Keys
1. Clarke needs to go, he obviously can't coach.
2. One thing ive noticed about our recruiting is we end up having 6 or 7 role players so some have to go into the starting line {Herbert, Weigh}.
3. We cant rely on 1 or 2 players like weve been relying on ballinger the past year. we need at least 4 guys who could change the game, i know some guys on here could hav a go at me on this one but i would like to tell them that perth have 7 players like that.

More threads on hoops.

Does Maher have any interest at all in coaching? I've never heard of him coaching at ABL level for example to cut his teeth. I don't think the 36ers were successful in the past because Maher had passion for the club, but because he was a winner-type and an absolutely brilliant player. Unless he was at the front of the line with his hand up, I think it'd just risk tarnishing his legacy. Can't really imagine him coaching.

Those winner-types are pretty rare - I think Redhage is one, Vukona a bit. They never seem to think the game is lost. The 36ers for years, even when confident, seem to have had that doubt in them somewhere.

I think Marty just needs to slow down his rotation rate. He will become so surprised with how good the guys, the main guys, who get to play 30-35min will start to play. You dont do alot of winning when you have the entire rotation enter the game in the first half of a 40minute game. And for those who want to say 'well it works for Perth', they have some veterans, we have younger talent, and it is talent, so they feel they need to achieve in quicker bursts....surprise surprise they rush everything!

Slow down the rotations, let guys get in a groove, and if they dont...THEN feel free to make a sub. 40minutes, with the clock stopping on absolutely every whistle, is not long at all for your star players to play. Also if guys dont just automatically get allocated 20 minutes of play, they will instinctively perform harder in training to earn that time. Harder trainings, harder players, and harder games for the opposition. Keep it simple, that will improve this team in the short term. If Marty isnt willing to adjust his strategy at this point, then he is most definitely not the man for the role.

Great post Kobe24!

Agree with Kobe24.

As frustrated as we all are I am sure SOS are just as frustrated. There are not people lining up to purchase the club as you have to be prepared to loss money.

It is easy to demand changes but the changes e.g replacing the coach cost money

Seamus McPeake 36ers will be lucky to win 5 games this year go tigers

If we are going to be honest with ourselves, the Sydney game was probably the only one of the first 5 that we actually expected to win.
We were never going to beat New Zealand or Perth, so we were guaranteed to be on at least 3 losses. Then we played in Wollongong and almost won. They are always very tough to beat at home and we've never traveled well.
If we lose the round 6 game against Sydney, then we can start seriously thinking about making some changes.
Same deal if we manage to lost the next 2 by 30+. We are likely to lose both, but if we go out there and compete and show signs of improvement, then at least we might be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Way too early to jump the gun after 3 games. Ballinger played his first game for however long, so is obviously likely to be pretty rusty.
Warren had a bad one, which happens and we didn't have another option to go to because Crosswell didn't play.
Weigh was probably overused, but he's our best glue guy, so he's likely to get used a lot.
Creek was coming off a good game, sure it would be nice for him to play well every game, but people of his age in the NBL just simply don't (if they even have a gig that is. He's the youngest player in the NBL (except possibly Norton), and is younger than the majority of the Development players too.
Johnson is 23, we probably forget that at times. He's younger than BJ Anthony, Ben Allen, Tom Garlepp, Jeff Dowdell, Alex Pledger, Jeremiah Trueman. Basically, he's the youngest big man in the league who actually gets minutes. He's had an extraordinary preseason too, so we see that we have something there.
Simpson only just arrived and wasn't our first option. We'd all love to have Williamson lining up for us, but injury forced our hands there. With the offensive options we have in Ballinger and Johnson, he largely is there to provide defense and effort. Sure, 4/10 free throws is a pathetic effort though.
Herbert is just pathetic this year, he's coming off a year off, but he probably shouldn't be used much until he gets match fit/gets through whatever it is that his problem is.
Give this team some time to gel together and we will at least start getting some results. Ballinger will get fit and start firing. Simpson will start to play his role well or we will release him (possibly for the man we wanted in the first place, Williamson), Warren will go back to scoring 20 like he has all preseason and in the first 2 games, Weigh will regain his extremely impressive preseason form at some stage, Johnson will keep improving, Creek will have his good game at times and will be used sparingly at other times, Ng is always there to hit a 3 or 8, Crosswell will come back and be a calming influence, Herbert won't be this terrible all year, Helliwell was always just there for depth/foul coverage. The amount of circumstances that haven't been in our favour so far this preseason is huge, we can't get worse than where we are at now.

Every person, while watching either home games at Adelaide Arena or the telecast of our away games, wear foil hats.

What have we got to lose?

Foil Hats are the answer.

I will be bringing one - probably will get kicked out by John for wearing it!

Kings vs Hawks is on now. Kings have played nine guys so far while ten have hit the court for the Hawks. May not be the answer for Adelaide, but the other teams are doing it.

