So Cairns have 3 players?

Yes 3 players signed.

The Taipans are actively looking for their local contingent as we speak.

The Winter Social Basketball season has only just started at Early Settler Stadium so it will take a few weeks for the reports to come in.

The Hawks lineup is a strange one in that 3 of their best (IMO) share the 3 spot.
Was an enornous fan of AJ but really a bench man now (again, IMO). I would rather see Grida or Blanch as a 2, then Dech becomes 3rd choice for 1 or 2 spots. Blanchfield at the 2 makes the Hawks a tall team:
5. Import/AJ/Local
4. Import/Froling
3. Coenraad/Grida
2. Blancfield/Dech
1. Import/Naar
If *Bairstow was their Local 4/5 (possibly before Froling at the 4?), and the imports are at least an acceptable standard, then you have a better than decent team. If the imports are better that that, Hawks may have the deepest roster next year.
A Bench that reads: AJ, Grida, Naar (*Bairstow)(all already proven), Dech & Froling (looking as very good prospects) and 3 imports with Blanchfield & Coenraad as starters, should be encouraging for the Hawks. For their (supposed) lack of funds, they are doing all right, so far. Now for the imports????
May be unlikely as most teams don't spend heaps on 3 starting quality imports. One is usually a back-up/bench type but if they could do a Cairns with 3 imports as starters, and Blanch & Coen in the 2 & 3 spots they look good.

Word is that Bairstow might go to Europe becasue NBL teams seemed deterred by his asking price.

Melbourne denies signing Long.

14 local spots remaining with Bairstow potentially going overseas and unlikely to be any more college players.
Who remains unsigned...
Doyle
Kuany
Jawai
L Walker
Young
DKD
Nelson
Andersen
Hooley
Majok Majok
Deng Deng
Deng Acouth.

Mostly bench warmers above and probably still a few spare spots available.

If I'm Cairns, I would offer Jeremy Kendle, Krslovic and Jurlina the minimum. Re-sign Jawai, Newbill, Kuanny, get Jois and spend the rest on a decent Import 3.

What would be Patrick Richard’s (from the Breakers last season) asking price? He’d look good in Orange. Brings shooting, something the Taipans didn’t really have Consistently last season. Or possibly Tim Quarterman, former NBA player, now playing in the NZNBL.

Reckon this roster could possibly do well???
PG - Kendle*/Kenny
SG - Newbill*/Jurlina
SF - Richard or Quarterman*/Kuanny
PF - Deng/Jois/Krslovic
C - Jawai/Jervis

It would be a damn disgrace for Australian basketball if Bairstow is forced out by clubs failing to recognise his value.

Jick - how much do you think clubs should be willing to pay for Bairstow? And do you know if he's asking for more than that or not?

Serious questions. I have no idea what a club might want to pay for his services nor what he might be asking. I'm interested in anyone's insights.

Quarterman, wow, there's a name I didn’t expect to see. Arrested early 2018 in the States for police pursuit / ramming police vehicle. Did a quick search and couldn’t see if this matter had come to a conclusion. Anyone know how this panned out?

I’m also sorry to hear the team he’s playing on in NZ has Egwu as a restricted player.

I'd give Jurlina a run out at the far end of the bench. That one game where MK played him last year he didn't go too badly (even if it was a dead rubber). Would be nice to see Anthony Fisher as 11th man too, I'd have him ahead of Kuany Kuany.

As far as imports I suspect they're aiming higher than Jeremy Kendle and will roll the dice on at least 2 of those imports with players they pick up after summer league. Can't really make a decision on that until they figure out if they're paying for Jawai or not.

It would be a damn disgrace for Australian basketball if Bairstow is forced out by clubs failing to recognise his value.

The eye test on Bairstow is that sadly he has lost a fair chunk of athleticism due to injury and can be quite foul prone..

The stats of 11.6 & 5.8 and could only stay on the floor 21 mpg suggests that he did not live up to what they probably paid which may be the reason for parting ways...

But that said, he is certainly still of value for the right price.

If Illawarra were able to sign him for a reasonable price I would love to see them take a general cost cutting approach, including making Naar a solid & reliable, albeit limited starting pg and dedicate a large chunk of salary on finding a 2 that can fill it up for 20 a night.

Essentially a depth chart of..

1- Naar/Gun import/Dech
2- Gun import/Jett/Grida
3- Blachfield/Grida
4- Bairstow/Coenraad/Blanchfield
5- Ogilvy/Bairstow/Froling

I guess Glover fits in there somewhere as 11th man, but I would like to see them take the opposite approach to years previous where they opted for depth and take a gamble on a superstar. Could backfire but better than settling for guaranteed mediocrity...

