I was quite impressed with Groves tonight, and also thought Ninnis did well, especially down the stretch

;)

Saw only the last quarter and yes Tez did suck bad time for the few minutes he was on. However, the writing was on the wall a few minutes earlier with some of the appalling ball distribution that led to turnovers. Ng trying to pass into Ballinger when he was covered by two defenders, plus Hill standing and watching Gilchrist try to pass the ball down court without leading towards the ball. The resultant tech for Gilchrist advising Hill how better to lead for the ball was classic.

This is all stuff I learnt 40 years ago in under 14s, along with setting screens to free up the ball carrier. I thought Smyth had lost the plot in the last couple of years of his coaching, but unfortunately Ninnis doesnt seem to even had the plot in the first place. These are basics and they are professional ball players. So disappointing but same result week after week.

lol i figured you would Stat :)

seriously though from your perspective being there,

how lost did groves look, and how out coached was ninnis there was nothing, i mean shave the middle of his scon and it could have been phil coaching

We've gone from a bald head to a flat top. Need something in between.

What an insult to Phil!

Here's your chance EC rip into him deserves it

Thomo, unfortuntely I was watching on Fox (seeing my seats filled by a mate so its not that bad) as I am up the coast at the golf.

Dead set though when the league is as tight as this year rebounds are a key...we had what 15 in the first half, you guys were soft on the boards! We were shooting at about 3%.. if you crashed the boards you have game won at the 1/2.

Down the stretch Ninnis just seemed to sit there and do nothing...did he have a TO left?

Oh well - Im a VERY hapy chappy at the moment....hehehhehe

Groves needs to go, after that performance no way should he be playing. there once was a time when he was a threat, that time is no more.

Gilchrist had a good game until the injury, hopefully its nothing serious, are there anymore details on this?

sorry - i meant 15 'offensive' boards...claerly the celebratory beverages are flowing :)

There are a million and one things wrong with this 6ers team this season. Groves is just the most obvious choice if we go with a personnel change. However sacking him won't change our complete lack of rebounding effort or ability, the farce that is our offensive game, the lack of consistent defensive intensity or coaching which continues to see the same guys get the majority of minutes whilst producing close to nothing and not calling time outs when required. Sure if you want to play with this season sack Groves and see what happens - it can't be much worse. However don't expect this to solve all of our problems as it's only the tip of the iceberg

Groves was horrific playing the point after Gilly went down. Absolutely disgraceful! He is not a shadow of his former self. He had the chance to make Hammer eat his words & totally choked.

Would have been nice to have a back up point on the bench .... Davidson?

Ninnis ????

Gilchrist scored a bit, but when is he going to play PG? Holds the ball for at least 12 secs every offence, continually puts others in a bad position with the shot clock running down. No on court leadership down the stretch, Ballinger touched the ball about 5 times total. Horrible to watch

Did anyone else see the Sixers complete inability to recognised a
mismatch? Demos guarding Holmes in the post. GIVE HIM THE FUCKING BALL!

I've said that I don't think they'll cut Groves as they'd be looking to limit costs where they can in this first season. Stabilise things, learn a bit on the job, wait for the league to hopefully kick it up a notch with new teams/marketing next season.

However, short of a very major reversal in form from him, I think the team runs a pretty real risk of a bottom 2-3 finish (after tonight, we're bottom three on percentage).

If Anstey returns from injury OK, Melbourne will start to push up the ladder. Cairns are more or less done, but no one else is going to step aside and let us pick up easy games.

So, considering the possible impact on crowds, a potential finals series, plus recruiting and season ticket sales next year, I think a move on Groves would have to be very seriously considered.

