WOW that makes it very hard! Its like what do you believe? I still dont think he went about it all the right way! Not very professional!! he says its a business..., THE MAN GOT PAID!!! so you keep working!

Embedded:


Was that you Ben Fitz???

Very interesting stuff!
He never really gave us a straight answer as to whether or not he was paid fully yesterday and agreed that the dispute was over.

I would also have loved to hear his comments on being "uncontactable" yesterday and not informing the team on his situation.

I spose that rumour of him being at the bay at 4 was true after all, I would have loved to be there and ask him some questions myself.

I'm really not sure how I feel now - I'm so confused!!! lol. Oh well, it's over, let's get on with it with Grizzy at SF.

In Maher we trust...

He avoided questions during the interview, I would support Adelaide before Hodge... Time will tell, lets see how soon it will be before he signs up to another team somewhere.

Certainly a good point Isaac. Like someone else has said today I have never known Brett Maher to talk bad about a teammate let alone lie about them in the process. You've tipped me back 100% onto the 6ers' side.

Also, I just noticed that the title of that clip is "Julius talks PART 1", part one? Is there more coming?

here here Isaac. When I saw Mahersy's quote all I thought was sh*t, must be pretty serious for him to come out and say that. Absolutely not like him to speak out like that unless there has been a real issue.

I'll take the side of one of the greatest men of all time, IMO!

On the vid, he talks some serious crap.. ie:

- "No-one else is doing the extra work". I don't live in Adelaide anymore, but I used to see Luke Hoban at Wayville ALL THE TIME working on his game. I have no doubt that many of the younger guys do the same, and possible some of the older guys. BS!!!

- "That's why Luke is here, I told him to come here". Luke is born and bred in Adelaide and always dreamed of playing for his home team.

Also interesting to see him not mention the fact he did a no-show to the game without any contact, and he didn't specifically address the question about him not attending trainings, turning up late etc. The more I see and the read on this bloke the more I side with Adelaide (and I always did from the start, mind you)

That of course should be Peter Hoban!

this is what i wanted to see - his side

very interesting to watch

Likewise, all I needed to hear was what Maher said and I was sold. Plus, don't you think that if he actually wanted to be here and loved the place like he said he would be a little sad about things. He was too smiley for my liking.

Part 2

Pt 2

God he's a good liar! He's so freakin likeable I can't stand it!!! But I'm resisting, I'm staying on the good side, the Maher side.

At least we now know that he reads the comments on his blog, hopefully he downloaded 'Heartless' like I told him to :P

Interesting to note that he still gave no comment on why he was completely unreachable on gameday. Ben Fitz, if that was you, why would you not bring that up???

I will trust Maher, and also Ninnis. Both have good reputations in Oz basketball. Just another case of a player thinking the public is dumb. Julius you are not "drinking the poison" you are the poison. Go home.

Here's what I don't like about what he said:

He says he loves it here, his family loves it here, he could have played elsewhere in the NBL for more money and it's never about the money for him and it's more about relationships.... if this was the case then there's no way he would have had a no show and demanded to be released after he'd already been paid in full. That doesn't wash with me.

When he talks about the story being released in the paper about nearly missing the Gold Coast game he says something along the lines of "You don't air your dirty laundry like that in public, I'm from the old school and you just don't do that". Firstly, he's 24 so is clearly not from the old school, secondly that first article he's talking about was favouring him and made the club look bad. When I first read it I was certain his agent must have been behind it in a desperate bid to finally get his client paid.

That knowing smarmy grin after he says "if I'm not getting paid I can't stay in this paradise, but I'm sure I'll land on my feet as always".

When asked about being paid in full before the Hawks game he dodges the question, goes off on a cliche filled tangent ("God gave us 2 ears to listen and 1 mouth to speak" - "if I can't afford to give my daughter Christmas presents") which IMO confirms that he was paid in full and that Mal was speaking the truth. If they'd not shaken hands that day and he'd not been fully paid this was the perfect time to say so, but he didn't which confirms his guilt.

The way he talks about doing all the work on his game and fitness that people don't see and that no one else in the club is doing that stuff. What was that drink the poison thing about again? Hardly a discreet solo session away from prying to improve that wonky jump shot.

