won't happen

Jesus.

The 36ers were encouraged by the turnout at their new home arena, the Adelaide Entertainment Centre — a 6,366-strong crowd at the preseason game against Melbourne United — and felt as though they needed to capitalise on that popularity with a big name, sources said.

Haha such a reactive club. Love how 6,000 voted with their feet and made Adelaide make a move.

Does added defensive nouse makeup for Randell defensive shortfall?

36ers are so unprofessional

I'm not sure if I like the move. Reeks of desperation by the club. Deshon Taylor was brought in for a particular role and with it in mind that the team would work and be structured a certain way, and then they get a crowd that excites them a bit and they go "fuck it, let's go get Jerome Randle!" lol.

Like, forget if he fits the team's structure or if his attributes suit what the 36ers need. Forget any bad blood between him and Joey. 36ers were never going to be championship favorites for the season but I feel like getting Jerome Randle is like throwing out the white flag and saying "we're not hear for the championship. We want to fill seats". It's not that he's a bad player or anything that I am saying that. I am saying that because it's obvious why he's been brought in.

I guess it could work out and make Adelaide a better team in the end but I am pretty conflicted about it.

If the stated reasoning is true, that's hilariously stupid and I look forward to nobody ever signing with them again because contracts clearly aren't worth shit to them.

If it's a PR version to cover up something Taylor's done...surely they could come up with something better?

Lol at Adelaide.

Taylor has been here training and playing with the Sixers, maybe Joey has not been as impressed with him as he hoped, maybe he isn't what they thought they were getting.
Imagine now Randle and White playing in the same team. What a funny game, enemies one minute, teamates the next.
Not a fan of Randles defence, but I sure did love watching him drop 30.

WTF happened with Taylor?

I was really looking forward to a more defensive minded Sixers.

If the price is right, I don't mind Randle coming back.

He suits Joey's system and perhaps we will now have the interior defence to cover Randle's weakness with Gordon and Froling at the rim.

Overall though this is very strange and sudden.

You get a big crowd at one preseason game and decide you can afford to upgrade your point guard... so you sign a guy who was great 3 years ago? Don't get me wrong, Randle is probably a better player than the inexperienced Taylor at this point, but lets get a point guard who wont get exploited on D and makes our other players better too!

Randle's D isn't as bad as folks make it out to be. Puts in a solid effort but his height definitely hurts when closing out on shooters and obviously not the post defender that Ware is. Far from the worst in the league though - hell, Randle looks like Pat Beverly next to Melo Trimble.

Besides the craziness of why they brought him in, he feels like the kind of scorer Adelaide were probably missing from their roster, too.

Eh, clubs decide based on various factors as to whether to replace imports. Adelaide's done it plenty of times.

In the past, we've been happy to get rid of Randle because of 1) defence struggles and 2) bit of a one trick pony.

The difference we have here is, Adelaide is completely lacking the x factor "game winner", if he still has his speed and shooting ability, the added defence makes a lot more sense. Hopefully he can get others open for shots and that three point shooting percentage improves.

Desperation? A little bit of that. I'll take it.

I'd take just making the playoffs this year tbh

I think some people are reading a bit too much into the big preseason game reasoning given, they've got to say something. The reality is the Sixers tried to sign Randle early in the offseason but he refused supposedly because he didn't want to play under Joey again.

The Sixers moved on and signed Taylor who has been pretty inconsistent so far starting some games coming off the bench in others but projected as a solid but not great import here in his first pro gig. Randle was still a free agent obviously re-thought his Joey stance and decided to come back and as he was the man the Sixers always wanted Taylor has to go.

Randle was clearly nursing an injury in the finals, too.

On the upside, Randle's defensive inadequacies can be covered by other players on the team. I think the team did need a go-to scorer. It's just really strange to me that it has turned out to be Jerome Randle after everything that has happened. But by golly, I'll be in that stadium for game 1.

Wonder if there was any push/funding from the NBL?

Will he get to 'sign' his name on the new court?
Let’s hope that some of our young guys get a chance to put a shot up.

Thinking a bit more about it now I'm okay with Randle coming back. It's not ideal but the Sixers weren't going to be playoff contenders this season and this move changes the possible outlook on the season.

Not title contenders obviously but now the Sixers are legitimate playoff contenders, Randle will be able to put up as many shots as he likes which he couldn't do in Sydney we were crying out for a star player to lead us that's not DJ anymore and Griffin looks to be more complimentary than a star. Our roster was probably the second worst in the comp behind Cairns and this move brings some offensive firepower in and will keep the fans coming in.

