They have a glaring deficiency in a defensive big.

I gather they won't use the third import slot until later in the year for flexibility/cover injury/money and talent value or whatever other purposes are gained from that.

IMO Adelaide would be better to try and get it right from the start instead of going in halfbaked then change the dynamic midway through the season. Fill that glaring issue - give the team the best opportunity to form chemistry find their momentum and aim top 4.

The glaring deficiency is lack of coverage for when Humphries gets injured and misses many games, which is more than likely to happen.

Yeah or when Humphries is on the bench for resting or if he gets into foul trouble.

Can't have DJ on his own from a defensive standpoint.

Brilliant part of Humphries is he can get it done offensively and defensively so he can be partnered with DJ or a defensive import big at the same time.

When he’s off/injured/foul trouble then you’ve got a good balancing partner for DJ so that we don’t have a problem when IH isn’t on the court.

I dont take teams that wait for worst case scenarios to bring in imports very seriously. I know it has worked for some teams before but the vast majority of mid-season replacements aren't very good. Better off coming in with a full team from thne start and if things fall off you can adjust from there.

I dont take teams that wait for worst case scenarios to bring in imports very seriously.

Do not sign cam bairstow

Not signing a 3rd import just says to me that they aren't serious about competing for a championship...which is saddening for long standing members.

Where's it been confirmed only 2 imports will be playing? Last I seen was they are waiting for cuts to NBA rosters.
Also the indecisiveness of a start date would have played a factor.
Have Perth got their 3 imports?

With NBA cuts and hopefully easier times to get people into the county and a confirmed start date we might see someone soon.

The Adelaide 36ers are keeping their third import spot free until the season is underway according to Channel 7.

"(I have) had a lot of calls from agents and players around Australia and overseas," 36ers coach CJ Bruton said.

Dumb dumb dumb dumb

Adelaide continues to frustrate

If they get the import right, I don't see a problem in waiting.

"If they get the import right, I don't see a problem in waiting."

If they get the import right, I don't see a problem in getting him now.

Ridiculous when the NBL season is so short.

#453

Alex could perhaps stick around and break into a roster like Adnam did? perhaps? there are more clubs now.

Owen is highly unlikely I think. might be 7ft but with a Oscar Forman mentality. Except he isn't as fast as Forman or have the shooting prowress so yeah... Not sure any club really wants a 7 footer who won't get in under the basket...

RobT you're aware that players on NBA rosters will be available shortly? I’m sure they’d be looking in the next week or so. Then negotiations, flights, quarantine etc you’re looking at the start of season.

General consensus is the 36ers need a import big. Perth were in the same boat. It's just been mentioned that the bigs market isn’t great at the moment. Hence Perth changing.
So people complaining might just have to relax for a bit.

All irrelevant arguments if it becomes "too little too late" which inevitably happens with Adelaide.

Then you're just wasting money for the sake of it, have frustrated fans and frustrated players and a culture of frustration which never helps in the concept of winning, you know, the point of the expenditure in the first place.

Adelaide aren’t Perth that has the culture and team in place then can spend more and add more if needed at the right time.

Adelaide starts subpar with glaring problems, adjusts too late and spends a lot in the process to not make top 4.

Fill the glaring problem at the start, aim for good chemistry and momentum - if Adelaide don’t make it because they’ve stuffed up import choices yet again then it’s no worse to spending big to get someone in too late.

KET who do you get though? Incase you missed read there's a shortage of good big man available.
No point in grabbing a SG etc.
Got a championship PG
An elite import scorer
A young/bouncy 3 and D SF.
Kept the best big in the NBL.
King could be anything.
Elite defensive guard
Sotto could be anything.

" though? Incase you missed read there's a shortage of good big man available."

Who says there's no starting caliber defensive big in those world?

You? How does that make it correct?

You might argue there’s better options if they wait, but if they wait it’s too late, and the whole process a waste.

Adelaide doesn’t have a strong enough squad to start half baked and there are more than 4 sides that we wouldn’t want to start behind the ball having to make up ground - that ground simply won’t be made up.

" It is very obvious Sotto is definitely not nbl ready. Same could be said for malou. They need an athletic defensive big to support DJ and Humphries."

Yup 100%

I'm scared they’ve made some silly agreement about x amount of playing time re Sotto.

If Sotto plays anything more than garbage time it will be an absolute joke. He needs to put on 10 kilos to be light by NBL standards.

" Henry didn't agree with this, and so they hired the 'yes man' CJ"

I really hope this isn't the case. Promising minutes is such a bad idea ugh.

Not everyone is going to be a Giddey!

