He's injured, there's no doubt about that. But he's still Adam Ballinger, and the shots he's missing and passing up are so unlike him It's not funny.
Chances are, unless he has a huge form reversal, or takes a huge pay cut, this will have to be his last year as a sixer. Just doesn't seem to do anything anymore. Very disappointed in him this year.

Anthony Petrie said this week he completely underestimated how hard it was to come back from injury in such a quick league, hence his minimal impact until two weeks ago. Give Ballinger a couple more weeks before you write him off.

I think it's in his head. He think he looks good physically and seems to be moving OK (whether or not he's injured), but is second-guessing himself and missing shots he'd normally make.

On top of that, the two main guys at his position are playing pretty well.

If he is injured its CLEARLY taking alot out of him, you can see the frustration and complete lack of confidence he has right now.
I cant wait to see Ballinger and Simpson in good form!

If Clarke's 3 year plan was a 30 storey building, we are still stuck on the ground floor.

Hang on a damn minute! If ballinger was say 'brad hill', he'd get 3 years to improve so why get on his back?

Seems people have short memories or like to play favourites. if hill gets 3 years, then the captain gets longer

EC My friends and I figured it out tonight..What he really ment was..3 years till he understands how to coach plan!!!

Oh behave!

He won club MVP under Clarke last year so I wondered if it was more a combo of rejoining a team after injury, and seeing alternatives at his position doing well? Looks like a lack of confidence and probably won't feel comfortable giving a leadership role (which they're desperate for) unless he can lead from the front.

If he isn't performing, it's a big salary and captaincy to have locked up on the bench, but there were significant defensive lapses when he wasn't out there which you can't put on him. It's plausible that he and/or DJ are always going to be problematic on D though, but such a problem that a roster can't work around it?

Watching the replay on One now. It's only one passage, but Sixers ride Simpson on a 6-2 run. Simpson's scores are perhaps a bit shaky, but they're still scores. Marty subs him for Balls. Blaze go 6-0 very quickly. Adelaide go 3:47 without scoring.

Maher comments that Ballinger is not getting the ball where he's used to getting it. After he says that, Ninja drives as Balls drops to his signature baseline two spot and is missed. That shouldn't be happening - surely he's on for that shot. Didn't see much of a play run for him all game?

Simpson comes back in for Balls and Adelaide score 11 in the remaining 2:39 on the backs of Simpson and DJ. The tempo change is remarkable with Johnson, Simpson and Creek out there as the bigs.

Same lineup returns to open the fourth and other than a swap from Simpson to Weigh at one bit, closes it to one point. Couple of moments now where, without Simpson on the floor, we aren't competing for the O-boards if DJ is held out. Interior D is suffering. Ng's threes keep us in it, but we're giving up easy stuff at the other end.

Might have just been coincidence,
but i heard someone say that in the warm ups, when everyone else was sliding, stepping, turning to the left, Ballinger spun around so he didn't have to do it.

Talk was he didn't {couldn't?} move to his left all night, not that he ever does that much anyways.

B-Fan, watching last couple of games live, I'd thought he was moving OK, but then trying to watch only Ballinger on the One replay, it did seem that his lateral movement was restricted and that he was troubled when his man went to set a very high screen and he needed to chase and then get back quickly. Reminds me of that hip flexor post from last week?

If that is temporary, do you leave him out to recover or play him at centre instead? If that's his lot from now on, then he is not going to match the agility of DJ or Simpson.

He is definitely injured with a hip flexor plus still getting over the ankle. Confidence would be down but it's hard to be confident when your body's not right. Shooters need confidence in their legs as that's where your shot generates from.

All who have come back from serious injury know how hard it is to get going game time especially if you have more than 1 injury to deal with.

This would be a totally different story if he had of had surgery at the end of last season as would then have had plenty of time to recover.

He probably shouldn't have played lat week and had the week off to fully recover but he was doing the brave thing played.

Give him a couple of weeks and run some plays 4him and he will be back to the balls we know.

umm how much "game time" did Redhage need to get over an almost career ending injury and two lots of surgery? about 2 quarters.

put a fork in him

10 points and almost 1/5 of the cap to spend up next season

imagine the imports that can be landed with that extra cash if we can get 2 of the best in the NBL this season.

I like Balls individually , you can hardly say he has been a success story since being a 36er though

isaac can you do any analysis of what happens to the total plus minus when Ballinger was on court last night.

I swear all our good runs happened when he was on the bench, the Blaze got the lead back out again each time he was on court.

Well said anon 340299. Really good points, but wasn't Balls already contracted?

balls has always been important. it looks like a combination of not quite back to full health and lack of confidence.

ideally you would be patient and play him back to fitness and form, but unfortunately im a massive massive fan of simpson. he gets it done.he has length, aggression, and provides what we need ( a scorer at the post and rebounding).to be honest i look at our team and we are one "ten point" player away from being a super team. unfortunately that player is not playing too well but is also at a position that we probably dont need as much.

Intersting to read the article about Suzy Batkovic (earlier this week in teh Advertiser). She talked about how much of her form last season suffered because of her injured leg and some personal problems. But mostly the injuries.

She accounted for her outstanding form and the turnaround to being injury free and, to some degree, feeling less pressure in her personal life. But mainly the former.

