Sixers by 2

SEM deserve to be favourites like you said we went 1-2 against them, both of those losses in Melb. Combined with the two losses against United we went 0-4 in Melb this reason, 3 of those 4 games we lost by 20 or more.

If we win tomorrow then we play the Hawks in the SF who we beat 3-0 this season. I hope the Sixers win but think SEM win by single figures.

Pumped!

Leaning slightly towards SEM, but should be a beauty either way.

Is Walton JR still out?

This game has me worried; Melbourne venue, SEM getting hot from deep, Sobey, getting out rebounded, etc etc. I have bad feelings about Sunday games also.

I feel like if Adelaide really want this, they can go out and take it though.

The fact that Martin hasn't given Adelaide much so far might hopefully mean he could be a bit of an x factor.

From a neutral perspective, can anyone confirm they'd prefer to see Adelaide advance? It's interesting, because both Sydney and SEM probably can't win a finals series with their injuries to key players, both are/were capable of beating Adelaide, but out of these three teams, only Adelaide is a genuine chance to challenge The Hawks (most likely).

Sixers to bring heat and pressure to SEM. The fear of failure and its going to happening be immense on SEM. Stifle sobey and becomes solo. Sixers on a March. It's been brewing now its bubbling.harrel is a player of series.this is his calibre

From a neutral perspective, can anyone confirm they'd prefer to see Adelaide advance?

Adelaide with some home finals. The exposure be insane. Be said no team is keen to play them. Hawks be absolutely worries and melbourne likewise. Small hurdle is SEM but small hurdle easily cleared. Perth sixers series. Calling it now. Get money on..

Now to use a favourite term of mine, this should be a beauty, match ups everywhere, can DJV keep going at last game level could be the key as it helps on both ends. Harrell v Hurt, can Hurt defend Harrell inside and can Harrell defend Hurt from ten foot plus jump shots. Hunter v Humphries also be big. Can Davis and even more so Sobey keep playing team first, certainly down the stretch when they both go iso miracle stuff. SEM have got the more experienced coach and home court advantage so should get this by five to ten points.

This will be a cracker.

It's a great parlance. :::)))))

Sixers by 15. Recent form.
Depth.
Structure
Weaponsinside outside.
Now is when form and gel matter not mid season hyperbole.

This game is too unpredictable for me to call.

Both teams can be scary good but also fall in a heap for periods.
Both teams have very good players who can work well as a unit but who could also go iso and hurt their teams.
Both teams play very much on emotion, more peaks and troughs rather than steady and grinding it out.
Both ca play very sloppy defence.

The difference-maker for me is the coaching - I think King will help Phoenix to adjust better than Wells will.

This is actually a massive day for Adelaide (the club/fans).

With all that's happened over the previous season and this season, cementing a semi final appearance will go a long way in getting the club on right track. I know that’s an obvious thing to say, but it just hit me how important this day might be.

Will it be the last time we see Davis and Harrell? The last opportunity to see them play for Adelaide regardless of opinion.

Playing in a semi final should see Wells retained if he actually still wants to be here, and that might good for stability.

Again, I think Martin hitting some timely threes, rebounding strongly, some aggressive blocks etc etc, could be what tips the scale for Adelaide, because we have this quality big who is capable of so much more.

Huge opportunity for the Adelaide 36ers!

Anyone else notice Vaughan Mayberry run into Nick Marshall on the sideline as Marshall was waiting to check in?

Both teams playing as if it's their last game of the season. Harrell is made of paper. Tripped over the baseline again.

Pretty fortunate really to be up at Qtr time. Harrell injured and Humphries already mentally checked out. Martin is looking good but Mayen is just flat out bad.

Was it Marshal or DJV, yes though he did, nothing in it, refs been very good so far. Sixers would be happier at present with Harrell being out for a fair bit of the quarter. Humphries on two fouls not great. SEM looking nervous.

Hurt lack of D being shown up inside and out big time at present, Hurt can't also can’t buy a bucket as yet.

Might have been DJV Dunkman.

SEM look so lost right now

Martin finding form, or at the very least putting the effort in at the right time of the year.

Hurt in nbl first team, Harrell in 2nd, you tell me. Wells so far got the coaches award at present with. Now will it last till the end.

Sobey taketh and Sobey taketh

Is the roof open and the wind blowing these shots off. :::)))))

Humphries gets in his own head so much

Damon Lowery sucks so bad. He actually manages to make Gaze tolerable.

Sixers destroy mode. No stopping the megaton now.. happy happy days.

Mind blowing that someone like Wieskamp played in the NBA and CG43 hasn't

Davis ends the first half with a BIG shot

Lowery getting excited in commentary but he speaks truth, his opinions are are not sheep mentality like most off the commentary. Refs and commentary been great so far as has Sixers. Can SEM find some back bone and turn this into a decent game, probably but they will need a good run.

Terrible coaching SEM. Ben Ayre playing eight minutes and having as many shots as everyone but Hurt. Really? He's a backup to the backups backup.

Martin been active on defence too. Weiskamp got a couple of inches on Goulding but a fraction of the player, NBA teams fall in love with height which is why so many duds get signed.

Game on here, Hurt now scoring.

That last possession sums up the 36ers beautifully

Oh my, Sixers in trouble, went to iso in that quarter.

Sunday Dech really tried to protect his FG% and fucked up a pass to a teammate to not have to heave and turned it over instead

Dorman must be nervous now lol

Terrible Adelaide came out in the third, just not locked in, silly mistakes.

19 point lead cut to 6 points in a quarter. I was going to say what's the bet we throw away this massive lead? Such a disappointing team we've got no business winning this game, SEM were dead and buried.

Sem always going to have a few moments. No stress.. repeat first half sixers. Deal done..too much convince for sixers not to run out strong now...

We've got no one that can guard Hurt.

At no point has Mike Wells considered calling a timeout?

SEM with the lead now and momentum should put us out of our misery.

That's because Wells is a clueless coach.

Lost momentum and outside of KD or DJ getting insanely hot this one is over i'd say.

Why is Lat Mayen putting up 3's? We're such a dumb team.

"Terrible coaching SEM. Ben Ayre playing eight minutes and having as many shots as everyone but Hurt. Really? He's a backup to the backups backup. "

Yeah, not like Ben is doing much...

Foxwell needs to a boomer. He just makes winning plays.

Lat has been doing dumb things all year. He does not have any instincts on what he should be doing offensively.

About a quarter too late Wells has finally decided to use a timeout

And yes Foxwells defence is amazing

I don't want to see Mayen back next season. He's a such a dumb basketball player, no feel for the game at all and jacks up some of the worst 3's I've seen, airballs, barely grazing the rim FMD

The limitations of KD have been on show this game. FA ball movement, too selfish.

If Montrezl would like to play just a little bit of defence, that'd be good.

Martin's misses way too much around the rim.

It's like they swapped singlets at half time, King put Lewis on Harrell certainly has worked. Martin gone back to not being any good.

Awesome defence that!

Why tf is Trez standing at the bench having a drink instead of at the FT line boxing out

Free throws and brain explosion has cost Sixers big time

Just get this last couple of minutes over with.

I for one will be glad to see the end of the Mike Wells era.

Josh King now that guy can coach.

Had plenty of chances this quarter, but offense just went from 100 to 0 in a half.

If anyone would is kind enough to run me through what has happened, it would be appreciated? I haven't been able to watch the second half, but last I saw was a 17 point lead before 3 quarter time.

We never should've let Ben Ayre go.

I hope Trez gets the wave

I'v seen enough turn a 20 point lead into a 10 point loss in two quarters.

Absolutely disgraceful.

The story will get lost in the drama of today, but shoutout Jason Cadee on a great career

At halftime Wells had the answers, King clearly got him clearly after half time. Harrell and DJV at one another throats hasn't helped. Ayre, Foxwell, Lewis and Glover gat SEM back in this big time.

Who the hells this backup to the backups backup!?

Atrocious coaching by Mike Wells!

Hahaha Dotman HA

Wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall of the Adelaide locker room after this one

Credit to Hurt as well, went from a turnstile to a weapon in the 2nd half.

Outscored 59-30 in the second half, well done.

Adelaide were probably never a championship team, but failing to capitalise on that position is very disappointing. Very.

Credit to SEM and King if they can, but you wouldn't think they can go much further, where Adelaide would have made Illawarra nervous, so probably not the best result for the neutral.

I don’t think there will be anger in the change rooms, probably silence.

I wonder who has played or coached their last game?

Even though we won't get rid of him I've been extremely disappointed in Humphries sook-a-thon all damn season. Both he and Vasiljevic are so limited.

They could blow this whole team up for all I care. Nothing's going to change whilst that muppet is still the owner.

Humphries has been frustrating too cause we saw like the other week against Sydney I think it was where he just dominated them on both sides of the court. But especially this year he's missing so many bunny shots and when he does that early it just seems he can't mentally get out of his own head after that and it just ruins the rest of his game.

14-17 with this roster. I hope Weston is proud of himself. Glad to finally put this shitty season behind me.

