One more year to prove him self is fair enough. Hopefully he gets some better assistant coaches though and a better more balanced team or it will be his last season!

One less reason to renew membership for next year.

And I had such awesome seats too.

Sh*t.....

Great way to ruin an otherwise great day....

If we're forced to keep Ninnis, change the Assistant Coaches who are useless.

Get rid of Cooper ASAP.
Groves can go, Brad Hill can go.

Keep Balls and Ng.

Bring back Ranga Luke.

I think it was the only decision SOS could make. I think he deserves one more season. If he cant show the goods after 3 years he will have to move on.

I have no objection to Ninnis having another year, so long as he learns some offensive and defensive sets, how to teach those sets to the team, how to get the team playing as a team rather than a bunch of individuals, how to encourage the best out of the personnel he has, and how to instil some condience, desire, passion and intensity in the team, and confidence in his coaching by the team and supporters at large. Other than those things, I have no objection at all...

Honestly, with the playing personnel available to Ninnis this year, which is admittedly short of the best in the league, but better than some by quite some way, the year has represented a huge underachievement. But that I can handle. What kills me is when you have a team on court where everyone looks lost, and nobody looks like they know where they are supposed to be and what they are supposed to be doing. That is just unprofessional.

With the league up in the air pre-this season and all players signed for 1 year deals I can't see why they would sign a coach for longer unless he was a proven star they wanted to be sure to hang onto?

Not doubting what you heard as many others have mentioned the same thing. Just wondering why they would go down this path?

BTW I think he should get one more season to show us what he has got, but I'm still blinded by my love of him as a player and that flat-top ;)

ahhh the flat top :) reminds me of the old days.

I think he deserves 1 more year. This was always going to be a difficult season given the time they had to officially get ready. After next year if the team has not shown marked improvement he will have to move on.

Anyone else notice the McLeod talking to Ninnis last night during the handshake and the "Thanks mate, I appreciate that" from Scotty? Sorta looked like a "Hope they keep you mate" deal to me.

Could well be kept on as assistant rather than head coach? Wait and see I reckon.

Isaac, That is what I said when I heard it, if you can't afford to get rid of him relegate him to an assistant and get an experienced head coach.

Hmmm, coming from you Isaac...

I dont see it as logical, but again, may fit the budget of SOS...

Would like to see them chase a big name, but if you can't afford it...you can't!

No info at all, just guessing and trying to reconcile the Apollo post-game comment and what I would have expected (e.g., that they would go in a different direction).

I expect we'll know more next week.

I dont think they will go in any other direction than what they have now..

well, i'm guessing they go in another direction...(up)...but i seriously think that this coaching panel is not up to a play off series...

perhaps with an extremely good, smart PG and a exceptional 5 player...i.e. Players who can think and adjust on the court and get the rest of the team into gear...

Good luck to the team next season and I hop[e there is some good signings, nothing huge, but some...just to keep it moving...

They have been many threads re this subject recently. My info is that Scotty will go. I'm not sure that he would accept an assistant role if offered. If he does remain then he needs to get himself better assistants (particularly one's that don't have a conflict of interests). IMO Scotty is a really nice guy, he was a great player and apparently a good assistant coach but unfortunately he does not appear to have the goods to be a Head Coach. If I am correct, then extending his contract another year would only aggravate the situation, particularly if he and the team were again unsuccessful. The SOS group and 36ers fans deserve better. Adelaide has the best supporter base, but, basketball fans can be fickle and a team that continues to lose will ultimately lose supporters (as happened with the Canberra Cannons).

IMO with the same team (one change BH) and a new coach we would be fighting for a higher position raither than fighting to stay of the bottom of the ladder.

How bout getting Guy Molloy in as either Head Coach or as Ninnis's lead assistant?

I always thought he did fairly well in Cairns and most of his teams seemed to approve year to year and i thought he did fairly well at developing and working with young/less talented teams over his time, plus an apprenticeship under Goorj at both the Magic,Titans and Dragons is a good start, without him being totally like Goorj.

To be honest not exactly sure who else with some decent experience is available never been a massive fan of Stacker, Black and Goorj, hence why i mentioned Molloy or its another un tried coach which can have its pros and cons.

I guess bottom line is aslong as the team is playing well and winning 36ers fans will support any coach!

