Why risk losing his legacy in Adelaide?

Last i heard he had zero interest in coaching.

He and Catt also have a business to run these days.

Would be great to see as a fan, but like Isaac said, why risk it?

Because that's what it's all about. I agree & brett should think about it. I don't think he should jump on Martys bench though as there would not be much to learn. Brett Maher should coach - period! What's going on now is embarassing!!

its a bit tough to know if he would make a good coach or not. good players does not always mean good coach. however at this point my mum could coach the sixers better.

No, she couldn't.

Wait another 5-10 for Maher to get any interest in coaching. The man just retired from the sport... there's a thing called a "layoff period" he's allowed to have before getting back into the sport again.

As for coaching, give him a few years coaching in a lower league and then bring him up.

"give him a few years coaching in a lower league"? Why would he bother?

Not only telling a champion to cut his teeth on peanuts for a career he doesn't seem interested in, like I said, why risk the legacy? Right now, he's revered. He played his career for one team, achieved everything, is rightfully on a pedestal with fans for doing that.

If he tried coaching, there's a slim chance he could do what Smyth did (multiple championships, and even then he did leave without quite the same impact as when he started) but every chance of the team struggling and fans going apeshit (as they do). Were I him, I'd stick to business.

Do you think Ninnis' legacy in Adelaide is what it was before he coached the 36ers?

Didn't work too well for Mark Price or Shane Heal either.

Isaac, it helps to take the post in its whole context rather than the one line.

Why would he bother? Hey, not telling him he HAS to in any way or form, but it tends to help having experience in a field before doing the job. Don't care if someone has played the sport for X years on any level, doesn't mean you can do the job.

Smythe was a rarity IMO; who can go on and win titles instantly etc. Maher, despite the rep, leadership qualities and IQ, doesn't make him a natural on the court. Locally, as you stated, Heal and Ninnis demonstrated that.

Internationally, Mchale, Rambis, Isaiah... all proved that years of experience or championships don't mean you can coach a team well; regardless of talent levels of the team.

If anyone IS worried about "maintaining a legacy" and Brett WANTS to coach, then a smart man would get practice.

Marty Clarke is a good coach, its just that he is making the rookie mistake of overtraining his team. Claxton did exactly the same thing when he started, trying to justify their position. The team should NOT be training the amount of hours that they currently are......this is not the AIS and we have a mixed aged bracket squad. The players are VERY tired and you only have to ask them to see this. Marty, your a good coach but you need to be comfortable in yourself to let the players relax their bodies a bit. Its tough going into a game when you have been having 6hrs of training per day leading up, sometimes more!

I'd guess that to be one problem but I think there's more to it than just that. Great post though.

Could well be training them harder as a result of losses and exacerbating the problem?

Yeah, its not a personal attack but just an observation picked up from watching a few trainings with my children (keeping them occupied during holidays!)

You're probably right that there might be a bit more than just that. thanks Isaac.

It takes me back to the original post of why he was hired in the first place. He is not from SA & has had no apprenticeship at all. The overtraining point just proves the fact he has no idea.

no apprenticeship? the guy was an assistant with the Boomers for farks sake. that did not magically happen overnight. Some people on here are just astounding

orbit, you've lost me. As two people have already said, who cares where a coach is from. And he is a respected coach, he's just moving on to slightly new ground. And why do people always forget that he has last year's championship assistant next to him? Can't imagine how you'd cope following the Kings this year!

I'm glad they went with Clarke over guys like Stacker and Joyce.

Anna, I think there are a few around the league who suspect overtraining. Hopefully Marty isn't too proud to tone it back. More than anything, I think this season will be about him seeing whose ability he overestimated, who to keep, what worked from his training regime, etc. I know the usuals will pipe up about three-year plans and fans expecting more value for money but 6-10 is good for the top end of the bottom bracket. Anyone expecting miles better than that has been very optimistic. I think a lot of the angst is frustration at the inconsistency of the team or giant road slumps.

Overall, Clarke is respected in the sport; regardless of what level he's coached at.

Despite the unorthadox coaching method that gets us all on edge sometimes, I'd rather have him than anyone right now, especially with the "young" lineup.

I'll give it another year... won't stop me complaining on the forums though :P

Im not saying we should risk his legacy at all, it would be the worst thing we could do. But Maher knows basketball, as well as anyone in Australia to me. I wouldnt put him into the role straight away, I would have him as an assistant coach and make sure he has the ability to not ruin his name.

I don't care where a coach comes from, it's always you South Aussies who expect the 36ers to be heavily represented by your own. & who respects Clarke? His part of Brett Browns click which means nothing. Developing juniors & coaching men are 2 diff things. I'll give him sometime to develop as a head coach but don't be suprised in 2-3 years time if nothing changes. Ian Stacker would have been a much better choice!

