I don't think Massingale can really be blamed. He wasn't utilized properly. We're talking about the Marty Clarke era, here. There was never any offence run for him to get his open three point shot going. They then replaced him with one of the worst imports to ever come to Australia, Scott Christopherson.

I don't think you can judge SEABL on that. But having said that, I'd much prefer players who have atleast NBA D league or something on the resume. They aren't too expensive and tend to have more intangibles going for them than SEABL guys.

I'd go with someone out of college. They often come cheap because they are unproven but can have huge upside.

Either way I don't think you can go wrong if we use that spot as the 10th or 11th Man. CJ or DQ would have been fine in that role IMO

Excuse my ignorance, but what's happened with the 2nd import spot?

Dunigan

An import thread that's 10 posts in, and no one has mentioned Diamon Simpson yet?

Hate to say it, but he'd be a pretty good fit now they don't have Petrie!

Mick Gladness would be a perfect addition.

I feel that we need a player that can finish standing alley oops just to make Randles driving even more dangerous. Surrounding Jerome with shooters and a good athletic big like Gladness sounds like a contender to me.

Can we just get a big defensive athletic centre? Start him at centre and let johnson be a bit more free at the PF spot.

That's a tough one defensively. If you get a big guy who can't defend on the perimeter then teams will run pick-and-rolls with either him or DJ guarding it all night and the defence gets cut apart. Whoever plays alongside DJ needs to be able to guard PF and C so Johnson can take the softer match-up.

Mick Gladness would be a perfect addition.

I would like Gladness as the import big, him or Ibekwe would be perfect

If we dont have much $$$ left i wouldnt be upset giving the 3rd import spot to DQ, he did ok when he was here, and we wont be asking him to be a stud, but ideally id go for a guy of the Torrey Craig mould, a NZNBL option could be Ray Cowels,

Johnson/Hodgson
Gladness/Walker
Creek/Montreal or Cowels
Drmic/Teys
Randle/Sobey/Hooley

Looks pretty good to me

The 36ers should be on the phone to Aussie Mick over there in China with the NBL all-stars. Gladness is a shot blocking/shot changing machine exactly what we need with DJ here.

If not Gladness I would be happy with Ibekwe.

The 4 man import doesn't need to score. Just play great D and board and put back the offensive boards or throw down the dimes that Randle drops off to him while DJ is standing around the 3 point line as he almost always pops on the on balls.

Athletic roll players with limited offensive games should be a dime a dozen coming out of college.

Agree - I think viable PF's without exceptional shooting ability would be fairly common.

Dazz, I don't think Joey ever said that. I think he just made the point that imports don't necessarily need to be expensive if you go down the college path.

I concur about Gladness. I can't see Joey going with him unfortunately.

Someone has to get Raymond Cowells III.

Legit player. Currently tearing up NZNBL

6"3/6"4 SG.

Perfect 3rd import spot i reckon.

I don't understand why Damian Johnson is never mentioned he played high division 1 & NBA summer league and NBA Development League...his team won 2 SEABL Championships and current team is leading SEABL ladder

Joey was in bendigo 2 weeks ago watching seabl, seemed to like what Damien Johnson and Jeremy kendle had to offer

Dazz, I don't think Joey ever said that. I think he just made the point that imports don't necessarily need to be expensive if you go down the college path.

The 4 man import doesn't need to score

I have no problem with college players. But I would be surprised if joey wasn't casting a wider net. Especially with Gladness desperate to get back in the league.

Are Adelaide that short of cash anyway ? Especially with Petrie and Gibson gone.

That's exactly why I say Johnson a good option. He was an All Big Ten defender and had 100 blocks in SEABL last season and he's long and athletic and can knock down shots. He fills more columns in the stat sheet than DQ does.

We need a big and shooting guard / secondary ball handler and both need to be starting quality

Are you referring to Damian Jones out of Vanderbilt?

No Damian Johnson who's playing with the Bendigo Braves in SEABL & played for Mount Gambier last 2 seasons and won Championships each year. He was the Grand Final MVP & Defensive Player of the Year for SEABL. He played high major Division 1 at University of Minnesota which is in the same conference as Indiana Michigan Maryland. He was an all conference defender there too

my apologies...thought I read Jones.

