporters too and was not imprsssed. Best way to shut people up is to start winning and to dispose of that excuse for a PG we have.

It might not hurt Clarke to be aware that most of us have been supporting this team since long before he came on the scene, and will be long after he is fired.

It's amazing how Boti & the SA people have always been so fixed on the 36ers being heavily SA represented & now you've hired a coach who has not only never coached men b4 but has also only ever been to SA b4 as a player with the Giants! Now he's under the pump & having never dealt with the media b4 is being condescending to the SA fans. Maybe the committee who hired him should feel some responsibility!

Goorg proves Boti's theory right that c/ship contending sides can be put together very quickly but why shoot the messenger?

Ninnis was the right call til' he brought home the wooden spoon & maybe Smyth will coach again...

But employing a non South Aussie who is also a rookie is a strange move in my opinion.

Haven't read the sunday mail
Boti said Clarke doesn't read reviews - looks like he does now. Not very friendly to ADL fans, is it.
That comment reminds me a little of the second Crows coach (robert shaw ) telling ADL fans they didn't know as much as Vics and telling the media to print only positive stuff , otherwise they won't be allowed to attend.

@anon 904 clearly too many vinous for you as you have 3 "facts" completely wrong in your post. What is your source of marty's quote? Boti said the 36er fans HAD bought into the coaches plan and if you think anyone but NInnis put together last years team you are relying on people who don't know shit.

Good review Jonno - I got wild when I read that comment from Clarke. (robert shaw , from tasmania was told by the crows to apologise to fans for comments)

Carter has his moments . DeVries looks like he'd run the point pretty good.

Clarke will start the same 5 agen today.

Orbit how many of those championship clubs are still around that gorj coached , sure he won but he bankrupted the club in the process

So who do you think does the recruiting then if it not the coach

And by your logic Marty had nothing to do with the signing of Creek, Johnson , Dowdell, Carter or Harris. Is that what you are saying just want be clear on what level of moron I am dealing with here.

wow here we go agian i thought all this would go away now that we have a good coach since the smith era. Once we start to lose all of a sudden the coach is the problem who bags the suporters and all the people who think they can coach and run a baskerball team better than anyone else.

Seems everyone is willing to hire a expensive coach and spend money 6ers dont have and win one championship and then follow in the dragons shadow and i cant see why we cant have a rebuilding period, we have a good young centre a exciting young mitch creek, franchise player in ballinger, hard defensive players in carter and herbie when he comes back. (just to name a few)

People dont see what marty can bring in. Those good young exciting players that have graduated from martys program at AIS will look to come back to marty who they know and respoect like Mitch creek. (As well as the great club of 6ers).

Things will happen.

And for the record here is what Boti wrote
"The 36ers are definitely a work-in-progress," he said after that first game, a theme which has been reworked since by coach Marty Clarke and club management in several different forms.

"Three year plan," "build, not buy," "stay positive' and "no dramas" have been the catch phrases and Adelaide's fan base largely has bought into the philosophy.

And why not?

Better a team with a plan and a game worth watching during the process, than another two-time loser chasing its tail in the bomb shelter."

A little different to what you claim was said.

Too much is being made of all this stuff. Sixers are currently ranked 7th offensively and 6th defensively. Surprisingly, Sydney ranked best defence, but worst offence! Melbourne 8 and 8.

Real table:
TEAM Off Def TOT
Cairns 2 3 5
Wollongong 4 2 6
Perth 1 5 6
Sydney 9 1 10
Townsville 6 4 10
New Zealand 5 7 12
Gold Coast 3 9 12
Adelaide 7 6 13
Melbourne 8 8 16

Doesn't sound like much, but Sixers need to find and extra 4 points in offence, and save 1 point in defence. That's only a bit better shooting and tighter D - not too hard!

You seriously think that the club says hey coach who do you want , coach says I want player x and club then say too bad we are signing player y deal with it.

That article i posted was the article that you claim Boti wrote that the fans aren't buying what Marty has said, I must be a little slow so can you point out a quote from the FRiday article that backs up what you claim.

The first person I'd get rid of is Ballinger.
He is a defensive liability.
I'd give the starting PG role to Carter and get Schenscher back to where he belongs, in Adelaide.
Get a fully fit Herbert back and Ng and/or Hill could be in trouble...

