Hoops

Hawks aftermath - defence worrying Ninnis

I questioned the Sixers' defence or lack of it, in the preseason,only to be ridiculed for being a Smyth supporter, therefore knew nothing about the game. I was concerned that given the emphasis on defence by the coach in the media, and on the assumption that coach's emphasis would carry over to the training arena, we seemed to be haemoraging at the defensive end. From memory defence was not in Scotty's vocabulary, when he was a player, and I wondered how he could impart wisdom on something he only had theoretical knowledge of. I also expressed concern that the coaching panel was also lacking experience at the NBL level.

Unfortunately these concerns have been realised and despite the recruiting of a talented playing group, we are in an equal or worse position to that of last year. It is all well and good that Scotty labels the team as soft, but he assembled this group and he ultimately decides who is on the court at any one time. He calls the plays therefore in my opinion he must shoulder the majority of the blame for his teams performance. If he can't cure the defensive inadequacies get someone in who can. If money is a restraint in doing that cut one of the assistants, they appear to be contributing little.

Mystifying is right!