Fingers crossed its another Ty McKee.

Would love to see an absolute stud.

If anyone can, Gordie can.

It's a shame to see Hurdle out. He seemed like he really wanted to stay in Australia long term.

andthefoul has it as Rotnei Clarke.

This kid looks goooood. Those stats from a winning NCAA team? Can't remember anyone in recent memory coming into the NBL with numbers like that from a team like Butler.

The next Kevin Lisch?

http://andthefoul.net/

I hope this guy is legit. Hawks are my second favourite team in league, and th way that community gets behind them, always good to see them do well on a budget.

Numbers look good.

Anon, Grant wasn't good. Hudson, I'm with you though.

Small for a SG or is he likely to play more at the point?

The NBL can't afford 6'6 SGs from the States

Hope his neck is ok from this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGTRSV1bTU8

and that his ankles hold out?

If so he will be better than Tye

Worked out with the Pacers last month. Probably too undersized for the NBA. Fingers crossed!

He's a PG/SG. Otherwise they might've just kept Hurdle. Other import to be a SF.

He only spent 1 year playing at Butler, he was at Arkansas before that.

Ron Dorsey?

Guys who can shoot the lights out have traditionally done well in this league, even if they are undersized twos or shoot-first PGs (ie. two player types that scream "inefficiency" in the NBA).

The only question is, can he shoot the lights out in the pros?

If his outside shot translates, he is a sure bet.

The Hawks seem to keep finding gems.

Looks like the Hawks have done it again! anyone who can score 51 points in a NCAA game from 13 Threes can shoot!

OMFG I posted ages ago that the 36ers should target this kid!

If Rotnei Clarke sticks around longer than a season I have no doubt he'll be as successful as Kevin Lische.

Expect him to play alongside Rhys Martin in a combo guard role.

Gordie McLeod, my hat is airborne. Very well done.

from wikipedia:

"Off the court, he is known for his strong Christian faith and evangelical lifestyle."

The Christian Jimmer Fredette?

any chance hurdle will go to another nbl team?

I'm probably going to get a bit of hate for this, but I'm genuinely curious...

I 100% back everything andthefoul.net do, and I'm very appreciative of all the effort they go to, to do what they do for the NBL, clubs & players, but I don't get why so many times when a team wants to make an announcement on a player they have to be the first to put it out there before the club even gets the chance too...

People continuously go on about the NBL needing to be more professional, so why can't people (not just andthefoul.net) wait for a club to put out the official release?

Please don’t take this in the wrong way, but I just can’t get my head around it...

Because the media is not the godamn PR arm of the NBL!

When will NBL folk get this through their skulls.

Can you imagine something similar being said about the AFL, NRL, or NBA for that matter?:

"Those folk at News Ltd need to stop speculating about the future of Benji Marshall and wait for an official statement from all parties involved."

or

"I can't believe ESPN found out from inside sources where Dwight Howard was going to land ahead of time and published it! So unprofessional! Why couldn't they just wait for Daryl Morey to announce it three days time??"

and to directly address this statement:

"I don't get why so many times when a team wants to make an announcement on a player they have to be the first to put it out there before the club even gets the chance too"

The reason why is because, as a media outlet, it is absolutely their #1 prerogative to get reliable news out to the public as quickly as possible, with no exceptions.

That's like asking, "Why does Usain Bolt always want to finish first in every race he runs?" and being genuinely baffled by why he doesn't let the other guys win sometimes...

I understand what you're saying... what I mean is a club will post: Tomorrow we will announce our latest signing at 10am...

by 9am andthefoul.net has posted it, why can't they wait the hour so the club can have the official release?

If they can get a 2-3 import who can play and a solid back-up 5 this team is absolutely set. Having both imports able to cover two spots would really help cover a lack of depth.

Possible options for the last two spots could be Dumovic and maybe Tom Daly? Will be interesting to see who they go with.

Davidson/??
Forman/Gruber
Import 2-3/Coenraad
Clarke/Demos
Martin/??

And agree that Hurdle would be a great fit for Cairns.

Because it is their prerogative to get the news out as fast as possible.

Do you think CNN would wait for Barack Obama's official presidential address before reporting on the outbreak of WWIII?

The "ideal" media has two priorities:

1. Reporting the news factually
2. Reporting the news in as timely a manner as is humanly possible

Everything they do is driven by that.

