Maximum style, minimum substance

In the wake of Mark Price's resignation from the South Dragons, and an 0-5 start to their inaugural season, Nick Mockford analyses what is going wrong at Vodafone Arena.

It was billed as the biggest coup for Australian basketball in a long, long time. Forget the fact he had no head-coaching experience in any league of note, this was Mark Price. A four-time NBA All-Star and elite point guard in the world’s premier league for many years coming down under.

Follow this with a similar coup in Todd Fuller, a former top ten draft pick courtesy of the Golden State Warriors. His career didn’t quite live up to expectations, but regardless, he was attracted to Australia as a former NBA player and collegiate star.

Five games into the season, and neither remains, sadly underlining something that has become more and more evident over the past few weeks: the style is there for the South Dragons, but the substance is still sadly lacking.

For all the fanfare and glitzy promotion of the NBL’s newest franchise in the post-Victorian Giants era, it seems a major issue has been left off the administration chalkboard. That being, you can’t cut corners in this business, and a few big-name plasters aren’t going to cover cracks that are already significantly evident.

There are, predictably, rumours of Price falling out with several players, most notably captain Shane Heal, and on the surface it looks like this could very well be the case. After all, they have only played five games and Price has only coached five games. Would the board really have given him such a short leash under the circumstances? It’s unlikely.

However, Price’s limitations as a coach have been evident from the get-go. Alas, for such a creative player, his coaching has lacked any real imagination, settling for standardized NBA playbooks and not a lot of adaption. This was sadly evident on Sunday evening, with the Dragons up a dozen over Melbourne and staring at their first win in a big upset. Instead, experience took over, both on the court and on the sideline, and in the end it was a rout the other way.

Fuller, on the other hand, was supposedly ousted by Heal himself, although it is hard to argue with the decision. Despite posting reasonable numbers, as one would expect, Fuller’s demeanor has been sub-par and his defense non-existent. In a league where effort and hustle often ousts natural ability, this isn’t good enough for a team struggling to make its mark.

Of course, injuries haven’t helped. On paper, the Dragons put together an extremely good roster, but the loss of premier Australian centre Matt Burston has been costly, serving more to emphasise Fuller’s defensive deficiencies more than anything, given the next tallest player on the roster is combo-forward Jacob Holmes, who has been disappointing himself. Heal has only played three of the first five games too, although in Kavossy Franklin there is proven help available.

However, the onus will always fall on the coach, and while the official line will tell you Price resigned, a close examination of his jacket would likely find Chairman Mark Cowan’s handprints square on the back.

The saga doesn’t end there though. With Price not living up to expectations, the seemingly logical next step would be to appoint someone with head-coaching experience to try and get the South carriage back on the tracks. Perhaps someone like former Cairns coach Guy Molloy, who transformed the last debut franchise, Cairns, from a laughing stock into a respectable playoff contender.

Or, as a second resort, promote experienced assistant Scott Ninnis, who spent a number of years in a very successful Adelaide system learning from one of the greatest coaches in NBL history in Phil Smyth.

Incredibly, Ninnis has been demoted to second assistant, to allow Molloy to take his former role. But who to assume Price’s vacancy?

Well, it wouldn’t be the Dragons without a fanciful announcement, and the answer is Shane Heal. That’s right, after failing with an NBA star point guard with no head-coaching experience, and having two suitable options with experience, they have gone with another unproven candidate, someone whose minutes-per-game stats in the NBA are less than Price’s assist totals.

While one would assume he’ll hand a fair bit of the responsibility over to Molloy as he learns the ropes – and concentrates on playing too – on the surface it seems a baffling and controversial decision.

It however seems to be the Dragons’ approach to their league status, and one can’t help but think the publicity with appointing Heal has been thought more important than a stablilising and experienced alternative.

One thing is for sure, it will be a rollercoaster ride for the remainder of the season, but one can’t help but wonder how long before the Dragons go the same way as the Giants if those in charge don’t work out what it takes to succeed in the league.

Here’s a hint – it’s more than just glitzy promotion and glamour names.

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