Another cockup by the Sixers, insanely lucky to even make playin with Tassie and Brisbane down to no-one, the go against a clueless Brian missing his best player.
If anyone ever brings up DJ and/or Humphries being in main boomers team, this is the perfect example. DJ is a chucker, can make 7 3s in a quarter, then the captain of the club goes missing. As for Humphries, he's the softest centre in the league.
Ultimately showed it's a divided team that don't play for one another or to win.
So can see next year with another coach and 3 new imports, one bound to have played in the league before and will have his worse season. So can't even say the club can build on this for next year.

"Humphries has been frustrating too cause we saw like the other week against Sydney I think it was where he just dominated them on both sides of the court."

Sydney is his hometown playing in front of friends and family which says everything about Humphries efforts this season.

Yea, the scary thing for the 6ers isn't probably losing Davis and Harrell, but losing two glue guys in Cadee and probably Dech too. They are the sorts of guys we've been in short supply of for a long time.

Humphries needs to work with a sports psychologist, or stops caring/trying too much and has that paradoxical impact. He seemed a bit "meaner" in his first year under Henry.

Great games from these two:

Humphries - 4p 3r 2b 1-2 fg

Vasiljevic - 3p 1r 1a 1s 1-6 fg (1-5 3p)

Talk about quitting on the team and both under contract for the next 2 years each.

Send Humphries to the Kings for Cooks, I think both teams would be up for that 'trade'.

Davis for all his elite play just goes to iso, Harrell is fantastic but gets the shits to easy. Martin other than a few minutes here or there was very average all season. Humphries under used, DJV can get hot but is a chucker. Just not enough players also off defensive quality. Wells in the end had a few players run the show and that never works.

Humphries got 11 minutes tonight, he didn't really get a chance and I don't think DJ got a shot off in the first half either.

Humphries only played 11 minutes because he's a sook and mentally checks out of games. Vasiljevic is too fat to get shots off over Sobey.

Anyone blames the coach for that has no idea about basketball

The problem is when you make a selfish moron like DJ the captain and he shows his true colours when the going gets tough. Doesn't play defence as montrezl pointed out and if he isn’t getting lucky by hitting a few shots he is pretty well useless as seen today, used up his luck against the kings, was always going to go back to the bum shooter he is.

His mate Humphries is also deplorable and until both are gone, the Sixers will always be a sub par clown club

I do like Harrell, and I don't think he’s as much of a villain as many think, but I don’t think I would want Adelaide to invest too much into bringing him back next season. Certainly not at a high price, as that money could be invested into a player or players who are a bit less problematic at times.

Davis is tricky because he’s obviously talented and still has much to learn...

I have stood up for Wells a bit, mainly in the interest of stability and having to not change coaches again, but I wouldn’t be against another coaching change too. Wells just doesn’t feel right. But that should mean Weston can pack is bags too, and we hire a competent local coach like Forde with a GM who assists and offers a balanced perspective on recruiting, and not someone who thinks it’s their job to be an NBA style GM.

Totally speechless gutted. Most powered pac team in comp did fired enough shots second half. Still great season and future is much blighter now. Tasted finals and onwards. Sixers are returning. I live for those glory days and rivalry with wildcats to return..on the cats now. Shocked not expected that result. So close.

Sixers roster situation for next season

CONTRACTED
Wells
DJ
Humphries
Griscti
Rasmussen

OPTIONS
Marshall (player option)
Rigoni (team option)

OUT OF CONTRACT
Cadee (retiring)
Davis
Dech
Harrell
Ipassou
Martin
Mayen
D'Arcy

Clusterf@$k way to end a clusterf@$k season.

Griscti would be thanking the heavens he got a 3 year deal, because he didn't show much at all. Would want to get plenty of reps in NBL1 this year. Rasmussen is worth persisting with, Rigoni showed he's got an OK 3 point shot and not much else and Marshall, while he has some offensive traits can't guard a chair still and gets pushed around quite easily.

Out of contract, discarding the imports, Dech is the only one i'd be clamoring to keep.

I don't think either of Davis or Harrell will be back to be honest, maybe in the NBL, but Harrell is probably thinking if he's back in Australia he'll want a Melbourne/Sydney team for more marketing opportunities and I'm sure someone will pay big to nab Davis.

Play-in's are not the finals

I am incredibly disappointed with today's second half. We looked good when we were able to move the ball inside with Humphries and Martin in the second quarter. By going inside, that's give people like DJ and Cadee opportunities to shoot from outside.

Davis is a great player, but he was asked to do too much today. I can't understand why DJ was so hesitant in wanting the ball and shooting the ball.

When Hurt was getting going in the third, that's when we needed Humphries to guard him.

Mayen is not starter material, he needs to go back to the bench.

I don't see Ninnis doing any worse than we did this year....

Forde wouldn't tolerate those efforts from DJV and Humphries today.

"Play-in's are not the finals"

They actually are by the NBL's definition, but anyone thinking a 14-17 season with this roster is acceptable is kidding themselves. The meltdown while still in a winning position today confirmed that Wells simply wasn't able to turn this group into a team. Adelaide and Sydney on par as huge failures this season despite playing 'finals'.

Mid season issues hurt sixers momentum massively. Would likely had a top 4 or higher finish if hadn't had unfair suspension emposed. Unfair criticism of coach and admin and players who created best season in years. What more do you want. Focis on the progress. Rather be in finals than not at all.

Generally speaking, punching your players doesn't bode well for team harmony.
Play-in's are not the finals.

"Unfair criticism of coach and admin and players who created best season in years."

In NBL 23 Adelaide had a better record (13-15) and a better percentage than this season. So best season in two years.

SEM probably can't win it but if they hadn’t started so poorly they probably would’ve been top two and a chance to win it. Kings ability to change things up, certainly at halftime is fantastic, obviously McKinnon and Brennan must help here. Brennan worked under Gleeson.

"I don't think I would want Adelaide to invest too much into bringing him back"

All Larry mate, largely an employee of Larry's other business interests, not the 36ers.

Wells indicating that he's certainly returning, said he learned a lot in his first season as head coach, so only way he’s going is the arse.

Best season in years? They won one more game than last season and that was with CJ coaching for 75% or so of the games last year.

My metric of what best is must be way off if people think this was an acceptable result from this roster.

Davis is fools gold and deceptive for those that dont know the game. Harrell actually chewing out team mates in a knock out game is disgraceful when he himself was nonchalant for the most part.

The gaping whole at the 3 spot hurt the 36ers all season. Weston should be held accountable for the roster construction and for allowing the cancers of Davis and Harrell to spread unchecked.

Harrell complaining about someone else not playing defence is part of the problem. Would be like Mayen complaining about others missing open 3's.

Big Ads, I know that was the case this season, and by invest I don't just mean financially.

Well, does Wells deserve a chance? Most coaches at least get two years unless it is utterly clear they’re not cut out for this level; Jackomas for example.

Is it clear Wells is not the right person, or do you let him recruit a few of his own players and give another year?

Would there be more team harmony if Davis and Harrell are gone?

Still best season in years. Numbers and position finished. Are people just obviously blind to success.. too much fickle pickle juice. Not to mention the excitement machine in Trez and davis. Plus positive season all metrics. Where were sixers predicted to finish. Exceeded those piss poor expectations. Get real people. Get some perspective progress is happening.

Q,"fools gold"

Agree, the rest of the players felt largely lost this season because (other than Martin who hardly played....great job Matt Weston, and to a lesser extent Rasmussen) it's only been about 2 players all season with everyone else told to shut up and just give them the ball.

But,"Everything will sort itself out". Umm..... except when pressure is truly applied.

You can't be a coach of a team if you don't take the time to get the best out of the whole of the team, not just let 2 big egos run the team. He lost the team, including his 2 Uber Alphas

There's no such thing as a play-in. It's just the first round of the playoffs.

