Gee, what a coup if all of that comes off anon.

Groves
Newley
Saville
Abney
Rampton

Pretty tough starting group there...

Why is it a 'poor decision'?????

I agree #119318

At least I don't hide behind 'anonymous'

If its true you can bet that he will have an absolute belter of a team. If what #10389 says about Abney then Ballinger is up for grabs?

Go for it Phil.

I'd just like to clarify a possible misconception:
I don't blindly support Phil as it may seem to some.
He annoys me sometimes with his complaining about the referees...I used to think it was great that he was so calm & sat on the bench...I understand that being frustrated can cause that. I hate it when he gets tech fouls. (Although he may be justified in complaining..but shouldn't).
I could list a heap of stuff that bugs me, but you know what?
He's the coach, I'm NOT!
He's the one who represented Australia and is very well respected in professional basketball circles.
He's the one who has Mal's trust.
I support the team & the coach.
I believe he's done as well as anyone else could have done this season given the uncertainty at the start, and I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt & at least see if he can turn things around next season. (given that the club is better off now than at the start of this past season.)
I still think he's better than Stacker/Goorjian/Joyce put together.

Yea well...I'm not Basketball Australia either...just a 36ers fan.

There's a few to disagree with, actually......

"well respected in basketball circles"

"Done as well as anyone could have this season"

"better than Stacker/Goorjian/Joyce put together"

There's another glaringly wrong one, but I'm not about to get myself in a HEAP of trouble.

My opinion is my opinion so how can it be wrong if it's my opinion?

No Problems with you disagreeing Dicko.
We all have our opinions.

By the way, I base the 'well respected in basketball circles' comment on many articles I've seen over the years as well as recent interviews shown on Foxtel with people who know Phil well.
If you did a search on some of his achievements, you would also find that he is still very well respected in basketball circles.
I guess Hoops SA forum is a basketball circle too, but not necessarily one that I was referring to.

#119360

Is that you Brian Goorjian.

"anyone who thinks Phil is well respected in basketball circles hasnt been listening...


So why is it year after year, in the players poll, Smyth is the coach who coems up #1 as the coach most players want to play under?

I guess the majority of players dont fall into the "professional basketball circle"???

What a load of rubbish this topic is. Hawks have opened applications: http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=4690

Anyway the talk is that no one wants the hawks job since the Joyce fiasco.

Annom I have heard the talk that club only wants to pay 70,000.00.

There is no way in the world that they will have that line up. Absolute rubbish!

Talk also is that Ballinger is looking to naturlise if this is the case we should snap him up!

In reference to Phil, the basketball community look at him to be a lazy coach who is not willing to put in the work, hence he is rated poorly compared to goorj, joyce etc

TOTALLY AGREE 100% WITH (#119379) . Players vote him due to the lack of work they have to do.

(#119379) your assertion "every player knows it is an easy gig and they don't have to train hard" is an ABSOLUTE slap in the face to the players.

And you have the hide to bag the coach and the players so I guess you must be making an INFORMED decission based on reading tea leaves.

"Why would the Australian Institute of Sport ask him to talk to the AIS kids about what it takes to become a professional basketball player"

Surely this stems from Phil's days as a player and I'm sure he has plenty of knowledge to share to young aspiring players.

However if I was a young up and coming coach I'd rather here from a Lindsay Gaze or Brian Goorj first.

Dana, opinions are capable of being wrong. There are those of the opinion that the holocaust didn't occur and that George Bush is a great leader.

Phil has been terrible this year, and there is no need to re-hash the thousands of posts illustrating this. I assume the "poor decision" comment is in refernece to those posts, and to the school of thought that says we need a fresh coach/team/approach to get out of the club's 5 season slump.

This season was the worst in a long time, but I believe was as a result of a failure to adjust game plan, poor recruiting of local AND interstate talent (over the last few seasons) combined with terrible preparation and game-day tactics and to some extent, injuries.

I would not have re-signed Phil. Dana, why not offer some insight into why you think Phil deserved to be re-signed? Insights that go beyond "he played for Australia" , "he's the coach" , "he's well respected" etc etc.

