it is good that they have put a transparent 'process in place' anyways, and told everyone by the sounds of it.

I think Dench is safe in terms of the mid season review. Although he only had limited minutes on saturday night, he did his job. The Razorbacks forwards are young big and aggresive and our big men as a combined unit banged them hard.

It will be interesting who they bring in for Chappell {if he goes}

"our big men as a combined unit banged them hard"

*quiet tittering from DICKO ...... he he he he

"Banged them hard" - sounds like Taipans vs Dragons, eh Dicko?

Ohhhh yeah, we got banged all right.

Sounds like no major changes to be made.

Wow, if that is true, that will not go down popular with the natives...

I don't think even Chappell's staunchest supporter (I was one) thinks he has it in him to complete the season.

I was excited when I first read this thread this morning. That's great I thought - finally some necessary changes to be made and still hope for the remainder of the season. I should have known better.

You'd have to ask how badly does an import have to perform for him to be cut during the season because it's hard to picture an import putting up numbers much worse than Mike. The current Sixers management are basically saying you can perform as badly as you like as a 36'ers import but still retain your job for the season because you are a nice guy. What a joke.

The Sixers should swap Mike for Dave Chappell - at least he'd provide some entertainment on the court.

Probably the same reason you didn't swap coaches in the off-season.

You still have to pay out the contracts.

wow, im surprised he is staying, what did they decide at the meeting?? why did they have the meeting if no changes were to be made. I wonder how most fans will respond, i like Chappell, i thought he was a good pick up and hoped he would come good this season, but he just isnt in top form at the moment, and for us to make the play offs we need 2 imports in top form along with maher and davidson playing well.

All the media reports were saying that he was given the two weeks notice to improve by todays review, and he didn't , so it is a surprising decision.

Is there a worst import in the NBL this season than Chappell?

That is really shitty that we are hamstrung by the financial constraints of our owner while other teams with owners who have deeper pockets are willing to spend the necessary dollars mid-season to improve.

Can't Mal just ask Eddie for a loan!

Question for Isaac/Dicko or anyone else that knows: If a team has to replace an import due to injury does that injured import's contract have to be paid out - eg Rossell Ellis, Wayne Turner?

Rat10, guess it might come down to insurance if they have it. (I think it could be compulsory in NZ?) Not sure what they'd usually have in contracts actually.

Hate to think that this could be a decision based on cost - hope not anyway. Might save money now, but cost in lost ticket sales for the rest of the season and season ticket sales next year - easier to keep people on board than to convince them or win them back later.

Who suggested Dave Chappell? Heck, I'd even go for Ian Chappell, or perhaps even Ian's brother Greg.

Actually, sign them both. That way, we could have the 12th Man style roll call before training.

Coach: "Ian?"
Ian: "Yes."
Coach: "Ian's brother Greg?"
Ian: "Yes, he's here too."

When's the next 12th Man CD coming out? Answer - not soon enough.

Hell, even Trevor Chappell would be a good pickup over Mike......

His "Along-the-Court" pass to Maher for the Three........

Shocking decision . I for one have lost another chunk of faith in the organisation . The club can not afford to sit back and let support dwindle any further .
Massive oppurtunity wasted , needed to show some balls and salvage some respect and possibly the season .
booooo !

I was looking forward to something to look forward to for the second half of the season. Now, I am regretting those season tickets and trying to find some reason to hope for an improvement in our performance. Nope. There is no hope.

Disgusting.

This would have to be one of the worst decisions the sixers have made not releasing chappell. I have lost total faith in the sixers. I have been a season ticket holder for many year but not next year. The sixers have had many chances to change the direction and the way the fans look at the club but have done nothing.
Most fans are looking for someting for next year as this year is all but over.
Make a change now so fans think they will see something different next year and that the club and owner has the balls to make tough decision to make the club successful again.

I just don't get it.........the review was to make a decison on whether to replace Chappell and or Dench based on their respective season so far. Their performance in the last two games were to be a major factor. Well they both had shokers IMO - particularly Chappell

The tone of our lame jokes (Mike did get 7!) and the constant bitching on this site in particular, must have been another indicator that all is not well in camp Phil.

For argument sake, lets say Chappell is on 100K. Well Mal, would you be paying somebody that sort of money to work for you in any other environment? Why is professional sport any diferent. Perform or see ya later. If you are happy to part with your money like that, please give me a job Mal. Pay me 100K p.a. because I USED to be a good worker and I am a nice guy.

