Clarke you really are a disgrace and the 36ers management is following down that disgraceful path by sticking with him. Not a good situation in Adelaide at all, moves need to be made. Not for the season to be saved, its lost already, but to maintain the season ticket holders who are umming and arring about resigning next season. I wont be there if Clarke is thats for sure. Moronic style of coaching with little to no imagination.

Sixers got killed in the effort area's in this particular game. Coach can't teach effort the players have to want to put in the effort. Breakers were crashing the boards and diving on loose balls, the Sixers weren't. He gave them a roasting and they didn't respond. They honestly had their heads down before it was even half time and it wasn't like they were completely out of the race either.

KJ, depends how you read that - one comment on the strategy or blame. I read it as the former. I'm sure he wanted more from all of them.

Mystro, a professional coach will ALWAYS find a way to motivate the players to want to go above and beyond. He cant teach the this perhaps, but he will install a culture that makes the players accountable and want to perform for him. if they dont respond, either cut every player or the coach. The coach usually is more cost effective. He doesnt the players wanting to give there all for him.. perhaps with well rounded minutes he spreads, the players dont have that hunger to want to earn their minutes? Not sure, but he aint got the chops at this level.

'He ain't got the chops at this level.'

Perfect summation. Move him on, now.

Gone back to his old whimsy - evening players minutes.
Don't think we got a lotta shots off or took many rebounds. Seems we had about 26 freethrows and they had about six.

Normally i would have agreed with everyone but you were up against the reigning champs on the road and they got out to a 10 point lead at the end of the 1st Q (so the game is far from over) and pretty much the whole team apart from Simpson had their heads down and bottom lips out. He called a TO and pulled them up and told them they were getting treated like little boys out there and tried to motivate them and they just kept their heads hung low and didn't rebound or box out to a high standard nor even dive on a loose ball.
CJ's how old and just come back from injury and he was diving for everything. Sixers Zone and Press did cause NZ a few probs as did lack of execution but Jackson split double teams at will and just kept getting the ball to the scorers.

I don't think it was a case of evening players minutes just if guys weren't getting it done they sat on the bench, no one was getting it done so they all had spells on the bench. DJ and Simpson weren't as dominant as they have been in previous games because Wilkinson isn't a shabby defender nor is Vukona. They straight away got the ball into DJ and Wilkinson clean blocked him, Vukona had the strength to guard Simpson in the post as did Boucher but his length and grit got him a few points and Pledger came on and altered shots in the paint. Creek can't shoot from outside and Ng can't create a shot so it was up to Warren and Weigh and Jackson and Abercrombie had them fairly sorted.

What I want to know is:
If we send a transcript of every game thread and other Marty Clarke whinge threads to Leeanne or the SOS guys, would they actually take notice and realise the vast majority of passionate Sixers fans are sick of Marty and want him gone?
It's beyond a joke now. The guy isn't an NBL coach, the decisions he makes aren't working, he isn't addressing any of the issues we have (DEFENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), he makes excuses for anything that doesn't work, then gives smart arse comments when they do, he has no game feel, he over plays his favourites and under plays that might actually win us a game.
We could have Perth's roster and still struggle to make the playoffs. I firmly believe that.

Iunderstand where you are comming from Mystro but having been to every 6ers home game and watched all the away games that were on one its just a matter of same shit diffrent game. I have no faith in clarke at all and its just lucky i love basketball so much i can get enjoyment from watching a great game even if it is the opposition playing it, dont get me wrong i support the 6ers all the way and am still disapointed watching this season unfolding to be worse than last season [i thought if you have a three year plan you improve as time goes on]i believe we have a better team this season than last and stil the same results. This thread was about marty's excuse and shows he has no idea what the real problems are and is focusing in the wrong areas he seems to go into a game with one plan and when it doesn't work is to pig headed to change it, he drills the players so hard they become robotic and when the play doesn't work they don't know what to and look like a bunch of idiots out there. I don't blame them for hanging their heads, playing game after game like they do would get to you after a while, they bought into marty's system at the start of the season cos he is great at spining shit and seems like he knows what he is doing maybe they are starting to realise he has no idea.

