Luke wasn't the problem.

If they'd even signed a Lazare-type instead of Schenscher this team would have been much more potent at both ends. Luke didnt fit the style of the rest of the team and the required shifting of Johnson to PF was a disaster defensively.

Hopefully a good coach next year will run them almost exclusively as a two-headed monster who give very different looks for 20-25 mins.

Like most immobile, offensive minded centers you have to play THROUGH them on nearly every possession to get a max return on your investment.

So either use him like Townsville did or get someone cheaper.

Can not co-exist on a team where Daniel Johnson has a green light, IMO, so something's gotta give.

Paul I really liked the look of the High-Low action with DJ and Schenscher. The play where DJ would take possesion near the top of the key and dump it down to Luke seemed to work very well yet it was used nowhere near enough.

Mutley I'm not insinuating Luke was the problem, more so that the coaching staff and teammates didn't know how to use him properly. If you're going to go out and recruit Luke Schenscher then you need to be sure as a club why you actually want him and how you are going to use him to ensure it benefits the club.

I think Luke was just inconsistent and found it hard to find he's rhythm, he had good output at times but found injuries just kept interfering he was just getting into he's groove before he fell on he's back. I think under the right system 2 talls should dominate this league full of smalls.
How does Petrie differ from Lazare Paul?

When we used his skill set properly he scored, when we followed the coaches game plan he didn't.
Schensh will score in any team that uses him properly and can work well with DJ if they are both used properly.

Weigh and Gibson sucked under Clark but theres no way I want them gone since I know how strong they will be under our new real coach.

I should add schensh does ALOT of things that the stats will not show, sets screens, constantly supports his team mates, blocks out, runs from end to end. A lot more to his game than base stats.

And think what he could do if he could develop a nice little push shot [I'd say jumper, but that's neither liekly nor necessary] from two or three metres so he's a threat facing the basket as well as backing down and looking for that hook.

Really thought our 'development coach' might have had him add that, but obviously not.

Of course, getting him the ball when he's in good position in the keyway or moving to the basket instead of after he is out on the opposite wing would help, too.

Luke was woefully under utilised. Each time he was passed the ball it was either over his head, to his ankles, or if he did get it he shook the nut like a kid shaking a Christmas present looking to pass out again and off to a cutting player.

When the cutting player was not free, he went for goals but by then he was held, slapped, pushed and double teamed. The reffing against Luke was pathetic. His singlet would have to be two sizes larger come season's end from all the tugging and holding. Jazzy Fizz to the rescue with the extra hot wash to shrink it again for the next game.

The high-low thing with DJ worked well, but the Marty offence seemed to revolve around moving the ball outside the arc, passing off and fluffing around with it up there until there was 3 secs left on the clock, then a frantic pass was needed for a player under pressure to jack up a shot.

Contrast this to an aggressive dribble drive offense with Luke on the block either waiting for the help to leave him so he could get the pass off for a jam, or be in position for a rebound.

The best teams are made up of people who compliment others and bring new skill sets to the team. I'd keep the lanky lad because he adds to the team.

Was hardly utilised. So was it worth the money? No. Was it his fault? No. Would we have been better off with an offence that used him? Yes.

No championship team avoids their biggest player in the post. With him manning the low post, DJ filling high, and a fast/athletic swing man (Creek) cutting, we would see Luke hitting 14/10/5 on average. When the post is used properly, it makes everyone's jobs that much easier.

Bang on the money Ricey.

Luke on the post, the athletic DJ making his opponent look stupid by dragging him around the key, with Creeky darting around, cutting and creating chaos for the defence. All three men would have impressive stats, not just Luke.

Adelaide is just a Sh1tango city that no one likes, so the team have been depressed all year and depressed on the court. poor fellows maybe they should move to melbourne, Sydney or the best city brisbane and they will become superstars.

Early on, I do think some of his ineffectiveness lay with him or incoming passes. He fumbled some pretty easy layups in the first game or two. But still provided in other ways and improved a bit from there.

