If he signs with the Dragons without the 36ers offering him a contract I would have lost all faith in the Management of the 36ers.

What is the one reason the 36ers are not considered championship material? They don't have a high quality centre.

If Adelaide let another SA born centre go to another club (Bradtke, Wheeler, Rogers) without offering something substantial then they lose my respect.

I know we may not be able to afford Big Red but if the 36ers don't at least offer him something then they are not doing their job!

OH please dont remind me of eddie crouch, he gives me nightmares.

Spot on Nutwork,I thought Phil was staying in touch with Luke?
Once again the mighty $$ talks and Luke's getting the money while he can.
Its been said Luke probly wont play NBL long but whatever happened to the pride of playing for your home team?

isaac is it true that the dragons are getting salary cap consessions for the first 2 seasons if so that could be why luke is considering them

heard via piple line its between 20% and 40% larger then then current allowed max contract for a player

if thats the case then adelaide were never ever ever in the running for him

so we could magically produce $300k plus from where again ?

I'd be interested in who they're going to poach from around the league, or who is going to join.
I read article they are going to go for young Aussie 'talent' playing college in USA. That would be good for league.

Mix Master Wipe, where's the pride in sitting on the bench as a rookie?

bradtke openly stated just like rogers did,
rogers went to wildcats for bout 10k more and bradtke has got a sweet job that more then makes up for the legal $$ hes getting

mate loyalty is gone in professional sport these days its business unfortunetly and if your still cut up about bradtke not coming over here will buy a box of kleenex ,

how do we know luke hasnt been approached certainly got the impression that he had been by us prior to xmas

Nutwork, if you haven't lost faith in the 6ers management yet, than you probably never will.

64346, further to that, you can't just ask the question, you have to show legitimate interest or these players won't put their future in your hands.

Back four or so years ago, I remember the giant emails a US college coach and his assistant(s) were sending Oscar and my parents trying to convince him to sign with LMU. It was very intense stuff talking about opportunities, other players, contrasting the college experience with going straight into the NBL, and so on.

Players also look at the roster and likely future rosters trying to determine if they'll get quality opportunities, etc.

It takes more than a call, but a call is the start.

wak, I assume you mean 6ers are looking at US College Playing Aussies. I think they should look at, if Boy Gorj hasn't got him sigmed up already, Matthew Knight at Loyola-Marymount (Div 1 NCAA). He is in the Top 50 in scoring & rebounding, is listed as 6' 9", 240Lbs & is Tasmanian born, meaning if he wants to play NBL when he comes back to Australia, he is going to have to move states anyway.

The club knows how much a player like Schenscher is worth. Why insult him with a ridiculous offer and make them look unprofessional. Not making a call to a prospective player can also be seen as respecting their worth.

Sorry EC, not buying it. Idiots. Complete idiots. I refuse to believe they wouldn't have contacted him and made a serious offer. The guy was on the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings teams this summer. We've got David Cooper and (no offence, big fella) Paul Rees. Unblvbl.

Bring back Ken Cole. It wouldn't have happened under his reign!

Moses, do you think Schenscher would accept Cooper's & Rees' salary put together. It still wouldn't cover it. Even if it did, your're still a Centre short.

Its not about accepting the salary, it is about showing interest!

Sorry EC but I'm with Moses and ITK on this one.

For starters I have no idea how much effort Smyth/Breheney have put in to chasing SA's brightest prospects such as Newley, Schenscher, Hill, Ingles and Kersten.

I am aware that most of the above have been involved in training with the 36ers whenever they have been in Adelaide but can't comment on the relationship between the coaching staff and these players + parents.

As Isaac posted above, it is amazing what the effort of keeping in regular contact with these guys and their parents will achieve.

As I posted in another thread, people who claim to be in the know suggest that our coaching staff don't put anywhere near the effort that say a Goorjian does into recruiting young talent.

Don't know if it is true, but someone posted on Hoops SA a month or so ago that Kersten has already been contacted by Goorjian but not by Smyth.

When was the last time we recruited an outstanding AIS talent that wasn't originally from SA?

We have had a hole at centre for ages but have we ever approached any of the AIS bigs over the past few years such as Burston, Crosswhite, Allen, etc, etc?

That was once forgiveable in the days where we would at least ensure we would sign the SA AIS stand outs but now even those days are gone.

Of course at the end of the day it is a business and dollars will play a part but if Schenscher had such a close relationship with Smyth founded upon 6 years of constant communication whilst at the AIS and Georgia Tech, who is to say that he wouldn't have accepted an offer to play for the 36ers.

If he respected our coaches' ability to make the necessary improvements to his game and give him the playing opportunities that would see him sign a guaranteed NBA contract in a couple of years then he might have made Adelaide his first option.

As it is, he is willing to put a franchise with no coach and no roster around him top preference.

SA has produced 5 players with NBA type prospects. Bradtke, Maher, Rogers, Newley and Schenscher.

The 36ers have only been able to hold on to 1 of the above 5.

Stephon, I think you've just answered your own question about what makes a player interested in Adelaide. You say that Schenscher is willing to give preference to a franchise with no coach and no roster. There is obviously only one thing that's a certainty for him that he is attracted to, that is money. Money is something that Adelaide has difficulty with. The other SA players you mention were also driven by money. I don't know much about Salary cap exemptions for new teams in the NBL, but if that is correct, perhaps that's why the money is available. I would like to see Schenscher join the Dragons and in a couple of years time when they are on the same cap, whether he'll stay with a reduced offer.

Relationshipships with coaches play an insignificant role when there are much stronger determining factors, the mighty dollar.

Of course he interested in money, he is a professional basketball. I still don't think he will come here because of Europe. The point that is trying to be made is that the Adelaide coaching staff do not make contact or establish relationships with our exceptional talent. My opinion is I would like to see Smyth/Brenany at local Under 16/18 and 20 games having a look. It doesn't have to be every week, but a precence at some of the games would be great.

I realize that money can not accomadate everyone but it is all about networking and making associations with potential and future talent.

Relationships with coaches play an insignificant role when there is an insignificant relationship between the player and the coach.

I haven't answered my own question because the question I posed was how much effort do the current 36ers coaching staff put in to establish such relationships with the outstanding SA junior players.

According to some posters on this forum the accusations are that little effort is put in.

I don't know the answer to my question but if the accusations that no contact has been made with Schenscher whatsoever are correct then that is not good enough in my opinion.

If money was all that mattered to players then Kendall, Martin, Worthington and Crosswhite would not be Sydney Kings.

The circumstances that led to Bradtke, Rogers and Newley not becoming 36ers were not all money related.

Is that why Smyth won the award of the coach most players want to play for? They do want to play for him, they also want to get paid.

He may have been voted as the "coach most want to play for" but I don't see many of these players tripping over each other in their attempt to play for the 36ers.

Now we even have our SA young players looking elsewhere.

Of course money is a relevant factor in this but don't discount the opportunity/development aspect together with the lack of Goorjian style 'in your face' recruiting.