Look at performances on the track post 2002. It's great that you support coach and club, but saying so on a forum adds nothing to a discussion. Save that for gamenight! I believe supporters like you are integral to a club's success. They are one of those intangible factors that sees teams over the line on occasion.

Add to the discussion by backing your pro-Phil stance with fact. The "it's my opinion so how can it be wrong?" doesn't cut it either - that can be said about anything.

That survey is garbage as an argument.

If you wanted an ACCURATE assessment for your argument, you would need to find out how many players THAT HAVE ACTUALLY PLAYED FOR PHIL IN THE PAST, would chose him as their #1 preference for coach.

You are talking about players perception of the coach, and by they way, I reckon you'll see that drop off if Phil is coaching next year too.

He is certainly losing a lot of momentum and favourite status.

The AIS business? Who knows? Maybe he was the only one they could get. Your assumption that he was asked beacuse he's the best person for the gig is just as silly.

For the record, I am NOT anti-Smyth, I don't even barrack for the 6ers, I just find this a good forum. And I am TOTALLY over the fact that you guys didn't get Ingles because I happen to support the Dragons and am very happy with th ecurrent arrangment....Thanks

I'm all over the Ballinger bandwagon, if he's available then we need to snap him up quick smart.

TR - agreed. I see him as Dusty but with a bit more height and a better 3 point shot. Would be a great addition especially if he is considering naturalising.

OK thedoctor.
I'm happy to alter my opinion at the end of the next season after the Club has not had to recruit with one hand tied behind its back.
I'm more than happy to give Phil to the end of his contract to demonstrate his 'coaching skills' without being hamstrung by the things that happened this past season.
I'm sure many are sick of the 'excuses' but hearing Phil tell the number of games missed due to injury for 36ers players this season was substantially more than the next 'worst team' for games missed due to injury.
ie. the Kings (and sure boy Goorj has also 'excused' his team for their poor performance this season due to injuries)
I'm sorry I can't quote the figure...don't remember it.

I'm willing to review at the next season's end.

I'm not asking you to alter your opinion - just for a few facts to back it up. There's no need to wait until next season's end to justify a current opinion. My question is this - what has Phil done in 4 seasons to allow him the virtue of one more?

Why am I having to justify my opinion when I still haven't gotten an answer to my first question in this topic?

That's not facts! That's your opinion.

Phil is with doubt on paper a great player and coach of the NBL. Simple as that people. However one important stat we havent not analysised is name some junior talent that he has developed into a a great playe in the NBL? Please advise as i am still trying to establish some one.

Goorj - smith, barlow, mckinnon, drimic etc
Joyce, Anderson(europe, rookie of the year) Dench ( rookie of the year) Saville and Campbell.

Smythe - please can you advise me?

If he was such a great coach why does he never develope quality juniors into great players? why does he always hire old players who do not want to put the work in and that he doesnt have to put the work in!

Dana, there have been countless threads dedicated to why certain posters want to see Phil gone. Why not refer to them - what I haven't seen is any argument beyond referral to past glories as to why Phil should be here next season.

Dana, you said your not a blind Phil supporter - well Bling Freddy can see that his recent recruitment/retainment of players has been a joke, development of young players is not a priority (see last year's roster) and MANY fans have been alientated by these factors and by his coaching style this year including time out use, court time allocation, lack of preparation etc etc.

The answer to your question has been answered time and time again. You don't have to justify your opinion, it just seems a normal thing to do on a discussion forum - kind of defeats the purpose if you don't. My guess is you are having trouble justifying, so choose not to. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I would guess that his philosophy is to put the players out there and let them play. Developed/veteran players are more suited to that approach.

I think that there are advantages and disadvantages to his style.

I think that one of his methods that I am a fan of are his timeouts. Not the veiled criticism of refs because the Fox cameras are on him timeouts (those suck), but the style of standing out on court to prepare and then entering the huddle.

I say this as a non-player, but have always assumed that the gap gives the players a second to get their breath, for a veteran like Maher or Copeland to have a quick word if needed, and then allows Smyth to deliver a prepared plan.

(I think Lemanis delivers a pretty decent timeout too.)