KET, Perth through Liam Santamaria mentioned that quality bigs are hard to come by at this stage.
That's good enough for me.

And now Simon Mitchell has said recruiting bigs has been hard.
So that's Perth and SEM.
But hey keep bagging the 36ers for waiting.

Nobody says it's easy - how many NBL clubs have import bigs? It’s not impossible.

What we are saying and you aren’t listening to is that there’s no point getting an import midway through the season because the team won’t be in a position to make top 4.

Whether they can get a better big later doesn’t matter, because the squad they have now won’t have them within striking distance of the top 4 or even 5th spot by the time we get 4,5,6 weeks in to the season.

Take out the Chinese players (which Simon Mitchell said fell into their laps)1 team has an import big. Cairns. 1 team!
Who's saying mid way through the season?
NBA cuts are happing right now. The logistics to get someone before the season starts now is a nightmare.

This team is so much better than last years, who injury free was around the 4th/5th spot.

I’ve been critical of the rosters the last few years and been proven right.
This roster looks really good. Hopefully I’m right.

"Who's saying mid way through the season? “

36ers.

Quote from the John Casey interview 3rd import spot will wait until the season is underway. (Not mid way)

Could you find anymore BIG imports this year?

Not referring to John Casey.

Big imports exist in this world.

Adelaide aren't Perth or SEM. What they want or need from a big is different to Adelaide.

Both clubs as they are now have better squads and would be top 5/6 prediction - Adelaide is not.

36ers doing 36ers things is hardly surprising.

Just another year of going through the motions and I've got no doubt Henry stood his ground on something and JVG being close to CJ got someone in he knows he can control.

#PrayforAdelaide

So where's the mid way through coming from?

You said other teams had got big imports but now are saying they’re different??

I understand they exist, most are in the states trying to get NBA gigs. Moving around the country with Freedom.

I’m sure DJ can play some 5 and Withers some 4 on occasions. Remembering Pinder started for us last year.

Any news on who the Sixers intend to sign with their last two spots on the roster? Dillon & Teys are both still FA's. I would've liked to have seen Purchase brought back but he's gone now.

Obviously we know one isn't going to be an import.

I see validity in keeping a free import card up our sleeve.

It allows the team to assess the players and make adjustments accordingly.

The key of course is to find the right people by the right time with minimal interruption to team chemistry.

It is not easy to achieve the above.

I'm not saying this is a better strategy than having the ideal squad from day one, just that it has benefits too

We have seen the Sixers commit to a team then either make adjustments too late (2Hard2Guard) or not make adjustments at all (Ebi Ere)

Anon - we knew about third import stance prior to yesterday's John Casey news report, it’s been chatted about a lot already - Adelaide won’t be bringing a third import until they’re in to the season. Before you go replying to that, consider my point below that we can’t afford to have any buffer to make up whether it be a few weeks or greater.

" You said other teams had got big imports but now are saying they’re different?? "

You said Perth and SEM said they struggled to find a big import, I said the likes of Perth or SEM are in a far more flexible position about making their roster decision - if they don’t feel there’s value there for them that’s easy for two clubs that are top 4/5 to make that decision for themselves. There have been plenty of big imports throughout NBL seasons there are always some available - nobody says any import selection will be a successful one.

Adelaide have a glaring hole on the defensive big end, and they don’t have a top 5 roster with that glaring hole. They don’t get the opportunity to wait for the right value maximising proposition to come around.

Just focus on the critical points that are:

Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, SEM, Hawks have better rosters.

NZ have a better roster albeit might feel the punishment of an away disadvantage again - that is yet to be seen.

Adelaide do not have a top 5 or 6 roster. Bring in someone through the season? It’s too late. *critical point*

Adelaide with a starting defensive import would make them competitive with the top 5-6, not better than. We can’t just assume Adelaide can so easily “make up for lost time” second *critical point*. Consider it as stated earlier, a bridge too far for Adelaide.

They have a glaring dhole which can only really be covered by Humphries to the extent he doesn’t get 1) tired 2) foul trouble 3) injured and to avoid those three they need to have him on the bench for about 10mins per game.

Withers is a 2/3 he is not a 4. He will have to play some time at 4, we know this by the makeup of our team. He is not sufficient cover for a starting defensive big. Put that proposition out of your mind, he’s not the solution. That means Adelaide relies on Malou or Sotto.

Using Pinder as an example doesn’t help when 1) Adelaide didn’t have a successful year last year, 2) When Humphries was on the bench it was a glaring issue and when he was down it was a massive issue; and 3) we don’t have Pinder anymore. I’m not banking on the new options being any better

And this is all on a best case scenario that Humphries doesn’t get injured. If Humphries gets injured Adelaide has nobody to rely on defensively *critical point three*.

