Its time to hit the road Ninnis

It seemed kinda strange to start Groves and Hill, when they are outta sorts,and putting them back in,when Ng and Herbert were having a good game,as was Burston and Ballinger was enjoying having Burston on the court.

dam imagine the pressure al westover must be under if we are burning ninnies house down.??

lots of difficult questions in the board room this week I imagine

ninnis has just commited his 5th foul and needs to go
(also is brad hill only on the team due to his father)

Brad Hill played well as a young prospect before he was injured by Abney. Also played for Dragons after that. Unfair to say his dad has anything to do with the signing.

I think he can play, but needs to be aggressive at the rim at all times, shoot when open, and rebound hard. No pointless dribbling, stupid between the legs crossover to no where.

westover won a premiership with a revamped tigers in his first season . little different from scott

I am one of the most critical of the coaches out of anyone here but I don't think they should be sacked. Only 3 weeks ago we got a brilliant win on the road against the top of the ladder Hawks and where sitting pretty being equal top with a record of 7-4.

4 games later and 4 losses later we are 7-8. The Townsville loss sounds like we didn't have a chance to win there. The other 3 loss's the Sixers were in control and SHOULD have won. If it was the sake of losing all those 4 games comfortably with us not even competiting then it would be a different story.

The coaches continue to make absolutely horrible decisions when it matters.

* In the 3rd quarter of the Gold coast game when the momentuem was swinging he takes Gilchrist out with 5 minutes to go and leaves him out the whole quarter. They leave Groves on for the WHOLE quarter and Gold Coast go on a 14-6 run to close the quarter and take the lead.

* In last nights game with the Sixers up by 15 going into the 4th he goes with a pathetic line up for 2 reasons. They went with Holmes, Burston, Hill, Ng and GilChrist. Holmes and Hill had done barely anything the whole game. Whilst sitting on the bench was Ballinger whom had 16 points to that stage and Herbert who had done a brilliant job on Penney. The only chance NZ had to get back into the game was to get off to a good Start and Ninnis and the coaching staff did everything they could to let this happen! Hill was only on for 35 seconds, so to me that says the coaching staff realised "Hey shit we made the wrong choose there lets quickly get him off". Ballinger was only off for 2 minutes but then they made another Brilliant decision to take Burston off and leave Holmes on (If only Burston played for Sturt). It was all down hill from there with Groves coming on to stuff it up even more! It kind of amuse's me that they never seem to learn.

Give him 1 more year depending on how we go from here, players are underperforming i believe. Delivery is shocking, while gilchrist scores his delivery is third rate and puts the whole team under pressure.

Ninnis's coaching through our the season has been bad, good performances from our players have won us those games.
I honestly believe a coach has a small effect on elite levels of sport, they are motivators and strategists only. They arent the base level coaches teaching skills,
I'm also a big fan of Ninnis which makes it suck more to see him do so badly. He might have the spirit, the heart but he doesnt have the ability.

you people are never, correction will never be happy with any coach... the worst job in the world will be coach of the sixers

Does Maher wanna coach? He could be the next Vossy & shine as a head coach after being a great player. You guys were all calling for Neil Craigs head mid season & he went on to lead his charges to great things this season. Quit with the knee jerk reactions & let Ninnis do his job without all the knifing. If they win the next 4 (& they could as they are not that bad)you'll all be lining up for oral. Also quit with the whole 'South Aussie' thing & recruit the best aussie talent available!

Interesting comments about the "South Australian" performances, since only 4 of the 11 listed players are actually from South Australia. As for the rest of the post, suitable for someone who posts anonymously

176,
You're not the "Cane Toad" by any chance?

orbit Ive never called for Neil Craigs head, I think what he did last season changing mid year and standing to the fans saying we have to do it and will suffer because of it was brilliant.
But Neil Craig doesnt play a rover as a Ruckman

Ive been saying this the Entire season, you can see my other posts about it if you dont believe me. Ninnis is not a good coach, full stop. If we win the next four its because he will be carried once again by the players performance, not his decisions.
Ive never seen games where the coach has such a negitive impact on the game.

