It's not a fair comparison to be honest, Newley was an absolute beast in first few seasons. A lot bigger and has lasted 10 years as an import in very tough Spanish leagues. Sobey for me is a long way off, but seems to be developing ok

I don't think Players "go to Europe to improve" You have to be a good player first.
Generally the easiest path is for those who can qualify for a passport from a European country, usually because a parent was born there. So what is Sobey's background?
Otherwise they have to make it as an import, and that means they are usually a step above most players in the NBL.

From a career perspective, yes, if he gets the opportunity he should definitely go to Europe, and yes he would improve once there.

Lol Newley.

Even though right now at this point of time I would rather Sobey on my team than Newley back then in his Townsville days Newley was better than Sobey is.

Sobey actually reminds me of a young Newley but Newley was a bigger perhaps faster version with a better outside shot. That's why he was drafted by Houston and they told him to go and play in a better league overseas.

I can't see Sobey being drafted by an NBA team.

As '670 said, Newley had an instant impact in the league.

Sobey doesn't have the power, so I think he's a different type of player, but he's obviously come along very quickly and has probably had a similar impact as Newley might have in Adelaide.

I don't believe I said anywhere that Newley did get that close to making Houston's roster?

Ben Madgen was pretty useful in his second season at Sydney

Well before talking about Europe, probably wait and see if Sobey wins the Most Improved award first this season. Should be the favorite so far.

People don't seem to realise Sobey is almost 26.5 years old

Manu and a very good 26 year old at that. He's got another two years until he reaches his peak. If he keeps improving he could be amazing

"Yeah MIP is important where?"

I dunno why don't you ask some players that won it? Heal, Bradtke, Anstey? Ask their agent too maybe.

As to who is close for the award this season, Cadee and Majok Majok most likely depending how they finish the season.

No one is even close to Sobey in the MIP race. He's got it. It's his. It's done already.

As for Newley vs Sobey, you're talking about two players playing two different positions and with different skill sets. Sobey is a lot older than Newley was when Newley was at the same stage of his career, so it is fair to say Newley's ceiling is probably higher than Sobey's will be.

Having said that, Sobey is getting looked at by some NBA teams and apparently has a Summer League invite. I wouldn't put it past him to keep improving and maybe play for the Boomers at some point.

MIP is one of my favourite awards, if not my most favourite, especially when they award it to someone who has come out of nowhere to star like Sobey has this season.

I think I got one in my junior basketball days as well :P

Sobeys emergence this season is because he has Randle taking the heat.

You guys are overrating how good newly was back when he played for Townsville. Good player but hardly dominant

In Newley's 3 seasons with Townsville, back with 48 min games.

2004/05: 16 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 51% fg, 34% 3pt

2005/06: 19.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.3 rpg, 44% fg, 35% 3pt

2006/07: 22.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.2 apg, 45% fg, 41% 3pt

In 2005 only player to win rookie of the year & sixth man of the year in the same season. He scored 20 or more 10 times and was also MVP of the All-Star game in his rookie season.

In 2007 finished Top 5 in the league in scoring including a 46 point game. He was All-NBL second team.

Funnily enough, if you compare them both at 26 Sobey is playing better basketball than Newley was at that point, as that was the trough in Brad's career.

On current form they are playing a similar level of basketball, but Newley's got way more runs on the board obviously.

With the exception of two years in Lithuania and Spain he has had a high-quality career, being amongst the best players in the Australian, Turkish and Greek leagues and was a quality Spanish league starter.

Love Sobey, but he is a late bloomer as many have said, so the comparison with Newley is awkward at best, even if there skill sets and game styles were more closely aligned.

Better question is where does Sobey currently rank amongst non-restricted NBL guards - he could be the best Aussie guard in the league at the moment.

Probably, but it is not at all clear cut.

If you normalise playing time between the three, it would hard to be able to say so. Per 32 mins stats are:

Sobey 17.8 pp, 4.0 ass, 5.9 reb, 1.2 steals, 1.7 t/o
Lisch 17.7 pp, 3.2 ass, 3.5 reb, 1.9 steals, 1.1 t/o
Goulding 17.1 pp, 3.4 ass, 2.5 reb, 1.0 steals, 1.5 t/o

Shooting percentages across the board for all three are pretty similar. Rebounds are the biggest difference in Sobey's favour, Lisch has the best assist to turnover ratio.

You could easily make the case that Lisch and Goulding have more experience and are more wily, or that Lisch the better defender (although Sobey has been far from terrible in that area). Sobey has the advantage of youth on the other two.

Sobey has had a great season, and is probably right up there for an all NBL team selection if he keeps it up.

But he needs to do it consistently for the rest of this season and then do it again next year before we start comparing him to people like Newley.

Sobey won't be a better long term player than Newley. He'd have to improve on this season a bit more and then remain at that level for many years in different teams. Instead of just looking good for a season.

Possible yes. Likely no.

Sobey would be a great fit in europe as his flopping game is perfect for those leauges. Love the rest of his game but cmon Sobey stand up and take a hit like a Man....

This season:

Newley: 17.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.1 apg, 48% fg, 34% 3pt

Sobey: 15.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 48% fg, 37% 3pt


Newley: 19 games/33.5 mpg

Sobey: 16 games/27.3 mpg

based on Newley's omission from Rio, and his reduced output in Spain in 2015/16 compared to 14/15, Newley would appear to have slowed down a little and be on the back end of his career.

Given Newley has been every bit as good as Sobey *this season*, Sobey would need to improve to get to where Newley was a couple of years ago, when Newley was a Boomer and doing his best work in Spain.

Plus there's also the issue of adapting and consistency. Can Sobey adapt his skills and make an impact in different leagues and different coaches/systems? Remains to be seen.

Plenty of ppl have one good season at a relatively young age but never return to those heights. (Blanchfield could yet become another). But Newley is a bona fide Boomer who has plyed his trade in various leagues around the world

"based on Newley's omission from Rio, and his reduced output in Spain in 2015/16 compared to 14/15, Newley would appear to have slowed down a little and be on the back end of his career."

Offensively I think Brad's playing almost as well as he ever has this year. His three-ball has dropped away the past few games as Gaze runs him into the ground but before that was shooting as well as he has since he was in Turkey.

He's well and truly in his prime and is playing with a real chip on his shoulder after missing Rio, as evidenced by averaging 22 & 5 against Brisbane and 26 & 5 against Perth!

Sobey makes a couple of big plays and all of a sudden he's the next big thing. Sure, he's athletic, but there's more to the game.

He's done more than make a couple of big plays, he's had an excellent year at both ends of the court, shot well, finished well, defended quality players, made good decisions, rebounded, shared the ball well.

Yes, he needs to prove himself over a longer period of time, but over the course of this season he's been one of the best players in the league.

Sobey has been huge this year and I agree he is a major part of the 36ers surprising form. Soon as Joey increased his and TFergs minutes & dropped Teys/Drmics minutes, good things started to happen.

He has a long way to go to get anywhere near Newley's career though...hopefully they both stay in the NBL.

Sobey makes a couple of big plays and all of a sudden he's the next big thing. Sure, he's athletic, but there's more to the game.

"Sobey has the benefit of playing with Randle, Lisch and Goulding are alphas"

Not really, Goulding plays with Ware (and CG was injured for half of the games before Ware arrived). Lisch plays with Newley.