We should've learnt our lesson by now looking at SEABL guys hoping one has just happened to fall through the cracks.

Massingale & Montreal were both duds at this level they're playing in the SEABL for a reason.

NZNBL & SEABL is not that different in overall talent & Johnson is in SEABL because he stopped playing a year after the birth of a kid. He had an article with Roy Ward explaining. He started in games in the NBA Development League the year before he stopped and played high level college and NBA summer League according to his profile and went to the same college as Dusty Rhycart

The issue with DQ and CJ as imports was they don't defend and they only bring scoring to the table. That works in the SEABL level but wouldn't help an NBL team. Johnson gets blocks and steals. He also guards the other team's top players and cause them to shoot poor percentages

You shouldn't judge an import by the comp they are, especially if they've only been there a short time,or they play in other comps too. Disagree with above though, reasonable gap between NZNBL and SEABL.

Kirksey looks like he would fit Joey's game style...also looks to be an upgrade on Gibson?!

No way is Kirksey an upgrade on Gibson. Adelaide needs to do better than look at imports in state leagues.

Tom....did you see Gibson play last season - a safety cone would be an upgrade?!

He was bad for his standards. If Sobey played the same way last season everyone would be raving about him.

That makes no sense. Craig is one of those state league type imports you are referring to.

Not getting your membership will certainly be a great way to make sure the team has more money so they can indulge your wish for better imports in subsequent years (if they exist).

Who are these stacked rosters you are referring to? Lots of rumours but there are not too many stacked rosters as yet to my mind. Which signing or signings are you referring to specifically?

I'm glad the Sixers are doing their due diligence. Last thing they need to do is start paying overs for imports like Torrey Craig.

Craig is no state league import. Kirksey, Starling and Montreal are state league imports. The NZNBL is better than all state leagues in Australia so an import like Ray Cowells would be better than Roy Booker in our league.

How can you determine that Cowels is a better import than Booker. Booker has played in better leagues than Cowels and the year Cowels tried out for the D League he was cut. I don't understand why people think NZNBL is so much better than SEABL. The talent level isn't too far apart in the two leagues and SEABL currently has a lot more imports who played in higher level college basketball.

Just because an import can score a lot of points in SEABL or NZNBL doesn't mean he would be a good for an NBL roster. He won't be able to shoot 30 shots a game in the NBL so what other qualities can he bring to the table

Anonymous it would be better if you didn't renew your season tickets.

Your argument about DQ is flawed as is anyone else's that chooses to ignore reality (as most Sixers fans conveniently forget). Most season's the Sixers spend most of their money on Australian's and one import. So DQ was paid probably about 50k (about 40k if you take in the exchange rate). What is the chance of getting a quality import with that sort of money? DQ averaged 10ppg @ 50% in 17 minutes a game and the Sixers were second on the ladder at that stage and he was struggling with an injury. Schenscher on the other hand was probably paid close to 3 times DQ's amount that same season and averaged about 7 points a game. So if you want to blame anyone for the Sixers not having enough money to get a quality import you can blame Marty Clarke for signing Schenscher for so much. That is the reality.

Sixers will get at least one import from over seas and possibly one here. The player that I think is a chance is Alex Starling. Starling has the same athletic abilities if not better than Craig. His defense is as good if not better than Craig. Craig is a lot better shooter/scorer but will also cost about twice as much. If Starling is selected he will be used as a defensive specialist off the bench and not so much of a scorer. Having said that last game he had 34 points and coach Wright was there to watch it. He will serve a great role if the Sixers get him.

"Seriously stacked rosters elsewhere" what rubbish! Even with Lisch Sydney don't look any better. Hawks look worse then last season, do they even have any money left to get imports? Bullets have an entertaining team but hardly a stacked team. Perth have signed 3 players. Cairns are a year older and not much money left. Melbourne could possibly be a more balanced team and better team but we don't know yet. NZ looks to be about the same as last year if not worse with the loss of Jackson.