His numbers this year are not far off last year with Townsville or his year in Perth. However down on his first year with the Crocs and definitely not at the level of his first stint in Adelaide which was 17 and 11 per game.

This season was easily his best in SPG - wonder what led to that?

More stats at And The Foul's Wiki.

" I think under the right system 2 talls should dominate this league full of smalls."

That's the perception rather than the reality. At centre the NBL has good size, and then some more mobile players with different skill sets to exploit bigger guys.

At PF it has multi-skilled guys who are generally mobile and can shoot. They also have to be expert at defending on-balls, and that is where going tall in the NBL is a real issue.

Most importantly though, if you want to play two bigs together they have to be strong defensively and one has to be a perimeter threat. Adelaide didnt have that this year.

More successful teams use their centres in tandem so they are always fresh and a presence when on the court. Schenscher and Johnson tired were a liability and not strong enough to establish position.

Marty might've thought one was a perimeter threat after last year with DJ?

Problem was the shitty offense ran by Marty. Luke needs a good penetrating guard to be effective as he is limited offensively. Hodge really worked well with Schench and Ballinger as he constantly got into the lane.

Adelaide's offense this season struggled as we had 2 guards who are not good penetraters. As a result offenses ended with either an ugly 3 point attempt or a post up with 4 seconds left on the clock.....not exactly going to get the best out of Luke.

Agreed Isaac, but he was not able to exploit his greatest asset - speed - at PF, and the defensive issue was obvious for all to see.

His two good seasons, 2009 and 2011, he did a big pre-season, stayed injury free, was surrounded by shooters and had an offence where his great passing was utilised.

When he isnt fit he is a liability because he simply gets pushed around and he cant defend. And if there isnt an offence/teammates that allow him to punish double teams he cant be effective.

He didnt need to be double teamed, passing becomes ineffective. Marty quoted "if he is not double teamed he will svcore 50" either very poor judgement or an attempt to have opponents double team him.

That's a good point anon two above, which comes back to the fitness issue. Luke seemed behind the 8-ball at the start of the season, simply couldnt hold his ground.

Re use of big guys, around the world now big guys are used mostly setting picks and getting hit on the roll-out or getting a close seal after the roll-out, because teams have become very good at defending post-ups.

His lack of mobility and width when setting a screen makes it hard to use Luke this way.

And the fact that he gets man handled with no love from the Refs.

Other big guys get manhandled too but they are strong enough to play through it, as Schenscher is when fit.

I Agree..

Schensch will always fumble easy layups. It's what he does. You have to just take the good with the bad. He is such a great kickout passer and a double team target though which is why you need to surround him with shooters.

He is far too soft. Overrated and not worth the $. If Schensh was the primary go to guy as some are suggesting, no way would the 6ers be title contenders.

Where are all the people that wanted Luke back at the 6ers now, come on stick up for your boy.
You asked the club for him and they delivered now he seems to be part of the issue.

Glad we got him, looking forward to seeing him play for the Sixers with a coach that can run decent pays for/around him.

Glad you are here Luke!

Where do people receive a pass from in shooting drills? Under the basket... Where do so many drills in general start the ball? Under the basket... So wouldn't it make sense to have the ball pumped down to where you're used to receiving it from? Apparently not to some people on here. It's beyond me how some people can make comments on here when they clearly have no idea. So because every other team plays guard heavy we should too? Or maybe we should exploit the fact with have 2 giants inside, and a physical body (Petrie) coming off the bench. If he isn't doubled he has a nice hook and one dribble move, if doubled he can get anybody the ball for an open jumper or layup/dunk. How is this so hard to understand? It's the first thing guards are usually taught after under 10s, feed the ball inside!!!

I thought Gibson was the veteran point guard that should know how to use big Luke at his best... But Gibson is over-rated

A Lazarre type? I thought Petrie was a Lazarre type and did exceptionally well at his job