36ers go by the book when it comes to the salary cap.

I think you should get a season ticket. This team is very South Australian based and the connection will be strong between players and fans. I'm excited by these young men.

Expect to see some better defence played by the boys too.

That's definitely one way of looking at it if your glass is half empty I guess. Are you looking for a discussion or trying to discourage others from signing up?

New Zealand wanted to keep Kersten but did not have the minutes for him after taking on Bruton. Regardless, he and Hill are a grand total of 3 under the points cap - efficiently spent points, I think.

Holmes was South's MVP and wanted to come home. He's in the Boomers squad as well. You can put some faith in their lack of interest in him if you like, but remember they've taken on Horvath who the 36ers let go not far back and who was cut last year as well.

They've retained one of the league's stand-out imports in Ballinger, still have Maher and Davidson who were good last year plus have an import spot to burn.

Most people are tipping them as a top six side.

I wouldnt be getting a season ticket, i dont think there will be an 08-09 nbl season.

What makes you think that? Only potential loss would be Brisbane at this stage - still leaves 12 teams.

the kid - Which players are you refering too when you ask 'Why arent we able to get players that other teams want?'

We have resigned best Big Man import in the league and possibly/hopefully have the best import in the league returning as well.

We have signed 4 South Australian players which include Luke Schenscher (Had a couple of NBA gigs as well as a fairly successful year in the D-League)and Jacob Holmes (Played for Australia, Was captian and MVP for the Dragons).

We still have Brad Davidson who brought a heap of heart and excitment to the team last year.

David Cooper, who is a definite fan favourite and would be close to the best back up centre in the league.

Finally we have Brett Maher. The only star player in the league to have remained faithful to one club for his whole career.

There are so many reasons to be excited about this team.

All south australians coming home, and all great blokes who will thrive under Ninnis and Hill .
Not Tim Duncan on it but if we were to snag a title i believe it would be the most enjoyable to be a part of .

Think you forgot about Gaze being loyal there skip...

I forgot to add 'current' in there

So he passed them on to Bell... bad move

Hang on a sec.

Davidson
Import(? Hodge?)
Holmes
Balls
Luke

With a bench of;

Maher
Winitana
Kersten
Coops
Burton

Or maybe this helps;

IN: Holmes, Schenscher, Winitana, Kersten, Hill
OUT: Dench, Motts, Ng, Sutton, Doddman(?)

We also have a new coach. His name is Scott Ninnis.

I think the Kid is just trying to stir up everyone. Anyone that knows anything about basketball knows we have done well in recruiting this season and that it should be a vast improvement over last season!

Ninnis finally has a shot at coaching an NBL club - do you think he'd take on these players just because friends managed them, unless he thought they were legitimately good choices independently of that association?

Ignoring the Brisbane and Sydney dramas which have come to light more recently, the free agents I can think of have been:

Bruton - expensive, liable to bugger off to better money at any time
Ballinger - we got him on a multi-year deal
Worthington - demanding a lot of money, always a chance to disappear to Europe, and prone to following Goorjian; we already had Ballinger anyway
Holmes - we got him
Vukona - 8 point player, no better than Holmes and possibly no cheaper if the Dragons' offer rumour is to be believed
Gibson - we talked to him, he decided to stay in Brisbane it seems
Ere - expensive, could've been a good option
Mackinnon - massive risk
Schenscher - we got him
Heal - no one here would've wanted him
Ng - shame to lose him
Smith - who'd want him here?
Vanderjagt - was always heading to Brisbane due to his partner playing there
Williamson - I think we talked to him
Mottram - conscious decision to release him, I think
Rigby - was considering retirement
Dench - see Mottram
Petrie - might've been worth considering
Cameron - I'd rather get Hoban in

I think the original post is very narrow minded as to the out look on how this team will go but he does bring up a very interesting point, that about Bell and (used to be) Hills players they represent.

