Agreed the defence has been horrible, to many layups given up. This I believe stems from a severe lack of intensity and energy.

In Ninnis's defence, preseason means NOTHING to a fan that really cares, for gods sake Schensch has been coming off the bench! Lets see where this team is at after home games againts the Crocs and Spirit. Thats the genuine test!

I wouldn't call that "the" genuine test, but it is more of a test than pre-season games.

Surely we should all know by now that we have to give the guys six weeks into the season to Gel.

*Groans*

This is nothing new and has been the case for 6ers teams for the last 10 years

You've got major worries before the season even starts? daayum.

Wait til you see how we go in the first few games before judging...these pre-season games are glorified pickup matches, not tournament games. Ninnis is probably doing the smart thing and figuring out who plays best where, before it actually matters.

Interesting isn't it.......how we judge a defence by the amount of points the other teams score. Easy way to change that is to limit the amount of times you shoot the ball yourself.....doesn't mean you'll win though. Amount of points is an irrelevant stat.

Yeah, the single factor that determines who wins or loses the game is totally irrelevant.

This may seem silly, but do the 6ers coaching staff have access to game tapes of all the other teams?

Seems like with such a small comp, it would not take too long to do some pretty in depth scouting of each team...

Things like the spot each player hits high % shots, space on the court where stars will most likely give it up, the types of moves players like to use to attack the basket, the ability to use both hands on a dribble etc...

Yes, welcome to the world of professional sport Quagmire!

NBL is professional? Sweet. Does Chuck know?

Really only time Sixers been a great defensive team was the end of and flow on from the Dunlap era and of course the Darnell Mee influence.
We seemed to have recruited players to be a better defensive team now it is having patience and up to Scotty

Might wanna read that again B. Dracula.

The option of rotating your lineups is probably part to blame, but good to do at this time rather than at season start.

I think this is the first time we've had a Sixers team this deep, we do have to test all the combinations. While I'm just guessing a Bruce, Maher, Tyndale, Ballinger, Schensher starting lineup; it's good to see what potential backup combinations are available.

I'm taking it with a grain of salt. Besides, any team that would work overtime in a pre-season game to prove something is risking potential injury before the season begins... which is a stupid move in any book.

I did re-read it...and it made even less sense the second time around.

"how we judge a defence by the amount of points the other teams score. Easy way to change that is to limit the amount of times you shoot the ball yourself.....doesn't mean you'll win though."

Basically that reads like saying this "to judge a defence without regarding the other teams score, you limit the amount of times you yourself shoot the ball - but this doesn't mean you'll win".

...which makes no sense, at least on any planet I've ever been to.

I think he means slow the game = less possessions = less scores regardless of what your defence is like. A fast game pace will always make your D look suspect due to higher points per game given up.

Remember the cavs under fratello?

Same thing, you turn the game into a half court, slow ball, sort of like the anti-suns. That way on average you lose 85-75 but your league standing as a defensive team is ranked 1.

I think the sixers with Mee and Brooks anchored by Rees were good because they could all defend man on man and still get over to help teammates. You could play free flowing and loose because your guys could still get the stops you needed.

How many times did we see Mee destroy an opponents fast break attempt... ahhh the good old days...

Thankyou Olaf.

Olaf, beat me to it. If you give up 104, but you're scoring 110, it's not quite a problem. Comes down to game pace.

That said, just one win in the pre-season isn't going to inspire loads of confidence, but hopefully they can get things together for the real games.

I am not generally concerned too much with pre-season form, but we have been told repeatedly that the main focus for this years team was to be DEFENCE. In all the games we have lost, the oppositon has scored in excess of 100 points and in excess of 110 in a couple. Our depth on the bench was supposed to be another positive for this year so we could maintain defencive pressure, therefore I find it concerning that the team has allowed teans to compile these relatively large totals against us. The insertion of Davidson WILL undoubtedly make a difference which we can only hope will lift the intensity.

The defensive capabilities of the current team appear to be on a par with that of last years team. Which is a concern given that the emphasis for this year has been on defence and the pundits on this site felt that the 2007 team couldn't spell it let alone play it.

All that being said roll on September 19

For every excuse made as to why we lost all but 1 of the preseason games, is an excuse that could have been used by the opposition. Guess what, they didn't need to because they won the game. So everyone cut out this business about better now to lose than when the season starts and also all this business about jelling. To me, how a team performs in the preseason is an indication of the preparation they have made for the regular season. For the 36ers to lose the last game of the preseason is an indication that they have not yet got it right. Therefore they are not ready for the start of the regular season.