Agree that playins are not finals, you are playing in to be a part of the finals.
Ok, the Melbourne incident broke a bit of momentum, but apart from Martin's start (which caused Adelaide to get Harrell) and a couple of hammys to DJ and Sunday, the season wasn't as interrupted as Tassie or Brisbane. Even New Zealand with the Taco fiasco were more adversely affected. Losing to aforementioned Tassie and Brisbane just shows the better backbone really. Both could have quit, Adelaide could have put its foot down. Then the locker room controversies furthered showed the fractures.
I'm sure Wells knows his stuff although defence was atrocious but personnel could play a part. Harrell is/was a Rodman like distraction, capable of dominating a game but everyone, including teammates, are just watching what he'll do if it's not going well. And Martin just looked like a first year import, didn't want to buy into the circus and could have been a major weapon as sixth man.
I really like Davis, but it just seemed after early season criticism, he took it to heart and wanted to top score every game. Would like to see how he'd work under a more structured coach and good veterans around him. When Cotton came into the league he had Gleeson I believe as his first coach, and the ultimate team player in Martin. Throw in Wagstaffe, Redhage and a few others and they would have moulded him into the player he's become. Instead he gets Wells, obviously friction there, a nutcase in Trez, a fragile 7 footer, and a backcourt mate that's just prone to shoot whenever and he's the apparent leader as Captain. And this is after a preseason when the head coach was sacked for no reason apart from management had already brought in Wells to be the coach which is unheard of really.
Apart from KDs individual brilliance as well as the Harrell experience, Jason Cadee was great, even though like most, his role was undefined. Even former golden boy Marshall just went to completely not playing. Can understand a reduction in minutes, getting dragged for lapses, but I've rarely just seen someone getting regular minutes to DNP-CD unless it was discipline related. The season has been a circus.
I'm totally convinced the franchise is cursed with current ownership. The Muppets that are brought in to run things just continue to struggle. Now a team that was attractive to free agents is viewed as the worst club in the league, just above the Breakers and their own head clown.
You look at that Adelaide free agent list and it's woeful, I doubt any other team would take anymore except Sunday. Maybe Cairns will need some players so Marshall might get lucky, else he'll get great seats every game. Nice to have homegrown talent representing the club, but despite relatively good junior state results we seem to only produce nbl1 talent. Now Joey had his faults, and also had some duds as DPs, but he was able to spot talent and mould them into legitimate NBL players. If things hadn't finished so acrimoniously, he would be great to have as a talent identifier. Instead our major signing will no doubt be Isaac White. And we'd be lucky to get him. Instead we have Gristci who's only talent is he has to duck to walk under doorways and Fiston who peaked when he was 17 in under 14s. And I'll be willing to bet Cadee might unretire if another club comes calling.
The club is cursed and I really don't see a way out. This year has been the most successful in years and it took a shit load of injuries to a couple of other teams just to make a play in. And all the problems are self inflicted, that is now the culture of what was once one of the greatest clubs in Australia. There'll be games when Humphries isn't nearly in tears and others when DJ is pulling shots out of his arse and fans are raving how brilliant things are, but they're in a state of denial to this rotten apple. Can't even bring a club legend in to be an ambassador anymore after what they've done.
Rant over!

Love the time you put into your posts Phantom, always enjoy reading them, but please put a few paragraph breaks in just to space out all the text :)

Q Anon, spot on. There is a select few who know the TRUTH.
Your average numpty doesn't see that and falls for the BS.
A more dysfunctional, non team orientated, management lying group you could not find.

MRI you nailed it.

The coach wasn't the problem. Basing the team around two overpaid marquee players is.

Davis goes iso because he knows if he passes DJV is gonna chick up rubbish shots and not move the ball on.

He only took one two pointer today. Just happy to try his luck at the perimeter and if it ain't working sorry to the team cos you've ruined their chances. Embarrassment.

I got berated for pointing these issues out earlier in the season.

No one is going to take on humphries or DJVs contracts because they're way above market value

I hope fans misguidedly blaming davis doesn't push him away from the league because he's the type of player the nbl needs. In fact he's the type of player sixers desperately need.

36ers are embarrassment. From Owner, to coach to captain, zero leadership in the place.

A lot of hate for Wells, but the team is so incredibly dysfunctional, they would be a nightmare to coach. Harrell, Martin and Davis look soooo toxic. Always pointing fingers and blaming others, really poor form. Humphreys drops his head and always looks like he's got the world on his shoulders. Davis sooks when he gets subbed off, and yet he desperately needed a break. I got sick of watching him dribble to the left hand side of the court for an on ball over and over, and never move the ball in the second half, and it really wasn't working. It must suck being their team mates sometimes. I do also think they went away from Harrell who was playing so well in the first.

I do think SEM got the good end of the reffing stick though. Foxwell was all over Davis and got away with a hell of a lot of contact. As good as Davis is, I think he cost them with his individual play.

Disappointing result for Adelaide, but I doubt anyone is shocked by the result.

Can't see SEM getting through the Hawks.

Take deep breathe people. Look for positive doomsayers. So trivial.. job sixers. Onwards and upwards. We believe and trust.your club.stick strong. It's a test of character

I'm certain the owner would like to sell but no one has the coin, unless LK buys another team. Kings, cats, have wealthy owners, united probably as well, SEM, hawks doing ok, the rest not so much.

Standards!!!!!!! What a joke of an organisation

Staggering to think this year's line-up had a worse record than the NBL23 Sixers team.

He's the type of player sixers desperately need.

Emphasis on "the type of" but he isn't the person the 36ers need.

They need someone who can do what he does (but better on both ends of the floor) while showing respect for his teammates.

It's the latter part of one's character that brings a team together in the face of adversity. Teammates didn't bond with him because he didn't give a shit about them.

Nor did Wells or Traz either

Crucial to get same group back to build consistency continuity

Dech and Cadee seem like good people? How they put up with the antics of the rest of the clowns in that organisation, highlighted by the cheerquad- like owner dragging around the players bench, beggars belief.

Sixers got find some players that there instincts is to play D first and rebound. Other Dech who on that roster does it?

Wells doesn't have the skills to control the big egos. If you can’t do that at this level, you can’t be a head coach.

Look at people like Gleeson, Joey Wright etc they demanded respect from these kind of egos and received it.

Don't forget what this muppet owner did to both Dech and Cadee last season either. Told CJ then Ninnis to start giving them DNP's obviously in the hope they would both walk out on the last year of their deals.

Cadee is now confirmed gone and I don't like our chances of keeping Dech especially with most of the Wildcats roster out of contract. Dech has given us five good years but he deserves better than this.

Frog39, Wells is responsible for the tempo of Davis and where/how he sets up. Having your PG do the same thing over and over that isn't working means the coach is endorsing it or has no answers. In second half Sixers played way too slow in offence that SEM didn't even have to play defence. Foxwell definitely got away with fouls on Davis, but Davis or Sixers didn't exploit Foxwells overaggressive play back onto SEM.

Starling was error to cut.

Wells is in a bit of a no-win situation though with the egos. He seemed to want to control Davis a bit more and demand more accountability on D and got burnt badly for it. The pair seemed to be like oil and water and it looked like the response to that from Weston and GK was "Let KD do what KD wants" because they want to try and keep him.

But as soon as you set that standard for one player you're destroying any credibility you coach tries/needs to build.

WtF Dot. The starters (except for DJ and Ice) hate each other!

But bring them back because you liked the sugar hit that comes from a season of winning one play-in game against a train wreck of a Sydney team and not screwing up a season as badly as NZ or having season altering injures like Tanzania and Brisbane.

Management promised members a Michelin star chief but actually gave you a McDonald's Manager and 2 school bullies.

The front office played you and they need to be made accountable for making you believe you were getting a better product for your money when in fact they pretty much gave you less.

Kolzee, the fact that Adelaide lost today doesn't simply validate your view that investing in DJ & Humphries is the bottom line cause of all their problems. It's too simplistic to say their apparent issues are based off one thing.

kelly is the head of the snake. Weston has made mistakes with the roster. Wells has made mistakes. Davis is talented but problematic. Harrell is the same. They got mostly nothing from their 3rd import. They get nothing from the bottom 3 or 4 players. Put all these things in a blender and you get a talented team that probably never had the discipline or composure to win it yet.

I don't think Adelaide have necessarily made DJ and Humphries the base of the team by blind design, they simply saw the opportunity to sign up two local players to long term deals. If Adelaide didn't want them, I am pretty sure someone else would. DJ took a back seat to Davis and Harrell anyway. But, you're not going to get many local scorers like DJ so what is the alternative? Especially at a time when no one supposedly wants to come to Adelaide. You still have room for 3 quality imports and a bit more local depth, surely. Couple that with the right coach, and there is no reason why DJ and Isaac can't be part of a successful team.

I respect and agree with much of what you've said all along, but I just think it's too simplistic at the same time.

But you got a little toy with your meal (a play-in game! Yahoo!)

We were only going to go with 2 imports this season because we were going to marquee the contracts of both DJV and Humphries. So don't expect three imports next season, Trez fell into our laps thanks to LK.

My takes.
Wells is out of his depth, clueless with no ideas. Probably coaching with his hands tied.
2) KD talented, but like Randle. Gets his numbers but at what cost?
3) Should've released Martin when decision to keep Harrell was made. Cleveland would be benn perfect, or a player of his style.
4) Harrell, talented but picks and chooses and more worried about his hype and drip as the kids say.
I'd be releasing Wells, all three imports and chasing players who play D and actually care.
That game today was the season in a nutshell. Perfect ending.

You can still sign a value import who offers more than a local.

But you can't sign 3 imports and marquee two locals contracts, which is what we were going to do this season. Can only be a combination of four. Trez was signed as a temp replacement for Martin until he was fit to play and then once healthy we kept Trez on by cutting Starling.

Zodiac, ok, I get a bit confused by the rules.

By the NBL's definition they are not finals

It doesn't matter what people call them, they're the finals.

Yep, LK wants Adelaide sold so he might turn favours again next season for Adelaide if it doesn't happen between this and the next.

I appreciate how Larry saved the NBL from becoming irrelevant but the competition is now so heavily manipulated by his interests that its lost its integrity.

Well, the top 6 in a 10 team league has to have some meaning doesn't it? The concept of play in is just the NBL trying too hard to be like the NBA, although it does help justify a top 6 in a 10 team league.

Surely they could think of something else though? It's ridiculous how long Illawarra and Melbourne would have waited to play.

"By the NBL's definition they are not finals."