Sixers have an excellent signing in Drmic which might give them the best back court in the league. They also have a top 10 player in Johnson whether people want to acknowledged it or not. Creek will hopefully get the chance to start and will be in career best form. We will then get a solid import to play 4 or 5. Possibly walker off the bench. Sobey has huge potential. Teys adds great value. Hodgson will be a year better off. Starling would be solid off the bench. This team will be close to the most athletic in the league and very entertaining. If the Sixer "fans" can't see that, they should go support another team.

I've heard from a pretty solid source that Joey is looking at an import named Trevis Simpson. 6"5 guard / forward who last played in Finland, after looking him up he averaged 18ppg and has amazing athleticsm and finishing ability and looks to have a decent jump shot. Hopefully this comes to fruition, the dude looks like a star at NBL level with his physical traits and would sell a few tickets too with his flair.

Joey seems to be surrounding Randle with shooters and athletes to take the pressure to score off Randle every time he drives. This is a great plan but the team badly needs an interior defender. Whether that player is Gladness, Ibekwe or someone else the team is taking shape nicely and my tickets will be getting renewed.

Wouldn't be surprised if some teams use the 3rd import spot strategically e.g. Wait till 1/3 or 1/2 way through the season to assess team needs/dynamics/injuries. Teams will be able to get a lot more bang for their buck for 2 months instead of 4 as well.

Did a search on Trevis Simpson and he looks very good.
Similar athleticism to Creek and had some very nice alley-oops in the videos.
Looks to be a good scorer with drives and 3pt shots.
Could tell what his D is like from the videos but he did make extra passes to open players.

Avg 17pts in the Euro Cup, shot 42%2pt 34%3pt 91%Ft
5rbs 2as and 1.6TO

193cm 25yrs old he would fit in nice as the starting SG and could play some SF in a small line-up.

Anon

Torrey Craig is very much in the mould of a 'state league' import. He was recruited out of a lower league for next to nothing.

He had what was considered to be a generally better year this year than the previous one, but he still only scored 11.5ppg (28th best in the league), 6rpg (18th), nearly twice as many turnovers as assists, shooting 42% from the field (55th) and a woeful 28% from 3 (61st), 65% from the free throw line (63rd).

By comparison, Ebi Ere, who was universally considered the worst import last year, had higher points per 48 minutes while on court, -3% overall field goal percentage but +6% 3pt shooting percentage, +3% free throw percentage, had a better assist to turnover ratio than Craig (and uncontroversially, worse defence). That said, their overall performances are not so different that they cannot be spoken about in the same breath.

I have no idea why you think he is a superstar import. He is at best a solid all around glue/role player. You might be getting confused because all of his good games have been against the Sixers, who haven't seemed to come up with a good match up for him.

If Craig was at the Sixers instead of stuck up at Cairns, he would be criticised mercilessly as a scrub player (not saying he is, just that he is a blue collar 'state league' type import). You keep contradicting yourself. You don't want the club to go for this kind of player but you want Craig!!?!

Torrey Craig was recruited to Cairns straight out of college. Considering that, and the fact he has never played in a state league, he is nothing like a state league import!

Agree that he is a quality role-playing import though. He has the potential to be more than that, but he has to be able to produce close to his best more consistently, at both ends.

My bad, my recollection is that he played NZNBL first. Even so, doesn't change the fact that he is viewed with rose coloured glasses by some people.

I have no beef with Craig. It is just annoying that some guy wants to tear up his membership because of speculation we might be looking to fill second and third import positions with role playing imports, and then in the same breath criticising the club for not getting Craig, who has been filling a 6th man type role for the last two years.

Don't disagree with that!

Torrey Craig didn't play at a major college though. The 'state league' imports he's criticising has played in higher collegiate levels than Craig. We can't say that they don't have a chance to produce on an equivalent level as Craig when they have played in higher levels than Craig did before he got his NBL opportunity

There can be a big difference between someone who is playing at a lower level early in their career and someone who has only played at that level.

For mine, with Gibson and Petrie gone, Adelaide need two imports to be guns, while the third one can be a role player who fits around the rest of the team.

Most of all, they need them to be fit! Had Ere been fit from the start of last season they would have played playoffs for sure. Can't afford to carry anyone with less Aussie talent on the roster this year.

