36ers being 36ers again

Really? There is an extent to which you should pursue someone, but somehow, despite being a shambles in recent times, Adelaide have an opportunity to lockdown two premier locals who play at an import level. Surely they come to the table for Humphries assuming it's nothing overly ludicrous. Literally setting your club up if both are multi year deals.

Q Anon, what's your knowledge of the coaching situation? I didn't think Adelaide could attract someone like BG or Gleeson, but have they gone a bit cold on Ninnis now maybe?

My understanding is that Scott has been offered the job however the necessary detail needed for both parties to agree has been parked til the post season. Typical Adelaide style to commit and de-commit all at the same time.

Adelaide drop the last two games by 23 and 18 in must win games. That hasn't played well for the enthusiasm around Scott.

I like others expect Goorjian to go to Sydney

I wouldn't be throwing the farm at Gleeson either. Gleeson looked really good in Perth with the best player in the league and the highest spending roster. Prior to that he had a strong Tigers team go 11-17 and was passable in Townsville. Fun Fact Gleeson was sacked as coach of Melbourne when it was owned by LK.

Humphries has been excellent but you have to be careful not to pay overs by huge amounts. Time is still there for both parties and as normal practice his agent is throwing it out there to get publicity, hoping to get more money. Patience is the game now. On moments that matter, they were suggesting that Goorgian has been offered a five year contract.

Hopefully they can find the middle ground. Not worried about this (yet)

Anyone who gives Goorjian a 5-year contract is an idiot!

It could possibly work if it's a fixed 1-year contract and options thereafter, otherwise nah. Too much risk.

5 years for Goorjian is ridiculous. Senility will have well and turn settled in by then.

Spurs gave Pop 5 years

But I totally agree

Qanon, Gleeson had already won 2 titles before Cotton. His Townsville era- 5 seasons, 5 playoffs births, worst record in 5 years 17-13. No GF appearance but that could be the best 5 year stretch for any regional team in the last 20 years? (Cairns, Illawarra, Townsville)

Fair points LV , perhaps I was a bit harsh on Trev. He hasn't had to coach in a situation like this though. I still dont buy any one of that calibre wanting to be here. Scott at least wants the job and knows what he is getting into by wanting more. What was it , 6 people, said no before CJ said yes before?

The main issue will be a coach strong enough to deal with ownership and management meddling.

Yeah agreed, can't see any elite coach wanting to join an organisation which has been so dysfunctional in recent years

Not when there's potentially going to be a job available at Sydney anyway.

Humphries isn't returning. This goes beyond $$$

What's the genuine risk in offering Goorj 5 years?

He’s a proven commodity that gets the best from his teams. 5 years would give the team stability and assist with recruitment.

Yeah he’s old, but who cares. Wayne Bennett belongs in a retirement home but he’s easily still one of the best coaches in the NRL.

Despite his penchant for spending on players, I’d be stoked if Goorj was locked in to Brisbane for 5 years.

How did giving Joey 5 years work out?
5 Years is ridiculous no matter how it is.

Vickerman got a 4 year extension with a year to run on his existing deal. United would not be regretting that.

There's no hard and fast rules, it depends on circumstances.

But Goorjian's stint in Illawarra was solid without being spectacular, and more importantly he's 70 years old. In the sports I follow (NBA, NBL, AFL) I can't think of a coach who's had serious success over the age of about 65. Doesn't mean it can't happen of course. I'd be offering 2 years, 3 Max, if you must to get it over the line. Goorj would be expecting to win right now anyway.

Anything to share, Ben?

Rucker only said they should offer him 5 years, not that they had, was my take.

Yes that's correct Master Chief, 5 years was what Rucker suggested. As much as Goorjian has been a great coach, he'll be 71 before next season. I think it would be risky to offer him a long term deal.

Maybe Goorjian was just kicking the tires with Adelaide to see what is on offer compared to Sydney and Phoenix? If we have to get into a bidding war with two other teams, I suspect the price will be too high and we'd be better off keeping Ninnis. Then hopefully have a bit extra to spend on players!

Interesting comments about Gleeson there Q Anon. He was quite solid in Towsville (knocked off Perth in Perth in the playoffs from memory - Rillie has 12 triples ironically) & was shafted by Anstey at the Tigers.

He was the recruiter of cotton & 5 championships are no flukes.

He's a great coach!!!

Surely we can find some other tall timber with heart. He always plays well when he is wanting a new contract. Bad luck to the team who buys in.

He is no great loss and replaceable.

Humphries has been excellent this year and proved me wrong in staying healthy. But still sceptical about health moving forward, was this an outlier year in terms of being injury free. He'd be looking to cash in on at least a 3 year deal. Sydney no doubt are circling, but is he worth that gamble long term? Good luck to him but we got bit a couple of years ago when he couldn't stay on court and finally when we lose the MM contract albatross could Sixers get saddled with someone with a chequered injury history. But there's not many high quality locals around so someone will pay him.
After CJ, anyone would look like Phil Jackson so don't get too excited about Scotty. Things going for him is that he'd be cheap, is a yes man to management so they like him and the job wouldn't be attractive to an experienced head coach familiar with the league and no other team is bidding for him. Things against him are would he be attractive to recruits, he's really not up to NBL standard and oxymoronicly, a yes man to management. I mean FFS there was apparently an edict about playing Marshall and despite good signs a couple of years ago has definitely proved he's sub par this year, why even bother anymore.

Not certain why Sydney would chase Humphries, they have Hunter under contract, he's been very good, Bolden is there as well, been hot cold this season so he certainly wouldn’t be on a kings ransom. It’s his agent chasing a bigger pay check for Humphries.

