Shambolic start to the season. Kelly has had some bad luck with injuries to his squads over the years but also hasn't established himself as a great strategist.

Sam Mackinnon surprise! Predicted that in the off-season. They need to get rid of Tommy Greer.

It's starts at the top, when does Greer hand in his resignation, job for the boys club. Check the plus, minus stats of their imports, tells you a lot.

Their G-League imports need to go too but LV told me they were going to be stars because Hurt put up numbers in college, expensive imports my arse.

The right decision. They've been a shambles. Offense is disjointed and relying on Hurt to bail it out regularly.

But, recruitment to blame too. Hunter the only genuine big in the rotation. Not enough D and rebounding on the squad.

#freemajokmajok

@Zodiac Hurt's absolutely elite at one end but terrible at the other. In the right circumstances he could be a valuable asset contributing to success, ie in a team where his weakness wasn't as obvious as it has been.

Not sure he's "expensive" but doubt he's dirt cheap either. His scoring ability and efficiency has been a sight to behold, the one bright point this season on a disastrous looking team

Good luck, Mike Kelly. Hope you stay involved in the NBL or BA. Be a real shame to lose you from our sport. Loved the way you played. Your on-court intensity and performance was always at a peak. Getting your team to share in your mindset would be a big ask.

I wish Kelly good fortune as well

The recruitment of Sobey was on Mitchel. Hurt a total bust, hasn't had a plus in any game. If you score 20 plus a game but when you are on the floor you’re minus 10, you are not an asset.

Things for new coach to try (if there's no roster changes)

- Find more fluency and structure in the offense. Right now there's over dribbling not enough motion working in sync.

- Create better looks for Wieskamp who's been 5-22 from 3 but hasn't had great opportunity from the sets or lack thereof

- Give Ben Ayre and Majok Majok a few minutes. Ayre ahead of Foxwell

- Kenyon into the starting 5

Kelly was a two time wooden spoon head coach from 3 head coach seasons and looking to add to that if he stayed at SEM. He was part of the coaching team that saw the wildcats miss the finals for the first time.

Not a great resume.

Hindsight he should of stayed an assistant coach which travels under the radar e.g. Like DMac

Hopefully over in the west , the wildcats are thinking about their own coach.

@Dunkman yes he's a terrible defender. I mentioned the -10 in my post last night.

But he should be paired with better defenders. And shouldn't be asked to play the 5 against the monsters in this league. In that scenario his brilliant scoring ability could be utilised without "hurting" the team as much at the other end. Putting teams together is about balance.

How much of this horrible start is coaching and how much is roster construction?

That is a tough call on Mike, but probably the right call given the record. It is a brutal business. He is a quality guy, wish him all the best for the future.

Was hoping for an improved year for SEM and instead it is the usual disappointment.

Out of curiosity, how many coaches have been sacked while Sobey is on their roster?

@Luuuc it's a fair bit of both.

But when you've got their last failed coach as GM, and a CEO who has been with the club for 6 mostly unsuccessful years, and made bad mistakes himself, it's no surprise

The place needs a complete clean out. Kelly was first, hopefully Mitchell and Greer next.

I look forward to seeing the answer, Damo.

And I agree with you, LV - it needs to start with someone competent at the top.

Called this before the season, many had SEM in the top 4, many had them in the top 2, it's the same old SEM, a compilation of over paid and underperforming name players who don’t fit/complement each other.

Duncan and Lemanis is a start, add Kelly. Kelly was to loyal to those above him, yes find the next mike Wells but also the next Pondgrass.

"Out of curiosity, how many coaches have been sacked while Sobey is on their roster?"

I don't think any were sacked in his time at Cairns and Adelaide but at the Bullets there was Lemanis, Duncan, Mackinnon and Vangerjagt and now Kelly at SEM.

Agree with others I always apprecaited Kelly's tough nose style as a player and never heard a bad word about him but think AC is his ceiling, not cut out to be a HC despite the COTY award at Cairns.

Vanderjagt

Agree about the A/C call Zodiac. Seems a great bloke who maybe doesn't have the mongrel to make the tough calls a H/C needs to do. Tries to please everyone and ends up being to his own detriment. He can be himself as A/C and doesn't have the pressure of having to make those tough calls.

