south dragons

[ClintDogg]

Finnaly someone that agree's with me.

And for gods sake He plays and coaches at the same time, I'm surprised he's still living with that sorta pressure and stress on him, who cares if he's not that consistant he still gives those big numbers on occassions.

I'm just Cutting (Heal) some slack, I can't believe you guys are bagging him so much, he's a great player and still is a great player.

EXACTLY my point too mate. He has EVOLVED as a player, not just to a player coach, but an all round TEAM player. Man, you should of seen some of his games in the early days, omg hes changed heaps.

He is nowhere near his best mate. At his best he was getting 30 a night at will. He is playing some decent basketball but you are severely underrating him if you think he is peaking at 35 + yrs old.

Hes past his peak yes, but he still has got it hey. Now hes got an older players game/roll, all round style along with coaching as well, he does a great job.

Yeah... he's a star

Front runner for coach of the year... not to mention defensive POY

He's rubbish

Rubbish that has won titles, played in the NBA, matched it up with the best of all-time and litt them RIGHT UP.

Still doing it this year too, if you knew basketball you could see this.

Its very hard to play, and coach at the same time, let alone run ya team from the capt. point of view and many more aspects of the game. I bet you this tho, any games the Dragons r down, they will be giving the ball to Heal for the WIN!.

On another note, i seen that kid that has a heart attack or what not on tv 2nite, OMG he looks full on gronky hey!. Does not look that smart, mite be a towel or ball boy even that get picked on all the time.

 

[Red.White and Blue]

Bloody Hell:

CHALLENGE STADIUM, PERTH

(9-7) PERTH 108-80 SOUTH (4-14) (53-53 at half time)

PERTH:
Redhage: 37 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast
Crawford: 18pts, 13 reb
Dowdell: 12 pts, 6 reb
Brown: 12 pts, 5 ast


SOUTH:
Heal: 27 pts, 2 reb. (no assists)
Ingles: 15 pts, 5 reb
Groves: 15 pts, 3 ast
Holmes: 7 pts, 13 reb, 5 ast


53-53 at half time then 55-27 2nd half. thats crap.

 

[Red.White and Blue]

Also i see brett hobba is back. what happened to him.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

Does anyone think that Ingles has a chance of getting in to the NBA.

He's not really that good enough to be in the NBA at the moment, but he's only 19 and still has many years to come and improve himself.

He should start thinking about going to college in the US and try to improve on his basketball, then of coarse try to get drafted.

 

[High Ryder]

Sack Heal, its the only way.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

If you sack heal, your pretty much sacking the rest of the team.

No one would want to play for the Dragons anymore if he's gone, he's the heart and soul of the team and he'll be retiring soon anyway. And will probably go on with the coaching job after he retires playing aswell.

 

[High Ryder]

If you sack heal, your pretty much sacking the rest of the team.

No one would want to play for the Dragons anymore if he's gone, he's the heart and soul of the team and he'll be retiring soon anyway. And will probably go on with the coaching job after he retires playing aswell.

I couldn't disagree with you more. Heal is the coach and he has to be held accountable for the teams performances. The thing with us at the moment is that we don't function as a TEAM. Our Defence couldn't stop an under 10 team and in offense they simply rely on players creating something for themself rather than having set plays and using each other.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

I'd reaken it would be pretty hard to be on court playing, and at the same time....

Trying to make up plays.....while trying to remember player rotations.....while trying to talk and incourage teammates.....while trying to Defend.....while trying to make shots.....while trying to get his head into the game.....while trying to block out the crowd.....while trying not to stare at the nice cheerleaders on the sidelines.

I'd be really surprised if he could do all those things at once, let alone focusing on winning the actual game.

 

[High Ryder]

Hence why he should coach or play, not both.

 

[Bring-Back-Powell]

Hence why he should coach or play, not both.

Agree. I'd lean towards playing. At least he's proven he can do that.

They should just give the job to Guy Molloy for the rest of the season. He's coached Cairns before.

I think another problem is they've got too much mediocre in the side. Martin, Shanahan, Herbert, Hobba and arguably Burston are not good enough. Heal, Hendrix, Ingles and Groves have to have super games for the Dragons to win.

I'll be stunned if they get more than 4,000 tomoz night V Adel at Vodafone. Their home performances have been rubbish this season...I've been to about 5 games, and only saw 1 win - v Slingers.


Overall, the Dragons have been the biggest flop of 2008.

 

[High Ryder]

Martin goe alright when given consistant mins, same with Hobba. But Heal just never plays them. And as for Buston, he has had a pretty good year and is the leading shot blocker so he at least provide some sort of defence which the team lacks.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

Yeah thats one thing I agree with, Heals gotta choose, either play or coach.

The Team owner should force this on Heal, so he can make the choice sooner.

 

[celtic_pride]

BRING BACK THE GOOJI TO VICTORIA !!!

Seriously though Heal has enormous ticker, although I do think Mark Cowan has made his bed by being so supportive for Heal and it's impossible to sack him without him leaving the club as well IMHO (which won't happen)

I think the recruting has been appalling ..
Cortez hasn't been a good fit for the Dragons ...
and that other first import was a disaster
Kavossy Franklin and Rosel Ellis were the heart and soul of the D's and getting rid of them was just stupid and illogical ..
I think everyone at the club (including Hammer) was arrogant enough to think that because we made the playoffs in the first season, that we were close enough to win the title if we made a few gutsy moves in the off-season ..

