Isaac
Years ago

Tigers sign import Stephen Dennis, Auryn Macmillan

MELBOURNE Tigers will finalise their 2013-14 NBL roster this week with playmaking import Stephen Dennis and free agent Australian big-man Auryn Macmillan completing the team.

The club is awaiting final NBL Pty Ltd approval on the paperwork which will bring them Dennis, 25 and 198cm, from Bakersfield Jam in the NBA's D-League.
Boti lists the Tigers now-complete roster:
Dennis, Chris Goulding, Tommy Greer, Mark Worthington, Scott Morrison, Nate Tomlinson, Owen Odigie, Lucas Walker, Adam Ballinger and Macmillan in a team capable of a finals charge.
Where will they finish the season on the ladder?

Topic #32277 | Report this topic


Anonymous  
Years ago

Dennis sounds good to me, another Darnell Mee/D-mac type PG by the sound of it, and gives them a long atheltic line up which should be exciting to watch.

Im assuming there rotations will be

C Morrison/MacMillan
PF Worthington/Ballinger
SF Greer/Walker
SG Goulding/Odigie
PG Dennis/Tomlinson

If Dennis turns out to be very good and continues his late D-league form (which i think he will), Morrison is atleast a solid 10 pts 5 rebounds and 1 -2 blocks and a good space filler on defence and Goulding continues his late season form they should be around the mark imo.

I still think they have 1 too many sfs, would love to see a combo guard take one of there spots, but aslong as Dennis can play 30+ mins per game, ball handling shouldnt be too much an issue.

I'd pick this line up to be around 3-4th, if Dennis ends up being a mvp level import, Wortho and Goulding have good Boomer level seasons then tye could even push a little higher.

I like the idea of the tall, athletic, point guard, if he can play anything like assistant coach d-mac (or Darnell) they will have found a real winner imo, will make it harder for small guards to trap him and be an advantage for him on defense with his length.

Looking forward to the season, im liking the look of the 36ers, Tigers rosters, if Cedric comes back Breakers will also be strong,im sure they will find a good replacement if he doesnt and im assuming Gleeson will get good imports into Perth, he usually did well getting imports in at the Crocs.

My early top 4 is NZ, Perth, Adelaide, Tigers (in no particular order)

Also cant wait to see how guys like Pace, Ogilvy go and how Geordie rounds out his roster, they will also be decent if Geordie gets some good signings, which id back him in. Seeing Gliddon go around another season for the Taipans will also be exciting.

Something exciting to watch at all teams this year imo,

So should be a strong, interesting NBL next year, with most teams having atleast a semi-realistic chance at playoffs.

Crocs would be a early pick for the spoon, but if Markovic plays atleast aswell as he did in the Razorbacks and the imports games translate well from NZ to Aus and Pace is the next Hodge/Tucker (on the court) and Conklin is the next Dusty they could even surprise a few, but they are big IF's, should be an interesting team non the less.

Reply #430142 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

good post anon

Reply #430144 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Yeah, excellent post. I think their guards could again be susceptible to pressure, but having Worthington who can handle very well for a PF should help a lot there.

Reply #430145 | Report this post


Jez  
Years ago

I think on paper the Tigers have a fair few legitimate scorers. The 3 spot could be a bit of a worry though. How will Greer, Walker fare against guys like Creek and Frye, or Pace and Blanchfield.

I guess with Dennis' length they might be able to cover it, cos Greer isn't exactly athletic and Walker plays more like an athletic 4 than a genuine 3 in this league. But this exposes another potential deficiency in their roster at the 1 spot with Tomlinson the only legitimate PG, so a lot might depend on the versatility of Dennis

Reply #430146 | Report this post


ANon  
Years ago

Auyrn is a spud! His numbers for Kilsyth are poor. Scrapping the barrel Tigers are.

Reply #430147 | Report this post


YouknowME  
Years ago

Greer and Walker wont be as versatile as many 3's who can shoot the 3....

Reply #430148 | Report this post


Mick  
Years ago

It's hard to say where they come on the ladder.

They could wind up with the spoon. Then again, anyone except NZ could end up with the spoon this season.

The comp has been blown right open. Just when I'm about to say Townsville or Sydney or Melbourne will be fighting it out for the spoon I realise that Cairns last year just choked in a heap (and could do again), Perth could have a huge fall from grace after losing their coaching staff and best player, we have no idea what Wollongong are going to look like, and Adelaide showed last year that being good on paper means squat until you start winning games.