The reason I mentioned Maher is because IF he did want to coach, its by far the best time to do it. I would be gutted if Maher coached a season and sucked, his legend doesnt deserve a glitch. Putting him in as a replacement right now and he wont do any worse. Hell no offensive plays, no defense, Centre's sitting on the bench for half the game. IF he wants to coach you put him in now and if hes no good, thank him for helping the club at a time in need when noone else was available and theres no blemish on his career. If he works out we get to watch Brett Maher coach on his court ;)

Anon #261176 where were you in 1986, 1998, 1999 & 2002? As if a comment like that isn't enough for you to lose all credibility, you then back it up with saying Hodge would have been dragged to mediocrity if he had stayed in Adelaide. What are you talking about, Hodge is already mediocre at best and then tops it with being selfish, self centred, a liar, a trouble maker and disrespectful to our league. And yes, I do mean our league because Brett Maher represented everything that was good about our league.

I disagree Skud. Ninnis has made some errors, but the team should really have beaten the Tigers in both games this season and have thrown away two against the Breakers as well. If you give them two of those four games they are 9-6 and in equal 2nd. I put those wins down to bone-headed play by the guys on the court more than anything else.

We've had a lot of turnover prior to this season and Burston's injury problems have really hurt us. I didn't see the last game, but its possible that Burston didn't play more minutes because his fitness is not there yet. In any case, didn't he start the game and didn't Rickert score a bunch on him early anyway?

I agree that our team needs to show it can run some offensive plays instead of he clueless approach they have generally employed this season, but I have seen improvement in our defence.

I'm not sure how much Ninnis can be blamed for the offensive failures. If its down to his inability to install and offence and get his players to understand it, then yes I'd be looking for another coach. But I don't really know if thats the case. Sometimes players are just too thick to work it out!

If the wheels fall off and the team performs poorly for the rest of the year then yes, I'd review whether Ninnis was the best guy available. But I think he should be safe at least until the end of the season.

I still think there is a good chance the Sixers make the finals and if they can sort out their offensive fadeouts (positively Goorjian-esque!) then they have a shot at the title, because there just isn't one team that is a cut above everyone else.

imo watching them live they dont have any good offenses and seem to run the same play and depend on Gilly or Balls to bail them out. Ninnis dosnt have a good rotation plan and needs to play whos playin well not the names.

even though the players have to exicute the coaching staff need to take some of the blame they have to caoch the players and give them knowledge in what to do in a tight situation.

basiclly i cant see any improvement in the ninnis coaching stint.

ninnis isnt a good coach and the credit should only go to the players
(what about the other coaches)

You might want to check and see if Maher actually wants to coach before putting him up as the replacement. I swear there was an interview with him after he retired where he said that it wasn't an immediate interest of his. Gaze coaches in another league and has coached invitational teams on tours of China - I don't know that Maher is coaching much on the side.

See out the season, invite applications, and pick the best available option. The alternative is a rushed sacking in a situation that might not give you the best replacement.

As for playing without a centre and one for the "playing Ballinger out of position kills him" crew, Balls had his big 30+ game playing mostly at centre. It's hardly the most critical problem with the team at all. IMO, the main problem is at the point where one guy is struggling to contribute and the other is under pressure, worrying about stats, and not getting the ball to the right guys at the right times.

the proof is in the pudding isaac l said it before and watching the game the other night .the players play for them self and not the team

I doubt that's true of them all. And regardless, after three quarters they had a solid lead. They were leading for most of the Blaze game and Tigers game recently too. That doesn't suggest to me that they're playing for themselves, but that they falter under pressure.

This season has been great on Hoops. Sixers win a couple - geez we are going well we should be a threat for the championship. Sixers lose a few and it's sack Ninnis and replace half the roster.

The reality is that the Sixers have a middle of the road roster (thanks largely to the fact their recruiting started behind the 8-ball due to the late timing of the ownership transfer) and are sitting mid-table. No things havent been done perfectly by coaches or players, but it is hardly panic stations.

If the Sixers finish 14-14 that would be a pretty good result given the level of talent they have, and the fact that Burston has missed so much time.

Pretty much every other team have a number of guys who are in the mix for Boomers/Tall Black selection, whereas Adelaide really only has Ballinger at that level.

