The article also seems to indicate he will join us next season. This is good news for the rest of this year and with a bit of luck he will be an upgrade on Williams even this year. Anyone think he could ge make an impact this season?

Here's the article in The Advertiser.

I wrote : "The article also seems to indicate he will join us next season."

Maybe I got a little carried away. ;)

maybe a little, i dont know much of him can anyone tell us a little about him.

See in the Advertiser today the 6ers have managed to secure Brad Hill for the remainder of the season? AIS has let him go to play here, then welcome him back in March. This obviously shows that the coaches rate him higher than Gerlach. Will be good to see how he goes. Any thoughts? I think he will do ok, but he surely needs to toughen up and stop his whinging side to the game.

(Mod: richard, hope you don't mind but I moved your topic to become a post on this thread as we already had a discussion running on Brad Hill.)

Boti also didn't mention that he is yet another Sturt junior to play in the NBL. If he was a Forestville junior then this would have been mentioned in the first paragraph as is the case whenever Brad Newley or Rachel Flanagan are mentioned! Nothing against Forestville or Eastern, just Boti's biased reporting!

The article did indicate that Breheny had talked with Brad about playing here in 2005/06 and also that they had a preference for SA players, so it's good that they've expressed their interest.

sabre....i think you should get over it...sturt are the first club that should not complain about biases, considering that anyone from sturt that can run and dribble at the same time get into the sixers squad....hell, gower even got in before he could do both.

They get to the NBL because we prepare them the best and they work hard, not because of some bias. I am talking about Boti's biased reporting, don't change the subject to another Sturty6ers discussion!

Yes, Gower was a Norwood junior

is this guy any good? will he have an immediate impact?

Is he throwing away a potential US College trip?

I dont think he will make an immediate impact. I dont mean to bring up and old topic, but I still think at this point in time Gerlach is a much better option, add to that the fact that he is already in the mix and training with the boys, so knows the tempo and how everything works. IN the academy Vs eastern game gerlach schooled both hill and davis. Phil Smyth needs to give him a proper go, more than 3 minutes on the court, then we will see his real worth. Come on Phil, get on it!!

I'd say that he's been assured a contract for next year to have ruled out college before even finishing his AIS tenure.

Well I guess that you should be coaching the 6ers then richard, as you are that knowledgable about the abilitites of Hill and Gerlach. Maybe we should leave the decisions to the guys who have won all those Championships rather than some anonomous poster on the forum.

Or maybe the fact that Hill has trained some with the 6ers during his summer break from the AIS has shown the coaches that he is better than Gerlach. Surely that is the best way to decide. Will Isee you at practice this week then ?

richard,

Wouldn't Phil see Gerlach training against NBL players every day.

Wouldn't that put him in a better position than you to judge wether he can handle the promotion.

I think Brad Hill is a great signing especially in light of Newley's signing with Townsville rather than Adelaide.

Good to see the 36ers take immediate action rather than wait for his AIS stint to end and risk losing another SA talent.

I didn't see the Eastern v. Academy game that Richard is referring to but I did see the New Year's Eve game of Academy v. ABA select in which Hill dominated. There was no comparison between Hill and Gerlach.

Saying that is no insult to Gerlach just a compliment to how much potential Hill had.

The fact he seemed in a league of his own with decent players such as Reggie, Will Foster, Danny Phillips and the Academy guys is a testament to how much potential he has as an 18 year old.

Most importantly he displayed a Newley like confidence that I believe will see him do well straight away for the 36ers. Even if he doesn't contribute straight away, we have signed an athletic 6'6" shooting guard who can shoot and is only 18 years old.

A great signing in my opinion and will no doubt be a great player if not straight away then within a few years.

I wouldn't be surprised if he provides a scoring punch off the bench from the guard position that we have been lacking.

We already have players that can score in Maher, Farley, Rychart, Holmes and Forman so there won't be huge pressure on Hill to come in and be an All Star. However, I imagine that if teams take Hill lightly they may get a surprise.

I reckon learning under Smyth, Brheney, Maher, Farley, and hell even Williams will teach you more than what you could ever learn at the AIS

i think it is a good signing....and possibly, it is a singing that has only taken place to avoid the embarrassment of losing some local talet to another club...ala newley...the 6edrs have got in early with hill, just like they should have done with newley. at least they are learning from their mistakes.

nah the 36ers only signed him cause he was a 'sturt'junior.

lassard,
I have played with and against both players the majority of my life, so im pretty sure im a lot more informed than you, well done tho. i never said who was better, i think its a bit excessive too try and sign yet another player when you have an untried guard. training means nothing to how you will play in game pressure, and if youre gonna to express yourself on here, you should well know that by now. Yes hill is a good signing, i have no doubt he will make a good solid NBL player once he sorts out little problems with his game, but thats not the discussion

Anonymous, no I have never been to the AIS, nor have I even played at any real level.