"Backlash like this for no apparent reason" - well, actually there was an apparent reason, the fact he didn't turn up to a vitally important home match and didn't tell anyone.

What Lockstock said about Schenscher. In addition he was so single minded about making the NBA this season I find it hard to believe he was saying to Luke "Come and play for the 36ers, it'll be me and you".

When he's saying "just be honest, I have no reason to be dishonest" about Ninnis saying things in the paper about being disappointed with the no show. It seems like Hodge is being dishonest about his next step by flatly denying his agent is actively pursuing NBA options. If he's the business man he repeatedly claims to be then you wouldn't leave a good paying job in Adelaide to move to unemployment unless there was something bigger and better already in the pipeline.

The bottom line is that if you absolutely love playing somewhere that much, and the money is good, then things like late payments, especially when they do eventually come through and advances are given, are something you can tolerate. If I knew I was eventually getting the money I couldn't give a rat's arse if my work paid me 25 days late and I don't even especially like it there.

It's refreshing to hear his side of the story, whatever the case. Time to move on now...

I think you're probably right about him having something in the pipeline billo, although I would personally be giving many rats arses if my work paid me 25 days late!

What a lot of empty rambling. He makes no convincing points whatsoever. How is he going to support his family and pay his mortgage next month now that he is unemployed unless he has already got a better gig somewhere else and that would be more the reason as to why he skipped. People with mortgages want job security, he has given up his job on the basis of being paid late.

Hereschenes, where have you been in the last 24 hours with all that has been reported if you are still making comments like being paid 25 days late. He was paid 4 days late but didn't get his money for 25 days due to his or his agent's error. Wonder if Hodge has sacked his agent over this matter?

Didnt even have to watch it. If Brett Maher in his last NBL season mind you, is saying this about a fellow 'team mate', im glad he is gone, and believe he cant be trusted, he's poisonous for the 36ers.

EC - I was just responding directly to billo's comment. If you can be bothered looking, I've made several comments in the plethora of Julius threads, mostly of them being fairly uncomplimentary of Hodge. Sorry for not following the groupthink on this singular occasion...

Besides, unless you're a 36ers insider, (in which case you might know) you and the majority of the posters here (including me) really have no idea what *actually* happened anyway. However, I do tend to agree that Maher speaking up does add a lot of weight to the 36ers case - I don't think I've ever heard him speak negatively of a former team mate in that way.

It's simple for me (as other ppl have said) - Mahersy says it, I believe it.

Part 1 - 1.23 in, Julius says about "It's a business, you have to pay on time"... but he did get paid (IN FULL) yesterday, with Hemmerling taking him down the bank.

Regardless, if you dont intend playing, at least you would have the decency to tell the club? mmm, maybe not! :(

Again, Mahersy saying that "day in, day out" they were being let down by Julius, "being late to trainings and missing trainings" seals the deal for me.

A player that could not have played for Phil?

Here are some names

Oscar Forman
Jacob Holmes
Brad Newley
Joe Ingles

Typical American wannabe NBA player

What a wanker

Even if he did get paid in full and in advance on Wednesday when Mal 'even went to the bank to check' and they 'shook on it' sorry, but the horse had already bolted ages ago. Gate was shut way too late. Of course he would have been looking elsewhere for backup.

"In Maher we trust"? If Maher had finished with the Sixers then I would totally believe it but Maher is being paid by Mal so of course he wont come out and bad mouth his boss! Same with Ninnis, they both have barely said one positive thing about Hodge whom was probably one of the greatest players to ever play here. I saw beautiful team basketball being played while Hodge was here so for them to act like he was this big bad wolf that caused problems for the team I don't believe.

It is still unknown how Hodge was paid in November with no problems yet in December there was banking issues. If infact Hodge had supplied them with a new bank account Mal should have stated this as this is an important fact. This will then prove that Hodge infact did this on purpose like you all think he did however Mal has not said anything like this.

In my book they are both unprofessional (Hodge for leaving abruptly, Mal for paying his star player extremely late) however for some reason everyone seems to be giving Mal a pat on the shoulder saying its not his fault it is the big bad villain Hodges fault. I still think Mal did the worse crime as if it wasn't for his late paying it wouldn't have gone this way.

