Basketball and everything in between

Everybody is going to town on Brendan Joyce and the Gold Coast Blaze (myself included) but not many people have been overly critical of the Adelaide 36ers and their play.  They currently sit second last on the ladder with a 2-5 record.  Maybe they need to bring back Lanard Copeland from retirement.  At least he can get it done.  Rookie coach Scott Ninnis has had a tough induciton into the league and believes that they need to toughen up if they are going to be successful.  A lot of hype was made about the recruitment of Luke Schenscher in the off season and people were hoping that he would be the answer to the Sixers fans prayers.  He has had a slow start to the season but seems to have turned the corner with his player of the week performance I picked him up for my FNBL team and have been happy with his performance since I picked him up.  John Rillie had some interesting thoughts on this award and thinks that it should have gone to a player who played on a winning team.  I personally feel that his performance warranted getting the award and he is going to be a nice player in this league for a while.

Boti Nagy wrote this scatching article about the Sixers management  recently and he is openly campaining for Mark Tyndale’s sacking.  He states:

Adelaide is 2-5 and management has at least as much to answer for as rookie coach Scott Ninnis who, realistically, has little or no responsibility for the fact Brad Davidson, Paora Winitana, Brett Maher, Adam Ballinger and Aaron Bruce all have missed games through injury.

It looks like some of the decision-making was hindered again by a young front office, maybe overpaying some and therefore restricting bargaining with others.

Lets have a look at their roster:

Aaron Bruce: a lot of hype was around about his pre season signing.  He didn’t have the greatest senior season after representing Australia at a WC early in his college career.  Seems to have some slight injuries but should be ok.  I am not a great fan of his and never have been.

Brett Maher: he has announced that this is his last season and he deserves to got out with a bang.  Good solid veteran who can still be relied upon to do the right things.  Seems to have an injury every second week now.  Hopefully he can get through the season.

Brad Davidson: is one of my favourite all time NBL players.  I remember watching him play ABA in Townsville and Burdekin.  He is not afraid to take a backward step and mixes it up with the big boys.  Heaps of heart but not a match winner.  He is a good solid 2nd or 3rd guard in the rotation.

Paora Winitina: is the guy who came over from the Breakers who doesn’t play on Sunday’s due to religious reasons.  Boti Nagy was in love with him during the pre season.  Has had some injuries so he hasn’t had a chance to do a whole lot.

Mark Tyndale: once again if Boti gets his way, this guy will be gone very soon His numbers don’t seem that bad but my friend Grandmaster Funk from Ozhoops League 4 FNBL fame is desperate to get rid of him.

Adam Ballinger: very good reliable import. Huge upgrade (in my opinion) from Dusty Rychardt who they had a couple of years ago. Can mix it up and play inside and out. Gets to the boards. I love his overall game and his carrot top!!

Luke Schenscher: enough has been said about him above.

Jacob Holmes: this guy has been in the league for years.  To slow to be a three man but not big enough to be a four man.  Crashes the glass with reckless abandon but is slow and unathletic.

David Cooper: athletic shot blocker who is a servicable NBL player.  Have loved his game since he played for the Uni Reds and the Brisbane Capitals. 

Brad Hill: I don’t really know enough about this guy to make a judgement. Is he the one who broke his arm when getting smashed by Larry Abney?

In one of my previous blog posts I compared Brendan Joyce to Moaning Mrytle from the Harry Potter series I unashamelessly plug my blog on Ozhoopsboards and LegoSHAQ attacked my ability to prove a point and my focus. He also made a mention of my poor grammar So in response to this my point is this: The 36ers seem to lack athletes. Holmes has always been very groundbound, Tyndale apparently (I haven’t ever seen him play) is not overly athletic and Schenscher is a huge 7 foot guy who is not blessed with speed. Cooper is a shot blocker and very mobile for a big guy. Maher seems to be always injured and Davidson and Bruce are very quick and athletic. They also seem to lack depth in the 3 point shooting department. In the game against the Wildcats they went 6 from 22 from the 3 point line which is not fantastic. Maybe they should get the man in the picture back out of retirement. He knew how to get the 3 ball up and how to get his own shot going!  Unless they play a ‘grind it out’ game style, and try to beat teams in the half court, I just don’t see how they are going to be successful this season.  Maybe they need to get Darren Ng away from Singapore and the blog scene and back into a 36ers uniform. He has the best surname ever in the NBL!

It would be a shame to see Brett Maher go out on a low. He is a true legend in our league and deserves to go out a winner.

If you are a 36ers fan (or a NBL fan) let me know what you think.  I will be interested to hear some view points on this squad. 

Go the Spirit!  J Smith should be back!