@ Jayhoops, why would Humphries not be coming back ? ,

This is so on form, we finally get a good 1/2 combo punch we can lock down and we skimp and offend one of the best bigs in Australia. Just get it done. The damn fans have turned out despite being a basket case for the last couple of years and this is how you treat them. Sad, and sadly not shocking.

Who says the club is not trying and it is Isaac who is trying very hard to maximise his next contract? Players only have so many years to make a good income, so not a surprise if the negotiations are takes a little time.

What other NBL team would Humphries get paid in the top 2 or 3 players? Adelaide are probably competing against Cairns only. Call Humphries management's bluff I say. He’s had a very good back half of the year and I’d love him to stay but I’m not paying him huge money until he backs up this year.

I'm not going to pretend to know how things operate down at 36ers land or their finances, but I feel like they’re perpetually shit at valuing players.

I feel like they either they throw premium money at players where they really didn’t require that or they scrimp and de-value players they should value higher.

A simple example is they should never have let McVeigh leave like they did, it sounded like incompetence and not valuing him in the slightest. It doesn’t take a genius or any hindsight to know that was dumb. It was dumb at the time and it is still dumb today.

Don’t do the same with Humphries, he’s an MVP level big. Pay up unless your competition is Asia or Spain.

But that's my point KET, if it’s Asia or Spain pay up if you can afford it. If it’s another NBL team give your best offer comparable to market value. Humphries needs Adelaide as much as Adelaide needs Humphries

McVeigh was never going to become the same player with the 36ers as he has become as part of the JJ's . He may not even be the same player if he moves away from the JJ's . The value of a player is not totally unrelated to the team culture and composition.

Exactly, McVeigh was very average till Roth got hold of him, made him a very good player.

I have to disagree, I certainly never viewed McVeigh as a very average player at the 36ers!

I liked what I saw each time he hit the floor and complained about his lack of minutes and wanted him back.

They should have valued him better. Whether he'd be the same level is another question altogether, I think we’d all agree it was a beneficial result for McVeigh to leave Adelaide and be coached by Roth.

In a similar vein I don’t think Galloway is "very average" either and I think he didn’t get enough minutes for a lot of the season.

The list of players that have gone on to greener pastures under the current regime would be telling.

The only one I didn't see becoming better was Pinder. His situation shows how badly he was handled in Adelaide. Once he was in a good environment and amongst good people he thrived.

McVeigh was on an upward trajectory and most importantly wanted to stay in Adelaide.

I wonder if they're still looking at getting a basketball GM in or if they think they've put enough wins on the board with Ninnis to not bother with that anymore. Talk of consistently under valuing players definitely makes me think so.

Agree on Jack, KET. With his attitude and work Ethic he was always going to make it. I think he suffered from being one of Joey's guys.

Yea McVeigh had the pedigree of a great junior career and was improving every year and was always likely to become one of the better Aussie players, was stupid to let him go, but that's JVG for you.

Im a huge fan of Humphries he's had a great season, I would offer the best I can to keep him, but not at all costs, I would set a limit of around 350-450k, which based on the leaked salaries a couple of years ago would have him in the top 10 earners in the NBL.

@Jonno - I was told the offer was in that range and got declined, so it comes to a simple question whether the 36ers want to run a risk and pay the price or look for other options ie a healthy import who would play for the same price.

The fact is that there is a limited number of bigs in the league so he can try to run a bargain which is fair. Also there's a limited number of teams willing to pay that price, the question is whether they will.

It's the Japanese and Chinese markets that come into play, big money on offer, then even Europe which has steadied but still more than nbl. It’s tough for players with short money earning capacity.

AlphabetA - if that's considered miles apart, 36ers are in trouble!

For the 36ers, I think either they get Goorj and make Ninnis GM or they make Ninnis head coach with 1 year guaranteed and second year team option.

Save themselves wasting time searching around for a coach and get cementing a roster.

If that's the case I'm personally moving on, as much as I'm a fan of his I just don't think it's smart to pay more

He's never consistently proven to be a top 10 nbl player or had a big winner built around him (not all his fault),

So we don't have to be desperate and over pay, I doubt any other nbl team will, so my guess is he's off to Japan or something

KET - I don't consider that as a trouble, just a reality and the 36ers should be smart and not to panic. I like Isaac and he does have his moments of brilliance. But he is a very easy scout - push him to his left so he will either miss or travel (a lot), limited shooting range - not sure why he doesn't shoot from the elbow or FT line and so on. Is he worth $350k? Probably, but the asking price is now way above that and he is not the player that will land them the championship on his own. I do however like DJV and IH combo, so it would be a shame not to have them on the same team. And again, not that many teams in the NBL will be willing to pay that price for IH.

Reportly high up on kings radar. Sydney boy.

Agreed on that Alphabet - Sixers just need to play it smart. He's worth retaining, but not at any price. Hopefully Sydney doesn't drive up his price too much, but if they do, then the Sixers need to have backup plans. Jordan Hunter immediately comes to mind if Sydney were to sign Humphries.

Yea exactly

If Sydney want to over pay Humphries, let them

I'd also then go for Hunter who should come in cheaper and look to upgrade the imports.

I think I would be looking for something like

Hunter/Galloway
Brantley/Deng
Simon/Marshall
Vasiljevic/Dech
Walton/Cadee

Hunter will be very popular though I believe is contracted.

Got that wrong, he's a free agent.

Apparently Hunter is not happy with the offer he received from the Kings so there is always a chance. On a different note, Humphries has established himself in the Adelaide region with his commercial interests so while opportunities in Sydney are likely greater, the question is whether he will get the same level of attention or wants to start all over. Time will tell.

Hunter is a starter, at kings that is not guaranteed, again, at a guess he could be looking OS for a better pay day.