I wonder whether 20 and 10 from Dowdell was the game Radford and Clarke went to watch him play, this weekend.

Having read that we are in trouble i think..2 imports means no decent back up big man or point guard, makes the hill/ng/herbert trio of signing look a bit silly-overload at 2 but no pure 1 or3.

if the 36ers are to be serious contenders,you'd think that hill/ng/herbet will be rotating off the bench....so that leaves 29 very vital points.

maybe not the greatest position to be in at this stage !

There's a few whispers around that if demos doesn't end up with the Hawks he could go to Adelaide.

I read on herald sun that dillon will be a tiger, though nothing is official. Would willie be a 10 as an import? I think we have short changed ourselves, Im a fan of Ng Herbert and Holmes but Hill? Though he is only a 5 i guess. This is a very important time for the 36ers as a club, another season like the last and surely the future of the club would be questionable?

Watched Jeff Dowdell play against the Supercats last night. He was impressive early in the 1st quarter using his size under the basket and with his mid range shooting. But Geelong responded really well to him and for the rest of the game limited his impact on offence. He struggled for most of the game getting really frustrated and losing his temper a few times.

Yeah he finished with 20-10 but as the leader and star of his team he did nothing to get them back into the game. In the 4th he was very slow in transition and didn't put much effort in on defence or rebounding. For a guy on the NBL radar i wasn't that impressed with him.

I think that there are a few players like him in that are good in SEABL but don't have what it takes to make the step up to NBL.

Nathan Herbert played well even though he only got 12pts. He was excellent on defence and happy to share the ball with his hot shooting team mates (I. Muhammad 25, J. Medved 21, B. Cox 20).

As for a SF import, Muhammad has been very impressing this year for the Supercats. Great shooter and very quick on defence and on the boards. plus he is team focused. so if Radford and Clarke were at the game they may have been just as impressed. He is a bit short for the NBL 3 spot and is a bit of a 2/3 combo player.

Worthington will probably play in Germany. I think you have to compare Hill to other available fives, which are mostly pretty scrappy. Not convinced re Dowdell as I think they need someone who can do more damage inside. Ng can deliver on those 7 points, but only if played enough. Could be looking to play a smaller game, like Perth and Wollongong.

There are no such whispers Thomas. Demos is not coming to Adelaide. Neither is Jeff Crowe, neither is Luke Whitehead. And neither is SoJ.

The little I saw of Trueman with the Breakers was not too bad. I wouldn't be overly unhappy with him, given that Ballinger will probably spend some time at the five also.

I agree with the Ng and Herbert signings, but Hill was a mistake. Loading us up at one position again, as if the mistake of last season has not been learned. I actually think Holmes was a mistake too. It would have been better to go for someone who could back up at the 4 and 5, rather than someone who is too slow for the 3, to small for the 4.

Dowdell who at 23 years from AIS and 4 points.
Is not a done deal but genuine interest.
From there - they may talk to Rasch. _ Maybe.
Leaving 16points.

Ng - 7
Johnson - 6
Herbert - 6
Ballinger - 10
Hill - 5
Holmes - 7
Raztch - 5
Schenscher - 10
Dowdell - 4
Import PG - 10
---
Total: 70

Looks perfectly OK to me.

2 obvious problems with this.
Schenscher and Dowdell just makes the team taller.
Doesn't address the lack of a second PG issue.

Ratzch sure as hell won't be a 5. The prerequisite in the NBL, unless you're Gruber is that an Import will always be 10, 9 or 8. A new import won't be an 8, you wouldn't think. Only proven spuds over periods of time get dropped to 8.

If, by some brain explosion by the league, they give Ratzch a 5, we would be getting a PG instead of Dowdell.

We have a new coach with no NBL experience. I sure hope he knows what he is doing. I wonder if anyone mentioned the word championship when interviewing him. The Adelaide 36ers are not a training camp for up and coming NBL players. Hope he is not mistaking AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) and AIS (Adelaide Institute of Sport).

Why are people saying Herbert is a 2 guard. He played mostly at the three last year and switched at times to the 2. Hill is also big enough to be a 3 man but would bet to kick it up a notch it two this season Imo.

EC - Is their anything about this club (that you apparently support) that you do like?

If we signed Schenscher, to go with 2 imports and Ballinger, the other 6 players would have to be scrubs.
That's 40 points for 4 players, 30 points at an average of 5 for the last 6.
Schenscher just isn't worth comprimising the whole team.
Hill at 5 points is good value. He was terrible last year, but the 2 imports are a big reason for this. Groves didn't do anything to make players around him better. Gilchrist was another Hodge/Homicide that puts up great numbers himself but made everyone around him worse than they used to be.
Ng at 7, sure we could have had Kendall for the same, but he's the best shooter in the league almost bar none. If we get a coach and a PG that can utilise him well, he'll be dangerous.
Herbert is handy at 6. Great defender, good shooter.
Holmes has always been an 8. He's now a 7. I'd much rather him over Forman, who is also a 7. People say Holmes is too slow for SF, too short for PF, well he was right up there in the rebounding last year. Height isn't everything. Forman is basically a taller Ng. All he can do that's worth anything is shoot 3s.
Every one of the 8s is signed away already, but Helliwell. The majority of the 9s are imports, and the type of imports we don't want.

