Hoops

36ers grant Creek leave for national camp

Amen Ankles great post!

Just an outsider's observation (a self-confessed old fart with a passion for playing the game properly - give me a lay-up over a missed dunk any day!).

Clarke has shown more coaching this year than most of the coaches in the league - he actually instructs during the game and teaches. Puts him ahead of Wright, Robilliard, Westover, Gleeson, Lemanis and Fearne in my books and consequently behind only Beveridge and McLeod in the league.

Its a novel approach I know but one that I think will pay dividends in that players will want to play for Adelaide becasue they will improve as players (and yep - that means maybe they'll move on to a bigger payday but in the meantime you've got a bargain). How good does it feel when you buy something and instead of losing value it actually appreciates - that's a good deal right? So when Mitch Creek comes in as 3-pt player (cbf'd looking it up) and leaves as a 7-pt player you've got some value right there?

Players want to play for somebody who will help them get better - they'll even play for less if they think it'll help them get better. If you have a team full of players who all want to get better (and are being coached by somebody who can actually help them with that) then you can bank on competing almost all the time.

The imports are still a bit of a lottery but the person who is a teacher is also an identifier of character and can pick that a little more successfully than somebody looking to win NOW! At the same time, how many imports in the league right now can drag their team single-handedly to success? Some of them can drag them single-handedly to failure (or at least mediocrity - and look good doing it) but that's another story.

For the WIN NOW crowd, there was a coach in the US who once got a handy player who had never won - and built a team over a number of years which was pretty successful. Sometimes these things take time - if teaching was as easy as 'tell 'em once and they get it' then most coaches in all sports would be out of a job pretty quickly. Clarke seems to be be trying to put in place the right pieces. They're not all there yet but attitude and culture are important pieces. Even for a coach like Phil Jackson and a player like Michael Jordan - they weren't successful overnight.

Creek is obviously an important piece for the future and may move on to bigger things but who knows. If he's learning and developing he'll think twice before moving on and that's really all you can ask from a player. If he's not learning and developing then he HAS to move on the next pay cheque because that is all he has - his ability right now. And by bringing in star players and older players to a coach that only coaches (as opposed to develops and teaches) that is all you are getting - their ability right now.

Players talk and if Clarke is as genuine about developing players as he seems, you can expect a lot mroe players will answer the phone when he calls to recruit them over the next few years. That can only be a good thing for building a sustainably successful program in Adelaide.

There are some things which don't go out of style - Bob Turner seems to be showing that marketing is one of the them in Sydney and McLeod and Beveridge are showing that actually coaching is another one. I think give Clarke twelve months and he will be added to that list.

KJ, I didn't realise that your view of Marty was so skewed by the rose coloured glasses you have on for Ninnis. I was far from his strongest critic, but in my view he had to go. I have seen more 'coaching' from Marty in the first week this season than I saw from Ninnis last year.

We will perhaps both stand corrected as to the respective value of those coaches in due course, but I am at least happy to give Marty one season grace (as I gave Ninnis) before jumping to conclusions about his coaching style that neither you or I can substantiate.

But even knowing your love of all things Ninnis, how does this affect my point? So Ninnis first 'found' Bruce. I never said otherwise. Was Ninnis wrong to sign a talented young Bruce because with hindsight after one year he might get married and go to the US? Doesn't the fact that he is now back in a Sixers singlet prove that letting him go and do his thing in the US was a good move?

Unless you are saying Ninnis should never have signed Bruce, and that Marty has repeated that mistake. If so, we will have to agree to disagree.

As for this season in general, bring on the young talent. I can promise you I prefer watching a hard-working group of young players with potential that lose more than they win than yet another cobbled-together group of veteran cast-offs that nobody else wanted that lose more than they win. We have had enough of that second type of team in the last 8 years of mediocrity.

I disagree entirely KingJames. It is one of the craziest things I have ever heard. Are you saying that we not sign the player with the most potential to be a superstar because he may leave when (if) he reaches those dizzying heights? That instead we shoot for mediocrity, being only those players not likely to leave?

Previous Sixers' administrations and coaches have been criticised (righly) for not identifying and developing the high potential young players who were right under their noses, such as Joe Ingles and Brad Newley.

The Dragons (if they still existed) and Townsville would not regret for one second the time and effort they put into Ingles and Newley, both of which made their teams better, even if only for several seasons.

Make Creek into a superstar and I will love every second of the ride and will follow his career when he goes on to bigger and better things. But what do the Sixers have to lose? What if he doesn't become a superstar bound for Europe or the NBA, but merely a star player in the NBL. Do we let another team have the chance to win that player's loyalty? Let them be the ones to prove that player is a superstar? Rubbish.

Then you refer to Schenscher and Worthington as people we should target - they would have to be the two worst examples of people who are likely to leave at the drop of a hat to go to Europe. Both were looking for just such an opportunity last off-season when the Sixers were signing up this team.

I don't understand the negativity this year at all. This team is nothing like last year's team.

