Are you serious Anon?? Tom Daly is coming to the club as a 10th man, 1 point player. He is a brilliant pick-up. We don't have the money to spend or the points available to sign a superstar.

Daly is a great acquisition and will add depth no doubt. He didnt look out of place 2 years ago and hes joining us with 2 seasons of SEABL under his belt where was one of the best point guards in the league

The 10th man is always a difficult spot to fill.

They are basically training bait and get limited time on game night, but need to be able to hold their own out on court.

The 10th man is either an up and coming talent who is under-rated, or an old head in the basketball waiting room.

I don't mind a Tom Daly signing. Local boy, low points, cheap, knows the Sixers culture. Ticks a lot of boxes.

Yep,
I'm with you Jack!

Yeah, not fussed either. Would've preferred someone like Corey Maynard with a bit of a ceiling, but I liked Daly last time he was here. 10th man needs to be a low fuss, cheap, low-points guy who just plays his role and that's what Daly does. Unless Cadee takes a huge step forward, I don't think Daly is a significant step down. Nor from Carter either.

Daly will be fine

Loves the game

Loves the club

Will be fine after 2 years in SEABL

It's not even just about who our ins and outs are...........it's more about the quality some other teams have recruited. Yes, sadly, it is going to be another long season. I still don't understand how that is going to stabilise or do good for the club in the long term.

My head says I agree despite my heart wanting to disagree. Sixers hierachy missed the mark this season...was a good opportunity to build on last seasons success and stabilise an increasing fan base. If last year taught us anything, winning brings the fans.

I dont think people want or expect that all...just expected/wanted a better team than what has been assembled. After years of mediocrity the 36ers took a step in the right direction last season....alot think we are headed back to that mediocrity. Hard to argue when our roster is a downgrade and most if not all other rosters have improved.

Anon...Sam Johns wont travel with the team as a DP. Would have preferred him in the 10th spot myself.

I think Wilson and Evrin is a wash, Ervin is flashier but I think Wilson will be more consistent and steady.

DJ v Montreal, have to wait and see. Very different players so hard to compare.
But Montreal sounds promising, not as much hype as other imports but if he is a good consistent performer, shoots well and rebounds then should be fine.

Cadee was decent, but wouldn't be used that much with Gibson and Wilson here. It is better for him to go elsewhere for more opportunities.

If PC can provide good leadership and 3pt shooting he will be a good pick up.

Carter was a weird signing last season, since we already had 3 PGs anyway. No need for him with Gibson, Wilson and Daly.

If Creek can improve and cement the starting SF position then the team is at the same level as last year.

Now you have to wait and see if other teams have improved and leap frogged them.

I agree. Provided Montreal is a high-level defender, which I'm told he is, I see this team as a similar level to last season's. Looking forward to tip-off to find out, that's for sure.

One other thing that's certain, if the 36ers start winning all the off-season doomsayers will be back on the bandwagon before you know it.

Good signing, well desreved by Tom, i liked what i saw in his limited court time last season.

I agree with Aussiebballer and Paul in this years teams about as good as last years, im also not convinced others have improved as much as people think, i think we get too excited at new imports some times expecting them to be the next big thing. As long as Montreal is decent, ala Conklin level who came from NZ last season, we should be fine.

I think Melbourne have over taken us, but will they have good chemistry and work well together. Cairns, Wollongong, NZ have improved slightly to be of a similar level to us and that we are still ahead of Sydney (despite them having Childress, i reckon the rest of our roster is better than theres) and Townsville, who to me are at a similar level.

oops i meant a couple of seasons ago re Tom Dalys limited court time.

Sorry Jonno, but disagree. An aged import point guard who was a bench player at his last club and a SEABL import who is going to be asked to play out of his natural position -versus- NBA players (or draft picks), Aussie Boomers returning from Europe and proven stars like Jackson.

Very happy to be proven wrong as the season progresses!

Think the Sixers are slightly worse than last year but not way worse. Montreal will be an upgrade on Johnson defensively but no way offensively. Think Wilson and Ervin is a wash with Wilson not having had the minutes he deserved last year. Crawford and Daly instead of Cadee and Carter is a decrease talent wise but the line up is more balanced instead. Crawford needs to play better than his last year in Townsville. Joey is a proven coach having only missed the playoffs once since he's been in the League but this is probably the least talent he's had for a while so it should be interesting to see how it works out.

