Awesome another guard! Can't believe I'm saying this but Ellis wouldve been a better option!

Interesting, looks like Ng will be pushed to the bench this season. I'd thought he may get a starting gig under Clarke.

So I'm assuming:

Johnson
Ballinger
Holmes
DeVries
Winder

Then a bench of Dowdell, Ng, Hill, Carter...very small team we're running this year. It'll be interesting to say the least.

Bobby,
I would think Herbert would start ahead of Holmes.

Although what little I saw of DeVries at West Syd. did not excite me and stats are not exciting
I will accept and hope of Clarks greater knowledge But I totally cant understand why we have gone so small and will get smashed on the boards again especially when 2nd biggest player Ballinger is not a great defensive or offensive rebounder or really a good inside player .
Even our back up centre is very small for that spot .
With so many shooters there will be some exciting games ahead but how far will that get us up the ladder

I don't understand why Marty kept saying "athletic SF" when asked what we were looking for?

This is, of course, assuming it is in fact DeVries we've signed.

Wiki have already updated his profile as a sixers player

Big Sexy - I think I agree with you, I was 50/50 on whether to include Holmes or Herbert in the starting line up, I ended up going with JH because of the rebounding, but now that I think about it, you're probably right.

Kobe24 - that doesn't mean anything official because Wikipedia can be edited by anybody. You can update it to say he's playing for the Burger King Whoppers in the Filipino League if you want.

I think Clarke will be looking to start Hill. He has enormous potential and Marty will believe he can bring it out on the right system.

LOL^^

Might win the SEABL with this squad... And that is definitely a MIGHT!??

I'd start Herbert, but this year is Hill's big chance. Will come down to form at training in the pre-season I imagine.

I think its a great pickup. Great shooter from range with the ability to score off the dribble if he is guarded to closely. He looks to have a Maher type game.

It will be interesting to see how Clarke handles the lack of bigs in the squad. Any idea what kind of offence he was running at AIS? The squad it looks very well suited to a dribble-drive motion offense.

I'm a bit suss on the fact that both DeVries and Winder are represented by Matt Neilsen's Point One Management. I've not been keeping track of import signings, how many other imports have Matt as their agent?

Just watched the video on face book.
I suggest it is worth a look!
He has a good all round game IMO, can shoot, attack the basket and draw and dish.
Massive improvement on Cortez

We will be small, granted.
I would hate to be a tall team trying to contain the shooting.

I personally have a good feeling about this line up, will certainly be exciting, fast and hard ball!!

Kobe24 - NBL.com.au hadn't posted it when you made your original post. That's not the point anyway - everybody already knew who the signing would be. The point is that your original post was useless.

Team will be hard to guard, good mix of shooting and dribble penetration combined with mobile bigs.

Should be a fun team to watch!

Kobe24 - He was just pointing out that anything can be updated on Wikipedia. I could change it to say that The Adelaide 36ers have just invaded Miami and kidnapped Lebron James. No need to get so defensive.

Rated highly by Bevo, on good money in Spain and the like - (Boti Nagy , news adelaidenow)

Start Brad Hill - now that's funny.

Considering last year he couldn't even finish layups, over dribbled through traffic many times, turned the ball over...he's lucky he's even on a roster to begin with.

Pre season form be damned - it means nothing once the season starts. Remember when we all thought Paora Winitana was going to be s surprise packet and give us a lift off the bench?

My original response was a little pedantic, I probably didn't really need to say it. Was just saying.

On-topic - I agree with SixerFan, should be a good team to watch. I have reservations similar to some that have been expressed by others about the overall squad, but ultimately I'm happy to trust the new coach and just sit back and see what happens. The Sixers in the Smyth days often lived-and-died by the 3, and this season should be no different!

I was hoping for an athletic, slashing SF like most of you, but we could have done worse. Great shooter and solid defender with a good head on his shoulders, unlike some imports we've seen in the last few years. Seemed like a really good team player at WSR. I'll have a shot at the rotation:

D.Johnson (22), J.Holmes (11), J.Dowdell (7)
A.Ballinger (34), J.Holmes (6)
N.Herbert (20), B.Hill (16), J.Holmes (4)
T.DeVries (24), D.Ng (16)
C.Winder (33), R.Carter (7)

Troy played in the Spanish LEB Gold last year, which is their second division. The Spanish first division is clearly the best national league in Europe, and their second division is very strong, I would say the top teams would be middle of the road/fringe playoff NBL sides.