We definatly need some better offensive structure, or atleast more free flowing ball movement, i miss the Smyth style offenses and high scoring exciting games, and also some good defensive structure (without beeing too defensive and robotic and boring like Goorj) and continued development of guys like Hill, Ng, Holmes and Herbert.

You guys are Pathetic. If they get another coach you will all say how great this coach will be and then turn on him/her like you do on everyone else after round 10. Give him one more year and see what happens.

Ninnis should be allowed one more year, set some rigorous expectations (based on the cattle he has at his disposal) and put a review meeting to take place in December 2010.

If the targets have not been reached, or his performance is clearly under the acceptable, let him go at xmas and spend the remainder of the season getting and preparing a new coach to mount another attempt at the following season.

I dont think its fair to judge him entirley on the results of these past 2 years, given the off court issues he has had to deal with and playing group he has.

You have to give coaches time to build, if we dump them every 2 years... well, i think we all know the result.

Why give a new coach time to build if proven ones are available?

You'd effectively sacrifice three seasons and potentially the club's overall bottome line if it all goes south.

How will anyone ever become a coach (especially a "proven" one) if they are not given a chance?

Define "proven"

Is it....
The number of games coached?
Win loss ratio?
Number of championships?

Even ticking these boxes does not guarantee a good coach and especially do not guarantee good results.

if a wooden spoon, cries of no offence and no defence are not enough to lose the coaching job then what is? Jesus, get a new f'n coach and stop being so tight.

Signing him for next season before proving himself this season is totally stupid by the SOS. Ninnis had a very good squad last season and under achieved and has under achieved again this season.

Who ever is making the coaching decisions must have shit for brains. Ninnis player selections also are questionable, especially the Groves signing. Im sick of being so negative towards the sixers but its hard not to be when they so obviously are getting it wrong.

XY

I have no objection to Ninnis having another year, so long as he learns some offensive and defensive sets

How about Jan Stirling as head coach, with Mike McKay and Paul Rees as assistants. Mike to teach the perimeter players and Rees to teach the "big boys" post play. Jan would run a professional NBL program.

EC, not really sure you *got* my post. It was not-so-subtle sarcastic hyperbole. The complaints about just about every part of his role as a coach I thought might give it away.

+1 for Jan Stirling, although I'd take an Ian Stacker or possibly Guy Malloy first I reckon, based purely on NBL experience.

And re: proven coaches, it wouldn't be hard to find coaches with:

- more games under their belt at head coach
- more finals experience
- better win/loss ratio

ie. a proven track record.

Coaches should make the transition to head after years of experience in the first assistant role, ideally in a program that virtually runs itself (ie. Melbourne).

They'd also hopefully bring a better offensive / defensive set and a better under standing of what sort of team composition it takes to be competetive (not to mention player rotations there after).

Yeah I'm not a fan of watching this drivel for another season either. Fact is that if Ninnis was going to be an inexperienced head coach, he should have surrounded himself with experienced assistants. Now they all just look stupid. There has been no evidence of development of structure either offensively or defensively in the 2 years he's been in charge, so why waste a third season? I'd have no issue with him continuing as an assistant, but we need a head coach with more direction. And for goodness sake, whoever is coaching next year needs to seriously consider replacing Groves, Hill and Cooper (plus Gilchrist now as well since he won't be on court for a long time) otherwise next season will be doomed anyway

Agreed vanexel31 & quasi.

I haven't see any players developing in the last 2 yrs. There is no structure in offence or defence. The rotations are poor.

Given we are in a good psotion with Balls in his prime I think we need to get the coaching structure right so that we are legit rather than go through another season of Ninnis making rookie mistakes.

Player development is one thingI do get antsy about. Scotty came in promising to develop youth etc. (ie. the opposite policy to his predecessor) but i've seen just about no evidence of it anywhere; development players virtually don't exist in a Sixer's rotation.

Ng would benefit SO much under a system that utilised him properly. Without guidance, Hill's game and confidence has gone to crap. Likewise, without a defined role, Jacob has struggled (particularly through 08-09).

I doubt very much Ninnis will stay on and be a assistant...

I do however think that he will still be there next year and it will be another trying time...

Love the club, love the SOS, but jeepers creepers they can frustrate us all at times...