Fair enough Spinner, but not that many clubs apart from Melbourne have picked up Boomers from Europe,

with the imports, i agree guys like Childress, Melbournes imports, and one or 2 others like Cedric Jackson, DeAndre Daniels are better than the imports we have, but apart from that i reckon Jamar Wilson will be as good/better than most import PGs not called Stephen Dennis or Cedric Jackson, and then our depth, i think we have a deeper teams than most apart from Perth and Melbourne will help cover the rest. Look at Sydneys 10 man roster v Adelaides 10 man roster, yes Childress is likely the best individual player, but i reckon we win pretty much every other match up.

But i never judge a team just on the imports or even the starting 5, most top teams have a very good atleast 8 man rotation, which i think we have, our 8 man rotation stacks up with most imo

remember our 9th man BJ Anthony is playing in the world cup and Tom Daly is pretty good and one of the better 10th men in the league imo, so even from 1-10 our depth stacks up with most.

I dont think we will make the GF this season, so i guess its a step back, but i still think we will be in the playoffs, 3rd or 4th is my prediction.

I could be wrong, but i think with a deep roster, no guy trying to 'be the man' and do too much, better team work, defense, not just relying on 2 guys to score around 20pts but spreading the load amongst 6-7 guys, and having one of the best coaches, i think we will be ok.

I also dont think the imports coming in are any better than the guys going out of the league, i think overall its at a similar talent level to last year, so clubs havnt jumped up as much as people think.

Jonno...like it or not, "the man" is exactly what you need and what we have lacked in the past (exception being last season) and what looks to be again this season.
It's the reason Gibbo recruited Ervin to the Sixers...he made no secret about it and Ervin being the closer the team needed.
Lets not forget the amount of games Ervin won for us in those situations!

True, thats part of the reason i think we will go backwards slightly, dont think we will make the GF, but should be a playoff team. (i accept i am biased, might be a little wishful thinking, but i dont think its far fetched for us to be 3rd or 4th either)

FWIW i was a Ervin fan and would have been happy to keep him, but in the 2nd half of the season he was inconsistent, but yes he definately won some games and had a good season imo, best import we have had for a while.

But Wilson is also a good pick up, his stats stack up well against Ervins the last couple of seasons, i would call it a break even move or a very minor downgrade at worst.

I reckon that Wilson along with a bit more scoring from guys like Gibbo and Petrie will be able to score in the crunch and win us some games between them.

I still reckon a really strong 8-10 man rotation, with great chemistry, coaching and defense outweighs having one or 2 stars with less depth, chemistry, defense,etc. But only time will tell.

I also remember last season when many people thought we would miss the playoffs, Boty and many others had us around 5th, and we were clearly the 2nd best team all season, i reckon many have the tendency to see the negative too much as well ( i admit, i may see the positive too much)

I reckon our roster is slightly worse than last season, hence dropping to 3rd or 4th from clearly 2nd, i also dont think clubs have dramatically improved there rosters either, i reckon Melbourne leap frog us, but i reckon the rest havnt, we probably have dropped back to the level of the Hawks, Taipans, Breakers, but those teams also havent jumped over us either imo, people are over rating the talent coming in vs the talent going out imo, to me its pretty much the same.

To be fair to Ervin, he was a key reason as to why we made the GF series, but he didnt have a great play off run overall, so can see why some are down on him a bit. (im not, would have been happy for him to stay)

I do agree with your overall point though, its exactly what im thinking, we can win with chemistry, ball movement, depth, defense without the exNBA superstar player, thats also why many people love the Spurs.

I agree people need to remember, the biggest NBA names in terms of profile, games played, ppg, etc who have come to the NBL in the last few years are Flynn, Hodge and Young, none of those guys have played a single playoff game. So its not as simple as sign Josh Childress/Ex NBAer and we will win the title, to be honest i prefer the way the 36ers have gone with having a really deep solid team, which is well rounded and deep in all positions. The best is if you can have the best of both worlds of a deep, hard working, well rounded team, with a ExNBAer, like Perth last season.

Perth had the best of both worlds last season, which is why they were so good, but lets not forget it wasnt just Ennis (or even Beal and Ennis), they have one of the deepest teams in all positions, all play defense, all work hard and are well coached, you could have replaced Ennis with an average SF and they would have still been there abouts. So it wasnt we signed Ennis who is a MVP guy and won the title, they did, but that wasnt the only reason.

Yea, thank god we have Schenscher,

one 7 footer is enough in the NBL, Petrie, BJ Anthony can share the C role with him, especially as Ogilvy also left the NBL so there are no real dominant C's.

The other funny thing with DJ, he was never a great rebounder for his size, and didnt have a great presence on the defensive end, so interms of rebounds, defense, i reckon Montreal can replace him even though he is smaller.