I always thought it was bizarre that we had this meek roster with basically no big name talent or any chance of seriously winning going into the AEC. Start the season off poorly as would've been likely the crowds would stop coming and the AEC would quickly become a deserted. Smart move to get Randle back in now before the damage would've been irreparable.

AngusH, I've always thought Randle tries hard on D, it just doesn't make much difference against good players. And despite all our talk of defensive improvement this season, last Friday I watched the same old Sixers accepting any switch Melbourne wanted with no resistance and they got easy baskets all night as a result. So unless Joey had his team foxing, it looks like we're going to get dismantled by Melbourne and Perth for another year.

Agree on all points zodiac

I like the move, we needed another scorer and wasn't sold on Taylor in the pre season games i watched.

Zodiac, I get what you're saying about getting some more firepower and hoping to entice a few more people through the door with a big name signing, but I would rather have kept Taylor for his shooting and defence and replaced Moore with a genuine small forward.

I know Moore had some injury problems early last season, but he was basically MIA when we really needed him. I just don't think he moves the needle enough offensively as an import and he isn't really big enough to guard opposing wings like Prather and White.

So we're going to be left with Drmic trying to guard these guys again and as much as I love his hustle and rebounding, he couldn't do it last season, so why would we think he'll be able to do it this season?

Does the deal include his wife being barred from AEC?

I hear you Beantown I've been pretty disappointed in Moore I didn't think we needed to give him a 2 year deal last year to get him back. I think that is also the reason why he couldn't be cut last season because his 2 year contract would've had to be paid out in full and I suspect that's probably why he won't be cut this season either unlike most imports on make-good contracts like Taylor who can be cut within the first two months/10 games of the season without being paid out.

Since I've already forked over my hard-earned for season tickets to support the club's move to the AEC, I guess I'm just going to hope I'm wrong and that Randle returns to Adelaide a more well-rounded player who makes his team-mates better!

Anon I think Ashley & Loe will be starting over Delany & Majok at NZB and despite his drop of form at the Blitz I can't see Pineau starting over Benson at SEM, if they do they'll be in a world of trouble.

Good to see Randoll back! I'm a big fan of Wandle, me

Fun fact - he is a big fan of operas from the Baroque era and that is where his nickname Handel Randel originates.

Cool to have him back in the league.

Was always going to be Adelaide or Cairns if he came back to the NBL.
Illawarra, Melbourne,NZ,Perth, Sydney and SEM all have good point guards.

The Sixers sometimes take too long to make changes required, which usually shows they aren't serious. I am glad they make the change earlier rather than later. Sixers missed a scorer last season as Sobey showed he was unable to carry them on his own. Randle can hold his own against the other stud imports although he is a liability on Joeys switching defence. That was one of the problems highlighted last time he was here, hence why they got Shorter who could play defence in multiple positions. Last season Sixers went budget and it showed, by the time they made the change with Deleon it was too late.

Sensational Luuuc!

Joeys switching D just sucks in general, Not only Randle who struggles with it. The whole team does year in year out. It's no coincidence we usually give up the most points against

Would never sign randle. Guys who are that short rely on speed and at his age that will deteriorate. Then he is also a defensive liability.

Didn't he shoot like 2/16 or something in his last game?

I think this is the right decision. If you're not a serious contender for whatever reason, focus on entertaining and selling tickets. That means guys like Randle or Wiley.

The 36ers arrived at their Salt Lake City hotel just before 5pm (US time) on Monday and it's understood management spent the night drawing up a contract and arranging flights for Randle to join the team in Utah by Tuesday afternoon.

Players and even some senior figures at the club were completely blindsided by the move and only learned of the news which broke on Fox Sports when they woke up early Tuesday morning.

But Taylor was told he was going to be cut by Wright and assistant coach Kevin Brooks by the fire in the hotel lobby where the Sixers are staying about 10pm Monday night.

Adelaide is not allowed to make any official comment about Randle until the contract is approved by the NBL but Wright said the conversation with Taylor was difficult.

"He’s taken it pretty tough, we brought him in as a young player to develop and he did everything according to what we thought he would," Wright told The Advertiser in Utah.

“He didn’t come in and do anything wrong, he came in and was the player we thought he was.

“We were starting to figure out how to use him and we had the right plan, but to be a rookie point guard trying to lead a veteran team is a tough one.”

Why not sign a veteran point guard in the first place.

