Yay, Kai Sotto Day is finally here.

Australian sporting history is about to take place.

I hope Hoops has enough bandwidth.

The whole season to date has just been a warm-up to this game.

I'm ready.

WTF indeed. JvG you've done it again!

Surely they sub Kai on now? Sixers already trailing.

Playing like trash throwing it away again!

I don't defend Cairns often but neither does Sotto

How many times they gonna have it poked out

We need to sort out these first quarters. It's not good enough to give teams a 10 point head start every single game

Kawai feeling twenty years younger all of a sudden.

Jawai

Sotto -8
Jawai +8

Who is whos bitch?

Lol at Forde saving Jawai exclusively for Sotto.

McCarron can be the glue guy on a team with stars but cant be the guy on a lessor talented squad.

Lol at Forde saving Jawai exclusively for Sotto.

36ers playing like U14 Div 5

The Sotto-led 20+ point 2nd half turnaround bout to be legendary

Being a 36ers fan means being constantly angry and frustrated

What happens when Adelaide starts playing rosters that aren't undermanned?

This is how it must feel to be an English cricket fan, really feeling the capitulation

Google says they won the 2019 World Cup so they're no 36ers.

One Pinoy already called CJ a mother fucker in Tagalog within one of the earlier posts. Classic.

Sotto done quite well. ?????

-17 in 6.21

Adelaide slow on their feet on defence and too slow up the court. Cairns playing as a team and shooting with confidence, unlike Adelaide.

Where's Plan B or C, CJ? Get animated, tear some new assholes, whatever - you need to get your guys revved up!!

Kenny is 'feeling it'. Unfortunately what he is sensing is that his team mates are hot from 3, not himself.

McCall really suits Cairns but won't suit United. That won’t stop them poaching him, though, and he’ll probably want to leave when Machado is healthy

Sotto Burgers!!

Sotto first point scored.

Get a defensive PF/C ASAP - enough of players being able to stroll in without defence.

Have Withers play a point forward role bringing up the ball.

Have McCarron/Hannahs moving off the ball, for Hannahs watch what Mills does around screens and shoot the tough perimeter shot.

Offensively Sotto actually looked pretty damn good. That and the way he actually moves around the court. I like him.

Fickle people. Look at the table. Cairns are 4th so clearly no mug team. Look below adelaide dudes plenty with worst records. Breakers batting don't.. melbourne and JJ struggle town teams. Sixers are on long roadie. Teams lose on the road.. sometimes.
Real sixersemerged against breakers. That were my faith and loyalty lies.. I am not fickle and jumping at ghosts.. dusty leading the way and people wanted his head.. I say cool the pudding people the ice cream is coming to enjoy...sixers proud..respect

Yay, Kai Sotto Day is finally here.

Clubs comment on Facebook was "onwards and upwards". After a pummelling, the the Farouk?

It's time to pack up and go home for Adelaide. Reality check time to the absolute max.

We can sit here and make fun of filos and Kai Sotto - and I do love doing that - but he is not the problem with this team.

The problem is from the very top, down. JVG with his stupid roster formations, CJ Bruton as coach, and picking Mitch McCarron as your primary point guard.

I am not sure why we have to keep relearning this lesson but I will say it louder for those in the back - MEDIOCRE COMBO GUARDS DO NOT MAKE GOOD STARTING POINT GUARDS.

We did the Sobey thing already. Why the fuck are we trying it again?

There is no urgency or intensity about the way the team plays. There are no proven winners on the team (DO NOT give me blah blah blah Mitch won a championship). No killers. Nothing.

The 36ers need to decide what constitutes success for them this year.

If they're happy to scrap in the bottom four - fine, don't change anything.

If they want any chance at the playoffs they need to make changes tomorrow morning. Something has got to give. You have an import spot - dig deep and get a decent starting point guard to start with. If one of Hannahs or Withers, or both, need to move on to make way for the right balance, so be it.

CJ Bruton. I know rookie coaches take some time to find their feet but in the end, you have to hold a coach responsible for his team. For whatever reason CJ has been unable to get anything vaguely competitive out of his men. How long do we ride with him?

