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Post by Stephen Abootman on Feb 5, 2024 20:06:26 GMT
Mohamed looks for all the world like a guy who should have gone months ago but Scorchers have never exactly been the most cut-throat organisation. I think Giants' new imports have been about as good as they looked on paper i.e. not very. And Spencer has clearly been a waste of space in Newcastle. Almost certainly one of the lowest earners on the team but whatever they've paid him so far has been too much. As good a season as the team is having, I'd argue a couple of Cheshire's Americans haven't been all that great either. It's probably a stretch to call them genuine 'worst import in the league' candidates but they haven't exactly pulled up trees individually.
I imagine the move to six imports is probably going to mean more not so stellar Americans hanging around on rosters for a full season. I'm still not all that keen on this rule change personally but presumably most coaches were in favour of it.
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Post by reallyoldfeenixfan2 on Feb 5, 2024 21:25:03 GMT
I would put a picture of uprooted trees on here but my IT skills aren't that good! Woah, hang on a minute. Which of our 6 US imports haven't impressed you all that much? Rideau! player of the month so many times I've lost count Jack perhaps the best catch and shoot 3 point player in the league Christon no comment....just look at the stats sheets Holden wonderful defensive performance, ask, " Buckets "+ excellent 3 point shot Stephens exceptional 3 point shot Chargois can and does do everything, score, rebounds under both baskets. Perhaps what you don't see is a player having 35+ minutes high scoring games holding the team together 'cos they don't need to. I almost fell off the toilet when I read that post.I rest my case. |
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Post by eillo23 on Feb 5, 2024 22:40:42 GMT
I would put a picture of uprooted trees on here but my IT skills aren't that good! Woah, hang on a minute. Which of our 6 US imports haven't impressed you all that much? Rideau! player of the month so many times I've lost count Jack perhaps the best catch and shoot 3 point player in the league Christon no comment....just look at the stats sheets Holden wonderful defensive performance, ask, " Buckets "+ excellent 3 point shot Stephens exceptional 3 point shot Chargois can and does do everything, score, rebounds under both baskets. Perhaps what you don't see is a player having 35+ minutes high scoring games holding the team together 'cos they don't need to. I almost fell off the toilet when I read that post.I rest my case. I have to agree with you here. Cheshire have had the most impressive recruitment this season. Every import has played a part and performed to their tasks. One thing I am surprised about is how little Christon gets praised. The guys a great talent at both ends of the floor. Rai seems to get all the plaudits at Cheshire, but Christon and Rideu are both exceptional players. |
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Post by everard on Feb 5, 2024 22:53:25 GMT
Cheshire have certainly recruited well. Would be interested to know who actually recruited the Giants imports (and coach) as they had no management in place other than the league. Seems like they were set up to fail.
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Post by notoriousbigz on Feb 6, 2024 10:07:55 GMT
I actually sit somewhere in the middle (but far closer to being impressed than not, obviously) regarding Cheshires imports. Going completely against Azania Stewart when she said Ben Thomas "doesn't even coach much" (I'm so rattled by that it hurts) - I think the recruitment has been as spot on to fit the freedoms Ben gives them within his system as it can be.
He's given the team a license to shoot threes quickly within an offence, and its very drive and dish based. If you're recruiting to give imports that sort of offensive freedom and get the balance right (they can all shoot), you're onto something.I don't think Christon or Stephens for example would be half as effective on a Riders team, the system doesn't suit them. But Ben's got it spot on for what he wants, and clearly they're having an awful lot of fun with it. So yeah, I wouldn't say they'd be outstanding on other teams, but they're definitely talented and they're played to their strengths.
Cheshire are easily the most fun team to watch in the league this season for me (taking out Lions in Europe).
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Post by reallyoldfeenixfan2 on Feb 6, 2024 10:13:53 GMT
Cheshire are easily the most fun team to watch in the league this season for me (taking out Lions in Europe). So when are you coming over to watch us? |
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Post by notoriousbigz on Feb 6, 2024 13:11:46 GMT
Cheshire are easily the most fun team to watch in the league this season for me (taking out Lions in Europe). So when are you coming over to watch us? When Jack gets me free tickets… |
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Post by reallyoldfeenixfan2 on Feb 6, 2024 15:59:06 GMT
So when are you coming over to watch us? When Jack gets me free tickets… Maceo or Hudson? To be fair the last few homes games have been almost full, on lines sales very busy. . |
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Post by notoriousbigz on Feb 7, 2024 0:05:10 GMT
When Jack gets me free tickets… Maceo or Hudson? To be fair the last few homes games have been almost full, on lines sales very busy. . Hudson! He's my boy! |
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Post by Stephen Abootman on Feb 7, 2024 1:08:45 GMT
Woah, hang on a minute. Which of our 6 US imports haven't impressed you all that much? Rideau! player of the month so many times I've lost count Jack perhaps the best catch and shoot 3 point player in the league Christon no comment....just look at the stats sheets Holden wonderful defensive performance, ask, " Buckets "+ excellent 3 point shot Stephens exceptional 3 point shot Chargois can and does do everything, score, rebounds under both baskets. Perhaps what you don't see is a player having 35+ minutes high scoring games holding the team together 'cos they don't need to. I almost fell off the toilet when I read that post.I rest my case. I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to be browsing this forum whilst sat on the crapper. Particularly if you're going to fall off at the suggestion that every Nix player isn't amazing. Gonna do yourself a right mischief if you're not careful. As I'm sure you're aware the ghastly team I support has won a lot of trophies over the last decade. And I'd take absolutely no issue at all with the suggestion that some of the individuals who played on those teams weren't all that amazing. It would be true. That doesn't mean we recruited poorly those seasons. Signing a few not all that good players doesn't = 'bad recruitment'. Clearly Nix have hit upon a winning formula this year. They've sure as hell had Riders number. And there's plenty to like about the team. Jack's game seems to have gone to another level this season. Rai excellent. Chargois quite a lot better than I expected. Rideau... horrible shooter but capable of contributing in lots of other ways. And I could tell you exactly how many times he's been POTM, and how many TOTW appearances he has  The players I was referring to are Stephens and Holden. Stephens is not an 'exceptional' perimeter shooter. 34% is ordinary... probably a bit worse than ordinary when you're a roleplayer who doesn't obviously contribute a huge amount else. He's actually right down towards the bottom of the pile this season in both TS% and eFG%. A statistically anaemic player. And I say that as someone who thought he might be one of the rookies to watch heading into the season. Individually he's not been close to the player I thought he might be, even if he has landed on a successful team. And a lot of those same things can be said about Holden. Sure as hell no 'excellent' shooter... One of the very worst in the league in fact. To be fair, I do remember him playing well defensively in that rather odd game against Riders where he checked in for the first time at the start of the 4th quarter and we proceeded to blow a 13 point lead. Like I said, it might be a bit of a stretch putting these guys in a 'weakest import in the league' conversation. But they've been patchy contributors at best. Will Nix be in a massive rush to re-sign either of them this summer? I doubt it. Will other clubs be queuing up to pinch them? Definitely not. Unless something fairly dramatic happens over the next few months. If I was in Ben Thomas' shoes I'd have no problem at all rebuilding the bench/supporting cast from scratch this summer. Particularly if that improved the clubs chances of retaining key pieces. Players like EJ Stephens are a dime a dozen. |
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