Teys, Sobey, Doyle, Drmic and even Creek in spot minutes can all back up Randle at point. Joey's got a while to figure out who the best option(s) are between them.

Sobey is being groomed as a pg and has been playing that role during the off season to learn & develop more.

Doyle is a pg and Teys has the ability.

So no, I don't think they are short for back ups.

I don't think size is too much of a factor either (especially with Fergusons length at the 2) as there are a lot of smallish pg's in the NBL and some of the bigger ones aren't the types to post up Randle or blow by him. However, for those that do (maybe CJ) you put Ferguson on them instead?

Jacobsen/Hodgson
Johnson/Deng
Drmic/Creek
Ferguson/Teys
Randle/Sobey/Doyle

The last thing I think will be an issue with that lineup is PG.

PG depth is exactly why Doyle was nominated as the 11th man rather than someone like Carlin.

Zodiac, you think Drmic will start ahead of Creek?

Isaac, I mentioned that Jacobsen could be a Will Hudson type. Unless you're referring to another post, i didn't in anyway suggest it to be a bad thing. On the contrary actually.

"Zodiac, you think Drmic will start ahead of Creek?"

Yes. Should he? Probably not but Drmic was highly touted and pretty much could've picked whatever team he wanted to play for and being a Victorian guy I doubt he would've agreed to play for the 36ers without some understanding of starting or at least serious court time.

Creek is essentially the face of the club now he's thrown his lot in with the 36ers re-signing to a 3 year deal and can't really see him leaving now possibly until the end of his career so I think Creek would be willing to 'bend'.

Wrong thread, i apologise.

Sobey hasn't struck me as the calculating PG type, relying more on energy and athleticism. I would've thought they'd be better off with another experienced guard given that Drmic and Ferguson will be new to the league.

Wonder if they ever looked at Norton or similar.

Sobey aside you still have Doyle and Teys...I think they will be fine - unless Randle gets injured.

I like Teys as the back up PG more so than Sobey.

Makes you wonder what the plan was though when the club signed these guys to multiple year deals. With Creek, Drmic and Ferguson being more than capable of covering the wing positions, one of them has come at the expense of a legitimate Randle back up.

If Randle does miss some time, we will be exposed a fair bit i think.

Other back-ups around the league are Kenny, Tomlinson, Woodside, Norton, Cadee, Bruce and Weeks. On that I would say the 36ers are thin at PG and will need Randle to stay healthy.

Sobey isn't really a point guard at all. I expect the back up duties to fall to Teys and Drmic.

Agreed- they'll be in a lot of trouble if Randle gets hurt

It's a little weird considering the last three seasons under Joey, he's basically run two starting PGs.
But at the same time, they have invested a lot in Randle, that must represent some confidence that he can stay healthy and play big minutes.
(At least as an import if he sustains an LTI, he easier to replace.)

Isaac, did you intend the topic title to say 'Are the 36ers short at point guard?' Yes, very.

What is Earl Boykins up to these days, he couldn't be that out of shape and could surely have held down a backup role at PG.

A point guard needs passing vision, basketball IQ, good hands and footwork on D, and a sense of what the game sis doing right at that minute, I don't see much of that anywhere other than in Randle ATM, Sobey ain't it. and Teys would be like the Trevor Torrence experiment that Alan Black attempted with the wild cats, and failed. as do most junior shooting guards conversions to adult point guards do. You can do the reverse, and Brett Maher is a perfect example. Brett was a point guard at the AIS feeding the eventual NBL 1992 SG rookie of the year Lachlan Armfield - who then failed dismally to become a point guard under barry barnes while Brett became a NBL all star.

Randle was heavily relied to score points last year. There were glimpses of brilliant passes also so I think he is fully capable of running plays and distributing the ball. Hes the type of player that demands attention because he is such a prolific scorer. The rest of the team is loaded with potential and quite young, but if they can be threats then we might see more of PG role from him.

Very Old - "short a point guard" as in they could do with another. They also have their share of short guards, though that's secondary to my main point.

Having two guards who can handle the ball and set up a team is pretty popular and it must be for a reason. There doesn't seem to be a true point guard in the team given that Randle is first and foremost a scorer. Doyle is a scorer at ABL level, right?

Fisher might be open to playing backup PG these days

Too tall Ricey, too tall!

Isaac

I'm only seeing Randle as a guard that can draw a double team in a full court press and then break/pass to get the ball deep to a scorer. Which has always been a sign to me of as very elite point guard ( Smyth, Grace, the early Cal Bruton, the early C Jackson).

There's no one in the team at the moment other than Randle that looks good in that situation, or even confident.

They are definitely short a player who can handle that pressure when Randle is off, and who won't do a Shane "I brought the ball up so its my turn to shoot" Heal.

That is the risk when you lose one of the true local PGs in Gibson.

Gibson has never performed at the level of an NBL superstar / top three player in his team, which is I think how he has always been paid. But that is not really his thing. He is a good contributor and role player with the right pieces around him as a solid and largely dependable PG. The value of a local PG is sometimes unquantifiable, and he is still probably top 2 (for unrestricted players) in that role (with D Martin). If you lose that it is not easy to replace, even if his actual return on investment with the Sixers was slightly disappointing.

Will be interesting to see how the local PGs rate this year, between D Martin, R Martin, Gibson and now Webster and Lisch there is some serious talent! Having said that, the last two will play as much SG as PG you would think.

Interesting that of all of the non-import PG's last year only Gibson (2.70), R Martin (2.42) and Tomlinson (2.16) had assist/turnover ratios above 2 (minimum 2 apg threshold).

The next best group were Gliddon (1.97), D Martin (1.88), Norton (1.85) and J Cadee (1.83), then it drops off very badly.

Honourable mention to K White at from what I can see a league best 3.16 a/to ratio, but only on 1.5 apg.

In pure assist numbers, the rankings of local PGs were:
R Martin 4.17
Gibson 4.11
Cadee 3.54
D Martin 3.29
Norton 2.79
Tomlinson 2.53
Gliddon 2.32

I guess what I am getting at is, the Sixers losing Gibson and not really replacing him is going to have to cost them. But there aren't that many options to replace him without adding a second import PG.

They could've gone for Norton or tried to poach R Martin. Otherwise, they could've considered Carter who's since signed in the UK. Just needed a measured, pass-first type, defence being a bonus. I don't think of Sobey as measured but, like Weeks, he's fun to watch.

It's very possible that Joey allocated peanuts to the final local positions in order to spare the most for impact imports. I imagine the budget is very heavily weighted towards Randle.

Yes to Norton or R Martin, no thanks to Carter. He is not a measured, pass-first PG.

You wouldn't spend the money they have on Randle, if you didn't think he could Handle the job.

Sure, in a perfect world you want top grade starters in every role, and quality backups. But Adelaide are trying to stick to a budget and remain sustainable.

I suppose they could have used Randle as SG, and chased a PG instead of Ferguson, but Randle is the experienced general. I doubt you'd get a better PG for the money they would have offered Ferguson.