You have other elements in reality such as sensationalism and headlines to sell papers, drive web traffic, etc, but those two things are the idealistic goals here.

And andthefoul.net delivers.

ANDthefoul shopuld run the NBL

I think they should've kept Djeric and Macmillan - not much out there that will give more than those two, I would've thought.

On Clarke:

Coming out of high school, Clarke was highly recruited, attracting more than 50 scholarship offers. There was so much interest in Clarke, that he ran up a $400 cell phone bill largely on texts from interested coaches. His bedroom was filled with more than 2,500 recruiting letters.

andthefoul wouldn't have posted it without the Hawks blessing. If he did, why not post it last night when he knew?

Goes to show how blurred the lines are between PR and journalism these days.

Under the guise of a sexually objectifying pop song, Robin Thicke was actually weighing in on a serious issue.

I tell you what, the Hawks know how to scout and recruit. Dunno what their set-up is, but you can't argue with the results.

Oh and on the Hurdle/Taipans thing...gee I hope not. Wouldn't be catastrophic, but we really want a guy with legit handles and ability to penetrate. A guy who can play Point and help out the young Shaun Bruce. A guy more like Craig Winder.

I'll be so disappointed if Fearne picks up a shitty guard who doesn't fit when he ignored the idea of an anchor in the middle like Hudson.

If only we could swap Crosswhite's property down south with some property up here, synthesise the environment of NSW and ship his family up here, all his needs would be met and we'd win a championship this season.

I'd take Hurdle over Winder myself. Good handles, unselfish, excellent defender, good three-point shooter, great guy. I think he would be an excellent fit.

In saying that, I don't think the NBL saw the best of Hurdle.

I think we need a guy who can work with the ball in his hands. Hurdle was made to look good with Wollongong's superior perimeter passing. Whenever he went to the rack, it was off a few passes that disrupted the D and off broken-type plays. I want a pick and roll, quick energy type guy. With only one legitimate playmaker in Wilson, we aren't good enough to facilitate Hurdle. Hurdle is a play finisher, not creator. Not getting down on Bruce, but I think we need a PG preferred.

I don't trust Hurdle to carry the ball up the floor either. Defence is good yes, and you can never get enough, but offence is more important for this spot.

Yeah exactly anon, Hurdle is a role player, not one who takes the game by the balls so to speak.

He carried the ball well at Wollongong, and I think Fearne will go back to running more shuffle this year which will create similar opportunities for Lance.

Fearne's system is a little overcomplicated with all the steps, so the more guidance on court, the better in my opinion. Then again, such a system can eliminate the need for absolute control by the PG. It's hard go tell.

Personally, I want a guy who can get to the rim, because we only have one. Hill left and with him went the only other excuse for a guy who can create his own.

You can never have enough shooters, but not when other needs have to be met. We have enough shooting from all ranges, and at every position mind you.

In saying all this, I wouldn't mind if Gliddon played a bit of Point. Then, yes, go with a guy like Hurdle.

Anon, Wilson gets gassed when on the court for too long.

Only Trig and Wilson can go get their own shot for the Taipans. Probably need another guy.

Don't think so re Coenraad and Hurdle. I think they're quite specifically looking for a SF import (IMO, should be defensively minded - just try to do what Sav did) and keep Coenraad as scoring punch in the second unit.

Why would you run with two import PGs in Wilson and Deleon? Has this ever been done before?

I dont think Cairns need another guard who requires a lot of the ball.

Read a few USA articles asking "why would he play in Australia???" they talk up his european potential to move from there to the NBA.... so obviously they hold him in decent regard, and the NBL... not very well!

A few things...

1. Lance Hurdle & The Hawks.
Lance is coming to Wollongong in a few days to scrimmage with the team. He's still a very real chance at signing. He wants to. Hawks want him. It's just a matter of if he's healthy and if he can play the 3. If he can tick those boxes I'd expect him to be signed.

2. Re: ATF releasing info before the clubs.
As Mick said, we are TRYING to be the ESPN of the NBL. It may sound a bit.. Not sure.. Wanky, however that's ALWAYS been my goal.

When ATF first started, like any other website, we had to really investigate to get wind of player movement etc. Didn't know who we can and couldn't trust. Didn't know 100% who to go to to confirm things etc.
As the site has evolved to what it is today we have built enough trust with teams, players and coaches. Now get around 85-90% of our player movement info direct from the teams/coaches/GMs. The other 10-15% usually comes from people close to the team or players. Whatever we get told by fans (and I get at least 3 or so emails a week) we take with a grain of salt. If it seems plausible I will go straight to the player/team/coach.

