Hoops

United vs 36ers, Jan 1

Cheers Alan!!! http://bit.ly/2iYEtWn

Questioning Bevo's record in Perth is a bit like questioning Steve Kerr's record at Golden State...

Never going to get the boomers job, what with one championship. With the best team in the league. Jack new best and let him go.

If you lose a key player for a playoffs run, that's a genuine issue it would be foolish to believe otherwise

Jo > Dazz

With one championship l don't think so.

You need 10 players in your team not one player mate.

He lost Damo during the playoffs two of those years, and the third he lost Redhage late in the season.

Speak for yourself.

Bevo, should of won more championship with Perth with the team he had. Didn't have a week rooster with Perth. We were glad to move him on.

Bevo, should of won more championship with Perth with the team he had. Didn't have a week rooster with Perth. We were glad to move him on.

No he is good very good. His whole angle has been the ability to achieve with weak rosters. With guys like bevo judge on his ability to lift the weak not titles. Unlike gorrjian etc he hasn't always gone to the biggest spending team.

How many championship has Bevo won??

I don't understand the excitement on Sydney, looked unbeatable early but now struggling. They rely on Lisch and Newley to much. If Cadee doesn't score 20 plus he's a liability in defence, as with Garlepp, even Powel and Maric can get into foul trouble early.

Now I've said my bit there probably certainties to win it. I tipped Melbourne at start and after looking so poor now look like favourites.

Next 4 games are going to define the 36ers season. Hawks, NZ, United then Wildcats. If they can get at least 2 of those games they will be n good shape to see finals action.

I might be a little affected by Lemanis' coaching magic in 2016.

With Petrie & Bairstow injured that gives a position for the Hawks.

Yeah let think you will look stupid for that selection. Brisbane are done. Hawks are rolling just enough. United Sydney and adelaide. Who wins it? I think united.

I'm 50/50 on whether Adelaide makes the playoffs. I'm sticking to my prediction that Sydney and Melbourne will be the teams to beat and if Brissy get out of their rut plus a Perth comeback you might have the top 4 there.

Ofcourse there's a good chance i'll look like a complete idiot for discounting Hawks every year - much like how people treat my San Antonio Spurs.

Agreed Train I really should have made an independent thread.

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Increasing minimum number of games is one way to do it, although if an injured player doesn't manage to get to that number, that might be pretty harsh.

I do propose a tweak to your idea though - player acquisition could be limited for up to a particular date, say 31 December. It has the effect of requiring roughly a player be there for a substantial period of the season without hindering the chances of an injured player being able to play finals.

I think an alteration of the cap structure generally is the best way to cure this issue in the future. I wouldn't envisage it in the next 2-3 years because of the direction of incentivising greater resource output to attract the best talent.

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Anon #616164 - I understand where this argument comes from: survival of the fittest - those who manage their club the best deserve to be so, failed models either improve or die. The problem is, there's an aspect of all clubs being in some way reliant upon each other. And there's not all that much wealth for basketball at the moment.

For the NBL to be successful and sustainable it really needs 8 viable and stable clubs. If two, three or four clubs are consistently down the bottom for long periods and never challenging then that can cause clubs to go under through diminished media coverage, fan base and sponsors. Can't get resources to win, can't win to get resources. It's a catch-22.

You're right that money talks usually. That's why between 1996 and 2015 we saw 20 English Premier League championships split between 4 sides: Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea & Arsenal.

Which is why I like the AFL system so much. Every team has the resources for a roster within the cap. Sure, some have more to spend on coaching staff or physios - but at the end of the day players count as a major factor. That's why we don't usually see AFL sides down the bottom for extended periods.

The Saints are a nice little representation: Good in the late 90s, terrible early 000's, top 4 mid 000's, grandfinalsts around 2010, then it reset: bad again for about 4 years, then close to a top 8 side last year.

I agree with ROFLcopter, not the best roster but a great coach at the Bulldogs. I'd much rather the success of a club come down to good club and team management and scouting then resources put into players. That's why the AFL is so determined to ensure even the poorer clubs spend equal to the rich when it comes to rosters.

guys give Sobey a break ...he simply did not have enough in the tank to battle on after having spent most of the night in the emergency ward with severe stomach pain due to gastro and dehydration...... obviously he felt better prior to the game and thought he could contribute ...but in the end he ran out of gas. the fact he went out for a meal with his family does not mean he was not sick prior to the match nor that he was not feeling the loss of energy during the game ... it just means he wanted to catch up with family since the game was in Melbourne. Goulding had a great game but it was the gastro that got Sobey

Fair point...and agreed.

The point I'm making re the Bulldogs is that even if there squad is the best or the worst they are one of the smallest resourced club outside the playing list, i.e. Less physios, recruiters, coaches etc, similar to Illawarra and Adelaide and both do well with what they got.

The bulldogs aren't a fair comparison.

In my opinion, their squad is probably 6th or 7th best in the league. But their 2016 is proof of what an awesome coach and strong leadership can do.

@KET - There is the 8 game minimum rule a player needs to play to qualify for finals. Perhaps if this becomes an issue the NBL could raise the amount of games an import needs to play to 10-12 with an exemption for serious injury.

PS - This really needs its own thread lol. Can we start one and get a mod to split the comments ?

The Bulldogs are probably one of the worst resourced team in the afl, it's not always about money, Illawarra do very well on a limited budget as well.

Re chopping and changing your squad, the kings have battled for wins ever since Blake was brought in and just beat NZ and lost to Hawks after bringing in Jackson.You need team chemistry or it doesn't work unless you get a player of Casper Ware talent.

Shock horror! The better resourced teams in PROFESSIONAL sport do tend to be the more successful. There are always outliers (Leicester city) but most of time money talks.
If other teams can't keep up, then they need to improve off the court as much as on the court. This whole 'everything has to be even ' attitude is probably why the nbl had issues in the past.

