Hoops

Illawarra Hawks sign import big

They will be a good rebounding team from game one this year. Had they been able to rebound from early on last season they probably would have finished top and got homecourt advantage.

The key now is to get another genuine scorer on the wing to replace some of what Penney brought last season, albeit in a different way most likely.

Totally agreed fstos, Ogilvy getting in foul trouble will be far less costly with Mr H to replace him, not to mention that Kay could also play some 5 if say DJ is playing 5 or Knight.

I think Illawarra will be the surprise packets this season as I like how Kay, Clarke, Ellis, Martin and their potential swing man able to play a few positions so Bevo can switch his team around a bit and be less predictable than other teams.

Maric will be about as good as Jervis at best. Don't see him being much at all. Holyfield looks a lot more mobile and explosive.

AJ can now play a lot more aggressively as they can afford to sit him as apposed to last year when the Hawks were lost on the boards when he was off.

can't wait to see Maric v Holyfield this season !

huge big hands looks to run the floor really well

Forgot Kay and Norton....Getting old...

Martin/Norton
Clarke/White
Import/Ellis/Coenraad
Kay/Forman
AJ/Holyfield

I think you'll see Ellis play a bit more three this season with Kay and Ossie predominantly at the four. I think if Holyfield is the import he can play alongside AJ for short periods - especially against the likes of Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Cairns & NZ once they sign their backup big men who will ideally be bangers. Melbourne would be wise to go this route also for mine.

I get what you say Paul but it just seems strange to duplicate what you already have with one of your top 2 players on the roster. Both AJ and Holyfield are arguably only capable of playing one position so someone's minutes have to give. Hawks have weaknesses in other areas that would have been better to address IMO.

Maybe the swingman import can play both wing spots and is a decent rebounder/defender so that is one covered but the 4 spot rebounding and D have been the gaping hole that needed patching for a few years now.

Martin/Clarke
Clarke/import 2-3/White
Coenraad/import 2-3/White
Forman/Ellis
AJ/Holyfield.

They're certainly some big dudes in the NBL this season. Going to be interesting to see how it plays out. Will we see a lot of minutes with tall timber lumbering around the 5 AND 4.
Or will they be more like a Nuclear Deterrent? Kept on the bench just in case the opponents unleash theirs?

Interesting that after being the Poster Boys for big lumber last year, Perth have gone against the trend.

He looks like Aleks MAric to me. Just big, slow, strong, can rebound and make put backs.

Yeah, I guess it depends on how good this guy is, and how much he cost. He's already spend a year in the D-League, so maybe without any better offers he was relatively cheap?

I doubt they will play much together, assuming Holyfield is the guy. I suspect Beveridge wants a tough rebounding, defensive centre on the floor at all times to spark the running game and give them extra shots on the o-boards.

If you look at he teams that have reached GF in recent years, most have had two good centres. It allows for quality rather than quantity.

Yeah, bit of a weird signing, going for a real "Twin Towers" approach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1OdV2ZxZIU

it appears hawks have signed Michael Holyfield

Having read many posts about the Boomers during the world championships, there are a lot of questions being asked about the Senior Mens Program?

It was expected that we would have a few lean years after the Sydney Olympics, however did we expect it to last 10 years. Since 2000 our best results have been 7th at Beijing and 9th in Athens. Our World Championships have been much worse.

In the corresponding period our Under 19 men's team have not finished lower than 5th.

At some point it would be reasonable to expect the Under 19 success to translate to the senior program, yet we still wait. This begs the questions why?

Is the NBL not developing our junior players or have our senior basketball mentors become too dependant on the USA college system. Have we lost our 'traditional' Australian style of basketball and will our talented juniors from the 2009 Under 19 world championships fall behind their opponents in terms of development over the next 5 years?

Instead of being lazy and sledging particular players or coaches either previously or currently involved in the senior team I would appreciate people's considered thoughts as to why it would appear our juniors (other than Bogut) are not kicking on as seniors in the international scene.