Anon, what has Balls done in the last few years?

Diamon has also become a favourite import of mine and I think he's still worth keeping.

While you might make valid points above with various stats being up and down.

You must remember he's used inconsistently. Benched for an entire quarter and he's not in foul trouble. Benched in crucial situation. Eg need someone to crash the boards and box out which he does even if the taller ones push him out.

I hope Diamon is back next season and beyond. He'll develop even more and become better if he could work closely with Mark Davis more regularly.

Frankly his fitness is the biggest issue IMO. I know that getting knocked around in the post tends to burn through the old stamina quicker than normal; but when your gameplay is based around post play and crashing the boards, stamina needs to be the top priority.

He's got the ability to be in the Davis mould, but personally I think he will turn out to be more of a Dusty Piecart type player.

Balls should be resigned, but for a one year contract at reduced pay. He really needs to have a stellar year to show that he's back to where he was. If he pulls it off, then give him another 1-2 years with pay to suit his performance.

Diamon is a big IF in my opinion. I think he has the talent, but needs to improve the cardio and the FT% in the off-season to we worth an Import slot.

The whole league has dropped significantly in scoring (something like 84 down to 79ppg) and FG % (45 to 41) since Christmas as a result of more contact being allowed. I think if you compared Diamon's production as a percentage of the team total it would be quite similar.

For me though, the Sixers cant have Johnson, Ballinger and Simpson, because they have been exploited for a number of years for not having a mobile 3-4.

New Zealand (Vukona, Boucher), Perth (Redhage, Wagstaff), Gold Coast (Worthington, Petrie) and Townsville (Mims, Holmes) all have guys that Ballinger and Simpson cant match for mobility. That needs to be fixed if Adelaide want to become a better defensive team.

He is my favourite 6er and i think marty and radford don't treat him very well. A couple of times i have witnessed simpson being heavily berated by radford even though every time he is on the court he is giving it his all. I don't think he is as unfit as he looks ,he just goes full speed when he is on court at all times. next time you play a game go as hard as you can when ever you are on court and see how long you last before becoming tired. I dont know about you guys but if i was doing everything i could to help my team win games and kept getting told off my stats would drop to because that would sap a lot of confidence out of me and i would start second guessing myself. I really don't think he would want to come back next season if marty and radford are still in charge and although i will be disappointed i won't blame him

I'd be interested to know if Johnson's output with respect to his minutes declined as well? If not, it could hint that he's just been found out a bit by other teams.

For me, he'd be a bit of a maybe. Really liked him to begin with, but I don't think he's been able to adjust as well as he could as teams have tweaked their strategy for him.

I think his best recent game was in Melbourne. Didn't get a lot of attempts but converted at the line and took care of the boards and blocks on D.

But with Ballinger, you still get the blocks, decent rebounding, plus range on his shot (assuming he can bounce back from his first season with the deeper arc). I'd be checking on Williamson for the import spot and then see who was best in a starting role during the pre-season.

No, not so convinced about Schenscher either.

Johnson against Perth (second placed, tough team with decent bigs):

15 and 8
22 and 6
12 and 10
24 and 8

Against Khazzouh and Grant (capable frontcourt), he's had:

14 and 9
25 and 8
24 and 9
21 and 14

Against the Blaze (third in the league):

19 and 11
24 and 4

Against Townsville (4-5th-ish):

21 and 16
6 and 4
20 and 7

Averaging 14 and 10 against Cairns (lower pace of play).

Only team he hasn't really done well against is NZ (and who from Adelaide has?). He's only been in single figures three times and once was against the bottom team.

He's about 24 years old and has been on the PPG, RPG and BPG top five lists for most of the season. Has only just dropped off the RPG list (needs 7.9 and is averaging 7.8).

No one pretends he excels on D, but he's had a promising year and I wouldn't claim most of his good games are against shit teams.

Johnson has averaged 16.1 points at 47% and 7.4 rebounds against the top five.

He has averaged 16.8 points at 43% and 8.2 rebounds against the rest of the bottom three.

I see a guy who has had some poor games, but who is averaging 45% on the season and 40% from the three point line. For a guy who tends to take some ill-advised shots from time to time, that's pretty damn good.