Nup

Any chance adelaide could replace Ferguson with a player that has skmetyhing to offer the tweak not just his own career prospects later on?

It's best to ignore Anon's, John.

Train - Agreed, the rules are there for everyone to utilise, certainly can't complain at teams doing what they're meant to do - try win within the rules.

In some sense I agree there is still a risk of chemistry issues, although obviously Randle and Ware are examples of fitting in well.

I think the evenness of this season may be masking the issues that could present in following seasons.

The system allowing the resourced clubs to pay more creates anything but even rosters and the ability to manage that strategy far into the season up (until minimum games played becomes an issue) is another method of utilising resources where other clubs with lesser resources simply won't be able to.

In much the same way as the current cap structure could be problematic in the future, so could mid-season player release & acquisition.

In terms of this season, we've hit a nice little optimal scenario - the system designed to allow resourced teams to attract higher quality and standard of players has worked and we've managed to have an even league unlike any other ever. Before the season I supported and put confidence in the current structure for the short term but noted a change needs to be made for long term competitiveness and viability.

The same applies for this mid-season replacement, it's done a lot of good the last few years and this year but it's certainly something that is worth looking at as the league evolves longer term.

Just an FYI for people - 36ers are a club who traditionally replaces a player mid-season. Think Randle last year and Johnson & Motum in 14/15.

You said he didn't train for a week. He was that sick, wasnt going to play. Then John said he was having dinner that night.!!!! Sorry not from Warrnambool mate.

Alan, so from Boxing Day to new years years day is how long? People can't get crook in that time frame? Cheers doc. Stick to your Warrnambool basketball commentary.

Can't you read Anon l didn't say l saw Sobey training. I sat on the next table when he was dining with his family. Was eating ok for a sick person.

I should add that Sobey is one of my favourite players to watch...inspite of that ink.
He was obviously out of sorts yesterday...unfortunately, as the game would've been much closer if Randle had some help.

Not everything written on a forum is serious. Some of it is just piss taking banter.

Yes Sobey was training at brauer collage in Warrnambool who said he didn't train for a week. Just played a shit game get over it Anonymons. Won't make the finals stop randle then they have nothing.

The N S thing warrants a thread of its own...don't you think Nathan?

Great insight John! So you saw Nathan training on Boxing Day in Warrnambool on Facebook, and you're giving the scoop hey pal? Cheers, great research fella.

Firstly, Sobey and Goulding did t even really match up on each other clown! Sobey only played around 14 mins. He sat most of the second half!

The issue here is how quickly you bandwagon jumping clowns chop and change your support/teams,

One minute it's 'sack DD' then its they are the team to beat. Then it's ROFLcopter talking ish about tattoo's? Clowns.

If a team or a player has an off game, let them roll, they will pick it up as you can see! Melb played great and were coached well last night too! The Sixers could very well knock them off the next game they play for all anyone on here knows.

But overall, the award goes to John, for great Facebook stalking research.

Someone who doesn't put there name to a post.

Think Sobey, couldn't match it with Golding.

Sobey was training the last week at Warrnambool.

@KET - I often thought that with 3 imports that there might be tactics of holding off the third import until Dec/Jan and then signing a superstar. $200K for a 2 month contract would get you a much better import than $200K for a 5-6 month contract. I am all for it as the rules are the same for everyone.

There is also the risk of messing with team chemistry at the business end of the season so I think there are pros and cons to it all. Certainly adds an extra dimension to team management.

Lol.

Did Sobey have his 'N' 'S' tattoos showing?

Thanks john. You know best. Maybe he is trying over it and the worst has passed. Some nosy type on here.

Just saw Sobey, out for tea with his family. Looked fine to me. We were on the next table. If he was that sick he should of been in bed.

I think the above Bodes well for United's playoff chances

When they've had a relatively healthy team, they simply haven't Been beaten comfortably beaten much at all. So, logically over a 3 and then 5 game series, if they consistently do enough to *at least* make it close, even if they aren't near their best, then probability suggests they have a very good chance of winning it all.

A team like Adelaide on the other hand has been blown out a stack of times. But have done very well in close (ish) games. But if teams are making improvements as Melbourne has with Casper and Perth could potentially have with Bryce Cotton, those close wins can very easily turn into close losses before the seasons done.

If you want to talk about team to beat or power rankings or whatever, United's win today means they've just stolen that mantle off Adelaide.

It's worth noting that United's percentage is the best in the competition. Their two biggest losses were in back to back games- by 9 points in Illawarra and 16 against Sydney- and both were while Goulding and Blanchfield were injured, and before Casper Ware arrived.

Sobey had the flu really badly and was a game day decision to play. Apparently didn't train all week. He looked off too. I was at the game and he looked pale and lacked energy.

Zodiac, you sound ridiculous.

Fair questions KET is raising.

Tissue Brunson? Nothing wrong with today's refs compared to recent games. You just got beat. Pure and simple

That's the perfect loss for adelaide. They stay clear too. They were embarrassing and have no right to feel anything near over confident and now need to regroup and refocus, which they will. Expect them to make another run of sorts to close out the season. No team wants to go into finals on some stupidly long winning streak. Complacent is not a word this group will use. Ferguson side note as an import is just shocking. Regressed and this stupid experiment everyone seems so excited about has been a bust. We needed an extra 14 points today from someone not named Randle ronkssp the defence honest. Bust from an import point of view for this season! Not his career etc but for the team he plays for.

Melbourne are only just scratching the surface with that roster...the 5 game GF series is theirs to lose.

Can't Melbourne win a game without the accusations of home-cooking, ref bias, NBL conspiracy...