Either way I personally dont care and am happy we signed Grizzard and believe that if he settles into the team nicely we still have a good shot of winning the title! His defence is what I am looking forward to see!

Kent Brockman, add Luke Schenscher to that list.

Contradiction after Contradiction , what a clown , oh thats right he studied miscommunication at college .
Keep workin on that jumpshot ulius , no drink a da poison and remember we all got 2 ears and 1 mouth so we can listen to your verbal diarrhea and then throw up . out

As many others have already said and Issac put perfectly - In Maher we trust. I agree 100%, however:-

I can't help that think though that a lot of this can be put down to Julius' lack of intelligence. Imagine what his agent is thinking:
1) Julius wasn't getting paid.
2) Is stuck on the other side of the world playing in a league that is not well respected.
3) 2 teams have almost collapsed already this season.
4) 2 teams went under during the off season.


Given those paramaters, any half-wit agent would advise getting the hell outta there as fast as possible.

The mistake Julius may have made was in the case Mal did pay him into an Australian bank as reported, Julius chose to listen to what his agent would have already said.

As someone else politely put it: "He is a wanker!"

He talks crap and is full of it. How he thinks he is going to geta contract in the NBA is beyond me.

You won't get any of this with Grizzard.

He definitely contadicted himself a couple of times there. One stating that it's a business and you need to get paid and then saying it's not about money!
The second one was when he was crying foul saying he couldn't buy presents for his kids as if he couldn't physically buy presents and that he couldn't pay his mortgage and then 5 minutes later changed it to, "hypothetically, what if I was living paycheck to paycheck.." So he has the money and doesn't need it, as he stated "I could've played for more money, but it's not about that", so which one is it Julius??? How do you expect to pay your mortgage now, considering you stated you don't have any offers???
Take your 10 day contract for very little money and hopefully Devin Harris can get back on court on the 11th day and you will be once again out of a job!

Julius; You are gutless. Your not a player..you are a playa! Big difference.

Yeah the Adelaide crowd loved you, but what you have failed to realize (with that old school head on your shoulders) is that we don't accept being played for fools.

It would seem to me that with your cowards way out of your sixers contract, you really don't have what it takes to make it in the NBA. If some team is stupid and desperate enough to take a chance on you rest assured your loyal following in Adelaide will be looking on with interest, hoping you fall flat on that big old school head of yours.

I pity you fool.

P.S. with your love of self promotion I just know your gonna read this - now you have been played fool!

Anon #220235 - I think Julius mentioned something in passing about spending Christmas with Smyth.

As far as I'm aware. The sixers had payed his money...it was being held up at his bank in New York. If this is true, the Sixers were not late in paying him and it is his agent's job to track the money, not the club's. Him not being able to buy presents for his daughter is his problem, as he obviously is not mature enough to ring his own damn bank!

As mentioned a couple of times, as soon as it gets on to the fact he was given advance payments, he changes the subject.

Personally, i see thorugh his BS. Good riddance and good luck trying to find some sort of jumpshot. Can you imagine him trying to nail a 3 at an NBA practice?

Can some of you wanker just STFU as you talk more shit than he does. You just jump on the popular bandwagon and change your attitude every day. Two days ago, big bad Mal was the evil person for not doing this and not doing that, now it's JH. FFS get a grip. None of you (with a few expetions) really know what went on.

Bloody hell, if i was as valiable as JH was and my employor didn't pay me for 3 weeks and gave me the run around at the same time, i woulr refused to work. 90% of the public would be pissed as well. Why didn't he take him to the bank after he first asked where his money was (or at very least the next day when the bank transaction didn't go through) Why did it take Mal 3 weeks to get him to a bank and how come JH had to sit out a game before any cause of action would get done. Dont blame JH for this, balme the shit admin for screwing him around.

If he has missed team stuff and stuff like that give him his 3 warnings and if it continues either fine him (yes thats what happenins in a team and has nothing to do with admin) or sack him if things didn't get any better but stop trying to short change the supporters. The club and Mal are 50% in the wrong as well and have to take some of the blame for letting it get as far as it did.

Pay the man on time, he deserves that much.