Some very good players with smooth silky skills and great shots do loose their touch at age 28-29.

Especially if they haven't had time to gel

I'll save Mal money, he can save money by not sending me my renewal for season tickets I'm not forking out for a lacklustre performance from the team, coach, floor wiper and with a owner without the balls or money to make the hard decisions.

in tone with the last election


Mr Hemmerling you've lost me

This move is an absolute disgrace and most of the above posts are spot on.

What really gets to me is the current sixers import selection process and scouting of imports which seems to be non-existant. Everyone knew what was needed at the SF spot this year and Chappell didn't fit those needs and was a bad signing to begin with. If you look at his stats in his last season for NZ, he was already declining. The way he is playing, its obvious none of the coaching staff saw him play before the season and signed him based on his 1 or 2 good years he had in the NBL. It's worrying such a lack of effort went into signing an import, one that we really required to deliver for this team to win.

When you sign and import and embark on a season, you need to have some backup plans in case of injuries or players not performing. One of these should be a shortlist of possible imports that are possibilities if an injury occurs. Teams like Sydney appear to have a strategy similar to this and are able to replace imports when required with relative ease. Obviously the 36ers don't have this which again shows a lack of effort and forward thinking. When Chappell wasn't performing after the first few games, the sixers should have begun immediately searching for possible replacements in case he didn't come good. They haven't started looking for a replacement until last week! They say they haven't found/can't find a replacement, well it's as if they don't even try....

The clear incompetence of the club and coaching staff is so evident in this situation and it is disgusting for fans. I don't see how this would be a $ issue as at least trying a new import is going to give some hope to fans and create more excitement leading to more ticket sales which will go some way to covering the cost. I would completely understand people giving away and/or not renewing their season tickets based on this decision.

only one way to describe this....








fu*ked......

Very Descriptive, TR.

after our christmas party last night/this morning, and the longest line of yeagerbombs seen in a long long time here in Canberra (we had 37 lined up... totally responsible drinking) that word was pretty much the only keys I could find on the keyboard and even then it took 3 attempts to find the *

Signing Davidson to the club - good business decision
Signing Newley to the club - good business risk
Signing Chappell to the club (given uncertainty with Newley) - questionable, but overall not a bad business decision
Replacing Newley with Motts - good business decision
Sticking with Chappell after first few games - good business decision
Not firing coaching staff after ten games - sensible business decision
Not finding a replacement for Chappell - plain stupid, stupid, stupid.

And looking at all of the decisions above together, it looks entirely like a management with its head in the sand.

or that has run out of money

I can't say I'm suprised.

Rhetoric is all we've had all season.

"Chappell should be %100 fit this week"
"The team didn't have time to gel over pre-season"
"Chappell just needs to find his confidence"
etc.

So it doesn't suprise me that "Chappell is on thin ice" seemed to have just as much weight behind it as those previous statements.

And it's not like there's no precedent for cutting an import - Jeff Brown anyone?

XY, not following. Looks like they've mostly made the right calls but might just be lagging customer expectations on the last point?

What more can I say that everyone else has, but when it obvious to all from first few weeks Chappel had lost it and months later he averages 11 at perc. of 33% especially in a team looking for a scorer, you have to respond. Boti great article today a bit late but maybe had reasons . Mal I stood up and applauded you on first night introduced , but sorry mate if you couldnt afford to run team properly you should not have bought team. I have had season tickets since move to powerhouse now dome .
But refuse to go until Chappel is replaced as believe club is snubbing us fans and will not renew next year if Phil is reappointed. Bad when fans have more passion about thir team than coach.
If Chappel is sacked next week I will put $100 into a ( Help Mal Fund)

Bring back "Leaping Leon"... that's all I can say. (I'm just too choked up over there non-decision.... AGAIN)

Hate to say I told you so...who am I kiddin!
Last month..."Won't happen! Can anyone remember the last time an import was cut mid season in Adelaide??? I don't think Phil has ever done it come to think of it. The last one was back in Dunlap's days!!!"
Was never going to happen...

When you consider that Singapore went shopping very late with games only a month away and came upwith Grizzard.

I don't think it's been ruled out, just don't see it happening this week.