I did think it was strange when i heard that they were bringing in Brad Hill ahead of someone like a Cameron Tovey or Brad Williamson and also thought it was weird that they brought in Kersten when Zorich has proven he is the better point guard with North, but also players like Gibson, Tait etc were looking around. Even Aaron Bruce still doesnt have a team.

I am happy with the make up with our team but dont think it is of Championship Caliber, Mainly cos of holmes (another of the bell/hill clients) but do think the team will be in the playoffs which is better than the last couple of years.

Again though the Bell / Hill thing is interesting? wonder if the NBL has concerns about this, much less management at the Sixers.

IMO Isaac, the only player we missed out on was Gibbo, and that was just bad timing!

Dragons didn't try to keep Holmes because he made it clear before season's end that he was leaving. NOT because they didn't want him. Multiple clubs were after Schenser, a couple of clubs were after Kersten and Brad Hill just wanted to play for Ninnis and didn't even consider fielding other offers. I don't know what your problem is here.

Having a friend who is a player agent is GOOD for a head coach.

Ninnis would NEVER take a player that he didn't want purely because Bell is the agent (I couldn't imagine any head coach being forced into taking a player), but he does get a distinct advantage when the player he does want is managed by Bell. How is that bad for you guys?

Damn some people just look at things the wrong way around.

Dicko i agree not a bad thing, but is interesting all the same.

Observer, Tovey didn't look around much I would guess, and they looked at Williamson even after Hill signed. He's a 7 point player I think? Kersten has had a run at NBL level and did pretty well, so he has that over Zorich. I never heard that Tait was looking around, and Bruce is said to be asking for a lot of money.

Holmes is only recently in the MVP Sports stable - was previously with Titan.

Doubt the NBL would have any issue with the relationships whatsoever - not their problem or business, plus they have enough to worry about. I reckon their biggest focus right now should be securing a naming rights sponsor if Hummer doesn't continue.

Gibson was almost a sixer, decided to stay a Bullet we sign Winitana then the next week Gibo is available.

I think Winitana could be that guy that suprise a lot of people

Whilst understand the kid thoughts as some of our recruiting is based on hope with Schensher , Hill keeping fit and having a impact and possibly a need to have another scorer if Brett cant play at best , which due to financial restraints or not reading Bullets situation, signing before Gibson become avail. again .But when read in vs out laid out by kad post then really only plyr lost that is really a big loss is Ng . Possibly should sign Ere if not way above Hodges price to score for us and not another team as dont expect Hodge back in Aust.
Can Hoban be picked up as a developement plyr
But Kid the main reason to renew tickets is to support the greatest plyr our club will ever see in Brett play his last season and to have a coach that wants to actually coach not count his money , get his head on T V or enjoy his celebrity social life .

I hope winitana surprises us more than Mastrovich ever did

Kad, I take it you meant Hill instead of 'Burton' on the bench. I am not sure that either Rick or Brett are up for it! Unless we sign an 11th contracted player, there is not any room left for Burdon on the bench.

Observer......

Tait and Tovey are BOTH contracted to their respective clubs for the 08/09 season. You can't just throw random names around. You have to be ABLE to sign them.

They DID speak to Williamson, but were focusing on Holmes and Ballinger, etc when he signed quickly with the Crocs. Don't think he was all that serious about leaving QLD anyway.

Bruce will not play NBL this season, IMHO, he has overvalued himself to everyone, although it could depend how much money Mike W is able to splurge around.

Gibbo looked around briefly, talked to Adelaide and went back to Brisbane. No-one knew that Brisbanes rescue package was going to fall through so they signed Winitana. Gibbo was VERY interested in Adelaide when the Bullets went belly-up but they weren't then able to sign him. Bad Timing.

With Kersten, you listen to people in the know. From what I understand, Lemanis (good mates with Ninnis) knew that he was going the Bruton path and recommended Kersten. Ninnis had already been watching him for years and, I seem to remember, tried to get him to the Dragons when he was there. Kersten is a serious up and comer by all accounts. Good young SA signing.