We find out info on some players weeks before its announced and other times just hours. Most of the time we will get told and then depending on who the team is and what deals they have with their local media, teams will tell us when they are releasing the info and when it's OK for ATF to release the info. Usually it's around an hour before hand.

If a team has an exclusive deal with their local print media (like Cairns do with Cairns Post for EG), they will tell us and in which case we step back and wait until after the local media get their exclusive. In those cases - again - we get told two release dates/times. When it's being released and when ATF can release the info.

Nothing is ever released with any harm to the clubs or to take away anyones "thunder". We've only had 1 team (which was actually one staff member on this team) that had an issue some time ago. That person has since left that position within that team and ATF have a great relationship with the new person in that position.

3. Rotnei Clarke.. Over or under 20ppg next season?

Under if officiating continues to help the D suffocate the O

I third that. Very very hard to get 20 in this league.

Could keep Hurdle and go with the below, but ??? will need to be able to contribute:

Davidson/---
Forman/Gruber
Coenraad/???
Clarke/Hurdle
Martin/Demos

I wonder if the Hawks have chatted to Marcel Jones? He could even start.

I can't see Clarke averaging over 20ppg if guys like Patty Mills, Johnny Flynn etc failed to meet the mark. So difficult to do in the 40min NBL era with the physicality of the game as it is nowadays.

I didn't realize the Hawks were hoping to resign Hurdle. If he does return, I rate them very, very highly next season...

R.Martin
R.Clarke
L.Hurdle
O.Forman
L.Davidson

Geordie McLeood, ballin' on a budget!

Hawks are already a very average rebounding team, effectively replacing Saville with Clarke is certainly not going to help that!!

Leon Henry is a very good suggestion, he would fill that need. Would be an exciting team. If they can get a back-up centre who can guard true fives at least for a little while then they would have most bases covered.

Davidson/??
Forman/Gruber
Coenraad/Henry
Clarke/Hurdle
Martin/Demos

Some good new players coming into the league which is good to see... but I don't think Clarke will av over 20.... He will be a 16-17 point guy, probably the Hawks biggest offensive weapon so will have entire team strategies devised around him.

Keep up the good work Nat.

To look at this another way, and they won't do this, but could they go:

Hudson / Davidson
Forman / Gruber
Coenraad / Henry
Clarke / Mick Cedar (i think gordie would get production out of him)
Martin / Demos

FWIW Davidson is one of my favourite players in the league, but I think he would do just as well as sixth man and they could probably do with another impact player up front. The frontcourt above would be tough as nails. Leaves the backcourt thinner though.

Oh I like the suggestion of Henry!

I don't know why you'd put Davidson to the bench. He's not a franchise player, but he's a key piece. Or I don't know why you'd get Hurdle now, for that matter, and I say that as a big fan of his - not big enough for what they need. They just need an import version of Sav or anything close to Vukona. Rebound, defend, anything else is a bonus. Years ago, they almost had Jamario Moon - doubt he's close to within budget, but he's struggling to stay with an NBA team for longer than a season.

I am not keen on Henry. Bit too up and down.

They need a big import or a small forward import.

Both can be incredibly hard to come by -- especially given the Hawks budget.

They could get someone like Bryant Markson or Akeem Wright for the SF spot. They can flat out play (6"7 and 6"8 respectively) Defensively very nice and rebound exceptionally well. Long players. Wright has a Lebron type build.

Davidson/Local player
Forman/Gruber
Wright OR Markson/Gruber
Clarke/Demos
Martin/Daly or Djeric


They could go and get someone like Hudson, but I have no idea who they would get in for the SF position This is especially tough because there isn't many local SF options out there -- Ones that are left aren't exactly sure-fire NBL quality.

MACDUB, Hawks have SF Tim Coenraad signed also. Gruber is not a 3.


Will Hudson would be awesome, but I dare say out of the budget. Akeem Wright also sounds nice.

Wonder if Non-Imports like Leon Henry, Tom Daly and Mick Cedar are going to be looked at?

Only issue with Coenraad is that he's not healthy at the moment and question still remains if he can perform at a starter level, consistently.

Jordan Gregg trying out this week

Jordan Gregg....wow just make him go right!

