You'd think if you had a talent like Bradtke who was South Australian, getting towards the end of his great career and was off contract it would at least warrant a phone call to see what he was thinking.

It is not unusual for players to want to 'come home' to close out the last couple of years of their careers. Now I don't know if Bradtke was really thinking this, if the Sixers really believed they could afford him or convince him to sign, but I would have expected the Sixers to at least be in his ear because you never know.

The other one was Darnell Mee. Has an interest in Adelaide, but didn't even get a call. Even if they are eager to get Farley, Mee could be an Australian next season and the club has to show that they value him and are interested in fitting him in during future seasons.

Dose everyone get the feeling the one of the strongest clubs in the league is slowy but surely falling apart ???

Yeah, very interesting to hear Bradtke's comment.

Then again he left us after many years of development when he was approaching his peak.

He then rejected us when we made him an offer under Smyth that would have made him the highest paid player in the league (reported interstate as over $300,000).

Having said that, I can't believe no one contacted the guy.

Not that we were ever going to be in the running for his signature. Where were the 36ers going to pull the $150,000 necessary to even get him to take us seriously.

Even if we did, we wouldn't have won a bidding war with Groves.

If we were going to throw that sort of money around on a big guy I would much prefer it to be on Schenscher who is almost half Bradtke's age to keep him away from Europe.

I can't see any reason why Bradtke would want to return to Adelaide? Sure he's going to say in an interview he would be happy to return to Adelaide, he said in an interview here in Melbourne that he is happy to go anywhere.

Considering his parents are now both up in or close to Brisbane I think that may have influenced his decission alot.

I don't see any point in the Sixers contacting him UNLESS they had the money to spend.

Darnell on the other hand should have been contacted.

DJ, Bradtke has family and friends based ties to both Adelaide and Brisbane. He said that he imagined that those two were going to be the options.

Even if they can't fit Mee in or afford Bradtke, surely you keep in contact to know what they're considering. What's to say that Mee doesn't plan on settling here with his family at some stage (I think he does!) or that Bradtke was looking to grab a final two year deal and then a job within a basketball club?

If Maher didn't come back for some reason, they could've signed DMac and then got Bradtke -- need to know the possibilities and have solid back-up plans. i.e.,

DMac/Hill
Farley/Ng
Holmes/Forman
Rychart/Cooper
Bradtke/Rees

its not too late to talk to mee now though is it? all the taipans talk but he is not signed yet so just put something in his mind to think about.

Mee is not yet naturalised. Rychart is returning and Farley has been contacted. If Farley accepts, then there's no room for a 3rd import. Not sure when Mee's Naturalisation papers are finalised, but I wouldn't imagine that you could take that risk. To add to this, how would the NBL approve the contract while he is still an import.

At least talk to him. If he's going to be naturalised after this coming season, make sure he doesn't sign a two year deal with Cairns. As the guys on Talking Hoops said tonight, imagine Mee and Farley on the same team -- defense and offense right there.

Who's making these calls or not making them? The coaches or the board? We heard that some of the decision-making was removed from the coaches.

There has been no decent recruiting been done by the club since the departure of the late and great Bernie Lewis.

Bernie was the chairman, the position that Brenton Higgins has taken over. Why isnt Higgins getting on the phone? How can somebody with power stand by and let Saunders fumble his way through player dealings.

My understanding is that the past bad blood with Bradtke caused for him not to even rate a thought in the front office.

There is only one staff member who was invloved with the club that i can thing of at the time and all the other positions have changed.

I would hate to think that the one staff member has sway over Bradtke getting an offer.

Darnell was a lock to come back so i was told. Sign him to a 2 year deal. He naturalises mid season (guessing) where he immeadiatly loses import status.

Have Willie or similar waiting in the wings as is sixers tradition of the late signing and get ready to role to the finals!!