At the start of last season Troy was killing it in that comp, and was one of the main go-to guys on his team (Girona). His numbers dropped off a little as the season wore on but that was probably due to defences focusing on him more.

He will no doubt be a very handy player who the defence has to stay close to. He was also a pretty smart player in his time with the Razorbacks. He is just not the star nor the defensive/rebounding presence a lot of Sixers fans were hoping for.

Hill and Holmes will really need to stand up this year, and Herbert will need to continue his development to cover that three spot, which this year will feature Penney (+ Abercrombie), Saville (+ Coenraad), Redhage/Weigh and four imports. Probably only Greer would be seen as a weak match-up in that position offensively.

From the NBL:

Reports indicate that a number of teams were keen to sign DeVries after he left the Razorbacks but that his high price tag kept him playing in Europe.

Obviously taken a pay cut to paly for the Sixers then Isaac. Question is why and why the Sixers? Because of the coaching staff?

Pretty hard to speculate on rotation other to say that the balance will be 3 guards at all times.

My guess is -

Winder/Carter to share the PG but both could see time together.

DeVries & Herbert, supported by Ng & Hill at 2/3. With this squad it is prett clear Clarke sees Holmes as a 4, I tend to agree.

Holmes, Balls, DJ and Dowdell to cover front court.

I also feel we may see a small starting line up, as this will see our best 5 players on-court, Winder/DeVries/Herbert/Holmes/Balls...

Tornado, not sure if you can speculate that to be true. Has played for Radford before though.

For those who haven't seen it linked elsewhere, here's some highlights from him in Spain:



SixerFan, Johnson is there to start IMO. Wouldn't bring him off the bench while Holmes starts at PF. If Holmes did start, it'd be at SF and even then I don't know that they would.

Was Farley ever seriously considered, given we went the smaller option? Seems like a similar player to me, with DeVries' main advantage being youth?

This roster is about team, there is no 1 player that isnt a team player from what i can tell so hopefully the team gells. We needed that extra outside shooter to really spread the floor and let the little bigs go to work one on 1. Holmes will pull down enough boards and if we can finally play team defence we should be able to grab enough..
Dowdell can play more than just centre also so we have each position covered nicely.

Dave Barlow didnt really get a sweat up playing in that comp last year with the eventual champions, and he was probably their best player, but yes, it is a good league.

There are plenty of LEB Gold games on youtube if you want to have a look, prob even some with Girona (Devries' team) playing. The top teams would not be out of place in the NBL.

Personally, I would have loved to have seen a "Johnson, Ballinger, Herbert, Ng, Hill" lineup.

Ng needs to start already. The man can shoot, but he just doesn't get any plays run for him beyond the usual "open pick".

As for Hill, BobbyTables hit that one on the head. Clarkey better be teaching that boy some fundamentals; if he could just get a lighter touch round the post and stopped trying to be Penny Hardaway on the drive, then he'd be a great player.

Oh well, couple of months to go...

Im happy with the team. looks like we have a lot of scorers who can also play D. Rebounding will be intresting but lets give them a chance.

I agree with igotmadskills

This version of the 6ers will be about team, and I expect it to play full court, up tempo and be very tough defensively and look to score in transition. It appears to very flexible in its players ability to rotate through multiple positions.

Igotmadskills, i could not have put it better myself i completely agree, its looking more like a team that will share rather than having the one go to man. because when that one go to man has a bad game the team is screwed. i think we can be a very dangerous team as other teams wont be able to shut us down too easily due to the vast options available on the floor. there is no longer that one guy to shut down.

I think DeVries is a good signing as i read on the nbl site we were 3rd last in 3pointers last year, so this fixes that problem, along with Ng.