Gee 95% of you are just wankers and you have NFI.

Joe M im very aware of what went on, and i can tekll you this reaction is very normal under the circumstances. We got played as an organisation period. Poor form from JH

Joe M well said! You deserve a ball for that!

Joe M - the man WAS payed on time!

why did it take him so long to get his money? and why did it happen after he walked?

It's all BS if you ask me, if Mal did the right thing and paid him on time, this doesn't happen.

15th of Dec....it's now 9th of Jan, bit longer than 4 days.


He didn't get his money until 3 days ago....4 days my arse.

So he wasn't paid for his first few weeks? this was his first trasnaction between the club and JH

i dont believe a word that comes out of his mouth,he is totally full of crap. The 36ers will save around 30000 USD a month. Dodgy man! Get back to the US

HAHA great interview. You flat out OWNED!!! Hodge!!

"thats what you do, telling everyone how good your jumpshot is"

From 36er's site:

"The Club had been working tirelessly to locate a payment to Hodge's US bank account and had informed Hodge's agent that the payment was held up in the US banking system, clearing the 36ers bank account weeks ago."

If my employer pays my money (and they prove it has left their bank) yet it doesn't arrive in my account, i must make an effort to chase this money up, as it is at my end that the money is not going through.

The only way you believe Hodge, is if you assume the 36ers admin, Brett Maher and Scott Ninnis were lying at their "OFFICIAL" press conference. On the other hand, if you want to believe Hodge's home made Youtube video, during which he does not answer many of the questions asked of him, then go for it!

Brett and scott have nothing to do with this - they play.

Don't bring them into it. They were only commenting on thing they could control. Not the money side of things.

Why didn't he take him to the bank after he first asked where his money was (or at very least the next day when the bank transaction didn't go through) Why did it take Mal 3 weeks to get him to a bank and how come JH had to sit out a game before any cause of action would get done.

Regardless of circumstances, it is obvious the guy was trying to get out of his contract. He did this by using his wages being held up "at his bank" as a way to get out.

If it was solely about the money, he was payed in advance and had no reason to not turn up and continue fulfilling his obligations. He wanted out...and good riddance!

Thank you Anonymous for posting biased information

Here are the facts:

Meant to be paid on the 15, Is paid on the 19th. Mal/Sixers Admin please explain why that is late? It doesn't matter if it is a minute late or 4 days late that is still a breach of contract.

Hodge was previously paid in November, Then there was bank account number issue. Mal/Sixers admin please explain why there was bank account issues after you successfully paid him in November. If Hodge provided a new bank account number then say that. Then we can say it was Hodges fault for providing an incomplete bank account number. Until then all it means was his payment was 25 days late due to Mal/Sixers Admin!

Isaac - Mal also shook hands with Hodge at the start of the season on his contract and then stuffed Hodge around so would you consider that to be a joke as well? Mal was happy to pocket any extra income Hodge generated but he wasn't professional enough to pay him on time. Also if you are having a go at Hodge for being rich and for him complaining during this time why aren't you having ago at Mal the Millionaire for not being able to pay in time?

If he was actually paid on time this huge drama would not have happened and Hodge would not have a decent reason to leave. Originally I would have been pissed of if he left to go to Melbourne but now I don't mind as it was the Sixers fault for breaching the contract so therefore Hodge is allowed to do whatever he wants.

The main querie I have -

How did the Sixers open a bank account in someone elses name - as far as I uderstand that is not possible.

MS, might have opened it in their name and given him card access to it as an only option when he wasn't cooperating or believing that the other payment had been stalled out of their control.

KJ, one payment a bit late. Not ideal, but big deal - on his salary, you think he's struggling to pay bills? If one of my clients is late to pay me (different to a wage, I know), I carry on and trust they'll get to it when they can. If it becomes very serious, then I cease work or alter terms to entirely up-front, etc.

This is the NBL and I bet cashflow can become an issue which might mean that there are delays - who knows. Like I said, a late payment is not great at all, and sitting out a training in response isn't awful, but threatening to bail on games, and then (having been paid and agreed that all was good) not even showing up and not notifying your captain or coach? That crosses the line.

its just such a shame, if only we paid on time in the first instance or handled that better you would have to think this would have been avoided. Both parties will be embellishing their point of view here, which is natural in a dispute.