Yes, it's early in the season. And yes, Adelaide managed to eek out a couple of wins. But the canaries are dying in the coalmine. Adelaide's comeback against New Zealand was not impressive and I said that at the time. The whole situation was a symptom of the same problems that persist and were in full show tonight.

I almost wish the margin blew out to 60+ points. A margin like that would make the demand for action almost too strong. The somewhat favourable margin that ended the game will allow the 36er management to believe there is something salvageable in the team in its current state.

Well.. there simply is not.

The ladder, fixture, and a few fortuitious bounces may have saved the 6ers from certain destruction, for now, but the clock is absolutely ticking. They need to make changes. They cannot afford to "see how things go" if they want to make any noise this year.

Yes we won the blitz against quality.. and incredible it is fact win overly highly rated breakers... this not just a turn up and it happens.. this says team has the ability... new group brings inconsidtentency.. maybe bit extra tine with new coach to get the direction and instructions clear.but will eventually gelignite and ka boom it be ka sotto leading the new sixers... true believers stick tough..

Even Pinder played very well against a weak 36ers team.

You can make fun...but I know my stuff..sixers are notorious for slow seasonal starts. IH is still recovering .. needs time to get his game fitness and things will.improve.huge present in key.

Once you learn how to use full stops people might listen to your nonsense

As a snakes fan originally from Adelaide, I would call for a reality check on this game.
Cairns had a red hot night and a good defensive one. Will not always be the same shooting unit. Adelaide had an off night let's face it which caused the outcome. If they played today Adelaide would probably win. So take a breath.
Adelaide will probably have a good enough season once settled and possibly be around a push for the finals.
Cairns fans know we do not have the depth that others have but turn out and support. What we hope is that we can scrap, get the most out of our players (even the journeymen) and challenge more often than not which will mean we win a fair share of games. What Cairns fans won’t do is jump off with our support.
It was one game so be a true supporter of your team and stop bagging coaches, players etc. Stick with them and maybe talk about Hannahs excellent contribution. Sounds like some of you might be Crows supporters as well.
And leave Sotto alone please. First game off the bench and has to adjust to the speed and bodies. He will be fine once settling and showed some of that with some good blocks. Young lad from elsewhere with massive expectations. He is not the one touting himself so give him a break. He will get better quickly especially if he has support and encouragement. McCarron showed good leadership with him.

The silly turnovers and the lack of transition defense have made the Sixers extremely frustrating to watch for me.

The ball nor the players move enough on offense for my liking either. They look like an Under 12 team relying on opposition defense breakdowns or DJ/IH/Bear iso actions in the post to score.

Watching them allow Zimmerman to use his left hand in the first half and suggesting the Taipans were playing with "false/fake energy" did my head in. I couldn't watch and turned off at half time. No point investigating any effort if they don't even try to outwork/out hustle their opponents.

I will remain hopeful they will figure out how to play better and do so, but the return of Dech won't be enough based on the 180 minutes I have watched since the start of the season.

"KET
A few minutes ago

Once you learn how to use full stops people might listen to your nonsense"

Are you being sarcastic?
If, "Yes", very well done.
If, "No", what did you leave out?

Trev , thanks for you message. I hope more 36'ers fans will listen to your voice of reason. How do you view Coach Forde's impact on the Taipans so far? Is he the main driver behind the increased energy and focus or is McCall?

Thanks for asking Why not ?

I think both and also a little bit of other role players stepping up (at least in the last 2 games).

If you have watched McCall, he talks to the players like a natural leader, and I think he is picking guys up and encouraging them well. You can see Kuol, and Zimmerman amongst others feeding off him. Pinder cops penalty but he was empowered last night and played his role. Haven't seen him smile like that before.

Will be interesting to see how Machado and McCall go together. I like the idea of McCall drilling down on the defensive end and pinch hitting as required with Machado bringing the ball up and dishing.

It’s easy to like a new coach with brings B2B wins in his first 2 home games. Personally we have never had a demonstrative, overtly emotional and passionate coach. Both of our previous were more the stable brooding types so I think this might be a good change for us. We sit within earshot of our bench and the air was very 'colourful’ the other night during a time out. For me this is a positive thing. Passion. It’s easy to be liked up here, we just want them to give it their best on game day and be part of the ‘community’. Listen to what McCall says about representing Cairns to see why we already love him.

