But Neil is an assclown, and he has no front teeth.

Was obviously feeling the pressure. Probably a bit too early to talk things up to that extent - just keep playing and hopefully let the results speak for themselves.

Obviously feeling very confident after the win against the Hawks.

I don't mind a coach who stands by their convictions so long as the team supports the coach and wins games.

I prefer to hear Marty talking with conviction than feeding the media with cliches and analogues.

One of the best remembered sports related comments (in this country at least) from this past decade was that of Mr Mark Williams. Apparently Allan Scott was wrong.

To be fair, everyone except Perth I think has changed at least one import so I wouldnt be too hard on Clarke for that one. However, talk, unlike bad personnel decisions, is cheap - wins will do a far more towards his credibility.

What Darren Ng didn't shoot good last year? What a stupid arguement, Darren has always been a good shooter.

"Start showing them" The only reason you will start showing them is because this season you were able to bring in new imports instead of having to stick with them like Ninnis did otherwise our season would have gone down the drain. Also bringing in a gun rookie in Creek, getting Bruce back has helped and finding a brilliant import in Shannon has helped.

I am glad the season will probably turn around into a postive one but Clarke trying to act like he planned all of this from the beginning is wrong. Picking an over priced underskilled Deveries, picking a Shooting guard to run the point guard position, turning down the best center in the NBL etc.

we are 5-7.

Two of our wins came against Sydney.

We have played twice as many games at home compared to away.

we are 0-4 on the road.

We have been outscored in the 4th quarter 8 times, drawn 1 and won 3 times.

None of his coaching has impressed me yet besides him having the ability to chop and change players when his previous coaches didn't seem to have the same luxury. Start winning consistently Clarke and then you can start talking

And cairns

Cairns did well before the season started due to a drink driving offence.

I sit corrected guys - just seemed like a lot

Reminds me of the comment on you tube about New Zealand being easy.
Didn't Tom Abercrombie hand it to us after that comment.

I like coaches who only talk up the other teams and never verbally celebrate their own performances even when they are 10 - 3

You know, despite the poor record so far which does not auger well with the coach, I was prepared to put all that behind us after watching the team on NYE. I thought, don't worry about what's happened until now, we now have a team that's going to turn it all around. After tonight's loss in Melbourne, its just cancelled out any positiveness that I thought possible. How can the team that played NYE be the same team that played tonight against (2nd to last on the ladder) Melbourne.

EC, you're quite correct. I thought after beating the Hawks, we might see a different team with balance and structure. Tonight we saw how a team can capitulate in less than a half of regulation time. Not one bad quarter but 4. I think this week needs to be all about teamwork, team orientation and going back to basics considering we are set to play NZ at home.

Oops of the week award goes to Marty Clarke. Was a shocking game to watch live from the 36ers.

marty clarke is naca being at the game last night along with all the other fans one thing was for sure this jerk has no idea on what he is doing.again the same remark who picked howard to play for the 6ers last night he was as useless as tits on a bull.then to hear clarke speakwell bugger me he must have thought he had led the land in ww2 .lthis we this wtf play simple ball and maybe you might win games oh and by the way fans pay your wages to dont treat them as bums

NYE win was flatterring because shots dropped -high percentages from balls, hill ng and shannon wont occur on the same night very often.

I thought it made sixers look good -flatteringly so and hawks did not play well. In fact for sixers to be shooting the lights out and Hawks playing like shit and sixers only up 9 at the half was letting hawks off the hook.

The sixers small/small at the 5 spot is an issue-seems to throw Ballinger into 5 spot and does not enhance Ballingers game. Let Dowdell and Johnson get out there and use some energy and soak fouls up battling the bigs in the league.

Maybe better to let teams performance do the talking rather than the coach pumping himself after one good game. Although to be positive he has definite ideas and his own style -whether he's right or wrong and good that he's feeling the heat... clearly wants to see results from his hard work and his style.

At this level in an environment where you are dealing with a team that are subject to performance expectations there is a need to manage carefully media statements so as to not annoy, alienate or distance supporter base.

That NYE win was deceiving. It was an amazing game to watch until you sat at home afterwards and realised Saville didn't play and Irvin probably had his worst game he will have for the year.

I have to admit I was very excited after that win.

I can't see us finishing anywhere else but second bottom this year now. Thank goodness for Sydney.

at last someone l agree with 100% MARTY SHOULD TAKE NOTICE well maybe the owners should .is marty the person who picked happy days howard because after last 2 games l dont think he should unpack .last night he looked like an owl hit by head lights .had no idea thanks we replaced troy with who

He'd been stung by the criticism.
'The other team has a coach, too . ADL fans should know that.' Was he pulling our collective legs.

We trained hard Wed Thurs. Very hard. Peaked Friday.
Don't think we got 40 deg. C here. on friday.
Don't know what they did Sat ? Hopefully rested.
Flew to MEL on Sun and played the second worst game ever.
Something went wrong.
Imagine we'll train hard agen this week and NZ game will be close here and interesting to look at Ater
Wildcats game here.