Its pretty clear Marty has not been able to move from a junior development coach to grown men. At the AIS as a devlopement coach you need to share the minutes.This works well for juniors as assists with their development and should be the stratgy for an AIS coach, ie develope, However when coming to grown men, you need to create a competitive team within for minutes and reward those who are doing the right thing by minutes on the court. Two seasons in, Clarke hasnt been able to make the transition to senior mens coaching. The club needs to look for a new coach.

"Coach can't teach effort the players have to want to put in the effort"

A coach at this level is more about getting the maximum effort from the players than they are about developing them. Development is ment to be a side part to winning games. If you cant motivate players to want the ball..your not worthy of being a head coach.

Simpson is the perfect example to a player who is motivated without the highest skill level but he gets a huge job done. Clark should have been able to push DJ to perform with that intencity by now.

KingJames - it seems likely to me (going by stats and comments by posters here and elsewhere, who saw teh game), that DJ sat most of the second half because he was playing badly. 1 rebound, multiple turnovers, bugger all points and at a low percentage. When you're team's shooting is rubbish - both inside and out, as you said - and the other team is getting over 50% of their offensive boards, it makes sense to have your best rebounders on the court. DJ sure wan't one of those last night. I can't argue with sitting him for an extended period, based on his first half stat line.

Not so sure why Simpson only saw 8 minutes in the second half, though. Maybe he was getting worn out from the attention from Vukona and Boucher and needed the rests? It would be interesting to know exactly why it happened that way but we'll probably never know.

How quick people forget that 1.5 seasons ago DJ was a bench player struggling for any minutes. Under Marty he has become a legit force in the league.

And for what gain has DJ's emergance really amounted to for the team and fans? Unfortunately this underlines Clarke and what he is. Unless DJ was to become a game changer and game winner, its just more development of an individual. Its a business, wins keep you employed development of individulas probably means youd make a decent assistant or guess what AIS.

correct me if im wrong but didn't DJ fill in for Anstey at the tigers when he went down with an ijury and do an impressive job. Then came to 6ers and marty wouln't play him many minutes. That alone probably set his development back not to mention giving his confidence a huge dent

"Wins keep you employed"...while I couldn't agree more there for a professional coach I have to go back to something Marty Clarke said a while ago:

Its not about wins and losses.....

I STILL hate that line. When IS coaching a professional team going to be about wins and losses for Clarke? According to the stats Marty Clarke has so far led the 36ers to a 14-30 record.

Scott Ninnis was sacked after just 2 seasons and he had a better record than Clarke does (Ninnis ended up 25-33 as 36ers coach). With just 9 games left in the season Clarke can't even match that and Ninnis actually got us to the Elimination Finals in 2008-09.

DJ averaged 8 minutes a game before joining the Sixers

how a team plays will show the character of a coach.

if they don't hustle it's the environment they been placed in...

if I were 36ers management I'd definitely embarrass him by a mid-season SACK. he's probably a good dude but don't deserve to finish the season.

Adrien sturt has also had big numbers in the seabl
DJ would not be the player he is right now without Marty and Radford
Creek would not be here
Aaron Bruce would not be playing anywhere
Remember it took lemanis 6 years to get the team right. Wright has a much more talented team and they are only a few wins better than the 36ers
We are two horses away from being a legit team
Players don't won't to come to Adelaide to play now that the big dollar paper bags have stopped. Ask Gibo why he stayed on the coast.
The coaches have to create stars and that takes time.
Adelaide has been spoilt for success in the past
I have said before even the great Phil failed with greater teams than what we have now
Look what is happening in the gong. Has Gordie all of a sudden forgotten how to coach, no of course not.
You can bring a stick to a gun fight and expect success. Right now that is what we are.

Is anybody aware of the money that Marty is on? Surely the only reason that he hasn't got the flick yet is because the 6ers can't afford to pay him out?

Should the hat be passed around next home game?

Sounds like he's got some support from higher up- that they know the season is shot and he's undermanned and they can't get the replacements they want mid-season.