Firstly Simpson has improved his free throw shooting..we all know it sucks but its really annoying to hear people bitch about it constantly. While he would score more..I'd bet it would actually lift him above DJ in scoring average its not the biggest issue. I would say DJ's complete lack of Defence is a MUCH bigger concern, not because he's bad at it but because half the time he doesnt even care to try.

I dont see why people are saying we cant have Ballinger and Simpson on court at the same time..I would rather have DJ, Ballinger, Simpson than DJ, Weigh and Ballinger or Simpson ANY Day. I think Ballingers shooting is good enough to be able to push outside more and then crash the boards with Simpson

Isaac,

DJ's numbers

2011
14 games
240pts @ 17.1 per
109reb @ 7.8
20blk @ 1.4
89/173 FG @ 51.4%
54/76 FT @ 71%

2012
10 games
153pts @ 15.3
77reb @ 7.7
10blk @ 1
50/134 FG @ 37.3 %
45/56 FT @ 80%

So like Simpson, in 2012 DJ is getting some more free throws and is hitting nearly 10% more of them than in 2011. FG% has dropped over 14%. He's getting "more attention" on D and has struggled with it. He's taking an extra 3 a game over the last 10 games and hitting at a far worse % also, although I don't mind him taking 2 threes a game as he can hit them and it stretches the D. Maybe teams have worked out if you play our bigs as tight and physical as possible and don't give Ng and Warren open looks we are very defendable. The rest of our key rotation guys (Helliwell, Creek, Herbert,Weigh,Bartlett) all shoot 41% or less and are not threats from beyond 15 feet (this year at least). Also with Crossy out guys aren't getting the same looks.

I agree his Melbourne game was a good one. Took only 6 shots but got fouled 6 times and hit 75% of his free throws. Played 30 minutes, got 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. I'm not sure about Williamson, don't know where he is or what's he's been doing but I think it sounds "risky".

Anonymous,

I don't agree that Diamon has only had big games against the bad teams. 2 of his high scoring games came against Perth and NZ and he's had some good rebounding games also against the top 5. He certainly will be troubled when playing against 7 footers but generally his leap and strength is a nightmare for most bigs.

Skud,

I do think Simpson, Balls and DJ will struggle to play together. The 36ers need to workout quickly what Balls has left in the tank. All 3 can only play the 4 or 5, meaning there's 80 minutes to split between 3 guys. I don't think Balls wants to be a 6th man and I don't agree with bringing an import off the bench.

Anonymous,

If I had more time and tools available I'd be interested to look at DJ's 4th quarter numbers. I agree in some games he has racked up stats when it's too late. Against Wollongong last week for example he scored 6 of his 16pts from the foul line in garbage time. Other contributions in that last qtr

0/2 FG
1 TO
2 FL

That tells a story. I also noted on my blog a similar situation against Cairns on Jan 22.

If the 36ers don't go after Simpson he would be a great fit at the Hawks in a 3 man rotation through the 4/5 spots with Forman and Davo.

If the 36ers don't go after Simpson he would be a great fit at the Hawks in a 3 man rotation through the 4/5 spots with Forman and Davo.

Hopefully 36ers sign him up and hopefully he still wants to play for the 36ers. Having a dikhead like Radford around doesn't help.

"Against Wollongong last week for example he scored 6 of his 16pts from the foul line in garbage time."

All those foul shots were important besides perhaps his last two and he only hit 1 of them.

"Anon, what has Balls done in the last few years?"

Ah? Hasn't he finished in the top 5 league MVP voting the past 4-5 consecutive years? (and please correct me if I am wrong?). His obviously doing something!

Hard to compare Simpson's and Ballinger's stats, given the latter's injuries over the last 2 years and the former's newness to the league.

That said, I'll give it a go, comparing AB's 2010 season stats (the first with 40 minute games) with Simpson's for this year

MPG - AB 32:46 DS 23:54
PPG - AB 17.6 DS 13.7
Minutes per point scored - AB 1.9 DS 1.7

So Simpson scores faster but is on the court for a helluva lot less time, which we all knew. Simpson 1.7 minutes per point is consistently better than Ballinger's seasonal averages since 2004.

RPG - AB 5.3 DS 8.2
Simpson gets more offensive rebounds per game than Ballinger has in any season since 2004, which includes several seasons with 48 minute games. Simpson's RPG this year is ahead of Ballinger's for every season except 2005, where Ballinger got 9.1 in 48 minute games.

