MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy's View from Downunder) - I had the great opportunity earlier this week to chat to Dean Parker, the General Manager of the Adelaide 36ers.

Now, Dean is a man with a big job on his hands, taking over the reins of a club that has 'won' three of the past four wooden spoons, has dwindling crowd numbers, low membership numbers and not the best budget bottom line.

For those who don't follow Australian basketball, the 36ers were once an absolute powerhouse. From 1998 to 2002 they won three NBL championships and lost in Game 3 of the semi-finals the other two years.

The 36ers were a big reason why Adelaide was known as Title Town. A night at Adelaide Arena - or The Powerhouse, as it was known - was close to the best ticket in town, near-capacity crowds would shake the very foundations of the building when their team was on a roll, which was often.

Success slowly faded into the background, however, as first the team crashed win-less out of the playoffs in four straight seasons, then made the playoffs just once in the next six tries (and that one year, three of the four teams who missed the finals were effectively bankrupt!).

For a long time their fans stuck with them, loyal enough to remember the good times and stick through the bad ones.

Even three years ago they still averaged 5,000 spectators per game, but the last two years the wheels came crashing down as losses, unpopular coaching and a near complete lack of communication from management created the imperfect storm.

"One of the priorities when I came into the job was our relationship with our corporate partners and our members," Parker said.

"Our (on-court) performance has been hard enough to deal with over the past few years, but to add poor performance to poor communication with the members, then it's very hard to ask people to come back and support us when we’ve given you nothing."

One of Parker's first actions as GM was to hold a members' forum where they could provide feedback, generate ideas and ask questions, followed up by another some three months later.

"You can sit back and think you have all the answers but if you aren't asking the people you're catering for then you're really just guessing," he said.

"We want them to have a say in how we operate, because how they experience what we do is one of the best gauges on it."

And while making people feel valued is important, making them feel like they are getting value is vital.

"Game night's the next challenge for us, ultimately we want people to leave and say 'wow that was great, when's the next one'," Parker said.

While he would love to be able to renovate Adelaide Arena for this Saturday's tip-off, the 36ers don't have the finances for it, so ideas like a new scoreboard, pyrotechnics and flash entertainment are likely to stay on the to-do-later list.

But Parker wants to bring the fans closer to the stars of the game, both past and present, and that costs very little.

"This year we're going to have the coaches (from both teams) up speaking prior to the game while people are eating dinner," he said.

"So it's not just going up there to have dinner, it becomes an experience to do with that night's game and the club."

Then after the game they have a reason for fans to hang around while coach Joey Wright and his men debrief following the game.

"We are having two past players come up straight after the game to be interviewed. So by the time Joey and the boys get up there people have been entertained," Parker said.

"This Saturday night we've got Rupert Sapwell, a former 200-game championship player for us, and Darren Ng, who has come back as our team doctor this year.

"I think any sporting organisation is better when the people from its great history are still a part of it."

It's that history that all the 36ers' actions will be judged against, starting with their opening home game against Wollongong this week.

But Parker knows this is a long haul, not a sprint, and that he is coming from a low base with membership slightly under 2000.

While Parker said this figure is above the past two seasons, he admits it is well below their historical highs and that sponsorship levels are "not where we want them to be".

"I felt we had distanced ourselves from those people who are a huge part of our clubs," he said, adding that if the club delivers quality first, then quantity will follow.

"With our corporate partners we are trying to build relationships rather than get one-year contracts."

And the aim is clear on what needs to be done to make the Adelaide 36ers the best night in town once again.

"Until every corporate opportunity is sold and every seat is taken the job isn't done," Parker finished with real passion.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

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