*** I meant "Officially", and **"No doubt", doh!

Definitely would've put the club in tough situation, DeVires has done everything they have asked of him in relation to his off court leadership and the recovery of his injury, but sometimes these things just don't work out. And fridays game was obviously the nail in the coffin...

Glad they made the call now, when we still have a strong chance of a solid finish to the season (with a replacement import, and Creek coming back in) Rather than wait and see "IF" his injury improved over time.

I truly think if they make as good of a choice on this replacement, as they have with shannon, we will be in the playoffs this season.

very keen to see who we gettin in exciting times after a lackluster start to the season

sorry to see DeVries go and not be able to perform at his best due to injury, especially after his great 36ers debut.

Hope we get a gun import to replace him, my preference is a athletic scoring swing man, who can create his own shot and score from the perimeter, ala 2002 v of Willie Farley.

Anyone know who they are looking at to replace him? Donta Smith was linked to the Kings and Tiger is he any chance?

I was going to say despite the end to the last game, the decision was unexpected IMO.

Must be something serious if he can't work through the injury or rehab it during the season.

Guess that means that Ng will get the starting job for the next game or will they rotate Creek to the 3-spot and rotate hill down to the 2-spot?

Brilliant news, im gaining great faith in the SOS group with this news. Screw a 3 year plan, ist the NBL for gods sake, every season is a chance at glory with the right choice of imports! With the right recruit from this point, i cant believe im saying this, but there genuinely is enough time to turn this season into a playoff bound campaign!

GO SIXERS!

damn! Didnt see that coming. Tough break. Hope he doesnt hold it against the sixers. All the best for the future

damn! Didnt see that coming. Tough break. Hope he doesnt hold it against the sixers. All the best for the future

bloody hell. Stupid phone. Sorry for the double post

Really like Troy, though he was the perfect player for us but it did not come together. He has range, good IQ and is not selfish. Just hope whoever they get is a gun and we not have to blend 2 new players into a team mid stream while trying to get wins. Interesting times.

just had a look at the list of sg and sf free agents on the eurobasket.com website, and some names id love the 36ers to look at (without knowing anything about price/availability and interest, or who the 36ers are looking at, and not knowing many of the guys on the list) are:

Gerald Fitch (combo guard)
Nate Green (combo guard)
CJ Massingale (potentially a cheaper option if $$ is an issue)
Rossell Ellis (more a sf/pf)
Marcus Fizer (more a sf/pf)
Trenton Hassell
Adam Morrison
Bobby Simmons

If all those guys where available and interested id love them to bring in Adam Morrison.

Anyways a pointless thread, but we can dream.

Look forward to seeing who they can bring in!

De Vries will be worth getting back some day. I saw one request for Donta Smith in this thread. Wasn't it on Overtime that they said that CEO of the Kings enquired into Smith, but he was offered 4 times what the Kings could offer in one league, & then a team in China doubled that offer.

Sad to see Troy go, as I rate him as a player and I think his attributes are a great fit for the 36ers - especially with Shannon on board. But the injury is clearly limiting his play, and if it's something that is not going to get better in a hurry then this was the only logical move given the team's struggles.
Hope you guys can find a quality replacement.

I really like troy, thought he was a good citizen and solid player. hopefully it was just a call on the injury like they say. id say they would have someone lined up already. makes a mockery out of the paper articles where clarke said theyd give him time, unless i guess things have worsened and its now clear hes done. good luck for the future troy, this is disappointing news to me but hopefully will end up good for our team.

C'mon all nice words aside, the 6ers were never going to be a chance to make the playoffs with Devries. The record was only going SOUTH. Atleast with some new blood and hopefully an unknown to the league, the fans will flock, because the anticiption will be as high as possible for a team 3-6! Take the ruthlessness out of it, because by all accounts Troy is a genuinely nice person, you have applaud the SOS for this move, takes some balls to risk it, for the better of the team, when you could just roll along and maybe finish with a 'comepetitve' 5th to 7th ranked effort.

Nate green played for the canberra cannons-had high socks and was awesome until he went up for that dunk and seriously injured (I Sammy Mac went to block him) himself and thus was released

some D-league names id like to see them look at are:

Andre Ingram
Terrance Williams
Oriene Green
Kyle Weaver
Garratt Temple
Marcus Landry
Luke Jackson

If all were available and if i were picking id bring in Kyle Weaver, he is a 6-6 guard, is averaging 19 points (50% FG, 47% 3pt) 4 asssits, 5 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks in 9 games.

I really liked what Devries brought to the team in the first few games of the year and he seems like a pretty nice guy, but it was obvious to everyone on Friday night that he is severely hampered by an injury atm because we looked twice as good with Ng on the floor. Alas, a tough call had to be made.