And though Groves is spelling Gilchrist at PG, I think they have to gamble on going shallow at PG to go for a scoring SF. A centre is going to be too hard to find. A PF dupes what we have. A full-time PG is unnecessary. A SG is the other option, though Ng has been doing OK. It'd be risky, but unless there were two changes to get coverage at PG, I'd try:

PG: Gilchrist/Hill
SG: Ng/Hill
SF: Import/Herbert/Molitor
PF: Ballinger/Holmes
C: Burston/Cooper

Bowen (Blaze, last year), Grizzard even, give that Josh Pace guy a call. Trying to think of more options who've seen NBL time. DeVries (PG/SG combo like Groves), Chandler, Liam Rush (with a view to keeping him next year), etc.

If there was an injury that freed up a roster spot and the PG situation was desperate, Luke Martin could be an option if he was match-fit?

Leave any further broader changes for the off-season.

Not good to watch - offensive rebounds at the start.
Got back into it - a 12point lead with Gilly and Ng.
Then terrible at the end - without Gilly.
Ninnis would have had to run Groves at PG wouldn't he
in that last 3mins - played terribly all nite and even worse in the last 3mins, as we all did.

Even bring back Charles Thomas despite how bad he was in his last matches he looked better than Groves !

Groves must go - and fast

Groves was a bum , fark has his game degenerated like a hyper arthritic knee.
Ninnis is a reactive assistant masquerading as a head .
Ballinger needs the f..kin ball .
Ng and Hill need more burn .

And that contradicts my thoughts on the start of the year .

Interesting to see that Groves is coming third in the 6ers Members MVP voting, to Ballsy and Gilly. Obviously some people out there think he's playing alright.

Reminds me of Charles Thomas without the occasional assist .

I've been holding off on criticising Groves because I've seen him play well in stretches without much reward on the stat sheet, and also do a good job defensively at times.

But its got to the stage where he doesn't look like he is going to improve and this team is too unbalanced and inexperienced to carry an import with such poor numbers.

If Sixers management can find the right guy - preferably an athletic swingman who can shoot from outside - then I'd like to see Groves cut. But I would understand if ownership doesn't want to make an expensive move like that this season.

Bottom 3. Way to go guys.

Cortez Stench....

Trade him for a washing machine !

DWG, Charles Thomas is currently 40 years old...

recent trends of both teams made for a predictable last qtr/result.
blaze are really starting to believe in themselves and their coach........as for sixers,it seems to be the opposite on both counts.

isaac is right about the cost factor at this point of the season,but you hope the hell that someone is getting ready with the 'big red texta' for next year.

something is seriously wrong with the balance of roles on the team, more so then the make up of the team(good mix of experience and youth etc)

i like hills potential as a kid,not sure what message ninnis is sending him though!

would brett maher ever take on the coaching job??
it would be great if he did,the club could start to build on its history again.......... after a couple of years off.

GROVES was horrible! Not Happy with Ninnis! Rotations up the s#*t. Gilly holds onto the ball too long in almost every offence. No attempt to get Balls into the game. Rebound whats that????

add a couple of shocking tec fouls and BINGO 22pt turnaround!

I said it in another thread - put Burston on a waiver. There is no way that he is fit and it will take him ages to get to that point. Even longer if something flares up again..again..again.

Get rid of Groves and then use the import spot to get a good centre who can start and play good minutes. Do it now, before it is too late!

Hello there! It appears that you're proposing the signing of a miracle import centre who will be 7'2" and go for 20 and 10 each night without fail. Quality import centres with size that can consistently perform are very rare things.

[ ] Don't show me this tip again.

Some thought, when Schenscher was here training and wanting a spot,that it may have been worthwhile.

give yourself a ball Isaac

Camel 31 - the Schenscher decision was made after Burston was signed, when he was healthy and when we were looking to fill another import spot. At the time, it was the right decision.

Sixers currently using 65 points out of the max of 70 I think. Make that 69 as I think Garlepp is counted (and he's a 4).

The TTP calculation for each Club is to include all players on the club's active roster, up to and including players 11 & 12 if contracted. Registered NBL Development players are exempt from the calculation of the TTP.

God I would take Horvarth again, at least a rebounding body in there.

Only problem is we have this weird problem that no one on our team can spot someone posting up. Has been there since last time we had Horvath!