I would definitely consider Craig a role-playing import. Wouldn't be out of the question to get someone producing similarly from a budget spend. That said, chemistry and defense (to some extent) don't really show on the stats sheet.

Craig is a role player import there are plenty of them out there. Yes, he put up some good numbers against the 36ers woeful defence but consistency is what separates the good players from the average players. Overall an inefficient 11 & 6 wouldn't be too far off his ceiling.

He should've had a larger role on a crap Taipans team last season but just maybe Fearne knows something more about him than the rest of us do working with him day in day out for the last two years.

Boo hoo Anon, the last three years with Joey at the helm have been terrible haven't they? There is just nothing to get excited about any more.

I just wish we could be competitive again and make the grand final or even the finals for a change or at least be a threat to do so.

We should bring back a good coach like Marty Clarke to take us back to the glory days.

(warning: sarcasm is employed in this post)

I think it's a positive that Joey has publicly addressed their D needs to improve.

I agree that Adelaide have failed to learn in recent seasons.

I think they have been a 'true contender' in both of the first two seasons of Joey's reign (can only go one better than grand finalist, and they had a 10? game winning streak coming into the finals the next).

Last year was admittedly a disrupted rather weird season of ups and downs, but the Sixers really were a shoe in to make the finals again then imploded when Randle got injured.

The Sixers are due a championship - it has been a long time since 2002, but in an eight team comp there is still only one team that can win it all and seven losers. If you don't like supporting a team that has to 'fight up hill' to win, you either should give up on sport or change allegiances to Perth.

Fighting uphill to win is part and parcel of being sustainable in this competition.

Look at Cairns - their fans for the most part just love the fact they have a team in a national competition, spend within their means and (mostly) put together rosters that have to "fight uphill to win". They've had reasonable success doing that (not dissimilar to Adelaide's success in recent years). Their fans love their team and the fighting mentality of the franchise.

Then look at (some) Adelaide fans, like anon....

Why can't anyone post valid criticisms of their team without playing the "just be greatful " game

Anonymous is right, the team has been very poor defensively for a while. Until thats addressed they wont get close.

Master Chef, the first mention of defence by the Anon poster was in response to your post, and related only to a DJ.

XY, that's fine. I was referring to the defense as a whole. Do you not agree it needs to get better?

Valid criticism is one thing. Constant bleating about whether to re-sign as a season member like anon has been is another.

The fact is over the past few seasons they have been close, despite their defensive woes.
But it seems with some Adelaide fans in particular it's ALWAYS glass half-empty.

Well I don't agree with all forms of pessimism either, but I don't think anything that was said was bad enough to warrant just the same old "glass half empty"
Conclusion.

Anon...DJ is the last man in the defense and was often found wandering because he would come over to help out others who couldn't defend their man so would have to leave his to make the opposition make the extra pass/play (doing the team thing) or he would be left in that grey area between 2 players. Often looked like he was getting beaten but the chain was already broken.

Players like Petrie and Gibson were overrated defenders because they make themselves look aggressive defensively without really doing anything.

Get some better perimeter defense and some help in the low post and I think you will find DJ (whilst not fantastic) is a better defender than he gets credit for.

I am sure all supporters just want us to win. But it is also sport. Even if we put together the best roster ever seen in the NBL, that will not assure victory. Better a good team with great chemistry than an exception team with poor chemistry and all that.

It seems we are back in the days of an arms race to the top for signings. If so, we have to be realistic. We are not presently one of the rich clubs, and we are not just going to be able to out bid every other team to sign all of the top players. Trotting out the 'you got to spend money to make money' line doesn't make the books balance, and has been disproven more times in NBL history that it has been proven.

So far, the club has done pretty well by me. We resigned a coach that has given us the best three years since the Smyth era. We apparently locked in our main import, who was devastating last year, brought in crowds, and frankly incredibly exciting to watch. Best import I have had the pleasure of watching perhaps ever, certainly since early years Farley. We have a reasonable core of vets, DJ is still a great player despite his obvious shortcomings if you can get his mindset in the right place, we have signed a couple of nice college returnees (a knock on the club in previous years). Peach will be hard to replace but seemed to have lost a step, Gibson was so disappointing last year that both sides are probably better for his move.