I think its great that Adelaide will have 2 actual Adelaide guys in the team. How else can local fans / kids connect and "own" the team. Townsville have more locals that we do!

I really hope Tom gets some oppotunities, has a break out season and shows he is as good as Cadee. Both great young Aussie point guards playing NBL instead of college.
It is important that locals see the NBL as a realistic goal, especially with expansion on the way.

As far as the overall team we look much more stablt than previous seasons and this group look like they really play for the coach and each other. The Hawks are the only other team that really do that.

From what I've heard about Sam Johns so far I kind of wish he had got the 10th spot. But I don't mind seeing Daly back. Good to get another SA lad in there. Would like to see some more assertiveness from him this time round though. He's no longer a rookie and it's time for him to either make it as an NBL player or not.

I agree with what Tornado is saying about us lacking a closer. All you have to do is look back to Marty Clarke's tenure when we continually snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The diff between Clarke's last team and last years runners up was basically Ervin.

While I actually think Montreal might be a solid pickup, can he be the go to scorer we will need to close out games? If not him, then who? Gibson and Petrie? Great players, but sorry, nothing about their careers to date suggests to me that they are go-to scorers. Maybe if we're lucky Creek has found a jump shot in the off-season, but it's a stretch to think he can carry us offensively all of a sudden.

Also, re: the Spurs 'team game' analogy, they still have elite go to scorers in Parker and Ginobili that will find a way to score when it matters!

I hope I'm proved wrong but I see us having quite a few frustrating losses this season. More likely mid-table I reckon.

The other difference is coaching Joey is way better than Marty, if he had the exact same roster as Marty they wouldnt have come bottom 2 imo, probably would have made the playoffs.

Re the closer, i can see your point, do people think Wilson can do it?? I think he can to a point, probably not as good as Ervin though, so Gibson, Petrie will have to step up a bit in this area, Creek has the confidence for it if he can get his shot going or get to the rim and finnish in the key moments, but i agree he wont be able to carry an offense, but i do think he could make some key plays.

I agree we are mid table, i put us on the top of the middle group, but we will be in the group who will have similar records coming between 3rd and 6th.

It will be exciting to see the improvement in Mitch Creek ( had a great off season and now second season after major injury) and Teys ( must come into this season with WAY more confidence that last season).

Remember Teys was out 10th man at the start of the season btu ended up replacing an import in the starting 5.

Joey will get the best out of the team or change the team.

I agree with you on all points Beantown.

Jonno, Wilson can to a point.
Is he a reliable FT shooter?
I think Wilson's value in those moments will be creating and getting the ball to the open man, unless the option is there for himself.
In a way and as a result, he could be more dangerous at those times but then he is also relying on others who need to get to the right spots and have confidence in their shot to shoot it.

Jonno, from what I've seen I don't think Wilson can be that go to guy. Like Gibson he just isn't quick enough. To me, if u want to compete for a title, you have to have at least one guy who can find ways to score no matter what the defence throws at them. To be that guy, I think you have to have an athletic trait that gives u a big advantage over anyone who is likely to match up on you. Eg, too quick, too tall or too strong. I think on our current roster there are only really two guys who might have this potential: Montreal and Creek. Montreal seems to have shooting touch out to the three, the question remains, is he athletic enough to score when good defences are focussing on him? Creek has an athletic advantage over many players but thus far has not had the skill set to take advantage. Hopefully he has improved in the off season, but it's unlikely he can go from where he was last season to an offensive focal point this season.

Yea great point re Wilson, i spose my thinking is instead of relying on Wilson to be a Ervin in those situations that Wilson, Gibbo, Petrie and maybe even Montreal and Creek would out the team over the line through team work and between them being able to hit the key shots from time to time. But yea do see your point about having a guy who can just get a basket by having an elite attribute.

If Montreal can find his feet offensively, i reckon he is our best bet, as he is long athletic, versatile with an outside shot, could be a similar style to KB (not saying he will be as good).

I dont see Creek being dominant offensively either, but he could hit key shots and win games at the same time, he seems to have the confidence and athleticism for it, with an improving jump shot and coming off a great off season, im hoping for a bit of a break out from him, not saying 20pts a game, but i reckon 10-12pts a game at a decent clip isnt too far fetched.

I reckon we could have 6-7 guys scoring 9-15 points this season, sharing the scoring load, but yes we do lack the 'go to' scorer, part of me thinks that can be a strength, ie defense cant just concentrate on 1 guy, but can see how it is a weakness also.