My biggest gripe is why he did not contact anyone or tell them what he was going to do, if he said look i'm not playing for this reason they would have been able to all get together yell it out say last chance for everyone and move on. By leaving the team dead in the water no there was no chance this was going to end well. shame.

think he might have been making an analogy. I assume he would be renting.

The guy has absolutely no credibility...he talks crap and is full of crap.

Good riddance.

I'll keep this sweet. I don't know if anyone of you recall, but Jules was on the Tigers' shopping list at the start of the season.
Now do a site search here & dig up where I was flabbergasted that we were able to snare Jules' services. Thing was, the Tigs eventually gave up on him & secured Ebi, much to the disgust of the cashed up Dragons. They put on a massive outcry that that Mc Peake had undermined the system. Bear in mind, Ebi was the Tigers' SECOND option.
Chime in DICKO. ; )
There's more, but I'll let you chew on this for a while.

What are the chances that Julius did not want to get paid.

He needed something to go wrong to get out this deal to look at others bigger paying contracts or as has been suggested to be free for 10 day NBA deals when they come up.

^^^ now you're drinking my poison :p

DD, apart from "he's expensive", is there a point in that? Can you clarify?

I don't care either way as the NBL is a circus, just with less entertainment.

However, think of Hodge's actions like that of any union that no doubt many of you belong to.

A person (or persons) aren't paid? Complain. Not getting anywhere? Threaten action (strike). Still nothing? Must make good on your threat or it means nothing.

We expect more of our much loved sports persons because we have an emotional investment. If he was a teacher/policeman/fireman and was in the same position - we'd be firmly on his side.

Perhaps we should expect more though from him?

Then 'win' the 'strike' in 4 days, get more than you asked for and quit your job?

I blame the Federal Reserve Bank of America for everything, 9/11 included.

Jambo - to get paid and strike again though? No NBA out-clause apparently, and all around the same time as 10-day contracts are an option and you're sucking up to Kiki Vandeweghe on your blog? Certainly interesting timing!

DDfan, what is there to chew on??? We knew all that. Thanks.

"In Maher we trust"? If Maher had finished with the Sixers then I would totally believe it but Maher is being paid by Mal so of course he wont come out and bad mouth his boss! Same with Ninnis, they both have barely said one positive thing about Hodge whom was probably one of the greatest players to ever play here."

KJ, are you honestly suggesting that Brett Maher's career would be in jeopardy if he expressed his disappointment with the way management handled the situation??? Or that he was FORCED by management to give negative comments about Hodge at the press conference?

This is the greatest 36er of all time we are talking about. If he believed that Mal was in the wrong he would either have spoken his mind in the press conference, or not attended the press conference. I'm not sure how well you know Brett Maher if you think he is the type to criticise and lie about a teammate just to keep a smile on the owner's face.

The only time in his entire career I can recall Maher having a remotely negative thing to say about anyone was when Barry Barnes was going to coach the national side...and all he said then is "I'd get no minutes, so I wouldn't play".

If he was anymore forgiving, he'd have to ride a horse and cart to the Dome, Hamish style.


'Tis a fine Dome, English, but 'tis no barn.

Isaac..."No NBL out Clause"
think there lies the answer


Isaac..."In Maher we trust"
Think there lies the answer

Off you go Julius, a great player, with a poor attitude, I dont expect you will get a full time gig in the NBA, especially as the coaches and GM's are aware of what your display in training etc.

I am concerned...I havent seen a comment from DICKO on these happenings???

Has he not been paid for 4 days?...is he recording his thoughts and a webcam down at the bay?..or is he busily pushing a contract under Julius's nose and saying sign here?

:)

What is wrong with you people Brett is not GOD!!

Correct. He's the guy that coaches God's free throw technique, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA little ball!!!
___________

Where's Ben Fitz? He's got some questions to answer regarding questions he didn't ask and therefore questions Hodge didn't answer.

TEN, are you just here to cause trouble? You're not even in South Australia.

Isaac, come on, little ball.

You rang?