So then, why bother bring someone in when it’s too late to make up a gap? What’s the point in that? To waste money?

Adelaide could have a well balanced competitive side if all things go right: McCarron shows QB and scoring prowess, Hannahs is a lightsout scorer and not a liability on D, Dech and Withers find range, Withers becomes a real disrupter, Humphries stays healthy, Johnson shows he cares and Adelaide have a defensive big that cleans up and wins the rebound count for the 36ers.

So close to putting something balanced together - yet so far!

Withers is bigger than Creek who plays a fair bit of the four for SEM.
Injury free SEM don't have a better roster than Adelaide.
You can use the argument on most teams that if they loose a player to injury they’re in trouble. Reath at the hawks.
Mitch just lead a team to a championship, so I think he’ll be fine.

Nick Kay is 1 inch taller than Withers. Withers is an athlete with a big wingspan. Everywhere apart from Wiki suggests he's a SF/PF, not a SF/SG.
Reports from the pistons had him as a SF and undersized PF (for the NBA).

Stop with this Withers as a PF crap, he's a 6'8" SF and a poor rebounder at that. We could only play him at the 4 for spot minutes nothing more.

The roster desperately needs an import PF a big man a rotation of DJ, Humphries, Malou and Sotto is not going to get it done.

DJ is abysmal defensively and only getting older every year, if Humphries is out with injury/foul trouble we're gone, Malou has never been signed by an NBL team before likely for a good reason or two and Sotto will be a glorified development player that we can't expect anything out of.

The Sixers have a top 4 squad now if fully fit.

We have:
- The best 2 way centre in the league.
- one of the best local offensive 4/5 man.
- the local best combination guard.
- one of the best guard defenders.
- Duffelmeier is a massive upgrade to bench stocks

" Kai Sotto is import quality"

Hahah no - we all wish, but no!

“ No-one does yet. Too many pre-season predictions based on rosters are completely wrong, every season”

That's not true, teams have well and truly taken shape now and pre-season predictions are usually pretty accurate with the NBL:
> Perth always makes finals
> Goorj teams always make finals
> Melbourne and Kings are always clear when they have a stacked team
> NZ always become competitive for top 4, save being screwed by covid

You’re welcome anon.

LB, we also have a glaring defensive hole next to the rim and possibly not great shooting depending on what we see from our sharpshooter Hannahs.

Can't win games if you’re handing cheap points defensively and struggling to score offensively when the lane is clogged. It happened last year and cost us games - where’s the solution this year?

That’s why once we scored Humphries and McCarron the memo needed to be a scoring 2, a long 3&D sf and a defensive pf as best possible to fill those two vital aspects.

They’re still questions!

KET you do realise Dusty is an elite shooter? And other NBL teams were after him? Maybe also read up on Withers especially his time with Detroit. 3 and D!
Mitch can shoot better than Giddey.
Dusty can shoot better than Dech
Withers can shoot better than Pinder.
Have you got your head around its a new roster this year lol.
Perth loose Hodgson and purchase will be their centre for those playing at home. The ants, cairns, United, bullets, SEM are not even close to the 36ers big man wise.
Withers can play small ball SF! Matched up against Creek, wagstaff etc etc.

Unless you mean DJ, I am not convinced there is a glaring hole at all. The Sixers were winning last season (but before chucking the towel in) when DJ and IH played.

Are there any teams right now with defensive stoppers at the 4 and 5? Were there any last season?

Perth got to the GF with Jared Bairstow starting the 4, before that was Travers. Hawks had AJ and Froling.

Most teams are with faults and most can cover it.

IH, DJ and Withers is a very nice starting lineup with McCarron and Dech to come.

" KET you do realise Dusty is an elite shooter"
I literally called him a sharpshooter - are you not reading!


“ Maybe also read up on Withers”
Just stop - He's not a shooter and he’s not a 4.

Stop asking people to read up just because you disagree. As Zodiac said - Withers doesn’t fill our defensive hole.

Just another preseason - I had plenty of people tell me to “read up” last preseason or that I hated the team (that I support) when I said we made wrong import choices and were a 6-8 positioned team because Adelaide fans were so certain Adelaide was a top 4 proposition.

They weren’t. They’re closer now - but they’ve got glaring holes.

