2010/11 NBL season & off-season news

[Gozu]

Jeff Dowdell has left the 36ers and signed with Cairns to a one year deal.

[CK]

Jeff Dowdell has left the 36ers and signed with Cairns to a one year deal.

Saves having to cut him, to be honest.

[Gozu]

Aaron Grabau has re-signed with Cairns for next season.

[Gozu]

The NZ Breakers have signed Josh Bloxam and Dion Prewster as their development players for next season and have also signed 17 year old Isaac Fotu as a 'non-contracted' development player.

[brod]

Great headline in todays paper...Patty Mills to play for the 36ers

[Freo HeaveHo]

We could only hope .... But whats the likelyhood of it actually happening

[Gozu]

We could only hope .... But whats the likelyhood of it actually happening

A chance I would've thought perhaps the best chance of any NBL team. With the NBA lockout on which threatens to eat into the start of next season he would almost certainly want to make a bit of money until it concludes. Obviously in that respect Europe would be the favourite as he could probably get a contract over there with an NBA out-clause at around $500K or more. An NBL team might be able to shell out something around $200K but obviously he's from here, everyone speaks english etc

If NBL teams come into the equation I reckon the 36ers would be the favourites to sign him. He has family in Adelaide, is a diehard Crows fan and wears his Crows guernsey around in the Blazers locker room to the ribbing of his teammates and Mills already has a relationship with the 36ers where he buys season tickets for underprivileged children.

[Johno6]

word around the traps awhile ago was that if there was a lockout and he couldnt get a gig anywhere else that suited him, he would come play for the 36ers.

i cant see it happening tho

[Gozu]

With three months until tip-off the NBL websites Marc Howard has done previews of how the teams look so far this offseason.

The 36ers:

Confirmed Signings: Nathan Crosswell (G), Darren Ng (G), Nathan Herbert (G/F), Stephen Weigh (G/F), Mitchell Creek (F), Daniel Johnson(F/C), Adam Ballinger (F/C)

Needs: A starting point guard, help in the middle, offensive firepower, perimeter shooting

The Skinny: Coming off a disappointing 9-19 season that saw them finish eighth and miss the Finals for the second straight year, hopes are high that head coach Marty Clarke and team management can recruit the horses to turn things around in the City of Churches.

The Sixers certainly started off their off-season acquisitions well by signing former Perth Wildcats youngster Stephen Weigh as well as veteran guard Nathan Crosswell. Weigh gives the 36ers a versatile swingman with a scorer’s mentality and yet another potential building block for the future. Crosswell brings some welcome experience to what remains a very young squad, and will likely come off the bench behind either an import or, if Clarke strikes it lucky, Boomers star Patrick Mills (who the club is recruiting now that he remains in limbo due to the NBA lockout).

Clarke will be looking to the continued development of returning young Sixers Daniel Johnson and Mitchell Creek to help climb back into playoff contention, as well as the return from long-term injury of hard-nosed guard/forward Nathan Herbert. Herbert should at minimum add some steel to the 36ers defensive efforts.

The unconfirmed status of Jacob Holmes however leaves a question mark over the 36ers. Holmes led the team in rebounding last season. If he doesn’t return, one of the 36ers three remaining contracts needs to be allocated to finding a hard-nosed moose on the boards otherwise veteran Adam Ballinger can look forward to a very long season in the paint.

The 36ers can of course use one of their two vacant import slots to address their rebounding needs. After averaging under 80 points a game last season however, both foreign players will also need to be able to produce on the offensive end.

If Adelaide can secure reigning league MVP and free agent American Gary Ervin ahead of the Hawks and other rumoured NBL suitors, he will go a long way towards adding the sort of firepower and playmaking this team needs.

http://www.nbl.com.au/news/article/2011 ... -previews/

[Gozu]

The Townsville Crocs have signed their first import for next season in Elvin Mims who has been playing in the PBL which is a minor league in the US. New Crocs coach Paul Woolpert has coached Mims before in the CBA too.

[Gozu]

Just like that Townsville have filled both of their import spots with the signing of former NBA journeyman Eddie Gill who has been playing in the D League.

