decent signing imo, can defend and decent outside shooter.

Really attacks well, has good reach, is physical and uses his feet really well.

..as for his on-court skills..meh.

Great signing as a 10th man if you only take into account the basketball aspect.

Why does everyone seem to think Steindl is a 2?

is physical and uses his feet really well

Wilson, because otherwise he's competing with Blanchfield and Henry who'd be SFs first, surely? Mostly just fitting him into that neater listing format. In reality, there'd be 2-3 guys who play minimal minutes.

His biggest impact this year will be in Court rather than on Court.

I think you can play Steindl or Blanchfield at the 2 against teams with poor coaches (like Melbourne) or teams who lack the defensive personnel to exploit such a lineup (Wollongong), but if you try it against Perth you will end up with egg on your face.

It also depends on player development: Blanchfield is still young, and Steindl -- while a few years older -- is still a couple of years away from his prime, so there's room for skill development yet. If I was Dennis I'd be assigning an assistant coach to just work with those guys all offseason on ballhandling.

In reality though... if they want to win (and assuming both guys don't make any strides in the ballhandling / decision-making departments) you will probably see Norton, Markovic and Djeric getting most of those minutes at the two spot, with Steindl and Blanchfield playing at the 3 and 4. From memory last year, Blanchfield was used very sparingly at the two spot, but he did at least see SOME time there.

Blanchfield doesn't really make mistakes though, because he is a very risk-averse, super-efficient player (sometimes to a fault), so I can't see why he couldn't play a few more spot minutes at the two. The other equalizer there is that Jacob Holmes can handle the ball, so if he is on the floor at the 4 spot you have more room for error with a guy at the two who isn't a ballhandler.

I think the best way to run this squad would be starting both PGs in the backcourt...you have an insane amount of lineup flexibility, and the only thing you are missing is a big, true shooting guard (a position that is becoming redundant in the modern game anyway because everyone can shoot it nowadays):

Markovic / Norton / Djeric
Norton / Markovic / Djeric / Blanchfield / Steindl
Blanchfield / Steindl / Henry
Conklin / Holmes / Steindl / Blanchfield / Henry
Gladness / Vanderjagt / Conklin

Might be the most versatile team the Crocs have ever put on the floor:

- Multiple guys who can play at least two, sometimes three different positions. -Solid defenders at every position who can guard multiple positions.
-Shooting at every position except the 5...like really good shooting. There are 5 guys on this team who shot 40% from deep last season. FIVE!!! That is ridiculous for an NBL team.
-Rebounding & size at every position.
-Athleticism and youth at every position.

If Dennis plays his cards right, there are myriad matchup nightmares that he can exploit...this team has a high ceiling...it just needs to find an identity and toughness early.

And forgetting all that, it's gonna be fun as hell to watch this team run and dunk over everyone, even if they don't end up winning as many games as they should.

"-Shooting at every position except the 5"

need to correct myself. Greg Vanderjagt shot it from deep at above 40% last season.

Technically the Crocs could throw this lineup out there:

Mitch Norton
Steve Markovic
Clint Steindl
Todd Blanchfield
Greg Vanderjagt

And have a plus 40% 3 pt shooter at every position on the floor.

Henry 2.0

There are 5 guys on this team who shot 40% from deep last season. FIVE!!! That is ridiculous for an NBL team.

Hawks last season martin 43, Forman 42, Rotnei 40, Davidson 34, conrad 35, demos 31. Definately a huge part of The Hawks success having multiple guys that can spread the floor.

Very excited to see how the Crocs go this year, average height of 199cm is awesome and officially the biggest crocs team in history.

The Crocs look better the only problem is so are most other teams. Will be exciting to watch.
Gladness could be one of the top centres in the NBL

hasn't Claybrin Mcmath also joined them?

Was told on the weekend that Scott Kenny is returning as 11th man.

That is the perfect signing, if that isn't incentive for Blanchfield and Steindl to lift their game to the next level then they don't deserve the court time.

Good luck to them all and hopefully Henry can play bigger this season and really stretch opposition teams.