Schenscher/Johnson
IMPORT/Holmes
Holmes/Hill
IMPORT/Herbert
Carter/Ng

Journo - Balls has been our best playsr for 3 years, and was Wooloongong's best before that. He's one of the best scoring PF's around and works really hard. Scores at a good clip too. If we got rid of him, he would join another team and burn us for the next 5 years.

Journo, this is why teams have rotations, for when players lack in 1 area. Honestly Balls isn't the best defensive post player, but he's good with blocks and is working on the D.

If he's failing to do his job, just sub him out for Dowdell or Holmes. The moment you need scoring again, sub Balls back on. Simple.

It's all about finding that starting combo to get the team going and for those clutch quarters. Winder/Carter/Holmes/Dowdell/Johnson are already a good defensive combo to run on the floor.

DJ "should" get promoted to start and rotate balls back down to PF. Still can't see the logic in the existing starting Frontcourt.

Doctor, Horvath was a club MVP once too. While we have thrown money at Balls where have we gone on the ladder? Down and down. People will say we haven't surrounded him with enough but other teams doing more with less.makes you wonder. We have to try another direction. Gets some blocks but team defenses suffers and thats crucial. So long we hated worthington and redhage but they are winners and make their own shots or contribute even if they don't. Doubt many will agree with this because balls is a crowd favourite. Team MVP isn't much when the team is struggling with 3 different coaches

How many playoff games has Ballinger played as a 36er?
Answer NOT MANY!

So your saying get rid of Ballinger before winder?
How many assists did our star import get last night against Cairns? zero assists with 3 turnovers

No, they were saying don't keep Balls next year. It's a thread about rebuilding.

Rebuild...... pfftt...... There is no such thing as rebuild in the NBL. Lets say a few weeks ago we dumped Winder and picked up Worthington. I'd say that would of made the 6ers contenders. One player can make a significant difference in this league.

I believe that the Australian components are already in the stable but what I do see is a few players that are inconsistent and one-dimensional on this squad.

Seriously, what does Ng offer this squad??? Especially with Hill and the addition of Carter. As I said before, I feel that last season there was an 'on court' conflict between Hill and Ng, and this season it's worse with the addition of Carter and to a lesser degree DeVries. Too many players with the same skill set that can't 'multi-skill'. If Ng isn't hitting the three there isn't much else he can do on the court.

What I don't see on this squad is a big (4 or 5) player that can made a difference in other ways on the court when one skill set isn't working. A perfect example is someone like Anthony Petrie or Mika Vukona. They will rarely go and put twenty point up, but they provide a bundle of energy and are so consistent that they will put up a game of 12-16 points, 7-10 rebounds with a few assists, limit turnovers and great defence each game every game. Holmes sort of plays this role, but to a much lesser degree with a smaller skill set (purely rebounds and junk baskets). Hill and Ng can't do it. Carter is getting there defensively and on the three ball but I'd call him a guard and he's not going to go out and do the same things a forward or centre can do. Balls simply isn't good enough defensively. DJ is still learning to put two good games together (he just needs time).

I'm starting to think that Winder is the wrong player for this squad. Balls is a fantastic pick and pop player and Winder hasn't realised this (or the coach is telling him not to realise it). Balls mid range jumper is money and it should be any easy 3 or 4 assists per game for the PG. Pick and roll all day every day.

I understand what Journo is saying about Balls, but I think that with the right imports and players around him he's worth keeping, especially as he's considered an Aussie. I wouldn't be too upset to see Balls in another uniform either.

Winder isn't the right import (I think) for this squad with the current skill sets. DeVries needs to be used to his strengths, as a shooter, coming of screens, curls and pops, much the same way Detroit use Rip Hamilton. He's got a great motor and stroke and I don't think that is being utilised enough. Winder seems to need to ball in his hands to do anything which stagnates the offence, and doesn't do much off the ball.

I'd really like to see what Tywain McKee is doing... I know he's had some issues, but I'd still ask the question.

Hawks would love balls back

Yea i like Clarkes recruiting of guys like Carter, Johnson, Creek and Dowdell, havn't seen Creek yet but the others have all turned out well IMO. Over all i like clarke, just wish he would make a couple of tweeks.

