Will miss the rest of the season, but no fracture and he's already able to walk on it.

Read

Boti's article from Monay. It explains all. There is another article on Ballinger saying he's a 36er for 2011-12 and not going to the Kings.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/injury-ends-season-for-sixers-captain/story-e6frecj3-1226025077931

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/ers-skipper-says-hes-staying-put-in-adelaide/story-e6frecj3-1226025735473

Bugger thought we'd got rid of him, and had the salary to purchase better players.

What would Brian Goorgian do? He'd find 2 quality imports some decent aussies & bring Balls off the bench (& also Holmes & NG). Ladder position in 2012 - top 3! Marty Clarke will not elevate them into the playoffs. Sad but true...

... and spend money the club doesn't have in the process.

I still don't get why the coach should come out and say if Ballinger will play next year.

Why doesn't the GM (or whoever is in that role), come out and say it.
I'm sick and tired of getting the feeling Marty Clarke runs this club. I know how important the coach is, but still he's just the coach.
Maybe SOS should just make it official and give him the title of GM as well.

Bring Balls of the bench.........your joking right?

Hopefully he stays. Agree with Anonymous......coach and maangement really should come out and put to bed these rumours or confirm they are looking at moving him on and explain the reasons. We'd need to use up an import spot to repelace him ratehr than having 2 import spots to use at other positions.

As an 'Aussie' we IMO don't think we can lose Balls.

Why does the club need to say anything at all , the guy is contracted, everything beyond that is pure hyperbole and speculation from the media

The coach may not have even had final interviews with players.

On Clarke or SOS running the team, I've heard two theories on this - [1] that an operations manager should pick the team (with input from the coach), or [2] that the coach pick the team (with input from the club, such as "Don't forget that Schenscher is really popular with fans and important to ticket sales"). There was an insightful post on Hoops a few months ago suggesting that the NBA teams use the first tactic. I think my preference is that the latter can put more responsibility on the coach. If after year two (as ops manager), you can say "Well, you had your rookie year, and then you picked this team yourself," you're not leaving the coach "My hands were tied, you picked the team" wriggle-room.

From that coach-influence-on-roster angle, I think you could get the 'running the club' perception.

Good post Isaac - have to agree.

KB3 - I hear what you are saying but really it is not to hard to come out and repeat that he has a contract. It can get messy otherwise

Would be a guttsy move from Clarke to cut Ballinger and build a new look team. Don't see it happening, but would be interesting.

Hopefully we don't recruit 5 more guards to complement the 5 we already have.

Will Clarke then want to start again with his now infamous 3 year plan? How many more years of pain do the fans have to put up with?

You're the icing on the pain cake.

Can we list the Australia players who are better than Ballinger, if were actually going to be stupid enough to get rid of him, lets look at the others available that put up his numbers.

Skud, remember that someone could well ask you to list the teams that don't have Ballinger who are ahead of us on the ladder. There are a lot of ways to put together a team.

I think it's a moot point regardless because he's signed and has said he's eager to stay. Maybe there's a slim chance of Clarke busting up the team completely but I don't think it's likely and I'd worry about that only if it happened.

It's not a case of purely "who is a better player". It's a question of team fit / role etc. Balls' PPG and RPG are good. Defence and leadership arguably are not.

Building a team around Ballinger, we require big bodies, at least one good distributor and solid defenders.

Otherwise, we start over and go in another direction, given the number of years attempting to build the above line up around him has failed dismally.

No probs - I'll go have a read now.

'You picked the team and you got it wrong.'
(Seamus to Westover)

We were on a bad losing streak when Burston spoke to the players, prior to training one day.
We won the next game.
Should've spoken to Burston , or at least phone him him up and say goodbye, good luck.

I'm onboard with Isaac's team, for sure.

yea would be awesome if they got isaacs team, adding 2 boomers in Gibson and Barlow and 2 nbl experienced, versatile imports in Dorsey and Young would be a great start to moving the team up the ladder imo.

One thing with that team is that Dorsey need not even be a key scorer, just plugs the gaps, doesn't need a lot of shots to get his numbers. But you'd never rely on him so much that you couldn't phase in Creek as a starter eventually, or sign Greenwood to come through, or start Herbert, etc. You could comfortably play Barlow at SF and get a SG import, or even risk starting the season without an import and have injury insurance.

Camel 31 - What on earth are you talking about and how does it fit in this thread?

Or is it just me that thinks you seem to post in riddles most of the time?

Camel does speak in riddles and that's half the charm. Might be an acquired taste and might only make sense to someone who's been reading their stuff all along.

There, they are speaking of Burston's (alleged) mediocre departure from the 36ers, suggesting that he might've been useful this year.

A theme to be aware of with Camel is the love of Adrien Sturt!

I love Camel's riddling posts. It becomes an acquired skill over time just deciphering them.

He's posts are better than most of the dribble because he actually makes you think.

I also miss Playa's posts but for a very different reason.

Camel's post got me thinking; what of Al's coaching opportunities next year. I don't see many on the table, especially given Clarkey and Moose are locked up next year, Gold Coast will keep Joey and I doubt Melbourne will take him back.

Rumour for the last few weeks has been Smyth to Melbourne.