However, how can the AIS teach comepting in the national lague, how can it pass on the experience of having to guard stars like Maher and Farley every game, how can it pass on the experience of thrice championship winning coaches (not to mention their playing credentials) in Smyth and Breheny?

Thats is purely why I said "I reckon" (you, know those first 2 words of my post, to indicate that it was purely my own opinion)..because they are my thoughts. I dont deny that the AIS is an important and useful tool within Australian basketball, but, for example, why dont they have an NBL team like the women's AIS team?? Surely competing on a regular, high quality competition would be beneficial.

AIS also teaches important athletic fundamentals with a nutritionist and weights coach, etc.

brad is a very capeable basketballer, hes got a good head on his shoulders and his dad richard will be a great help to him.

LOL... the same AIS that pumps players with Cortisone and slices muscles???

Here's an interesting thought..i can recall a few years ago oscar saying that being selected to go to the AIS was the best thing that had happened to him basketballwise and the second best thing was not being offered a second year. In the context that it was said he was not reflecting negatively on the AIS... but the first gave him confidence and the opportunity to receive intensive training and the belief to aim high and the second gave him a wakeup call -feedback about where he was at and the motivation to pursue his aims.

Hil is a good signing to fill the guard rotation - if Maher went down for an extended period then the team's spread a bit too thin.

I think Smyth would have a good connection with the AIS also, having spent most of his career with the Cannons and I believe some sort of employment with the institute.

Yogee,

In my opinion you once again you show your total lack of any real basketball understanding. Who was the last player that the 36ers produced that was capable of playing it international level. Now before you say Bradke, Maher, Homes, Foreman. Remember that they all attended the AIS. The development in Brad Hills game over the last year has been tremendous. In fact he has improved so much that he has been offered a position with the 6ers in front of Gerlach who has been training with them for the whole of the season. He has added over 8 kgs to his frame as well as having played against guys who will be lottery picks in the next 2 or 3 years in the NBA at the Albert Schweitzer Tournament. Plus he gets to develop in an enviroment where improving is put in front of winning each week. Finally, ask yourself who many players from the AIS have represented Australia in the last 10 years compared to 6ers who havn't been to the AIS. Oh and they dont compete in the NBL "like the women" because guys don't physically mature as early as women, because they can't have imports in their team due to it making them inelligable for the NCAA, because they play in a competition which is suited to not just the best players but also the groups that are in the early stages of their Junior World Championships development phase. Need I say more.

But I guess that you had thought of all of this in your assesment. Oh and this is just "My Opinion" of your lack of knowledge.

There were 3 Brads available to the 6ers and it looks like we got 2 pretty good ones. Why argue about who's better than who when hopefully both will be excellent guards for the 6ers.

As for the Brad we missed out on looks like we would have only been loaning him for 2 seasons anyway as I'm sure hes got bigger fish to fry. Enjoy him while you can TVille

C'mon children, public forum, people are allowed to have their own opinion on things.
Yes the AIS is a good stepping stone to take the next level in basketball, whatever that is. It gives kids a good indication at what they need to do to take the next step. But when comparing Gerlach's development to Hill's can we seriously compare apples with orange's??? One player is "living" basketball. He wakes up just about every morning and goes to training. Goes to school, probably has an individual session in the afternoon and then another training session in the afternoon. And in his "off" time would be made to hit the weight room. He has some of the best facilities in the Nation, has the best staff supporting him, eg medical, coaching, nutritional, psychological, educational. And your trying to compare this to a kid who prior to starting with the sixers would have been training twice a week, going to school/uni, going to work, having a decent coach...since starting with the sixers he will train probably twice a day 4 times a week, but how much "real" time would he get? How many scoring opportunities would he see at training? Are offences going to be called for him play in play out? Gerlach will definately develop as a player with the calibre of players around him but it won't be as quick as Hill does.
The Acadamy has been a great addition to SA basketball as they do 2 extra individual sessions, they do a couple of extra trainings, but it is not the standard of the AIS. They simply don't have the funding that the AIS have.
There are always going to be one or two exceptional basketballers every year that will go through the AIS but that's due all due to the Institute, they obviously had potential before that, the Institute just nurture that talent. How many titles have the AIS won in the SEABL? One conference title in 23 years, NO National titles.
In the last 10 years how many International stars has the AIS produced? Anonymous, you yourself used players the likes of Bradtke, Longley and Vlahov as your standouts from the AIS, how long ago was that? Besides the years those guys were in it, we have had probably two or three years where we produced some decent players (eg Neilson, Trahair, Dwight, McGregor, Saville) other than that the only standout player is Bogut.
Both players will hopefully turn out to be a good backcourt for Adelaide in years to come but don't compare their development and don't say that Gerlach is not going to learn anything under players like Maher, Farley, Smyth, Breheny.
(And Lassdard if your trying to show how much you know it would be handy if you knew how to spell our players names right, I guess 1 out of 4 ain't bad!)