Anything could happen in 13/14 which is actually really exciting after three or so years of Perth and NZ being better than everyone else by a wide margin.

Even the champs have lost their coach and potentially their best player in Cedric Jackson.

It's anyone's for the taking.

Reply #430149 | Report this post


Statsheet Stuffer  
Years ago

The Taipans would have been a lock at the four if they got a big who could play defence. Even so, I expect they will make the four. Kerry Williams (underrated as a liability) has retired, Shaun Bruce in as backup. Maybe even a combo import guard to play some PG. The wing is so much better than last year, and frontcourt has gotten stronger if anything. Interior D should still be better even without a guy like Hudson there. Trigger seemed to be given a jolt late in the season and he responded with some strong(er than he normally provides) stuff in the middle.

My top four, I'm order:
- Adelaide
- Cairns
- NZ (although would not be totally surprised if they weren't there)
- Melbourne

Perth are finished.

Reply #430154 | Report this post


Statsheet Stuffer  
Years ago

Nah, NZ will definitely be there.

Reply #430156 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Wow, writing off Perth with Knight, Martin, Redhage and two imports, with Wagstaff and Hire in support?

Reply #430157 | Report this post


Statsheet Stuffer  
Years ago

Yep. I don't think Hire will have a good season at all. He's a system guy and it's all going to change this time around. Martin won't be back until well into the season so they won't be stopping anyone on the perimeter.

I just don't rate them. Beverage going was bad, but Dennis leaving was ths final straw.

Reply #430158 | Report this post


natwhereyouat  
Years ago

Here's a video I put together a few days ago (because there isn't that much of him on YouTube)


Reply #430160 | Report this post


Proud  
Years ago

I think Melbourne have all their bases covered as they can also put Ballinger to centre, have Walker at PF or Worthington at SF... A fit tigers team could and should cause match up problems and they should be fun to watch,

Agree with Anon's post above - spot on

Reply #430161 | Report this post


Benno  
Years ago

I know this is really off topic, but how are the D-league commentators hahaha like man they suck!!

Reply #430162 | Report this post


Mystro  
Years ago

they def make Casey Frank look good

Reply #430164 | Report this post


Roger  
Years ago

I think the opinion on Perth is a bit off, they have maintained the core of last years team which lost only 6 games. Granted they need to replace Lisch but I think they deserve a chance to. They sent a party (CEO/Coach/as.coach) to watch the summer league and they also have good US contacts through the coaching staff so at least they're not picking their guy from youtube highlights.

The other players who left the squad are surely replaceable considering;
Tovey was injured and couldn't contribute for most of the year
Robbins has had enough and Carter didn't do enough
Trueman is being replaced by an Import
Barlett didn't look like hitting a shot even if they tripled the diameter of the hoop

I guess all will be revealed in the new season though, I think it would be great if the league caught up with NZ and Perth, its not good enough for our league to finish 3rd in the comp with a losing record

Reply #430186 | Report this post


Mick  
Years ago

Another overlooked element: I think you will see less holding and slapping allowed which will temper the effectiveness of guys like Redhage and Martin on the defensive end. They will still be great defenders, but they won't have as much of an advantage.

Reply #430198 | Report this post


Big Sexy  
Years ago

Mick, Please don't put Martin in the same category as Redhage.

Reply #430211 | Report this post


paul  
Years ago

Yeah, with Perth playing more containment based defence last year Martin actually did very little hand checking etc compared to previous years.

Reply #430212 | Report this post


ANon  
Years ago

ANstey has come out and confirmed MacMillan is not signed!

Reply #430409 | Report this post


bethdavis10  
Years ago

Yet*

Reply #430430 | Report this post


bethdavis10  
Years ago

Auryn Macmillan signing official.

http://www.tigers.com.au/article/id/qhz1u702z95a1hpe7q40cchi4

Reply #430611 | Report this post


YouknowME  
Years ago

Checkmate by beth

Reply #430615 | Report this post


YouknowME  
Years ago

I remember being really impressed by Auryn for the Hawks. I think he had this one break out game I caught where he scored double figures in limited minutes, i thought "shit where'd this guy come from?"... Andrew Bogut likes him too..

Reply #430617 | Report this post


Anonymous  
Years ago

Wtf do they see in auryn?

Reply #430663 | Report this post




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