Ole Miss guard?

Nice Vid Muzz; looks like we got a mediocre 3pt shooter. Can we get that Andrew Goudelock guy intstead?

happy with this signing, looks pretty good from youtube and solid NCAA stats

Fear the Beard

Anon, it was a cheap sledge based upon the fact that the 1st video shown of him was losing a 3pt shootout.

Just joking about the fact that you would be better showing a highlight reel rather than a video of him being a runner up in a contest.

Thats Huge, I think Gary Ervin Came out of the SEC, and did not come out with thoughs Stats. Chris should be a star, fingers crossed. Well done coaches!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc5QcMAMppU

Takes it inside with similar tactics to Ervin but looks to have a better outside shot and obviously a great FT%. The APG makes you think quickly of Winder, but then Ervin's APG at college wasn't too different. I think Crosswell is good insurance behind him.

Here's his 2010/11 game log.

Let's see how he goes I guess.

He played for a very mediocre team with several off court issues in what was an average SEC. He is no dud but will not dominate the league and will take time to adjust to Men's basketball. Having seen how good and how bad Ole Miss were last year I will wait and see.

If he attacks the ring like in the clip I will be happy.

Isaac Winder did not average an assist at college or any points i think, hardly a comparison.
Joel when has the SEC been average? And i follow Florida and know that when they Play ole miss they scout the hell out of Chris warren.

Confirmed by the 36ers - the announcement text has gone out.

Anon, the good PGs with height generally play in superior leagues. Times have changed.

All officail now.

http://www.nbl.com.au/teams/36ers/news/article/article/2011/july/36ers-sign-ole-miss-guard-chris-warren/

When has the SEC been average. Frequently. There are 3 really top teams, Kentucky, Vanderbilt (maybe) and Florida. The winner of the SEC West (Alabama) did not make the tournament. Anyway they are just semantics.

He will be good but not a plus player YET.

So was Ater Majok

he played in the ncaa all star game during this years final 4

saw ole miss play in a couple of games on ESPNs college coverage recently.

Kudos to KingJames for finding him early.

With a lot of help from Billo.....

any news coverage tonight on him ?

he shot the winning trey in the clutch in a big win over Kentucky - I'm pretty sure that was the game I saw on TV.
shot 22 points, 3 assists, 1 rebound v Kentucky that night - you have to be able to play to get that

also shot 20 vrs south carolina.....

lol cheers but I did guess about 6 people :)

Will be the first import cut in 2011 - 2012 season. Fancy gambling on a pint size point. Gary Ervin is one in a million...

so what would Ty Mckee be Orbit?

wikipedia already updated - someones on the ball !

Like Isaac says, lets wait and see how he performs on court before we start proclaiming failure from web mountain!

I did like what I saw in that clip Isaac posted above. He looks to have similar ball-handling, speed and finishing ability to Ervin, but he also showed he can shoot the three, which Ervin didn't really do much last season.

So the ability is there, its really just going to be a question of how he transitions from being a college star to a professional import under pressure to prove himself game in game out.

One interesting thing to note from his stat line last season is that he averaged 8 three attempts per game! Could he be Rick Brunson on speed?!?!

from watching the video I didnt see any clips where he was forced to finish over a big man inside. This is very hard for PG's to do on a consistent basis and I believe makes or breaks import PG's in this league. Ervin was very good at finishing, so it will be interesting to see how good Warren is.

Darnell Mee was great at it, but he was alot taller and being only 5'10 for Warren I personally think he will struggle to finish at the rim. I hope he pans out for the team, im as sick of the losing as everyone else here, but these guys out of college always seem to be a risk to me.

Oh yeah, FEAR THE BEARD! That's gold Skip!

Sorry there was one nice finish on a big man, but thats what I think will make or break him as an import. His shooting and other skills look pretty good but its way to early and without watching a few full games hard to judge.

Hopefully he gets down here an lights it up then everyone with negative posts can stay quiet. Best of luck Warren (or wazza lol)

Is "Rabbit" an appropriate nickname?

Are people not aware that there are actually legit tall players in the NCAA? they are taller than NBL players.
He wasn't playing against 5 guards who were all the same height as him.

He played against height all his senior year and still managed to put up 19.9ppg.