[Gozu]

Basketball Australia has announced a squad for the upcoming training camp on the Gold Coast ahead of the Stankovic Cup in China in early August:

‘Golden Star’ Boomers – Gold Coast Training Camp Squad (25 – 29 July 2011)
David Barlow, CAI Zaragoza, Spain
Aron Baynes, EWE Basket Oldenburg, Germany
Jason Cadee, Gold Coast Blaze
Peter Crawford, Townsville Crocodiles
Matthew Dellavedova, St Mary’s College
Anthony Drmic, AIS
Adam Gibson, Gold Coast Blaze
Hugh Greenwood, AIS
Igor Hadziomerovic, AIS
Joe Ingles, Regal FC Barcelona, Spain
Daniel Kickert, PGE Turow, Poland
Matt Knight, Perth Wildcats
Steven Markovic, Radnički Kragujevac, Serbia
Damian Martin, Perth Wildcats
Patty Mills, Portland Trailblazers, USA
Luke Nevill, Triumph Lyubertsy, Russia
Brad Newley, Lietuvos Rytas, Lithuania
Matt Nielsen, Olympiacos Piraeus
AJ Ogilvy, Besiktas, Turkey
Luke Schenscher, Townsville Crocodiles
Nate Tomlinson, University of Colorado
Jesse Wagstaff, Perth Wildcats
Stephen Weigh, Adelaide 36ers
Mark Worthington, Gold Coast Blaze

[Gozu]

Wollongong have re-signed Tyson Demos and Daniel Jackson.

[Gozu]

The 36ers today announced they have signed their first import for next season in Chris Warren. Not too sure about this one he's only 5'10" and straight out of college (University of Mississippi) and could be another Craig Winder.

[Freo HeaveHo]

Did put up decent numbers in his final year. To be honest I feel like the import has lost it's significance as they are so hit and miss. Not many clubs have had all that much success with a player coming in and having a huge impact. The release rate seems to be more common than anything

[Gozu]

Gold Coast have signed their first import for next season, Mike English who had been playing in Slovakia.

Interestingly he was recruited at the Australian Elite Men's Invitational Camp in Las Vegas set up by Blaze coach Joey Wright with Wollongong and Cairns also taking part in the camp which they hope to be an annual event.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/bas ... 6099221224

[Gozu]

New Zealand have announced their initial squad ahead of the series against the Boomers in September:

Following the trials, the team will slim down to 12 for a camp from July 30-August 4, before heading to China for a tournament against the home team along with Angola and Russia. The Tall Blacks then travel to Italy for a training camp before four-team tournaments in Macedonia and Turkey.

They have another training camp scheduled for September 1-4, before the 2011 FIBA Oceania Championship series against the Australian Boomers on September 7, 9 and 11 in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane respectively.


NZ Tall Blacks triallists
Tom Abercrombie (Waikato Pistons), Steven Adams (Wellington Saints), Benny Anthony (Waikato Pistons), Everard Bartlett (Auckland Pirates), Mark Dickel (Southland Sharks), Michael Fitchett (Nelson Giants), Isaac Fotu (Breakers Development), Casey Frank (Wellington Saints), Leon Henry (Wellington Saints), Jarrod Kenny (Bay Hawks), Morgan Natanahira (Bay Hawks), Kirk Penney (NZ Breakers), Alex Pledger (Waikato Pistons), Lindsay Tait (Wellington Saints), Jeremiah Trueman (Manawatu Jets), Mika Vukona (Nelson Giants), Corey Webster (Wellington Saints).

[Gozu]

Sports fans in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney will be able to cheer on both the Boomers and ‘Jayco’ Opals men’s and women’s Australian national basketball teams as they vie for a berth at the 2012 London Olympic Games with the news today that their FIBA Oceania Championship series against New Zealand will be a unique double-header event.

For the first time ever the Boomers and Opals will play the Olympic qualification series as a double-header, with Game One of both series in Melbourne on 7 September at the State Netball Hockey Centre (AKA ‘The Cage’), Game Two at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on 9 September and Game Three at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on 11 September.

http://www.nbl.com.au/news/article/2011 ... australia/

[Gozu]

Basketball Australia CEO Larry Sengstock has announced that they will help facilitate an NBL team's signing of Patrick Mills as Patty has now confirmed he's interested in playing in the NBL this season.

Also today Townsville re-signed Chris Cedar and have elevated him to the full roster after previously being a development player.

[CK]

Basketball Australia CEO Larry Sengstock has announced that they will help facilitate an NBL team's signing of Patrick Mills as Patty has now confirmed he's interested in playing in the NBL this season.
Also today Townsville re-signed Chris Cedar and have elevated him to the full roster after previously being a development player.

That is potentially very big news for the 36ers, who would have to be considered front runners for his services.