I personally would like to keep Gibson, Johnson, Motum, Creek and Petrie. Johnson, Motum and Creek basically speak for themselves. I just think keeping Gibson around is really good for the group, assuming he comes at the right price. I like his leadership and I like that he really gets us through our sets, rarely taking a bad shot. With a front court of Motum and Johnson we want a PG who can get them the ball and space the floor and Gibson can definitely do that. Petrie I think is best served as that third big who can defend, space the floor and offer some versatility. He's a gritty vet who’s definitely worth keeping around.
There are some senior’s coming out of College this year that are really, really solid but won’t play NBA because of their lack of size or athleticism. Someone like Ryan Boatright would make a handy back court partner for Gibson I’d think. He can defend, play off the ball and also handle the ball. He comes from a good program in UConn and I think he’d do a good job of defending most 1’s and having Gibson guard the 2’s. He’ll be a late 2nd rounder at best and I don’t think he’d crack a 15 man roster first up out of college. The fact he’s a senior sort of decreases his chances as well.
The other guy I like is Tyler Haws out of BYU. He’s a 6-6 2/3 that can flat out score at the College level. He’s a real versatile scorer that kind of lacks the athleticism required to make it as an NBA 2/3. I think he’d be a capable scorer in the NBL though, especially in a 6th man type role off the bench. With these guys we’re trying to get a Scottie Wilbekin type guy, someone who has played 4 years at a really good college (although Haws has only played 3) and played a significant role in that system.
I think to round out the roster we go a reliable cheap big like a Jacob Holmes to round out our front court rotation. With Wollongong’s future unknown we could add a Tyson Demos type player on the cheap. I hate the guy but every good team needs a real prick that can defend and compete. Finally we round out the 10th spot with a local point guard. I think Maynard (currently at Cairns) would be my preference but Daly has been around the group and would be okay as well.
We’d be looking at a rotation like this:
5 - Johnson (25)/Petrie (15)
4 – Motum (30)/Petrie (5)/Holmes (5)
3 – Creek (30)/Haws (10)
2 – Boatright (20)/Haws (15)/Demos (5)
1 – Gibson (30)/Boatright(10)/Daly or Maynard (0)
Perhaps we lack a bit of size up front by adding Holmes and removing Schenscher, however I’d be happy to keep Schensch around at the right price. We definitely have enough scoring; again it’ll be defence that is the test. I’d definitely be excited to watch this group though! Obviously the cost would be a pretty big concern, I literally have no idea what it would cost to assemble a team like that.
