Ennis Beal
Clarke Tiggs
Wilkinson Johnson
Ervin Frye
Young Carmouche
Pace Conklin
Wilson McCamey
Farrakhan Morrison

Ennis/Beal
Ervin/Frye
Clarke/Tiggs
Conklin/Pace
Young/Carmouche
Johnson/Wilkinson
Wilson/McCamey
Farrakhan/Morrison

1. Ennis
2. Clarke
3. Ervin
4. Beal
5. Pace

Pace is productive but he throws the entire Crocs' offense out of wack because he can't shoot. Massive spacing issues when your SG can't shoot outside of 12 ft. I wouldn't bring him back because of that reason alone. Love everything else about his game, but it's just too big a deficiency to overcome.

That's bullshit, Mick.

Crocs only have two threats from deep in their starting 5: Markovic and Blanchfield. Nowhere near enough. Teams can load up inside on Conklin and Pace post ups, and can over-commit to any Blanchfield drives or Conklin rim-runs.

I don't think you can have a SG or SF that can't shoot from deep in 2014, in any league. The defenses are too clued in and the game has evolved to the point where the 3pt shot is so valuable you can't expect to win many games without AT LEAST 3 shooters on the floor at any given time. You need to spread the floor. When you pair that with a poor shooting frontcourt it's just a no brainer that the offensive geometry of this team is being thrown out of sync by the elephant in the room.

He has an obvious hitch in his shot, so it's not like its a confidence thing, it's purely technique. He just needs to swallow his pride and rebuild his stroke. It can be done in a couple of weeks if all you have to do is play basketball all day, with the appropriate guidance.

The problem is compounded by the fact that none of Townsville's 4s or 5s can shoot, which isn't usually common in the NBL. Rusty used to be able to but he's cooked.

Tell me more about all this rebuilding of shooting technique, coach.

You don't need bigs who can shoot the three in order to space the floor adequately. Vanderjagt and Rusty are actually more comfortable stepping away from the big boy area and shooting mid-long range jumpshots, Conklin is an apt mid-range shooter.

Pace actually gives them a second inside target and that's it.

He doesn't have the playmaking ability of a Homicide, but it's the same principle in that he attracts perimeter defenders to the paint to free up their outside shooters. You mention the starting five...how much more shooting do you want? You have Markovic, Crawford and Blanchfield who can really knock down. Pace also plays a bit with the bench unit?

Townsville's 3pt percentage has been woeful since Pace left and they haven't seen many good looks. I was at both games, I could tell. The only reason their rate was decent against Adelaide on NYE is because Crawford had his only good game of the season, and that involved simply swinging off picks in a two-man game with Markovic.

The Ervin/Frye combo seems to be getting a lot more love than deserved. Granted Ervin is in the top 5 imports but Frye would be well down, so on average a combo like McCamey/Wilson should rate much higher.
Agree with the Ennis/Beal combo being miles ahead of the pack.

Think Tiggs is an underrated player too

I see where you're coming from Wilson Sting. Ervin and Clarke are both having great seasons which probably inflates their combo ranking a bit. I think Jamar Wilson is having great season I personally just don't rate Mc Camey that highly

Clarke and Tiggs deserve alot of credit they're carrying the Hawks imo. Imagine swapping them for Ubaka/Lazare doubt they would win a game

1) Ennis (Great)/Beal (Good)
2) Clarke (Great)/Tiggs (Good)
3) Wilson (Good)/McCamey (Good)
4) Pace (Good)/Conklin (Good)
5) Ervin (Great)/ Frye (Average)
6) Morrison (Good)/ Farrakhan (Average)
7) Johnson (Average)/ Wilkinson (Average)
8) Young (Average)/Carmouche (Average)

Farrakhan has moved from poor to average on the strength of the last few games.

At one point Carmouche would have been good but is struggling as a square peg in a round hole.

Young won't have me convinced until he shows he can make the team better.

Wilkinson has the potential to be great but hasn't hit his stride yet.

I haven't seen as much of every import, but I would rank them fairly subjectively in the following order:

1. Ennis 10 (PER)
2. Clarke 10 (WOL)
3. Ervin 10 (ADE)
4. Beal 9 (PER)
5. Morrison 9 (MEL)
6. Wilson 9 (CAI)
7. Pace 8.5 (TOW)
8. Wilkinson 8.5 (NZ)
9. Tiggs 8.5 (WOL)
10. Conklin 8.5 (TOW)
11. McCamey 8 (CAI)
12. Young 8 (SYD)
13. Carmouche 7.5 (SYD)
14. Frye 7.5 (ADE)
15. Farrakhan 7.5 (MEL)
16. Johnson 7.5 (NZ)

None of the imports this year are terrible.

That gives a combined score of:

1. Perth 19
2. Wollongong 18.5
3. Adelaide 17.5
=4. Townsville 17
=4. Cairns 17
6. Melbourne 16.5
7. New Zealand 16
8. Sydney 15.5

Johnson's better than that, and Tiggs less consistent than Conklin.

Harsh rating Young so badly for his 20 PPG, but the work ethic is pretty horrible to watch.

They would call themselves terrible?

Omg, Mick. Would I be right, by chance?

@ anon,

I don't think any Kiwi will rate Ervin anything other than 10 for quite some time after that last minute steal business...