So far for Forde so good.

Good luck with your Sixers this year.

"If, "No", what did you leave out?"

Nothing - a termination dot point at the end of a single sentence is not convention for text messages, emails or forum posts. If anything, it comes across as generally insincere/rude.

Were you aware of this?

If “yes”, well done;
If “no”, now you know (this is how you punctuate a list properly).

:)

Trev the 36ers dont deserve to be excused for any of this. Yes, Cairns had a hot game. 36ers had a bad game. Their average games would look a lot different to this. However, New Zealand almost did the same thing to them last week. It just seems to me Adelaide has a trend of playing like absolute garbage. Slow starts that they would never peg back if not for help from the other team.

The situation is dire for Adelaide. The ladder may be forgiving but another week or two of this and they'll be on the way out of having any kind of productive season.

Changes have to be made now. It's clear to see what they're doing right now isn't working.

That was the worst game Sixers played since the dark days of poor coach and team selection.
There was just no intensity to defend ,to attack the ball or opposition and Cairns showed they were desperate for their supporters and club.
Questions are
Why can't we get our import selections right ,although Hannah will be good if we use our inside players better to get more open 3s like Cairns did.
But Withers is just a very average player unlike all the top scoring imports at most other clubs.
Then we have filled team up with these tall never was players and paid massive dollars to McCarron who brought into lead team but turned out a massive turnover king .
Humphries looks like wants to become a singer rather than earn the big money getting as a basketballer.
Well no other team wanted CJ as coach and looks obvious why.

The situation is dire for Adelaide. The ladder may be forgiving but another week or two of this and they'll be on the way out of having any kind of productive season.

Changes have to be made now. It's clear to see what they're doing right now isn't working.

Oh dear..wheels are falling off.. is Sunday too far away... to make a difference or has indifference reared uts ugly head.. lackusting effort by sixers.. which is normally a sixer trait.energy and effort real not fake.. wonder if missing the glue man BTeys has been undervalued.. sometimes need the locker room gatorade man to inspire and reenergerise.
Who is the new Capt Teyser? Need the return of the ultimate team man.

Aside from a third import, the team now is what it will be for the year. So we will need to make do.

" You have to put this result down to one of those games where nothing goes right."

How many of those is acceptable in the first month?

Cairns probably shoot like that in training with no defence. Let's be honest here, Adelaide weren’t pulling off clean passes, weren’t getting into any transition D, they have a giant hole next to the basket which we always knew was going to be there, ends up with players rotating and hedging and trying cover by running opposition off the perimeter. Ends up making life easy for the opposition if they want to drive and kick, they’ll get open drives and open threes. Not hard to get good shooting percentages like that.

We had these issues against every team so far we have played - NZ were wide open first half, Hawks killed us on our passes and transition. Cairns got the best of both worlds. We weren’t stellar against Tas or Perth either.

36ers have lost to undermanned Cairns/Perth sides; had a disgusting first half against an undermanned perpetually away NZ side; obliterated at home vs Hawks; barely got past Tasmania away.

That shows the signs and makings of a bottom 3 side. You can’t start the year with 5 badly played games in a row - at least 50% off the time they’ve played has been downright disgusting - first half v NZ, game v Hawks, game v Cairns. There’s no “one off” here.

McCarron and Hannahs look too small with too much defensive pressure that isn’t being alleviated by other players. Withers isn’t being utilised consistently. Theres a glut of average players that are just there to get time on court (Harris, Sotto, King etc.)

Start by giving Humphries some P&R - as he gets fit, we can trust he will start to command more defensive attention down low - Have Hannahs running off screens Mills style for hard to shoot threes that he can knockdown, have Dech read to shoot when the attention is focussed on IH/DJ/MM

Defensively, IH/Def Import can hold their own next to the basket, less hedging and running players off perimeter - Dech, MM can defend perimeter with more attention.

C Humphries
F Import
F Dech
G Hannahs
G McCarron

Bring Withers on from the bench, play him as point (small) forward. Bring DJ on for bench scoring, Bairstow as cleanup man. Limited mins for Tad, to be subbed on to avoid a team being too tall/slow.