The situation is that something is going horribly wrong at present and a consistent pattern emerging as to why the last quarter is the death of the game. People are desperate to pinpoint something that is accountable for this so you can identify what needs fixing. Its a whole combination of things with the coach being part of the blame. Team chemistry it terrible and simply a lack of basketball intelligence. Whilst Gilchrist is producing good numbers, he is not a good leader on court. He doesn't create the plays that sees his team members in good positions to be able to shoot. I honestly think the other 4 players on court have no idea what's going through his mind and how to react to it. I see a whole lot of confusion and that's the reason the shot clock runs right down before an attempt is made to shoot the ball and then done under pressure. I also think their shooting skills are poor, particularly at the free throw line. Gilchrist comes to mind first but there are others like Burston and Groves. You can sack the coach but reality is that we lose games by a whole lot less than the free shots we miss. Can you blame the coach fully?

Ninnis deserves at least 1 more season to get the 6ers house in order. Calling for his head at this stage is going a bit far.
As someone else put it, "a middle of the road roaster" sounds just about right. Yet they have put themselves in winning positions only to throw a few games away down the stretch in the 4th.
Is it the coaching? Maybe. Are the players making bad decisions uinder pressure? Definitely.

paul, I would just like to point out that I've been predicting doom and gloom all-season long. :)

I largely agree with your comoments also. The coach can only do so much - the guys out on the floor have to win the games, and the reality is it's a mediocre squad that has overachieved for part of this season.

I don't think that Ninnis should be sacked mid-season. But, like Isaac said, at the end of the season call for applications and head hunt the best coach. I don't care who it is, Ninnis, Breheny, Black, McLeod just so long as they are the best.

I don't think the coach will be going anywhere, the second import however...?

As mentioned above "a middle of the road roster" sounds just about right & reflects our position on the ladder.

The frustrating thing is that team chemistry sucks & basic coaching mistakes continue to be made. The coaching teams main role is to gel the team together ; motivate the players & develop the younger ones. So far I am struggling to see this.

Without any real structure to the offence how can you bag Gilly for overdribbling? The lack of confidence from Tez could also be a result of no structure on offence.

I hope to see the current coaching team turn it around but think they are out of their depth at present.

I agree that we are a middle of the road roster. What is frustrating is that we clearly CAN compete in most games, but just seem to throw them away from unloseable positions. Turned to my brother on Saturday night at three quarter time and said 'surely we can't lose it from here'. The reply 'yeah, but this is the Sixers'.

The other concern is that other middle of the road rosters such as Wollongong (who arguably are less than middle of the road) are continuing to put together strong performances through excellent coaching and team structure. We have the talent, but none of the determination and teamwork that make Wollongong so impressive.

I am a season ticket holder and basketball watcher of long standing, also an unabashed Phil Smyth supporter. When Scott Ninnis was appointed coach I had serious doubts about his ability to hold the top position and was extremely concerned with the appointment of his assistants. I expressed my concerns on this website and canvassed the idea that I not renew my season tickets. Against my better judgement I continued as a season ticket holder and had the reasons for my initial reticence confirmed.

The only reason that I bought season tickets for this season was to pay due respect to the SOS team for their efforts to keep a team in Adelaide. I also thought that they had assembled a competent team, which would play entertaining and copetitive basketball. In the main this has occurred except in one area, the coaching. For a team to win consistently it has to have the right blend of personell on the court at all times. Unfortunately this is the area in which our coaching panel has failed miserably.

Either Adam Ballinger or Matt Burston should be on the court at any one time. Burston is a very good player, although injury prone, in this league. He should be on the court, if fit, at the start of every game and for as long as his body will allow. Let him call his own subs or have someone moniter his performance closely and sub him as he flags. David Cooper is the obvious player to replace him on court. Jacob Holmes and Brad Hill should share the minutes Ballinger is off the court. Cooper and Holmes should not be on the court at the same time. The guard spots should be shared between John Gilchrist, Darren Ng and Nathan Herbert. Imports should provide something to the team that cannot be provided by a local player. To this effect Cortes Groves should be replaced.

Nothing will be achieved by replacing Scott Ninnis before seasons end but replacing one of his assistants by someone like Rupert Sapwell and the replacement of Cortes Groves may.

Great, just what we need another bloody petition....

Hopefully they do have a review of players and coaches, rather than just rolling along starting Groves Hill Ballinger Holmes Gilchrist and leaving Burston on the bench,giving fans the impression he's a lazy coach.

Ninnis started Groves again for the NZ game because Cortez had some success defending Penney earlier in the season. Probably best to leave that to Herbert and start Ng when the opposite SG isn't a top-tier scorer.