The team is rudderless. Warren isn't a true PG and doesn't have the leadership skills yet. In fact there are no true leaders on the team at all. Creek can be vocal on court and sets an example by his hustle but he's 20 and still isn't a key contributor. DJ isn't a leader, DS sets an example but isn't a floor leader, Weigh is developing but is in a massive slump....you can't get out of holes like the one we got in last night without leadership.

Also, no-one expected us to lose by anthing less than 10+...the result wasn't a shock although i can't get over the difference in FG attempts. That shouldn't even be possible.

Id say the SOS and those directly in charge of hiring him are too proud to admit they have made a mistake on this one. The inadequate coach will continue, and at the expense of the fan base. The future is bleak, no leaders, Ballinger hasnt been a winning franchise player for a long time, very young but no mix of veterans. So many deficiencies to speak of at this organisation, Id be giving Radford the reigns and go from their.

thanks for the history lesson anon.

The 36ers have 4 titles ( 5 if you count the Bearcats who melted into the 36ers) which puts the club at the upper echelon in the NBL

The Crocs tonight celebrate being in the NBL for 20 years. That is 20 attempts at winning the title. The 36ers have being going for 8 more season and have 4 titles to show for it. The 36ers win a title on average every 7 years.

Boston went 22 years between titles. The Lakers went 12 years. The Spurs took 26 years to win a ring. It even took Jordan almighty 7 years to work out how to win the title.

Don't even get me started on some of the AFL teams and their droughts.

People here are expecting someone to click his fingers and for miracles to happen.

As i said before we don't have the horses to win it right now. The group in Perth has been together for a number of years. The Breakers too. The Blaze nucleus has been the same for around 3 years. You cant condense the time it takes for a core group playing shoulder to shoulder for years to happen.

We have the youngest team in the league. By far.
There is a core group being assembled. I for one am patient enough to watch this thing build. When we do win it it will make the victory even sweeter.

Muzz Buzz if you think that DJ would not be the player he is right now without Marty and Radford then you are sadly mistaken!

Have a look at the link below to see how many double figure games DJ had when he was playing for the tigers and they had Anstey.

DJ's 2010 Tigers games

He averaged 10ppg, 4rpg in about 18 minutes that season.

The next season Clarke gets him instead of Schenscher and he is our only center and he plays him 19 minutes a game! It would have actually been 17 minutes a game if it wasn't for the last 3 games where he got about 36 minutes a game.

This season with DJ getting 29 minutes a game he is averaging 16ppg and 8rpg with Clarke giving the illusion that he is the reason he has developed.

DJ has developed naturally and had the same potential 3 seasons ago but only now Clarke is giving him minutes.

Muzz Buzz there is a BIG difference in watching an up and coming team and watching the 36ers. Right now your watching a team with alot of potential without anyone really steering them. They have a development coach who will improve individual skills but has constantly shown he cannot improve or guide the team as a whole.

The players abilities arent being used to benefit the team. The players dont show the level of effort required. The rotations during games are to often just bad decisions. We dont have any real set plays.

Sorry but all of those things are ONLY due to coaching. Right now the only success Clark is having is usually on the back of 1 or 2 players having great games despite him sitting them on the bench for long periods.

Nice work Muzz Buzz
I think anon will sit down now

King James your posts match your name sake on occasions. Perhaps you could write to Marty with your play book suggestions just like you did with Ninnis. Clod.

If DJ was so coverted as being a potential superstar why was it that only 2 teams tried to recruit him when he was a free agent.

The tigers didnt even want to hang on to him

If it wasn't for Clarke DJ would be joining the likes of Horvath, Dench , Cullen and Vanderjagt right now

I wouldn't think SOS can afford tom pay him out.

I think he should see out the 3 year plan and be judged mid next year

Who can they afford to replace him with?

The reason why only 2 teams wanted to recruit him is because he probably priced him self too high. What teams are going to pay $100-120k each season for 2 season for a 21 year old? If he only asked for $50k for a season I am sure all teams would have wanted him. Furthermore, other teams had their starting center Perth = Knight, Cairns = Crosswhite, Sydney = Khazzouh, NZ = Wilkinson.

Why didn't the tigers want him? Well probably because they signed Nevil, Tragardh, Helliwell (thinking he was actually going to be good) and Burson is probably a decent reason.