That needs to be the rotation, don’t be throwing minutes out to others for the sake of it.

At 2- 6 the season is over. Historically a 15-13 season will get you into finals. So you have to go 13-7 the rest of the way. Maybe they can pull off a Motum / Wilson are 10-0 run but there is nothing to suggest thats remotely likely at this point.

The biggest issue with this squad is the lack of heart. NZ are losing but at least they are playing their hearts out and leaving it on the floor. From the tip in Cairns there was no hustle. CJ looked lost and his voice is one of fear even apologising for dropping his pen lid at one point.

Well they have:

Perth, SEM, Perth all at home coming up. After that idk.

Split Perth games, and they're 3-5, which would require 12-8 in the last 20 games. Which isn’t overly onerous on any team that thinks it’s top 4 caliber. But you’re right that the hole keeps deep very quickly, and I battled this point during the off-season: it’s stupid to wait, because it can be too little too late very easily and muck with any chemistry if it’s finally developed.

From 36ers weekly newsletter

The Adelaide 36ers scored 18 of the final 22 points of the game in Cairns on Saturday despite the Taipans going on to win 93-67.

There were positives to take for the Sixers - Kai Sotto had an impressive NBL debut and Dusty Hannahs was in particular a shining light top-scoring with 20 points on 8/11 shooting from the field.

There ya go. There were positives. 40 down to a bottom 2 team minus their star point guard. Plenty to worry about but then again, why should supporters expect more?

It's one game..and yes not great.. bit like colonel sanders and last stand.. but eventually tide turned.. so it be OK. Have faith this is a great proud club and nothing hurts more than a lost but Sunnyside eggs up tomorrow or whenever is another game. Bring energy... positive positive energy. Just one win away from a roll-on.. sotto going to be so much better for the experience. Stick tuff sixers like araldite. Glue needed not gell.

Ket, thanks for reply and info (on convention)
"Nothing - a termination dot point at the end of a single sentence is not convention for text messages, emails or forum posts. If anything, it comes across as generally insincere/rude.

Were you aware of this?

If "yes", well done;
If “no”, now you know (this is how you punctuate a list properly)."

Got to answer, "No" (now I know). However, "convention" does not make it right. The "convention" as you call it, allows for our younger gen to use terms like "should of" and "could of", "would of" etc, etc. You and I know that the correct terminology is "should have" not the conventionally ok, "should of".

"If anything, it comes across as generally insincere/rude."
Can't agree with that statement. Did you add that to make a point?

I do take your point though and thank you for the update on text messages, emails or forum posts. I'll stick to my old rules (I have trouble keeping up with convention!).

Ket, and anyone else interested in punctuation, have you heard Victor Borg's Punctuation skit. He applies sounds to every punctuation symbol, then reads a passage with AUDIBLE punctuation. Hilarious! (search utube)

"Is there another club on hoops here that is so hated as much as the 36ers?"

It's not about hating the club. Most of us love the club and that's why we care. It's just we've seen ownership make stupid decisions over the past 5 or more years and we're sick of it. We've not had a good team since 2017. And in that time there's been a lot of stupid decisions made that have turned Adelaide into an NBL backwater.

"I don't think its time to pull the trigger yet, allow the team to respond (if they can).

You have to put this result down to one of those games where nothing goes right."

The game before that was the same problem. And the game before that. We basically lost to the Cairns Taipans by 40 regardless of what the end score was. That is atrocious in this league. Questions have to be asked.

"But we DO need to respond in these 3 games, by the end of this homestand it will be the quarter mark of the season. If we are 2-6 then yes steps need to be taken."

Then factor in how long it takes to get an import accilimatized, that is another couple of games. Then making sure that import is the right fit. You start heading towards middle of the season by then. Playoff hopes can slip very fast in this league. We can see the problems already. There's no reason to watch them any further before acting.

"Withers looks OK not great but does a few good things. He is worth keeping to see what he can do."

Not if there is clearly a better suited option. If Scotty Hopson put his hand up I wouldn't be sitting here talking about how "Ok" Withers is.

"Which leaves the 3rd import trump card we have been saving. This team is built around a very strong local contingent, do you change that by bringing in a stud import or a complimentary import (like a DJ Newbill) to fill deficiencies?"

