I was thinking about this yesterday. Either(or both) of them could be a handy pick up for the Crocs.

Most teams have already have their big guys sorted.

Crazy how 2 quality 7 foot plus monsters struggle in the nbl, a league many people dont care for. These are guys who were once fringe nba and college stars.

They probably priced themselves out of the market.

Schensher has value (albeit at a lower rate) but Neville is a disappointment in my opinion.

Schenscher wasn't fringe NBA he was in the NBA

Both well past their prime, not that their prime was ever that good anyway.

17 and 11 at 55% is not that good these days, ok buddy. good job.

Maybe the "run and gun" nature of the NBL is going to push the real big / slower guys out.

I think its a real shame if these guys can't play in the NBL because I love the see the giants going at it in the low post.

Are the pricing themselves out of the market thinking they should be in demand when they are not?

Not knowing how many Player Points Schenscher is, but I would still love to see him on the 6ers bench somewhere, playing a few minutes to give us some different looks, also drawers a big defender away from DJ.

I think the refereeing has a lot to do with the lack of success of true bigs in the NBL...

Schenscher is way to soft.

Ibekwe was hardly great "all year" 9th in the league in rebounding top 20 in scoring. had some good games and had some shockers too


Gladness is an exact example of the refs not knowing how to call the game with bigs. Until Townsville made very clear examples of how Gladness was being disadvantaged by the refs he had little impact beyond quick fouls

"Ibekwe was hardly great "all year" 9th in the league in rebounding top 20 in scoring. had some good games and had some shockers too"

Ibekwe was coming off an injury and had barely played for some time before suiting up or NZ. He was also on the best team in the league which doesn't help to pad your stats, he had to share rebounds with Vukona, Wesley, Jackson and Abercrombie and scoring with Webster, Jackson, Vukona, Wesley, Carter and Abercrombie.

NZ require a backup big for Alex Pledger who is still recovering from his turf toe surgery and to replace Ibekwe who they couldn't afford to keep.
Luke Neville would be a great pickup but I doubt he will fall into the Breakers price bracket.

I think most teams prefer a more mobile Centre that can guard the pick and roll. Most haven't really got a post game that's a real threat, even the nba have moved away from the traditional ground and pound making someone like cauley-stein such a high pick with virtually no offensive game. Hopefully Okafur will be successful as well as Embiid even if they are on the same team.
In regards to schenscher and neville, they're like the really big kids in juniors that normally play div 2 and you hope they turn out ok or can just alter the game with their height.

Birdman, IIRC Ibekwe came off the bench in most games? He played 5th most minutes on that Breakers' team, yet was their third highest scorer.

He led the league in FG percentage for players who took more than 5 shots, as well as leading the league in blocks.

He was selected for the All NBL second team and featured highly in Best 6th Man voting.

That sounds like a pretty good season.

Schenscher had literally zero touch all last season partly due to his lack of any consistent playing time. Joey played run and gun, and didn't have any use whatsoever for a 7'1 guy that didn't shoot 3's. With the proper playing time he can still be a valuable member as he is a great passer for a big, but was lost big time in Joey's small ball system.

I think the issue of both reportedly always being on/asking $100k+ salaries is the biggest issue, especially when both are probably best as back ups in the NBL at present.

If they were to offer there services for $50-60k im and be happy to come off the bench im sure someone would slot them in.

I remember it was mantioned in the paper Schenscher last off season was in talks with the 36ers for a longer term contract but for less money per year, to help with our salary cap squeeze at the time, but obviously that didnt happen.

I am a fan and would take him over Hodgson, but given the price tag on each of them we cant keep him. You cant be spending $100k+ on a back up c esepecially when you have a starter as good as DJ.

OK then by some people's logic Auryn McMillan should have been MVP , but because he didnt get many minutes and he had Wortho playing ahead of him he didnt.

Boti's mentioned that the Crocs are keen to regain Schensch. Smarts and passing help overcome his limited athleticism. Nevill seems to have completely dropped off the radar.

IMHO Luke S's obsession with flexibility has both slowed him up and taken way the stability needed for "soft hands".

a few decades ago there was an Oz -rep level Rugby winger who was basically greased lightning with an incredible pair of hands.

in an off season he got hooked ( literally ) - with the endorphins and the psychological "high" of the easily measured joint and reach extension metrics.

The result was that within 6 months of the start of that off season he had lost an incredible amount of time in the 20m sprint. He had an absolutely abysmal playing season as a result.

It actually took an entire year to get the strength back into his joints by dropping almost all the flexibility routines and adopting a specialised S&C program out of the AIS.

Excess flexibility ( and I mean real excess movement with both ligaments and tendons)) is actually an unstable joint that cannot be stable under "load" - like when running, catching, stopping, turning and throwing. Too much muscle is used to stabilize the joint .

You'd think Townsville, United and NZ would be best options but who are we kidding a post like this wouldn't be written if we had extra teams enter the league and I think the fact we still have so few places left doesn't do veterans like these any favors.

If either makes their way up to the Crocs then does that mean our players president is without a team as as much as I enjoy Mitch Young's game, he shouldn't start NBL games yet and have Holmes coming off the bench replacing him

proud, seen a couple of hints that Holmes might retire.

Proud, Holmes played very little last year for the crocs and seemed out of favour with what Dennis was trying to run (getting up and down). Holmes has been great over the years but young offers similar with greater upside at the moment. The crocs don't need both imo.

Holmes has retired, last year was his last. Well documented in the local media up north so he wont be back. Served the Crocs well in his time there.

First I have heard of Holmes retiring. He was pretty good in his Adelaide days from memory

The issue with exceptionally big, slow white guys in the NBL, is that they are a bit like nuclear weapons:
Everybody wants one in case the other team has one,
If you are the only team with one, then you dominate,
but if everyone has one, then they sit on the bench.

For many years the Cats used James Crawford as a centre. He gave away inches to big white guys like Borner and Dorge, (and later Bradke) but was able to compete due to superior leap and athleticism.
(Not sure he would cut it now, against genuine 7ft+'s, but the principle still applies.)

And the thing is, if you're 7'2" and stuck playing in the NBL, its because you lack speed, leap, and/or skills.

Schenscher is good value in limited minutes. Whether he's worth the 7 points, or the money he wants, is another matter. And not sure Adelaide need to retain him, with Motum and Johnson.

Nevill was a great bench player for the Cats. There's no way he's worth 8 points.

Thanks for the update guys on Holmes, glad that he won't be taking minutes away from Young.

Has there been any talk of retaining Gladness?