IMO all 36ers fans should look forward to the coming season. It is a strong defensive unit with heaps of potential to score. The final slot for the import will be interesting. I'm sure that (this time) if Julius cannot return then a more than suitable replacement will be signed. Unlike a lot of people that post on this site I believe that the 36ers recruiting staff will get it right. To me the only surprise was the selection of the Assistant Coach given the fact that he is also the agent for a couple of the players (maybe that was a factor). Potential conflict of interests?

i like the team with the exceptions of winitana and hill. hill has been in the league 3 years and hasnt done a thing, if he was any decent u think he could have gotton court time on the leagues worst team last year??. winitana hasnt done anything impressive in his time, if we only had 4 points to play with great sign him. from what i know we had 19 points left for 2 spots and we signed winitana? that sounds like a team being cheap to me.

The other point to make would be if we were only recruiting players from Bell then I guess we would have signed Dusty to the second import spot!!! So far I think recruitings been great, all SA boys and all good players who can become great given the right coach.

Sorry should've said "all SA boys (besides Winitana)..."

The current coaches and management have done more actual recruiting work in their short time than the previous coaches did in 10 years.

Did anyone else notice the coaches out watching junior games at the recent State Championships. They actually made contact with some players as well I have been told.

This is great to see. It lets the next wave of SA talent know that there is a path to the 36ers other than, yeah you can come to our Port Lincoln holiday, er I mean training camp and compete for a spot in the 13.

I am hoping to be suprised by this team. No one gave Sydney a chance last year and they wiped the floor with almost everyone. Adelaide could get themselves in a position to do the same.

I think that Winitana and Hill will give us quite a bit of depth at the guard spots, Coops has been a reliable backup centre/forward for the past 3 seasons, Ballinger is a big offensive threat and I'm hoping Schenscher has a bit of an edge over some of the Australian big men. We still have an import slot to fill too; and if we actually do snare Hodge back, the team is actually looking pretty fucking bunta in my opinion.

No one gave Sydney a chance last year and they wiped the floor with almost everyone.

I don't have any concerns.
The team has done well recruiting. The fact that there are some SA boys back home is just a bonus.

Ryan will dominate...enough said!

Great effort at changing your name Murry

Chose a completely different name or piss off.

Dodman is out, he is now plays football

It should read......he now plays football

What club is Dodman playing for?

you should get a season ticket for a few reasons
1. support the nbl and ur club
2. the dragons did not need to chase holmes as we were going to get wortho and likely import or someone to fill the void, as he wanted to return to adelaide also
3. We did not follow hill as he was injured and we could not fit him in any of our positions were we needed him, but could provide useful for your team.
4. IF YOU KEEP JULIUS HODGE ur team is set he is a bloody gun.
5. Schenser will be good.
6. Wintoaria is on fire in the nzbl and should be solid of the bench so go

So go and support your team but you wont win the flag as dragons will win but you will be top 4

does anyone know when they getting billed? i sent my form off but nothing has come up on the credit card yet.

I didn't think Winitana was the sort of player that you had to sign up quick or you would miss out. There was no speculation about this signing before it was officially announced and certainly took a lot of people by surprise. Whether he turns out to be a real asset to the team or not (I believe he is capable), the timing for his signing was a mistake. Wait a couple of days later and it would have been known that Gibson was still available.

My only experience with Winitana was watching him play 3 years ago in the grand final of the NZNBL. He played with so much heart and passion, I believe he will bring that with him. I don't think however, he is a suitable substitute for Gibson's scoring power.

James W... here's to a "pretty fucking bunta" season for the Sixers! LMAO

Hope we get Hodge, he is the difference between respectability and invicibility next season!

All in all, a nice start to the Ninnis era. I hope Ninnis is able to develop a good defensive skill set for the team. I've really missed the scrambling, desperation defence that was a trademark of the Darnell Mee era.

Mentioned on radio, today , that the sale of season tickets has increased.