What about someone like Steve Breheny as Head Coach or even Assistant to Scott if he was interested. My guess is he's getting itchy fit sitting out there not coaching much!

Personally I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall between conversations with the team and Ninnis. I don't think you can judge Ninnis yet by what you have seen on court from the players. The attitude from the "key" players was all wrong this year. I am not sure if the guys doing most of the ball-handling were actually doing what the coaching staff wanted, he may have just been dealing with players in key positions who make the wrong decisions on court. With some players it's like banging your head against a brick wall.

Or maybe the guys were doing exactly what Ninnis wanted??? Give him another shot with a seasoned point guard, more experienced assistant coaches and see if it's any different.

Last season, I enjoyed watching the Sixers for the first time in quite a few years. We were 13-2 at home (god-awful on the road but at least I didn't have to watch that) and had some guys (Hill) who looked like they were on the cusp of some sort of greatness. This year has been a stagnant, uninteresting, boring heap of shit. The on court highlight for Sixers this season was Guy Sebastian, and I hate him.

I think a lot of it came down to the selection of Gilchrist to run the point. He pretty much cut everyone else out of the game, including Ballinger for extended periods. If I wanted to watch a guy dribble on the spot for 2 hours then I'd got to an old folks home, where I wouldn't have to pay admission.

At the time I bought into the idea of Groves coming in, especially as he was cheap, but Jesus if the media reports are accurate then one of these guys had $20M and so I think maybe a few extra grand could have been found to secure a decent second import.

From memory Herbert was signed last, and he has been great and in some respect the team did well to get such a solid player when he was available, but at the same time it made us so lop-sided at the guard position it isn't funny. Added to that, is that pretty much the entire front court are guys who can only play one position, meaning we had no versatility. A place should have been found for Garlepp, who had a fantastic preseason.

Add to that Molitor, who has basically just had the Hollywood seats for the entire season, but for arguments sake, if he can hit a three from 26 feet like he did against Townsville why was he not tried at least a few times in a meaningful way to spread the floor?

As for Ninnis, you just don't get to finish dead last, have no team defensive or offensive cohesion, and get to keep your job. If you do, then we might as well change our jersey to that of the Melbourne Demons FC, as we will be anchored to the bottom of the ladder for some time to come. But there won't be any draft picks coming our way.

Player23 - I think you will find that Steve B may have another gig next season in another League (A League of Their Own).
For those that keep mentioning Boy Goorj - I believe he is being paid $1M as a consultant in China - why would he return here to coach.
Guy Molloy was at the Dragons at the same time as Scott so I'm not sure how they relate to each other if Guy were to come here as an assistant or vice versa.
IMO Jan Stirling would be a great NBL coach but would males (particularly imports) want to be coached by a female (even one with Jan's incredible coaching record). Also Jan has the job with the Power - would she leave there for a shot at an NBL Head Coach position?
EC - have to agree you learn as an assistant coach and instruct as a Head Coach.
I have previously stated - Scotty is a great guy, great player, apparently great assistant but not a Head Coach.

"if a wooden spoon, cries of no offence and no defence are not enough to lose the coaching job then what is? Jesus, get a new f'n coach and stop being so tight."

Finally, some sense.

We made the finals last year, when 8 out of 12 teams progressed to the finals. We were then bundled out in the first game. Not exactly earth shattering, but not cause for despair.

This year, wooden spoon (most likely), bad offensive rebounding, lacklustre defense (virtually zero perimeter defense), very few plays run to benefit your pure shooters, giving too much time to underperforming players...

Plain and simple, it will be very difficult for us to win if Ninnis is our coach, and he doesn't improve.

Frankly I don't see the reason to give him "another year to prove himself", because while we're starting a season as also-ran status, another team will go on to win the title. Why should we abandon a chance of a title shot before the season even commences?

Having seen a Jan Stirling coaching session, believe me if the men didn't respect her initially she would run them to the ground until they did...she is one intimidating and smart woman. The reason I believe the lightening did so well, she demands the best and if she doesn't get it she will make you work until she gets it.

Having Jan Stirling there in some sort of capacity would do wonders for some of guys that are playing below par.

