Hoops

36ERS news - Cat leaving for Europe

Meanwhile, any ideas on who the invited dudes were?

Yeah Yogee, I remember Brooks and Mee acknowledging the efforts of the squad members. Sapwell in particular took the time to acknowledge these guys in the aftermath of our 3 championships.

This isn't just a 36er thing, it applies to most teams at every level. All good teams have guys that train hard and push the star players to become even better. Sometimes, these guys get little or no reward and that was the point of my post.

The reality of professional sport is that the guys competing for the 11th and 12th spots on the 36ers will not get treated like Tim Duncan was when he was a free agent.

I just didn't think that Smyth or the 36ers in general should be criticised for this reality.

There are definitely many question marks about the relationships amongst the various parties that comprise the 36ers but criticising the absence of Smyth's signature on the letters given to the potential squad members and using this as an example of our inability to sign players is a bit harsh.

Just on that, I recall both Brooks and Mee in the championship years acknowledging the youngsters such as Bauer and Williams, and actually made a point in press conferences in complimenting the youngsters in helping them train by providing quality opposition in scrimmages.

I know you weren't having a go at any one for that, but just thought I'd point it out.

I can't understand for the life of me the criticism of Smyth for allowing Bauer to sign the invitation letters.

Does it really matter? I bet you half of Australia's top executives have their administrative assistants sign things on their behalf on a daily basis. How a young basketballer could be insulted by receiving one of these letters signed by Bauer is beyond me.

These guys are either,

a) going to be happy for the opportunity to train with the team, regardless of who signs the letter, or

b) going to be upset that Smyth didn't personally sign their letter.

If they fall into category (b) then I think they probably aren't the type of team oriented guys the club needs in these development type positions.

The ideas of spotlights, "Blue Chips" style sucking up to development type players is not needed. This isn't the NCAA. Smyth cannot promise a Gerlach that if they are a part of the program they will eventually start alongside Maher and have fame and fortune.

If he was telling the average 11th and 12th man that then that is when he should be criticised. Eg I think it would be worse if he convinced a player to quit uni, his job, etc for $20k and then cut him after one year when the next promising 20 year old became available.

Maybe if one of our local ABA guys was Amare Stoudemire and he had every other team in the league waiting outside his door it would be warranted but spotlights for Gerlach??

Look at our list of development players and look who has gone on to bigger things at NBL level.

During Smyth's time we have had Williams, Bauer, Jared Wilson, Daniel Cioffi, Dean Brogan, Blake Truslove, Todd Gower, Brad Davis, Matt Illman, Justin Wilkey and Christian Bell.

None of these guys has gone on to become NBL All-Stars or sign huge deals.

As Bootney correctly pointed out all of the above dedicated a hell of a lot of time and effort for the good of the club for little or no reward. I'm sure guys like Maher, Mee, Brooks, etc would be the first to acknowledge their effort in training as contributing to their success.

However, the last thing that Smyth should be doing is making false promises to these guys. I think that the way he is handling it is the professional way of going about things.

You can't go promising a 12th man who you know will never get on and will be lucky to be in the squad next year that fame and fortune will come their way. All you can do is give them a chance.

Unless there are multiple teams after the same player as was the case with Newley the theatrics can be left to the NBA where even the minimum guys are earning close to $500k.

We missed the boat on Newley but looking at the way Townsville are throwing money around and how the 36ers have been the complete opposite you cannot discount money as a factor in his decision.

Well, that was the deal when Robbo was ghere Julius, and given that Phil isnt even allowed to recruit now, I cant see how that has changed any.

Email me for more info, I just cant discuss it in public (sorry to everyone else).

Not denying what has been said, but interesting that Catt would have signed a deal this side of the Olympics.

Also interesting that there is no mention anywhere NBL related, nor any mention on Barcelona's site.

I don't think these things are Phil's fault, or even his decision.

(Mod: sentences removed at threat of legal action from Adelaide 36ERS.)