It leaves Marty Clarke with a pretty huge decision to make now with who we get to replace him. Obviously we need another scorer, that's a given, but we do lack presence in the paint so I wouldn't be against a PF or a tall SF. Hill, Ng, Creek, Carter could all split minutes at SG and if someone got injured Daly could be given a chance at either guard spot.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the season now, because it's amazing how much better we looked with a PG who can penetrate, draw multiple defenders and kick it out to open shooters. Ng and Ballinger looked like different guys out there, and even Carter got wide open looks. Throw a new import and Mitch Creek into the mix and hopefully we will see a big playoffs push.

@johnno some of those guys came to the hsh comp and were good- terrence williams was good. troy jackson who was at hsh would also be good!!

oriene greene was at the breakers and was an individual who didn't play too much for the team- more so for himself!

Kind of disappointing to see him go. Seemed to fit in pretty well, but if injured and considering what he was putting up recently, it's probably for the best. Would be happy to bring him back next year if he gets his body right again.
Wouldn't mind if we went for who I wanted when DeVries was originally signed: Kevin Ratzsch.
Appeared in the HSH comp to have a really well rounded game. Good height, athleticism, range, defense, can put up good numbers, seemed to come up good when the game was on the line. Might be a touch tall to start at the SG position, but appeared to be able to play both tall or small.
Anyone know where he is playing or if he's available.

ah i forgot about Williams at HSH, cant remember him really was he athletic scorer with a decent jump shot?, and has some good d-league stats, about the same as Weaver if my memory serves correctly.

Good on SOS show serious about this team .
Always felt DeVries wasnt the scorer we needed and now with Shannon hope we find one and personally like to see a bit of size on him

Absolute shame about the injury, adds up, something had to be wrong.
Best of luck Troy. Good luck with getting fit.
You don't let someone of Troy's quality go without a good option up your sleeve.
I cannot wait to see who the new addittion is.

Good luck Troy, get heathy, shame we only seen an injured Troy.Sad day for all that know you.

Happy about this.

There are 50 names you could throw up from the D-League so why bother lol, but someone like Weaver looks perfect and not completely out of reach. I've always liked Rashad McCants too although attitude might be a problem there.

Can't wait to see who it is!

Im really disapointed with this. Obviously his injury must not be something that can be fixed easily.
I think Troy would be the first import cut that could have really suited the team if he was fully fit, sad to see a guy with Bball IQ and form having to be let go.

yea i know x there are so many options out there, i was just playing a bit of fantasy gm picking the import id get if i was gm and picking from d-league.

Also cant wait to see who comes in, hopefully they have them signed and ready to go by friday

Umm, is this the Terrence Williams you guys are talking about?

http://espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=4019

He was dropped down to the D-League for 3 games this season (where he averaged a triple-double BTW) by the Nets for disciplinary reasons. He was the 11th pick in the 2009 Draft, pretty sure he was never at the massively pissy HSH tournament. You must be thinking of someone else. He is on 2.2 million $ this season.

thinking of terrence woodberry

Is Gabe Freeman's PBL contract set in stone or...?

I'm sure we could beat that offer.

Ok, I'll stop.

wow

Didn't expect this but suspect Troy put it on the table and Sixers made the final decision.

Sunday bloody sundy.

I wonder if the new import will be here by friday with his clearance and luggage.

Is this "injury" genuine?

I think the new import will be here , with clearance
by friday.
Doubt his luggage will.

The injury was pretty obvious, he was clearly a different player physically than the one who started the season. A good move but the crap about him losing the game on Friday is just that - did you expect him to let the shot clock expire and not shoot the ball?!

The train of thought that SOS wont sack imports has certainly been proved to be just that. It's a lottery getting a new import though. Kings had McCullough who had good numbers against good opposisiton in Europe and was terrible here, while Sanders was ok against average oppo in Europe but looks the goods here.

If they can get a good player though things are really looking up, because Shannon ran the offence beautifully on Friday night until he ran out of fuel.

paul, you made me think I spoke a bit hastily when I criticized DeVries' decision making after the Gong game, so I went back and watched my recording of it.

The first one: He got the ball with 5 seconds left and drove. Good decision considering the time left and the gap he saw, but I think that one was more the fact that he missed such a gimme, rather than the thinking process. No one should miss such an easy layup in the clutch.

Second one: A terrible decision to drive and put up a wild, contested layup. HE HAD 20 SECONDS LEFT.

Third one: 7 seconds left when he received it. Surely you can get a half-decent shot in that amount of time, if not he had an option inside. Admittedly, Coenraad was playing pretty tough D but the wild fade-away with 2 seconds remaining left a bit to be desired.

I don't mean to criticize a guy who's already on the way out, I'd love to see him back and fully fit one day, but I think those saying he cost us a win on Friday can be somewhat justified.

