Hoops

36ers to look for 2 imports and speak with Newley

Tornado,

As stated, both are imports.

Yeah Boatright is below 6 foot, I just think he's a bit more effective off the ball than what Gibson has been this past season. Could always start Haws and bring Boatright off the bench I guess!

I personally would like to keep Gibson, Johnson, Motum, Creek and Petrie. Johnson, Motum and Creek basically speak for themselves. I just think keeping Gibson around is really good for the group, assuming he comes at the right price. I like his leadership and I like that he really gets us through our sets, rarely taking a bad shot. With a front court of Motum and Johnson we want a PG who can get them the ball and space the floor and Gibson can definitely do that. Petrie I think is best served as that third big who can defend, space the floor and offer some versatility. He’s a gritty vet who’s definitely worth keeping around.
There are some senior’s coming out of College this year that are really, really solid but won’t play NBA because of their lack of size or athleticism. Someone like Ryan Boatright would make a handy back court partner for Gibson I’d think. He can defend, play off the ball and also handle the ball. He comes from a good program in UConn and I think he’d do a good job of defending most 1’s and having Gibson guard the 2’s. He’ll be a late 2nd rounder at best and I don’t think he’d crack a 15 man roster first up out of college. The fact he’s a senior sort of decreases his chances as well.
The other guy I like is Tyler Haws out of BYU. He’s a 6-6 2/3 that can flat out score at the College level. He’s a real versatile scorer that kind of lacks the athleticism required to make it as an NBA 2/3. I think he’d be a capable scorer in the NBL though, especially in a 6th man type role off the bench. With these guys we’re trying to get a Scottie Wilbekin type guy, someone who has played 4 years at a really good college (although Haws has only played 3) and played a significant role in that system.
I think to round out the roster we go a reliable cheap big like a Jacob Holmes to round out our front court rotation. With Wollongong’s future unknown we could add a Tyson Demos type player on the cheap. I hate the guy but every good team needs a real prick that can defend and compete. Finally we round out the 10th spot with a local point guard. I think Maynard (currently at Cairns) would be my preference but Daly has been around the group and would be okay as well.
We’d be looking at a rotation like this:
5 – Johnson (25)/Petrie (15)
4 – Motum (30)/Petrie (5)/Holmes (5)
3 – Creek (30)/Haws (10)
2 – Boatright (20)/Haws (15)/Demos (5)
1 – Gibson (30)/Boatright(10)/Daly or Maynard (0)

Perhaps we lack a bit of size up front by adding Holmes and removing Schenscher, however I’d be happy to keep Schensch around at the right price. We definitely have enough scoring; again it’ll be defence that is the test. I’d definitely be excited to watch this group though! Obviously the cost would be a pretty big concern, I literally have no idea what it would cost to assemble a team like that.

I took the alpha male thing to be a swing man who can come in and take over a game at both ends and win it for us, we dont currently have that, Donta Smith or someone similar would be a great pick up imo, even if it cost us Gibson and/or Schenscher.

It looks like Joey is wanting to build a team around

DJ
Motum (contracted)
Creek (contracted)
Import swingman, Donta Smith mould
Wilson

Then build a bench after that with what ever points/$$ we have left, obviously ideally keeping a few of our current guys in doing that.

To me it seems like a good approach, to win a title you need to have 2 good imports imo, it makes a huge difference, you often get more bang for your buck out of a import than a Aussie in the NBL.

bigsixersixer, are you hoping to go undeafeated? Because when you had Motum and Johnson you won 10 straight, is that not good enough for you? Good luck getting two better Australian bigs wanting to play in Adelaide.

I'm a huge 6ers fan but wouldn't cry if Motum and DJ were gone. Yeah motum can score points at times but only because of the good passes he gets etc, I've never seen a bloke that is so slow, has such bad hands can't get easy shots under the ring and his D is well what D..... I don't think he will have to worry about using that NBA get out clause..... #laughs he ain't NBA material. As to DJ well he is just a big sook.

I was shocked by all the empty seats too! Did it have anything to do with the problems some people had with Ticketmaster? Or perhaps it was just the Clipsal 500 drawing people away?

As far as the team goes, I like the thinking of Joey in that article. Great to hear DJ is the #1 priority as his size and skill-set gives the Sixers one of the best offensive mismatches in the league.

If we sign DJ and Motum sticks around, I think there is some work to be done by Joey to make that combination work effectively on both ends of the floor, because neither one would probably be satisfied with coming off the bench. The potential of that combination is so great, there's no way you pass it up though.

It's good to hear that Joey is looking for a big 'alpha male' though. With BJ probably unlikely to be fit enough for the start of next season, we really need a hard unit to bring off the bench along with Petrie.

I hope we keep Wilson, as I am sold on him now after he had a shaky start to the season.

Gibson is an interesting question, because he does bring a lot to the table in terms of defence, ball-handling and toughness. The problem is that after the halfway point of the season his shot seemed to completely desert him. He's never been listed as hurt, but I just wonder if he injured himself when he was basically carrying a short-handed team before Motum got here? If he was injured and can get back to full fitness in the off-season, I wouldn't be too quick to part ways with him. It'd be hard to get a guaranteed upgrade over the Gibson we have generally seen for the last few seasons.