Kavossy (or as I used to call him Black Jesus) won the team MVP last year, and what do they do, they go and sack him ???

I didn't renew my membership this season for that reason (oh and getting rid of Ellis as well) and haven't been to a game, not because I'm a bandwagoner, but the way they treated those two guys was disgraceful IMHO, Franklin was my fave player and man I don't care how good Cortez is, Black Jesus was a much better fit for the Dragon system ..

Anyone else agree ?

 

[High Ryder]

Celtic agree with everything you said. I was very cut up when i heard Franklin and my favourite player in the NBL Ellis' got the flick. I guess they were banking on the excitement factor of Groves to draw crowds as he is a bit more flash than Kavossy. Those two decisions were probably the 2 biggest blunders they could of made. They should of built around those 2 workhorse imports. They set the right attitude example about how to play. Determined, hard and never say die. Where as Groves and Hendrix wouldn't inspire the same.

 

[tonywce23]

Gutsy effort by the Dragons, down by as many as 17, ended up losing by 5. Thank god Adelaide got up, had $40 riding on that game

 

[High Ryder]

Not good enough...

Its getting beyond rediculous and quite frankly so frustrating to support. Now i know how Richmond supporters must feel.

 

[Alex99]

For the South Dragon to move forward Shane Heal should immediately retire after next weeks game in brisbane and give the playing time to Luke Martin and Brad Hill. By moving Matty Shananhan to the coaching department he had clearly played this card and now the season is over its time to move forward for next year.

Their is an article on the fox sports web site that indicated that Heal is thinking about the single role next year (see here) and its more than likely this will be his last year as a player. In round 16 the dragons go on the Queensland road trip and play Townsville and then the Brisbane Bullets; as this was his first NBL home this may be a good place to end it.

I wouldn’t bring Groves or Hendrix back next season and it’s a high possibility they may lose Joe Ingles to the NBA or Europe so its time to go on a recruiting mission. The first player I would target would be Aaron Bruce who currently plays for the University of Baylor to run the point. Try and obtain a scoring off guard and a slashing small forward with NBA experience as the import positions. Jake Holmes and Matty Burston as the 4 and 5 this would round out the starting 5. Coming off the bench would be Brad Hill, Luke Martin, Brad Hobba and a new big man. Ideally they would loving it if Joe Ingles was going to stick around and this would allow them to recruit a centre and have Burston come off the bench.

The time is now for Shane Heal to hang up the singlet and concentrate on his coaching duties.

 

[bloodpumpsRnB]

I can guaruntee you there will be no change this season, but next year hammer will be coaching only. I am not a Dragons supporter but no doubt this would be the best move for hammer and for the club. He is a very good coach and if he's doing one job, it's coaching, and he will be the coach for a long time.

 

[celtic_pride]

Change the imports (well at least one of them as well)
Give Cortez another year, but to be honest I would discard the likes of Jacob Holmes.
Might sound harsh, but I reckon he's a bit soft and goes missing often, esp under crunch/pressure situations ...

The problem with the Dragons (and this happened in the first season as well when we made the playoffs) is that they are soft as butter, and it isn't easy for me to say this ...
How many times have big teams like the Tigers and Bullets gone to town on us, esp as we don't have a legit big/interior presence ...

 

[The_Young_Gun]

Heal should just play for now, and after he retires should try and get an Assistant or Coaching role at the Dragons or elsewhere, I'd rather him been known as a great player till the end, than a crappy "publicity stunt coaching/player" who only plays to bring the crowds in.

He could easily just finnish off the rest of his career on top, without the added pressure of been coach....... just like hirdy did, by giving the captaining role away, thus making him focus more on playing, making him an even greater player.

 

[ClintDogg]

Shane Heal is a complete player now with his A-Grade game he brings to the court each week, along with his leadership skills, knowledge from NBA and euro leagues, along with the fact thet HES THE COACH AS WELL, this can onlt mean good things 4 the team or players underneath him.

Shane Heal has STILL GOT IT, and if you followed him all his career like i have, u will see that hes now a much better player and evolved to a "contributor" to the team.

 

[The_Young_Gun]

Easy there mate....

You can't say "Good" things about Shane Heal in this Forum and get away with it.....


I've already learnt my lesson.....

 

[Alex99]

Heard a rumour last night from a friend that has some strong ties to Victorian basketball and then it was confirmed by a different source (nether know each other) that Michelle Timms and Guy Malloy quit the South Dragons yesterday. Malloy was talked into staying with the Dragons by the players. Not sure what Timms is doing.

The alleged rumour is that the players, Timms and Malloy are sick of Shane Heal and want him gone. They have given Mark Cowan an ultimatum that either he goes or they do.

Ian Stacker is waiting in the wings as he has moved back to Victoria and been seen at the last few Dragons games.

 

[bomberz08]

Agree.
They should bring back Mark Price.

Seriously, their lack of success is un-Victorian and if they keep losing they'll end up folding like the Victoria Giants.

gee what a success the giants were!!!

i dont like heal captain/coach i think he should just be captain so he doesnt have a lot to think about

 

[DBAH0]

Would be sweet justice if Heal is given the Mark Price treatment and show the pink slip out the door.

Karma is a wonderful thing.