The NBL's definition is as such. The finals involve six teams and are split into three parts:

- Play-ins, involving teams 3-6
- Playoffs, what regular humans call semi-finals
- Championship series, the grand final

You have refuted your own claim with point 2. The NBL have stated the Semi finals are when the play offs start. Sorry next

No, I have clearly explained the NBL's model. Finals start with the play-ins, then move to the playoffs, then to the championship series. That is the NBL's current model, under which finals and playoffs have different meanings.

Confusing as it is, play-ins, playoffs and championship series all come under the umbrella of 'Finals'.

DJV and Humpheries are good players, but they can't be your 1-2 punch and need to be in a disciplined team system.

Harrell is entertaining, but can be a turnstile defensively and cancerous not only to his teammates but everyone around him. Imports like him are not winners.

Davis has talent too, but I’m not convinced he’s a winner either.

Wells knows a thing or two, but is well short of being a head coach at NBL level. Maybe the people who kept him as an assistant for so long knew that.

If LK paid for Harrell did he pay for the Tacko shenanigans too? The NBL commentators love talking up both and LK probably wants New Zealand sold. I don’t blame him either, both GK and Walsh aren’t good for their teams let alone the league.

Agree with Mouse, NBL have branded Play-ins as part of the Finals schedule. Court marking and promotional material state "Finals".

So Sixers did win a "Finals" scheduled game and will be recorded in history as finishing 5th.

Weston hit his KPI!

Wait for the next story to get out. Cant see KD or Trezz back anytime soon. $$$$$$$

The league needs a few millionaires then, problem is while there is a few out that got plenty of coin, they don't seem to interested in basketball. Again Smith was absolutely bagged by nearly all around here but he resurrected the kings and sold on for top dollar to someone who makes Smith look poor. The world is all about money now and yes the kings are struggling a bit but had a few great seasons and have money to get who they want.

Makes it easy then. Can't afford them so move on.

"Senior officials confirmed to Code Sports both club and coach had reached agreement and Wells was guaranteed to be back in the City of Churches and at the helm of the Sixers in NBL26."

That doesn't really mean much coming from the 36ers.

Play in is really pedantic. The NBA invented it during covid to make up for uneven season, saw the fans liked it and kept it in. Playoffs is American until the final 2 teams.
Australia adopts finals as all teams making the cut. Of course they imitate NBA and initiate playins. Potato potatoes.
There were 4 basic offensive plays for Adelaide. DJ shooting after bringing it up or after one pass. Dump it into Harrell and stand and watch him bully it inside. Davis going one on one. Lastly if defence suspected Davis was going to shoot it and big stepped up to help, pass to Humphries or Harrell. Everyone else score off those breakdowns.
And does someone seriously don't know who the wealthy United owner is?
And for the optimist saying best season in years, probably agrees all kids should get participation medals. Got very lucky to not finish 7 or 8th.
If Wells is indeed back they 100% need to provide an Australian assistant coach that can take over if he's sacked.

Wells don't deserve to be in sacking discussions. Guy got team into play off.ownner has brought in fresh new direction and finally getting some rewards.. seems many be happier if team was 9th or 20th.. what do you expect. New crew is on right path for long term.succces. shit rather not be is kings boat or brissy or Cairns or.. the list goes on...

So good!

Now that the circus is done and dusted, we can analyse

Was that one of the most disappointing seasons in Adelaide 36ers history?

I would say so

Yes they won their first final in 7 years, but it was a play-in versus a team missing most of their front court (Cooks, Leupepe, Galloway).

Davis is an immense talent. His season would've won MVP in most other years. Harrell is a beast. Minimal outside game, but his inside work exceeds anyone else in the NBL

So, and absolute superstar PG, an absolute superstar big, a solid supporting cast and a decent run with injuries.

Net result was sneaking into the playoffs after Tassie and Brisbane had their seasons ruined by injuries. A win over the undermanned Violet Crumbles. And finally, coughing up the biggest comeback of the season

Dismal

I feel for Adelaide fans. The Smyth era was grand, but it's been mostly kaka ever since.

If they can keep Davis (unlikely) or even Harrell, and get a better coach, you never know.

Big Ads, interesting take on Kendric Davis. What's your evidence that the "starters don't like him"? That's not what I observed in post game interviews.

Is he perfect? No. But can you name a better import that the Sixers have had in the last ten years. Cleveland was great and one of the best defenders I've seen but he's no where near the level KD is offensively. Jerome Randle is the closest but he's still not as good as KD. He didn't pass the ball as well and was unable to play the sort of defence KD is able to.

KD put up historical numbers for a first year import. He would have been MVP if not for one of the all time best NBL seasons by Cotton. Guys like that don't come around very often. I want Weston gone as much as you but the one good thing he did was bring KD in. I said it half way through the season and I'll say it again. Management should move heaven and earth to keep him. Can the Sixers at least have some sort of retention of good imports so they can build some identity and continuity? It's unrealistic to think he'll stick around for 8 years like Bryce Cotton but even just for 3 years would be nice.

And for SEM, I think we can already say this was the greatest season in their 6 year history- even if they're swept by Illawarra and lose both by 20

The way they've recovered their season, the fight they've shown, the win today. Huge

Yes, they had a 17 point lead in Game 3 of 2021- so technically if they're swept it won't be their best season. But they had a strong roster that year and never quite got as cohesive as they have been over the last few months. The cultural kick they'll get from winning today at home will exceed anything they achieved in that covid year, for their franchise. Regardless what happens vs the Hawks.

@Big Ads +1

Davis has been checked out since the Brisbane game as he has a massive pay check to get to. Before that though it was a battle between him and Harrell as to who the most despised team mate was.

Harrell gets to play the I'm just emotional card daily and because the owner and league see him as an eyeball getter it gets glossed over. He should have been binned as soon as possible.

There is an old truism in the NBL you cant be that talented and not in the NBA for a reason. 36ers continue to get suckered into poor quality people because they look good on court.

Regarding KD, This kid is an infant in b/ball terms. Well, a teenager, at best. He's 21 years old and in his first professional posting. With his current skill level, can you imagine what he's going to be like with 2 or 3 years more in the game?

Apparently, he's ok with coming back to the NBL so somebody, please, sign him for as long as he'll accept and for however much you can afford. However long and however much, he will still be cheap.

RobT I think Kendric is 25 - but yes this is his first time as a pro.

Media reports that Mike Wells has been extended.

Davis is 25, about to turn 26, so I'd be expecting a bit more maturity from him at that age.

Much has been made of the 36ers "falling" into the finals due to the injuries of Brisbane and Tasmania. However, the same people seem to forget that the 36ers had a mid season period following the Melbourne incident, when they were missing Harrell for three games, Davis two, plus the games missed by DJ and Dech with injury. They were in 4th place at the time and won only 1 of their next 8 games. Martin unfortunately was ineffective all season. Showed a few things now and again but overall was a bust. However, if Martin had not been injured and missed the last three games of the season, it is possible that 36ers may have won a few of them as well.

All is what ifs, and it showed up the lack of big man depth of the 36ers compared to most other teams. Certainly Humphries suffered from a confidence and lack of aggression situation which had a major impact on his performance. Just imagine if he had half of the aggression and confidence of Harrell. This is one area that needs a major upgrade to the squad for NBL26.

Pretty much every team except Illawarra, and to a lesser extent Melbourne, have had some significant disruptions, but Tasmania and Brisbane both had their seasons derailed by injuries.

Tassie finished with the same W-L as Adelaide, and Brisbane were 1 game behind.

Both teams seasons were completely ruined by injuries.

Yes, Martin didn't look like the same player compared to his time with Sydney. But he's still someone with recent Euroleague experience, and was coming off the bench for the 36ers.

Overall 36ers had a very decent run with availability, except for that 2 or 3 game stretch which was entirely self-inflicted, unlikely the injury curse that hit Tassie and Brisbane.

Adelaide were probably about the 8th best team this season (factoring availability). Which, considering the talent they assembled is disconcerting and totally inadequate. Hence my post above.

"There is an old truism in the NBL you cant be that talented and not in the NBA for a reason. 36ers continue to get suckered into poor quality people because they look good on court."

Right. Can you explain Bryce Cotton then?

What makes KD a "poor quality person" in your eyes? He's not unselfish. He led the league in assists. He busts his arse on defence. He didn't just "look good on court" either. His substance matched his style - go refresh yourself with his numbers. I was at games in both Perth and Adelaide where he was clearly the best player on the floor. The game against Perth on Friday 17th, KD was the only one that looked like he wanted to be there for Adelaide. If it wasn't for him, the Sixers would have been down 30 at half time. He scored half of the team's points at half time.

Does he go too iso at times? Yes he does, but can you blame him when some of his teammates are so offensively inept and he is so damn good at creating offence with his speed. Let's not also forget that while Foxwell played some good D yesterday he was allowed to get away with a lot of physicality. If that was Cotton or we were at home with the crowd influencing the refs, Foxwell would have been fouled off in a qtr.

He's only 25 too and this was his 1st professional gig overseas. He's only going to get better.

