Hard to do much better as far as replacing Lisch goes.

Wollongong, where MVP guards live.

Good pickup, great to see him back in the league

Must have agreed to take less than what his management was asking for. Great to have him back.

Hasn't there been a "wait a minute, it's not official yet"? Just advanced talks? Can't argue with that replacement though... Wollongong must have found some more cash behind the couch cushions?

Yeah, word is it's not official at this stage.

Hope it pans out, he was one of my favourite players to watch when he was in the league.

Pretty small back court if true....great player though!

No smaller than three years ago.

Dude shot 50% in Euro Cup this season.. Nice

from 3

The guy is unbelievable at the offensive end. If he were playing in a big market last time here (or even all games televised) he would have been giving a lot more props.

^The Mercury never states it's official, they are just reporting that it is in the works. They state he has "agreed in principle", and that the club is "set to confirm the deal in the coming days"

To me this is a massive signing and I think Illawarra can almost afford to risk a dud SF import as they still have serious talent, adding Norton and Kay of whom will only get better with AJ, Rhys and hopefully an improving Cody + they seem to be a happy environment so they are going to be mighty difficult...

By dud SF, was thinking more along the lines of solid rebounder/defer but struggles at offensive end and earns criticism early in season.

I'd love them to get a stud SF but can they really afford it?

I know he gets mentioned every year, but Akeem Wright would be a good fit for that group IMO as a cheap import SF.

You'd take Lisch first if you could, but Rotnei is a great alternative, proven in the league. Return of the teammates-scaring-Rotnei videos!

This should be a very exciting season.

Hold onto that excitement mystro, there's 5 months to go before we tip off! It could get even more exciting!

I'm excited !!

Really looking forward to Rotnei Clarke v Jerome Randle, and Clarke v Lisch, and so many great scoring guards matching up on each other. It will get personal!

What skull said...

Hawks are sneakily compiling a very good roster, and you'd think they'd be one of the big losers in the off season arms race. Great work getting Clarke back. Now if only Perth can get Ennis and we can have a bit of a retrial for the MVP award.

If locked in, would bring the Hawks to:

Martin/Norton
Clarke/White
?/?
Ellis/Forman
Ogilvy/Kay

Two import spots to use. Coenraad unsigned

You'd imagine if Coenraad signs they'll only have one import. If not, and they don't get a similar level replacement, they might go three Americans.

A starting five of Ogilvy, Kay, Import SF, Clarke and Martin will be scary if they get the import right. He needs to be able to shoot.

Will be scary at one end.

You'd imagine if Coenraad signs they'll only have one import.

Yes sorry, two imports. I'd also expect the starting SF to be pretty handy.

Lose Kevin Lische and the outside shooting of Kirk Penney ...Rotnei helps a lot.

"Pencil in 40pts for Rotnei against the Kings. I can't see Gaze or Vickerman coming up with a defensive plan to stop him."

Kings have 3 imports to come.

Clarke struggled against the defence in the finals, when it really mattered.

How did the Hawkes get Clarke, after losing Lishe, when the Kings struggled to get a legit PG for 4 seasons?