They have a week's gap between Sydney and Singapore next week, but then a batch of games very close together. Next gap of a week or more isn't until just after Christmas.

Hmmmm, I wonder what Brian Goorjian would have done?

Probably make them run a day of sprints....

The administration, not the team...

Blood before the axe

Blood tests, in my thoughts, are to squeeze a medical reason for him leaving.

Boti spot on and echoing many of the sentiments of posters in this thread with these articles today:

1st article:
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22865889-5006371,00.html

"While blood tests are most likely an excellent idea, they should have been arranged a month ago when it was evident he was failing to recapture the spark of his past."

Or perhaps it would have been prudent to do the medical tests before Chappell was signed...

2nd article:
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22865892-5006371,00.html

"If owner Mal Hemmerling is alarmed at how much replacing Chappell will hurt his bank balance, then he only needs consider how much dwindling crowd support already is.

Running an NBL club is an expensive exercise but how much is Eddy Groves spending on Brisbane, the O'Briens on Cairns, Seamus McPeake on Melbourne? If the 36ers are supposed to live with those teams, Chappell has to be sacrificed."

Amen

Isaac, I guess my point is that whilst some good decisions were made, with the current decision as stated, the theme of the Sixers administration is not to be proactive (or even reactive for that matter) in its decision-making. It is the failure to do anything to change once it is clear that plan A is not working. The Sixers are all for keeping the status quo, even if that means we are not competitive.

I should probably have backed up my comments with further discussion, but I was running short of time. The other issues that lead me to believe this are:

The failure to have a replacement for Maher under injury waivers;
The failure to have been on the look out for a replacement SF import prior to now; and
The failure to have a back-up plan for Newley leaving (which he always expressed the desire to do).

B.t.w. I note that Boti has this morning put up two articles about the decision (or non-decision). He is not very happy about it either.

Not many options to bring in for Maher to be fair, and he wasn't out for that long. IMO, that was all the more reason to bring in a scoring import to cover for that (even before it).

With more firepower, they might well have beaten the Gold Coast (Dome) and Townsville (Dome) and been top six on the ladder.

FWIW, I am in agreement with Boti and thought his comment piece was clear but still respectful. Just not that confident that fatigue alone is going to explain, as one example, a 20% drop in Chappell's free throw shooting across a spread of games since his last stint in the league (I mean, it could, but just seems like a substantial drop to me).

Surprised that the fade during the week at training (starts well, is tired by the week's end) wasn't more noticeable.

Iron deficiency?

O RLY?

It may be that I guess...but they seem to be really scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas here.

who actually believes that there explanation for not releasing chappell is a true outcome of there review? I mean blood tests! i think they will pull the plug when they find the replacement and can throw him into the lineup so either the replacement or Mike are playing during that process. There not exposing there intentions to the public as its evident they wanna show the respect to chappell and give him every possible chance but i would say they would be looking at a replacement for after the kings game as they have a week before they play singapore! That would be a better time to cut an import as u still have mike's services for a crucial game againts the kings and then make the call when ya have time and an opponent you would have confindence in winning againts - 1 import. Thats what i think

"i think they will pull the plug when they find the replacement and can throw him into the lineup so either the replacement or Mike are playing during that process. There not exposing there intentions to the public as its evident they wanna show the respect to chappell and give him every possible chance but i would say they would be looking at a replacement for after the kings game as they have a week before they play singapore!"

I think you are over-estimating the 6ers willingness to DO anything. What you are suggesting would take effort, energy and a bit of guts.

BTW, what's the number of games an import has to play to qualify for playoffs? They want to be careful THAT doesn't come into play if they do replace Chappell.

A couple of good, but respectful articles from Nagy. Personally, I cannot believe I have to keep watching Chappell wander around looking like a dinosaur searching for a place to die.

You do have to wonder if we even bothered to meet with Chappell before signing him. I remember seeing him walking around looking so Goddam hampered at the preseason games, so you'd think any sort of decent fitness test would have revealed that he was starting behind the eight ball. Instead, Adelaide is the one behind the eight ball.

Brett Maher is the greatest player in the history of our club and STILL the heart and soul of this team. But he has been injured A LOT over the past four years, mostly because so much is still expected of him. But given his body issues, wouldn't you think that we would want to make sure our imports are world class, fit athletes?