My first two steps would be start Johnson and play him 25 mins a game, give him and ballinger first look on the offense and plenty of shots each and live with his ups and downs as he would develop, and either replace Winder with a different import PG or start Carter and play him the bulk of the pg mins being spelled by a new aussie pg or devires, hill, ng sharing the back up role, with winder leaving or playing sg/sf.

Both moves would give us a better balanced team NOW whilst giving young talent a chance to play and develop for the FUTURE.

If those things happen id be more than happy to be patient and watch the 36ers develop into a strong team i think most of our aussie content is some of the best young players going around, im a big fan of Johnson and Carter, Dowdell has plesently surprised me and i have high hopes for Creek and think Hill will improve a little more.

I dont think Ballinger should be moved on but i also dont think he will ever be the guy to carry a team to the title, so we either need to recruit a better Aussie, which there are very few in the NBL, a real 'stud' import to be our best player (ie of the level of Brooks, Mee or Farley), or hope guys like Johnson and Creek over the next few years can be our best player, or at a similar level as Balls, as i see him and Devries as good complimentary players, who i like, but not guys who can carry teams to titles.

Totally agree Jonno & TR.

We also have to consider if Balls will still be the player he is now in 3 years time as age and injuries catch up if we are working towards this 3 year plan.

A couple of roster adjustments now (Winder) and increasing minutes for DJ, give Harris a run, Daly, Creek when ready will set as up well for the future

The problem with a large number of fans here is that they have no patience and i must admit im struggling to keep my patience as our current standing is 2-5 while tigers are 1-6 and i would say we have had no where near as much of a shocker as the tigers but our record is clearly not reflecting that. When i was chatting to Carter even he was saying that the team is so young, they are building, but i dont think that this current win loss record is what they have planned. But in saying that im still going to keep supporting and see how this goes. its very easy to sit on the sideline and say what he should or should not have done, and thats all good and well in hindsight.

I think bit misleading to call our team a young team when Winder Ballinger - Hill - Holmes - DeVries starting line up and most court time .
Thats 1 of areas so dissapointed in Clarke so far is how used Johnson . Seem to have kept him on a lease rather than give him the ownership of centre spot .
Coming from a AIS background is strange.
If it is a rebuilding year and 3 year phase what is point in keeping Winder .
Know SOS on tight budget , so dont replace him but at least then the kids will play with structure and be moving forward.
Last point is that I was a huge fan of Ballinger and glad he is in our team but when you think about with Balls salary we could have got Worthington who offers more especially in aggression and defence

bretts, it's not just about the money, it's about not rushing to make changes without giving someone a reasonable shot at adjusting and coming good. Make a rash change and you can undo a lot of work. Once upon a time, a team made a rash decision about Redhage. Three games ago or whenever we had our first Winder thread - that was too early IMO. Now, I think we're just at about the time to do something because his forcing it isn't helping, especially in the NZ and Townsville games which could've easily been wins otherwise.

A few comments here about Clarke's view of the world - basically, pull your heads in fans. "Get over the glory days from the turn of the century, we are rebuilding now"

OK - we will just continue to support the club, buy our season tickets, come to every game and all just to watch a work in progress. Of course, at the end of which, I am sure you will deliver what you are building.

Aside from the fact that I think that attitude is a cop out, I don't understand how a three to five year plan be actioned when players are only on a one or two year contract?

I guess it's about succession. Phased development. Waiting for target players to come off contract.

I'm just guessing here - Clarke isn't a media guy and so probably threw up some excuses because he was feeling the pressure and doesn't know where Winder's pre-season form has gone.

So, maybe multi-year plans work like this: he'd like to get a local in the PG spot eventually, but Gibson, Martin and Bruton are contracted while Carter and Crosswell might be best in roles off the bench. So you could have an import in that role temporarily. Maybe he has an eye on an upcoming guard.

Or he thinks Johnson will have a great future, but isn't ready to start, so that means keeping someone else around as a stop-gap.