I don't know why people are saying height will be an issue, when he has played against people of height his entire life.
The reason why there isn't footage of him finishing at the rim over bigger players is because he is a SMART player.
He obviously picked when to go and when not to go, and why do people think that he HAS to go to the rim.
The kid can make a living in the mid-range game on pullups, hit 3 pointers and then chose when to attack the rim and not. A smart PG will not get blocked because he won't put himself in a position to get blocked (i.e. he will chose the right time to go) and Warren has that IQ and feel(Looks like he makes very good reads)

Excited by this signing , especially with Crosswell ! good start .

Anon, i'm just sick of reading post an everyone writes EVERY new player off before they even step on our court.
hey if he comes here an does stink its fair enough but geez give em a chance. The same height argument would've surrounded Ervin last yr too, just cos ya tall doesnt mean ya can play (i.e. Sam Harris lol)

An i know our last few season havent been fun but maybe i'm dumb to have hope we can turn it around, but id rather expect the world an get a avg season then write us off before we even play a game or have a practice session.

Don't understand why people are so negative about this guy... Think I might be the first to point this out but he has been playing against better competition in college than he will face in the NBL... A good Div 1 college team will beat any NBL team any day of the week and if he put up 20 a game in the SEC thats good enough for me... Keep in mind Winder's stats at Texas were nothing compared to Warren's... I think he will be a great fit and an immediate impact player... Ballinger would be breathing a sigh of relief right now

Yes Jack, Rabbit is great! No Duck though... lets not go there ;-)

Speaking of Winder's stats as a comparison, I just looked it up and the guy only played 2 years for Texas and in his best season (senior year) he averaged 7.4 mins and 2 ppg!

Looks like he came from a JuCo or something and didn't have any impact until he started his D-League career. Even then, his best season was 14 ppg, 3 rpg, 2 apg, 1 spg.

Chris Warren's background and stats look pretty good compared to that!

the fact of the matter is players of any position who struggle to get easy lay ups and rely on jumpers will find this league difficult. Its to hard to be consistent when pull up jumpers are your game, and as an import your expected to be consistenly good. Im worried a few bad shooting nights can put him in the dog house with fans and therefor struggle to win them back over.

For those that are interested, Draft Express has an in-depth scouting report on Warren from 2008 (freshman year).

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Chris-Warren-5057/

Anon #087,

"NCAA basketball is a fair bit below NBL standard. A good Div 1 team would be fortunate to get within 15 points of a good NBL team. Teams like the Breakers & Wildcats would murder any college team.

It's amateur basketball and they're kids, FFS."

Have you seen the NCAA players, they are crazy talented!! Any top 10 college program would beat any NBL team, Colleges ranked 10-25 would certainly be competitive and could win definently. Teams well outside the top 25 would not though beat NBL though.
They are not kids!
Quite a few players are 20 +.
These guys are beasts athletically and skill wise.
I mean these guys come straight out of college and go NBA, or to Europe or anywhere in the world.

Kids??? Have u been to the US and seen these "kids"????? I highly doubt it cause if u had u wouldn't make such a retarded statement... Some of those "kids" come straight out of college and make an immediate impact in the NBA, which is a FAR superior league than the NBL... Most top level D1's would not be within 15 points of them, your absolutely right... They would be way ahead... What NBL big could've contended with Jared Sullinger of Ohio State last year??? He is a 6'10, 280 pound "kid" who is only 19 years old and turned down the NBA draft to stay in school another year.... I love our national league as much as the next person but there is a reason why we only get second rate imports and its because we have a second rate league... Those american players are bigger, stronger, faster, and more atheletic which is why we pay them more money to come here and play and are only allowed 2 per team

Take it easy MACDUB

There have been many colleges tour Australia and most have been sent packing fairly easily by NBL teams.

I can only speak for teams i have seen play the 36ers though

From memory the only one that didn't was Arizona that had Damon Stoudemire, Khalid Reeves and Ray Owes. A 7th pick who would average 19 and 9 the next year in the NBA . A 12th pick and a guy that would tear up the NBL for Geelong not long after his stint in the NBA.

NBL teams are easily better than 99% of college teams.

What was the result of the Arizona v Sturt game. Was away when that happened.