It's not a very strong local contingent. If it were we wouldn't be seeing what we're seeing. McCarron is the most overrated player in the league and completely unfit to run a team on his own. DJ is past his prime. Humphries is yet to get going. Mojave King is overrated garbage. Duffelmeier garbage. I like Dech. But the only one out of them who has stood up so far this season has been Cam Bairstow.

"The biggest issue with this squad is the lack of heart. NZ are losing but at least they are playing their hearts out and leaving it on the floor. From the tip in Cairns there was no hustle. CJ looked lost and his voice is one of fear even apologising for dropping his pen lid at one point."

Yes we all like CJ Bruton as a player and person but nothing he has shown suggests he's up to the job. Maybe he would be in a few years but are the Sixers willing to tank the season to make that happen?

"There ya go. There were positives. 40 down to a bottom 2 team minus their star point guard. Plenty to worry about but then again, why should supporters expect more?"

Lol I know you're being sarcastic but the 36ers take on it is quite embarrasing. I mean, a team that is thumping you putting DPs on at the end of the game and playing lazy D at the end is now a positive.

"ust one win away from a roll-on.. sotto going to be so much better for the experience. Stick tuff sixers like araldite. Glue needed not gell."

It might take you some time to wrap your head around, but Kai Sotto is not going to be a defining force on this team. Him "getting better" will not actually be what gets Adelaide wins. It will be nearly irrelevant in the scheme of things.

Havent seen too much of 36ers yet but looking at the numbers, what's going on with Humphries?

Last season, before his injury he was dominating and looked an All-NBL team contender

Humphries - still got a few injury niggles...

Can we do away with that rumour already? No - Kai Sotto was not signed to a multi-million dollar contract. That was a misquote as has been outlined numerous times now.

Stop trolling with that Sotto multi-million dollar contract crap. It's been explained enough times by now that the person in charge of doing the headlines for News Corp articles made a mistake as it was mean't to read multi-year contract.

On no planet does a kid considered a long shot to even be drafted by an NBA team, that's expected to be nothing more than an end of bench junk time player in the NBL get a multi-million dollar contract.

RobT this is a bit of a wasteful conversation - the point is the anon decides to be unhelpful to the reader by throwing around dots everywhere.

Your point re convention is wrong - there's an inherent conventional/descriptive nature otherwise we’d be talking radically different now if we didn’t evolve the language (descriptive grammar). Which is different from prescriptive structure - "should of" isn’t convention, it’s just incorrect grammar en masse. Not using a termination dot on a single line of text in a forum post or a text or an email is correct grammar and an acceptable stylistic choice. Throwing around random amounts of dot points mid or end of sentence is just straight up wrong and importantly, painful for people to read.

Why do that to people?

Your semantic point wasn’t correct and your example wasn’t an accurate comparison.

I know this may get some hate, BUT, this is why the 36ers need someone like Brendan Teys, someone who, yes, realistically is an end of bench player, but will actually show up and put effort on the defensive end and do those 1%ers.

6ers got absolutely WRECKED against the Snakes, so it would be interesting to watch them play a full strength Perf or SEM. I'm wondering if they thought they would go in to the match and get an easy win?

I know this may get some hate, BUT, this is why the 36ers need someone like Brendan Teys, someone who, yes, realistically is an end of bench player, but will actually show up and put effort on the defensive end and do those 1%ers.

Agree with the Teys comments, no reason whatsoever that he couldn't have been serviceable in this squad.

The squad played well to the rumour that JVG has agreed to take on some of his favourite agent's projects to land IH and McCarron. This isn't a squad built to win its been built to placate relationships.

You only need to look at some of the spuds getting a game to realise it's not what you know but whom.

