Anon, I didn't mention disparity or the competition being close, I stated the competition being stronger than last season and accordingly highlighted areas in which the sixers need to perform to avoid finishing 8th (like they did last season).

My conclusion suggests every team is better than the squads they put on the court last season. The sixers are no different, yet they could end up at the bottom of the table again which would be disappointing given the improvement of Hill & more recently Ng and the positive contributions of the new recruits.

Based on performance so far:
Gilchrist v Winder/Shannon - Gilchrist
Groves v DeVries/Howard - DeVries/Howard
Ballinger v Ballinger - Ballinger (09)
Burston v Johnson - Burston
Holmes v Holmes - Holmes (10)
Ng v Ng - Ng (09)
Hill v Hill - Hill(10)
Cooper v Dowdell - Dowdell
Herbert v Carter - Herbert
Molitor v Creek - Creek

Based on ability:
Gilchrist v Shannon - Shannon
Groves v Howard - Howard
Burston v Johnson - Burston
Cooper v Dowdell - Dowdell
Herbert v Carter/Bruce - Herbert
Molitor v Creek - Creek

Yes, I rate Herbie but I think it's fair to say we have a much better roster right now than we had this time last year.

We have a better coach this year, that might be more the difference. Whether the team finishes better or worse than last year, you can't deny the attitude and determination on court is better than last year. Last year's team looked disinterested.

EC, not to mention the epic brain fart of a 4th quarter we used to have. my god did that used to piss me up the wall. we used to have a major half time lead only to lose by 5-10 points.

Why do anon posters make such stupid posts.
Yes Big Ads good anylsis of teams and league .
Definitely think comp. stronger this year without a doubt as last year. Much greater depth of good players which is why so many imports bombed out.
Our team is much stronger and can see a future with this team.
And as a previous poster said they look like a team out there and put in a effort defence wise.
Obviously Clarke a lot better coach than Scotty but has struggled at times under pressure especially against top coaches.
Although think he has team too structured and too many set systems at times .
Like cant work out the 1 where Shannon passes to player and runs to him and virtually gives him the ball . Well know done to get a screen but time passed screen covered any way and there is no movement happening from rest of team until has ball again.
Yeah I know I am just a poster and he is top qualified coach but dont like it

This year's team is a better fundamental basketball team than last year's, where silly plays where a regularity. Having said that, this year's team isnt winning as many games. I think they are headed in a better direction though.

Should be remembered that last year the team finished 10-18 but were 7-4 and even 10-11 but it all fell apart unfortunately.

I think it would be fair to say Ballinger's season statistics look a little lower, because of the lack of touches he gets in the offense.
Clarke's offense is run for lots of guard movement, and very little post play. No longer is Ballinger receiving the ball close to the basket, or those pick n pops to the short corner which he loves so much. More so out too far closer to the 3 point line. Way too much guard dribble dribble.

I think we are far too reliant on the 3 point shot right now, and not utilising our bigs enough. Daniel Johnson's sporadic court time is also worrying for me. He is young, but very promising. Jacob would be a much better suited player to come from the bench, and bring his energy and hustle.

Last years coaching by Ninnis was disappointing to say the least. Marty Clarke has gone a long way to improving the squad more so the 2nd Unit.
Depth has always been a sticking point and might continue this year however despite our position in 7th, we can win the hard games at home but lack the prowess to win away.
Darren Ng hit form the last few weeks, Brad Hill has done some good work off the court to get his game into 'some' form. As for imports, I guess its a guess as to how they go hence why so many imports have been axed from all clubs.

EC and SRT070, you are both right as far as game failures are concerned. I remember last year we led NZ and 3/4 time by 17, only to lose by 5. This year, things have turned around and if we lead by a considerable margin, we end up winning even if by the solitary 1 point.

The downside is not having key playmakers but give it time, I think guys like Eddie are the guys we seek most and something a bit different. You dont need a Schenscher to win games, you need team spirit and someone who will run the game and play the game.

If I can include refs, 09 was a bit better. The new rule changes are hard to fathom

We did get better from Burston than Johnson when he was fit. But the fact that he spent big amounts of the season on the sidelines says to me that we are better off this year than last year. Just wish Johnson would get a better to prove this point.
Dowdell over Cooper is a very big improvement.
Gilchrist number wise is better than Shannon, but you just have to look at the vast improvement in Ng to see where Shannon's value comes. Team balance and structure struggled with Gilchrist in the team. Still a huge improvement on Winder though.
You could quite easily argue that Ng (with Winder) is easily worse than 09 but Ng (with Shannon) is easily better than 09.
The biggest improvement obviously comes from Creek over Molitor. Creek had overtaken him pretty much from the first play that he was on the court.
DeVries was at the start much better than Groves, but once he picked up the injury, he really wasn't any better. First match signs say that Howard will be a good improvement.
In a lot of ways Herbert and Carter have been similar players. Both tenacious defensively, but Carter probably gives us that bit more offensively and he allows us to not rely on both imports to fill the point guard spot.
Holmes from both years has been largely the same. Strong rebounding but terrible shooting. He's probably getting more rebounds this year, but he's also taking more shots. So in one way he's improved and in the other way he hasn't.
I remember thinking similar things about Ballinger last year as this year. Needs more shots and shouldn't be playing centre. Not sure how the numbers go but he was probably marginally better last year.
Hill has obviously improved this year. Tends to start each game aggressive and does some good things only to be subbed out and hardly seen again for the rest of the game.
In the clutch, you only have to look at our last 2 games against Townsville and Sydney to see our vast improvement. I have no doubt we would have lost both games in regulation last year. Though overtime was vintage Sixers I must admit.
I think we are a better team this year than last year. But we are also a younger team, so if we can keep them together we should start to see the results on the board soon.
I would love to see Holmes and Hill replaced by Herbert and Schenscher next season. Not sure if money would allow it but that team would start to put the runs on the board.

Pretty good analysis guys. Big Ads, looking at your comparisons, its pretty clear that the big improvement over last year has come from the role players. Dowdell, Ng, Carter, Hill, Creek now have well defined roles and are putting in consistently good performances.

I disagree that Balls 09 was better than Balls 10. His numbers maybe down a bit, but I think his defence has improved out of sight. I also think his offence will improve a little with Shannon running the point.

Speaking of Shannon, although its a fair call to say Gilly had more runs on the board to this point than this years import PG duo, from what I've seen, our new PG will prove far more valuable to the team than Gilly ever would've.

The only other question mark is Burston v Johnson. As Hendo has pointed out, Burston might be a bit better than Johnson at this point in time, but it is a moot point if you can't rely on him to stay on the floor. Burston's continued injury problems this year, combined with what I have seen from DJ so far, make me happy we have gone with DJ.

So to summarise: They may not have as good a record at this point, but they are heading in the right direction. How much they improve in the win-loss column is gonna come down to how much difference the imports can make. I think if both imports shine, we could squeak in to the top 3-4.

SIXERS 2010better lineup,better coach young group with Veteran point guard who can control game plays.

Shannon/Howard-far better than Gilcrest and Groves
Johnson/dowdell combined better than Burston

Ng this year is better than 2009!!!!

Ballinger this year has more scorers around him,last year he had to score to win.

Carter/Hill better than other 2009 crap.

Coaches-Clarke-Ninnis,Clarke by far,know how to select a team