Sure, we are poor on the road, and extremely inconsistent - but youth and inexperience will do that to you. We have buckleys of making the finals, but at the same time neither are we wooden spoon contenders.

I personally give a massive tick to the team, recruiting and administration this year. We have signed young, talented and exciting players of the future who play with passion and hustle to replace old, recycled players at the end of their careers in Burston, Groves and Cooper (and Davidson the year before that).

The team has played, mostly, with hustle and intensity rather than the lacklustre trash thrown up last year. We have a new coach finding his feet at this level, but that's far better than last year's disinterest and disorginisation. Carter, Ng and Hill have all taken big steps forward under Marty and may not be superstars but have shown something. Creek is a great recruit and I am hoping he will one day be the 36ers' captain. I also see Bruce as a real player of the future.

On the imports front, the team has been quick to take steps to try to save the season when things weren't working. Not sure we have still got the combination right, but great to see moves being made to try to improve the team.

We have had injuries and bad losses and bad umpiring and piss-poor beer on offer, but all in all it has been a greatly improved season and I have enjoyed it. So we won't win the championship this year. I would still prefer to see this years team any day over last year.

Jonno, we've dipped out on several high-key players simply because we wanted to form a team quickly and get to practicing.

Wortho was the most recent instance of someone we wanted, but he couldn't accept at the time. Then he came back but the spots were already taken.

Big Red was in the same spot; wanted to try out his chances overseas in the off-season. Sixers needed a Center, but rather than wait to see how he would go, they recruited Burston to replace him. Luke comes back from his ventures to find no space in the Sixers side and gets recruited by Perth.

I don't think there's been a case of "we don't want to play here" just a "you already have someone and don't want/need me now".

Perhaps consider what Adelaide United have done in recent seasons in signing young, eg Burns, Djite, etc and even old talent in Ognenovski. All have contributed to the Reds when there and have then gone overseas for their future careers.

Whilst they havent retained these players long term, it has encouraged other good players to join The Reds as they see that the club is supporting them and giving them opportunities to further their careers.

Big advantage in Soccer is the transfer fees but not everyone in Basketball is going to get a big overseas contract. By recruiting and keeping good young players, it does minimise the player points and enable the 36ers to build a team that will hopefully achieve long term, sustainable success on the court. It also will assist in off court stability.

OMG stop the presses, Mitch Creek has been released to train with the Emus for what, 2 days? It was the right move by Clarke, but its hardly something to get excited over.

EC, another point I would like to make with regard to developing players: if you sign them young and hang onto them, their points value is lower and in the long run that helps you to build a more stacked team that you would have if you were just poaching the latest star from another club.

I know that there has been a lot of player movement in the last few years, but that is because the league was on its death-bed and so were the Sixers. There was a time when teams did retain a large portion of their roster over several seasons and that is the model all clubs should be looking at to succeed in the long run. Just trying to cobble together a new team of stars every year is not going to work.

Wortho quoted was in the paper not long ago saying that an offer to Adelaide he got in the off season was tempting and exciting to him, he didnt take it as he was looking at Europe at that point and didnt decide to come back to Oz until the last minute when the Blaze sacked there import to bring him in, sure in hindsight it might not have been a bad move to sack one of our imports to bring in wortho but at the time they wanted to keep them, and having Ballinger and Wortho on the same team may or may not work as both play their best at PF.

We didnt get him but at least it shows a top line player is interested. Guys like Ingles and Newley have also been quoted as liking Clarke as coach, so down the track who knows we may grab someone of that quality. Nothing is guaranteed but atleast it looks like Clarke has good young(ish) players interested in the 36ers.

Wasnt Schensch also keen? but we already had Johnson signed and Schensch he was asking top dollar and after his injury riddled season in Perth i can understand not giving him top dollar. Perth were not either and even many Perth fans didnt seem to want to keep him.

Marty Clarke seems to have a good reputation with those he coached, which is why we got Creek and Bruce mid season,(Another top young Aussie in Greenwood is also training with them) and given a full pre - season with the team Bruce could be one of the top Pg's IMO in top form he is as good as Gibson, and Creek will be one of the best Aussies down the line IMO. So there are 2 good pick ups mid season, if we can retain those 2, pick up another good player or 2 in the off season when we will have more points/$$$ available, which i hope we get atleast 1 legit starter, the 36ers will be fine, and have a good young core to build around. Johnson and Creek are the 2 best U/24s IMO. When have the 36ers ever been able to claim that they had the 2 best U/24s to build around in the past.

Bottom line is if the players stay or not if you respect them, their wishes and their carreer/international aspirations and let them take these opportunites like we have with Creek, it may not guarantee he will stay but its a move in the right direction, would tick a box towards staying in Creeks mind and gives us a good chance of keeping him.

If we held him back i reckon he would be outta here!

so id rather respect him and have him happy to play here personally, with the hope and half decent chance that he will play here for many years.

great move by the 36ers seeing the bigger picture and not standing in the way of Creeks international aspirations.

As many have said if the club looks after their players the players will look after the club,