Im not too worried about the size of our roster as all teams bar Tigers and Crocs are small, or no bigger than us

Our lack of a gun SF could be a issue against some teams but Hill, Herbet and Holmes at SF with a import at SG like we have is pretty much the same as Ng, Herbert, Hill at SG with a import SF, i cant see a major difference either way aslong as the import performs and Hill, Herbert, Holmes and Ng are as good or better than last year, having DeVries for Groves should be a automatic upgrade in the rotation, and aslong as Winder is decent he will be sort of equal to gilchrist and better if he doesnt get injured,

Johnson if he plays like he did when anstey was out will be one of the top 3 or 4 centres (aussies anyway) and at 21 could develop into the best in the next few seasons,and if he doesnt miss games through injury could be a upgrade on Burston.

So personally im fairly happy with this sqaud and lok forward to see what they bring when the season starts

according to wikipedia it now says he has been snatched up by the burger king whoppers on a 10 year deal.

"According to wikipedia it now says he has been snatched up by the burger king whoppers on a 10 year deal."

So we didn't get him in the end? I was always worried he'd finish up signing to a package / happy meal deal elsewhere.

Seen it so many times before - Whooper, fries, coke and an import. For 50c more, they could upsize him to a forward.

Good Work SRT070

Anyone writing off this team already is nuts given that it will have four new starters compared with last season. You can hardly compare the two rosters.

I would like to see them play together before making any rash assessments, but am certainly looking forward to another season.

they are probably paying him in happy meals rather than cash too haha.

FYI i didnt actually change the wikipedia page i just checked it out as others were on about it before and it appears someone was having a funny moment.

In particular , looking forward to ADL v MEL -
will be fascinating to watch it all.

Holmes - first pick of 'em all , so far , on training ability/form.

From Boti's article:

But he is far from an "inexpensive option", turning his back on a career in Spain where he was paid $US120,000 (after tax) with Sant Josep Girona last season.

"Troy is a terrific player and an excellent human being," Perth championship coach Rob Beveridge said.

Beveridge coached DeVries in his 2007-08 NBL season with West Sydney Razorbacks and "tried desperately" to get him to the Perth Wildcats last season.

Perhaps another consideration is that his Spanish Team has been in financial trouble the past few years and he, like many other American players who come to Australia, decided that a confirmed pay packet, in a country where they speak English, in a league which he is familiar with, is preferable to the uncertainty of another year in Spain.

this is a great signing by the sixers.

i used to love watching this guy play purely for his scoring abilites, and more importnantly hitting shots from anywhere.

IM struggling to find the roster for the 2007/2008 west sydeney team, Which im sure had devries and hinson as their imports, seems as if 36ers are going down that same path, but im not sure what the rest of that razorbacks team looked like.

beveridge has gone down the path of a smaller team for the wildcats with knight replacing schencher and lisch and martin at the 1 and 2 spots.

And then on the other end of the scale you have melbourne who is just a team of giants.
be interesting to see how the league pans out this year...

Was hoping for a SF but looking at his video seems to compliment his 3 point shooting well by getting to the basket. Rebounding and how Winder goes at controlling the offence are my concerns, we were terrible at both last year really. Giving up offensive rebounds at crucial times drove me nuts. We are going to have to rebound well as a team.

As far as both imports go I think the right person is as important as the talent. Clearly they need to have what it takes but talent alone could leave you with J Hodge. A team first attitude is what is required and gives you the chemistry needed for a finals contender and is also far better to watch. Smyth's championship teams had great talent no doubt but they had great chemistry as well which made them awesome to watch and winners to boot. This team has many questions marks against it.

Rebounding ?
Winder as a PG ?
D Johnson at starting Centre ?
SF ?
Coach unproven ?

Having said that Im optomistic because I think the talent is there if Marty has what it takes. Until proven otherwise my optomisim is strong.

SIXERS!!!!!!!!!

If DeVries has Rob Beveridge and Marty Clarke backing him in then I am more than happy to have him. Its going to be an interesting season....could we end up as the NBL equivilent of the pheonix suns? undersized but able to put up huge nights offensively, especially from beyond the arc...

You have my condolences..

...because he has proven himself by destroying the league's star swingmen regardless of their height.