Geez, I didn't realised I dribbled so much shit!

nice post panther....spot on. realistic without thinking you own the universe ala Lassdard.

Yogee, an AIS NBL team would get pumped evry night. Lack of physical strength would be exposed. It isn't as much of a problem in WNBL coz the girls don't put on 20kgs of muscle. Imagine an 18yr old kid playing Bobby Brannen!

I heard that Brad Hill had 51 vs The Academy when the u20 state team played them. Can anyone confirm this?

no i cant, sorry

he did have 51

Lassard, thanks for your comments.

So, you ask me to name players produced by the 36ers who have gone on to international status, but then say I cant name the very players who have been produced?? What are you actually asking me to do then?

If the AIS is so wonderful for basketballers, why do so many drop out before their scholarship is finished (both men and women)?

As I said in every post, I do not underestimate what the AIS does for our basketballers, I just question how so many people seem to decree making AIS being the "holy grail".

Just another player who the 6ers didnt produce, but certainly got to international level is Martin Cattalini, he came to the 36ers with his career at cross roads, and is now a Boomer, and regular stints in overseas comps.

Yogee,

Yes Catalini is the one player who the 36ers have produced that has gone on to the international level without going to the AIS.

Yogee you wrote that learning under the 6ers program is more beneficial then going to the institute. My opinion is that you must have rocks in your head. Although Panther was having a go at me, he actually has put more positiive points to why going to the institute is more benefical.

And Panther, you have been around long enough and know basketball well enough to know that if you look at the last 3 men's junior world championship groups that the AIS has produced, you would see that Australia has finished either 1st or 2nd at each tournament. This means that the AIS has produced the best junior team in the world for the last 8 or so years. Granted that the US system doesn't allow for their best players to always participate, but Carmelo Anthony played in the qualifiers for the last US junior world team in their qualifiers and they still failed to finish top in their qualification group.

So if we aren't producing the best senior players in the world after having the best junior players, where does the fault lie. I think not with the AIS. But rather with the fact that the NBL clubs don't care about continuing to develop Australian junior players, but would rather have imports and natralised players filling court time which other Brad Newelies could take. And I don't blame them because that is their job. Hell as good as Brad Newely is, and I think he has star ability, he didn't even start for the Junior Worlds group.

So what we need to ask ourselves is, where is Matt Knight, Damien Martin and why is 7'3" Sam Harris going over to the USA rather than playing in the NBL.

Knight, Martin and Harris are all playing college in the US. You'll have to ask them why they're there. Maybe they wanted to experience college-ball before going professional? Maybe they hoped that if they did well over there that they'd get better exposure and NBA opportunities. Why did Bogut go and play college and decide against trying to make the NBA via the NBL? Maybe they didn't think they were ready for the NBL and wanted some further development.

My opinion: each individual is different. Some want to play college so they can simply say that they did. Others want to get paid now so they play pro-ball at the first opportunity. Some have aspirations of making the NBA and will take the path that they feel will help them get there. Some have people around them that make bad decisions for them. Etc, etc, etc.

In addition to all that, I think the AIS has it's pros and it's cons: it has a tremendous upside but certainly isn't the "be-all end-all" of junior basketball.

Exactly. We don't see the results here in Australia of what the AIS has produced the last few years. Guys are only starting to come back - Quick, Kendall, Davidson etc, whilst others like Iti will be coming back soon because they won't make the NBA.

geez i wonder if only phil had given darren ng a chance just like hes given brad hill.brad hill has had more court time in 1 game than darren had in his first 3 seasons?

cheeze, you don't think Darren has had his opp? Especially when the team at some stages in the past 3 years has only suited 9 players on the road and he has been 6th man/only backup guard in quite a few games.

Like I said on the other Brad Hill post, let's not get into a Darren v Brad argument. Darren is a top kid with a strong game. The same can be said for Brad. There is room for both of them!

Brad is a gun and his spot in the sixers is well deserved

he is the only one performing in the sixers line up rite now. Shit farley is inconsistent and maher is aswell with injury. The man is dominating

Brad has made an immediate impact is looks to be settling in well there. We can now count him as a threat that other teams will have to take notice of. Darren looks to be doing a role just filling in and that seems what he is best at. He has an impact in short bursts, wehre as Brad looks to be developing into a go-to guy very quickly. Cant wait to see this guy in 2 or 3 years. He will be a real power player in the NBL.

And just a question on Martin Cattalini, didnt we get him from Perth or did he stat his career in the local adelaide leagues??

Any news on when/if the Cat will come back to Adelaide and how he is going overseas?

Cat certainly is from WA. We recruited him from Perth - he was slightly frustrated with the lack of opportunity behind Crawford, Vlahov and Co (I was going to include Pinder but no-one wants to be behind him now!).