Glad my Thoughts on Teys seem to on the ball.. seems some people can read between the full stops.. chemisyrt always important. Wondering if coaching panel needs mentoring in some ways.vastly inexperienced.. club needs to provide resources in so many areas.almist rebuilding

An NBL Draft wouldn't work, this isn't the NBA.
You would lose talent trying to force players to go to cities they don't want to live or be based in

Thank you... wishyou merry Xmas and happy new year.. any new year resolutions... I keen to use &&& more

As much as Brendan Teys makes my soul cringe the guy at least tries. I would take 10 Brendan Teyses over whatever jackasses showed up for that Cairns game. But I wouldn't take the guy back and I am not ruing his departure. The 36ers have talent but the roster isn't balanced and seriously lacks heart and leadership. brendan Teys is not the only guy with a bit of heart and I am sure there are far better leaders we could have picked up than the ones we're looking at now.

Me agree.

There's no "one off" here.

McCarron and Hannahs look too small with too much defensive pressure that isn’t being alleviated by other players.

Defensively, IH/Def Import can hold their own next to the basket
Bring Withers on from the bench, play him as point (small) forward. Bring DJ on for bench scoring, Bairstow as cleanup man.

At 2- 6 the season is over. Historically a 15-13 season will get you into finals.

The biggest issue with this squad is the lack of heart.

Then factor in how long it takes to get an import accilimatized, that is another couple of games. Then making sure that import is the right fit.

It's not a very strong local contingent. If it were we wouldn't be seeing what we're seeing.

That full stop guy is hilarious lmao...….
I think Hannahs is a good import and has come up big whenever the ball is actually in his hands and yes i agree lovebroker, Isaac and dusty are continuing to get better and I feel with tweaks to the offence they will get more opportunities within the system. Will be interesting to see how the team goes with having Sunday back, think he will help a lot.

Whoever keeps going on about the Sotto million dollar contract, do you research about the nbl, the salary cap is under 2 mil, and to think people think news.com is reliable, is quite humorous.

" Its not about size is it? 4K McCarron is 2 inches taller than Mitch Norton and Hannahs 3 inches taller than Cotton."

It is about size - physically - neither, particularly Hannahs, can create space for a shot or clean passes is the point - a point I've made repeatedly. Forget height, we’ve discussed this point already.

“ Who is going to do the scoring while DJ is off? I know we all love to hang sh!t on DJ”

That’s not really the question - not saying DJ gets crappy minutes, it’s about having the right balance out on court. They need to focus on getting Humphries scoring - as I’ve said earlier - and making plays for Dusty and having Dech/McCarron punish those that try to focus too much on IH and DH.

It’s about filling the gap so DJ is never the one having to defend the paint because that doesn’t work. No point him scoring 16ppg if it results in the entire defence being out of place and giving up big half time scores.

The balance right now isn’t right because of the bleeding obvious.

Also, Withers should be another scorer - that 3&D kind of guy which I think you were the one telling me off when I said he isn’t that type of guy? If he’s not a scorer than he’s not the guy I said Adelaide needed and not the guy I (that I believe you) told me off for supposedly not understanding who he is.

“ There are upsides too to this strategy which hopefully offsets some of these risks.”

Not sure the upside would be able to counteract a damage of if they’re 4/5 games below 500 as they say in NBA. It’s too even of a league. Brisbane even look clearly better than Adelaide, and I would have put them even steven prior to the season.

You’ve pegged these guys as a top 4 side - I won’t attack you for that, John Casey had them first - but I think when you look at the chemistry struggles, the lack of effort, the obvious hole defensively, the turnovers, and the rest of the league being so damn strong like SEM, Hawks - Adelaide are a Hail Mary chance at best.

It’s all fixable, but at a point too late IMO. That’s what happens when you get a new coach, massive player turnover and have a defensive hole that you can’t counteract.

KET I don't think size is a problem in the backcourt either. McCarron is a big guard and Hannahs has been ok defensively so far. Offensively, Hannahs has actually shown he is very crafty in creating space for his shot and has finished multiple times through contact at the rim. Passing can be a problem for smaller guards, but McCarron and Hannahs are bigger than plenty of guys who have no problem getting the ball where it needs to go.

I think our D has actually been okay when we get it set. It will get better once Humphries finally gets fully fit and starts changing more shots. The real problem is that we keep making horrible passes and teams are running the ball down our throat. That's an even bigger recipe for disaster on this team because our main players are big and slow.

I also wanted to make the point that Dusty has generally made good passing decisions and has all the ball-handling skills necessary to set other guys up. Maybe Mitch needs to just bring the ball up and begin a lot more of our offences by getting the ball in Dusty's hands? Let him create out of the pick n roll for himself and Humphries early and if teams start countering that, THEN they can start looking for post entry passes.