Who knows - just trying to help you understand how these things might work.

we need a really versatile big man that plays hard all the time and doesnt need the ball all the time to b effective. someone that can play multiple positions and defend. i seen petrie on the tv getting interviewed last night. It clicked in my mind how many more years has he got left at the coast?? i have a feelin he might of signed a new deal this year but i cant remember. also what about someone like a wortho?? i def know he doesnt have a contract next year. he always kills us over here. be good to have him every home game instead of seeing him only a couple of times a year. anyone else think of other players in the league like these two that can do most things very well??

I have no problem with a 3 year plan and being patient but if you are going to play that card, atleast play your young studs like Johnson, it will only benefit his development, and i think he is ready to start now, not star but is ready to start, he showed that both in his time starting with Melbourne and his limited minutes in Adelaide. I believe giving Johnson the C spot and wearing the lumps of inexperience will help us now and in the future, as to me he is our best Aussie scorer now and only 22 years of age, so has real potential to be the best c in the league in a couple of years!

Walker, I like Wortho too, but the downside is that he won't really commit to long-term deals and will want Euro-out clauses. Might still be worth it, but I don't think you'd run with him and Ballinger together - probably one or the other?

Problem with Wortho at the moment is for the money he is on he doesnt deliver that level of play. His shooting percentage has been in the 30s for some time now and he isnt really making the effort plays that made him such a good player with Sydney and the Dragons.

Adelaide would be better going after Jesse Wagstaff who will turn out just as good as Worthington, if not better, but wont break the bank.

Of course, I think the best option with Ballinger, Johnson, Holmes and Dowdell as the frontcourt is to get an athletic 3-4 import to give a bit more athleticism in the frontcourt and complement Holmes, who is neither a 3 or a 4.

I actually don't mind the idea of a "rebuilding" phase for the Sixers in the NBL over the next 3 years or so as long as it is done correctly.
The whole idea of rebuilding is to obtain/retain and develop talent to contend in the future, and I think the recruiting we have done so far is the first step to this.

In the offseason we made significant changes to the roster, we brought in Carter (26), DeVries (28), Johnson (22), Dowdell (23), Winder (26) - Retained Herbert (26), Ng (27), Hill (24), Holmes (27) and Ballinger (31).
The majority of our team is currently entering/already in what is considered their "sporting prime" (27-32) with the rest of the team yet to hit 25 years old. For me this is a great start to the rebuilding process.

The addition of Warbout, Daly and now Creek also gives the team more youth to build from, as long as management doesn't drive them interstate, and all of them could be developed into the components of a future Sixers championship roster.

As Isaac said:

I guess it's about succession. Phased development. Waiting for target players to come off contract.

he'd like to get a local in the PG spot eventually...So you could have an import in that role temporarily.

Spinner, you've made good points, but don't forget which city Clarke is coaching in. He would have expected questioning when he took the job.

The "flak" would be alot less, however the Sixers have been out of the finals for years now and that's not normal. It's like Perth or Melbourne not making the finals repeatedly; it's something that can happen but fans never expected to happen.

I think the intention of the "3-5 year plan" is that even though the contracts are 1-2 years, it's to make sure that they don't take on baggage if the 1st three years of recruiting only produce 1-2 gems for the rebuild.

Essentially you're doing a PDR for players who want to be in a Championship team. You're saying "Right, we're gunning for a title in 2 years, so far you've been handy, but you're not what we will need."

Isaac, Ibeg to differ on this opinion -

it's about not rushing to make changes without giving someone a reasonable shot at adjusting and coming good

I'm taking out a copyright on the Pavlova comment - it's gonna make me a fortune. (And i'm still laughing)

EC, not so much an opinion. That was more about explaining two reasons why a coach/club mightn't jump to replace a player. Not really just about money.

Now, I'd be looking to swap out Winder like a lot of fans, but you have to admit that he showed good signs in the pre-season, even as a combo guard. And that even making just 1-2 shots more a game and one less questionable play in crunch time, things might be different enough. (That'd equate to 12-15 PPG, and 4-3 instead of 2-5. 4-3 would put us equal fourth with NZ and ahead of the Crocs, and 15 PPG would have Winder in the top ten for scoring*.)

*Yes, yes - a lot of "if only" but this is what we've stooped to as 36ers fans for the last x years!