Yes - A healthy Burston would have been a big difference to last night and the season.
I seem to recall Groves started OK last night, then one three point shot went in and came out. From there it was all downhill. Kinda reminded me of when I was 31. For at 21 it would've gone in and I just couldn't do the things I did when I was younger and retired in frustration.

Ninnis ABSOLUTELY stuffed this game up in the second half!

We had the momentuem. Gilchrist had helped pushed the lead up to 12 with 5 points. Then Groves Jacks up a 3 and misses. Harvey then hits 2 foul shots. Groves then has two foul shots and misses BOTH. They come down and hit a 3. Thats a 5 point swing. Not much to be blamed on Ninnis there. So with the momentuem switching and Groves looking hopeless out there and Gilchrist looking great, Ninnis does a HORRIBLE Move! He benches Gilchrist for the REST of the quarter and PLAYS Groves for the rest of the quarter! Brilliant move there Ninnis and coaching staff!! They outscore us 14-6 over that period to take the lead and momenteum into the last quarter.

Lucky for us we take back the lead with the (excessively rested) Gilchrist leading the way and Burston playing a good defensive support role. Then up by 6 he takes Burston out for Holmes. It was all down Hill from there. When Gilchrist fouled out, instead of taking a chance and putting Burston back on for Holmes who was doing nothing, the coaching staff hid under a rock. Sure hindsight is a wonderful thing but we were looking terrible out there once Gilchrist was gone, as we were scrapping to get baskets. At this point the coaching staff needed to be creative and proactive, same as Wright was when he brought on Demos in the 3rd. Instead he tried to go for a safe passive bet.

Also, when will the coaching staff learn that if Hill is having a good game (From the start) he will continue to have a good game and should be left on. On the other hand, when he is having a bad game leave him off! His not going to come on in the 4th and hit 10 when he has sucked all game! Hill's defence is hopeless and Blaze knew that and were purposely targetting him, so if he is having a bad offensive game then take him off. Both Herbert and Ng were looking good so give them his minutes when he is playing a bad game!

Credit where credit is due, as a result I must thank the coaching staff for reading Boti's article the other day and realising that they must instruct the players to use up fouls near the end of the quarter (to disrupt the play) as they did in the 2nd quarter which then stopped Blaze scoring. Great work Boti. Perhaps he should be assistant coach!

It was all down Hill from there.

Can someone tell me why the sixers are so slow to replace imports who are simply not producing? I mean Mark Tyndale and Mike Chappell were both held longer than they should have been and now it's Tez. I would loved to have seen him in sixers colours four years ago when he was tearing it up but 10 ppg is simply not enough. We rely on Balls and Gilly to rack up big numbers every game and we saw what happens last night when one of them doesn't fire.
I was so frustrated to see the sixers not feeding Ballinger in the post often enough. They simply seemed reluctant to get him going. I heard Scotty in one of the TO drawing up a play for Ng, the play come off but surely getting your captain and best player into the game should be your main concern.

Aw - Hill who at 22years seems to be struggling compared to last season - partly injury and partly with this team.
It was mentioned earlier in another post - maybe Davo for Groves, as Davo could've been a help to us in these last few minutes of winnable games,that we've lost.

Dazzman - They will NOT replace Groves this year due to financial constraints. So people have to realise this and accept he will be here for the rest of the season! That is the only reason why he is still here.

I don't think it's out of the question. Previously, I thought Groves might improve enough to hold his spot in a budget year, but now I'm not so sure - the numbers just haven't been there.

Ninnis has to rework the existing roster to get everyone on track, or they have to make a swap somewhere.

Asked Kevin Brooks about it, and he seems to think reworking what they already have is the best bet. Drive everything through Gilchrist, Ballinger and Groves.