All things being said, if Gleeson was coaching this SEM group, they'd be top 4!

SixersFan
Two weeks ago

"In the professional era of basketball, if Kelly is still at the helm for the next game, then it sums up management."

That is a ridiculous statement.

Lost to Perth in Perth by not much
Lost to a strong Melbourne united
Lost just to NZ in NZ
Lost to a desperate Adelaide in Adelaide

Their results have been fine considering the circumstances

They will likely beat Brisbane next week
Sadly

Yep agree totally Damo 75 just doesn't have that mongrel you need to have as a HC. Sobey was always going to walk all over him and I couldn't see Kelly sorting him out Joey Wright style lol I really hope he's able to get another AC job somewhere, would love to have him at the Sixers.

Knowall, if you watched how bad they were in the Adelaide game you wouldn't be saying that. It was obvious in that game they had quit on him. I was surprised he didn't get fired after that game actually.

@Yup the successful coaches- Gleeson, Vickerman, Goorjian, Roth etc, wouldn't put together a team (or agree to coach a team) like this

- Back-up big man was an afterthought in the roster construction. Majok Majok the last man signed and intended as insurance only. The sole true big is known for being foul prone. And it's even weirder when you consider Hurt was a replacement for Creek- who clearly isn't playing the 5 either

- Very few players known for being good defenders (perhaps Kenyon only?), and with some who are evidently weak defenders

- Signing a big-name player whose previous coach publicly questioned their contribution to culture and their ability to be a part of success

I can't imagine the great coaches ever being in this position

Having said that, Kelly clearly didn't maximise what he had either, the offense was dysfunctional, too much dribble and iso and not enough fluid movement, not enough 2nd and 3rd options creating scores from pure team offense.

Hooley made an interesting point in an overtime episode earlier in the season, SEM didn't take pre-season seriously enough, It's an entire new starting 5 and 9 new players, yet they rested stars in several of their pre-season games. In hindsight Kelly would rue that.

Exactly LV, also Gleeson would not play media hyped players that don't play D or team, put a line through Sobey and Hurt straight up.

It's not a serious organisation it never has been. It's Tommy Greer's personal fifedom nothing more or less. If that British soccer guy is still the owner I'm surprised he's allowed Greer to keep doing this for this long. They've pretty much been a joke from the start. I know LK is a fellow Tigers man but he can't be happy with what Greer has been doing.

Here we go, the pile-on starts "Not a serious organisation"

36ers fans really shouldn't be criticising SEM- until the last few weeks, 36ers were even more of a shambolic mess as SEM over the last 5 years. Montrez Harrell has temporarily saved them from further embarrassment

Unlike 36ers SEM gets a bit of leniency, being an expansion club.

And it's worth pointing out SEM were a few minutes of Jock Landale brilliance away from a championship.

It's hardly been Annus horribilis every single year

Definetely feel for Kelly. I actually felt for both coaches watching the game last night. He is just not the right coach for this team.

I wonder if Simon Mitchell could steady the ship for the rest of the season? I think he did a reasonable job and likely learnt a fair bit. Isn't he still involved in the club? Not ideal to go back so quickly, but what choices do they have?

LV stick to United mate you looked like a fool talking up Hurt and Wieskamp so much in pre-season. I tried to tell you they both being G-Leaguers were likely coming cheap and often in life you get what you pay for. Your Melbourne-centric world view couldn't see that like your call that Rayjon Tucker was the favourite for MVP before the season, another howler.

The Sixers suffering from poor ownership has nothing to do with SEM being run as a tinpot organisation from the get go. One playoff appearance, plus a play-in appearance doesn't change that.

Greer has run the place as a jobs for the boys with all his old Tigers mates and continues to do hello Sammy Mac which I predicted in the off-season but blind freddy could've seen that one coming.

Greer would not take responsibility even though he should be held partly accountable.

Players also need to be responsible.

Don't always blame the coach.

McKinnon is a back stabber and wherever he is involved you need to watch your back.

He couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag.

McKinnon did a reasonable job in the nznbl just recently. So many very reasonable coaches coaching in the b league, plus the best of them all, Gleeson.

Well Zodiac it's a 10 team competition isn't it? Everything is relative to the competition.

SEM have been a more serious organisation than some other clubs over their existence- eg 36ers!

Stick to United, you say? How about you stick to Grant K and his band of merry men.

And Tucker was a gun.

I doubt I called him MVP favourite- since Cotton deserves favouritism every year- but his resume suggested he'd be up there.

If you ignore the first 1/3rd of the season Tucker would've indeed been in MVP discussions. Just took an initial adjustment period. He scored 20+ in 11 of the last 17 games, including 3 with 30+ (despite playing limited minutes compared to other NBL guns, per Vickerman's usual policy). And you might recall torched your 36ers in the last game when United were playing for a play-in berth.

I hope United brings him back next year.

Or SEM!

You did LV. You always get sucked in by pre-season performances. Calling a new import to the NBL the MVP favourite before the season is the height of stupidity even if he was playing for your beloved Tigers/United.

Tucker wasn't a gun, he disrupted the starting lineup so much Vickerman benched him for a while and it was only after he started to play a more team ball did Vick put him back in the starting lineup around mid-season and he did play well the rest of the way.

Tucker's moved onto better leagues now btw

That's partially true but not entirely accurate, Tucker was struggling to find his spots and the entire team balance was off. XRM started the season on fire and CG43 was in the mix too.

When Ili got back and was the starting PG, and Tucker settled in, the line-up because as Vickerman had intended from the start- Tucker the go-to guy along with CG43, Ili the quarterback and XRM the sparkplug off the bench. And low usage Marcus Lee (what Hukporti was intended to be) instead of Jordan Caroline forcing shots and playing out of position.

That final iteration of the lineup was very successful (going 10-3 in Ili's 13 games)- so by the end of the season Tucker was the best player on a top 4 level team.

He would've been top 3 or 4 in the NBL in scoring if not for Vickerman's equal opportunity minutes policy.

I'm hoping he comes back to the NBL. Was enjoyable to watch.

It's odd that a couple of years later you're still obsessing over him.

And, like SEM this year, that United team was entirely out of sync. You had too many new players and a roster constructed on the run.

There's a lot to be said for stability in the NBL.

SEM were doing ok early last season, big sauce wasn't great on D but ok, Hunter addition was smart, even Glover but they didn’t have to bad a nucleus, Foxwell and Ayre are useful, Foxwell only player in the plus last night. Creek was a major loss and imo so was Moller, they were third when he went down.Walton a good addition but as Zodiac says the g league guys just don’t fit at present. Defence wins games. Who made the decision on Sobey, Rucker still defending Sobey this morning saying he should have started. Rucker is good but even he’s stuck in the old mates act.

Agreed Rucker is good value but has his Bullets bias. He was the only one calling for CJ to get an extension at the Sixers last season and doing the same now with Schueller too.

"Tucker wasn't a gun ... he did play well the rest of the way ... Tucker's moved onto better leagues now btw"

Pretty much sums up what LV has been saying.

Least surprising news to come out this season.

If SEM think they can make finals, imo they won't but to try get Harrell on board, he’s exactly what they are missing.

Need to clean the whole place out. I'd cut Wieskamp not cause his bad cause they need a solid C. Hurt is a stud. Bring in a legit 5 man for this team and they'd be alright

Hunter is their starting center and can't play any other role. I agree they need a more defensive focused big. It's a pity Moller isn't yet right to play.

Unfortunate end for Kelly, seems a very solid citizen but just couldn't get the best out of this group.

Ski 76, spot on. Get rid of Wieskamp.

Kenyon into starting 5.

Kenyon, Glover and Lewis play the 3.

Bring in a defensive 4/5, an athlete who can defend and rebound, to support Hurt and Hunter.

Hunter/Import
Hurt/Lewis
Kenyon/Glover
Ayre/Sobey
Walton/Foxwell

That line up, if the import is solid, with a good coach could be a contender in this league.