I think that it is a joke that not one of these prized free agents haven't been contacted. It is obvious that the 36ers will not improve on there position from last year, if they don't add to there roster from last year. Soon it will be to late and then they will be a lock to slowly drop to the bottom of the playoff pack or even worse.

Surely for the sake of 22c you think someone could of given Bradtke or any other highly placed free-agent a call. Geez, maybe shout a airfare and have a face-to-face. The phone call could probably be a tax deduction anyway.

What's the worst that could of happen??? Something along the lines of 'Thanks for the call and interest, but I'm not interested at this time'

Best case scenario "I'm interested, put an offer to my agent and we shall do latte's".

What is Management doing to justify their wages........nothing. Ivory Tower syndrome is well and truely in place.

Does anyone else get the feeling that the once mighty 36ers are now a second rate/second tier club with little direction. Let's not talk about the future........

If I have to support a SA team at the moment, the Pioneers are looking damn sweet.

aaaah i knew from the second he finiahed that sentence that it would ruffle some feathers.

Big Props to Eddy Groves...the man has a genuine passion for basketball to suceed in Brissy and is spending BIG bucks to put a team of (get this) BRADTKE.BLACK.RUCKER.BRANNEN. EGAN.MACINNON!!

oh yeah and theres an offer on the table for LENARD COPELAND as well!!

Cap......whats that?

Spoke to Darnell on saturday and he did say that he has recieved his permenant residency/ naturalisation in october last year. so yes its confirmed

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What i wanna know is ..

1. IF Willie is our 'prized' signing for next season .. WHY is he not signed first .. and quickly ? So that we can at least go into neg. with the rest of the squad with an idea of what is ACTUALLY left to spend for the yr(s) !!
2. If Willie says 'NO' then havent we just wasted 2 months for a nil result .. Where do we look then ? D-Mac for less money and less of a role ? College kids ?
Having left it this long IMO the 6 er's are going to pay Willie almost anything he wants now b/c who can we get NOW?
3. Looks like Maher is unhappy in Turkey .. so he will probably be back .. more $$ .. so realistically what would that leave for Willie ?
Who do we value more?

Rambling a bit i know .. but the club is frustrating me at the moment.

nah i'm with stephon -for the money bradtke would command and at a time when he is in decline and health issues are increasing i would prefer to put half the money towards someone who is 3/4 as good but whose stocks are rising and bradtkes are not!! Not saying hes not good and he was great but that body is going downhill and for our team and style i would prefer greater mobility.
Smyth can have phone calls and lattes with who ever he likes no ones stopping him.

I too have the feeling that we are on a slide into oblivion, has been that way for a couple of years now.
Had great feeling about last season but knocked out in first finals game in a stupid finals format that doesn't reward upper echelon teams.

Doctor E, Smyth cannot be blamed as he wasn't signed to the Club. Why would he have any influence over player recruiting when he himself had not been signed.

Bradtke should have been pursued. Sign him to a 3 year deal, for less money, give him some security and let him play out his career here.

He is still the best C in the league, and evene if he drops off a bit over the next few years, what a weapon to have coming off the bench.

Bradtke for Sixers 2006!

"Doctor E, Smyth cannot be blamed as he wasn't signed to the Club."


Sorry, I don't buy that excuse. As someone else mentioned, there was nothing stopping Smyth having a chat to Mee or Bradtke, at least showing some interest.

Why couldn't Smyth go to them and say "look, I'm still in negotiations for the coaching position but if and when it is finalised I would like to talk seriously about getting you to the club".

How hard is that?

