Every team needs a good junk man, specially one that plays the 3,4,5 spot...while small for a 5, he does well in the Aust league..

How lucky are Cairns. Sure would have been handy to have him here, and would have been good for most of the teams.

Nice to have a junk man that can get you 16-9 per night with nothing run for him.

Sure is, but I hope they arent planning to have him at the 5 for too many minutes, he will get eaten. Has anyone heard if they are resigning Crosswhite?

A frontcourt of Crosswhite, Smith, Rychart and an import 3/4 would be pretty decent, methinks.

um, how can he have signed for 2 years?

BA have restricted contracts this year to 1 year only!

Probably player/club options or verbal agreements.

ah ok

What are Cairns doing about imports ? There is not enough Aussie talent to compete in this league.

going after 2 imports now i've been told

they had Wortho in the bag before the Tigers came back in the comp

Vale, Grabau, Williams, Crosswhite, Mee, Boody, Smith, imports by 2 and they are also talking to Greer... my word is the Crocs have him tho

Ninnis has blown it again. As if Adelaide couldn't have used him and he wanted to come here. Hope he lines up a couple of good imports because quite frankly the team doesn't look any better than last year's 6th position team, in fact worse having lost Maher. The only significant signing so far is Ballinger.

EC, the only signing so far is Ballinger. Of course the team doesn't look better than last year given that only one player has been signed!

My concern is that with only 1 player signed and much more activity reported from other club signings (Blaze finalised)is that there won't be much left to choose from. Also with all the signings reported so far, none of them are 36ers from last season which leads me to believe the club is working on retaining the same players. I won't be happy with a roster that resembles last season's roster because it underachieved. With all previous contracts becoming null and void, this is a good opportunity for an exciting new look 36ers.

EC - and where would you have played Dusty? Not big enough to be a permenent centre, but too big to be a small foward.

We have arguably the best Power Forward in the league already signed and with the quarters this season looking likely to be reduced to 10 minutes, it doesnt leave a lot of time to be a back up.

Dusty will have gone where the money was (and fair enough). We dont need to be spending money on a player that doesnt fit with Balls alrady in the team.

Move on!

Agreed skip. It doesn't add to the discussuion to simply say "Dusty is available, Sixers should have signed him."

For what money? What's his points rating? Do we burn 10 or 9 points on an undersized back up power forward?

It's a matter of the best fit for the roster at the right price. To say Ninnis had dropped the ball is absurd.

skip, I would have taken him over Jacob. He commands more but gives more as well. A great opportunity for 2 great scorers in Ballinger and Rychart who until now would have taken up 2 import spots but now leaves both free.

skip, please give me your opinion on what changes need to be made to the roster to make it better than 6th position. If its a case of the right mix of players, who would you let go and who would you replace them with? It has to come to that because it would be foolish to say we had the right mix last season.

EC...

1) Dusty would be asking for more that Jacob
2) Jacob can play small forward, Dusty would be of place there.
3) I dont believe we have signed Jacob have we?

I dont understand how you dont understand that both Ballinger and Rychart wouldnt fit in the same Roster without one of them playing heavily reduced minutes.

I'm sure the 36ers would've shown interest in Dusty at the right price. If Cairns could make a more serious offer given they've lost Cattalini and Abney, so be it.

EC, remember that they're possibly spending less this season than last. They've had a late start due to the ownership thing. They're dealing with the loss of two major players due to situations out of their control. They juggled some import issues last season. Plus you're judging based on a solitary signing and that guys like Bruce, Cooper and Winitana haven't shown up at other teams yet.

I bet that if Dusty had signed and we had the roster currently standing at just him and Balls, you'd be singing a different tune.

You're expecting better than last season, but there is no single centre available that is going to improve on what Schenscher gave the team - that puts them instantly a step behind.

Put up your wishlist roster and we'll see if it's realistic given the two caps and who's available.

This is the best opportunity ever to choose really carefully when it comes to imports. We desparately need 2 and one needs to be an outstanding centre. I just hope that with the money saved on Rychart, it will be spent on the best imports you can get.

I beleive we had the talent last year, but there certainly appeared to be a mental issue as we just couldnt win away from home. The home record (I think it was 10 straight wins) proved that the team had the goods.

With both Maher and Luke gone and the league in reform, this really is the opportunity to start almost totally fresh. Right now, I beleive the club needs to find a decent centre and an above average point guard. We all hoped last year that Bruce could be that guy, but he doesnt seem ready to hold that role.

From whispers I have heard, Hill and Ng are both on board and Jacob is looking unlikely.

I would like to see something like this

Burston / Mottram
Ballinger / Holmes / Hoban
Import / Holmes
Hill / Ng
Import / Bruce or Davidson

Outstanding Import Centres are a very rare breed.

Off the top of my head, I cant think of any that come close to Anstey or Schensch in the last 10 years.

All the big centres besides Chris Anstey are gone or going and quality import Cs are rare - the last good example I can think of is Chris Burgess. Burston is about it right now.

PG options are little better - Bruce, Davidson and Crosswell is about it unless you use an import spot or go with a risky proposition like Black or Ryan.

I actually think this is one of the toughest years when it comes to recruiting, despite the Dragons and Spirit coughing 20 players back into the pool.

Thought if he plays 3,4 and 5 would have been handy.
We would have to be serious about Burston,now.

Wow EC, I expected you to step in for your man here but that was just embarrassing. skip and thedoctor are spot on.

With the Centres, Casey Calvary is about the only import C other than Burgess who I'd call elite, what's he up to these days?

Sorry if I've missed something on these guys due to the footy season but is there any news on Tragardh, Khazzouh, Knight or Loughton? All would be big signings.

XztatiK,you've been asleep for the last 2 months. Nothing like a good Rychart story to wake you from your slumber. Go back to sleep.

Loughton is off to europe Xz..

Very clever EC.

XztatiK - I'm not knocking the idea of Rychart playing for the Sixers, but just not at any cost. I see Rychart as a decent undersized PF, who is a role player rather than a star.

He's certainly not a marquee player anymore (if ever), but is worth having on your team at NBL level. That said, it has to be at thr right price (both in terms of cash and points) as well as filling a need in the roster.

As stated above, Ballinger is a far better player and will start at PF. Rychart can't play 3 or 5, so will be coming off the bench. He'd be a great back up to Ballinger, but is probably asking import money and it's not worth paying your back up PF a starter's salary when we still have to find the majority of the roster.

If it came down to a choice (in terms of both caps) between Rychart and someone like Burston, then given the difficulties in choosing an import centre and the fact that PF is the position we have covered most, you have to go after Burston strongly.

I'd guess ( from little bits of names mentioned, in the media ) - then - with the roster almost complete,
that we've got Burston and Ng, and not Holmes.
Bruce depends if we can fit him in the cap, and Import PG.

From there - you'd imagine Hill and Import SF.

Yeah wasn't saying you were doctor, once again I agree.