Looking back, "January 31" is probably the best way to sum up the 36ers season

Played at home with a full complement of players except Martin (and Marshall?) and fighting for a play-in spot.

Played a Brisbane squad who barely had enough players to field a team. No Harrison, Bannan, Zikarsky, Deng Adel, McDaniel. Smith-Milner played 37 minutes because they literally had almost no other bigs. Prather played 38. Norton 33.

Brisbane had lost 5 of their last 6 games, average losing margin about 30 points...

Yet they walked into Adelaide's stadium and beat the 36ers

Agree with above comment- throw the kitchen Sink at Forde. His record at Cairns was medicre, but he's done enough that with the type of roster Adelaide had, I reckon he'd find consistent success. Seems unlikely given the comment about overseas opportunities, but you'd hope 36ers mgmt is picking up the phone.

Or go for Jacob Chance. Or someone.

But Mike Wells just doesn't seem like it. Never impressed me.

I typically think coaches deserve two years initially. So maybe Wells will be much better off 2nd time around (with more say over the squad composition perhaps).

Master Chief - appreciate your posts and certainly don't want to get into a tit-for-tat but I want to explain what I'm saying and that is that it's not necessarily the players that are the problem but it is the money they are on that is. Because if you invest such a large portion of your cap/pot on those two (with their limitations) then you haven't left enough for the players that will balance the squad and bring success.

The only other team I think would pay for those two are Sydney, and they have exactly the same problem.


So when you say, "you're not going to get many local scorers like DJ so what is the alternative?" my answer would be you sign a player like Delly or Ili who will compete every game, play tough D so limit opposition scoring and contribute modestly and consistently to your own scoring. For me that alternative is more likely to bring success.

[Let's not also forget that while Foxwell played some good D yesterday he was allowed to get away with a lot of physicality.]

That's true

I think contact was being allowed both ways though- but SEM took better advantage of it by playing more physically

SEM must be very confused- they played a netball game on Tuesday, then yesterday was more akin to wrestling at times. It's bizarre how different the interpretations can be game-to- game. Need to adapt fast.

[Let's not also forget that while Foxwell played some good D yesterday he was allowed to get away with a lot of physicality.]

That's true

I think contact was being allowed both ways though- but SEM took better advantage of it by playing more physically

SEM must be very confused- they played a netball game on Tuesday, then yesterday was more akin to wrestling at times. It's bizarre how different the interpretations can be game-to- game. Need to adapt fast.

Rat10 Julius Hodge's numbers looked good too right? As did Jerome's. You wont find a single person that speaks well of either of them.

I acknowledge that Bryce is different but he was never supposed to be here full-time and was a stop gap that has found his happy place for now.

More to success than getting stats. I know you know the game better than some and would acknowledge that KD chases stats rather than makes good plays.

Let's face it Foxwell always kills us.

Since high school Kendric has never played more than one season with the same team.
Three years of college eligibility with three different US Colleges and one year in the Warriors G League team.

Kendric did appear to and it sounded like he was determined to close out games the way he wanted to, so it’s likely he has clashed with coaches before on this issue given his history.

And yeah if you followed his socials he checked out a few games ago though admittedly I reckon Wells did also.

"So when you say, "you're not going to get many local scorers like DJ so what is the alternative?" my answer would be you sign a player like Delly or Ili who will compete every game, play tough D so limit opposition scoring and contribute modestly and consistently to your own scoring. For me that alternative is more likely to bring success."

I know you've been a fervent critic of DJV Kolzee and not without some justifcation. However I do think you have to look at the alternatives. I agree that Ili would be a good replacement, but Delly is mid 30's. DJV is much younger and entering his prime like Humphries. You also want some stability so signing these guys to 3 year deals is important to get some of that and create identity within the team. Good local talent is hard to come by - if we didn't pay these guys maybe a bit over what their market rate is (who knows what that is) then would they go elsewhere? Do you want to take that risk?

And yes DJV can have terrible games like he did against SEM and there is just too much gap between his best and his worst but he can also do what he did against the Kings. There's not that many Aussie guards below 30 that can play that sort of game.

Not giving excuses but DJ had gastro so should not have even been out there.

Get so perspective people. Brilliant season.Davia a star Harell is a package.DJV lite it up at times. Ice had dominant games.Rass with excitement and list goes on. Full house.team winning again finals again. On the way.. negative negative all some you see.

I was advocating for Davis to mvp about a a month out from seasons end, changed back to Cotton quick as while Davis can pass very well he can go ISO down the stretch and if players, coaches no they are not letting you score easily while your team just watch on. Cotton never goes ISO, it's always team first. That’s the big difference,now Cotton was in a good spot to walk into at cats, Gleeson as coach, Martin, Wagstaff and others all team first guys.

Sorry bout the age thing with KD. That does change my perception slightly, I admit.

I completely get using locals to create the stability so multi year deals makes sense. I would do it with guys who create the right culture and play a role with solid D.

But it's sinking a major portion of your salary pot in offence focused locals that is dangerous. Especially with the availability of more consistent imports at probably a lower budget

Gleeson knew that you get good locals, Roth the same. You can't win with just three top rate imports taking the majority of the cap.

Yes and vickerman too, but also look at what roles they sign them for. Often grafting bigs, 3 and D wings and combo guards with strong passing.

Not normally offensive shooting guards

"Since high school Kendric has never played more than one season with the same team.
Three years of college eligibility with three different US Colleges and one year in the Warriors G League team."

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/daviske02.html

Just FYI.

True Davis got a lot of assists, but how many were when he had to pass because he drew such a crowd looking to score most possessions. Or he passed to DJ and he jacked it up. So while they definitely count, just with the ball in his so much and not much of an offensive system, he was hardly a pass first point guard or true PG. Although older, the league gets guys like Casper Ware who dominates for a bit then disappears.
Dotman, you appear on this forum under so many pseudonyms, I think Herman was one of yours favourites, with your bad punctuation and stupid optimism like your Daniel Johnson schtick from a few years back. Give it a rest and let non trolls discuss things.
If Wells is indeed back, I can't see the both of them on the same team, was just too toxic, so can see it being another media circus next year. They may be professionals, but their actions certainly didn't show it, play up the passionate and competitive stuff all you want, they just don't like each other. Don't know who's fault it is now really, but can't have both returning.
And as for Forde rumours, aside from the apparent confirmation Wells is back the signs pointed to him not coming anyway. Apart from the circus that is Adelaide, the comments about his next gig sounds like it's not in Australia. Seems like he has integrity, and if he's going to assist in searching for next Cairns coach, its a bit of a conflict of interest signing up to another NBL team. Wouldn't be surprised with an NBA spot somewhere, has shown he can develop young talent. Certainly has improved and learnt from his Sydney days, good for himself personally but we lose another good coach overseas when we really need them here.
As for the season, would grade it a C. Made the post season, but could have been so much more. It was again dominated by off court stuff mainly, although the Melbourne fracas was different.
Now just waiting for what stupid shit management will do in offseason, we all know something will happen, we're just running out of WTF are they doing options, they've virtually done every dumb thing a franchise can do. My bingo card is they sign an overseas local to highest contract ever, Kay would be the sane persons choice if that makes sense, but let's get the Brock Motum homecoming bandwagon going.

Kendric has been shopped to 3 teams that I know of and they have all said no thanks.
3 teams , in season. Think about that.

A lot of deals get worked out in season and sometimes it's an attempt to strong arm the current team into an extension.

Remember Sobey's final season at the Sixers where he just decided he wanted to be a PG to try and make the Boomers WC team as a back up PG and then once the season was over turned around and signed a 3 year deal with the Bullets who were also coached by Lemanis.

But yeah an agent dangling KD to the Melb and Syd of the world is just an agent doing exactly what he should be doing.

Do you mean Kendric was shopped to three NBA teams as we approached the end of the NBL season Q Anon?

What 3 teams? Sydney yes, Perth would be waiting on Cotton, United seem set. Maybe Breakers if they move on from PJC, doubt the rest could afford him.

My bingo card is they sign an overseas local to highest contract ever, Kay would be the sane persons choice if that makes sense, but let's get the Brock Motum homecoming bandwagon going.

24 Good pick up my bad,

Kendric had five years of college elligibility with three different colleges.

In the paper today that they don't expect Davis back as he's shopping to the highest bidder, here and overseas with Sydney gunning for him. Also touched on his behind the scenes issues too.

Said they also expect they'll decline the option on Nick Marshall and try to keep Dech and Mayern.

I suspected that was what was going on. They were playing Marshall too much minutes in the first half of the season obviously to get a good look at him and then second half of the season DNP's to entice him to walk away from the last year of his contract.

The same shit the owner tried to do with Dech and Cadee last season. That kind of behaviour is why we have a rotten culture and the reputation we have. Dech would be mad to re-sign and suspect he'll go back home to Perth.

Perth got plenty guards, why would Dech go back there, Wells plays him good minutes and not certain the Rilie style game suits Dech.

Perth only had one guard Pepper under contract.

Zodiac - The way it was worded was it was a team option for Marshall not a player one, but 36ers have form there, so who knows.

