Hoops

Johnson re-signs with 36ers for three years

My .02c
1) Very happy with the signings thus far. Weigh and Crosswell already contracted, DJ our MVP and now it seems they are working on Creek. This is a good young core to build a team around. Must say I agree somewhat with EC though. These contracted players are not a championship winning team in themselves by any means, they are a base from which you can structure a winning team from with better players. As such if we paid too much for DJ (yes I realize his uniqueness as a young Australian 7 footer with talent, I mean way too much), it may prevent us getting the other components necessary for the flag. This has been our problem with Ballinger, especially if injury strikes. Clarky you say you would rather a few seasons of mediocrity by paying more than we should for the young guys for long term success. Normally I woul agree, but these are not normal times. This club cannot afford more years of mediocrity on the back of a decade of it. What is reasonable, 15 years of rebuilding, 20?
2) Besides these 4 players I think people need to make the case for why we should sign others from the team or look for alternatives. Sorry Observer, but saying we can make a silk purse from a cows ear by replacing Warren, Herbert and Daly? Did you not notice we pretty much have 3 spoons in a row? I realise Ng and Helliwell are probably so cheap that you could not get anything better for the coin, but can Ballinger even play anymore? Who knows its been so long and interrupted since he was a force. Simpson and Warren didn't do the business for us this year, so can't believe they can next, so not sorry to see them move on.

Thedoctor, stop using logic. It hurts our brains!!!1

Here , there used to loyalty points , but NBL don't like that anymore.. I can only guess he's somewhere between 7 and 10 player points.. 'cause I cain't understand NBL jargon on this matter.

Just a bit of info. My information did not come from Marty or his assistant

That's a point Camel, how many points will he be worth under the cap? Would he really go straight up to 9 or 10?

He's got plenty of tools but is not a finsihed product. In 2009 he avergaed 2.7pts and 1.9reb. Pretty swift improvement.

I've done a blog on him today, see link below

http://www.36reasons.net/2012/03/player-spotlight-dj.html

I feel a whole lot better now 'cause it kinda sounded like he'd rather be playen in finals than in the bottom team..... Seems he's 7 player points now and 9 or 10 points in about a month.

Isaac forgot to use the sarcasm button again.

There are some posters that you can expect will always be able to find the negative in any positive. Just have to put up with it.

Optimists see the glass as half full, pessimists see the glass as half empty, but smart people just fill the glass up again.

I find it amusing that throughout most of last season people were complaining about DJ's talent being wasted by coming off the bench (especially after his explosion after Ballinger went down).

Moving into this season most posters on here seemed to think that the offense needed to start by working through DJ and running from there, given his offensive talent.

Now that he is signed for 3 years (at only 23 years old - plenty of upside/development to come) people are saying that this is a bad or premature signing, I just don't understand the reasoning behind that.

Personally I think re-signing DJ this quickly shows that the club is looking to the future by locking up a talented NBL center who is still yet to hit his peak. Re-signing Creek should be the next target because his ability to play as a SG not only gives us a bit of flexibility, but also helps to lock down a relatively young core (Weigh, DJ, Creek) which we can then fill around with imports and Australian talent.

I would rather deal with a couple of seasons of mediocrity and see the club locking down young talent to grow together and build around, rather than going all out to win now - only to hit a rebuilding phase again in a few years.

Skud, while I agree with you that the coach needs to get the players to understand the plays, its unfair to characterise what Bake has passed on through an unofficial source as Clarke trying to make excuses.

Unless you happen to know that Bake's source is in fact Clarke himself, then its highly unlikely Clarke or his staff know anything about the above comment.

I think the most important thing to take from Bake's comment (if you are inclined to believe it as I am) is just what he said: that Simpson's inability to remember the playbook may mean we don't bring him back next season.

That's interesting if true Bake. While I like Simpson and think his physical game complemented DJ's finesse game, this would finally be a rational explanation as to why the coach kept benching him.

I don't think Diamon was alone in failing to run plays effectively on the Sixers though. That is one of many areas we need to see improvement in. I can't remember the last time I saw a Sixers team that was able to execute plays to consistently get its shooters open!

I have it from a pretty good source that Diamon had trouble remembering the Sixers plays. Could have a big bearing on the often stagnant and ineffectual offense as well as his future signing.

Great signing, very happy with it.

EC

Hate to sound so pessimistic

i agree with bk with the treatment given to simpson but have gut feeling that the clark has offered williamson for a place for the following year.

Aaaaand the glass is half-empty again...

Can't bring yourself to even say something positive about DJ's signing EC?