I think keeping it simple might be smart for this team, because CJ got into Adelaide to start coaching his team way later than is ideal and DJ and Dech are the only two guys who have played together before this season!

"I also wanted to make the point that Dusty has generally made good passing decisions and has all the ball-handling skills necessary to set other guys up. Maybe Mitch needs to just bring the ball up and begin a lot more of our offences by getting the ball in Dusty's hands? Let him create out of the pick n roll for himself and Humphries early and if teams start countering that, THEN they can start looking for post entry passes. “

I couldn't agree with this more, a realistic change that would go a long way

Hannahs isn't taking enough perimeter shots - we need him to take more to stretch that defence out and make them move, some of that comes down to not physically being able to make space for himself against his defender. I don’t care if he misses, take the damn shots - more more more!

Re driving, sometimes drives effectively but also drives a lot into a brick wall, goes "oshi" and tries to get rid of it. I wouldn’t call it crafty.

“ I think our D has actually been okay when we get it set.”

You’re too used to the crappy D Adelaide has served up over the years - sometimes I genuinely believe I could score on the 36ers, they collapse so frequently and so badly. It’s not good enough to have a couple of tight possessions and lose the plot for the rest of the game. Open threes for days, open lane if players feel like moving. I may sound harsh here, but last few years theyve been a bottomish side and they’re the same at the moment - they’d be lucky to be considered mediocre and if we looked at stats, well, they won’t be any kinder - Adelaide are about 9th on defence I think?

I think we need to be honest with what we have seen so far against largely undermanned teams.

Last season Isaac Humhpries played 12 minutes in his first game. 5 points, 3 rebounds, shot 2 from 4

But over the next 10 games....

18.7ppg, 9.1rpg, 3.3bpg, 1.5apg, 0.9spg, 62% FG

Soon after that 10 game stretch he got injured and never had the same impact after returning.

Where's that guy from that 10 game stretch?

I mean those are MVP level numbers over that 10 games stretch

Points at top 5/10 level in NBL in any given season

Rebounds at top 2 or 3 level (In some seasons 9.1 would lead the rebounding)

Blocks highest probably since Simon Dwight or something back in 12 minute quarters

FG% at NBL league leading levels

I remember thinking he would be in all NBL contention, and a future Boomer without question. Sadly he got injured.

It was 10 games- not a season sure, but also not 4 or 5 games either. A significant stretch. I'd suggest there's only maybe 10 or 15 players in the NBL who would be capable of putting together a 10 game stretch like that.

"Hannahs isn't taking enough perimeter shots - we need him to take more to stretch that defence out and make them move, some of that comes down to not physically being able to make space for himself against his defender. I don't care if he misses, take the damn shots - more more"

I disagree in terms of it being his physical ability, but believe the team and the offence needs to accomodate for a shooter to shoot, instead of all it’s options being in the post. But I entirely agree that him shooting more would do a world of wonders for the team. I reckon it’s an adjusting period for the team, well as a hopeful fan, I hope so.

It is about size - physically - neither, particularly Hannahs, can create space for a shot or clean passes is the point - a point I've made repeatedly.

It's about filling the gap so DJ is never the one having to defend the paint because that doesn’t work. No point him scoring 16ppg if it results in the entire defence being out of place and giving up big half time scores.

Also, Withers should be another scorer - that 3&D kind of guy which I think you were the one telling me off when I said he isn’t that type of guy? If he’s not a scorer than he’s not the guy I said Adelaide needed and not the guy I (that I believe you) told me off for supposedly not understanding who he is.

Not sure the upside would be able to counteract a damage of if they’re 4/5 games below 500 as they say in NBA. It’s too even of a league. Brisbane even look clearly better than Adelaide, and I would have put them even steven prior to the season.

They need a point guard.
Mitch doesn't want the ball in his hands.
To many turnovers.

Get a real pg and humphries will be better, Hannah’s will be better.
Stop a majority of the turnovers and the defence will be better.

Withers is our best passer so far. Play him at the four with humphries and run some plays with those 2.