Re: this NCAA v NBL debate, while I agree that the elite NCAA talent that is drafted by the NBA each season is a cut above what we have in the NBL, that is balanced by the fact that a lot of NCAA teams have weak links in their lineup which NBL teams would exploit.

I admittedly don't watch a lot of college hoops, but when I've watched NCAA tourney games, its common to see one star on each team running rings around the other eight stiffs on the floor. Ben Allen is a perfect example of a guy who filled an impotant role for St Mary's but has struggled to step up to the pace of the NBL thus far.

So I think you'd get some interesting contests and that games could go either way, depending on which teams you picked on either side.

Colour me excited.

Welcome aboard Chris!

And it's literally all speculation before he lands here.

Let's support the dude and wait and see.

Anon, with regard to an athletic SF who can attack the rim: we have two in Weigh and Creek already!

Barlow would be nice, but at this point we really need two bigs to round out a balanced roster.

Neville would give us a nice big frontline rotation, though we would be a little slow.

Ideally IMO, at least one of the bigs we sign has to be a hard nut who will play aggressively, rebound well and can score from putbacks and broken plays. Ie, a Dusty Rychart or a Dave Gruber or similar.

Wow I thought it was obvious but apparently I was wrong... Some people should watch more college ball... And Ben Allen played for st mary's, which is a mid major div1 on the west coast and he was only a role player...

Crows fan, my point about Ben Allen is that there are players like him on almost every college roster.

Lets take the finalists from this years NCAA title game. The Huskies had Kemba Walker, but the rest of his NCAA champion team didn't look too good to me when I watched them.

The Butler team they played against had one thing going for them: good defence. But they couldn't score inside the three point line!

They were two of the best teams in College ball last year. How would they go against the Breakers or the Wildcats (esp with a healthy Redhage)?

I'm sure there are examples of great college teams you could point out that would smash a lot of NBL teams, but there are also great NBL teams who would embarass a lot of college teams. The Bullets of a few years back, The Tigers when they had Gaze, Copeland, Bradtke, etc. The Sixers teams with Mee, Brooks, Maher, Cat, Rees, Stiff and Rillie.

I just don't think you can say that College teams are clearly that much better than NBL teams.

Anon 324112, I saw that too. I'm hoping that's one he has grown out of!

Bloody hope he doesnt find this place...seriously people bagging the guy before he has even stepped on our court.

If YOU knew as much as you THINK you know, then YOU would be the coach..but your not so shutup and welcome the guy!
Hope he does bloody brilliantly!

legit PG is what the Sixers need, let's hope he's that guy
not going to judge him till I've seen what he brings to the court

Beantown, I agree that the Butler's and BYU's of the college ranks would get killed by nbl sides, but elite college teams would take over the competition... For example this past year in my opinion ohio state, duke, kentucky, arizona, uconn, and syracuse come to mind immediately as teams I would put up there... Lets also not forget that most successful imports in the nbl (wilkinson, homicide, tucker, loggins just off the top of my head) came from very small div1's or div2's then came here and took over... What do u think big time players from big time university's would do? And in power conferences every point guard could be the next Homicide... Every SF us the next Tucker... And every center would for sure out class wilkinson... Would just be interesting to see what would happen if u matched some teams against each other

Duke had two guys go in the first round of the draft and Singler in 3rd pick in the 2nd and they also have some very big atheltic body's, Duke's team last year (with a healthy Irving) would beat NBL teams

The Stats For Warren on the NBL website are wrong!!
FG% on Eurobasket are wrong in the below box
His stats are

Senior year
2pt FG% = 49
3pt FG% = 34
FT% = 92

Junior year
2pt FG% = 51
3pt FG% = 40
FT% = 81

2's and 3’s are lumped together for FG%.

Im sure you all picked up on this.

Orbit, remember David Bailey?

Hoops:

Isaac Winder did not average an assist at college or any points i think, hardly a comparison.

