bring it
Years ago

Ballinger is a liability

the game on TV tonight has shown how bad Ballinger is on d. Non existent so often

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Winitinaminute  
Years ago

When sixers are down by 20 he loses interest in Defence.

Reply #307915 | Report this post


thomo  
Years ago

no ballinger we would have lost by 50pts

great topic this one

Reply #307922 | Report this post


Skud  
Years ago

Its been said time after time Ballinger is constantly forced to play a position he is NOT suited to. You cannot blame his bad D as a Centre on anyone but Marty Clark

Reply #307925 | Report this post


bring it  
Years ago

The Blaze play without a centre too. Ballinger was abused tonight , no denial , no boxing out. The 36ers will not get any better whilst he is in the team.

Wilkinson abused him
Neville abused him
Khazzouh abused him
heck even Forman has taken advantage of him.

There has not been any opposition player that he has owned at both ends this season. Dont let his good stroke fool you people.

Reply #307929 | Report this post


phil  
Years ago

lol, hoare ring a bell mate?

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bring it  
Years ago

so Ballinger was playing D on Hoare was he

Reply #307931 | Report this post


bring it  
Years ago

Phil do you know that Hoare is a 6'7 PF and that is why Holmes was defending him.


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XztatiK  
Years ago

Good thread (N)

Balls' D has improved a huge amount this year.

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Moses Guthrie  
Years ago

Hard to be a strong defender when you're out of position and the team doesn't have a legitimate keyway guarder. Give him a centre alongside him, ala Schenscher, and the cat is just fine.

PS. He played pretty darn well tonight. Will win the team MVP by a street.

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Starks  
Years ago

Was at the game tonight. Whole team lacked any kind of determination to reverse the flow. But particular blame must be laid at the feet of the starters. When Clarke ripped off everyone except Shannon, we finally at least looked interested in giving a contest (I would have replaced Shannon as well, Daly looks a gem). Ballinger is our leader, but doesn't seem able to demand his team make a stand. He came out after half time with a bandage on his calf, so maybe some issue there, but he just gave the impression of being disinterested in leading from the front. The guy should be scoring 25 a night with most of our offence designed around him. When he gets the ball on the elbow it is pretty much automatic. We need to start DJ at centre and get Balls to his natural position. We also need a leader who is going to tear some guys a new one when required. Maher did it. Mee did it. Davis did it. No-one on this team demanded a lift in intensity. Clarke had to resort to a 4 man sub as a sort of wake up call.
Next year forget about imports. They have given us nothing this year. Develop our young talent.

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bring it  
Years ago

people are saying he is only being beaten because he is out of position yet he has been smashed by opposition centres who are the same size as he is. Case in point the heaving mound of muck that was proffered as a game tonight.

Even with a centre alongside him Wortho, Redhage, Hinder, Powel carved him up in seasons past. He cant guard a 4 or a 5.

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Isaac  
Years ago

Moses, we've had Ballinger with Schenscher in the past. It's not that he needs a centre, it's that he needs to be complemented by leadership and defense.

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Brown  
Years ago

Yeah getting rid of our best player is a fantastic idea, glad someone has a well thought out strategy for the club's direction to a championship. /sarcasm.

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Jonno  
Years ago

We should definatly keep Ballinger if we can start him along side Schenscher or a import C who can defend inside and rebound, and Creek or a good import at SF that would be a solid frontline IMO.

Reply #307982 | Report this post


Dazzman  
Years ago

Ballinger is a good player but the issue is that he would be a great player if only he learnt to play both ends of the floor. Yes, he has improved on last season but still well below what you'd expect from a player placed so high on a pedastool by many supporters. Unfortunately with our obvious lack of size and skill in the big man department this season, Ballingers weaknesses have been exposed even greater.

This lack of leadership has always been a concern for me. He does nothing to fire the boys up in a time of need and seems to lack voice on the floor. Was only given captaincy this season in order to retain his services i believe. The bigger problem may just be that we don't seem to have anyone on this roster capable of filling this role. I believe Jacob Holmes should have been made captain following Brett retirement.

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sieann  
Years ago

lets go isaac lets hear your plan for the 36ers .1 lets bring your brother back after all he would win every game he played .2 lets make him captain and let him show leadership and defence .3 lets make you coach with your extreme experiance as a leading player in both nbl or was that nba .was balls the only player who played tonight it seems to me that he not only has to play but he has to put up with shit from arseholes who are not a hasbeens but a never were .starting with you .give the guy some credit at least if nothing else.

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FM  
Years ago

I find Balls is a quiet perfomer. Not the best player in the league but definately in the top ten over the season.

If Holmes was the captain I think we would get more out of the team plus more out of Balls. Jacob is a natural when it comes to giving everything and geeing up your teammates.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

and why can't Holmes do that now? Being captain is nothing but a title.