As I said DJ had good games in 2010 playing limited minutes which showed huge potential. So he was always going to naturally get better over a couple of seasons. His improvement has been getting stronger and has been given more minutes (as deserved). His defense and rebounding hasn't really improved. If anything Clarke has slowed down DJ's progress as he should have been getting the minutes he is getting now, last season!!

Mystro, Perth are currently top of the ladder and we beat them twice on the road. There is no excuse for not beating every team every time. The coach is not getting the best out of his players and his players are not giving their best. It seems the players are so disinterested and couldn't give a shit about the fans. I would sack everyone of them and start on a clean slate. I am fed up with paying good money that goes into paying all of them good salaries and getting rubbish in return.

I still wonder about the 3 year plan. We have never had a progress report from the coach as to what stage he has reached in his 3 year plan. Would be interesting to see what he feels about his 3 year plan now and if he still thinks he is on track.

Ok so forget the 3 year plan it doesnt exist. You play every individual game on its merits. Id stick with a fair few of the players we have. Everyone of one of them is being paid, but the club isnt getting true value for money because the coach isnt able to maximise their talents. Protect your investments and bring in a motivator and mover and shaker type coach, and trust me those players competitive juices will bubble to the surface. Right now the players arent happy to be losing but they dont know how to channel their anger into constructive change, so as to rectify and start winning. Clarke doesnt know how to get the best out of his players, thats what this continual complaining about his coaching comes down to.

Sixers have a young team now with 2 veterans out injured 1 of which is a 10 point player. The 2 top teams have had the nucleus of their squads together for a few seasons and in NZ's case most of them play together in the national team as well as NZBL, they carry all that chemistry into the NBL.
Sure the Sixers got 2 wins in Perth, Breakers also lost to the Hawks at home. This league is such that if you just turn up no matter who's on your team, if you don't play well and put the effort in for 4 quarters, you won't win even against the bottom placed teams.
The Sixers really lack an experienced floor general out their to run the offense and defense and get on players when they drop their heads, the top teams have multiple guys with leadership abilities who can fill this role when needed to.
Sixers would be a completely different team if they had say an Eddie Gill running the point and your 2 injured vets back.

He refers to 2 injuries - 17points - a quarter of the team , and some very close games , just lost.

It's been an interesting ride : Holmes Hill Dowdell Carter Bruce Harris Winder DeVries Howard Shannon , while the top teams have been together for a while.

If we had won the 2 OT games we would be in 6th position right now and i doubt so many people would be sharpening their knives.

Of course we havent , but what i am saying is that we aren't that far away from being mid pack which is where this team sits talent wise.

BJF, you are right however its sorta like saying, "if" I got 4 numbers in X Lotto then Im not far awy from winning the big one. Yeah?

Even making sixth place doesnt mean much when we struggle to find wins anywhere. Come play off time, even if we made 4th, we'd probably play the Tigers and in Melbourne..... I think not!

If Adelaide really wanted success, you'd pay the guy out and look at guys like Phil Smyth or someone of his calibre. He knows what it takes to win titles!

Clarke was quoted as saying today the team isn't looking to next season just yet... Of course he doesn't want to, because he most probably won't be here to coach! The fact he thought the effort etc in no to lose by 20 odd is ok, says a lot. Goorjian would've ripped shreds off his players and the word unexceptable would've been used. But what do I know I'm just a fan, Clarke is the professonal

So you mean we need someone lose $3million per year. To win titles, during an era where basketball in this state went bankrupt because of those titles. If u were the owners, I would rather someone who was more fiscally responsible.

SOS can't pay what the big boys are willing to pay. As such, they don't have a top 10 talented player. And therefore can't win.

I would rather a team that doesn't win over no team at all.

hah, I prefer no team at all.

Hah im not saying sign Goorjian directly, im making the point a coach of his calibre, knows how to get results out of his players. Although he was annoying and severely over the top in many ways, his players always responded and bought in to his coachinh style. Clarke couldnt organize a root in a brothel quite frankly.