Anon, the top 3 teams have better more balanced veteran style players than we do. And the real key here is, they KNOW THERE ROLES. Adelaide doesnt have that same consistent team synchronisation within it. We have to play our stars more so, if we dont we have blow out losses at home. Just because it works for one roster, obviously shows it doesn't work for every team. I find that a weak point to argue for.

The 36ers were so lackluster that I wrote a tentative question in my notebook ; " Is it the coach or the cattle ? " The only thing we really know for sure is Holmes Hill Dowdell Bruce are playing well. Altough some will say Luke Cooper's stat was better than bruce's on fri and Helliwell's 5 minutes cost us the game.
Seems there was an earthquake that
left nothing but those in a tin foil hat.
While Clarke proposed to marry Weigh and he excepted.
Weigh." What's with the attitude today among Hoops forum people ? "
Clarke; " Oh ! I don't know any of these people. "

In perspective, on friday we got smashed on rebounds and why was that? No one took responsibility to man Khazzouh. We also suffer drive to the ring unlike other team in Perth so we end up with a hard shot just inside the 3 poiht perimeter. And subbing out guys when things are looking good so that the coach's pet gets good game time doesnt win my heart.

This says, its great to point the finger at the team, but ultimately like Smythe and Ninnis, Clarke isnt the guy to go with anymore.

Wonder what would happen if we made Mark Radford coach and Marty Clarke assistant coach before you all shoot me down 6ers management won't have to pay out any contracts and we can't do any worse than we are doing now. I would be very curious to see if it made a difference.

I think Moose might sub more quicker than Clarke. paul?
Remember that Creek was gonna go to AFL Draft if Clarke didn't sign him.

Normally, I would agree that the rotations by Marty Clarke are definitely appropriate. Heck, Phil Jackson liked starting the 4th quarter with his bench and he got burned for it a lot. He proved them wrong with 11 championship rings as a coach. But ever since the change to the 40 min game in the NBL, Adelaide has trouble establishing rhythm in their offensive scheme long enough to to some good and trouble just playing decent 'd'

I agree defiantly need to play a 8 man rotation,

we also need to be more patient with guys like Creek, Weigh, Johnson they are all good young players and good signings so give them time and they will definatly be atleast solid nbl players, i beleive they will be 3 of the better players in the league in the next couple of years.

I was thinking would things be different if we had say Bruce instead of Ng and Holmes over Helliwell?
both seem to be having pretty good seasons elsewhere, not that we can change that now and i can understand why they made those moves after last season, just thinking aloud.

Anyway lets keep supporting the team and support them while they hopefully get things back on track, we have 2 decent imports, hopefully Ballinger will settle back in, and Johnson, Weigh, Simpson will also get better as the season goes on IMO, who knows if that will be enough to keep us off bottom, but things can only go up from here.

New Coach..The 36ers are in the same place that the Adelaide Crows were..Clark is a trainer of players but not a game coach. Its why he works well as an assistant for the Boomers. Clark is now how ever a game coach, in the same way Neil Craig wasnt. He is to stubborn to adjust his idea's to actually suit the game thats happening infront of him. he is convinced his style will eventually work, despite all the evidence that says it will not.

If we cant get a new coach then Marty's entire mentality needs to change. He needs to open up to new idea's and basically do exactly what everyone else has said for him to do!

Some great points on here, we probably did expect to be 1 and 4 with the Sydney game the only one penciled in.
SOS probably are just as frustrated and dont want to keep throwing money away and probably hate losing to.

As Isaac has so obviously pointed out why does everyone think Maher even wants to coach and why would he start like this. How many times do we see great players be poor coaches?

One more thought 33% from the field, 20% from the 3 and an amazing 40% from the stripe. How often is the team gonna have a night like that. We shot better v Perth and at over 50% to lose at the gong.

It was certainly a shocker but this team has some talent and when it clicks will get a lot of people to change their tune on here

No way maher wants to coach, i personally think his name pops up, purely due to the success he has had, and the fact, Adelaide fans dont really have any other options to jump on. Only thing i know as of right now, Marty Clarke has lost the faith of the faithful. Potentially sad days to continue, but maybe if the right people get into his ear, people perhaps with no hidden agenda, but to see the better of the club, that he trusts, things could turn around with his style changing. Surely he is not so egotistical that he cant accept some constructive criticism and change his ways if explained by the people he has respect for. This isnt as bush league, Marty, but you may have better luck coaching if thats where you choose to continue your coaching career. or you could stay put, suck it up, and play the main guys, let them loose as someone else mentioned.

bk, they're a duo so not sure how that'd really change anything. The involvement of Radford is what puzzles me as he has been a championship assistant, seeing exactly how one of the best NBL coaches operates for an entire year. There's no way he would have ignored what he's learnt - trainings, rotations, strategy, etc.

Something else that comes to mind is Lemanis. Widely panned in past years, figured to be barely holding onto his job by some, but he took a strong side to the championship last year and made a great start to this year despite roster changes. What changed? Was it just that he finally got the roster mix right?

