For those wanting to read it for themselves:

No SOS plan by Sixers

THE 36ers will not try to replace injured captain Brett Maher but will want more from import Mike Chappell, while expecting Darren Ng to step up.

Coach Phil Smyth ruled out an SOS to a proven NBL scoring guard such as Damien Ryan, pointing to Adelaide's ability to rise and beat New Zealand on Saturday after Maher had left the game.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
How come it's OK for NZ to lose because they were 'extremly tired and labouring'????
36ers cop shit from all and sundry on here for the same reason.

He has the confidence in Chappell and Ng to improve.
I see Davidson being best player and Ballinger top scorer in Singapore IF Chappell and Ng can lift we can win.

Dana, because NZ lost after actually WINNING a game against a league standout two nights earlier. They do not use it as an excuse for perpetual underachievement.

The only thing I'll say is that in the games when Maher was out last year Ng actually played well, and seems to function ok as the starting two guard. He's never figured out how to play along side Brett Maher.

Yes they do Dana as well as the floor wipers

Sorry Kent? What do you mean?

I think it was because you were grumbling about the criticism of the team but immediately followed it with criticism of the performance of 12 year old floor wipers.

All I said was that they need training. Some call it development.

Oh and by the way, I had no idea they were 12 years old so please don't think I was 'criticising' 12 year olds.

Come on guys, the floor wipers were tired and labouring after coming off a game the previous night.

At the end of the day i suppose people can complain about criticism, but they are not winning and winning puts bumbs on seats.

hahahah brilliant nick

LOL. Good one Nick.

Hey, not disagreeing with you. Might take an ankle injury to have them realise why they're there to clean the court. Similar issue at ABL level unless they're really enthusiastic.

All the excuse makers re. game schedules should check out an NBA programme. they play around 3x the no. of games we do here. Perhaps we just have to toughen up!

Chappell and Ng training so good, guess that has to come into the thinking 'cause they can produce that in games.

to be fair though...NBA players get paid a 'teensy bit' more and often have private planes taking them to games.

My only pick on the floor wipers is that they seemed more enthusiatic in previous years, they also sat next to the goals so could possibly see the wetness better instead of being hiden like they are now?

Its all very well for the 36ers to make the decision to not replace Maher for the 6 weeks he is out and expect more from Chappell and Ng, but do they listen to the fans. The fans pay their money to see the games and support the team. Is it not important to them that the fans don't want to continuously see a 2nd grade team because not everyone is performing. Is it not important to them that fans do not want to continuously see the the team lose. Its about time they realised they have a responsibility to the paying fans. The fans will pay, but they need to deliver.

The same goes with the floor wipers. If they are not remunerated in any way to take on floor wiping duties, who do they really need to answer to for not doing a good job. What is going to happen? They will lose their jobs?

Umm EC I think we won the last game.....so I dont think continuously losing is quite right

MS, 5 previous losses in succession and last season. Last Saturday's game was only a break in the drought.

EC - I disagree that it is up to fans to make decisions for the club. Fans are the ones that get to watch and grumble. They don't generally have any rights to make or even influence decisions. They have a choice: watch the product supplied, or don't.

And there in lies the problem XY - Lose lots of games, fans get upset with the product, and the domes goes from full capacity several years ago to an empty house and no sponsors, expect for maybe Mrs Bankrupt.

XY, you have the point exactly, but is that what Basketball wants in this state? An empty stadium?

XY, voting with your wallet influences decisions.

Exactly Issac

Adelaide is a fickle bunch of people with there wallets - and hence why we no longer have Pizza Hut Dine In All You Can Eat Restraunts, Lone Star, Sizzler and La Porchetta :-(

Yes, there was a certain amount of irony loaded into my post above.

B.t.w. according to Austadiums.com, the average crowd figures over all NBL games at the Powerhouse/DHD since 1/1/2003 is 5,197 per game*. The average this year has been 4,758 (although this follows the calendar year and not the NBL season). 9 of the best 10 crowd attendances were in 2003, with the 10th being in January 2004.

Don't worry EC, it's not just the paying fans that are being treated with disrespect and contempt, the club treats the sponsors just as poorly. The only difference is we are investing thousands of dollars into the club, rather than the hundreds the average season ticket holder would fork out over the season.

The lack of on court success (and therefore crowd numbers seeing signage e.t.c) doesn't influence my decision to renew for next season as much as the experience of dealing with the staff whose job is to be looking after us.

Perhaps Mr Hemmerling should spend a bit more time finding some staff with `people skills' rather than the clueless, obnoxious and downright rude people that we currently have to deal with. Oh and by the way, ignoring a problem is not an appropriate solution if you are expecting sponsors to renew for next season.

We sponsor the 36ers because we want to, not because we have to.