The club has made some import choices that didn't work out. But they have also made crucial in season moves each year under Joey which have.

I am not asking you to be grateful for what you get. I don't care. But you seem to have lost any sense of perspective. From my position, games are at least exciting again and worth going to. I had plenty of value from my tickets watching Randle run around last year, watching that amazing end of season streak the year before, and the home finals games the year before that which were all gripping (the Perth games watched on TV less so). A championship would be great icing on the cake, but if it is the whole cake you are going to be disappointed more often than not.

Our defence at times has been good, at times woeful. It needs to improve and is probably the main thing holding the team back. I like how you have now latched on to Master Chef's suggestion to justify your earlier stance to tear up your membership because we might get 'state league' imports (nothing to do with defence). My issue is with your overly melodramatic rant and pessimistic critical attitude, where your most positive suggestion (which was expressed as a negative) was that we should have signed Craig the saviour as an import.

That's it for me.

Perfect post Tornado and XY! I think you will find Anonymous has a chip on his shoulder towards the coach (which is unwarranted) and so will continue with the melodramatic rant and pessimistic critical attitude as you mentioned. He can remain bitter if he likes but the rest of us will continue to enjoy a great club, coach, team and with a bright future ahead.

Seems like a pretty decent off-season, considering the arrival of Brisbane and resulting departures. Two strong college signings. Even if Randle doesn't actually return, there are still three import spots to use and clear places to use them. Behind that, Teys, Creek and Johnson are useful pieces to carry over.

Brunson, I'm not a huge Joey fan either. I think i annoyed a few people when i questioned his re-signing earlier last season.

BTW, i think Adelaide always seem to do a great job building a competitive team. Especially if money is an issue. Actually seriously considering purchasing season tickets for the first time. That was never the issue i was kind of supporting.

"Get some better perimeter defense and some help in the low post and I think you will find DJ (whilst not fantastic) is a better defender than he gets credit for."

I think you'll find he's worse! I can't believe how bad his positional D is nor his inability to hedge and guard a screen on or off-ball. And then there's the low post...

But in the NBL style he's a superb offensive talent and he's a quality rebounder, and its hard to find those things, so the coach just has to find ways to both bring the best out of his D and hide his deficiencies (which he did pretty well in 2014). A big part of that is getting an elite defensive PF.

I am on the terrible "D" side as well. Not quite sure out of DJ, Kickert or Forman who is the worst in the league. Probably the order I have them in I guess as the other two probably at least understand the system but just have no lateral movement to stop anyone.

Agreed - DJ is a really poor defender. I think I'd rate him below Kickert and Oscar because he should be better than he is, IMO. Both Oscar and Kickert's biggest troubles on the defensive are due to physical shortcomings, where as DJ's seem like a combination of awareness and effort.

Joey is off to Vegas again to look for an import.

ADELAIDE 36ers coach Joey Wright will be looking for a combo-guard and a frontcourter when he coaches in the annual Worldwide Invitational Camp in Las Vegas in July.

Don't blame DJ. Defensive problems is on coaching.

Just take a chance on Gladness.

Joey going on his company funded 'looking for an import' holiday every year.
I wouldn't mind, if he actually comes back with a good import for once. But pretty much every year without fail, he doesn't.

I think the import scenario does act as a kind of pretext. But when you consider
Vickerman and Fearne participate in it also, there seems to be more in it for coaches than just a scouting mission. Especially when you consider NZ or Cairns haven't taken a chance on anyone from these tournaments in the past that I can think off.

I wouldn't think Joey has narrowed his options solely on this tournament. I think Its more a plan B and a good oppurtunity. Like i said, Joey seems to get more out of these trips than just recruiting.

Also, do we really need another combo guard?

There's also the possibility that they do actually go after some of these guys the spot on the US scouting trips, but strike out.

Of the big , one time ago Joey said that the more money we got the taller he will be.

I gotta feeling draftexpress had Drmic as a SF, perhaps he's a scoring swingman.

Kinda like Majok Deng. Pretty to watch.