Anonymous
Years ago
According to his old college, Whitfield has been signed by the Bandits to replace Ntumba.
http://www.wmubroncos.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4600&ATCLID=207619261
fstos
Years ago
I believe they are secretly funded by a few underworld figures who have made a lot of cash smuggling Victorians in search of a better life into NSW and bringing decent beer back into Victoria on the return trip.
And they don't have a women's team.....well they do but you wouldn't know it.
the sad thing is the womens team has an import and a coach recruited from NZ
Women's team actually got a win yesterday - wonders will never cease.
The new import can't get here fast enough for the men's team. They better hope he can shoot at a decent percentage because the rest of the team struggles to. There offensive structure must be terrible.
big W for the women
Anthony stephens fails again in qld.
Bandits need a new coach. Fergusson leaves and they are crap. Coaching didnt win then a 'ship
Losing Ferguson was a major blow and his replacement can't play the point so they are running Payne as point guard and guess what, he isn't one either. The coach hasn't been able to adjust their style to suit the lack of a playmaker and despite the fact they match up pretty well in most categories, their offense is just low percentage one out rubbish. Their defence is like a turnstileat time too.
I heard the new import arrives this week but I think it might already be too late for the Bandits to be playing for much more than pride this season.
I think thats a big call on brad... he did a good job last year and your right this year has struggled but I wouldn't be sacking him.
Happy Days
Years ago
If they needed a 1 why did they recruit a 4??? A ship is only as good as the captain skippering it. I thought Chalmers did a super job taking a team from last to first in one year. The true test for him now is to get this team going and make the playoffs.
Vann was recruited as a 1 to replace Ferguson but it was obvious he wasn't up to it so they have been playing him at the 2 with Payne or Duck running point and neither really good at it. This new guy is replacing Ntumba so a 4/5. I guess they could have gone for a true point gaurd instead but that would leave them lacking inside with Opacic their only genuine big man. Hollis does a good job on the boards for an undersize 4 but isn't a scorer like Ntumba and they have nobody on the bench to step into the role.
Ferguson played a much bigger role in the team's 2012 championship win than most people including Chalmers realise and their poor performance without him clearly shows that. No player has actually improved in the past year which says a lot.
Happy Days
Years ago
If you were recruiting a 1 who would you go for?What about John Gilchrist?
You'd think there would be other US point guards of similar standard to Ferguson or Griffin available. Obviously they didn't do enough homework on Vann since while he's a very good player he's not a good point guard.
Bandit Fan
Years ago
Bit harsh to be calling for the coach's sacking after he was named Coach of the Year in his first season last year.
Vann is definitely not a point guard. His shooting percentage has been woeful and while he was playing the point early in the season he took too many shots.
They were never going to win while Ntumba was only getting 6-8 shots per game. Hopefully their new import will make an immediate impact.
I don't think anybody seriously expects Chalmers to be sacked but I think it's pretty clear he had a dream run last year where the stars aligned to give him a championship & COTY award. This year the dream is proving to be more of a nightmare due to a combination of poor recruiting, poor play & just some plain old bad luck.
What's interesting is that the coach who was happy to take the glory for his recruiting & the team's performance last year is taking no ownership of their poor results this year & never misses an opportunity to stick it to the players after every loss.
They definitely need to make some changes & while changing the coach is a bit drastic as this stage, the coach definitely needs to do some changing in the way he runs things as well.
D4444
Years ago
The SEABL results wrap-up makes a good observation:
"One of the most concerning statistics for Albury-Wodonga was that despite the loss, they still finished +27 in shot attempts for the game."
It's not the first time I've seen that although not to the same degree. That suggests there is not so much a problem with effort from the players but there is a big problem with the way their offense is being run. They have either the wrong players taking shots or at the very least too many players taking the wrong shots.
Bandit Fan
Years ago
I think they did a good job recruiting players to strengthen their bench with Mick Watson and Darcy Harding coming in. Lack of depth was a huge problem last year but luckily their starting five was strong and they didn't have any injury worries.
The two biggest issues this year have been poor shooting (mainly from Eric Vann) and the injury to Ntumba.
When you rely so heavily on your imports and one struggles with injury and the other can't put the ball in the basket it's always going to be tough to win.
Albury don't have the luxury of filling their roster with NBL players like many of the other teams. Their import combination (Ferguson and Ntumba) carried the team last year. Hopefully they can get it right for next year because I think this year is a lost cause unfortunately.
The Bandits coach says they require more effort. Surely 27 more shot attmepts requires a lot of effort? Hollis had 22 rebounds in that losing game as well. Isn't that effort? Poor coaching may well be the answer as is a poor import choice to replace Jazz. It also seems to me that Momo has been injured for some time and Chalmers has covered that up. Maybe he was injured before he even got here. Lining up a replacement takes maybe 4 - 6 week at least. Must be a coincidence.
D4444
Years ago
According to the Border Mail:
"The Congolese giant first injured his knee in a collision during a pre-season game against a touring team of US college players."
So yes, he was carrying the injury all season.
You can stick a fork in them for this season & I expect they'll be back on the recruiting market next year & likely looking for more than just a point guard.
Bandit Fan: "I think they did a good job recruiting players to strengthen their bench with Mick Watson and Darcy Harding coming in. Lack of depth was a huge problem last year but luckily their starting five was strong and they didn't have any injury worries.
The two biggest issues this year have been poor shooting (mainly from Eric Vann) and the injury to Ntumba."
Vann isn't alone in the poor shooting.
Are you saying none of the young locals can produce numbers like this from the recruits to "strengthen" the bench:
Mick Watson 1.2 ppg at 20.8%
Darcy Harding 1.4 ppg at 23.1%
Bandit Fan
Years ago
Watson wasn't brought in for his scoring. His defense, ball handling and experience have been handy and he played well against Mt Gambier last week. Really changed the game when he came on.
Harding has been disappointing in limited minutes and Chalmers doesn't seem to have much confidence in him.
As for the young locals, Jack Duck deserves more playing time and the others don't really get many opportunities unfortunately. Matt De Koyer is probably the only one who gets consistent minutes. In my opinion he takes minutes away from Duck.
There are some handy young players coming through both the Albury and Wodonga rep programs so hopefully they will get opportunities in years to come.
D4444
Years ago
Not surprising I guess except for the timing. Any news on a replacement?
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