Very, very unimpressive. He is not a good player and will struggle at the NBL level. Egg meet face. I predict averages of about 8 points and 3 rebounds, and he will be so poor on defense that he will become unplayable as the season goes on.

Now they'll have to pay for 3 imports for zero value added to the W column. Would have been better off sacking Conklin and signing nobody.

If anyone actually cared about the Crocs this would be a PR nightmare.

Watched him many times with the Gaels, and well ... he's better than nobody :p

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/omar-samhan-1.html
Transformed his body over his playing days at college, averaged just shy of 21p/11r/3b as a senior. That year he tore up (his admittedly shorter) opponents in the Gaels Sweet 16 NCAA run in 2010.

Not athletic. But a big guy that knows how to use his size. Had a decent mid-range jumper to go with an array of effective low-post moves, at least at the college level.

http://www.thenational.ae/sport/nba/ball-like-an-egyptian-omar-samhan-embracing-international-career
Tore his ACL after 2 games in the Phillipines, so not surprising he didn't stick there as an import.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZypqgNZZchw
That's his D-League highlights for 14/15.


Omar's a great character and interview. He has "BEAST" tattooed on the inside of his bottom lip, do I really need to say more? Would love to see him succeed in the NBL. If he has enough game he will be great for filling up newspaper columns and giving sound bites for the TV as well. Could be a real fan favourite.

Check out this video from his time in Germany...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QhrjS7bVMA

Damn! It's not my man Diamon Simpson.

Surely this signing will cheer up Kobe24 as now Ere is not the worst import in the league ;)

It seems the crocs wanted someone asap so when their first choice fell through they scrambled and grabbed ssmhan who i think ive seen mentioned he is already in Australia???

@isaac: I think that was driven by their playoff delusions.

But as i have said before, even if you put an all-time great import on this roster this late in the season, you would struggle to make it. Signing Samhan is just pouring money down the drain.

It's dumb basketball wise because Samhan is terrible and even if he was great it wouldnt matter and theyd miss the playoffs (not to mention taking shots away from Kay), and it's dumb business wise because you are paying two imports when you are running at a deficit and need extraneous expenses like a hole in the head.

Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb.

This isn't Dunigan.

the guy hasn't even stepped onto an NBL court yet and all you Keyboard wankers are saying he is shit. Far out this forum is full of dead set dickheads.

Jett must be loving this signing. He is now only the second fastest import for the Crocs. And he has a running mate for the Jupiter's buffet.

*fattest*

I take it the irony of calling someone a keyboard wanker on an internet forum is lost on you Dave?

The fact is a lot of people on here are very familiar with his game and ability.

He simply isn't very good, has conditioning issues, and has had a very poor pro career so far.

The Crocs are a basketcase if they think this is going to get them a single extra win let alone a playoff birth.

I would go so far as to say he will be a net negative and our best frontcourt lineup will continue to be Kay and Young.

Is first 2 games (if cleared in time) will be against Johnson, so it will probably average 20 and 10 :-)

I imagine he's cheap, he's available and he fills a need. If he gives them a solid back-up to Kay and Young on near-minimum wage that's not a bad result.

He certainly had potential to be a good pro, I don't know what's gone wrong, but for the Crocs' sake I hope he feels at home with Young and Steindl and finally produces what he's capable of.

Given they had a much better play all-but signed this appears to be quite a downgrade though.

Back at St Mary's he was even better than Ben Allen so Crocs fans should be stoked with this signing

Very very bad signing IMO.

People are rating him based on what he did at St Mary's.

The fact is that since then, he hasn't played with a team for more than one season, each year he has gotten lower and lower with the quality of the leagues he's been with (NBA Summer League/Borderline NBA, Lithuania, Germany, Egypt, SEABL) and his recent stats are very unimpressive.

Even if he isn't on much money you have to weigh this up against the other alternatives that don't cost more $$$, and i think either keeping conklin or sacking conklin and hiring no one were both better alternatives.

I dont look at that roster and think "gee what we really need is an unathletic offensive minded big man that can't stretch the floor" regardless of how good he is.