Sure we could have not gotten Hill.
Then we have 34 points left for 5 players. Take out the 2 imports and that's only 14 points for 3 players. Hill would be right up there in the list of available players in that point range (knowing that all the other players worth anything were already signed away).

With the 70 point cap and the fact we basically have 3 imports with Ballinger being an Aussie, we can only really afford to either get a whole bunch of role players, or sacrifice a spot like last year in Molitor. Running a 9 man roster didn't work last year.

We've lost Gilchrist, Groves, Cooper, Burston and Molitor. Apart from Burston to Johnson which is debateable, we should be able to upgrade every other player.
Gilchrist to the new PG should be at least a break even.
Anything is an improvement on Groves. We'll be getting a SF import. That remains to be seen who, but they will be better.
Anything is an improvement on Molitor. We've killed 2 birds with 1 stone with Johnson, we're not bound to a U24 player now. We'll get a back-up PG here. Something like a Bruce/Carter type would be a big step up.
Cooper just needs to go. Vanderjagt/Mottram/Dowdell seem to be what people have offered for this position.
We've kept the 5 that gave us value last year and gotten rid of the 5 that didn't. It's not the 5 we've kept that lost us games. It was having a useless import, another import that didn't really fit, an injury prone C, a useless back-up centre and a bench warmer that lost us games. Not to mention the Coach.

skip, my views are shared by most on this topic. If I didn't have such a passionate interest in the 36ers. I would hardly bother to make comments. Surely you, yourself would have questioned what's going on when signing after signing is mostly of the old team that managed last position last season. People are expecting a lot more for this coming season and if signing a new coach is all that is needed to make this happen, then I will be pleased. I am not the only one who does not want a repeat of last season and that's why I keep a close look at this situation to try and determine whether we will be a success or not. I go to all the games and I am not ashamed to say that I would like to see a few more wins.

Well said Hendo. I think people are over estimating what talent is available out there. Holmes lead the L in rebounding until getting sent to the bench. Balls was a must keep but also creates a problem with money and points but is obviously worth it. On HIll, how many 5 point players scored in the high teens last year?Ng is regarded as the best shooter in the league if not the best certainly top three. Herbert was rock solid. DJ could be a 20 and 10 kid with the best years ahead of him. Only goulding and Gibson I would like to see in Sixers red yet both are contracted. Not sure who else would be worth risking cutting players for.

EC, maybe try suggesting players you would rather have seen signed, taking into consideration points cap and availability.

the doctor, availability would always be a problem. There are players I would like to see play in Adelaide but for whatever reasons choose not to come to Adelaide. I agree with KB3 re Goulding and Gibson. I was most impressed with Goulding last season and would love to see him in Sixers uniform. Gibson is a great PG and shoots extremely well.

I would also have recruited differently. I would have taken care of recruiting the starting 5 first whilst you had all your points and $ available. Then with what was left over, I would have divided it up amongst the rest of team carefully budgeting at this stage where it wasn't so crucial. We are at the situation where low impact players have quickly been snapped up leaving very little points for the most important pieces.

EC haven't the Sixers done just that? Out of nine teams only Perth has an import signed at this stage and the Sixers tried to get him. Imports as with most other clubs will be the last pieces to be added. Sixers have the 245 spots already signed.

Oscar Foreman?

if ec had her way she would pay all the dosh to dusty and get phil back

the Sixers could do much worse than Trueman. I was gutted he got released by the Breakers.
He plays solid D and doesn't have brain explosions and can knock down the open J when needed.
Cheap and improving has to tick a few boxes?

Adam Ballinger (from memory) played the most minutes at Centre, last season, due to Burston injuries and Cooper not used a lot and Molitor used even less.
Johnson/Dowdell is an upgrade on that situation and Ballinger has been re-signed.

Just wanted to echo a few points already made by others. Ratzsch is not a 5, so ignore that scheme - he's an import. Since when do Herbert and Ng play the same role? Probably the only thing they have in common is that they can shoot the outside shot! Herbert is a tough defensive guard.

Hill compares favourably with other fives. He'd run in the SG/SF spot, sharing time with Herbert (SF/SG) and Ng (SG) and (going by Radford's comments), a SF import. That's a decent rotation for those two spots.

As for Ng's points, here are the sevens who are free agents: Jones (I like him, but near retirement?), Kendall, B. Knight, Corletto, Forman, Williamson, that's it. Given what they needed, I think Williamson could've been good, but not a "quick, sign before anyone else does" option either. The critics on things like this need to go and look at the points cap list, exclude the signed players, and see what's left - not a whole lot. Ballinger and two imports will be the stud players, and if you get another 10 point player, you really start to

I agree with Hendo that Schenscher is not worth compromising the team for at this point. Likewise, I think you can safely ignore the Farley cheer squad - great to see him back in town and looking athletic, but he's not what is needed.