Ten Brett might not be God but he has been our saviour enough times and only time he cant walk on water is at easter.
Are you going to believe Hodge or Maher Come on lets be brutally honest here

Ben Fitz, I understand that may have been a difficult position for you to be in - you and Judas Hodge (props to 'wartz' on hoopzhype for that one) have obviously become friends in his time here so you may not have wanted to ask him the 'tough questions' and he may have even told you to avoid some subjects, but as someone hoping for Julius to 'clear the air' and tell us why he did what he did, I feel a little short-changed.
Several times during the interview he completely avoided giving a straight answer to the question and you let it slide, moving on to the next. The most disappointing thing IMO, however, was that you never asked him why he was completely uncontactable on Saturday and selfishly never let his teammates or coaches know that he wasn't going to show up. Why?

Junior Sixer ball - sweet! It's a start.

My small ball aside - I genuinely believe Griz will fit the system better.

On Principle, I support Hodge!!

Which Principle? Skinner?

I worked in HR and as a pay clerk for nearly 20 years. You must pay people on time. If it doesn't go through, you do a manual chaeque! NO excuses. Hodge had every right to lose trust.

Even if it was a US banking error beyond the Sixer's control? Or worse yet, an error caused by your own agent? I realise both are specualtion.

And HR would only do a manual cheque if they knew then money hadn't gone through - which sounds like they didn't until the deadline had passed.

The equivalent to a cheque here is opening a local bank account and walking the employee to his salary (and then some) to make sure he's happy. Not sure how many employers would do that.

If my wage doesn't come through on time, the CEO of BAE Systems doesn't open a private account on my behalf and drive me to the local ATM with a bonus in store for me.

* note to self - speak to BAE CEO re: money *

Trust? Who Can Ya?

I agree, but what about getting paid, shaking hands and then failing to show up, contact the captain or coach, or even answer his phone? 6,300 people were in that stadium and what can they announce? "We have no idea where he is, sorry."

Isaac:

"DD, apart from "he's expensive", is there a point in that? Can you clarify?"

Not a problem, I'l dumb it down.

1 .. At the start of the NBL 08/09 season, both the 36ers & the Tigers were in hot pursuit of Jules' services. Lock that in.

For simplicity purposes, ignore any reference the Dragons being outbid by the Tigs for their SECOND option of Ebi Ere.

2 .. The 36ers went with Tinnie through Jules not being available & were able to afford & secure the services of Aaron Bruce through that decision.

I'm now making the gigantic leap in faith, that you think that Aaron could be a serviceable gap-filler for when Brett decides not to play any more.

3 .. Can you accept that if the 36ers had've signed Grizz (who was already a done deal with the Tigers & not a CONTINGENCY PLAN if the Hodge deal didn't work out), that it would've closed the door on any reasonable negotiations with Aaron?

Let me know if any confusion sets in.

Posted by "Loco" today:

"Which Principle?"

The "training" principle. Stay on track.

My bad. I was late to the thread. Guess I should have called or something.






Too low brow? Not my best work, granted, but it's late on a Friday arvo.

DD, yeah, I get that. Is this about the other topic, or just this one (where you made no mention of Grizzard or Bruce and it was about Hodge only - i.e., not many dots to connect when you provide just the one)?

OK .

Apart from seeing Julius at the dome game time that would be the only contact i had with him. So i knew him, he knew me and that is about it.

He wanted to do some video stuff and i thought that might be fun so agreed. The poison video being the first and last that you will see of him specifically. The other videos have not been uploaded as after talking to the right people i felt that they would not be in the best interests of the team.

Julius wanted to get his view across and i thought it was fair that he had the chance. Anyone in his situation deserves the right to a fair trial IMO and i think most would agree with that

I attended the press conference and heard all that was said not just what has been reported on. What has been reported on is what happened.

I will state clearly now that I am a huge fan of Scott and inparticular Brett. I have never known either of them to try and manipulate or "spin" a situation.

The way they spoke was impressive and direct in my opinion, clearly they where both fed up with having to tell a professional athlete how to act professionally.

There is no advantage to the 36ers in Julius not being here,there is an advantage to Julius in not being a 36er

As to Julius' payment i have not seen his bank account nor have i seen the 36ers bank account. So all i know is what i have been told and that is as has been reported. And that is what i believe.