We may well be facing a similar situation with Ballinger. He probably needs a longer recovery period to get back to full fitness, as had Batkovic.

I have no doubt he's not "finished". However, equally I don't see him as the main man in this team any more, on offence. That's the key difference between his situation and Batkovic's and I think it's a new role for him to come to terms with, especially given his strength is offence rather than other aspects of his game. I'm reminded of Mark Davis and the efforts he made, successfully, to change his game to fill different roles as he aged. Maybe he should chat to Ballinger and give him some insights into how he managed to stay relevant and valuable as his role in the team changed.

BTW, do people really think Redhage is back to where he was before the hip injury? I have only seen him in one game and he was ordinary, at best. Maybe I saw his one off game for the season, though.

Cant compare anyone else's injury. Recovery times vary HUGELY different injuries. Comparing injuries and time to recover just makes you look stupid.

Ballinger is currently injured with a hip flexor. He is working through minor niggles that arise following a serious injury and it's called a "Recovery Process" you twits! Look it up.

WHY was his surgery at the BEGINNING of THIS SEASON, when he broke the ankle at the END of LAST SEASON??? WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS??? Ballinger should never have been in this position in the first place.

Why are people trying to compare Redage and Ballinger's injuries? Redage had the correct surgery after being very incorrectly diagnosed by an Adelaide Doctor, who said his career was over. The same Doctor who misdiagnosed Ballinger and put him in this position.

Redage went to the USA in the off season for further surgery and rehab, so no one was "witnessing" his recovery progress! Redage was handled professionally and properly in the OFF SEASON, which is how Ballinger's injury SHOULD HAVE BEEN handled, but WASN'T. Who's answering for this???

Skud is exactly right, there's no magic wand for recovery, and comparing injuries is completely ignorant, its called a RECOVERY PROCESS for a reason. I wouldn't be complaining about a player who has had only 1 serious injury in a 10 year career.

Atleast he shows his got guts and loyalty by trying to play through his recovery process! But,... Haters are always going to Hate!

I think its his injury and he just does not have his legs under him, lots of his shots are short or long. If he is struggling to move his is going to me expending lots of energy just going up and down and its all just compounding.

To me its simply a time thing, and unfortunately we suck atm so its double bad.

Terry - you're forgetting the back problems he had a few seasons ago, which limited him for a while. Hard to remember the details - 2088 maybe. He was having difficulty travelling and playing, which I vaguely recall took a couple of months to get right, during that season.

He may well still be finding his feet after injury, but at the moment he is a complete liability on both ends. In a very ordinary (though these days, sadly typical) season for Adelaide so far, Diamon Simpson and Daniel Johnson have been real success stories, and we cannot be sacrificing minutes for either of these guys so that Ballinger can find his feet. His lack of movement and timing might be a return from injury thing, but his shot having turned to shit is completely in his head. There is no time for Ballinger at the moment, and nothing he's done whilst on the court has justified any further playing time. One does not need to look at the +/- to know that his presence on the court is usually enough to start the opposition on a run against us. So for the time being, he must be relegated to Helliwell minutes.

Does anyone on this 6ers team know how to set a screen? Can anyone stop dribble penetration? How about the "development coach" actually teach his players correct defensive technique with their hands in the passing lanes. Ball movement non existant, terrible spacing, no rotations in D. Perhaps they should have spent more time training on the court last week instead of "cooking classes".

Mutley I do agree. The only minutes Balls should be getting while this is an issue is the rubbish minutes at the end of the game or when we are 20 points up. I dont understand why he is even being allowed to suit up until he is 100% fit. We are just delaying his overall recovery and its not like were exactly in the run for any championship here.

You almost need a second tier comp to bring him back through and to find some form before promoting him to the big league - much like the AFL where they will bring players back through the SANFL for example...

Keep him around for Best Sixth Man under Brett Maher next year.

I hope you're not serious about Maher coaching the 36ers!

Absolutely deadly.

Have made my comments on this topic known before. I think it would prove to be a big mistake. Even worse are the Mark Davis suggestions. I would rather have Smyth and Breheny back.

Can tell you Ballsy is still carrying an injury, and yes his confidence isnt there.

Team bonding etc looks awesome as I do speak to a few of the players regularly.

Give Ballsy a few more games and see where it heads, I can tell you he's frustrated in his performance as well as us fans are. He loves it here in Adelaide.

anon, about what? Maher, Davis or Smyth/Breheny?

"Watching the replay on One now. It's only one passage, but Sixers ride Simpson on a 6-2 run. Simpson's scores are perhaps a bit shaky, but they're still scores. Marty subs him for Balls. Blaze go 6-0 very quickly. Adelaide go 3:47 without scoring"

says it all really
the buck stops with the coach

After seeing what he did in the last half of last year, the man isn't finished. Maybe due to a lack of a proper preseason his fitness isn't yet upto %100 or he could still be hindered/not confident after preseason ankle surgery, this could explain the low minutes. It would be nice to be able to rotate Johnson, Simpson and Ballinger at the 4 and 5 spots meaning Weigh and Creek should be splitting minutes.

Balls isn't finished, he's still not 100% game fit. Being honest though on this team he has to back-up Simpson and play some 6th/7th man

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Sorry

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