Howard our best shooter in his first game.
Shot terribly next 2 (and at training) Wonder if somethings wrong.

" It's not an effort thing. " He told ABC TV News at Adelaide Airport , just then.
" Lost confidence. You lose confidence at the defensive end and it causes you to lose confidence at the offensive end. "

( Imagine Maric .. no.. Nevill did that damage to us I'd guess. )

Like many was pleased when we got a real coach for this year and yes he has most games team competing well.
But he simply not up with the big guys yet and although got a group of talented players they are not a team yet and the coach is wholly responsible for that.
But could not believe his quotes in the paper how naive is this guy or is he a walking ego.
Come on Marty it is alright for supporters to get ahead of themselves but you or team cant.
Patting yourself on your back is not self assuring especially when achieved nothing
Sorry Ballinger is not a captains bootlace and if taking a lot of salary cap will need to spend some of it to get some size and will have to spend money to do so next year

" It's not an effort thing. " He told ABC TV News at Adelaide Airport , just then.
" Lost confidence. You lose confidence at the defensive end and it causes you to lose confidence at the offensive end. "

-----------------

to quote Warrick Giddey:

"Defense is all effort and effort requires no skill"

Marty needs to rethink the quotes he gives the media. That's a couple of shockers now. But I don't have a problem with how he is coaching the team.

Results aren't there yet, but this is a work in progress. Aside from Balls, Shannon and Jacob, we have a roster of players that haven't established who they are as NBL players yet. We are very green, with most of the rest of the roster under 25.

In general, I think the WAY this team plays is much better than last year. The Melbourne game we were horrible, but in the games I have watched this year, I have started seeing us put together stretches where all five guys are playing defence together! I rarely felt that way last year. Likewise, the ball has moved more and *gasp* I have actually seen the Sixers play smart TEAM offence at times!

Brad Hill is playing so much better now that he knows his role on the team. He knows he is primarily in the starting lineup for his defence and rebounding, which it looks like he is starting to take some pride in. Offensively, he has had the confidence to start knocking down the open three and is smarter when he puts the ball on the floor.

Ng has started shooting the ball with confidence - you could see it in his eyes on NYE. For the first time ever, I have started believing he could be a decent NBL player!

Dowdell, who was a discard from two clubs, is playing very well off the bench.

Carter has been a revelation at the point.

Now sure, Marty's making mistakes (I think DJ needs to play more, esp against big teams like Melbourne) but even Goorj does that. But its the 1st year for him in the big time, he has a young team and so far only 1 of his 4 imports has been a success. (Lets face it, imports are a crap shoot, esp for a guy whose background is developing young Aussie talent - I don't blame him for bad imports).

I think we will continue to be up and down this season, but we have the makings of a good team here.

I'd hate to work for you anon. Marty has coached 13 professional games of ball. He has walked into a club that has been a basket case since 2003. He has one established star in Balls, an experienced but very limited role player in Holmes and a bunch of guys still trying to prove they belong. What, do you expect him to do a Smyth and win the championship his first season?

I do think further roster changes need to be made next season, but in the meantime, all that Marty can do is get improvement out of his current roster. I think he is doing that.

Bean, don't go and read one of the recent articles on Adelaide Now. A few more questionable ones from Marty that will just set him up for more trouble IMO. Sure, there are only so many ways to talk after a bad loss, but he needs to stop trying to moderate public/fan expectation and just focus on what he can control: preparation and strategy for players.

There is no question Marty needs to get better at PR, he is shirty with the media just as he is with refs. He needs to learn to play the game or else people will be hard on him when the team doesnt perform well.

But in terms of coaching he is about instituting a culture at the moment. AFL teams dont go from the bottom to the top in a season, it is unrealistic to expect the Sixers to do so, especially with the average work ethic that had been in place for many years.

It is a big risk trying to buy your way to the top now, firstly with the massive penalty for breaching the cap and secondly because almost every team that has tried it recently has gone broke.

With higher spending on players and coaches comes less spending on community programs and marketing. Adelaide are going about it the right way, they were never going to make the playoffs this year, but as long as they keep improving over the course of the year and keep winning at home (5-3) then realistic fans should be satisfied.

If there are more performances like Sunday night though questions need to be asked. A one-off debacle can happen, but if it happens 2 or 3 times something is wrong.

Next year fans should expect more again - probably a contender for the fourth spot. I think to get there one of the import spots has to be used to get frontcourt help.

2-3 times for a blowout loss, or 2-3 times for a road loss? Because we're beyond that latter mark!

On one hand, we were tipped as one of the bottom few and in sixth we're at around the top of that bracket, but you can't blame anyone for seeing the NYE game and then being optimistic about winning in Melbourne.

We should be favourites in Sydney and then an even chance in Melbourne, Gold Coast and Townsville IMO.

Fans want him to sign more Nevills or Aters.

The Age on Sunday - he's asked the NBL to go to 15 contracted players and one Import.

That's for more game-style training, in a year of bombing Imports.

sounds like he needs to understand the golden rule in pro preparation

"train smart, not hard"