Hadn't heard the name, so for anyone too lazy to look it up, Jordan Gregg is a SEABL import with Hobart. 6'7", can shoot the three, but not great from the stripe.

Sorry, 75% this season. Was looking at the Sporting Pulse page for a previous season which had 58.5% FT.

Does he play D? IMO, that's what the Hawks need at that SF spot.

Quality guy off the court too ... great with clinics, school visits, fans etc. Started the first few games quietly in SEABL but has really stepped his game up ... great stats this season ... often as third option behind Polk and George.

Hobart have three guys averaging 20+ PPG?!

What positions could Marcel Jones play in the NBL?

Whoops, TIMC.. When I mentioned Gruber at the 3 spot, I meant Coeenraad (they look similar and I get them confused regularly LOL)

Jones is a 6"8 combo forward.

Started at SF in the NZNBL.

Can be used at the 4 as well given his height.

He averaged 14 & 6 in the Eurochallenge last year playing for Romanian team Pitesti. I doubt he would be on huge money there, but Im guessing it would be more than the Hawks have available for that spot.

It would have to be a case of wanting to play in a better comp in nicer weather, I suppose.

How do you rate his defence?

Nup, in Victoria.

What's left for them to pick from for the back-up C spot?

For me Andrija Dumovic is the obvious choice, Sydney boy, 6'10-6'11, strong, lots of potential, played some good D at WUG. Not sure who else they might look at. Massey? Opacic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS9CWoenc3g

Clip of him from College for those who don't know much about him (few years old though).

Defensively, from the games I have seen, he is the type of player that will get in passing lanes and strip players. Could say its gamble defense.
Has athleticism and length to challenge shots, and boards well.

Should be suited defensively to the NBL, because he has the foot speed to get out and hedge on on-ball screens.

The NBL doesn't have "bangers" at the 4 spot.

Here's a game from this year in the NZNBL. It's a cracker.

http://new.livestream.com/NBLlivestreaming/events/2167941

He's a nice player, the only thing I'd say is can he guard SFs in the NBL? I think Gordie could use him well though, would be a perfect fit along with Hurdle if they could somehow afford them both.

BTW, he's number 6 for white in that vid. The guy he's playing on (and has a shootout with) for Otago, Akeem Wright, is apparently being considered by the Hawks for an import spot.

Bugger, the link has been messed up! Not to worry, it's another game Jones is playing in but no Wright.

Haha! Dont worry about me, just scroll down on that page and youll get the Manawatu v Otago game.

I think he could guard SFs in the league.

Might struggle with a guy like Creek. But could handle a lot of them - Greer, Weigh, Hill, Hire, Coenraad, Josh Pace. Abercrombie can jump out of the gym, but I think his average dribbling skills and occasional awkwardness exploding off one foot limits his speed.

Wright is an absolute beast in the games I have seen.
Like I mentioned in the other thread, he has a Lebron type build and is 6"8. Quick as hell.

OK, good to know. Im just surprised he hasnt made an appearance in the league, as I mentioned maybe price range?

Wright is certainly a physical specimen. Was a solid bench player for Kansas State but has just taken the minor league route as a pro.

Above comment was re Macdub's, not anons.

And Jones is naturalised, is that right? Looks like someone who could get to the line, but shame about the FT% if it's as reported. Had one game in NZ where he went 1/6 - that would've been hard to watch.

Surely he's not prohibitively expensive if he's playing NZ NBL?

Has Dumovic trialled with any NBL teams? Reasonable future ahead of him?

Watched Dumovic a couple of times this year in SEABL....he has a bright future but is still a few years off making an impact at NBL level.

He would be good as a development player an once he grows into his body could be a solid NBL guy for a number of years...that said alot of water to go under the bridge first.

Re price Isaac, Hawks would be competing against what he is offered in Europe, not the NZNBL which his end of season gig. It wouldnt be huge money in Romania but once you add he and Hurdle together it might be out of range?

Tiger Watcher, re Dumovic, he surprised me at the WUG which is well above the level of SEABL. Going against bigger bodies he was able to hold his own defensively and rebound strongly.

He is still raw, no doubt, but the Hawks have lacked someone who could just bang with a big body, and given the money they have left I cant think of any locals who could fill that hole better, nor with a bigger upside to develop.

Naturalised Kiwi Marcel Jones has signed as an import with Italian team Cantu who are also playing in the Eurocup this year, suggesting he was indeed out of the Hawks' price range.