Hoops

Sack Ninnis Petition

I think it would be reasonable to wtite a nice letter to Brian Goorjian.

BTM, I have know problems with Jacob holding down either of the forward positions, but he shouldn't be on the court while Coops is there. We cannot afford to have two reluctant, or non efficient,shooters on the court at the same time.

Just as an aside, why does Gilchrist always move toward the sidelines for in bound passes? Doesn't that make it easier to defend the ball?

Cooper was always just a tall body to spell Burston for short periods. Decent big men don't exactly grow on trees, and the local stocks were already exhausted by the time the Sixers started recruiting. Burston's injuries have forced Scotty to rely on Cooper far more than would have been originally anticipated. And hey, he did basically win one game for us! You might even say he's the best clutch player on the team this year... :s

Hopefully they do have a review of players and coaches, rather than just rolling along starting Groves Hill Ballinger Holmes Gilchrist and leaving Burston on the bench,giving fans the impression he's a lazy coach.

I am a season ticket holder and basketball watcher of long standing, also an unabashed Phil Smyth supporter. When Scott Ninnis was appointed coach I had serious doubts about his ability to hold the top position and was extremely concerned with the appointment of his assistants. I expressed my concerns on this website and canvassed the idea that I not renew my season tickets. Against my better judgement I continued as a season ticket holder and had the reasons for my initial reticence confirmed.

The only reason that I bought season tickets for this season was to pay due respect to the SOS team for their efforts to keep a team in Adelaide. I also thought that they had assembled a competent team, which would play entertaining and copetitive basketball. In the main this has occurred except in one area, the coaching. For a team to win consistently it has to have the right blend of personell on the court at all times. Unfortunately this is the area in which our coaching panel has failed miserably.

Either Adam Ballinger or Matt Burston should be on the court at any one time. Burston is a very good player, although injury prone, in this league. He should be on the court, if fit, at the start of every game and for as long as his body will allow. Let him call his own subs or have someone moniter his performance closely and sub him as he flags. David Cooper is the obvious player to replace him on court. Jacob Holmes and Brad Hill should share the minutes Ballinger is off the court. Cooper and Holmes should not be on the court at the same time. The guard spots should be shared between John Gilchrist, Darren Ng and Nathan Herbert. Imports should provide something to the team that cannot be provided by a local player. To this effect Cortes Groves should be replaced.

Nothing will be achieved by replacing Scott Ninnis before seasons end but replacing one of his assistants by someone like Rupert Sapwell and the replacement of Cortes Groves may.

I agree that we are a middle of the road roster. What is frustrating is that we clearly CAN compete in most games, but just seem to throw them away from unloseable positions. Turned to my brother on Saturday night at three quarter time and said 'surely we can't lose it from here'. The reply 'yeah, but this is the Sixers'.

The other concern is that other middle of the road rosters such as Wollongong (who arguably are less than middle of the road) are continuing to put together strong performances through excellent coaching and team structure. We have the talent, but none of the determination and teamwork that make Wollongong so impressive.

I don't think that Ninnis should be sacked mid-season. But, like Isaac said, at the end of the season call for applications and head hunt the best coach. I don't care who it is, Ninnis, Breheny, Black, McLeod just so long as they are the best.

I don't think the coach will be going anywhere, the second import however...?

paul, I would just like to point out that I've been predicting doom and gloom all-season long. :)

I largely agree with your comoments also. The coach can only do so much - the guys out on the floor have to win the games, and the reality is it's a mediocre squad that has overachieved for part of this season.

Ninnis deserves at least 1 more season to get the 6ers house in order. Calling for his head at this stage is going a bit far.
As someone else put it, "a middle of the road roaster" sounds just about right. Yet they have put themselves in winning positions only to throw a few games away down the stretch in the 4th.
Is it the coaching? Maybe. Are the players making bad decisions uinder pressure? Definitely.

The situation is that something is going horribly wrong at present and a consistent pattern emerging as to why the last quarter is the death of the game. People are desperate to pinpoint something that is accountable for this so you can identify what needs fixing. Its a whole combination of things with the coach being part of the blame. Team chemistry it terrible and simply a lack of basketball intelligence. Whilst Gilchrist is producing good numbers, he is not a good leader on court. He doesn't create the plays that sees his team members in good positions to be able to shoot. I honestly think the other 4 players on court have no idea what's going through his mind and how to react to it. I see a whole lot of confusion and that's the reason the shot clock runs right down before an attempt is made to shoot the ball and then done under pressure. I also think their shooting skills are poor, particularly at the free throw line. Gilchrist comes to mind first but there are others like Burston and Groves. You can sack the coach but reality is that we lose games by a whole lot less than the free shots we miss. Can you blame the coach fully?

I disagree Skud. Ninnis has made some errors, but the team should really have beaten the Tigers in both games this season and have thrown away two against the Breakers as well. If you give them two of those four games they are 9-6 and in equal 2nd. I put those wins down to bone-headed play by the guys on the court more than anything else.

We've had a lot of turnover prior to this season and Burston's injury problems have really hurt us. I didn't see the last game, but its possible that Burston didn't play more minutes because his fitness is not there yet. In any case, didn't he start the game and didn't Rickert score a bunch on him early anyway?

I agree that our team needs to show it can run some offensive plays instead of he clueless approach they have generally employed this season, but I have seen improvement in our defence.

I'm not sure how much Ninnis can be blamed for the offensive failures. If its down to his inability to install and offence and get his players to understand it, then yes I'd be looking for another coach. But I don't really know if thats the case. Sometimes players are just too thick to work it out!

If the wheels fall off and the team performs poorly for the rest of the year then yes, I'd review whether Ninnis was the best guy available. But I think he should be safe at least until the end of the season.

I still think there is a good chance the Sixers make the finals and if they can sort out their offensive fadeouts (positively Goorjian-esque!) then they have a shot at the title, because there just isn't one team that is a cut above everyone else.

Anon #261176 where were you in 1986, 1998, 1999 & 2002? As if a comment like that isn't enough for you to lose all credibility, you then back it up with saying Hodge would have been dragged to mediocrity if he had stayed in Adelaide. What are you talking about, Hodge is already mediocre at best and then tops it with being selfish, self centred, a liar, a trouble maker and disrespectful to our league. And yes, I do mean our league because Brett Maher represented everything that was good about our league.

176,
You're not the "Cane Toad" by any chance?

Interesting comments about the "South Australian" performances, since only 4 of the 11 listed players are actually from South Australia. As for the rest of the post, suitable for someone who posts anonymously

Does Maher wanna coach? He could be the next Vossy & shine as a head coach after being a great player. You guys were all calling for Neil Craigs head mid season & he went on to lead his charges to great things this season. Quit with the knee jerk reactions & let Ninnis do his job without all the knifing. If they win the next 4 (& they could as they are not that bad)you'll all be lining up for oral. Also quit with the whole 'South Aussie' thing & recruit the best aussie talent available!

you people are never, correction will never be happy with any coach... the worst job in the world will be coach of the sixers

lots of difficult questions in the board room this week I imagine

It seemed kinda strange to start Groves and Hill, when they are outta sorts,and putting them back in,when Ng and Herbert were having a good game,as was Burston and Ballinger was enjoying having Burston on the court.