Julius and i met and we did the video.

This was the first time i realised how much time Julius had been hanging out with someone.

I really hate to think negatively about that but the mind does wonder what conversations could have gone on between 2 people, 1 that could quite well have a gripe against current management and owner and the star import who is not feeling the love.

Remember that i am in no way a reporter or been trained to ask questions. I realised at the time that he was not answering the questions directly and thought that this may help shed some light on the subject regardless.

If he avoided answering questions i will let you draw your own assumptions as to why he did that.

I honestly feel sorry for the guy and think that he has been misguided horribly in this instance. I conveyed that to him off camera.

I hope that his career does not get ruined by this as whilst he may have short comings like we all do the internet can not be hidden from and any prospective employer who does research will find a heap of mess about him.

It would be terrible if his basketball career is ruined because he was doing what he was told was the right thing to do.

Is DDFan a human? At the moment I think his posts would fail the Turing test.

Thanks for clearing that up Ben Fitz, one last question - did Julius ever tell you NOT to ask certain questions?(eg. his actions on Sat arvo)
__________

DDFan, WTF are u on about???

no not at all, if something did not get asked it is because i did not ask it.

^^^ my bad - wasn't logged in.

We'll look out for your name, anonymous.

Ben IMO that's part of the problem.

Mal, Brett and Scott faced the media and from what I can tell there were a lot of reporters there to face. They were asked the tough questions and answered all of them. If at anytime the answer wasn't clear a reporter would follow it up with another question to get the answer they needed.

You said it yourself you are not a reporter. Julius was in a controlled envirnment, talking to someone he trusted with one handy cam to face. All we heard in that video is more of Julius' self love and more of the same story from 3 weeks ago. Things have changed and no one pulled him up on the current situation.

If Julius really wanted to be honest then why not contact a TV network or radio station and have a real reporter ask him the the questions the basketball public want answered.

The video is a chance for Julius to save face, and in the process he mentioned third parties whom I bet would not be happy to be involved.

If Julius wants to real win some credability back he needs to be asked the tough questions by the real media who will not accept his weak, unresponsive answers like you did.

Plus don't you work for the club? I doubt they'd be very happy that you were in contact with Julius when he wouldn't talk to the coaches or administration staff. That's pretty poor form from you in IMO too.

Ben isn't representing Julius. If Julius wants to be grilled by more experienced media people, that option obviously remains available to him, right? I don't think anyone is pretending that this was 60 Minutes.

Julius initiated the contact and a contact at the club at the time wanted Ben to do the video interview. How's that poor form?

Even if a glossy controlled video, Hodge has a right to some response IMO. The public will judge it, considering the factors you mentioned above. Hopefully Boti will have a chance to ask further questions too at some point.

JH did, he was on channel 7 and itm wasn't that smoo tube clip.

i will suggest that Brett and Scott were told to toe the party line and keep all comments relating to 'on court' stuff.

sucks that all this has happened, but we won't know the full truth from mal or julius unless we see some sort of bank documents to show who was in the wrong

i doubt maher would toe the "line" hes to honest a person for that

After watching the interview on 7 tonight I find it interesting that Juidus made the statement alluding to the fact that he knew team mates that hadn't been paid. mmm, is that normal locker room talk is it?? Or is it BS. I'll let you decide.

Second point. If Maher didn't want to back his coach or owner he plays the card that he feels that this is something that the players should not be involved in. So for those that are accusing him of being a bum sniffer or of the likes, get real the guy is an absolute profesional.

Now, why aren't the sixers taking Juidus to court for taking payments in advance and not showing up. Isn't that illigal??

Boy this is one ugly divorce.

we wouldnt hear if there taking him to court yet for obvious legal reasons.

either way i say put JH behind us and lets move forward and support the team and Brett in his final season

KingJames, I seem to be picking on you a lot lately but when you make comments like this, how can I stop myself.

"If Maher had finished with the Sixers then I would totally believe it but Maher is being paid by Mal so of course he wont come out and bad mouth his boss! Same with Ninnis".