Yeah KING I realise this but as a passionate sixers fan I just want some consistency in the teams performances. I mean if Tez could throw down a monster jam and create a killer assist from time to time it wouldn't be so bad. Man, i'm a Cortez fan and remember the alley-oop dunk he did against the sixers in his very first game at BMC .He just looks lost in our system and appears unsure of his role at times.
Adelaide has truly had some of the best imports to have played in this league, yet at other times we've had the real end of the stick.
Sorry to change track here but what's with the body language between Gilly and Tez? I've noticed in several times in recent weeks.

If money is truly the issue then I agree with ISAAC and we will just have to play the cards we have been dealt and rejig the current line-up.
If Cortez is staying then let's run more on balls at the top for him to work off and get his confidence going. We all know the guy can score so lets spoon feed him instead of watching Gilly dribble the shot clock away on every play. I would have him first in off the bench with Darren starting but have Tez play the more minutes. He always has his cameo five minute spurt in his second stint anyhow.

Groves try to forget
Non Scoring import
The bad shots
Absoloutely no defence
No vision of teamates in open shot
But Scotty like Tyndale this guy has invented ways to turn the ball over . Horrible -- Horrible.
Kept hearing how good this guy could be Scotty gave him massive opportunities whole game .
He hasnt been any good for 3-5 bl---y years and was never what this team needed anyway.
Imports are supposed to win games for you not lose them

Watching them take rebound after rebound was sickening last night and only when Burston was on did we even look like getting a rebound or keeping them out of keyway.
We dont need a centre just someone that has a little size and aggressive rebounder .
Ballinger has become a average player playing role he is this year and how badly we use him .
How many times was he available and Groves tried to drive etc.
We went into season undersized with a injury prone centre and Cooper as back up who although good time averaging less than 1 rebound per game with a import that nobody wanted.
Nobody appreciates was SOS did more than I did but if dont make a change then losing me as I can stick pins into myself if I wanted to .
That whole game was frustrating even when we were up.
Not saying have to spend big or even more money .
Just make a bl--y change get some agression and passion into team.
Suggested Davo and there many more Damien Ryan and many others suggested Horvath . Egan , Grizzard etc at low cost or little dearer Darden or Victor.
Change may not get us towards the top but will get purpose back into team and give the young guards a chance to prove themselves .
No change is showing dont care not a financial excuse.

Thanks Isaac.....I needed to come back to earth!!

I just thought that with the NBA and Euro squads quite settled, there may be somebody of value still looking for a gig. Perhaps not 7'2", but getting up there with a strong body. How tall is Roberts? He killed us on the boards last time we played.

A lotta plays were via Burston (preseason training,as I'd mentioned quite a lot on here and sure looked pretty good). Anyways - part of reworking.

(and when my shots would go in but come out - aw well 100 years ago - that was given as 1 point,and I was wishing it still was then also)

That SHOULD be 1 point, I used to think, as that's gone in. But somehow come out. It was more in than out.
Groves stats would be very good this season, if it were the case.
(Except last night where he'd completely lost it)

Atleast Willie Farley would bring showtime back to BMC. I know the bloke is 34 years of age but I hear he's still putting up decent numbers playing in Argentina. Not sure how his body is holding up though.
I would love to see a Julius type player like maybe Justin Bowen or even Isaih Victor who played pretty well with Perth last season.

Brett Maher?

If we sack Groves we need to pay out his contract. 6ers having money issues coming into the season can afford to payout his contract and play a new import to play. So instead of getting rid of groves they might as well keep him. That is the reason he is still here.

If it's going to cost $$$$ to get rid of Groves, then put him on ice and give more minutes to Herby.
Also , I'm a bit of a Cooper fan , so give him some shooting practise and a bit more time.

Yeah - pretty good Fill Smythe.
Herbie and Ng more minutes - Groves a few minutes at 1 and 2. Ninnis could maybe call some subs.
Cooper more minutes while Burstons being eased back into it. Ninnis to rotate the 5 spot.

I have been a fan of Groves game, but the simple fact is if he can only shoot 25% from 3p, compared to the 35-40% he used to shoot, it makes his game largely ineffective.

If Stephen Black is available I would look to bring him in as a replacement. Even if there are only 9 points available I dont think Adelaide would have any problem getting Black's rating down a point.