Then Smyth would have some idea of their interest and the player would know to wait. Not even contacting them just suggests disinterest and of course the players are not going to hang around waiting.

well i think smyth should of had a chat with them aswell, but if he isnt signed whats the point, as bradtke would go 'have you signed yet?' smyth would go 'no im still workin on it' bradtke would go'thanks for the call, let me know when you have signed and i'll consider it' so it would be pointless really especially wit joey wright, jvg n eddy groves in his ear wit firm offers and a stable club, i say its more managemnts fault a) for not calling him b) not having smyth signed so he is in a position to properly offer a gig to a player, cos players like bradtke arnt gonna sign wit the 6ers hoping smyth is coach, when there is a chance of him not being there, how would you feel if you signed thinkin smyth would soon follow, and then some other coach who you dont like ends up getting the gig, so i think its brisbanes stable management structure n having a coach in place, having a stable and weatlhy owner and already recruiting sam mac, who bradtke said is some1 he wanted 2 play with which did it in the end.
So i think its more the management situation which is the issue, as i dont think there was much smyth coulda done!

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Phil knew a deal was going down weeks ago and just some negotiating was going on so there is no excuse not to talk with Bradtke after he had said negotiations were not going smoothly with Melbourne. In the last couple of years we have lost Newley, no one contacted him a fact he and his father have made clear, Cattalini goes to Cairnes, no one talks to Bradtke and yet according to the Bottsie everyone wants to come here and play for Phil. We don't miss out on players just because of money. We have the best stadium, the best fans, and in spite of evrything Goorjian says the best state so why can we not attract the players. Cairns is hardly a thriving town and Cat goes there, Newley would have played for rookie minimum and we miss out on a chance with Bradtke. Why? Goorjian seems to get the players he wants. Is it because players want to play for him and its not all about money. Let's not think that Bernie Lewis, RIP, was a great recruiter. His idea of recruiting was to offer lots of money, long contracts and its one of the main reasons basketball and the 36'ers are in the financial mess they are in! Recruiting is the responsibility of the coaches in every league in the world, the NBA to some extent the exception. Identify the type of players the team wants, contact them or their agents, visit with them and after you decide thats the player you want then head office comes into it. Its too important to leave to some ice cream manufacturer or ex footballer!

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I will defend Bernie here.

Was there any bickering between admin and coaching during his tenure?

did we win 3 titles under his tenure?

did he recruit Phil and Steve almost single handidly?

You are a very hard man Jay to blame someone as great as Bernie for the mess basketball is in in this state.

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Interesting isn't it. I wonder how many people would openly criticise their boss, have the criticisms published in a newspaper and then keep their job. I know I couldn't.

Jay you always seem to be sticking up for the admin staff and bagging Phil and Boti and now Bernie.

Do you have something against the club making money and fans being entertained? Did Phil look at you a stramge way in Rundle Mall one day??

If you read the auditors report you will see that the sixers make money, BASA and the lightning cost money.

Someone with business nous was controlling the sixers the players were happy the stands were full and there was 3 titles in 5 years, should have been 4 Titles but for Eddie Crouch.

Basic rule of sports keep the players happy and the on field/court performance reflects that. Piss them off and they get knocked out of the playoffs.

Lewis + Smyth + $ = championships. The last 3 years has seen no Lewis and a reduction in $, therefore no championships. Its not the difficult to do the sums.

So NFI the players weren't happy last season?....and if this is the case it is totally managements fault and has nothing to do with the coaches??

Ok to recap for you, players could not get basic entitlements such as game tickets for their families, contracts were not being hounoured, players were not being paid and the only staff member that was sticking up for the players got assaulted (allegedly) by another staff member.

does that sound like a happy environment to you??????

(Lewis + Smyth + $) - Lewis - $ = Smyth. By your logic EC Smyth is to blame. It's not that difficult to do the sums!

So NFI all this manifested itself in one game of the playoffs?

Izzard the coaches dont write the cheques.

When Phil was in charge of recruiting we got results. Take that away from him and we are knocked out...interesting

Look what Cuban did for the Mavericks if you want to know how keeping players happy equals results on the floor.

Richard Branson's business philosophy is to keep his staff happy that way the business looks after itself . The players are the staff of a bball team

The coaches job is to get the best out of the talent they have...Smyth is the best in the league for this.