Europe is a step up for college players, but NBL I really don't think is mate... Imports that come here generally average more there first years here than they did there seniors years in the college... And most that excell here move on to europe for better competition and higher salaries... Still is fun to watch the nbl, but when given the choice i'll watch ncaa or nba any day

Isaac thats my point, its not what you say it all seems About what you dont say. Im just Saying.
Good signing though dont you think, obviously there are things that 36ers staff have no control over but all things equal warren should be good in the NBL.

the guy is a good finisher around the rim and can shoot it well glad to have him on board

No lack of knowledge here mate... I'd put greece, italy, and france above NBL as well... If the NBL is so good why do the top imports not come here??? And why do our top Australians go elsewhere??? And why is the league in constant financial trouble?? If u have an intellegent answer i'd love to hear it... Think with your mind, not your heart

You need to separate playing level from financial position, size of the market, etc in your dispute or you confuse the issue. The top imports don't come here because we're a smaller country, dominated by other sports and wages are not as high.

Come on Chris Warren!

Give us something to cheer about, can't wait!

(I'll give you a couple of games at least, and if you're no good.....I'll attack the coach again :)

Kickert or import or Mottram to come. The seeds of hope?

As always though, it will get down to the quality of imports. So he's hoping Warren is a find and then we're half way there.

Seriously, not many people can more disappointed in the Sixers than me, but having a crack before someone has played a single game is taking it too far, even for me.

Crows fan can you define what you mean by top import?
Over the years we have had some serious talent come through the NBL.

Have to say that our level of professional ball is regarded to be high but we just can't match it financialy with european clubs no matter what level. With Carter going back to play ball in Sweeden which is ABA level at tops and getting paid better coin then he would most likely get in the NBL this proves why players continually choose to play in europe then in the NBL.

I think its great that the Sixers went after a legit PG i.e. someone who played point at College

A big mistake in recruiting is trying to bring in guys that are interchangeable (i.e. Combo guards are risky because they try to be a jack of all trades, but are often masters of none--you get some guys that play the 1 and 2 spot who try to score and distribute the basketball, but whilst trying to do both they do none)

So good choice by the Sixers to go with a legit PG. Warren just has to worry about playing the game as a PG, and not as another role that he isn't used to.

I would have liked to see Johnny G back. How is is knee going?

Jake if you have twitter you can follow him. His updates are mainly about his comeback. He dunked it for the first time since the injury just the other day

I have two comments to make on this thread:

1. Welcome Chris. Hope you enjoy your stay and can be a big part of turning our fortumes around.

2. Crows fan, you have a very naive and misguided opinion of the standard of college ball vs other leagues. before you embarrass yourself further, you'd be wise to read some of the posts here carefully.

If he's a crows fan I can understand why he watches college ball. (Probably same as Sixers fans actually).

This has been the most exciting off-season for the sixers since our last title .
Building a program and whether or not Warren pans out the balance of the team is already weigh better than previous seasons . tip o the hat !

I look at it like this, if you had a college all star team vs NBL all star team they would comfortably beat the NBL all star team. However, because there is so many college teams the talent is sparse, therefore NBL teams would beat college teams. Some college teams might beat some NBL teams but not the best ones.

maybe a , in there would suffice .

Sorry for taking this thread off topic, but I lived in the US for 7 years and just got to appreciate the high level of basketball that is played there, college and NBA... All of this is obviously my opinion and nothing else but it is hard for me to imagine the breakers beating uconn, arizona, ohio state, kentucky, duke and other top teams... The level of NBL play just isn't that high... Sorry if that offends any of u, its just the way I feel and what i've seen

Except people have given you facts to refute your argument.

Crowsfan you clearly aren't reading my comments and understanding them:

1) Butler were a very good NCAA team last year, otherwise they wouldn't have made the title game!
2) If you didn't understand my comment about weak links/ lack of depth in college teams, try reading KingJames' post just above which is another way of saying the same thing.
3) Please tell me which NCAA title winning Huskies players from last season, besides Kemba Walker, would make an NBL roster, much less dominate the NBL?
4) Now, for bonus points, please tell me the nickname of UConn's bball team...

Top NBL clubs will beat MOST top college teams year by year .
It is not about talent alone but experience and depth within .

