Hoops

Clarke: A coach of youth or men?

Pledger, Abercrombie and Webster would not be on as much as you think. They were all marquee players in the NZNBL. They would have received alot of their income for their respective clubs, The Waikato Pistons and The Harbour Heat.

The Breakers is not their sole source of income..

Ineedmore, Cool Story Troll

It's a valid point LA Boy...

I can only think that Stacker does have some baggage with him whilst Clarke has been widely touted as a promising up and coming coach and has plenty of upsise so to speak.

Thanks Isaac, I did have the impression that part of the reason we didn't chase Schensch hard was that Marty wanted a more up-tempo team. I can understand that, but I think this season is proving that it was a mistake. A number of teams have gone for size and we have not shown that we have the speed and pressure game to neutralize this advantage.

If I was choosing the Sixers team for next year right now, I'd keep Shannon as our lone import and see if I could lock Luke up for a couple of years. You could then let Holmes go and strengthen the backcourt by getting a guy like Madgen (or if you hit the jackpot, a Goulding or Weigh).

Bretts, its not so much the age as the lack of established, quality players. Balls and Holmes are the only guys on this team who have established themselves as NBL players. Even then, Holmes is a very limited player. The jury has been out on Hill and Ng for a long time and they are perhaps only now beginning to establish themselves as NBL players. Then you have Carter with a little bit of experience, but he's still young and hardly an established vet. Then DJ, Dowdell and Creek are all young and inexperienced.

Compare that to top teams who have quality, experienced 'locals':

Hawks - Sav, Davidson, Forman, Campbell
Breakers - CJ, Penney, Boucher, Vukona
Taipans - Crosswhite, Loughton, Rychart, Jones, Grabau
Crocs - Schenscher, Hinder, Crawford
Perth - Redhage, Martin (only 2 this year, but 2 of the best in the league)

From the day Marty took over, Perth is the team who I thought we should be trying to emulate. Beveridge is establishing a style for the Wildcats and developing his players to fit roles on the team. Fortunately he has some good talent coming through to support his two star players: Knight, Wagstaff and Weigh all have a lot of ability.

I reckon the Sixers are about a year to two years behind where Perth is right now. We do need to pick up one or two more talented players, but if Marty continues to develop a system and develops good players to fit it, we'll start seeing a perennial powerhouse again.

You're not confusing the Breakers with the Melbourne Storm are you ;P?

Ineedmore, you got any proof that NZ is rorting the Salary Cap? No I didn't think so..........

I'd be interested to know if we could have afforded Schenscher if we had only brought in one import. The way this team looks to me right now, I'd be happy if we just ran Shannon at the point next season and had Schenscher instead of Howard or his equivalent. Hopefully the Crocs didn't sign him for more than one year?

In his early days - he was keen on Shannon (played with Anstey) but he had higher offers, then
and keen on Howard , training with the Bucks, then.

The fact is that after what could be considered a very good tenure at the AIS, Clarke is now cutting his teeth at the professional level this season.

He has brought with him a new system, new ideas and new methods. Like everything, experience takes time, whether you are a coach or a player.

I use the example of Hill. Whilst he still has his own doubters, Hill has improved this season. He has been more consistent and improved his decision making. How much of that can be attributed to experience, and how much can be attributed to Clarke's influence? I would argue it is a combination of both.

I think the litmus test for Clarke will be year 2. We need to give him a bit of time and an opportunity to show that his skills, planning and methodologies can work.

spare a thought for the Breakers fans, on paper we have had a very strong team for a few years yet no championship and yet we persevere with our players and coach in the hope that they will get it done while you guys seem to call for heads to roll after every loss.

... and the 36ers have had a not so great record of local big men leaving Adelaide to play elsewhere. Therein lies the current problem with Schenscher being the latest. Why is it that everyone bar the coaching staff can see that it is a big body that is required, not another SG which there is in abundance with local talent in the team.

Also, I don't see this as being as simple as Marty being a coach of youth but not men. To me, his record is one of being a development coach AND THAT IS SURELY A GOOD THING for the Sixers long term.

As we are all seeing, getting a good import is a crap shoot and very few star imports really dominate the league like they once did.

I think long term success in the NBL comes to those teams who attract and develop the best core of young Aussies.

Hopefully Marty's connections at the AIS and ability to develop players will finally see us attract some top tier talent and turn them into some new stars.

Lets not forget that Maher is the only elite player the Sixers have produced in the last 15+ years (Cattalini kind of). That is a shocking record and has a lot to do with why we have been crap for 7 years.

EC, I don't know, but I would have thought there are others at the Sixers who keep an eye on potential imports? The coach can only spend so much time looking for that perfect import (esp during the season).

To me it would make sense that the coach would say: "this is the kind of guy I need". Others then go off and trawl websites and speak to their contacts to get a shortlist of possibles. You'd think the coach would then express his opinion on that shortlist and then ownership makes the final decision?

Happy to be corrected by those who have some inside knowledge...

How do I get a previous post to quote in a new post Isaac?

"Not every target player is off-contract in every season. Not every plan works perfectly in year one so there's room to adjust (swap out players, see which positions are best filled with imports, etc). Not necessarily defending it (though I'd say every coach has a long term plan of some sort) but explaining it again (I think I explained it last time you asked this)."

Isaac - I get your point(s), but I was actually hoping for somebody else to provide another perspective. I think there is more to professional sport than devlopment of players for a 3 or 5 year plan.

The fans still have to pay full price and are expected to remain faithful and patient for a work in progress? When the team does have a good game, the coach slaps at the fans for being neysayers after a few losses and then reverts back to the shelter of a 3 year plan after they get thumped by the second bottom team for their 11th consecutive road loss.

Sorry, but I still think it just a cop out and Clarke needs to learn that the supporters paying out their hard cash for season tickets every year aren't the enemy and perhaps have a right to be disappointed when the team is doing poorly. Redminds me a bit of Phil's "they need 5 or 6 weeks to gel"

That said........we still go to every home game and support the team that will eventually succeed in the post season - (in 3 to 5 years!!)

Everybody goes on about this "3 year plan" How can a team be built on the basis of a 3 year plan when most of the players are only signed for 1 or 2 years?

Please explain!!

LOL @ Jake, check the forum you just posted on. this is Hoops where majority (not all of you) have expectations so far out there that NASA couldnt send a satellite that kind of distance. there are too many unrealistic fans that want everything and they want it yesterday. i too loved the glory days and they showed it can be done, but you gotta get back to reality

I can't work his rotations out? There are times when both imports and Balls are off together - that's 3 starters on the bench! I know the last game against the Hawks was a good game, but Ng hit 3 threes and came off....Shannon hit a pair and came off. I know it was hot on new year's eve, but I don't think there have been too many times where a player is on for more than a few minutes at a time during the season.

Is this juniors and has Clarke got the parents sitting behind him yelling for little Johny to get on the court!

Anonymous, he applied for the job, they told him who was signed. He said he could win with that list, he picked them.

I am not saying he is a good or bad coach or the team is good or bad, what I do know is that this is the team he wanted. As far as I know when he was appointed he was asked about the list and who he wanted and who he didn't and he said he could win with this list.

He has a thre year contract, he lost Herbie and chose to change the imports and has now lost Carter. If his strength lies in development we should be able to judge his coaching ability by the end of next season.

If DJ is playing well, Creek improving, Hill & Ng being consistent, Dowdell steady (I have been impressed with him this year) combined with 2 imports, Ballinger and 2 of Herbert, Bruce, Carter or another big then they should play finals next season.