Marshall is 25 years old and 198cm forward. Lat Mayen is 206cm and 27 years old playing a similar position. Which one do you put on the court? Marshall had his chances when he got reasonable minutes earlier in the season but didn't really set the court on fire.

Would the 36ers have signed Marshall if he lived interstate?

Need to invest in local please. Takes time. I White is another very recent example. Taken time to progress but now key bullet. Surely these guys are chosen with potential dev and dev necessary to reach the expectations. Let's not keep going to the well. Build and believe..we need local players to engage community. Organic growth.

Dench has had a very expensive contract, the real question is whether he can get a similar deal somewhere else, iif not he may be better off accepting less money and staying with the 36ers as a role player. He is a good contributor but not worth the money he has been receiving in the past.

Makes sense for all parties to have Mayen stay on - while letting Marshall go. Most likely not an expensive contract and Lat still has further upside while Marshall seems not to have been able to convince the coaches that he has what it takes to become one of the 8 main players. Great to have local players in the team but being local is not enough if consistent performance not there.

If Kendric is to purely wanting to maximise his income in the very short term, then good luck to him in Sydney. He may just find that the love is not as strong from BG, unless he shares the ball a lot more, nor from the fans as he has received in ADL.

I would play Marshall over Mayen every day of the week. Being able to dribble the ball being one reason, understanding plays to make a good decision is another. Up until that ugly game in Melb which led to crisis meeting, Marshall had been playing good mins and the Sixers were 6-4. He was not detrimental to the teams record. But we'll now see another Sixers player shuffled to another team and do well. My money is he lands at JJ's due to his McVeigh connection and gets utilised well.

One issue I see with the Sixers is the type of talk they use but the actions they show as a club. Talked about culture, standards, etc. Then the first thing they do is sack Starling who was the most team guy you they had.

Well sacking ninnis probably the start of sad times for the oldies. Time to move it on young fellas making moves. It's future not retro times.new era dawning.get on board with those there now to build new traditions.

Marshall problem is D, or total lack of off. He should go and play in a harder Winter comp, nznbl would be best. Test himself.

Marshall's D, or lack thereof made it a bit of a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. We had a clear need to tighten up our D and how many points we were allowing, which meant playing him we were exposing a flaw in improving that.

But even Rasmussen was a victim of the rotation being squeezed as tight as it could be and the one thing he did display was some defensive potential. It mostly went to we had a 3 guard rotation with Davis, DJV and Cadee.

Dunkman, Marshall is playing NZNBL this off-season

Ok that's great, it’ll be a better test. Who it’s?

Dunkman he's headed to Wellington, who also have Le'afa, Ili and Hyrum Harris on the roster

Just saw Harrell is off to china.

The owner has just done a delusional radio interview.

He called this season a success and said all 3 imports are coming back because they want stability. He spoke of Wells like he was the long lost hope , just like he spoke of Wright , Henry , Bruton and Ninnis. He also mimicked Trez's African American voice during the interview, bizarre stuff!

The guy doesn't see or refuses to see that KD and Trez are the instability.

When you make your team mates wait on a bus for 40 minutes they tend not to like you very much. Then after making them wait you decide to get in an Uber and not even get on the bus.

Thats the genuine stability any club would be looking to bring back isnt it?

Leaving an award night after 20 minutes so you can go to a concert sure smacks of professionalism. Let alone turning up in a T shirt , I suppose at least it was a club T shirt.

That behaviour tells your team mates you are better than them, refusing to train tells your team mates you are better than them

Not heard interview. Yes season was a success. Yes to stability.yes to backing coach.. what an owner should be saying. What's the problem. Setting the tone and expectations for growth. Been crying out for stability.

The ownership is unstable. you cant have stability when you have someone bring and firing people. Last year he told the coach to bench Cadee, McCarron and Dech. The owner was the one who gave Ninnis the HC role and then fired him pre-season on baseless grounds.

The owner has even employed his own son as a coach and scout to spy on the players and report back any subordination.

He's backed In the coach, if that is the case and Wells actually has a clue about what he's doing then all 3 imports won't be back. This years team could not defend a chair and couldn't rebound. Wells alluded to this in his press conference.
Then there's money. Not a chance we can afford all 3.

There's been whispers of a point first PG to utilise Humprhies in the pick and roll (which seems to be Wells go to play)

If you're gonna invest big $ in Humphries I don't have an issue trying to heavily utilise him, but I'm also hoping he's back in the right headspace next season where he can take that and not instantly get down on himself if he messes up a few early chances.

Perhaps dont tell the guy if you miss a shot you are getting subbed out? I couldn't think of any player that could play with that level of pressure to the best oftener abilities

Most Nbl media are saying run it back again, it's about money not results. Imo all three imports should be gone and I’m a massive fan of both Davis and Harrell but if all the above is correct, it’s so far from team first that you can’t win. If those imports come and I’m Humphries I’d want out, even DJV. No point having two marquee local players if you only play for imports.

The owner has even employed his own son as a coach and scout to spy on the players and report back any subordination.

As it sits right now this squad is a mess

PG blank / blank / Rasmussen
SG DJV/ blank
SF blank / blank
PF blank / blank
C Humphries / Griscti

Everyone else is out. I have Lat at 50/50 to re-sign right now.

Ive been saying for a while here that this shit show is about to get real. No free agents want to be here. The guys that are contracted want out as well.

Owner preaching stability when he has 2 players contracted is laughable. Guys used to queue up to get to Adelaide and now it's the place of last resort.

The culture is non existent. That means you are over paying for mercenaries to even fill the roster out. The guys that will come here will come here for a reason and are available for a reason.

The wheels will keep on turning and nothing will change.

If you're gonna invest big $ in Humphries I don't have an issue trying to heavily utilise him, but I'm also hoping he's back in the right headspace next season where he can take that and not instantly get down on himself if he messes up a few early chances.

Not heard interview. Yes season was a success. Yes to stability.yes to backing coach.. what an owner should be saying. What's the problem. Setting the tone and expectations for growth. Been crying out for stability.

Positive spin (even in the face of contradictory evidence) = face saving, because to be honest would mean admitting that he had f..ked up.

Positive spin = more chance of being able to sell it, because not many would want to take on a basket case of an organisation

I wonder how much influence LK has on the owner's spin.

I saw some GK interviews on 7 & 9 News last night and he said he expects all 3 imports will be back, I bet it ends up closer to 0/3, and was spinning like a top about what a great season it was. Attendance wise sure but on court with that talent it was disappointing. Should've made SF at a minimum.

But GK is supposedly trying to sell the team so of course he's going to spin it, technically it was our best season in 7 years so there's that.

Shakes - Absolutely, I don't think Ninnis did anything revolutionary as a coach, he just made an effort to get Humphries touches early, especially knowing that he's a confidence player and let him build from that. Harrell probably took a lot of those touches this year though, probably why they originally went to pair him up with a guy like Martin.


As for the spin, I wouldn't expect anything but spin from the ownership/management group since their excuse for firing Ninnis was because they were worried we'd end up with the record that they actually finished with if they kept Ninnis.

Sellouts and the tease of Davis and Harrell coming back probably lends itself to that too, especially if you're trying to sell. What I don't get though is if GK is trying to sell, why does he keep sticking his nose into everything so heavily? Is it just ego at this point?

I can't see how the season can be viewed as success aside from the good crowd numbers. The team had the talent to succeed but the poor mentality and lack of resilience is what killed the season in the end. These are culture issues and are clearly deep seated in the club from the top.

Last year, the Sixers actually managed to salvage something in the last half of the season and created a good platform to improve on. Instead of capitalising on this, the management team who appear to have significant personality disorders decided to destabilize things again by firing Ninnis, and then have signed two imports, who also like them, appear to have the same personality disorders (likely narcissistic from the sounds of it). The coach they signed also appears to have very poor player management skills, which combined with the types of player personalities management seem to target, will never be a good mix and never result in success.

You really can’t imagine any players wanting to come to Adelaide under the current regime unless they have literally nowhere else to go. The only way to solve this is regime change, but it seems that egos are too big for any semblance of reality or responsibility to be realised.

Regular season record since 2018 season (losing grand finalist in 5-game series)

2018/19- 14-14
19/20 12-16
20/21 13-23
21/22 10-18
22/23 13-15
23/24 12-16
24/25 13-16

In other words, this season the 3rd best record in the last 7 seasons. Despite the roster they assembled, and the reasonable injury run.

They've had some solid teams throughout that time, but they've been under-achievers.

They’ve had players who left and took it to another level (Pinder, McVeigh).

They’ve had recruits who did great things at previous clubs but couldn’t quite produce their best work in Adelaide (McCarron, Clark, Franks).

They’ve recruited extremely talented individuals with questionable attitudes, character, team buy-in or just generally lack something "above the shoulders" (Randall, Harrell, Davis, arguably Humphries, that other import they sacked very early, etc).

This all points to a failure in culture, and recruiting priorities.

And coaching of course.

Radio interview the owner also said he has owned the team for 9 years
The man is in cuckoo land
I need to update my team above BTW I got the starting centre position wrong.

Do we want to bring back all 3 imports??

KD runner up MVP, second in scoring, leader in Assists. Yes that is reasonable.

