I have heard about his injury and that it has been negatively effecting his performance but this is the first ive heard of him being cut.

I hope not, I like what he brings, but I guess if he is injured and not likely to recover to an acceptable level within the next month or so then they should look elsewhere.

I agree with you No Deal, i think what he has brought has been really good and it would be worth keeping him but not at the expense of not playing for a while. hope he recovers and comes good. it would be great to see him on the court with shannon it could be something special.

Seems unfair to cut if he is injured

I've heard he's a big chance to go. But I've heard nothing about an injury. The new guy maybe around already.

Hope that they aren't going to cut him. He's worth the money IMO.

Jack it depends on the severity of the injury. if he is injured enough to be out for half the season then it would be worth replacing. if its a matter of 2 or 3 games then id stick it out. i think the sixers will keep him and see how the partnership of him and shannon go.

Wow. I would be sad to see him go because he has such a high bball IQ, but he has only been ok this year when you consider his main weapon, his shot, isnt working. If this does turn out to be true it would certainly shatter the train of thought that SOS werent up for changing imports!

Fellow Import Troy DeVries, whose form also has fallen away since a positive start, is carrying hip and hamstring-like injuries - (From Nagys Winder article on Monday.)
' A professional athlete is hardly ever going to be 100%' Clarke said (in that article).

Top scorer and runner up POTW on debut, but playing like an injured man, now.

If he's cut due to injury would his contract be paid out by insurance or would SOS be wearing that as well? I can't imagine they'd be keen to foot the bill for 2 replacement imports.

Missed that injury report. Never heard Marty come out with a comment on a player's injury/illness before.... (But since I missed one I could be wrong)

in Marty's interview after tha game friday night he did metion DeVries playing with an injury...

Any thoughts on Eddie Shannon ?

Great signing, no. Solid role player for the team - yes. But I was wrong on that one.

It would be just a train of thought if they or the coach were thinking the team was on the verge of the playoffs (which amazingly they were until Gilchrist got injured despite how ugly some of their basketball was) so we wont change anything.

paul, I think you have a stalker

' Devries connected on a couple of trademark triples
which could give him a stay of execution.. Perhaps. '
(From Botis last game report)

Geez, i hate to sound ruthless, but for the sake of this season, i sure hope Devries is fired. We need an import combo with a killer blow in them, I suspect with Shannons quickness, we are half way there. The rumours of this Brown guy have been swirling, if they go down that path, we could be seeing a very succesful second half of the season!

I really like what he brings, he has range, is heady and is one of the only players on the teams that can create his own shot should he need to while the clock is running down. I guess it just depends on the severity of his injuries. As mentioned above, 2 weeks off i can live with, a month or more they need to look at their options.

Wow, looks like somebody has been waiting to catch you off your game there paul!

This would be a mistake I think. With the right PG Devries could really shine. I would like to see him in a couple of games with Shannon before any decision was made.

The source of this rumor told me on friday nite that Winder was going to be sacked and that they already have found a replacement.

i'd say its a pretty reliable source.

Skud, I agree with you. Devries' deficiency until now could well be because of Winder as PG. Unless his injury is serious, it would be premature to release him now without seeing what he will bring to the team under a different PG.

E, im assuming they plan on giving him a bit of a fighting chance though yeh? as others have said id want to see him with shannon first if he is good to play

I wonder if Winder hoisted his own petard.

That is , I wonder if Winder played reasonable and DeVries struggling with injury, would they have moved on Devries , Saturday.

Yes, a little bit stalky!

But those quotes are what I thought Groves would bring once he got back to full swing from his injury - a part of the team system, solid defence, an extra ball handler, someone who could hit the open jump shot (40% threes last year at Dragons) and use his athleticism to create shots late in the shot clock was low.

Like I said, I got that wrong!

Back on topic, if the rumour is correct I guess the next thing is to find out who the replacement is. If you look at NZ, Wollongong, Perth and Cairns they have strong local talent and at least one of their imports is just a role player.

For teams like Sydney and Adelaide who dont have the local talent, they have to rely on two imports who can be very good players and that is tough to come by.

Its no longer rumoured its confirmed. in todays tiser its stating that Devries is on thin ice. its particularly in relation to his last 4 games where his rebounds assists and points have declined from his opening games. he is now on a different training regime as he has a hip/core injury. Clarke said they intend on getting him back to 100% and hope that his game form comes back with it too

Anon, easy to pull someone up with the benefit of hindsight when they've been man enough to put their name to it and take that risk. Easy to find claims by almost anyone that look silly down the track - I thought the Hawks were going to be really poor last year as just one example, and thought Groves could've been good at one point too.

I love an Anon quoting someone from 12 + months ago.
I'll quote some of Anon's less than brilliant statements over the last twelve months.....but there are so many, I wouldnt know where to start. :)

Check outside your window Paul.

Now under your bed....

...and in the backseat of your car.

Ever vigilant.

Long handled mirror for under the car too.

You spent 40 minutes searching for Paul's comments?

Spinner versus anonymous hater cage fight!

It's funny that some of the so-called 'haters’ think I spin because I don’t bag out the Sixers or the NBL.

I don’t get paid by BA or the NBL, what I write in my articles is my honest opinion. I have seen a lot of basketball in different countries and followed many players and I actually believe the NBL is a very good league by world standards and the current administration is doing a solid job! Incredible I know.

I'm a spinner, Paul's just an optimist!

And I'm learning to be a cage fighter, so we've got it ALL covered.

First time you've encountered a happy person who sees the bright side? Never watched Andrew Gaze commentate with that endless grin?

I checked your posting history - you're like the polar opposite: almost everything you've posted is sour and bitching. Just a hater, or been wronged by someone in the past? Sometimes people would get a happier response by asking Daniel Eade about the change to 40 minutes.

I'm all for being realistic, but you're going beyond that.

Well then, I appreciate that you save your best for the readers here.

Just for clarification of anyone who is still interested in this strange discussion, I am not an employee of FIBA (as nice as it would be to have basketball as my job), and the only time I have any obligation to them is in the 3 weeks surrounding tournaments when I contract my services to them.

So no, it is not my job to get on little known forums (sorry Isaac) and 'spin', and it is rather ludicrous to suggest an organisation that has less than 50 employees but still has to look after the world's second biggest sport, played in 213 countries, would pay someone to do so.

Isaac - what's this using my name in vain!!!

hasnt this thread spun out of control, pardon the pun. as previously said, only a thread on hoops could go from a discussion about devries, to sacking brad hill, to then bashing paul about his prediction in 2009/10 about how cortez would do, to who gets paid by who which is why they say what they say.

I love Hoops!

Spinner - and you're not much of a spinner in this context either! Confusion reigns.