The decision on what sort of player to bring in was not helped Friday night by average games by Hill and DJ,
but i would like to see them stick to the same formula, give DJ, Hill and Creek opportunities to grow and improve, and bring in a big guard.

Hopefully we will hear fairly soon who the replacement is.

Where were the blood tests and shenannigans by the coach and board on DeVries? Very unprofessional considering Mike Chappell got the royal treatment!
If we need to get rid of anyone, its time Brad Hill left.He has had many years to get his foot in the door. But then, is Daddy still part of the board?

Might be time to rethink my position in rejoining. Cos if we dont make the finals, then all this is just holla-bull-ooza

@dave-blocknorth

Nepotism in basketball in SA, never!!!

LOL isn't it what this state is built on in the last 10 to 15 years?????

I like Devries but our SA boys have not proven a lot lately. Lets pound tge ball to Balls and see what happens.

I think a shooting guard next to "One eyed Willie" who can hit an open shot, not necessarily a 3 would be good.

Seems like the mid range game in the NBL is a thing of the past.

X, I agree the second shot was a blood rush and a bad decision, but the other two were him trying to get a shot after the offence had failed and the shot clock was running down.

His execution wasnt the best and you would expect a starter to make at least one of those shots, but no one else really stepped up to make anything happen late in the game - it is harsh to say he lost the team the game.

He had a poor game sure and replacing him is a good decision, but two missed shots with the shot clock at 3 is a lot different from the way it is being painted.

Is this "injury" genuine?

There was one play late in the game where Balls was out on the 45 (either outside the arc or just inside), wide open for a few seconds. By the end of that passage, he had his hand up trying to attract attention. Can't remember who had the ball at that point - either DeVries or Shannon I think.

Not injured.

Big three man top option at the moment.

Did we leave it too late though?

I think they would be looking at mid size wing to start at SG. I think we are better off starting Creek in his natural SF position and having Hill back him up.

Shannon/Carter
Import/Ng
Creek/Hill
Holmes/Dowdell
Balls/Johnson

I know we are looking at new guys but Mike Rose who finished the year with the Tigers last season could be a good fit with Shannon.

Definately gonna be a new face to the league Clarke has said

Justin, thats assuming that one of the first 2 options is clear to play if we have to drop further down the list then its sounding like someone thats been here before.

My only worry about new faces to the league is, well what we have already been seeing which is they are brilliant where they are from but cant convert to the NBL

I would be happy if they get a Vet player that has a lot of experience.
We have a bunch of young Aussies that need leadership and consistency from the imports and Balls.

i agree with that Aussiebballer. i think thats why people have seen some good come out of Shannon in his brief debut. his experience cannot be denied, i wouldnt mind seeing another vet either but whoever it is i hope they exceed expectations, that wont be the case with everyone but with most reasonable fans.

Id like the team to bring in Sean Lanpley. He is a SF/PF type with an outside jumper but more importantly a good low post game. He was out of shape at the HSH tournament, but fit I think he could be really good for us.

For those who keep bagging Brad Hill, he is worth 5 points against the points cap. Find a better player around the league rated a 5? He is up and down but he definately has some potential to improve. I like Darren NG and Jacob Holmes but those players being rated a 7 each is a far bigger problem than us having Hill.

I agree with you VanExel31 that Hill is worth keeping if he is in fact a 5 pt rating.

As for Jacob, he deserves the 7pt rating. He leads the league in rebounding for portions of every season lately (currently 3rd)... might not be a 25pt player, but he plays his role effectively, and probably deserves the 7pts.

Although there are always some questionable ratings, when you start comparing to other players with same ratings. lol.

I just know that when i watch Jacob off the ball, he does alot out there, that doesn't translate into hard stats, thats all.

vanexel, I think you could quickly qualify this "Find a better player around the league rated a 5?" as "Find a better, available player".

Brad Hill is indeed rated 5. Other options (other than about-to-retire guys like Henare and Grabau) are pretty few and far between. Garlepp (3 points) could've been retained I guess. Other than AIS kids off to college, Dowdell (4 points, already signed) and Luke Cooper (4 points) there aren't really many clear standouts.

Of course, an alternative is to swap out two mid-range guys for a rookie and a higher calibre player. Still, I wonder how many of those guns for hire are going to be people like D Ryan?

Hope his injuries heal for his future career. Loved watching him play when he was fully fit.All the best to ya mate!

^^I think Hill is a pretty decent back up SF.

Get Massingale.... has been the best player in SEABL year on year on year, leading scorer, great range, deserves a go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=MpHUQftkskc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcQEWfOsJJg

If he doesn't have an agent who has already contacted each club this year, he must not be that interested in playing NBL. If that's already been done, some YouTube videos on here aren't going to get him the spot.

Quality person, quality player, struck down by injury. That's not a recruiting problem that's basketball.