Hoops

Phil Smyth Interview on nbl.com.au

Stephon
The level of development you give a player will not guarantee that he will stay with your club. They are all chasing better money, a change of scenery and different opportunities. The Brett Mahers of the NBL are as rare as hen's teeth and even he had an itch to go last year if a good overseas contract came up. This same argument could be had in any NBL club. As for your question about how you expect to win a championship when all your top SA prospects are heading interstate, well Smyth has won champioships but he hasn't done it because he was developing SA rookies, he did thanks to a good mix of experienced players. Whether you lack good SA youngsters or not, you always need a full squad. You will still get this even if you have to look interstate. I don't believe Smyth is responsible for a lack of opportunities for young home juniors. It is more the system where they don't have enough incentive to develop a basketball career. A lot of youngsters are studying or already in the work force where they are earning much more than being a development player for the 36ers. You talk about the good juniors that have slipped the net and headed interstate. These juniors can be counted on one hand. SA or any other state is not exactly mass producing good youngsters that have the potential to become a great NBL player. Many of them head to college in the US. Once they have developed their game there, most of them will be back here and looking for opportunities.

Whether Smyth is a good developer of juniors or not, he wins his championships using veteran players. At NBL level, first priority will always be given to winning championships and doing all you can for that to happen. Developing juniors for the future will always come second. A successful club is judged by the number of supporters it has and how competitive they are. You won't get that support if your main focus is developing juniors. The fans come to see basketball at a professional level.

The progress of a junior's development will come from training with the team to start off with but not necessarily getting major minutes on court. This will come with the improvements they make over the years. Who cares if these juniors are not local juniors but those who have developed interstate. If they have enough to offer a team, then they should be welcome regardless of where they come from.

I wouldn't worry too much about a cut in minutes to Brad Hill because his minutes will not be cut unless someone else is worthy enough of getting his minutes. He has many years of developing still ahead of him and his minutes will increase when his game is worthy of it at NBL level.

When I pay $20 for a 36ers game, I want to see a professional team performing well enough to be championship contenders. That doesn't mean I don't support junior basketball. I watch ABL games on a regular basis but NBL games and ABL games are 2 separate issues. I expect more out of NBL games.

2 very good points posted here, Yogee you are on the money about not being able to lose something we never had, and Stephon, you are spot on about Copeland. I think he is a good steady signing for production off the bench, and I believe that he will have a point to prove this season after being screwed to the bench all year last year. However, if this is to the detriment of our youngsters receiving minutes (Hill) then we will be right back where we started in getting no production from "raw" rookies.
I personally believe that Smyth is the best coach for the sixers, however he really needs to adress the future of the sixers...which will be recruiting and playing good quality youngsters so that they can grow into quality players.

I dont think we should be to worried about players going interstate, as it happens to all states all the time, look at Victoria, they dont have kendall, barlow as a few names off the top of my head, and WA hav lost black, harvey, bruton, worthington, so we are not alone in losing players to other states, even though i to would love to have them all in 36ers colours. I say we support the team Smyth puts on the floor, as he has a great record, the only one who may be better is Goorjian, and even then Smyth may have a better winning percentage,and i prefer Smyth, and he is a proven winner and has never really had any bad recruits!!
I personally think the team is looking really good for the upcoming season, and am fully confident we will have a good 2nd import signed in the near future, the last he recruited was Farley, so lets hope that track record continues!!
Go Sixers 2006/07, lets be positive and support Smyth and the team!!

XY, please explain yourself when you talk about my misrepresentations. I was merely pointing out a part of the interview where Smyth says he is not concerned about the 100 or so negative posters. He said it not I. I have never had a negative word to say about Smyth nor what I have said now is any indication of how I feel about him as a coach. I know many people who do not post on this forum and has indicated that Snyth is not doing the best job he can for the Sixers. The 100 or so negative posters represent many more than 100 when you know there are more negative people out there. This is what I mean by a cross section of 6,000. I agree what I said was not informative because it was all in the interview. I agree it wasn't constructive either because it wasn't meant to be but accurate, it certainly was. It was taken straight off the interview.

you definately are anon 88196, I personally feel that Phil gets the best out of his seasoned players, but when it comes to bringing juniors through, he is not the greatest. Having said that, he has been a winner most of his career....

not taking sides here at all, but was everyone saying this when we were winning championships under Phil?

Smyth also mentioned that the 100 or so posters who had negative comments about his coaching ability out of 6,000 fans is not anything to worry about. What he forgets is that its not 100 out of 6,000, but a cross section of the 6,000. I think he is underestimating the significance of these 100 posters.

Frustrating that the Lynx didn’t change things up a bit. Bench players came on with impact but weren’t given much opportunity. Sharp and Clarke were smashed by Maley tonight. Garbin was good but needed a rest. Still think they play best when they get the ball through a few sets of hands. Too much iso going on