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Moses Guthrie  
Years ago

sieann, trying to see through your sarcasm and your point about re-recruiting Oscar Forman raises an excellent point they discussed on OT the other week - is it the singer or the band? Is Oscar's success this season due to the conductor and band or has he finally found his tune? He could carve out a very successful end to his career in the Gong but we may never know the answer to this question. Would be a big risk for him to return home.

Reply #308007 | Report this post


Hoops  
Years ago

Isaac Forman,it all makes sense now,sorry if i a little slow on the up take but im not from S.A. Interesting!!!

Reply #308014 | Report this post


Isaac  
Years ago

sieann, not sure what in there you think was worth me responding to. The old "make it about his brother" argument, haven't seen that before!

I ripped Howard in my reply in the game thread, spoke of Ballinger as our best/only shooter right now but all you see is even a hint of criticism of one particular player.

At Wollongong, Oscar is surrounded with defenders (Davidson, Saville, Campbell) and leaders (those same three). What I'm saying (since you're struggling with reading comprehension: not bring Oscar home, he should stay where he is) is that Adelaide should be trying the same thing with Ballinger, because what's there now isn't working and it's happened under three straight coaches. (And if you respond with "Ballinger is a better player than Oscar" - no shit plus you're an idiot.)

We can keep repeating the same thing each year and getting similar results, or we can recognise each players' strengths and complement them. When Ballinger achieved his greatest NBL success, he had leaders and defenders around him (at Wollongong, funnily enough). As leaders (Maher, Davidson, etc) have retired or left, Adelaide has slid.

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Jack Toft  
Years ago

Statistically speaking, the Sixers are less than one standard deviation away from the average against score, and less than one standard deviation away from the average for score. Most teams lie within 1 standard deviation. Defensively, both the Gold Coast and Melbourne are worse than the Sixers.

Basketball is a team game and with the Sixers loosing games in a very tight competition, the captain is an easy scapegoat.

We have had the Ewing theory posted up here and now this thread.

The issue is not that Ballinger is a liability, the issue with the Sixers right now, it that the average score at home is 86 to 83, and away it is 75 to 85.

So rather than getting personal, the question that should be asked, is why does our offense drop off by 11 ppg away from home?

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paul  
Years ago

Thanks Jack Toft, well said.

Reply #308037 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Also worth examining why they give up 85ppg on the road, and I think Isaac has covered that pretty well.

Reply #308038 | Report this post


Ando  
Years ago

I think Balls is a great player for us. He is played out of position... has very little help in the centre and probably had too much expectation on him to be our only scorer for the night.

I do think that he falls short as captain as he seems to be fairly silent out on court. I feel we need someone who can take the team by the scruff of the neck and shake the absolute crap out of them to wake them up.

Just my opinion

Reply #308064 | Report this post


dud  
Years ago

I think they need to give the ball to Ballinger from the start of the game. He should be taking at least 15 shots a game, and not just going to him when the game is over. He got them back into the game against Perth (at home) when they finally went to him.

My only criticism is he needs to rebound more. He is a big, strong guy and sometimes seems to struggle in this area.

Reply #308084 | Report this post


Would love to have Ballinger back in the Gong. Solid player. Have said this before and would like someone who has the Blaze game on tape to review my observations and comment. Again last night the 6ers failed to get Balls the ball on so many occasions it is not funny. Watch how many times he is open and showing (hell even waving his arms around)hands and is not picked up by the ball handler. Check the first 1/4 when he is open on the 3 point line and Shannon jacks up a contested 3. He was on Shannons right and I still believe also that Shannon's eye problem restricts his ability to pick up players on his right. Anyway just my opinion but I think they leave a lot of high percentage points out there on most nights by their lack of finding an open Ballinger. Yes not a great defender but one where a good coach and surrounding him with the right mix of players can be easily incorporated into a decent team defensive strategy.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

shannon's 3p% is 4% better than ballinger's which are mostly open.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

playing center is hiding ballinger so he doesnt get burnt by athletic 4 men, he hasnt improved he just doesnt have to guard people on the perimeter which is where he struggles

Reply #308130 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

I agree with the leadership comments regarding the Sixers. The Breakers have Penney, Bruton, Henare, Boucher and to a lesser degree, Braswell to provide on court leadership at any given time.
I believe this was crucial in the comeback against the Taipans especially with young guys like Abercrombie, Webster and Pledger in the team.

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Big Marty  
Years ago

Good points Mystro and Isaac.

However, leadership doesn't just come from being the veteran voice on a team; leading by example is better.

If Balls wants lead, he just needs to show it by shooting the ball. Balls doesn't need screens etc. to shoot from; he just needs to get used to making his own space, which he's been more than capable of doing before.

I wouldn't say that Redhage is a better defender or shooter than Balls, but Redhage demands the ball, and makes it count as often as possible. He misses, but keeps going. Balls can do the same, but no when he's a door mouse about it.

He just needs to arc up and demand more ball time.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

"bring it" you are a moron! ballinger is our best player and has made big improvements defensively. rant about something with some substance. were not easily led fools on here mate.

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