Izaard, it was a joint effort between Lewis, Smyth and lots more money to spend that made the Sixers successful. I don't agree with your equation. Make any variation to the original equation and the result is sure to be different.

Aplogies for the spelling "Izzard".

Kent I agree totally, but what Smyth has done has wiped his hands of all responsibility for recruiting so when things do (or if)go pear shaped he can put his hand up and say 'well it wasn't me, I had nothing to do with it.' He is having a both way bet - they succeed he takes the kudos as coach, they fail 'it's all managements fault'.

He had all recruiting taken away from him.

My understanding is that the coaching staff give a list of names that they want recruited and then the admin staff take over.

May be you should blame Scott Ninnis too???

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Well then Kent, Smyth is obviously to blame for not contacting Bradtke. So stop blaming the management.

hmm i think phil did the right thing i know if i had to fight for my basic entitlements like he did i mean come on there is cost cutting but to deny someone there holiday and long service pay is pretty pathetic, and as for financial read the government report on basa sixers are sweet as making a profit basa is not so basa is trying to make money by reducing the sixers outgoing which in turn makes for a lesser team i mean lets take moore for example came and played for us and then got jerked around by management for months after he finished still chassing match payments from his first game,
phil has no control over player or staff payments so to blame him is just a stupid comment put it in context if you dont get paid on time who do you see YOUR BOSS or the COMPANY ACCOUNTANT the coach is like the manager not the boss
and to blame Bernie who made this club a force again and nowing his character quite well i 99% sure they did not breach the cap there may have been extra sponsorship dollars given to the players

well thats my beef , you must be a pretty low person to blame a dead person, its weak and pathetic

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as allways stephon

your right on the mark

Izzard, you're blaming Smyth and Bernie for decisions that were made to lock in big name players (Cattalini, Maher, Rogers, etc). The situation later changed. They could've been great moves if Rogers didn't struggle -- it could've secured a great roster foundation that would've attracted other good players.

The scenario now is that the results we're seeing (crap PR, crap marketing, crap crowds) are the result of measured strategies and reductions.

I'd guess that the players are happier on the court and in their players' room than they are visiting the offices.

That is right Isaac.

It is easy to say in hindsight that those moves were bad but what if all went according to plan and Rogers was healthy and he and Cat honoured their 5 year deals?

Not only this but also assume the cap didn't go down.

Next season's team would see Cat and Rogers entering the 4th year of their deals.

Our team could have been as follows:

C Rogers Cooper
PF Rychart Forman
SF Cat Holmes
SG Maher Ng (or Newley if we are imagining a big spending club)
PG Mee and Brad Hill

Not a bad team at all.

Just unlucky that our two 'franchise Australian recruits' who were given great deals by the club left so soon into their 5 year deals.

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once again adelaide is a step behind everyone else.brisbane are a mile ahead of the 36ers.the sixers wont beat braisbane this year because look at theier height and strength in the paint compared to ours.its game before before they even tip off.sign ben pepper will ya please.

Smyth has one of the best minds in b. ball, either trust him, step-up, or shut-up. How does it feel to be speaking from the cheep seats!

Ken Williams

Yeah Brisbane will be alright cheezeburger but it was their 3s that beat us last year.

This year's line up is big but relatively slow and Mackinnon Brannen and Bradtke won't beat us with their 3s as did Castle, Kerle and Co.

Brisbane were much stronger a couple of years ago when they had Helliwell and Kevin Freeman and they still couldn't get it done.

Maher, Farley and Hill is the best back court in the league in my opinion. Nothing shabby about Holmes, Rychart, Forman and Cooper in the front court either.

Another couple of good role players and we will be better than last year.

The x-factor is Holmes. If he can step up to become a consistent 4th scoring option in the 17 to 20ppg range we will be tough to beat.

I for one can't wait to see Hill with another year of improvement under his belt and a whole off-season with the team unlike last year when he was thrown to the wolves playing the Sydney Kings in Sydney with out even spending a week with the team.