I'm sure he's a great guy and a tremendous bloke to have around. But he can be both of those things from the first row behind the bench too. Approaching mid-season and his contribution on court could be most succinctly summed up as SWEET F*CK ALL so far. He doesn't look like someone who is struggling for form or a place on this team (like Dench). He just looks finished. And you will not be able to convince me that with any other import three man in the league we would be 8-6, not 6-8. The other guys on the team would have to know that they are going into each game one man short. Thank God that his backup, who isn't even a small forward, is still capable of averaging 11ppg despite being 42.

Maybe we are waiting for a better opportunity to replace an import. But personally, I think the time is now. I don't give us much of a chance of beating the Kings this week with Chappell there, so what harm could his absence do? The worst part about it is that with Maher back, Erik Burdon will get relegated back to the bench to be anchored next to Dodman, and he actually CONTRIBUTED to us winning a game. But yet, Chappell will still be out there bricking jumpshots and committing charges and not helping us O N E L I T T L E B I T !

I think pretty well said Mutley .

Isaac, you answered your own question. Given Maher's absence and Chappell's non-performance, this would have been the perfect time to start looking around for a replacement scoring SF.

Name one thing proactive that the club has done to improve its position? Smyth started learning some defensive sets?

This more than anything makes me think that milky is wrong. If the Sixers were intending to look for a replacement, they would have started weeks ago. Hell, we have four coaches. What do they do all day?

I have been iron deficient for the last 15 years,each day i take a iron folate tablet to boost my iron levels.At times ive been slack and not taken my tablets for weeks/months at a time.(the company that produces them went bust for a while also!)

Suprisingly my team mates could tell whan i had not taken them,they would say things like, your movin slow or not jumpin as high(believe me not much to start with anyway!!)I felt like i was really out of shape,not much gas in the tank.
With all that boring stuff said i reckon Chappell should be replaced ,maybe his back is still stuffed?

#160681 - not fair. From all reports, Chappell doesn't have an ego - do you know him personally? That seems to be a big reason why they've been reticent to cut him, although now I think they've run out of excuses (and backup excuses!)

He didn't train last week with an ankle injury.
Played here saturday with injections.
Hasn't trained this week yet, but will train friday and play saturday.

Name one thing proactive that the club has done to improve its position?

Can anyone tell me where Chappell was playing (if he was playing at all) before he joined the Sixers?

Wikipedia:

After his stint in the NBL, Mike Chappell ventured out into Europe where he played in Portugal (Queluz). He also has played basketball professionally in Lebanon (Champville). In August 2006, Chappell signed a deal to join the Sendai 89ers for the Basketball Japan League. In May 2007, Chappell signed a deal to join the Adelaide 36ers as their second import, which sees him returning to the NBL once again.

Mike Chappell felt as if Christmas had arrived early when his agent told him the Adelaide 36ers had come calling.

One of the finest imports to play in the NBL, he had never been in a program which properly suited or showcased his silky skills, breath-taking athleticism or commitment to winning.

Fresh from a season in Japan with the Sendai 89ers where he was an AllStar averaging 23 points per game and eight rebounds in the BJ (Japanese) League, finally the right NBL club was on the line.

I suspected as much Isaac. However, it still ought be enough bodies on deck to make some discrete calls over the last 3 months in relation to SF imports that might have come on the market. It sounds very much like this has not been done, and more to the point, the coaching staff haven't even turned their minds to it yet.

I've given the Chappell situation a bit of thought - check these attributes out for my suggested replacement import:

- Known globally (and we're talking well-known here, people)
- Played at highest level, including captaining his country
- Wears #23
- Currently playing in US
- Guaranteed to put bums on seats
- Brilliant passer and can score from range

Answer: our new SF, David Beckham.

No good, wife won't fit in.

Bo, the GOAT covers a few of those criteria, well, at least one!

Nice: I set them up, Isaac - you knock them down. :)

FWIW how do we know that Beckham can't shoot the J? Burn a defender off the dribble and get to the rim? Move his feet on D and beat his opponent to a spot?

And most importantly: would he give us less than his predecessor?

Bo, I think he is contracted for a few years, although Mal ought be able to fish enough money out from behind the couch to tempt him to break that contract...

Don't worry JRay, I'll look after her.......

how could he have an iron deficency!!!!,he seems to get plenty of iron with the shots he has been taking

Reckon he's guarding o.k.
Just wish he wouldn't shoot so much.