Well said Rat10 - it is good to see Darren fulfilling his potential at NBL level as there are many astute judges of talent that have been waiting for this mini breakout .
With oppurtunity comes belief and he now believes he can contribute substantially .
Sure there are still a few silly errors and errant air balls but you can forgive that when he is pumping in 20+ with boards and inspirational hustle plays to boot .
Keep it up Darren , from a true believer .

Always been a fan and he's been brilliant over the last few rounds. You'd assume that he's exceptional value as well.

Be a real shame to lose Darren next year. Quality player who has improved leaps and bounds over the past 2 years.

If there was "room" to throw more money at Darren, maybe he could be convinced to stay? Surely with the offer of more minutes and money, he could defer his study/career again?

Never been a fan of Darrens, but i have changed my mind in the last couple of weeks.

I reckon Julius has had a huge influence on Darren, as he is passing and rebounding better and clearly thinking about doing things other than catch and shoot.

I think it's the other way around. Julius went to Darren and asked him for help with his shooting.

Darren has always rebounded well for his height and minutes. I think he's been playing his usual game, just tends to score more consistently when he gets the sort of minutes that are available with Maher out.

Isaac - IMO says alot about both Hodge and Ng , the fact that Julius would ask Darren for shooting help so early in the piece would surely give the kid some a good feeling and extra pep in confidence .
Display of Natural leadership from Julius.

See Occam's Razor! I think it was more the case of Hodge wanting to improve his shot and him noticing that Ng was a good shooter. Ng is very mature and I don't think confidence has really been a big problem over the years - he's stepped up when Maher's been out before, for example. IMO, credit to Hodge for taking the step to address a fault in his game.

Hodge 100% from the stripe in today's game so far I think!

Definitely improved, stepped up and matured this season. Always been a fan though. Great to watch and one the 36ers must fight to keep.

No denying that Hodge would have noticed that Darren is an excellent shooter and is trying to improve a weakness in his game .

I guess i was impressed by the openness and lack of ego Julius has shown in approaching Darren for help after being there for a short while.

My words probably showed a little stronger emphasis than intended , cheers for pointer to occam's razor . Perception can be a funny thing , especially when digesting the written.

Julius Hodge has improved his shooting ever since seeking help from Darrenn Ng. He shot 13/13 FT's last night, whereas he was shooting very poorly from the FT Line when he first arrived in Australia.
He looks much more comfortable from the FT Line.
Julius Hodge has also helped Darren Ng immensly. He has taken the pressure of Ng's shoulders. Ng doesn't have the pressure on him to become a playmaker and get 7 assists per game, because Hodge has been doing that lately. Hodge's arrival has meant Ng can focus on looking for his shot and looking to be aggressive on offense.
In conclusion, their relationship is mutual. Julius has helped Ng and Ng has helped Julius.
Hopefully both players will still be in a 36ers uniform next year

Good post Max - the point about taking some of the play-making responsibility off his shoulders is worth making.

I agree Ng has improved enormously this season.
Maybe some Sturt fans can help me out but do they run a lot screens for Ng in the ABL games??
The biggest concern I had was that he seemed unable to create his own shot.
Recently he seems to have the confidence to shoot early in the offense and is getting more open looks before the defence is set.
If he plays on next year I think they need to run some more plays to get him open.
ie screen and roll, or double baseline screens

Ballinger Fan - I was exactly the same. I was a pretty big Ng anti-fan until a few games ago (was always glad to see him go to the bench because he had no left hand to dribble with and continually choked under pressure). A friend of mine has been telling me all along that he could be the next Maher-like Sixers player, and I've been laughing him off. For reasons others have mentioned though, it has all come together for him recently, and now I have to admit that he is finally becoming the big-time NBL threat others (not me, I confess) have seen potential for all along.

Give it a few more years mate! You're just about to enter your prime years as a basketball player, or so it seems. It's not like there'll be a shortage of available positions in the medical fraternity once you get there... :)

I think you'll also find that a certain coach on the 36ers staff has been helping Julius out with his shooting as well as the workouts he is doing with Darren.the coach was videoing Julius shooting and then they both were looking at the video footage and talking about his technique.

My ONLY problem with Ng now days is that he has required Maher to be out for him to bring his best game.
Ng playing as he had in the last 5 weeks would have Surely helped us during the earlier parts of the season, yeh hodge being in the team would be helping. But we need to find a spot for Ng next year that he can play with Maher and still be this consistant