The beauty of ben Allen is that first he is an Aussie but second he has been at college balling for 4 years . College is great for fundamentals so If he were to
be picked up by someone I think he would be a great player in the future both short term and long term off the bench . And he gets up
and down really well . I'm
not sure what is shot is look but he looks like a mobile big man , which is suited to
the new nbl game style , as we saw with the fail
of schencher last season at Perth .
Coming bck from
college i don't know where is hometown is but I'd imagine he'd want to go back to his hometown after spending four years in college. But interesting to see if he gets picked up .

ben hasnt show is full game, think he might be a bit warn out from the college season but is a big boy but i agree would be looking for a home town team and i believe he is from vic.

So do you think with loss of Dj to sixers and also anstey tigers would look at him ? Or someone more experienced ?

Ben Allen hasnt really been hitting his shots in the tournament so far, in the NCAA for instance he was shooting 38% behind the arc.

Ben's a big body who can rebound pretty well, but more then anything he's a PG stuck in a 6'11 body, he really is a good passer, throw him in at PF and give him a good C and he'll keep feeding them all night long or can draw in the D and kick it out to a perimeter player for 3's.

Plus yeah hes an Aussie and he's only 2pts in the Cap I think.

I would love to see Allen and Johnson in the same same team . Two up and coming Aussie big men , who are both very proven . And hopefully will both learn alot
from ballinger , and pair with him in a very productive 3 man rotation for the bigs, for
next season and years to come
. Im
jealous as a Perth fan !

Jacob - it would give you a very inexperienced frontline - you just can't afford that, at training or in the game.

The experienced frontline last season did real well to be part of the team that finished bottom. Do we have 1 more year of a bit of pain planning for long term success?

Interesting point HO about experience.

The Razorbacks placed a lot of responsibility on Khazzouh and M.Knights while both were relatively inexperienced, they blossomed in that situation (shame the Pigs folded I thought they were a season or two away from being a great team). The same for Tragradh and Davidson at the Gong. (Man I would be p....d if I were a Gong fan, Tragradh the new Mark Bradtke)

I would be supportive of the Sixers forgoing a championship season if I knew it was looking at longer term success and putting together a team fans could embrace as key players progressively developed.

Maher was the last player who had a passionate fan following and that was because the club developed him from a young age and he became a club stalwart. Yes Maher's early years were at times frustrating but the benefits at the middle and back end of his career were worth the wait.

This is one area the sixers have fallen short in the past decade which is why I believe Marty Clarke is good for the program. The challenge for the club will be its ability to keep the players once they become stars (Evidence A & B - Bradtke and Rogers).

The past three years have seen a large player turnover at the sixers and I'm starting to get frustrated that at the start of every season I have to learn to love at least 4 or 5 new faces.

The difference with the Knight/Khazzouh and Davidson/Tragardh pairings is they were very versatile and mobile bigs with wide skill sets who could exploit their mismatches because of those skills. Johnson and Allen are both immobile by NBL standards and would struggle to play together.

With Johnson and Ballinger already signed, the Sixers need some toughness in the frontcourt.

Ben Allen's has all-round ability. He is a great shooter, passer and can also rebound. As he showed at SMC, he thrives playing alongside a physial centre. He would actually play best in the NBL IMO alongside Schenscher.

Give him time to adjust to the NBL as it is a lot different from college ball.

He has good skills but Johnson doesnt, and Allen's lack of mobility at the 4 would see him murdered in the NBL in that position.

Successful recent frontcourts in the NBL

Schenscher, Redhage, Wagstaff, Young, Cattalini
Burston, Worthington, Vukona, D Smith
Anstey, Stiff, Lampley, Barlow
Bradtke, Rychart, Mackinnon, Boucher

One good big guy and then mobile athletes. With Ballinger and Johnson the Sixers can already go big, now they need a player or two who can match up on the style of player mentioned above.

Lack of experience was put up as a reason not to go with two young players at either the centre and power forward positions. While that point is quite valid it also depends on team priorities, i.e. go for broke or build up around the development of young talent.

I suspect the direction the sixers are heading is the later of the two approaches I've highlighted given the signings to date and the appointment of Marty Clarke.

I used the two examples (Triggar/Davo and Knights/Khazzouh) to support my opinion on experience and not as a comparison of skill sets between various pairings of particular players.

That said, the previous posts had discussed Ben Allen pairing up with Daniel Johnson so I can see why people made that connection.

Ho - I never said to just have Dj and Allen , they are both cheap points , having ballinger there almost as a mentor and then resigning somone like burston or getiing schencher they will develop much more , by going up against proven players at practice !