Roscoe smith, alex oriaki, jeremy lamb, and shabazz napier would all be high level imports in the NBL... If u choose to argue keep in mind that Homicide Williams was a 10 point per game player at a very small mid major school called Alabama State... And they are the Huskies smart arse, believe what u want but I do know my basketball... Oh, by the way, Kemba Walker definitely and possibly Jeremy Lamb would be NBL Mvp's

Crowsfan, I think Lamb and Oriaki have talent and will be pretty good, but they are far from ready to dominate NBL opponents. I wasn't impressed by anyone else I saw in the NCAA title game.

The reason I asked you UConn's nickname was because I used the Huskies v Butler title game as an example and then you dismissed them as minor teams like Butler and BYU. You then went on to list UConn as one of the teams that would dominate NBL teams.

Based on what I saw of the Huskies team v Butler (a team with limited talent, but very good defense) they weren't that great a team. Walker was of course a standout and I agree would dominate in the NBL. Lamb and Oriaki showed they had some talent, but really didn't look ready to be NBL imports to me. Matt Howard on Butler, I could see had some ability, but had a shocking shooting night. The rest of the guys on both teams looked very ordinary to me.

I agree with butler not being good enough to dominate NBL... I think a lot of quality teams overlooked them in the tournament the past 2 years which is why they made it... I brought up BYU because they were a top 10 ranked team that I reckon were overrated and couldn't hold up against NBL competition... Oriaki and Lamb were both 18-19 year old freshmen last year and would still be great auditions to any side here... Imagine what they will be like when they are 22... I never said nor do I believe that all NCAA DIV1 teams could compete, but the elite teams would cruise

I think you summed it up there - imagine what they would be like when they are 21 or 22. That is why pro leagues are a step above college, because they are filled with men who are vastly improved on when they were college age.

Best way to find out for yourself Crow Fan, is to hang around after games and ask imports what they think.

As for Warren, I think it is an excellent signing. There is always risk, and he could be a dud, but with his obvious level of talent he could be a very good player too, and at the least a solid import.

In terms of the NBL compared to European leagues etc, I think Isaac is right, there are a lot of factors to consider. The first and most important one is that the level of basketball around the world is very even. Teams from lesser leagues are capable of beating more fancied teams on any given night.

From an international perspective, Angola, with a team entirely from their local league, beat a German team full of BBL players. Now, I havent heard anyone suggest the Angolan league is better than the German one, but it does show just how close the talent is.

In terms of the NBL, it has long been considered a top ten league world wide and still is today by people I speak to OS.

Looking at Crow Fan's examples, the second best import (and player) in the French league this season was Tremmell Darden. One of the top imports in the Italian league last season was Ebi Ere. Andre Brown had near identical stats in Greece and Australia.

Ty McKee was dominant in Russia, Rich Melzer had a great year in Israel, Derrick Low was an all-star in Lithuania last year. EJ Rowland was third in scoring in group play at the last Eurobasket, and is one of the better pgs in the Italian league.

To say top imports dont come to Australia isnt correct. Most mightnt stay for long periods, but you lose a McKee and you get an Ervin. You lose Darden and in comes Dorsey who was one of the Lithuanian league's best players and a very good player in France. Ere leaves but guys like Ubaka and Lisch come in, while they mightnt be stars in this league they certainly help their teams win.

In come guys like Braswell, Shannon and Clark who made great careers in very good leagues in Europe. Most NBL teams have one import who is world class, but the second spot often suffers as teams spend their money on local talent.

At the end of the day though, world basketball is very even and the NBL deserves to be considered in the second tier, below the NBA, Euroleague and ACB (and maybe the combined Adriatic league with Tel Aviv joining), but comparable to Russia, Greece (which will drop considerably this year), Turkey, Italy, France, Israel and Germany.

Oh I'm blushing!

great post Paul.

Great post Paul might as well grow your reputation.
Re Warren love the fact a true PG and that can shoot as well . Seen enough air balls last year from imports to last a life time.
My only concern is would like to see him stretched a little, mainly to put on more pressure on D
Got a feeling might have got this one right .
Ervin was just jerking us around so glad moved on.
Love to see Ira Clark as next import

It sounds like the sixers have got another import lined up if they are going to have him signed before the big man camp starts

Excellent post Paul!

I agree with anon that if we get next import right we should be in for good year .
I also would love Clark or someone similar or go for another local big like Petro etc and Sf- Sg import that add to our scoring potential with a outside shot