" Unless you mean DJ"

“ They have a glaring hole which can only really be covered by Humphries to the extent he doesn't get 1) tired 2) foul trouble 3) injured and to avoid those three they need to have him on the bench for about 10mins per game”

Thought that was pretty clear? Haha

Tyler Harvey 39% from 3
Todd Withers 36% from 3
Todd Withers had a top 15 defensive rating in the g league.
Withers, who signed with the Detroit Pistons' Summer League team, signed a contact Monday with the team, making the 2018 Queens graduate the first Royals player to join an NBA squad. Withers averaged 10 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in the Summer League while shooting 57 percent from the 3-point line.
Withers played with the Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit’s G-League affiliate, where he started 37 games while playing 25.8 minutes per contest. He averaged 6.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game, shot 40.5 percent from the field and finished with the league’s third-highest defensive rating.

DJ has been DJ for a decade, the Sixers accept his 'nuances' together with his elite rebounding and scoring. Nothing has changed especially with him in mid contract.

I don't love DJ's indifference on D but we can win with it as evidenced when the right people are around him and he is kept engaged like in the 2 GF years.

It is on the coach to ensure he does not go passive.

DJ's hardly an elite rebounder in fact for a 7'0" guy he's always been a pretty mediocre rebounder.

A lot of people get sucked into DJ's 'numbers' he's made a career out of putting up numbers on crap Sixers teams. People don't realise just how bad defensively he is and what that means to the composition of the roster every year.

It means we have to pair him with an elite defensive big to even attempt to cover his shortcomings which is why we turned to absolute shit once Humphries got injured last season and why we couldn't start Eric Griffin alongside him. Childress papered over enough of those cracks in 2018 plus we had a strong team, Petrie & Schenscher the same in 2014.

With a 33 year old DJ and this roster if Humphries goes down again for a serious amount of time we'll probably finish bottom.

It has been a long time since I last posted. Here are some videos about Kai's defense in the ACQ and OQT. I couldn't find footage of the other games though. Hope it can help.

(Korea)




(PNR Defense against Serbia)



(Against Boban)



BTW, reading through the comments, is Malou terrible in defense? Haven't really seen him play. 

I understand DJ's shortcomings, I accept them as I accept the shooting, his ripthroughs, his ability to draw fouls and drawing opposition bigs out to respect the pick and pops.

Wright knew how to utilise his skillset.

DJ is one piece, I don't blame him for the lack of success that is on the team

Isn't he the top totals rebounder in the last ten years?

Yes, I think so... I think he may have scored to most nbl points ??

Yes most total points and rebounds forgot where I read that.

He has been great in some aspects but it is often set aside when his defence is considered.

If someone offered you a player with the above stats at a high percentage, you'd normally take it.

Wagstaff?
AJ? Not sure if exactly 10 years but close.

I would wager he exceeds Mika Vukona, Alex Pledger, Matt Knight, and Petrie

Anyway I am not saying DJ is Tim Duncan. He has flaws in his game and sometimes mentally as well.

But he is a net positive.

If someone offered you a player with the above stats at a high percentage, you'd normally take it.

Gleeson & the Wildcats never did despite him being a local WA guy but that's because that club is about winning.

LB, the point isn't whether DJ is a valuable player, it’s how they deal with his defensive liability.

It’s all well and good to say we can’t have everything - fair - but we won’t win games if we have opposition doing whatever they want around the rim. Humphries was huge in helping us but he can’t be there all game every game.

Do we have a better team this year than last year on paper? Yes, I think so when we are talking players 1-8 (McCarron, Hannahs, Withers, DJ, Humphries, Dech, King, Duffelmeier)

Does just about every club have a better roster this year than last year on paper? Yes.

Because they’re putting together such a competitive roster, it makes it odd that they aren’t finishing it off properly to have a red hot go.

To me, it’s the difference between say 3rd/4th spot and 6th/7th spot.

If you look through past Adelaide seasons, there’s limited success in making the finals after bringing someone in. The only one I can think of that made "the tangible difference" and made the finals was Childress. Even then, that was more of a Perth-style “surplus to requirements” type addition opposed to “come save us to make the finals” IMO.

If I recall - Motum, Hodge etc were “too little too late”. Add to that a season where it’s just so even and stacked, you really can’t afford to just drop games anymore.

The only teams that look “weak” are Cairns, Tassie, Bullets - and even then they have guys that can be the best in the league. There really isn’t any “pencil in a win” anymore in this league.

Fantastic - but more reason to take the risk of maximising your season and chemistry and getting it right at the start opposed to the flexibility of having someone come in down the line.

That’s just my take - obviously some agree and some disagree.

LB, the point isn't whether DJ is a valuable player, it's how they deal with his defensive liability.

Do we have a better team this year than last year on paper? Yes, I think so when we are talking players 1-8 (McCarron, Hannahs, Withers, DJ, Humphries, Dech, King, Duffelmeier)