In fairness to Ninnis, and I am not a huge fan of his structures, after a long run out of the playoffs he made it last year in his first season despite a terrible run of injuries and imports (for various reasons, some his own fault but you cant always recruit goods imports) and he is around the mark to make it this year.

His offensive structure needs work, but the team gets into positions to win most games so they must be doing something right. Yes those losses are frustrating, and that has a lot to do with Gilchrist. He brings a lot of skill but the trade off is his decision making.

But given the late start to recruiting the season has been reasonable so far.

All these ex players mentioned as replacement coaches how is that going to help as they are less experienced than current coaches.
Hawks is a classic example of a team well coached and players working together. Probably less budget than us but nice mix of players that covers all facets of game.
Rather than too many guards and a import than cant even peform a basic role.
We need someone to do or help in structuring the plays etc to use the abilities of players within team.
Good post Bake but only question what can Cooper do that Holmes cant .
Least Jacob can defend a player without them strolling past while you stand there with arms up in the air. Jacob not best shot in the world but looks like Jordan compared to Coops attempts.
Jacobs our best rebounder , how many rebounds has Cooper got this year in total.
Cooper was there to help with the gelling of the team we were told at start of season .
Body language of last 3 weeks tells me although not his fault that team needs a lot more gelling than Cooper can provide.
Sacking the coach at this stage of season is not the answer or going to happen but need to do something to turn things around or SOS just wasted their money

Cooper was always just a tall body to spell Burston for short periods. Decent big men don't exactly grow on trees, and the local stocks were already exhausted by the time the Sixers started recruiting. Burston's injuries have forced Scotty to rely on Cooper far more than would have been originally anticipated. And hey, he did basically win one game for us! You might even say he's the best clutch player on the team this year... :s

I haven't read the other thread so this may be doubling up here but Ninnis made some silly errors Saturday.

He ran the stupidest press break ever on Saturday ... he was running a 1-2-2 and NZ would just match up midcourt at the 2 at the halfway line.

We turned the ball over a few too many times before he went 2-1-2 and we beat the press easily.

He called a timeout too late after NZ got back form 15 to 11 - he called it when they got it under single digits ... everyone could see that NZ had momentum. A timeout could have stopped momentum but he let them got and sure enough NZ score again.

When NZ started pressing he had Ng out there and Ng has poor handle - get him off stright away and get in Herbert or Cortez.

Everytime Gilchrist ran the "tug the jersey" play you could NZ eyes light up - they just jumped 2 guys out at Gilcrist on the pick and Gilly backed away every time ... draw up a freaking variation to conteract that.

It is just little things that he seems to miss.

I wish people would read post before replying. Ive stated several times normally I refuse to blame the coach. But when a coach is sitting down well rested contributors to play well..fools Ive had enough.
Cooper is the backup to Burston, so why when Burston is sitting on the bench is Cooper next to him. Burtson sits down, Cooper walks on. Have Ballinger and Holmes playing either side of them with their rotations.
Yeh Balls still scores when he is a centre, but not as consistently, because hes not helping the point guards more they are fumbling it.

Burstons injury's have nothing to do with Ninnis BARELY playing Cooper, Five minutes he played a few weeks ago when Burston was out of the game. Thats just bullshit.
The coach cant control the players when they are on the court, but he controls who is on the court as so far he is so freaking bad at it im disgusted. To those asking for one more season, do you want to pay for my ticket as well, cause I wont be paying to watch him waste another year.

is it only me or is the team so slow to react to the fact that the other teams know how to apply the heat and the 6ers fall apart.for gods sake get the ball moving dont just stand their and show how well you can bounce the ball between your legsuntil the clock is down to 6/7 seconds and then pass more in hope thanbrains DONT GIVE THE BALL to tez or gilly in the last few minutes because you can bet london to a brick they will fxxk up the play or turn the ball over or miss vital free throws .what more can one say please play smart ball not smartarse play

BTM, I have know problems with Jacob holding down either of the forward positions, but he shouldn't be on the court while Coops is there. We cannot afford to have two reluctant, or non efficient,shooters on the court at the same time.

Just as an aside, why does Gilchrist always move toward the sidelines for in bound passes? Doesn't that make it easier to defend the ball?

Sack Ninnis and bring back Smyth

I think it would be reasonable to give Ninnis one more year.

I think it would be reasonable to wtite a nice letter to Brian Goorjian.