Let's be honest, just another very average write up from a very limited basketball brain. Clearly demonstrates the guy (Jai) has simply no idea when it comes to basketball.

An awesome mock up team if we want to stay on the bottom of the ladder for the next 2 years. I can see Sydney already being a much better team with a few minor changes.

Anon, I would keep Ng, no gun needed.

yeah, i dont think Jai is much of a basketball guy, and unlike Boti it does not sound like he has spoken to the coaches who apparently are targeting an Aussi point guard and big man help {import post player?}.

Sorry Jai mate, you are improving, but the team needs more of an overhaul than you are suggesting.

I would not want to be an unsigned 36er at the moment..

Newley chatted about europe , when he was here playing boomers v argentina. He called almost everything "great , just great."
($650,00 for 2 years)

Dorsey looked pretty good on Friday.

Surely Jai and Boti would speak though so Boti would influence him in some way. I don't think Jai's list of keepers is that far off the mark - if you shifted Hill, Ng and Holmes to a limbo-like "maybe" category, I wouldn't disagree.

My main issue is with the idea of adding a decent FA each year - I don't think that would quite resonate with fans who are (and should be) expecting more. We might not get everyone we target, but the feelers should go out to Gibson, Barlow/Newley/Rush and Schenscher (plus maybe imports that've shown some ability like Dorsey). Also check in on top-price imports in case none of those swingmen are options.

Hill MUST go, NG is a pure shooter. People keep saying 'if we get rid of Hill he will go for 30 against us' thats BS, NG is the guy that will torch the 6ers from raaaaaaaange. Cant stand Hill's erratic style of play.

If I was the 36ers, I would be going after Liam Rush.
Rush would help out the 36ers big time.

Averaged 19.3 ppg over in Sweden, struck at 43 % from 3, and 56 % FG.

Furthermore, he is 6"8 so im sure he could help out in the rebounding department and interior defence.

Ng can play NBL, has made some big shots and is serviceable in all areas of the game. Nice try Mr Hill.

Keep Ng,Hill cannot get a Layup and cannot be consistent weekly,look at the last sixer game against NZ did nothing.Ng can shoot anywhere and get the team confidence up...it showed before he got injured.

Bruce ,Shannon,Dowdell,Holmes to go

Get a point guard who can pass and score,if shannon was younger and quicker keep him another year but hes 34.I doubt we get Gibson.Point Guard from states like corey williams.Shannon started good then faded esp on close games.

We need a tall centre to compliment balls and Johnson.

Clarke and Radford=go to USA search for potential players dont rely on your agents.

no decent Centre wil play in the NBL for the money we offer.

You can get a undersized C or a slow PF but not anyone that can help our team.

Keep Balls and Johnson add an import 3 (Dorsey etc) and 2 (Sanders - although more of a 3)

Let Carter and Bruce run the point.

If your not going to be a good defensive team, then you better have enough firepower to outscore your opponents ala the Breakers.

The 36ers this year had neither -- No real offensive firepower (lack of production from imports) and some lacklustre defence.

IMO, the choice of imports for next season becomes unbelievably significant.
Mainly because you can't rely on Holmes, Creek, Ng, Carter/Bruce, or even Johnson to go out and score CONSISTENTLY. Offensive production from all these players is hit or miss, unfortunately.
36ers need two stud imports that can score consistently--two imports that Clarke can have faith in and say pre-game "X and Y will give us their 45 points combined tonight".

You are all wrong!!

Change the coach!!!!

I noticed Jai had herbet as the starting 2. I rate Herbet but not as much as Jai. I would probably let herbie go and keep Ng as the back up.

This season Ng has stepped it up on D and is much stonger. I didn't really notice him beign taken advantage of this season.

I dont think he was that off the mark,

personally id add atleast 3 new recruits being 2 imports and a top aussie like Gibson, only if we can grab 2 top aussies like Schenscher and Gibson would i go with only 1 import,
my ideal scenario would be grab 2 imports and Schenscher and Gibson.

But yea the only change id make 2 his team is say the recruit pg is Gibson, id grab Galen Young as back up C, playing Johnson 25+mins per game, and replace either Hill or Ng with a import Sg/SF ala Ron Dorsey.

I personally would chose Bruce over Carter but wont be too upset either way there, as he said its a 50/50 in many ways, i just think Bruce is/will be the better player.

This would give us pretty much the team Issac suggested a while ago of

Johnson/Young
Ballinger/Holmes
Dorsey/Creek
Herbert/Ng or Hill
Gibson/Carter or Bruce

as apposed to the line up in the paper, not too far off and id say thats the worst case scenario and is better than this years team, but am hoping for a little more than Bednalls team being atleast 3 new starters, if possible my ideal would be to grab another Aussie starter ala Schenscher or Barlow along with Gibson and 2 imports and drop Holmes or Ng or Hill or whoever to make it fit

Rather than going for imports that already exist, why not go ahead with a US trip and scout for an import?

I don't see the need for 2 imports nowadays. There's enough local talent of a set caliber that will get us a winning team.

Gibson and Schensher are decent targets and upgrades on what we have. The "single" import that everyone seems so keen on getting should be ignored completely.

To be honest, what's the likelihood Gibson ends up in Adelaide anyway?

Fairly good, I would guess. Always the chance that a team like New Zealand can trump other bids by swapping out Braswell, but I think we're a shot.

Was Harris an experiment that didn't work ?
(Playing seabl, now . Even stuff which people loathe about Cortez Groves, I like. As an Aussie off the bench.)

Ng stays - His defence is under rated and we're not making the most out of his range.

Hill - Meh.