So who would YOU sign that WOULD turn around the Sixers fortunes then?

i doubt simpson would want to come back after the way he was treated by the coaching staff which is a great shame. i enjoyed watching him play because he always gave everything he had when he was on court. its great we got johnson for 3 years and would like to see creek signed as well

Heard on 7news that Sixers are looking at 2 new imports,if thats going to happen ,it will be rebuilding again,nah i dont want that ,we have done better in 2nd half of the year with this group lost a few close games,we need to retain core of the group and get a quality guard and a fit fresh ballinger resumes will be good.

Retain

Johnson
Creek
Simpson
Weigh
Crosswell
NG
Ballinger
NEW PG IMPORT LIKE LISCH OR WILSON
garlepp or 6.8 player Laing??
guard

Out
warren
herbert
daly

Have a young team with two veterans .

Totally agree with you Mystro/ MACDUB, whilst I want to see Creek resigned, he is still a project and we cannot afford to overpay him. Any idea what Abercrombie was on for his first few seasons?

Hopefully Creek will be carefully handled by Sixers management. Ie, make it clear early that there is a roster spot for him and that they see him as a big part of their plans down the road, but also that other marquee signings must take priority over him right now (spec. starting PG, PF & SG spots).

As long as a young player feels valued and that they will have a growing role in the team, I think most would be realistic about what they deserve to be paid.

Hopefully Creek is one of those players.

Great news. Tall, agile, good ball carrier skills, shooting. ticks a lot of boxes.

In reference to the D around him. Imagine the Sixers team with help D in the form of Vukona's D.

I agree Macdub, Creek needs to work on his game especially his shooting but has great potential in the long term but you don't want to be buying a player and paying him what he's worth "if" he becomes the player he should be

good to see u re-signing all the players who brought u back 2 back wooden spoons!!!

Gaze called DJ aussies Dirk Nowitski. Thats big wraps. If he works on his 3 ball maybe he might get a training camp?

Warning to the 36ers:

Don't overpay Creek.

He is a great player, but remember he is just 20 years old.

I wouldn't pay him too much above market price.

I know he has unbelievable potential, but lets keep things in perspective.

If your going to throw 120k at him (like Ive heard some people saying) why not go after someone like Vukona, Bose, Crawford, Delly (try lure him back)

I mean sure they might not get those players, but why not at least try to lure some of these players before making a hastily decision.

Great signing by the Sixers, onwards and upwards

Fantastic news, especially since alot of clubs would've been interested. Props go out to the club for not beating around the bush and getting it done ASAP. Quite sure Creek and DJ are good mates as well (played ABL at South together) so hopefully that is another bargaining chip in getting Mitch! Well done Sixers!

Totally agree with you XY and almost posted the same comparison to Anstey. He used to get pushed around and was pretty suspect on D as a young player too. DJ has every bit the athleticism Anstey had and I think can be even better offensively. All he needs to show is the same drive for success Anstey had and he will be a dominant NBL player.

This is an excellent signing, and very well timed.

DJ has areas he can work on to improve his game. And he will. A serious criticism was always levelled at Chris Anstey that his defence (other than shot blocking) was not great and that he was afraid of working in the keyway. Didn't stop him being dual league MVP and taking his team to the grand final three years running.

I would choose DJ, at 23, any day of the week to build a future team around. It would be nice to pair him with a strong defensive minded centre/forward going forward and a playmaking PG with a good drive and dish.

Great signing, well done to the club for securing DJ so quickly.

Defence and a bit more toughness to deal with opponents physical play are the only thing DJ lacks and with some hard work, there is no reason he can't improve both.

I agree with you Trevor, DJ could be the best centre in the league in years to come. Right now, the only centre I'd consider taking instead of him is Khazzouh and even then it'd be close.

Lets hope those regular SOS bashers on here are willing to post something positive now that something good has happened!

People need to understand what this means for us as a club. There is no other player that is up and coming that you would want or more importantly would come to the 36ers. 7 footer with his talent coming out of college is not coming to Australia full stop, Do you think an Import/American 7 footer with his talent would be looking at offers of around 100 K to come to Australia? Much more money i would suggest!
He is a believer in things to come and his coaches.
Some big news to come in the future as well.
Issac please put a wanker filter on your forum! You know who they are.

Great News to hear,now get Creek signed and Simpson too asap,DJ has improved having simpson on his side they are young and work well together.Creek will come of age and show his u18 form within next two years of NBL.

Only 23 with his best years still ahead of him. Fantastic signing.

Great signing, i thought we'd be lucky to keep him in the league let alone have him playing for us for 3 years, cos after that and if his development keeps up, he is gone (europe, possibly NBA)