I'm with Muzz Buzz here. While I'm not saying Marty is a great coach, I don't think he is as bad as some of you are making him out to be. I really think it comes down to having a very young team and a team that doesn't have enough talent yet.

Outside of DJ and Simpson, if you are really honest, who on this roster has consistently looked likely to outplay his opponent most games? I would say no-one.

The cold hard truth of the matter is that our guards just aren't good enough. I like Warren's shooting, but he just doesn't have what it takes to run a team at NBL level yet and defensively he just gets burned too easily.

None of the other guards have shown that they are good enough to earn more than minor bench minutes on the top NBL teams.

We aren't much better at the small forward position.
Weigh is okay in that he rebounds and seems to have a good hard nosed attitude out there. The problem is, he is too slow to guard a lot of threes and he can't seem to offset that with scoring because his shooting is woeful. While you can see the potential in Creek, he also can't shoot and remains a charging machine when trying to get into the paint to use his athleticism.

If I was choosing the Sixers roster next season, the only players I would be determined to keep would be DJ, Simpson and Creek. That's it.

Everyone else I would consider AFTER I had my starting lineup settled. Weigh will probably have to remain in the starting lineup because he has another year to run, but I would be searching high and low for the best Aussie guard I could land and then complimenting them with the best import guard I could find.

I just think blaming the coach is futile when we have such a limited roster. Play the season out and then consider who else is available at the end of the season. Unless we can land a PROVEN top level NBL coach, we are just as likely to get worse as better by switching coaches again.

And starting your bench in the 4th quarter against NZ at home and letting absorb a 9-0 run, makes supporting the 6ers for the previous 3 quarters futile. If i had known this was to be the coaching tactic come the 4th quarter for that game, i wouldve stayed home. Just one example of many. He has had a decent amount of time to get a solid roster together. He wouldve gone into his job interview and sold the sos on how good he could make a cost effective team, and then he didnt deliver. Moral of the story, you get what you pay for. Oh and never sign a rookie coach to a 3 year deal, i mean really!

Anon, I agree that Marty has to accept a big chunk of responsibility for the roster. But its not always the fault of the coach when players don't work out.

Who would have predicted Weigh would shoot THIS badly throughout the season? He was the Sixers marquee Aussie signing and nearly everyone praised them for it, but he simply hasn't put it together. Is that Clarke's fault? Could be, but it could just as easily be that Weigh simply can't shoot.

Balls barely played and was ineffective when he did.

Crosswell's steadying hand was an obvious positive influence early and losing him to injury has also hurt the team. (BTW, I am happy he is on the roster next season, but in my post above I was talking about players on our roster I consider indispensable. Crosswell could be replaced by other journeyman PG's.)

So there has clearly been some major holes in the Sixers roster this season which are not really the fault of the coach.

Kobe, I know you like to focus on examples of poor substitutions by Marty, but I'm not convinced you know the full story. Sometimes I have seen Marty sit Simpson after one of his frenetic stretches because he is clearly labouring and needs a break.

Since Balls has been out, Marty has been forced to sub either DJ or Simpson out earlier, because he needs one to come back in and rest the other. As soon as Helliwell comes in we get killed, but what can we do? Weigh is the only other option at PF and that is only against some teams.

With regard to the most recent game, I totally agree with Peter John's comments earlier. DJ had 1 rebound to half time, which really isn't good enough. Perhaps the coach was sending him a message?!?!

Likewise, people complain about Ng being subbed off when he's hot, but don't consider the matchups. It's no good having him shooting threes out there if his opponent is beating him off the dribble all night long to create mayhem in our defence!

There are all kinds of things the coach knows about how a player is feeling, how they have trained that week and what injury niggles they have, which we don't know about.

So I just think it is dangerous to make bold assumptions about a coach's ability based on selected substitutions in different games.

Beantown CLARK chose the players he wanted without restrictions. So the players are 100% his fault, noone else's.

Three players he sacked are out performing the way they played under him last year. Holmes and Bruce being the biggest standouts. He was unable to get either of these players to the standard they have now set....Moose was getting more out of Bruce and hes an even worse game coach than Clark is.
So now when I look at players who suddenly struggle when they come to the 36ers, I look at the history this coach has in getting the most from his players. Quite simply he sucks at it.