The big issues, save for injuries, last year were import, import, coach. New coach, new imports still to come.

Just to make EC fill a bit better, the sixers tried to get both Goulding and Gibson at the start of last season.

Looking at the points I don't mind signing Hill at 5 points and agree Ng should be given more opportunity to show what he can do (and that is score). If we can sign 2 good imports, trueman as back up centre and a young back up PG (Jason Cadee) or Kelvin Robertson I would be happy.

Last year's team wasn't that bad! If we upgrade on the imports and the coaching changes proves to be the right move then we are a top 4 side.

At this stage I think that signing Ng at 7 points may have been a mistake. I don't think we could afford to carry him, Herbert, Hill and Holmes to cover the 2-3 spots, with possibly an import SF to come as well. Hill is rated at less points (5) and I believe has more room for improvement in his overall game than Ng. Ng so far has been purely a one dimensional shooter that needs to have completely open looks to knock it down. He doesn't seem to be great at creating his own shot, or getting one off in a hurry. Herbert's defense makes him a better prospect and a better fit in the overall team than Ng. His points allocation could have been better used on a backup PG or starting C. I seriously hope that Clarke etc can find some serious scoring ability in the imports, otherwise 6ers are going to struggle.

What it Ben Madgen doing next year? and how many points would he be??

Good fit or not??

Could well be, but I imagine he'd be a SG/SF and that's where we have things covered already. Could go with an 11th man position with a view to accommodating him next season, but he might be able to find a better gig.

If he's good enough, it's a tough call given that Hill is young too, has shown bits of his potential already at NBL level. Wouldn't want to replace him to save two points only to find that Madgen has his own flaws and a lesser ceiling.

I agree with the points made about Hill. He is still young and you can see he has the potential to be a really good NBL player if he can improve his decision making. Good value for a 5 point player IMO. Lets see if Marty can tap that potential.

Seems like two likely candidates for our backup centre might be Dowdell or Trueman. Looking at their Wiki profiles, they are basically the same height. Can someone provide a bit more of a comparison?

I've seen Trueman a couple of times, so I know he is a solid unit. Is Dowdell in this mould, or more of an athletic big? Which is the better defender? Better rebounder? More potential?

Whoever it is, what I'd love to see is a young big who will get out there and have a go. Hustle his butt off chasing rebounds, get in the face of his opponent and generally make something happen for 5 mins a game. The Sixers have missed having someone like that for a long time. Think a young Brett Wheeler, who always brought energy to the game and made something happen.

Whilst not excited by our signings certainly dont have a real problem with but for anon. to say Marty has done some excellent recruiting is stupid at this stage as has recruited 1 player so far .
That as EC said is 1 player with limited points left to add to last years team.
I have faith in Marty in what he can do with this team but need some good additions if going to play in finals.
So with that in mind look fwd to future signings a young centre with a bit of D aggression and able to put the ball in the ring will be good .

Does anyone know what points Bruce is worth now?

Beantown, Dowdell has range on his shot but isn't really a bruiser. Trueman is more of a hustler, mostly only looks to score if he's right there inside (bit like Boucher). Dowdell has had a few years in the league while Trueman had his first chance last year with the Breakers, coming back from college. Dowdell might have a bit more upside though but hasn't really shone to his potential yet (3 PPG with Townsville last year, rarely playing more than 15 MPG). Happy for others to chime in with their opinions.

Bruce isn't on the list, so didn't seek to be rated ahead of the coming season. If he applied for a rating, I doubt he'd be less than a seven.

Wonder if BJ Anthony is an option? Hasn't played in the NBL before and I don't think he went to college, so he should be 1 point (unless they count some Tall Blacks time against him). Could get him as the back-up big (though he is undersized) and still have 28 points for three players.

Edit: Scratch that. His stint in Europe would kill that plan.

Anon, Reply #274514
I wouldn't have to do much to be an improvement on last season. How much lower can you go? I find some of these responses quite humorous considering we are in a position of having so little to protect. I do feel we have a better chance with a new coach. I just suggested that with his lack of NBL experience (which is a fact and not an opinion), he knows what he is doing.

EC, you are looking at the W-L record and little else. Some others are looking at more than that - the bulk of last season's problems were rooted in two imports and the coach, none of who seem to be in the plans for this season. When the team was fit and free of injuries, things were going reasonably well. It's not a giant stretch to see that specific changes to that could see a solid improvement on the ladder.

Ballinger, Herbert and Ng were considered 'should re-sign' by most after last season. Holmes was a bit on the fence. Johnson is a new face. And Hill and today's signing are prospects off the bench. Obviously two of the most important signings will come later - funnily enough, the ones you think should have been signed early when you wanted the starting five signed first! They've signed three starters and saved maximum points for the other two spots, BTW.