But yeah, missing the playoffs was not an option according to the man calling the shots, so here is Samhan. Playoffs here we come!

Lets see how he goes, one thing the 36ers dont have is height, so he will have 2 games to atleast attempt to dominate with his size. Cant imagine the Crocs had 2 cents to rub together with this signing. So worst case he is a body that can give you 5 fouls worth and some relief minutes. If he can keep the defense honest it might further help develop Kay's game too.

Mick even if they don't make the playoffs I think they brought him in, in the hope of remaining competitive every game. They would have been better off with Conklin but perhaps there is more to that story.

Conklin elbowed the owners wife?

With his penis.

Samhan has the perfect first two games to get used to the league and match up wise the Sixers who are soft inside.

He was awesome in college but his pro career has been a semi flop so far. But with Australia being close culturally to the US hopefully he can adjust easier than in Europe.

Good for him to get in shape for SEABL as well his SEABL should be happy Townsville have picked him up.

Australia very close culturally to Egypt too. We have less oil but better camels.
I think I'll light one now.

Not athletic. But a big guy that knows how to use his size

Haha perpetual pessimist, Mick.

Seems unimpressive but let's just give the guy a game or two! Sheesh...

Bunch of buzzkills here, gee whiz

I am not sure why they jumped to grab basically just anyone close and cheap enough to replace Conklin. This is what makes me think that this is deeper than just poor performance. Nothing I have seen or heard suggests Omar will be any better than Conklin; infact, quite the opposite.

I do agree, although I think it might be simply for money. Omar, would've come cheap, where as Conklin would be on MVP money.

The market for players is so saturated that there is no need to jump at the first big who is available and in Australia. Flight time from Hobart to Townsville is less than one day quicker than anywhere in the USA to Townsville. Are the Crocs unwilling to wait one extra day to get a player who has performed consistently in a strong league? And is in good shape? And is a better fit for their roster (they now have 0 bigs who can really stretch the floor or protect the rim).

European teams cut and sign players every week, players leave teams due to not being paid or not getting acceptable court time - so there are always agents reaching out to teams via email with available players. Any professional coach with a half decent network of agents could send one email to 20 agents and get 50+ better names than Omah Samham. And players who sign mid season you can always get at a discount because they are looking for a job.

Amateur decision by Crocs management.

Maybe the other guy was stalling or asking for more money?

And on why they replaced Conklin, maybe they thought they could cut him without cost and save money. They've played well both times without Conklin so they could look at this as a cheap addition.

#570046

"Love how no one here has any idea that Omar can stretch the floor and is an extremely good 3pt shooter "

Samhan's last two stops shooting the 3pt shot:

D-League: 17 games, 9 attempts, 22% from 3pt.
Germany BBL: 18 games, 19 attempts, 26% from 3pt line.

Care to add some facts in with your argument? The only thing he is "stretching" is his Crocs singlet every time he puts it on.

Dennis seems happy enough, hopefully we'll get to see tonight.

"He was probably a level of player at that particular time we didn't think would end up in Australia, but different circumstances have evolved that’s brought him here. He looks in fantastic shape, which is what I was told and that’s great news.

"His ability to score in the low post is probably the big thing that attracted us to him and the fact that he’s been a good rebounder wherever he’s gone.

“He has also developed a perimeter shot so it will stretch our defence a bit more and give guys like Mitch Norton, Corey and Jordair that room to move and penetrate."

I truly hope SD knows something we don't. He's done well with his imports on tight budgets, but this would be a rabbit out of a hat if he can get Samhan to be a decent contributor who helps the team.

Solid first performance from the big fella, 10 and 6 plus a steal and a block in 16 minutes. Hope you were watching and cheering mick.

Looked better than our locker room guy.

Dude is super smart around the paint, has great touch. Delivers a dimension the Crocs need.

How ya goin' Mick?

If Schenscher is out for most or all of the season he looks like a smart pick as back-up C, but if Luke is back soon they kind of double up a little bit. Still, good to see him play some solid minutes, look forward to seeing against teams with a C of their own.