I think it will be great seeing how Henry and Dennis work together

A lot of responsibility and playing time for markovic and norton as the two main ball handlers. The big question mark will be how well steindl and blanchfield handle full court pressure when they are playing 2 and are the secondardary ball handler. Definately see teams trapping and doubling norton and markovic in the back court when one of the wings are at sg.

Yeah, i really don't see it as a problem.

Conklin, Holmes and Henry are all varying degrees of being capable ballhandlers for PFs so there is that pressure valve there if you want one of the big wings at the two...not to mention Norton and Markovic are two very reliable ballhandlers who don't really need any help to begin with.

Markovic has turnover problems, sure, but they are more to do with making complicated home run passes in the frontcourt looking for assists than coughing it up in the backcourt under pressure.

Norton, on the other hand, is the fastest guy in the league with the ball for my money and splits double teams constantly. If you try to trap him he's going to run the two defenders into each other and then make you pay when your defence isn't set in the frontcourt.

Having said that, I still don't think you'll see Steindl or Blanchfield at that position very often: playing them at the two will be giving up a lot of speed and playmaking, and I think your best bet on a starting backcourt is Markovic and Norton with Steindl as 6th man.

Mick your love affair with Mitch (a talented young player with good up side ) gets a little "off" at times. Give us a break and lets see him perform. Hopefully for him a breakout year.

He's a good young point guard with a steady head and no glaring holes in his game, and he's young as hell with several pro seasons under his belt already.

What's not to like?

He's poised for a breakout season this year.

In all fairness I was totally nit picking as I think this is the most complete and versatile crocs team in years. Just think if steindl and blanchfield aren't going to play much sg, that's 80 minutes to share between markovic, norton and Djeric (who is only 19) at one and two.

I have full faith in Dennis and Kelly in their selection process and can't wait for the season to start.

The more Norton and Markovic are on the floor, the better for me.

Then you'll probably see Blanchfield and/or Steindl spend a handful of minutes each there each game (I haven't seen as much of Steindl as I have of Blanchfield, but i'm pretty certain Todd is the superior ballhandler), and Djeric will prob average around 10 MPG, mostly spent at the two.

I guess this is where we will miss Pace a little, because he was a good auxiliary ballhandler, but I'll take that any day of the week.

A lot also depends on what sort of improvement Steindl and Blanchfield will make in that department, because there is still plenty of upside there, especially with Blanchfield being as young as he is.

Even if they don't plan on spending any time in the backcourt, they should be working almost exclusively on their handle because that's how you create space to get to the rack which is key for guys with their athleticism.

TBH I don't think we're going to see a great deal of improvement from Norton.

Expected big things from him and Djeric as the two clear leaders of Tonwsville's QBL team, but neither set the league on fire nor came close to it. Underwhelming if anything, although I concede both were the only players worth guarding on the squad.

Pace clogged up the offense because he couldnt shoot. While he was an efficient player in a vacuum, he made it hard for his teammates to score because he couldn't spread the defense.

@Mr Ben: QBL / SEABL performances from NBL players need to be taken with a grain of salt, although I do agree that both guys should be playing a whole lot better at that level (we all remember Ben Allen putting up huge numbers and that failing to translate...or Todd Blanchfield's numbers never being eye-popping in QBL despite steady improvement from him in each NBL season...or like Michael Cedar...who always dominated QBL but never put it all together at the next level)

At the Heat where the head coach is a Crocs assistant (Mike Kelly), it's more like an NBA summer league or D-League environment for those guys where there is a direct line to their "dayjob"...i'm certain they will be working on specific aspects of their game as mandated by the Shawn Dennis / Kelly, which probably aren't conducive to winning ballgames or putting up big numbers as much as they are to personal development.

It's hard for a point guard who thrives in P&R situations to look great when there are no elite players setting picks for him or rolling to the basket. That Heat side literally has no options in the frontcourt whatsoever. The mandate from Dennis and Kelly might be "run the offense, get others involved, work on your facilitation"...which doesn't make you look good when the "others" aren't so crash hot.

But all this is conjecture...for all we know Dennis & Kelly maybe telling these guys to just go out their and kick butt and dominate, in which case you would say it has not been a totally successful QBL season for either guy.

go out there*