I honestly can't believe such a reactivate decision has been made on the back of a preseason crowd, the majority would have got in for free or half price an already cheap price. Of course there is going to be interest in checking out a venue for the first time. Now they try to tell us Taylor is who they expected but can’t be trusted for a rookie point guard to carry a veteran team? What a ridiculous statement, why get him in the first place then! I feel sorry for Taylor. Another victim of the terrible management at the club

What I saw of Taylor I was excited to see a true point guard pass first mentality lead this team with talked up in your face D Joey kept bragging about now I get to see randle jack up 20 shots a game, be a total liability on D and get totally dominated every time he plays ware and cotton.

So reading that article Isaac ... we cut Deshon to sell more jerseys?

This was a management decision?

Randle hoping to impress Utah and get an NBA contract.

It would be pretty awkward if that happened

If the crowd numbers drop does that mean players now get cut? Do we have a dynamic market place where if we play Perth we bring in a bigger name than if we play Cairns?

People need to get over the whole preseason attendance thing!
It's a no brainer bringing back an MVP type of player. One that’s thrived here before.
You’d assume his wage request had decreased.
The NBL has gone up another level and maybe a mistake was made with a rookie PG that won’t be a top 5 nba pick.

I’d have kept Taylor and cut Moore personally especially for Taylor’s intangibles eg defence and ability to drive to the rim.

But the signing of Randle has just made Griffin that much more dangerous (help defenders) for randle.
DJ has struggled of late and Randle will get him back on track.

Sounds like Wright was as blind-sided by it as Taylor was. It's a business and all that, but Adelaide seem to have a monopoly on these type of decisions over the past couple of years.

"To an already star-studded group" rightio Joey

"Why not sign a veteran point guard in the first place."

because they couldn't afford one. Randle would have dropped his price significantly now that he wasn't able to get a job somewhere. Sixers bounced on a proven MVP import

"I honestly can't believe such a reactivate decision has been made on the back of a preseason crowd"
"You don't recruit a player on the back of a pre-season attendance. One of the most stupid comments I've ever seen. Makes totally no sense and once again highlights the people at the 36ers are not basketball minds."

I can't believe you actually think that is the reason. Once again they get a quality import for a price they can afford

"What I saw of Taylor I was excited to see a true point guard pass first mentality lead this team"

Agreed. I would have liked to have seen Taylor given a go but bringing back a former MVP makes more sense

"People need to get over the whole preseason attendance thing!
It's a no brainer bringing back an MVP type of player."

Agreed

I think there's a level of Adelaide reigning in spending as to what they believe they can afford/as to the type of hit the owner is willing to take, and then they see the crowd number and Randle availability and justify cutting and spending more that it will bring more people through the gates which will "payoff" the extra spending.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Isaac was right re LK being in the ear or assisting in some way. He wants as much talent as possible in the NBL and for it to be as competitive as possible.

I would've thought it more likely Randle was a fair bit cheaper now than he was when we first tried to sign him six months ago than LK stepping in or anything.

'Black hole' Randle running the team? Lord help them!

Hope they've got a teamwork clause in his contract, and let's not even mention team chemistry.

There just have to be better options, if a change was needed, which I doubt.

If he had to come in it should have been as a shooter in place of Moore. That way they would still have a point guard to get him the ball when appropriate and the rest of the team would have got a look in too.

I'm SO glad I didn't renew my season tickets.

Previously, a rookie point guard trying to lead our team has been a hard one.

36ers asked radio 5aa's Stephen Rowe to come to Utah.
Which he will, and he will do a bitta radio reporting.

"So is it safe to say the move to the new arena has been not as bad as everybody was saying after having a 6000+ pre season crowd to one game??"

You realise lots of tickets were for free or 2 for 1?

It is human nature to not want change but in most cases when change happens it is for the better. Lets wait and see how it goes.

Probably worthy of its own thread after the first home game of the regular season, but while it was quite different to the Beverly venue (Powerhouse/Dome/Arena etc), I was pleasantly surprised at how close to the action I will be and without my sight lines being inhibited. These were my initial concerns. The light show, cube, PA were not much different to last season.

The shaking of the stands when people stamped their feet will be a thing of the past, and in that respect I doubt the AEC will be as intimidating, but this might be offset by more noise from more patrons if crowd numbers substantially increase.

I hope more people attend the games given the venue is better serviced by public transport but I don't put too much weight on this being the case based on last Friday's attendance numbers. Tickets were considerably cheaper than regular season prices and there was a "buy one, get on free" promotion.