Jonno
Years ago
Replacements for Ballinger and Crosswell
I remember the other day Boti's article mentioned Dickel and Horvath as potential replacements for Ballinger and Crosswell, what do people think of this. I think Clarke mentioned there names.
Would i be correct in thinking the NZBL is the next strongest league in the oceania region? so going after say one of the top (non-import) rebounders and assist man in the NZBL would be a good idea to me.
Horvath lead the NZBL in rebounds with 11.6 per game. He was the only local in the top 5 whom hasnt got a NBL contract Vukona and Pledger and 2 imports make up the top 5.
Dickel was 3rd in assits in the NZBL with 6.2 assists. Behind Crowe (import) and Lindsay Tait. Tait could be another worth considering but is considered to be more erratic than Dickel.
Horvath averaged 17pts 12 rebounds 2 assists in 32 mins.
Dickel averaged 12 pts, 6 rebounds, 6 assists in 36 mins.
Tait averaged 17pts , 4 rebounds, 7 assists in 34 mins.
So they dont look like bad options to me. Given Dickel had the better season last season with the Kings than Tait did with the Taipans (i think Tait was just back from injury though) and is the more veteran/steady playmaker ill take him as 1st choice (but wouldnt be too un-happy with Tait, who is also 6 years younger than Dickel FWIW).
Lets say we needed 15 mins from Horvath as back up PF/C, he would be similar to Ballinger defensively but would compliment Johnson well as most of Horvaths points come from post ups from memory allowing Johnson to float out, and along side Simpson he would have to drift out a little more outside on Offense and Simpson would compliment him well on defense. I reckon he could give us around 8 pts, 6 rebounds as back up PF/C in around 15 mins which is pretty handy.
Dickel could fairly well replace Crosswell's say 20 mins a game, helping tutor Warren as a PG at trainings, et, and do half the games play making and set the team up and steady the offense for us when needed, he helped the kings out big time last season with this from memory. I reckon he could average around 7 pts, 4 assists, 3 rebounds in around 20 mins which is fairly close to Crosswells numbers.
As i said in the other thread for us to be a finals team i think we need to run a 8 man rotation and slide Ng and Helliwell to 9th and 10th man.
If we were to replace Ballinger and Crosswell with say Horvath and Dickel I would like to see rotations of.
C Johnson (25)/Horvath (15)
PF Simpson (30)/Johnson (5)/Weigh (5)
SF Weigh (20)/Creek (20)
SG Warren (10)/Herbert (15)/Creek (5)
PG Dickel (20)/Warren (20)
With Ng and Helliwell playing ocasional minutes depending on match-ups, form, foul trouble, etc.
If we were to bring in just one player it would be the PG, as I think Helliwell can play the back up big man minutes ok and wont get abused defensively, but could leave us a bit small if Johnson or Simpson got into foul trouble early.
What do people think, out of the guys who would likely come cheapish and not currently playing in Europe, etc i reckon Horvath and Dickel seem to be about as good as there is available. There are possibly SEABL options at similar levels but would be hard to find guys who are more proven than these 2.
Part of me given our ladder position would almost just promote Daly into the 20 mins at PG to see how good he may be (Ng isnt a PG and Herbert should be ahead of him in the rotation due to being stronger and a better all round player, so unfortunately for me he slides out of the 8 either way) and give Helliwell the big spot, this would be the cheapest way, and who knows Daly could prove to be a keeper for back up PG and Helliwell is a solid enough big, but i think a top NZBL player like Dickel and Horvath would be upgrades on these 2.
It depends if they want to see if they can make a run and finish the season strong and even sneak in the playoffs or write it off and dvelop someone like Daly i guess.
