Just go to Hunter and pick up Melmeth or Everstyn. They should do quite nicely.

As much as I hate to say it. I think we have seen the last of Dusty. If it means though that we can get a BIG centre then I think it is for the good of the team. Cooper who I thought had great start to the season has been woeful in the 2nd half.
For your starting centre not to get 1 rebound is just not acceptable. I beleive he still has something to offer but under no circumstance should he be in our starting line up next season.
I would like to see Forman elevated next season. The more court time he has the more confident he looks and I only see good things him.
As for a Big Man, I think if we lose Dusty then we have to look Overseas. I would like too see it look like this.

Starting 5
Maher
Farley
Holmes
Forman
Import

Bench
Hill
Nash
Cooper
Ingles
Hambour

Just watched he replay....What a brilliant game! (appart from the result of course)

Was interesting to hear Willie's comments at half time about not knowing who will be here next year... Is this possibly meaning we are about to have quite a big shake up and a large turnover of players and possibly coaches?

Who other than Willie is actually contracted for next season?

skip, scrap Ingles from that line-up. That won't happen. The rest could be possible. Last night could well have been Dusty's last as a Sixer, unfortunately. The club has to negotiate hard to improve the roster in other areas and Dusty has to do the same to protect his stock - he knows that.

Worth noting that occasional forum-poster Nino was at The Stag last night trying to convince Brad Newley to sign with Adelaide ("Do you like milk?").

We do bemoan the lack of a top-quality centre but looking at last night we played a competitive game with less than 20 minutes between two centres. At the crunch, we were running two guards and three small forwards.

Statman, Willie and Brett are signed. Coops has another year to run. Jacob and Dusty have options. Hill is signed I think. Oscar is not signed, neither is Nashy. Hambour isn't. Reesy has retired.

Is Newley a free agent? Dont think we have room for though.

Adelaide's lack of a centre cost them badly tonight, so that should be the priority for the off season. If Hunter goes arse up, then maybe we can get someone without having to give up Dusty, but otherwise it would appear that Dusty has played his last game for Adelaide. 10.9ppg and 7.7rpg would be a bare pass mark for most starting centres around the NBL, and that is what Cooper and Rees averaged COMBINED this year. Rees' career, like Mark Davis before him, was terrific but went on two years longer than it should have. Adelaide played some of its best basketball of the season in the games that Rees was a DNP.

I don't honestly see the point of retaining Hambour. He has hardly played for three years so why would he get any time next year? And after all the fuss over Todd Gower (please note Boti's article in "The Advertiser") he didn't even f*cking dress last night! We need another guard in the starting 10, as we had terrible team balance for most of the year, and especially while Maher was out.

Farley finished the year playing great basketball and hopefully he'll be able to do this for the WHOLE of 2006/7.

I'd be all for elevating Oscar to the starting lineup, but then you have to have someone else coming off the bench who is going to have the same impact that he does.

The only thing stopping Jacob Holmes from joining the NBL's elite level of players is his shocking FG percentage (38% this year).

IMO the first priority at this stage would be to resign Oscar. He continues to develop his game and is starting to really believe he belongs on the court in the NBL. He s still young and should be part of the Sixers core group for years to come
As for other roster moves I think we need to wait and see what happens with Hunter as that could throw up some interesting candidates at the right price

skip, no, we couldn't get Newley, but Nino was trying anyway.

Mutley, who out of Hambour and Gower suited was decided (it's happened before) by a coin toss I think. How that instills confidence, I don't know.

Anyway, if Dusty stays, I'd push Hambour out of the ten. If he goes, I'd consider keeping Hambour. We can't start a collection of undersized power forwards!

Next season they will be working with a squad of 13, so there's a bit more room to mix things up.

I wanted to see Gerlach get some minutes this year, but no luck. If we're not going to get a real back-up point, I'd keep him and give him some garbage time in 06/07. He's always seemed very team-oriented at Southern - does the small things that help the team, etc.

Isaac, a f*cking coin toss, are you kidding? And if that is the way it's done, couldn't they do a three way with Cooper and possibly decide that HE doesn't dress?

What is the point of qualifying Gower for the playoffs if a coin toss, and not any particular coaching strategy, is what is going to decide if he plays or not?

And yes, it would have been nice to see Gerlach get some minutes. I remember seeing him play in the pre-season game against Melbourne when Hill sat out and thinking how well he fit in the team's structure (we had one back then).

Coin toss, Jesus!

Anon #69748. Nashy proved quite the opposite this season and that is, injury was not a major problem. For his salary and conditions of his contract relating to becoming injured, I think the Sixers got a lot more than what they paid for. If Nashy renegotiates a similar contract, then he is an asset to the team.

If they lose Forman interstate, does this website go interstate too?

BY all accounts Rychart is heading north.

The obvious targets should be Hinder, Stiff, a good quality aussi starting big man.

If that comes off then an import much in the mold of KB. 6"10 who can play the point, shoot from the perimeter and get on the boards and score inside.

Out of Stiff and Hinder, Id say Stiff would be the better option, cheaper and knows the system.

STIFF
IMPORT
HOLMES
FARLEY
MAHER

FORMAN
NASH
HILL
COOPER
coin toss! (Maybe we can raise money and raffle it Kym Taylor style?)

Correct about Stiff.

Rogers offered to play for the bare minimum this year but Smyth said no. The lack of a quality centre has made the Sixers miss getting further into the play-offs. Smyth's inability to coach a true 5 man shows he can only coach a passing game offence suited to 2, 3 & 4 men.

That decision has come back to bite him on his bald head.

To be the highest paid coach in the land and then to bemoan(at every opportunity) how we can't pay players is tiring(take note Boti).

Just wanted to pick you up on one point, and that is the offer to play for the minimum. What's your source?

I had the then CEO say to my face at the time, with a witness at hand, that they'd put together an offer to him that was approved by the league and totalled in excess of six figures. Rogers took an offer from Perth instead.

Isaac - he lied to you.

Hmmmmm didn't that CEO "who cannot be named" tell many blow flies?

My source tells the complete opposite and is a lot more truthfull than the "person formerly known as chicken man".

The deal went :pay me the bare minimum for a one year contract and at the end of the year we can sit down and discuss the option for a 2nd year.

Remember Rogers bought a house here and was ready to settle down for life.

All he wanted was to play out his days for the Sixers.

Smyth said no to Rogers.

The deal as in what Rogers wanted or what he was offered?

I was aware that Smyth didn't want Rogers.

1. There is not enough Coke at Thebarton to keep Rogers around here for long.

2. His income was to be offset by Distinctive's doing a joint venture in property developement with him.

3. Sixers are better without him anyway, injury prone and needs a PG to spoon feed him lay ups which we dont have.

#69905

Agree - the moaning about money is pretty tiring - and its too easy to blame the nameless

Next year, will we use the same excuse?

The overall financial position of the Club probably won't change?

So, perhaps he can expand upon exactly what 'financial restrictions' beyond the salary cap actually shaped or limited what team was put onto the court?

I mean, do we seriously believe that an offer, whatever it was, was or would have been put to Rogers WITHOUT the coach agreeing to take the player?