I would say more players have had their games suffer under him than have improved.

Skud, I dont think you can say Brad Hill has improved at all. Holmes and Bruce have improved individually away from the team they were on.

Holmes has always been able to put up stats. In recent years in Adelaide though, he was playing a specific role and deferring to Ballinger/etc on offense.

I know he's not paying for season tickets, but it's a bit sad when someone like Heal, or Mystro or CBAB, etc hate less on Adelaide than Adelaide fans. Witnessed a dire third quarter in Wollongong the other night but fans still go on court to offer their support. The Hawks are on a big losing streak but had countless letters in their locker room offering belief and support from the community.

I'm all for constructive criticism, but sometimes the blanket hate gets a bit much. He's a development coach. Can't coach men. Get rid of the owners for not spending enough. Better off not even having a team(!). He's shit. Waste of money. Get Mark Davis to coach. He promised Weigh minimum minutes!!11! Minutes are too even (no shit, always more likely in a heavy loss). Playing too many people (entire league is doing it).

Isaac agree to some degree but realistically if the club made te right calls and made the hard decisions when they are well over due to be made, the negativity that does sart to border on insane wouldn't be there.

Also Beantown in that particular example it was the entire bench starting the 4th in a 1 point game. You can't tell me back in the day mee, cat, kb, maher, started the 4th on the bench against the magic in a 1 point game. Dumb coaching

Look for Adelaide to have no South Australians in their team next season, someone please ask why?
It was my understanding that ownership were always keen to promote local content and Ninnis was always big on South Aussies.
Schenscher, Holmes, Hill, Madgen and Forman all starters on their teams and having good success (winning) outside of Oscar who had stellar season last season. Everyone of these guys either at 36ers or available to the 36ers in the last 2 years.
Check out box scores from weekend and these all had significant impact for their teams.
Sad but true. Expect Ng to join the list.

Anon, people have wanted most of those guys cut at various points of their times in Adelaide. Except maybe Schenscher and Madgen who was only a development player here. Hill copped it all the time, Holmes too. Many times people criticised Ninnis for picking SA players rather than "the best available."

Isaac you are right, most people on here wanted these guys cut. Is that most people? After all most people on here wanted PS sacked Ninny sacked and now
Marty, throw in Ballinger and pretty much every player outside of Brett Maher. That is the mentality
of what I hope is only a small sample of 36er supporters. Most South Australians ( I think) would love a SA orientated team with the right imports and perhaps a stud Aussie to compliment the them.
Somebody has a vision of no South Australians!!
Also funny that the people in Holmes Hill's and Bruces adopted states are not calling for their heads. Oh and how would have Oscar's position been viewed on here in recent weeks before his outstanding game on the wekend. (if he were playing for the 36ers)

To be honest, I don't care whether the players are from Adelaide, Melbourne, Chicago, Lithuania, or Naboo, so long as the team is successful, or at least showing signs of imminent success. What honest motivation is there to go on Sunday afternoon? Each time I have seen Adelaide this season they have given me one more reason not to come back the following game.

I do think that much of the hostility towards Clarke is because of (and deservedly so) his appalling performances in interviews with various media bodies. I think he comes across as "what the f*ck do you know?!" to the average supporter. One thing I do know, is that he is 14-30 since taking over, and I don't even buy the "development" line. If he was such a great development coach then Tom Daly would have been ready to move straight into the starting lineup when Crosswell went down.

Damn forgot half those players were South Australians. You guys could have an All Star type game, the guys we cut Vs the guys we hate. Clarks current mob Vs Ninnis and Hill, Schensher, Holmes, Foreman, Bruce, Magden etc lol
I'd watch.

Clarke should do the right thing and just step down as head coach and continue his role with the 36ers as an assistant coach only. This guy lacks strategy, makes bewildering decisions, and looks like he don't have the full support of the players. Coaches don't get judged on their words or in Clarke's case his excuses. Instead they get judged on their actions and results. Atm it looks like he ain't got a fuking clue. I don't see much development either unless the definition of development is erratic performances. If Clarke is coach next year than i defs won't be going to any games let alone purchasing membership.