Trez, 4th in Scoring @ 56% FG and 3rd in Rebounding. Yes that is reasonable.

But Martin???? I think we can do better than that.

The above does not take into consideration Q Anon's statements about KD and Trez, I do not know what is fact or fiction. I am merely using the stats to gauge why we would want that player back.

Old coach's saying

Good players excel in good culture
Bad players thrive in bad culture.

I can't remember the time lag between Ninnis getting the push and Harrell being brought in, so I hope someone can clarify this.

There’s no way Ninnis would have put up with Harrell’s narcissistic nonsense, and no way Harrell would have put up with Ninnis’ team-first culture philosophy. As it is, I’m fairly sure Ninnis would have seen red flags with Davis from the start and may have said something to those upstairs.

Easier to sack the coach, isn’t it, especially if you have another one already there and waiting to move into the role. (Even more so if you have LK pushing a fantastic marketing opportunity with an ex-NBA player?!)

Or am I being too cynical and seeing a connection that’s just not there?

"Radio interview the owner also said he has owned the team for 9 years
The man is in cuckoo land"

That's correct.

GK became the majority owner in 2016.

Reading this discussions it may be worth considering creating a stand alone topic called "complains about selected people". Seems a few contributors regularly need to have a rant about a few people involved withe club they do not likely so maybe easier to just have a stand alone topic where all those comments could be made?

Is Humprhies leaving or coming off the bench??

Ninnis was fired 12th of August and Harrell was announced as a NRP on the 12th of September, so doubt there was anything on that one.

I recall someone had posted that Ninnis didn't want to sign Davis however because of his attitude, but we announced Davis signing on the 18th of July, so again, about a month there between events.

How much extra do NBL players get paid to play in the finals?

Depends on their deal structure. So me may get a general bonus , some may get a per game bonus some might ony get a bonus for semi-finals or better

Wowee, just heard the owners radio interview. What a weirdo! Does it think he's a coach, or a comedian? He’s certainly narcissistic! And giving his son a job as a scout! God save the 6ers.

@ Q anon - some might get a big more lucrative payday in China or elsewhere.

The Fiba break doesnt really do many teams any favours.

Surely they could just have the semi finals this weekend and select players from those that are still available.

Just heard his interviewhe speaks wells. Speaks positively. Correct me why so negative. Gave conherent answers that summary the season well. More people need to see the light in the forest or whatever that saying in. Give him credit he is all in sixers and passionate and going to see the course home..

Radio interview the owner also said he has owned the team for 9 years
The man is in cuckoo land

Surely they could just have the semi finals this weekend and select players from those that are still available.

Just had a listen to the Grant Kelly radio interview and agree with a few other people that Kelly came over very well. Spoke very positively while admitting there were issues and the overall results for the season was somewhere between good and bad.

Hopefully most of the major component of the team returns while at the same time identifying where the team lacked in personnel and recruiting appropriately. Kelly also said that Wells will have a major say in the players so that will be interesting to see what transpires.

Will all or any of the imports return - guess that is up to the $$$ on offer and the individual player's mindset.

Now to see what the Crows and Power will do in 2025.

Humphries is gone

Cant wait to get away from the liar and the backstabber

Team is now DJ and Griscti LOL

The coach or owner?

Seriously? Marquee Humphries?

Humphries has still got 2 years to go on his contract, which means we own his NBL rights for the next two years. So if he wants to change NBL teams GK would have to okay it which given his history I would think would be unlikely. He could go and play in Europe/Asia but he's never done it before.

Player cites mental health issues and cant play, as an example, and the 36ers would still have to pay him. Or he just forgets how to play and wastes a spot while still getting paid.

They will release him.

He should go to kings, he always plays better there, Sixers should put a reasonable price on him and move him on if he doesn't want to be there.

I doubt it. But I would be fine with him moving on anyway after the extended sook fest that was his season just gone. He's been a serious disappointment in his five years here. All we ever really got out him was the first 12 games under Henry when he was averaging 18 & 11. He's only a 14 & 6 player now with all the drama too.

After what was essentially a protest season by him I hope the club is able to get out from under his contract. He showed up the stupidity of giving Griscti a roster spot. If we still had Galloway we could've sent Humphries to the bench as a kick up the backside and started him instead. As it was Griscti was unplayable so we had to put up with Humphries' act all season.

Isnt it a coaches job to get the best out of their players? Thats what good coaches do. We have all seen what Isaac can do under Henry and Ninnis.

Ahh, Henry had the right idea but JVG knew better.

His numbers were the same under CJ, Ninnis and Wells. It can't be 3 coaches in the wrong. The only time in 5 years he played like a superstar was the first 12 games under Henry. Time to move on.

Ninnis definitely got Humphries going.

CJ: 12.1ppg, 0.5bpg, 5.5rpg, 60.7% from the field, 78% free throws from 22mpg
Ninnis: 18ppg, 1.5bpg, 7.7rpg, 55% from the field, 79% free throws from 27mpg
Wells: 12.2ppg, 1.3bpg, 5.8rpg, 61.6% from the field, 75.5% free throws from 24.1mpg

Trey Kell was exactly the same between CJ and Ninnis and he's proven this year that we can't really blame him for how he played under CJ because he's doing fantastic with other coaches.

Kell
CJ: 13.8pgg, 2.5apg, 3.7rpg, 38.2% from the field, 25.8% from 3
Ninnis: 19.6ppg, 4.3apg, 5.5rpg, 43.7% from the field, 32.6% from 3
Tatum: 17.8ppg, 4.1apg, 4.2rpg, 42.3% from the field, 34.3% from 3

You can argue a lot of that was due to Harrell being in the team and become the preferred option down low, short sample size, but those 3 games Harrell was suspended he averaged 20ppg, 0.6bog, 7.3rpg, 74% from the field and 91% from the line, but that just shows why if they keep Humphries they need to have better roster construction and not a guy like Harrell down there. You can have one, but investing big money in both means one of them has to take a back seat and that was Humphries this year and we've seen mentally that he doesn't respond to that at all.

His numbers were the same under CJ, Ninnis and Wells. It can't be 3 coaches in the wrong. The only time in 5 years he played like a superstar was the first 12 games under Henry. Time to move on.

Sorry LaPark beat me to it! But always good to see stats consistent.

This shows that the roster was not constructed correctly and either Martin and Harrell shouldnt have stayed.
Isaac is an 18 /8 guy when in the right situation.
If you let him walk then who do you replace him with? Aussie bigs arent easy to come by. When was the last import centre that lasted more than a couple of years? Marcus Lee and even he has bounced between teams while here.

He'll look good at kings, exactly what they need.

I found it pretty bad that people have been getting stuck into Humphries for his season.

He came off NBL24 with a great finish under Ninnis, and in good faith signed a 3 year commitment to continue with Adelaide.

Then along comes new GM, new coach and a high maintenance ex-NBA big who directly clashed with Isaac's style of play.

As the season progressed, we also saw Wells have a very low tolerance for any mistake made by Isaac, leading to a player who lost confidence and was unsure of his role.

I cannot blame Adelaide management for being drawn into a player of the calibre of Montrez, but they must understand how it impacted other rostered players, and don’t be quick to look to exit from Humphries for NBL26.

I thought Martin was an OK recruit (at the time thinking we were getting the Kings version) since he's shown he can operate outside the paint, so thought he could stretch the floor a bit outside the paint and give Humphries some more space down low. Martin looked like a shell of himself though and quickly lost any chance of being a starter and Wells seemed to prefer to play Martin with Harrell at 5, rather than Humphries.

I have been one that's been very frustrated with Humphries this year and seen some things from him I haven't been happy with, but I can also see that A. it's not completely all his fault and B. he is one of the better local bigs in the league and we'd really struggle to replace him.

Wells said "Weston gives me the ingredients and I cook with them", so if you've got so much invested in Humphries you need to do a better job with what you get out of him next year. Part of that will be coaching, part of it will be roster construction and part of that will even be on Humphries himself.

Thats the big point.

You have one of your two big recruits being shunned by the coach to the point where he wants to leave a city that he was proud to call home and was embraced on court by fans and off court by the arts community.

Instead of building the team around DJV and Isaac and complementing their talents and deficiencies it was just a mess of egos.

If you arent committed to building the team around them why did you sign them for 3 years?

Kane P and Olgun tearing strips of Sixers, you can watch on you tube, said team was a disaster. Davis might be back but no chance Harrell.

Martin over the season was very poor, certainly as he would've had a big pay packet.

The big issue with Harrell is it won't cause any introspection on his part on what went wrong and why he got spat out of the NBA and had to come to Australia in the first place. I don't hate the guy, he seems to go out of his way to do stuff for kids, which is a credit to him, but he's also one of those "Everyone betrays me, I don't have anyone who stays on my side" type guys and after awhile it's that old saying about if you meet an ahole, you met an ahole, but if you meet nothing but...

Okay I crunched the numbers and admit I misrembered Humphries stats under Ninnis. I rembered the total season stats about 15 & 7 which was 12 & 6 under CJ and 18 & 8 under Ninnis. Unlike some on here I acknowledge when I make a mistake.