Isaac, boti and Jai work for different newspapers. To say Boti has some sort of influence over Jai is your all time off the mark comment.

I know they work for different newspapers, I just figured they'd at least chat in passing. There was at least one remark in Jai's column that was not dissimilar to something Boti and I emailed about a long while ago - may have just been a coincidence.

Nice to hear that I've trumped other comments you've disagreed with!

Talk to Schenscher but I dont think we should be spending big money on him when we have Johnson who is serviceable and will improve. Taking on Schenscher with a big pay packet will only leave us with more gaping holes elsewhere. The Sixers need to spend their money wisely and be smart with their recruiting!

For those that say the SOS wont spend up on the team, I think thats a mute comment. I believe they are spending the cap, well pretty close to it (a little insurance left aside - smart) and teams like Wollongong have proved you dont need to spend big to be competitive.

Ng for mine over Hill. Ng is an under rated defender, one of the more pure shooters in the comp and can stretch the defence (always requires a defender - reputation), consistent, and he has a good basketball brain remaining cool under pressure. Ng is a zone beater which every team needs.

I think we should be talking to and aiming for the names that Isaac mentioned above.

There are those that think we must be poor and are acting the part.
There are 36 that went to a 36ers supporters meeting , last season and were told that we spent
$965,000, leaving a bit for insurance.
While some will post that it's time to spend more.

There are going to be some difficult decisions ahead as to who to axe so as to make space for new talent in the team.

We have a lot of 'second-tier' players who are great off the bench and who have pretty even skill and talent levels. Who doesn't make it will have to depend on how well those players complement the first-tier talent we have to bring in, what their player points ratings are and how much dosh they are asking.

I don't think that there is room on the roster for a true finals contender for:

1. both Carter and Bruce at PG;

2. more than two of Herbert, Ng and Hill at SG/SF; and

3. both Holmes and Dowdell at PF/C.

It is a difficult task because I think each of the above are fine in backup roles, but none have proven they are first choice starters at NBL level (I include Holmes in that, who has probably been starting for 4 years now. That might be telling us something).

Whoever gets left out needs to be replaced with starter-quality players in each spot, which can include two new imports.

I am glad I don't have to make the decisions though, because the choices are line ball in each case for mine. It should depend at the end of the day on team balance and points/salary.

MACDUB, they're nice gaudy numbers from Rush, but how good is the Swedish league realistically? I'm thinking significantly below NBL standard. Would Rush be an impact player or another role player? I agree with you that if the Sixers could find two gun imports it would solve all our problems, but on our recent track record, the chances of that are slim.

I do think our roster needs a serious overhaul, but I fear it may be hard for SOS to part company with Ng and Hill. If we have to keep those two and we have already signed DJ, Balls and Creek then its hard to truly blow the team up.

Herbert could be retained as a starter as long as he can do three things: defend his position, play smart and make open threes when teams try to shut down Balls or DJ. Pretty sure he can do the first two things and from Marty's comments, they think he can do the third too.

If we get Gibson, then I think we need a top notch offensive player, probably an import, who can shoot from range, handle the ball, finish at the rim. Basically a do it all guy. They seem hard to come by though.

The need for a star SF like this and having a guy like Creek waiting in the wings does make Hill expendable in my view. Its gonna depend on SOS finding that star player and signing him though.

If we ended up with a starting five like this I'd be happy:

DJ
Balls
Mythical Star Import Scorer
Herbert
Gibson/ Ervin-like PG

Failing that, plug Dorsey or Gilder in at SF and it wouldn't be too bad.

Then fill in the gaps on the bench. Holmes would be okay as one of the bench bigs, but we need another guy with a bit of size off the bench to cover us when DJ or Balls gets in foul trouble.

Creek is an obvious keeper and I think Daly should get another year as a development player too.

I'd keep Carter as the backup PG.

Ng I thought finally showed me something and then he got injured. Probably would be ok off the bench, but it depends on who else pops up.

Anon #314241, I've heard rumors that "Open Space + Well Versed shooter = High Probability of a shot going down".

I see you attended the school of the blatantly obvious as well.

Anon #314426, I think you should look at the bigger picture and not just the individual.

Posters on here arent saying he is the best defender, nor are they saying he is a top notch scorer.

What they are saying is that he is a reliable defender. He may not get steals and block shots but he does a good job of keeping in front of his man, he wouldnt take as many charges as he does if this wasnt the case.

We dont need him to be able to dribble so that point is mute.

You cant deny the fact that he is a pure shooter. Give him any space and he will knock it down. That's his strength and his reputation and even if he isnt scoring he is keeping the defense honest by them having to play him tightly which opens up opportunities for others, makes it harder for double teams on Balls etc...

The coach needs to design some plays to utilise his abilities and get him open shots.....much like NZ do for Penney.

You may be right that he got a 2nd gig here because of his Dad, but that depends on how you look at it? Maybe, just maybe he chose to return because of his Dad.

I think the Sixers suffered this year when Ng when down for the season and I'm pretty sure from memory he was playing decent ball up to that point?

Ng isnt the problem for our failures to feature in the playoffs. Our problems are much bigger than that.

Anon #314411, the Sixers are pretty much spending the cap - you cant spend any more than that? They do however, probably need to spend it more wisely.

Tornado, nice post.

Unfortunately money doesn't judge the quality of a player. You're relying on past games and stats generally to give a player worth; whether that level is justified and more importantly, maintained, while that player is under contract to you is another.

Technically all our imports had backgrounds and stats that would potentially warrant big bucks, but in play, that didn't turn out to be the case.

Ng can score and hit 3's. You need at least 1-2 bench players capable of doing that at least. He's worth keeping for that scoring punch; until you can find someone better.