If a change cant be made, the Sixers need to look at what they do offensively, they get almost nothingout of their system - relying too much on one-on-one - and do not go through Adam Ballinger enough.

But to put it all in perspective, Adelaide talent wise are a middle of the road team, and with Burston missing the first half of the season and Groves underperforming offensively they are still middle of the pack and right in the hunt for a playoff spot.

I agree with the sentiment on Ninnis. A tell tale sign is how hard his team's in both years, with different personal, find it to get into the offence and move the ball around the perimeter.

Fine, if there is no money to replace Groves, then keep him. As long as he is kept chained to the bench. He cannot consistently lose games off his own back. It is better that he doesn't play at all. It is far too frustrating watching him ruin games.

lets have a look at some of the reasons why we suck .gilly trys to be a 1 man team holds the ball until he gets into snagged then he passes the ball more in hope than smart play who is to blame tez is trying to prove himself but my dear friend all you do is fxxkup this then causes the team to be put under pressure whos fault is it .we have 1 of the best scores in the league IN THE LEAGUE but does he get the ball NO NO NO NO FARKING NO bacause everyone else is trying to be heros look at WORTHO PENNY how many shots they get because their team mates look for them BUT NOT the 36ers players l am talking about BALLS he gets a cold every game bacause gilly tez hill all want hero stats wake up you foolsit takes a team effort to win games not solo shit you are not a JORDAN YOU ARE NOT A JAMES YOU ARE PART OF A TEAM PLAY LIKE A TEAM .AS I SAID BEFORE who IS TO blame WELL NO ONE BUT THE COACH AT THE END OF THE DAY IF HE CANNOT GET PLAYERS TO DO WHAT HE WANTS HE SHOULD GIVE UP COACHING AND TAKE UP KNITTING AS 1 COACH SAID WE NEED A HUGE PAIR OF BALLS BRASS ONES AT THAT

who IS TO blame WELL NO ONE BUT THE COACH

Allright to say havent money keep Groves as cant afford it. Lots of inexpensive options out there and things are going to get worse unless something done .
Sorry guys you and Scotty got him because he was cheap. Well how cheap is he now as a total disaster.
Scotty you have to prove you can coach but mate pick the wrong people now you are in trouble and spotlight on you as well with Gillys holding ball too long and Adam in a wrong role and not a regular scoring threat .
Burston not able to play regularlyand back up centre cant find a rebound or the basket .
So we need to get someone new into the squad and mix it up a bit as if nothing done going to get worse and cost you more in long run.
Agree with EC if dont replace Groves put him in the holywood seats or up in appolo room with Brett but dont let him on court give someone game time going to improve.
Giving my seats to a friend this week to recover from last sat and Wed . Hopefully next home game something different to offer

ISAAC in response to your piece yes the team has to take some of the blame but the team does not make the calls they get paid to play for the club THE COACH makes the calls . l my self am not a pro ball player but have coached sport and know what it means to have a team play for you and not just show up .please enlighten me as to your thoughts on the way the team and l use that word lightly is playing and if you feel that the coach is doing it his way or are the players just playing for them self

What's the saying "you can't teach on old dog new tricks"??? No matter what the coaches might want most players can't change the way the play as they get older. I would have thought at this level it's up to the coaches AND players together to come up with offence/defence that makes the most of team and their strengths. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

Shared responsibility. You can give instructions, but you can't stop them fumbling a pass or missing a shot. Or you can devise plays and watch the PG freelance. And you can sub out the PG and watch your other PG travel or turn it over.

Hasn't all been woeful. We've been in the mix these last few losses and a coaching mistake or a few player mistakes can turn a game.

l agree a mistake happens every now and then but NOT every game and not by the same players game in game out name 1 game this season when the two players in question have not done the same shit .which l may add has cost us the game .dont get me wrong l love the 36ers and want nothing but the best for them but for gods sake like l said lets play as a team and not solo thats all