Again unlike some on here I don't believe players should be rewarded for bad behaviour. I know QAnon only posts negative stuff, GK deserves plenty, but a player can't be defended for checking out of numerous games throughout the season.

When a player decides to shit on the club by giving piss poor efforts like Humphries did throughout the season, 4 & 1 in our final game is a disgraceful effort, I don't want them playing for the club anymore. If he now wants out 1 year into his 3 year deal, there's the door.

KD and Trez despite their faults gave much more effort than Humphries. DJV was sick okay but Humphries and his poor attitude should leave, whether GK lets him do so might be a different thing.

The old " A poor tradesman blames his tools"

Isaac very much knows what he can and cant do. I think it's unfair on him if he is being put in positions to fail, rather than being used to play to his strengths. He was to be a pillar to build on not to be torn down.

I agree with you Zodiac that only Isaac can decide what he does and how he plays ultimately

Believe me , Id love be posting positive stuff but there just isnt any now or on the horizon.

The club cant even get imports on a plane to go home correctly.

Come on you don't give a rats about Humphries you're just using him to go after GK. You did the exact same thing with Daniel Johnson, DJ won't re-sign unless CJ apologies for benching him. Now you're intimating Humphries won't come back unless he gets his way just like DJ before him.

This is the culture problem with the club. DJ wanted everything his way and moped and gave minimal effort on defence when he wouldn't get his way then cracked the sooks when the coach, CJ at the time, finally benched him. It's just the same crap again now with Humphries.

If you want to be a spear carrier for these entited sooks that's on you but ultimately it's them being selfish and putting thmselves above the team. That's the culture that's been allowed to fester at the club for years now under GK, which I would argue stems from him and his poor decisions. Humphries saw first hand what DJ was able to get away with.

Humphries is the starting centre and has been given 30 games this season to pull his finger out, rebound, block shots like he used to be able to do, but no. He's not getting the ball as much as he wants offensively so minimal effort, DJ 2.0. I don't want to see guys out there playing for the 36ers dogging it like Humphries.

Those thinking about tying to ride martin off consider prather. Martin 3 years younger. He showed some real glimpses of talent. He be one to build some culture around as seems very team quite go about business player. Especially now the grand old man cadie is gone. See Martin become the wily o l d vet.

I used to be a fan of Humphries I still remember the 18p, 11r, 3b he was averaging in the first 12 games under Henry until his injury problems started. Once he showed he could play a season of games that season under Vickerman at United I was happy to have him come back last season.

But with his attitude and poor play at numerous times this season culminating in that 4 & 1 game on the weekend when we desperately needed someone to stand up in the second half.

I would be fine with him leaving even if it means chopped liver has to be our starting centre next season. There's always other options, offer Rocco Zikarsky the starting spot?

Too much pressure put on IH by too many. Let him dev and play. He needs encouragement.

I know you mean well Dotman but he needs a big boot up the backside. We couldn't start Griscti, which Humphries knew, and the coach isn't strong enough to bench him.

@Zodiac i do care about any player that actually wants to be in Adelaide and would chose this city over any other to live in. Thats a big thing for the club. Drmic has said multiple times he will retire in Adelaide after basketball. He should still be a 36er too.

With guys like that you can actually pay them less because they trade off the lifestyle and putting down roots in the city long term.

That means more to spend on other spots, so yes I do like Isaac being a 36er for a bunch of reasons. Throwing him away just adds to the list of Creek , Pinder, McVeigh , Sobey , Ayre, Bruce, Olbrich and and and team of people that the club treated like crap.

Not one of those guys is out in market place sluicing how good Adelaide is. Isaac and DJV are and have been til now. Isaac got sto Sydney what do you think he is saying about Adelaide etc any potential FA's, same with Galloway.

You raised DJ. The treatment he suffered at the club is endemic of why people want to leave and the trouble that the clubs has attracting and then retaining good people. DJ was traded horrendously which no doubt impacted his on court attitude. People watched the way he git treated and genuinely thought if a club legend gets traded like that after 14 years or so , then how will I get treated?

You may think that players should be able to turn on and off when they cross the white line but history shows those types of people are very thin on the ground. These guys are humans at the end of the day. Treat them with respect and professionalism and it will be returned in spades. Treat them poorly and that is what you will get on court. This season is evidence of that, again.

Dotman

Too much pressure put on IH by too many. Let him dev and play. He needs encouragement.

Those thinking about tying to ride martin off consider prather... He be one to build some culture around…

Anyway QAnon I want to apologise for perhaps going a bit too personal with my comment about you not giving a rats about Humphries. After I made that post I realised that part was unwarranted.

But I'm not really interested in fighting the DJ battles again he was treated like a king in his time at club and nothing you say will be able to convince me otherwise. The guy was highly paid, face of the club all the adulation and pats on the back yet got away with refusing to play defence for 12.5 years until the hammer finally came down. We can't make those same mistakes again with Humphries.

FWIW, I never saw the second half of last season under Ninnis as a light at the end of the tunnel, club turning the corner type moment. I saw it more as a bit of a sugar rush under a coach who was bog average last time around. IMO, we were never going to go anywhere under Ninnis.

However that in no way excuses what happened to him and Weston installing Wells who comes across as a similar average coach.

I'm not sure anyone saw Ninnis as the saviour, but for all the talk of us rebuilding the club, both from an on-court perspective and from a culture POV, especially a local one, he seemed like the best guy we could have gotten to start that journey. That's partly why I didn't necessarily have any issues with what appeared to be the plan to bring in Mike Wells as an assistant, let him develop his skills in the league and then take over when Ninnis had built the foundations.

And within 3-4 months it felt like we just went "Yea, nah" and scrapped all those plans and went back to bringing in guys who didn't want to be team first and help build a sustainable culture because we looked at talent only in a rush to get back to the playoffs and sell tickets.

I suspected the hiring of Wells to be Ninnis' lead assistant was the death of Ninnis. That for me was confirmed when the Serbian guy was hired to be his other assistant and Kubank was let go. A HC always gets to pick at least one assistant, he was a dead man walking at that point.

IMO, Wells was hired to be the HC from the start and Weston just had to come up with some BS excuse to fire Ninnis, 'standards'.

I was sceptical about Humphries returning due to his injury history but was proven wrong. He's just too emotionally fragile most of the time though and when he goes to the bench you never really think too much about it. ATM I rate him behind Magnay (even with his own injury history), Harrison, Hunter, Froling (Sam), and Pinder. Even Loe in Melbourne had a good year and had White to rebound and Lee for lobs and defence, so their bigs were extremely solid. Sydney in their ultimate wisdom (thanks to Brian even still wanting an import guard despite hole in middle) got away with Cooks and Leaupepe being great rebounders, NZ stuffed it all up getting in Tacko. Waardenberg had his moments but is another sook, but could flourish on the right team.
So in reality Humphries is perhaps the 7th best starting centre in the league. I still remember when he was at United him throwing up a soft little floater in a tight game despite being wide open and you hear Vickerman scream "Just dunk the f@#king thing" when it rolled out. That basically sums him up. And every game commentary would always say get the ball inside early otherwise he checks out. I can't think of any other player that has had it said so much.
When you watch games and Hunter or Magnay get their 3rd of 4th foul, you think oh oh. When Humphries goes to the bench it's, meh, no biggy.
So my 5 cents on future.
Alan Williams has come out and says he wants back. Totally foul prone, but can score inside and rebound and will probably be cheap. Start him and bring Humphries off the bench.
If Wells is back, no way can Davis return. Try and find a Machado type pass first point. And can play excellent defence.
Import 3, get a scoring forward like an Anthony Lamb or Prather type. Should have some money with other imports being cheap, so spend big here. No Wiley types, just a pure bucket getter.
Bring back Starling.
Find an experienced backup PG, doesn't have to be great, just hold their own like an Adnam or even Naar.
Find an assistant that can calm Wells down and will have the respect of the players, even a recently retired player. Cadee will probably be a good coach in the future but probably has too many times to the current squad.
Stop trying to just hand spots to Adelaide kids just because they're from Adelaide. The DPs are terrible, must be plenty interstate that are better.
Can't do anything about GK, maybe in the usual review someone will have the guts to tell him to back off.

FWIW I didn't see any issue whatsoever with the radio interview, seemed perfectly reasonable to me.

Humphries is super frustrating because he misses so many bunnies and gets emotionally out of the game too quickly.

The same token, if he is used by giving him the ball going down hill on the cut where he gets to use his footwork, he is soooo much more lethal. If you’re not forcing him into foul trouble with crappy team defence, he’s a more than effective rim protector. If you don’t sit him on the bench for long period (even if at risk of fouling him out) then he’s going to have the time to prosper.

I have faith if the team can learn to use him properly.

Kolzee, that is a fair point, and it might turn out to be mistaken in the long term as you suggest, but I still understand why they invested in both players at the time, and it hasn't necessarily lead to an ability to not put an overall talented roster around them, or even above them.

My point was that I just don't agree Adelaide missing out on a semi finals series is solely because of this, or the biggest issue.

Thanks for the respectful reply, and yes I am aware we are probably going around in circles all season, lol.

I see your point completely and you may well turn out to the correct.