As far as I know it's just not that simple as to say; ok he is sacked today so we will go and replace him with someone else.

He is under contract so his 2007/08 salary would have to be honoured by the club and his salary would also be counted under this years salary cap. So sacking him now wouldn't allow the club to replace him as it wouldn't create any space for a replacement player. The only way we could replace him is if he had a long term injury and was then placed on a injury waver.

Unlike some Mal and Phil have integrity and will honour a contract through thick and thin, not sack someone at the drop of a hat because they are fickle.

FFS its not that hard to be loyal  it would be nice if some of you actually try this.

Hey, Joe, I'm all for loyalty...when it's earnt. It pisses me off how unloyal the players and coaches are in the NBA (you get guys playing for 7+ teams!) but if a player is making a team worse then they should go. I think we are a better team without him.

I can kinda go both ways on this debate. On some nights Dench has looked a part of the offense and hit double figures in scoring and rebounds, and on others he has looked completely out of place. Does anyone know what his role is supposed to be? It doesn't look like Dench does and I suspect that is because his coach doesn't either. When he was on the other night the offense did lack rhythm, but at the same time his rebounding was really good, and he is a defensive presence in the middle. It is a shame that Ballinger can't play the three, as I'd be more inclined to try to move him there and cut Chappell, not Dench.

At least Dench looks certain to win something this season:

The annual 'Mark Nash memorial wooden spoon of mediocrity' for the player most scapegoated by 6ers fans.

Joe M - they cut Mark Nash in the middle of a contract and then made a low-ball first offer to settle when he went to negotiate. But apart from that... ;)

Don't cut Dench. Who are you going to get as a replacement? The list of available Australians isn't that long. Of those I can think of in Europe, there are:

Nielsen (too expensive)
Kickert (too expensive)
Ryan (expensive, team-cancer)
Kingma (any better than Dench? Not what we need)
Leven (would be interesting, but much better than Ng?)

If Maher is back in 2-4 weeks, leave Ng to play the minutes (2-0 with him starting and he's scoring OK).

The import spot gives them more flexibility if they wanted to make a change.

Cut Dench

No Need to replace him. Remember Dodman is sitting there wasting away at the moment. How about giving him the 5-10 minutes Dench receives.

Its not because Dench is a bad player its because he doesnt fit a position, and this is highlighted in the way Phil runs the team. He is a big guy but doesnt play as a big guy. His defence has been good from what ive seen, tho hes giving nothing on offence.

I agree with you but if we are only giving dench little minutes why not use them to develop Dodman

What about the Bench Dench petition. Has much more of a ring to it.

He is a "former Rookie of the year" don't forget.

Keep the Wookie. Bring him off the end of the bench and he can bang the opposition centres. You need depth in the big man dept.

I thought he boarded well against the Dragons, but he really needs to forget that fallaway jumpshot. That's a very ugly shot.

With Ballinger, Mottram, Cooper all playing a similar position it was always going to be hard to fit in a fourth person at this position. If you dont grab your opportunities then you deserve to sit on the bench. I agree that they should be playing dodman 5-10 mins per game and actually developing him in a game situation rather than giving the minutes to dench. Dodman will be around much longer. Plus it will give the other 2 as Ballinger is already playing 40 mins a game more opportunities.

I would much rather watch Dench play than Dodman, all Dench needs to realise is thats hes 7ft tall, solid build and can back into people for the easy shot like Ballinger does instead of trying to pull fade away jump shots.

Ohh should have added, he looked into it last week, like he was really trying to prove he should be out there and for longer...thats a good attitude and hopefully he can start to prove it.

Agreed Scud. He did look like he was giving it the extra effort. But yeh...your not a SG Axle