Bada Bing

I agree with some, but not all, of your points.

Issue number one is that Phil Smyth does not know how to coach a big line-up - his success at the Sixers has all come with mobile, skilful types in a motion offence. So why has our recruiting delivered such a big line-up? The key to our season is Chappell getting into stride so we can run the motion offences that Smyth favours.

Secondly, if you played man on man with that big group, they'd get massacred. If you go big, you go zone.

Thirdly, I agree with your comments about Cooper and I would like to point out that we haven't played defence since 2002.

My problem with that Phat Nutz, is that you need to have flexibility to change with what the game gives you, If we are going to go a smaller line up ie Maher, Davidson, Chappell, Ballinger and Mottram, we need to be able to change our defensive style to up tempo 1 on 1 defence. Seems like no matter what combination we have on we play the same zone, maybe with a bit extra trapping.

Bada Bing,

I have taken these points on board and feel that in the main they are right on the mark. However, I must agree with Phat Nutz that a zone is definately the way to go with big guys.

The thing I agree most with though is the passion. It seems like we are still fairly unsettled and not seeming very comfortable at all.

Watch Cooper close people

If he gets beat to the basket he just goes an fouls the guy. I'm all for making the other team make hard lay-ups but this can be done with out fouling. A few times the help defense came but cooper decided to just hack the offence. This frustrates me more than all you have written.

The big problem being pointed out here is defence. "Someamatuer" points out that Cooper often fouls when someone goes around him - the key to that is the going around him part. This is a big problem for many of our players.

Bada Bing - you're calling for some hard, aggressive man on man, but for that you need hard, aggressive personnel. We don't have that.

I think the big problem is that the rotations in the zone Phil is using at the moment is flawed and puting the big men out of position - End Result - Easy shots for Opposition, Poor Settup For Rebounding, and hence out of position players fouling lots to try and stop it all.

Not since the Bradtke era have we had a better rotation of big, fit and capable Centres/ Forwards, yet we seem to struggle to position and rotate them properly in Offence and Defence.

Lets try One and One more - if not change the bloody Zone - A Box and One is still very effective and simple to run!

crude boy, a box and one!! I haven't heard anyone refer to that for years. With a livewire like Davidson, that could have merit.

The problem i see with our Defensive Zone is that it appears to be a "switching" zone. On a Pick-And-Roll players never seem to fight through screens which lead to mismatches in the post.
This happened a lot during the NZ game, with Davidson and Maher finding themselves up against Rickert, Ronaldson or Vukona, with no help or switch being made to fix it.

If this can be stopped then our defense may be more effective.

Crudeboy - you started brilliantly with your box and one call, but you lost me at Bradtke.

I may be accused of having hate cloud my vision, but I don't recall that era as one of awesome, dominating big men - Pud excepted of course.

I CAN recall such names as Brett Wheeler, Chris Blakemore, Paris McCurdy, Jeff Browne, Kym Taylor, Leon Trimmingham & Dan Clausen to name a few. A good group for comedy, but not hard 1 on 1 defence!

By the way, is it unhealthy to still hate Bradtke?

Not since he started commentating.

Bada bing: "The biggest bone of contention for me is that we have a large front line however still appear to be small and get killed on the boards."

Large front-lines don't always equate to more rebounds though, especially when you have someone like Dench in there, who is a disgraceful rebounder for his size.

Mottram and Ballinger are both good rebounders and Maher is an excellent rebounder for his size and position however after that, it really falls away. Cooper is an average rebounder but too weak so often gets out-muscled.

This is why we should have recruited a small forward who could actually rebound.

We also miss Jacob Holmes in this department as he was a very solid rebounder, especially offensively where he would often get several tip-ins per game.

So the questions remain. Do the 36ers have the players capable of playing accountable defence? If so, name a coach or an assist that could work with the players to facilitate.

If not, feel free to name some players that could add some spine to the 36ers roster going forward. Some considerations - salary cap, ability to score enough points to win, availability, team harmony.

The problems we have are:

Joe Hussle - we only have one, Brad Davidson. Brett Maher should not have to play this role although more than capable. He needs to keep himself healthy.

Intimidation - none

Heart - only a few.

Offense - people seem to be drawn to Adelaide now who are lazy and dont want to play hard. The term "Players coach" gets bandied around far too often. This has become a term that attracts laziness. If this is the case you need a Darnell Mee to make sure the team is pulling their weight. (Sadly we dont have him)

Poor ability to keep players happy for long periods of time to build a dynasty. Names such as Mee, Cattalini, Holmes, Forman, Rose, Rillie, Stiff, Rychardt come to mind just to name a few.
To have kept just 3 of them long term would have made a huge difference.

As for the comment about hating Bradtke, I will never stop hating him.

Zones have made a comeback in Aust from Boomers down. You need to watch soem tape because the Kings and Bullets both played a lot of zone in their championship years. The 36s bigs couldn't play man to man or zone effectively.

I think this is a great post but a week too late. Last Sat night against NZ was about the first game i can remember when the zone obsessed 36ers just played straight up man to man for the whole game. They fought through screens almost as hard as people tried to beat up Brett. Sure there was a lot of half court trap as well, but they dropped back into man fairly often instead of that stupid match up / area zone that they seem to be obsessed with. And i think the coaching staff were surprised by the results. Lets hope they have a rethink.

Some good questions Sween, but i reckon Brad and Neil were bought in as reknown defensive specialists - something that the 36ers have not been known for of late, so lets hope that future player assessments {of current and future players} follow this recent re-emphasis. With both issues, defensive team strategy and player emphasis, I think it is a case of something we all need to watch closely in the near future.

In terms of recruiting players with strong defensive skills, Mal is certainly talking the talk if his short speech after last Sat nights game upstairs is anything to go by. I love watching Neil play defense especially when he frustrates oposing import centres, but i hate that stupid zone. Surely we can get players that dont need to be hidden in such a complicated mess. Last year the young athletic guys just got lost in that defense, and straight up defensive responsiblities are the way to go if last Sat night is anything to go by.