Hoops

36ers@Cairns20Nov2010

There's no guarantee EC. What you hope is that you build a team culture where players will want to stay and continue developing together. It could all come to nothing, but better to have a crack at that than try to buy a team that can win you the title because:
1. It would bankrupt us.
2. We would have no depth cos of all the points being spent on 4-5 stars.
3. No-one would really appreciate the title as much if we used hired guns as if we had watched a bunch of guys develop as a team to the point they could win a title.

I agree that it's a lot harder to keep parting with your money when the team struggles for so long, but in the long run, we are better off taking the time to develop a nucleus of Aussies who can match the NBL's elite for an extended period.

The alternative is to keep up this hit and (mostly) miss reliance on gun imports and recycled Aussies. The latter process failed hopelessly for us in the middle of this decade, when we relied on a bunch of geriatric, has-been imports and journeymen to support Maher.

In the long run we will have more success by building a young core that can develop together. I also think success will taste all the more sweet once the 'kids' start to get it, because we will have been through the bad times with them and will appreciate what they achieve so much more.

With all due respect, those saying you can't build a team over a couple of years are just mindlessly repeating some mantra. There is nothing that says you can't sign players to multi-year deals that gives you time to develop their skills and build understanding between team mates. Look at the best teams in the league this year and over time. They all have a core group of players who have developed together over time.

The Hawks have been a good team for most of the last decade because they have built around Sav, Campbell, Davidson.

The Cats - most consistent NBL team ever - look back over their rosters and you will see the same core faces, year after successful year. Martin, Redhage, Cat. Grace, Vlahov, Fisher. Grace, Crawford, Pinder. Currently developing Weigh and Wagstaff.

Breakers - CJ, Penney, Bear and Oscar for several years. They are retaining and developing talent - Abercrombie, Pledger, Webster.

Tigers through the 90s - Gaze. Copeland. Bradtke. Simmons.

The Sixers problem is that, as Maher aged and the club was run into the ground with terrible financial management, virtually no talent was brought in and that which was, never developed into elite NBL talent. So we never replaced guys like Maher, Catt or Rees with the same level of talent.

That just means we're gonna have to do it the hard way, by taking our lumps with a lot of young players and hoping we unearth a couple of diamonds we can build around.

With that in mind, I agree with pretty much everything Jonnos aid in his thread about rebuilding. Marty needs to start Johnson and give him the minutes to develop. Likewise, start Carter and give Creek minutes as soon as we can. Johnson and Creek are probably the two guys we have who have the potential to be elite players in this league. So lets give them and the coach time see how far they can take us down the track.

yea i agree if we are going to keep Winder it needs to be at SG/SF where he is better suited.

Josef,
To be the best, you have to beat the best.

Agreed Isaac, Cairns ae a much better unit than a lot of us have given them credit for. Who would have thought that "Always Injured" Ubaka, "Soft as Butter" Crosswhite and "Too old" Jones would carry the team to an impressive home win 2 weeks in a row...

Its almost as though they recieved some added motivation recently to lift their respective games...

X, I wish it wasn't so, but Winder is not doing enough for the Sixers to succeed. He had one decent quarter last night - the first - where he put up 4 points on 2-4 shooting, a rebound, a steal, a block and 2 fouls. After that, he went 3-9 from the field, had four more rebounds and 3 more TO's. Hardly the impact his team needed. All this might even be okay, if he played defence like Darnell Mee! But he doesn't - once again he got smashed by the opposing PG, who put up 21 points on 7-13 shooting!

Yeah that was depressing listening. Hard to know exactly what went wrong when you can't see the game, but Winder just doesn't seem able to make an impact.

Balls has been shooting well, but that is about it. When I watched DeVries earlier in the season he looked to have a beautiful set shot, but all I have seen from him since then is a guy constantly forced into trying to create his own shot.

The Sixers need a PG who can run a half court offence that gets Balls and DeVries good shots. Time and again this season the Sixers main problem has been that they cannot score in a halfcourt game. This has to change.

If they can afford to replace Winder with a better import PG or an inside power player, I wouldn't hesitate at this stage. Tough to find the right guy though, so starting Carter and seeing if Winder can make an impact off the bench is what I would be doing as of next game.

Gods, I am sooo tired of putting up with crap imports. Other than Balls and Farley, the Sixers have had no-one for a decade.

Aw 4920 fans get a free Maccas for the win and a score of more that 85points.

For us Ballinger very good - begging for the ball
Dowdell does well in his 10mins
Ng gotta coupla threes
Not much of a nite.

This game and last game from DeVries haven't been good
first few games were.
This might be Carters worst game for us - had been doing pretty good.
Winder not distributing.

There's 3 guards tonite - maybe why we lost ?
without seeing the game?

You know your in a bad situation when you lose the first game of a back-to-back by 16 points.

Great. I must be jinxng the Sixers. Tuned in to live stats and they're up 21-14. Next thing I know Cairns go on 10-0 run to win the 1st!

Adelaide Hills Rec Centre, Sunday September 3rd. Tip off 2pm.

Adults $6, 17 and under $3, family ticket $15.

It's Father's Day, so don't forget to take your dad, or (if you're a father) take your kids.

A good chance for a preview of the new team in action.

Reports of the two pre-season games so far are on adelaide36ers.com:

36ers vs Dragons, Aug 25
36ers vs Dragons, Aug 26