I also think Ninnis was short on options this season, with Gilchrist and Groves underperforming, what did you expect him to do??? Put Hill or Ng in the PG spot??? Give Molitor a starting role?? You take the two most influential players on court, ie. those that spend the most time with the ball, out of the equation and of course the 6ers struggled. Some of the guys like Burston (when he was fit), Ballinger (when he got the ball) and Herbert did well this season despite the poor overall result.

Jan would be a great choice (see my posts from 3 years ago, i was pushing for this) and im pretty sure she would ensure respect and support from the players.

Also imagine the marketing opportunities being the first (to my knowledge)female head coach in an elite male sporting league.

BUT...

If you aint got the cattle...

What % of this years team, would you like to keep for next year?... 30% maybe?

I think you may have just inpired the 100th "Players in 2010-11" thread.

I'd personally keep Kareem in the middle, Isiah at the point, Jordan at SG, LeBron maybe at the 3 and probably Chris Blakemore at the 4 so we have cap room.

who's that Jordan guy never heard of him. I keep hearing Cortez Groves is heaps better?

I was thinking about Chris Molitor, who we very rarely saw. Thinking 'bout Craig Bradshaw and thinking about Acie Law.
Cortez Rodriguez Lopez Fernandez.
Went to the Big Apple . - . Took a bite -
Harrington Gallinari Robinson Chandler and Lee.
Cortez Groves Derrick Rose Ryan Gomes.
Yao Ming Darren Ng.
But most of all - I was thinking 'bout Cortez Groves.

Jan Stirling would be great as head coach. As for imports not giving her respect well of course imports never get cut. I think she would chew them up for breakfast and they would be wondering what the hell happened.

If we keep Ninnis then how would Jan Stirling and Guy Molloy be as part of the coaching team. If Ninnis does not perform then we say goodbye at Xmas and give the job to one of them.

In retrospect part of Phils rooky coaching success belongs to Steve Breheny. But that was a unique situation in which you had a past head coach who never wanted to be a head coach again. (As I understood it?)

I think that head coaches are still learning but would have gained most of thier experience as assistants.

I don't think Scotty should get another chance. The Sixers can't afford another season like the one we just had. Whatever excuses you want to make, in the end we were flat out horrible. I have never seen a less cohesive, clueless Sixers team.

Look, I agree that stability can be a good thing. Up until halfway through this season, I was very supportive of the idea that Scotty build the team up over time and that there would be improvement from season to season.

But when your team is clueless on both ends of the floor, does not appear to be learning from its mistakes, has no self-confidence to dig deep when teams come at them, has young players regressing from a year ago and adds the club's first ever wooden spoon, its not time for stability, its time to get a new plan!

Anyone remember Dave Claxton? Up until now, he presided over probably the worst season in the club's history. Dumping him after one season for Smyth was the best thing we ever did.

I feel bad for Scotty, I really do, but its not working out. Changing a few players isn't going to cut it. The club has to do something dramatic to bring about change.

Agree 100% with demotion or firing Scotty. Surely the loss of fan support after another losing season is worth the financial burden of paying out an unemployed coach?

i agree Ninnis must go. I love the guy but nit as a head coach

Scotty is contracted for next season. Any cancelling of the contract will result in a messy situation.

'Collecting their first wooden spoon, placing doubt on the future of Scott Ninnis' - ABC News reported.

Anyways - If he's gotta contract and we finished bottom , I'd guess it's a messy situation.

What happened to people with honour?
The team/club is bigger that the individual, and all those cliche's?
Love ya Scotty, but you just don't have it, and I don't think you ever will.
Time to fall on your sword, and stand aside for the club you love to be successful under somebody who does have it.

Sorry, but to those people who cried out for the General to go, and Scotty to come in and develop local talent....... is this what you really wanted?

Maybe now, people will understand that developing talent takes more experience than a rookie coach has to offer.

Again, I know Scott is a great bloke, but he is not the way to a successful future for us.

Looks like the people have spoken... but I'm not sure it'll make a difference.

I'm not sure I could stand another bust season - too painfull :(

Boti today:

Ninnis has a contract for next season but should either fall on his sword or be checking the fine-print.

In game 28 of a 28-game season if your players still have no clue how to execute a game-winning play, where should that buck stop?

If they're not running what the coach wants, then clearly he does not have their respect or they have no fear of whatever discipline he might administer for breaking his rules. And if those were his late-game strategies, then that is even more worying.