To me the things we lacked last season was defense, especially against athletic sfs, which we have improved with Montreal, who should be able to guard them better than what we had last season, also outside shooting, which we potentially have improved, but probably not hugely, so i dont mind the look of this team, but yes its middle of the road and lacks the 'go to' scorer factor, but not sure its as big a weekness, there were times when i was yelling at Ervin to move the ball more instead of trying to be 'the man', so if Wilson has more ball movement going we could cover it that way.

Beantown, I agree to a point but also disagree to a point.
Wilson is crafty and has good handles...those 2 things are just as effective at creating opportunities along with the advantages you listed.

Petrie could also potentially score when the pressure was on. If Worthington can, why can't Petrie?

I think Wilson could drive and dish. 84% FT shooter last year so drawing a foul is a good option too.

I'd be surprised if he didn't.

Can Petrie guard the likes of Matt Knightm Gladness...?

Wilson is a great free throw shooter so no worries there. But he is inconsistent in his ability to get the ball in the hole. On any given night he can go for 30 but he can also go for 6. Would be nice if he could get 12-20 consistently, which he might in ADL. He was denied that opportunity in CNS last year via Fearne's poor coaching. Good luck to him but I think he's a fair step down from Ervin.

I reckon Petrie can guard them better than Johnson could, so not too worried about that, and Schenscher will probably play atleast half the game anyway, so we have enough size on our roster.

I'd be more confident in Petrie defending anyone over Schenscher. Regardless of height.

Me too,

both Petrie and Schenscher are better defenders than Johnson, so its an upgrade in that area.

Tornado, I agree craftiness is important up to a point, but I'm talking about a guy who is a threat to score everytime he touches it and that forces the opposition to adjust (double team, etc). If that player can also read the D and find the open man then you're going to be very hard to stop. I don't think Wilson can do that all the time against all comers in the NBL.

Isaac, re Wortho, I think he has always had more of a scorers mentality than Petrie. Not sure Petrie wants to be the man offensively. Even if Petrie does score as effectively as Wortho, is that saying much? Wortho has never been an efficient scorer and is just as likely to shoot u out of a game as win you one IMO!

"Can Petrie guard the likes of Matt Knightm Gladness...?"

You do realise he spent a fair amount of time at centre defensively last season because Johnson couldn't guard guys like that?

It seemed to work out ok, and this year there will be a much better defender than Johnson guarding the other frontcourt player.

In response to anon above...

You really aren't understanding me. Its got nothing to do with being selfish. Its simply reality that some players have physical gifts that allow them to be a bigger threat to score on the basketball court. It makes sense for any coach to build his offence on those advantages.

Gibson, Petrie, Teys, etc are all nice players, but they're never going to be go-to scorers because they don't have a dominant enough physical advantage over a majority of their opponents at NBL level.

Therefore you need someone else who is a great enough threat to score that the defence is forced out of position, thus creating extra space for other players on the floor.

Everyone points to the current Spurs as a great team that shares the ball around to find the open man, but how do you think that guy got open? Because Parker, Ginobili and to a lesser extent Duncan and Leonard used their superior ability to score to force their opponents to react, thus creating space for other more limited Spurs to score.

I don't care what league you're in, NBA, Europe, or local social league, the most successful teams have one or two players who most opponents struggle to defend.

Yeah I agree with that. There is always the risk that things degenerate into Lebron and the Cavs circa 2008!

I really don't get the concern, think people are forgetting a few key points.
Last season
Gibbo played all season injured (foot)
Petrie played all season injured (stomach)
Creek coming back from his injury
These three guys in form will certainly add heaps of value to last season.
Gibbo, Petrie and Crawford all current or recent Boomer squad members, that has to mean something.
We are better defensively, I don't think anyone will argue that down.
The most important factor is chemistry, we certainly know we have the coach to pull that off.

Ervin IMO certainly one us some games, and is a go to guy SOMETIMES
How many games especially in the finals did he actually do that.
He is a talent but was as equally disruptive, Jamah will be consistent, he will create for others and run the flor efficiently with a mature head and certainly wont knee players in the balls

the 2 games Ervs was doing the knee surgery over the Christmas break sixes did pretty well and I hate admitting it as I loved his game. but there were times that he took things too far.. I really believe that if the sixes took him back and they gave him the hard word then he would have done his best to tow the line.

Anyhow, happy with Tom after his last 2 SEABL seasons and then the last few games in the Marty era he was the talk of the town so he has to have improved since then and for 1 point and small wage and maybe him bringing his personal coaching for juniors back to Adelaide it's all good.