Watch a Goorjian timeout, though, and he's all over the place. He does a lot of things very well, but I think that his timeouts could be confusing. If he gives five rambling instructions instead of one clear one, you could have five players going out onto the court with varying ideas of what they should be doing.

Issac,

People who have been involved in a Goorj training session know exactly what he is saying.

He is speaking in terms that are how he coaches. ie 'plugger hold' 'downs into turnouts, look at the curl' etc.

Most people wouldn't understand, but he has a very quick method of telling guys what he wants. The more you are around him the easier it is to understand. I like the fact that when he asks for something I see it happen on the court.

Might be more challenging when players have not played under him for as long - e.g., All Star Game, Boomers, etc.

Gotta disagree with you there Isaac. Smythe talks in what I call 'coaches speak'. Vague generalisations like 'we need to lift the intensity'(insert grin here) or 'we need a better effort on the boards'(insert grin here). Now when you talk generally to the group, a lot of players think the coach isn't talking to them, it's somebody else who needs to pick that up. Goorj gives specifics.If player X is doing a shitty job of boarding he'll tell him right then and there.There is no grey area about who is or isn't getting it done. Specific instructions about what he wants done and by whom. Makes maximum use of his time rather than standing mid-court and wasting half of it.

Well my question about his timeouts is...

When does he call them????

That little grin Phil does during timeouts gives me the creeps!

Cheers anon, clears up a lot for me!

Izzy, I'll give you that, but still, I think Goorj would benefit from that quick preparation as some of his instructions can be all over the place.

Goorj style: rambles on for 90% of it setting up a crucial offense and then asks at the end "So, who has the ball?"

"well Bling Freddy can see that his recent recruitment/retainment of players has been a joke, development of young players is not a priority (see last year's roster)"
I refer you to many posts about the state of the 36ers as a club and their ability to recruit at the start of the season...
If you have forgotten, give Paul Bauer or Mal Hemmerling a call tyo refresh your memory!!
FACTS!!!

Dana, most of those posts were made by you. Isaac has in the past stated that Oscar would have signed well before his contract was up if another one was offered to him and that Ingles was offered below rookie minimum and a spot in the 13 - these facts have nothing to do with the state of the club.

The club was never in danger anyway - there were several genuine bidders even before the club was officially "on the market".

We all know what little opportunities Brad Hill has been given, and the fact that Phil signed guys like Copeland effectively reducing the available court time for Hill.

People dont want to listen to the fact that we had a horible start to the season way before the first game Dana, they just like to whinge and wine about how Phils such a bad coach, ofcourse I dont see any of them even having a chance at obtaining a high level coaching position, so it kinda shows they dont know wtf they are talking about I guess.

This is going to end in tears, get out the tissues

anyway back on the topic of Stacker to the cashless hawks!

If he goes there it will be minimal salary (ie under 80 K) I just cant see stacker doing that.

Don't worry Sween they will all gel together in 4 - 6 weeks.

dana, i admire your loyalty and passion. I do want Phil out however i think the club should stand by the contract offered to him. Next season is crunch time, hopefully the US refresher course assists him, especially his skills of investing and developing youth.

Dana , quick question .
If your opinions can not be wrong because they are just your opinion and others opinions can not proved to be right as they are merely others opinions then do we live in a constant state of opinionated confusion ?

People with blind and unwavering faith will have their cheers drowned out by the wave of reality .

"then do we live in a constant state of opinionated confusion ?"
BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Dana do you just sift through all the posts looking for ones relating to Phil and agree or disagree depending on whether it is a pro or con Phil comment."
SUBSTITUTE AS FOLLOWS:

THEDOCTOR do you just sift through all the posts looking for ones POSTED BY DANA and PROCEED LIKE A BULL TO A RED RAG depending on whether it is a pro or con Phil comment.?

What IS YOUR Problem thedoctor?
(What kind of name is that anyway?)

..maybe you missed the Advanced Medical Institute phone number on the ads??

Maybe foxsports should have run "catfight night" instead of "big basketball wednesday". The forum has been on fire tonight!

I don't mind it. I think it's really funny how there are so many experts on here.
Catfights, wankers, this place has it all.
LOL

Above post was from me.