Hoops

36ers sign back-up big Jeff Dowdell

Agree with you Rotatoman. Although last season was horrible to watch, there were half a dozen games we easily could have won. There was just something wrong with the team behind the scenes. Don't know what it was, but the team was clearly dysfunctional and lacking in confidence on court.

The #1 thing we needed was a new coach to get everyone on the same page and working as a team. Hopefully in Clarke we have done that. If we get more of the same, then it will be clear that we need to clean house. I don't think that will happen though.

Paul, if we're talking about Dellavedova specifically, I'm guessing that his goal would still be the NBA. Hence why its unlikely he would leave St Mary's after a very successful season there. If he were to taper off by his junior year, I could see him coming back to the NBL.

I think it might be a bit to do with current trends as well. Bogut's success has got to encourage kids to follow his path and the struggles of the NBL in recent years can't have helped make the case for staying in Oz.

I was thinking the same thing Isaac. Although the chances would have to be very slim that Dellavedova would give up his college career to come to the Sixers, it is a good sign that Clarke/ SOS aren't shy about chasing the best players. From what has been said on here, it looks like they inquired about Goulding, Lisch and Schenscher. Maybe Gibson as well?

Nice comparison Player23. Johnson seems to hit the offensive boards hard, but looks like he needs to work harder to box out defensively. Not surprising for a young player really. What I really like is the shooting percentages. The kid can clearly score and not just around the basket. I'd always prefer to take a young guy who can shoot and teach him to rebound and play defence, than the opposite.

Just a thought, but with Johnson and Ballinger both able to drag their man out of the paint, that could open up the middle nicely for whoever our imports are and also Hill.

Happy with the recruiting so far. I expected Clarke to use some of his AIS knowledge putting together the team. So I'm not surprised that he's done so. All seems promising so far and I'll wait to see how they play as a team.

I think DJ is a definite upgrade on Burston. I feel that some of those close games last year Burston was not able to hold onto the pass under the bucket at clutch time. Not all those passes were that hard to catch and should have been anticipated by a big man in that position.

If we recruit that last 3 well then we will play down to number ten. Teams that do that usually make the play offs. Get there and it's all possible.

We lost several close games last year at the clutch. Lets put it all in perspective.

Clarke went for Greenwood and Delly..WTF?
Those two have the brightest futures ahead of them..Delly is an amazing player, and Greenwood is so smooth.
But, why would Clarke go for them...Delly has come out of a season that saw him start for St. Marys and play 32-35 mins a game! Furthermore his school reached the sweet 16 for the first time ever. Why would he want to come play a backup PG role when he is the starter on a team that seems to be garnering more and more national press.
And why would Greenwood forgoe what will be a stellar college career (no doubt), to ride the bench or get hardly any mins in the NBL.
Clarke seems a bit desperate, but at the end of the day he is a very good coach

Can someone point me to the 'View Anon posts? On/Off' option?

I agree, Player23 - DJ is a great signing, just for being a decent player with a load of potential, and it's a huge bonus that he covers the under-(arbitrary age that I can't remember) option at the same time.

Schenscher certainly has a fan club in Adelaide.....
I tend to think he's soft and slow.
Sure Ng can shoot but is he capable of anything else, signing Phil Jones would have made more sense to me, he can shoot the 3, take it inside and has good ball handling skills and a lot of experience.

I think he will get his first year grace as would be normal, second year, while the SOS would love a championship, they would be monitoring where Clarke has gone and if they like the direction he is taking the club into.

If the answer is...we love it...obviously it will be another year, if it is...what the fu..well i can guess what they would say...

I think everyone here know's I'm into 'if you dont perform..you get moved along'...

:-)

Isaac

so for now I'm happy to trust in Marty's plan for the team (whether it be for quick success or a longer term thing)

Ferr88, I've copped a lot of flack for saying the same things you have said but its only natural that people don't want to put up with the same shit for another year. Its been going on too long now and its about bloody time that the situation is turned around. I don't care how much you sugar coat the situation, its just not acceptable if the team assembled this coming season is not going to be competitive enough to make the playoffs. Making the playoffs has to be an absolute minimum expectation.

Players not wanting to come to Adelaide can only mean one of the following:

1. They've been offered a position on another team
2. They are good enough to make it overseas.
3. They are not looking for a basketball job.

Apart from the above, players will come to Adelaide. So its up to the club to assemble a decent squad.

Another thing I would like to see the NBL change if the quality of Australian players are in short supply is increase the imports to 3 and make an adjustment to the points cap to accommodate it. A good quality league is important and Australian fans love to see a good entertaining import so I doubt they would have a problem with a team with 1 more import and 1 less Australian.

Bruce might be rated as 6 , if he wants to come here from the USA. On this I can't say very much.
Ratzch might be rated as 9.

What about the Burdman?