APG - AB 1.1 DS 0.8
Ballinger's assists per game has been ahead of Simpson's for every season since 2004, including the last 2 injury prone seasons.

SPG - AB 0.4 DS 0.8
Simpson's average for this season is roughly double Ballinger's average for each season since 2004.

BPG - AB 1.3 DS 1.7
Ballinger's best here was in 2011, when he got 1.9 per game. After that 2010 is his next best since 2004.

FPG - AB 2.2 DS 2.7
Simpson's foul count would be expected to be about 4 per game if his minutes were increased to the level Ballinger played in 2010.

I believe both players have a good work ethic on the court. Simpson may have a more visible one as, being a younger player, he has more to prove.

Defensively, I don't really know as I haven't seen enough of each with this comparison in mind. However, the fouls per minute comparison suggests Simpson finds himself in poor defensive positions more often per game than Ballinger? On the other hand, he gets a lot more steals and it may just reflect a riskier defensive style. Youth again?

On the stats alone, Simpson is more productive per minute and, being younger, there is a larger upside - if he can get fit enough to play more minutes while maintaining that productivity level. I remain to be convinced he's able to do that. Assuming Ballinger comes back at even 90% of his 2010 performance level, is it worth the risk of losing him in the hope that Simpson's upside can be realised?

It all doesn't matter because Balls is an Australian now anyway

It's pretty simple... Although being only in his first year, he's one of the most consistent imports we have had in a long time, especially as a young guy who has plenty of potential to get even better. He likes it here, has friends here, and most importantly isn't going to be asking for a large pay considering how much he adds to the team! I'd take him over DJ!

Tigers - Balls is an Australian, but he still takes a fair slice of the salary - almost like having a third import from that perspective. I am guessing that several other team would be in the same boat with some of the Aussie stars - Worthington for example.

I think current form is more important than history - Simpson over Balls if that is the choice.

Ok so Balls has been club MVP consecutively and had some MVP votes, and how has the club gone in that time?

Neither had done any preseason, so Clarke was giving them half a game each to try and run them into some form. Although Simpson's numbers were very good and Ballinger was struggling .
Johnson sounds unlikely here.

Diamon Simpson is a guy who could turn out to be a good NBL import for a 3-5 year stint.

Following his Twitter account though, it seems he is desparate to get into the NBA (realistic or not) so I would suggest he will be looking to get out of here ASAP when the opportunity comes up.

Diamon Simpson is a guy who could turn out to be a good NBL import for a 3-5 year stint.

Following his Twitter account though, it seems he is desparate to get into the NBA (realistic or not) so I would suggest he will be looking to get out of here ASAP when the opportunity comes up.

Aw . Anyways, Ballinger's running and keen to do a preseason and go around agen here , while others are frustrated , and the new Melbourne team will be a little bitta excitement.

If Simpson amazes you, what about Glover and his aspirations!?

We need some consistancy. I think Simpson should stay on another year and improve. At the end of the day we have two young imports, a young centre. We have started putting some wins on the board now. Sure it being too late. If we kept our core starting 5. Id say replace Herbi, Wade if we want to talk inconsistant lets thow other names in sorry. Sixers should look at Brock Motum a Senior out of Washington State to replace Wade averaging 18 and 7 in the PAC12 and maybe clint from ST Mary's We know he can shoot to replace herbi. They are just options.

seriously, if Diamon isnt worth keeping who do you keep? ballinger is coming to the end of his tenure as is helliwell. You need 2 imports and based off all the imports we've had in the last 4 years, this years are by far the best. No shot hungry players but team players also.

If the sixers are going to go anywhere, you gotta have stability. Look at the breakers and perth. They have done well because they have had the same team practically each year for the last 5 or 6 years. When they started out, (not perth), they were crap but got good. Taking Diamon out and replacing him with what?

Its put up or shutup? You take out Diamon and put in? Name one? Or dont tell me, lets hire a clown like Kirk Baker. Total tossbag hoochy

Why all the Williamson hype? He's never even played here.

I like Diamon and his game is well suited to Australia or Asia. He likes playing the 4 and over here his height isn't an issue. In the US or Europe he'd be facing much bigger,stronger guys at the 4. He could carve out a nice career for himself over here.

Exactly forcey! Williamson could have been average here for all we know. I think people watched a few youtube highlight videos and got too excited.

Simpson's height and wingspan is more than adequate for the 4-spot in most European competitions.