Hoops

Sixers tactics

You have me intrigued Moses. How about another hint?

I like the sound of Liam Rush. Any chance we could get him re-rated to 8 to squeeze him in?

Ballinger put up his best numbers when he spent most the game at 4 when Sam Harris was playing. Even though Sam Harris didn't do a lot it really freed up Balls to score much more. So perhaps the signing has to be Sam Harris and just persist with him or as mentioned above persist with big DJ at the 5.

You suggesting Brett Maher coming out of retirement Moses?

I agree with Big Sexy, in that i hope Moses is right. does anyone know who the potential signing could be? according to Boti, Aaron Bruce and Markovic have been approached but both showed disinterest as they are happy where they are.

An interesting possibility Anon. The thought crossed my mind that Clarke could be keeping DJ under wraps. I'm just not sure he could afford to do that, though, when he's got a young player in a critical position that he needs to integrate with the rest of the team.

From the 15 mins I've seen of the team, I was impressed by Carter's control at the point, so I think the three guard lineup could work well at times. Could we see an opening night lineup like this?

Carter Ng
Winder Daly or ?
Devries Hill
Ballinger Dowdell
Holmes Johnson

It was nice to see a bunch of guys who could find the open man and make shots! That alone will make for a better year I think.

We are still going to struggle to counter the Wortho's of the world and if teams are able to establish guys like Schenscher, Nevill or Khazzouh down low that is going to hurt too.

Other than that, the jury is out. I'm looking forward to see how the team goes in the NT this week. I'm hoping to see that our little guys can pressure the ball and cause turnovers and that DJ and Dowdell are going to have an impact.

One more thing, does anyone think there is a chance Carter starts at the point and Winder and Devries complete a small, aggressive 3 guard rotation with Balls and either DJ or Holmes doing the rebounding and interior D?

Ok, so a couple of you still expect Johnson to start. That was what I thought too, when we signed him. I'm just a bit concerned, because from what I hear, he has not been playing a whole lot of minutes. If the coach is expecting to start him, you'd think he'd be getting as many minutes as possible in the pre-season. Does anyone have an inkling as to why this is not happening? Is it an injury niggle, or what?

The other thing I wanted to know was if Holmes is primarily playing as a big? If he does that and we can get good minutes out of Johnson and Dowdell, I think we have enough (just) in the frontcourt.

But if that is what is happening, then Hill is going to have to step it up at the 3, because he is the only wing with any size on the team.

The game I saw I thought the structure had been mixed up a lot and didn't know if it was MC's way of testing out players to get their best positions, or just the pre-season experimentation. It looked like a lot of the rotation was 3 guard, but MC "Hammer" was obviously testing players.

The ball carrier was mixed up a far bit, but generally down to a couple of players. It looked like Jeff Dowdell even had a go a couple of times. Generally, the talls were as expected. IMO Ballinger seems more comfortable at 4 than 5, but only he knows how he feels.

I think we are going to go for a very fast team this year. They seemed to want to get it up there quickly and without much risk, which is smart. Don't be surprised if there is a lot of penetration and kick out for a 3PA, or plenty of "sucker fouls" to go for the FT. They liked to swing it more in the game I saw. The last few seasons I thought we hung onto it for too long and then we got a bad shot off before the shot clock. Reckon this year we will see a more effective, but fundamental offence, which to me would be:

* Get the ball down court quickly and safety
* Score quickly if you can
* Attack, penetrate and if met with opposition, kick out for a shot
* If not, Swing and look for gaps, or
* Swing and look for a 3PA

Every play needs to end in either a good shot on goal, or a foul on them.

The foul count in the pre-season games has been pretty high as well, which signals to me that defence will be pretty hot this season. Deny, deny, deny. Reckon we'll see some good, but clever fouls. I don't think too many shots will be put up without a palm in their face. Reckon it'll be "Hammer Time" at the Dome.

good to see the opals haven't lost a match. Laura is playing very well and getting lots of court time.
pity Erin isn't getting more mins.but I guess Jan isn't rotating her guards too much.especially the way kristi harrower and penny taylor are playing.