NZ will probably make a move to bring Jack Salt home after finishing his College Career at Virginia.
After Long last season, a tandem of Salt & Loe is fairly underwhelming unless Salt can develop quickly in the pro's.

Are Dillon and White "official" to Adelaide? The 36ers aren't in recruitment mode yet are they? That doesn’t normally start after the deadline date for members to secure their seats (season tickets) . So we still have a few weeks to go before they do anything

Neither of them are official yet nor the Teys re-signing.

Dillon and White's signature is something I would definitely keep secret / unofficial until Members commit to another year of regular season appearances.

Froling will not be back at the 36ers nor will Wiley
QBL back up big is signed with White and Dillon. Dillon will be the starting PG
36ers being left in the dust budget wise but dont worry wel will have a second rate more expensive place to watch the games from this season. Owner seems set to put more effort into the presentation of the team , rather than the team itself.

Bit of a Catch 22 with some people - the owner is the person who paid out the $$$ to purchase a Team so the 36ers still exist but people then complain how he spends his money. Until the Team is finalised, it is all keyboard warriors having their moment.

I do agree though that the 36ers over the past 10 years or so have been shocking in keeping supporters informed and when they do say something it is usually very underwhelming. Perhaps with that record, it is not surprising that they do not say much.

Peter John, no idea what he is asking for. The salaries are not public and I have no inside knowledge but he should be one of the 7 highest paid players in the NBL.

Love Broker, get a brain man! Lemanis may not value Bairstow but he also thinks Cadee is a good basketball player and that has been proven to be a load of hot feces.

Bairstow only managed 21 minutes a game this season.
Don't know if that means he was being managed on the comeback, or if there is still an underlying issue.

Also, does anyone know if he can get a Euro passport? If not, his only option would be as an import in a lesser league.

It's faeces Jick but I get your point.

Wildcats are trying to sign Terrico, hopefully we will hear something by the end of the month.

Terrico was at times very frustrating during the season. Tended to run hot & cold. But on average was very good and stepped up big-time in the finals. He's not my preferred type of SF, but he's what Trev has been chasing, so I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to stick with him. Can only get better in a 2nd season.
Wait & See I guess.

Was told a few weeks ago the 36ers had signed 2 players and this would be formally announced early this week when Joey back and promo videos done.

Would be very underwhelming with the move to AEC if neither is a high profile player.

The silence by the club is deafening and certainly not helping, not even a teaser saying announcement coming to let supporters know they are doing something.

The only communication sent out so far are reminders to buy tickets, with nothing else encouraging you to do so.

Wonder if they are they planning on announcing anything soon or waiting for when tickets available to non members

Corey Williams suggesting Adelaide have been speaking to an ex NBA point guard.

Long time reader, first time poster
Although Homicide's info isn’t always trustworthy, I’ve looked into it. He said that
a) he is close with the player in question and
b) he is from Chicago
Apparently it is Will Bynum, 36 year old PG who now plays in the Big 3
Highlights suggest that he is a very streaky scorer but idk about his defence. Also would have preferred someone younger but, at this point, I’ll take anything

Watched Bynum play years ago in Toronto for Detroit and he absolutely torched the Raptors that game.

If it's true, can see people worried about his age before anything else.

If true, looks like a great signing.
Yes is age looks a worry but not major injuries coming in. Can still dunk at 6ft tall.

Dude can flat out pass. Will be huge for Wiley and getting drimic open.
Great ball handler and can score.
On paper huge upgrade on a pg sobey.

Pleeeeeeeease let Boone venture his way to the Gong!

If Perth wanted him, you'd think the deal may be done, so let's hope he's going to come & play tag team with AJ...

Please no - Boone is cooked.

"going to China with Australian nbl team, coached by Gleeson."

When is that happening??
I assumed it wouldn't occur this year, as we had the world cup itself?

Also, whilst I haven't paid a lot of attention, I thought the NBl teams were comprised of young locals?

Boone has had a great couple of season in the NBL, but unless he's a candidate for Naturalisation, I'd have thought he would be passed it as an import??
(Unless you're a team like Sydney, looking for a Bench option.)

Yes, Boone at his best is better than Brandt, but he's also taking an import slot.
And he is slowing down. Arrangement with Pledge to back him up was a good one, so it really depends on whom the team has as backup.

Boone at centre could work not sure if he is the right fit financially.
Kay plays some at 5 in small ball lineups.
Boone would still be good for 25mins.
Find a decent 10-15 min local backup and Perth are fine.