Mitch’s defence was and has been woeful

And KET Withers is a 3 and D player. Shooting 40%ish from 3. Won us the game against the Jack Jumpers with his defence. He needs more shoots both inside and out.
He has shown he can score inside. He has shown he can make the extra pass.

Unfortunately Mitch and DJ are the two odd men out for team balance.
Mitch can't run on offence without 3 elite players (Hobson, Goulding and Jock)
DJ is clogging up the offence and doesn’t play any defence.

It’s either get a point guard and hope he can make others better. Or a big and hope Mitch actually does something. Either way 1 should come of the bench.

Mitch is a much better player than he's shown this season, and he’s not a PG.

I agree about getting in a pure PG, which would free up Mitch’s natural game. I’d love to see DJ, Mitch and Hannahs spread out and bombing them in from outside, pulling defences apart.

Hey anonymous baby..... I think you reading someone else's wisdom.... and giving credit unneeded..babble .. unkind...we each have opins that should be respected.. let's focus in the sixers ... negative vibes not good for creating success...seems reflective of so many just lik Ed to knit pick ... mitch can't do this or DJ Orr sack the coach.. maybe look at mirrors and go shit who am to knit wit pick... Cairns but a hiccup in a sea of ups and down...I believe more ups coming...the fullstop guy .. can quote me

I think part of it is getting killed with fast transition ball when you've got slower players like DJ/IH/Withers.

For balance sake, maybe you play IH/DJ as centres, Withers as a PF that brings the ball up, Dech SF, McCarron and Hannahs both playing dual PG/SG roles

If they’re undersized but more agile, that may yield better results. I don’t think you can have DJ/IH/Withers together at the same time. Use Dech to provide height and athleticism in defence.

Offensively may see some better movement and cleaner passes as a result too.

I also think Withers bringing up the ball looked pretty good, wasn’t phased by defence and is tall enough to see off the pressure and maybe get things rolling.

It’d be a weird slow/undersized combination, but might limit a lot of the issues 36ers face?

If McCarron not a PG why the hell did we shell big $ out for .
Some posters made relevant point brand new team new coach but surely all at NBL level understand the intensity you have to apply as a individual and as a team.
Which hasn't been shown in any aspect of our games.
Sorry don't see as a import what Withers brings ,don't care how many him and other bigs 3s they score, want to see those near basket and drives creating easy points.
Thats what all the other team imports are doing.

Not sure why there are fingers pointed at the PG position.

McCarron is 4th in the league in assists, 3rd amongst the league assist leaders in Assist / Turnover ratio.

McCarron is holding down his position in his own right, the PG is not the problem or at worst one of the smaller problems.

The main issue (and has been since our last GF appearance) is the defence.

I was hoping a new coach plus another year of Dech, Humphries (and well credentialed defenders like Withers) would solve this issue.

I believe it will get better as Humphries and Dech get back into shape. I just hope they can turn it around before its too late. We really need to win 2 games from the next 3 against Wildcats / Phoenix / Wildcats just to get back in the hunt. Losing all three would be a disaster.

It doesnt all come down to numbers. If you give someone the lion's share of the ball they're going to make some assists. That doesn't suddenly mean they're any good in operating the flow and pace of the game. Assists are the most padded numbers out there. If you pass to a guy who drives, fakes a guy out, then scores, you're credited with an assist. Let's not let the stats be the one thing we define a player on. When you actually watch him it's clear he doesn't run the team well and that his assists are more opportunistic than out of running the system from point guard position.

If you pass to a guy who drives, fakes a guy out, then scores, you're credited with an assist.

It irks me more than it should, but commentators always say "X assists on X field goals", but it doesn't account for assists on free throws.

Probably deliberate fluff by commentators to make the stat sound more impressive than it is.

Outside Australia, assists on free throws are pretty recent, so I imagine it's just a thing that gets picked up from somewhere it does make sense and repeated somewhere it doesn't, because the reason it doesn't is pretty obscure.

Believe in declaring myself clearly.... always helps to avoid confusion... famous words by the Ghost who walks...

"We don't rely on recruiting the highlight type of players because we know they don’t contribute to WINNING". I bet Cotton and Law will enjoy that statement.