"he could easily become one of the top coaches"

I like how you put "easily" as though all the head coaches and their assistants haven't played before, haven't dedicated serious swathes of their lives purely to coaching and aren't already trying very, very seriously to become one of the top coaches... I like Brett and all, but if he was interested in coaching, I'm sure he'd be coaching. I swear someone's suggested getting Mark Davis to coach in the past too.

I would hate to see Brett pressured into doing it, and then get smashed by fans if we had a weak or mediocre season. There aren't too many unblemished heroes around these days.

Isaac - Thats the exact same thing I fear for James Hird with Essendon in the AFL. I hope that if he doesn't suceed, it doesnt detract too much from his wonderful playing career.

Russell Ebert (4 Magary medals) and Barry Robran (3 Magary Medals) - does anyone remember what was their Senior Coaching record like?

Orbit,

Easy to throw stones when you have no idea & have no interest in having any idea.

Thats your name not mine dickhead!!

here's my take on the coaches-

built well(fearne,gleeson,mcloed)
built badly(westover,wright,robilliard)
inherited well(lemanis,beveridge)
inherited badly and built badly(clarke)

re brett-a coaches playing history will help to recruit players and maybe get a bit more effort from them.
from there on,its about coaching.

I'm sure if Brett wants to coach we'll hear about it. Doesn't look like he's interested right now though.

Skull, I don't think its fair to say Clarke has inherited AND built badly.

The first one MAY well be true, but Clarke has not had a chance to build anything yet. He has coached about 15 games at NBL level. He needs to be given time to learn what works and what doesn't.

Everyone talks about the results that coaches like Goorjian get, but they forget that he had to start somewhere too. Pretty sure that was with Eastside Spectres and as I recall they were the whipping boys of the comp at that stage.

I don't see how you can make the sweeping claim that Brett would attract better players or that he would get better effort?

First of all I don't think effort is the problem with this team. I see them busting their asses all the time. The problem is between the ears right now - both in confidence and in being able to execute basketball plays effectively under pressure.

Admittedly our imports have not been the greatest so far (I would say two hits, two misses) but Clarke has demonstrated that he can attract some good young guys to play for him in Creek, Johnson, Carter and Bruce. In fact, Creek and Johnson look like the two most talented Aussie recruits the Sixers have had since Brett Maher began his career!

What is to say Maher would attract better players or get more effort than Clarke is currently getting? At least Marty has many years of coaching experience under his belt.

" Not sure why their not feeding Ballinger. "
Brett Maher told Overtime.
Comment ran to superlatives at Tom Maher telling Bulleen guards to feed Cambage inside.
Fairly basic stuff, like coming in out of the rain.

beantown,the players marty recruited were not the right combination with the group he inherited.
maybe he put too much emphasis on youth and not experience when adding to his inherited group eg. hill still brings the 'risks' of youth to each game.......too many risky players.
also i dont think ballinger is the right leader for this group maybe a more exp group would suit his style of leadership.
re brett coaching,some players respond/enjoy being coached by legends.
in particular rookies who have that 'run through a brick wall for the legend coach' thing.
sometimes it is enough to get the'right' signature.

agree creek looks like he has a lot of upside,old head on young shoulders !
on another note,the other kid i like watching at the moment is b.lewis from the tigers,crikey if that lad isnt a future boomer i'll go hey! he kind of looks like a young d.mee.
his length and athletic ability are pretty exciting.
mind you if he gets caught up in that stifling tigers programme he may wait years for court time.

skull, good point re Creek, though he's been costly in a few losses so far as he adjusts. Still, great to watch and usually plays without nerves - takes some young players years to lose that deer-in-headlights look.

I agree re Ballinger as the leader. His best in the past has been when he was left to focus on his game 100% - that's what he does best. When at the Hawks, he was surrounded by guys like Mee, Saville, Kelly, Campbell. In the early days at the 36ers, he had Maher and Davidson. I don't mind some focus on younger players, but they really need to make sure there are natural leaders out there. Holmes is that type, but doesn't play bulk minutes and season-on-season isn't always a guaranteed re-signing.

Balls should be treated like Redhage in Perth. They are very reliable naturalised Aussies but not superstars. By the way did alan Black's name get thrown around after Ninnis was sacked? There's another guy who knows how to take a team to the next level...

Ninnis was a sixers superstar as a layer. If you were Brett, would you like to travel down the same road?

*player :P

Not sure if he does it already but agree having Brett do some specialist type training with the players would have to be a huge plus for the team.