Maher has way too much class and decency to be swayed into something he doesn't believe in by money. How could you suggest that Maher only said what he did because he is still employed and has his money to protect. Maher would never allow anything to get in the way of being honest in what he says. In fact, if he said what he did while he is still a 36er, that's all the more reason to believe it.

Just checking in from India. Glad I haven't missed anything whilst on holiday. :)

Joe M, you ask why Mal didn't take him to the bank a lot sooner. Well, when he paid Hodge on the 19th December, the money had left his bank account. You expect him to turn around a pay him again without doing checks on where this money has gone. How many times to do you pay twice for one account? If we are talking in the vicinity of $30,000 as a payer I would certainly want to track that money down and direct it in the right account. This type of checking takes times as other have confirmed through their experience. If the banking details were correct to start off with, there would not have been this huge delay.

thedoctor, if you're anywhere near Cochin, head down to Alleppey and do a night out on a rice barge in the backwaters. Not the motorised ones, but persist and find one of the originals that's punted along by a couple of staff (the third staffer is a dedicated chef). Not as cheap as everything else in India, but very chilled and worth doing. Sit out on the front daybed with a beer, read a book, play cards, etc. Awesome experience.

Or if you're anywhere near Bangalore, track down a restaurant called Shiok, find the owner (Madhu) and tell him I said Hi.

Isaac I realise Ben is probably a mate but there's blind loyalty and then there is being honest enough to admit when a friend has done the wrong thing.

You can't honestly tell me that as someone who is a paid employee of the Adelaide 36ers (no matter what role he is in) that Ben did the right thing by his employer by 1) staying in contact with Julius when he wouldn't talk to the club management or coaches and 2) making the video to tell his side of the story, which he really didn't anyway.

Also I'm willing to bet that it was Ben not Julius that put the video on YouTube. I also suspect that Ben offered to make the video in the first place.

Either way as an employee of the Adelaide 36ers IMO what Ben did was pretty poor and probably worthy of dismisal by the club. He's probably lucky that the club right now hs bigger and more important things to worry about.

I'm not doing this for Ben or Isaac, but it'd be nice if you dear Pulteney, could come up with a few details to back your credibility & involvement in all this, before questioning anyone else's integrity.
FWIW, most posters here thought that the interview PROVED Jules' GUILT, so why flame Ben for helping your cause? I actually thought that Jules answered the questions as best he could under the circumstances, but won't go into detail.

Pulteney, feel free to get my email address or any contact details off www.benfitz.com.au if you wish to speak with me directly.

Isaac - funny you should say that. Just got off a 3 day houseboat trip in Allepey. The most relaxing thing I've done in years. Food is amazing, views unbeatable. Biggest tiger prawns I've ever seen. Heading to Goa now - train ride should be interesting

Pulteney:

"staying in contact with Julius", try "answered the phone when he rang".

"what Ben did was pretty poor and probably worthy of dismisal by the club" - did you miss the part where at one point two staff members of the club actually requested that he make the video?

Julius was going to get his story out whether with Ben's help or otherwise. Better to have a couple of awkward questions in there (for Julius to suspiciously gloss over) than none at all, IMO.

thedoctor, glad to hear it! The food on those barges is brilliant.

Was going to move on but as you answered.

Answering the phone is more than the 36ers admin or coach got the chance to do. Either way IMO Ben should have told Hodge at the time it wasn't right for him to get involved.

I was at the game on Saturday night and heard Paul Bauer telling someone, a media guy maybe that he didn't even know the video was made until after it was on youtube. After checking the 36ers website for staff contacts I believe there is no one else there that would have approved it or asked Ben to go ahead and make the video. I don't believe anyone at the club was ok with it, or asked him to do it.

The video has been removed. Surely this was done by the request of the club. So which is it? Unless he's counting Skip and Bizzy as staff members I'm sorry I don't believe his claim that the club told him to make the video.

There were no awkward questions in the video. There were statements by Ben that he asked Julius to expand on, which he actually didn't. Julius said what he wanted to say without directly answering a single serious question.

Either way it's in the past now, but I stand by what I say. If I was the owner or running the club I'd have huge issues with the video and would be questioning Ben's position within the crew of boys that run that very average entertainment package on a game night.

I'm sorry I don't believe...