Would be great to see him in the team somewhere - can't we contract him as #10 or #11?

Oxymoron- Anon (274840) - "dedicated Sixers fan"

Anon, Ere would certainly be an awesome pickup. Still seems to be putting up good numbers in Italy. I have not heard anything about him returning to the NBL though.

Kavossy Franklin is getting a bit old isn't he? I'd be keen on a PG who is an excellent ball-handler, good defender and shoots the three well. Being a good penetrator would be nice, but not as critical if we get a good scoring SF like Ere.

Ferr88, I do think that we perhaps should have held back and signed only 2 out of Hill, Herbert and Ng. But that's all academic now and as some have said, perhaps SOS and Clarke knew there weren't too many better options available.

We agree on the scoring SF, but I don't think we can go with another big man now, because we need two quality ballhandlers. One of the Sixers biggest problems last season was bringing the ball up the court and getting into their offence. That will only get worse if we don't have a gun import PG and a reliable pair of hands to give him a rest for a few minutes each game.

Also, you'd be doing well to find a top notch small forward who can score inside and out, defend athletic wings AND run the point for stretches. If they're that good, we probably can't afford them! Better to find someone who can do a couple of those things extremely well and get a budget backup point.

My final point would be that its harder to find high impact import centres than it is to find gun import PGs. So for better or for worse, we're pinning our hopes on Dan Johnson stepping up!

skr21 - as mentioned above only 3 slots left. Can't sign two Aussie PG's a SF and a C.

Big Sexy, according to the NBL site and others, Dowdell is 205cm while Jacob is only 198cm. Pretty big difference in height. Good to hear he hustles on D though.

Interestingly, if the weights are at all accurate on the NBL site, Dowdell is heavier than Trueman and also Cooper, is the same size as Larry Davidson and bigger than Petrie. So that suggests he won't be pushed around as much as we have been used to. Hope he plays tough like Jacob!

If rumours are right about Bruce and he is committed to getting in shape and to having an NBL career, I think he could be a good signing. As mentioned above though, you'd have to get him mins at SG as well and that might create a bit of a logjam when you're trying to get Ng and Herbert consistent minutes too.

Just saw this in Boti's article:

"He gives us a good back-up centre with a jumpshot," Fitzsimons said.

Guess that puts paid to the theory that he might share SF with Hill! (I know, crazy idea. Loco's lineup just got me wondering!)

Ferr88, with Dowdell signed there is only 3 spots left, so we can't get two Aussies to cover the point guard spot unless we only go with one import. I think we are basically locked in to an import at PG and SF with this team.

Not sure what to think about Dowdell as I have never seen him play. What I was hoping for primarily was a big man who will bring some energy, aggression and rebounding off the bench.

He seems to have enough height (basically same as Trueman) but I am concerned at the comments from some that he is really more of a small forward. Can people comment on what his rebounding is like?

If Dowdell is more of a small forward, then I think it makes it more likely that the Sixers will chase a big athletic import wing, who could play some power forward for short stretches. Maybe someone like Ratzsch or Bennett Davison?

That scenario would certainly fit with what Isaac is saying about following the league trend towards small ball.

Loco, seeing your lineup also made me wonder if Dowdell really has been signed as another SF and will compete with Hill for the starting spot? I hope not, because I think Clarke would have his work cut out for him to get enough out of the SF and SG positions then. If that were the case, though, we could do worse than grab Rickert if the Breakers don't resign him!

Intriguing to hear that the Sixers have been talking with Dellavedova, but I'd be shocked if he decided to leave college after one year to play in the NBL. He'd still be hoping to get a shot at the NBA at this stage I would've thought.

I can't see much point forming a judgment on the overall squad until the imports and backup PG are signed. Too many important pieces still missing.

Clarke seems to be going for a classic "Dunlap Youth team". Not a bad way to go; would be great to get a combined Delladova/Bruce comibintation in. Still all pro for getting Bruce back, having guys the same age with the same reflexes could reduce the turnover count a decent amount.

Having Balls, Delladova & Ng on the floor gives the team a great perimeter lineup. Having a lineup that you can run with 3-4 guys at 6'5" to 6'8" isn't a bad idea either.

So many possibilities. Clarke must have some pull.

Now Delly would be a great pick up, hopefully Clarke can encourage him over here with playing time. Would not mind Bruce back either.

What's the fascination with getting players who used to play for us? As much as I like some aspects of Forman's game, I think he still has a lot to prove at NBL level. Coming off a wooden spoon, I don't think he's the type of player Adelaide need, regardless of whether he played for us or not.

Johnson/Dowdell replacing Burston Molitor and Cooper.

(and also allows Ballinger to play more minutes at PF than he did last season . As he played mostly at Centre with Burston not fit and Cooper not used much)

So this is actually an upgrade on last season's situation.