Adding DeVries keeps the 36ers small | Thebigtip

The Adelaide 36ers have built a side that is going to live and die from beyond the extended arc in 2010/11, with a plethora of outside specialists converging in the Sixers back-court.

The Sixers today added import Troy DeVries to their roster, boasting their guard total to an unimaginable six, although you may be able to squeeze that down to five if you count Brad Hill as a small forward, but still the Sixers have shied away from adding excessive height and instead gone for the unusual option to be as small as possible.

What height the Sixers do have in Adam Ballinger (5.3rpg in 2009/10), Jacob Holmes (6.4rpg), and off-season recruits Daniel Johnson (4.2rpg) and Jeff Dowdell (1.7rpg including playoffs), isn’t the most awe inspiring frontline, and besides Holmes, no player is regarded as a great rebounder on the roster. And Ballinger is the only player considered a scorer.

While the Sixers and new head coach Marty Clarke appear to have been particular in the squad they have chosen, it is hard to fathom why they would venture away from such a traditional line-up and attempt to create a side that is going to struggle so much to rebound.

All is good and well with having a team that wants to run and gun, as it would appear here with so many guards, but it’s not easy to run when defensive rebounds are going to be so hard to come by and you are constantly taking the ball out of the bottom of the net.

Even when the Gold Coast Blaze released Rick Rickert last week, after Rickert was unable to get citizenship and play as a local, the Sixers had the opportunity to sign Rickert and bolster their front court with one of the leagues top rebounders. Rickert pulled down 7.1rpg last season with the New Zealand Breakers.

But before Sixers fans go all ‘Mel Gibson-like’, the team does have talent in the backcourt. Rhys Carter, Nathan Herbert and Darren Ng are all quality players, and may have to carry more of the load than in previous years with such a small squad. With question marks over the import duo of Craig Winder and DeVries for the moment until they see real action with the team.

But I think the feeling out of Adelaide would be that their fans wanted more, they wanted an import who was a slasher/scorer, and could cap off breaks with a highlight package arsenal reminiscent of the days of Willie Farley. Although the Sixers fans probably wouldn’t care, so long the team was racking up wins at the end of every game.

But after last seasons crash landing, the Sixers appear to have not really changed for the better.

I expected a bigger splurge on the free-agent market from the Sixers, who did very well to entice Carter into Sixers blue, but their other big recruit was Daniel Johnson who the Melbourne Tigers just let walk without a fight.