Before sacking anybody give the new players a month to show the goods,if still in the same situation show them and the coach the door.Then get a team of local ABL players together to SOS our arses into the playoffs!

Yea NZ and Lemanis are a good comparison, it also took Bevo around 3 years to make playoffs and from memory even like coaches like Goorj and Geordie were not at the top of the ladder in the first couple of years, so be patient with Clarke and the young talent he is assembling, we obviously need to add to next year, but i can see what he is trying to do by recruiting and hopefully retianing guys like Creek, Weigh, Johnson.

I just thought Mark may have a better idea on how to work the player rotations, have more than one game plan for the game and not be so stubborn when he realises it's not working and have an alternative plan. Also it will free Marty up to concentrate on developing the players skills eg boxing out, setting picks, rebounding

Would be interesting to see if we swapped the coaches over, Radford taking over would probably change things up a little re game plan, rotations, etc, like Bickley taking over from Craig at the Crows, but possibly not hugely if him and Clarke are of the same thought pattern. I also have doubts whether Clarke would take an assistant job under Radford, it would probably be more likely he got sacked and Radford takes over with a new assistant.

I wonder if its worth getting a more experienced coach ala Smyth, Stacker, Molloy, Joyce to do some mentoring work with Marty on issues spoken about in above posts, a bit like the AFL clubs try to do ala Crows having Bailey work with Sanderson.

I think we should stick with Marty, anyone who coaches the AIS for years, is a Boomers assistant and seems to have the respect of many of the young players he coached at the AIS including guys like Ingles must have a fair bit to offer, he just needs to continue to develop his game night coaching and he will be fine.

His recruiting is ok IMO he went after the best Aussies available ala Gibson, Mills, Schenscher, sure he didnt get them but he seemed to be close and we may have been simply out bidded, and he landed the best Aussie to change clubs in Weigh and Creek the best Aussie in his age group and Johnson the best young C in the league, so i can see what he is trying to do, we just need to be patient and hope the young talent ends up being as good as we hope it is, if it is and they develop into their full potential, and we can retain them especially Weigh,Creek and Johnson we will have an exciting team in the very near future, have seen glimpses already.

Our main current problem to me is SG we are not getting much from that spot, but who else is available to help that, anyone in the SEABL or NZBL better than Herbert or Ng? we dont have a import spot, are we better dropping Simpson now Ballinger is back and getting a SG? No simple answer to that problem unfortunatly we may have to try using guys like Weigh, Creek, Crosswell there more and limiting Ng and Herberts minutes until they show something, to me thats all we can do right now with that issue.

Hmmmm, not rocket science now is it......GET RID OF THE COACH.......MARTY CLARKE!.....jeez, its like getting a plumber coaching a top rating afl team it just wouldnt happen.

get someone who is an ex nbl player to coach the team then maybe we wouldnt be such a disappointment to sa and all its fans.!!!!!!

Michael Jordan & Pippen

at the end of the day Marty didnt miss 67% of the fg's 80% of the 3 balls and 60% of the free throws.

He didnt miss defensive assignments and he also didn't box out.

He didn't chose to have his back up PG get injured nor for his first choice of import not to even suit up.

Once the team hits the court there is not much he can do apart from make subs and try and impact the flow of the game if he doesnt like what he sees.

The players should be held accountable for their performances.

Not saying he does everything right but there are more positives for him to coach than not IMO.

However beautiful the strategy, one should occasionally look at the results.
- Winston Churchill

Im not sold on that as compromise, the players taking the majority of the blame here. So is every coach who has been sacked for poor strategy and losses hard done by?

I think the percentages of missed shots etc would be alot higher if the main star players were in the game long enough to get some momentum and feel for the game. If your worse players are on the court, the still stake the same type of shots, but miss with more regularity. Marty didnt take the shots, but he defnitely pulled the trigger on who was in and who was out (Ng everytime he made a few straight shots).

Ng,Herbert and Ballinger were a combined 2/16 from 3 they aren't bunnies. Not all of their shots were under pressure.

Kings scored 40 points in the paint to the 36ers 20. I could not recall the last time we won that stat.

There are difficiencies in the game plan no doubt

contact Tab Baldwin, that guy knows how to get the best out of any player.

I reckon we should all settle down , yep not a great start and I am a season ticket holder and sit courtside so I feel the pain BUT i keep thinking it wasnt that long ago where it looked as though our beloved 36ers were not going to be around so I reckon everyone should take a deep breath, realise its only 3 games in with 2 more games against two sides that are very good , but who knows - we may win 1 of them. The only negative i will say is I am not a fan of Simpson , I feel a hack a Shaq routine will prevail but hopefully i am proved wrong. Warren however is a star and I have the belief ! Let go 36ers Fire Up !!

I Think we need to give the team a chance as well as the coach take the pressure of them and give them support. If they still fail to perform time for change.

A win!! Which they just got. WAY TO GO!!

That's a start. Have to carry that confidence through NZ now.