NBA on Foxtel/Aussie TV 2013/2014

[Dan's Brain]

I got sacked the day before draft day last year. It was awesome!

[Andrew]

If it's any consolation, I'll probably miss Game 2 coming back from Canberra on Monday.

...alright, you've got it worse. Good luck in your exams!

I'm missing the draft while I'm hanging out at LAX airport waiting for my flight home. I am attempting to drop that into as many posts as possible.

It does suck though. The draft is, maybe surprisingly, my favourite sporting event of the year.

not surprising at all, it's one of my favourites too....I take day off work & make a day of it every year

It's even more enjoyable in person. (See, I can slip things into posts too, even two years later )

[Dan's Brain]

If it's any consolation, I'll probably miss Game 2 coming back from Canberra on Monday.

...alright, you've got it worse. Good luck in your exams!

I'm missing the draft while I'm hanging out at LAX airport waiting for my flight home. I am attempting to drop that into as many posts as possible.

It does suck though. The draft is, maybe surprisingly, my favourite sporting event of the year.

not surprising at all, it's one of my favourites too....I take day off work & make a day of it every year

It's even more enjoyable in person. (See, I can slip things into posts too, even two years later )

Well pLAyed sir.


Can you do it as subtly as that though?

[Andrew]

You can't be subtle about these things.

[The X]

I promise not to be drunk at 10am like last year

[Andrew]

I had a glance at the listings over on the ESPN International website. The first two games have been listed, Jazz at Nuggets on October 29th and Bulls at Celtics on October 31st. While I'm glad to know that I'll get to see at least one Bulls game on Foxtel this year (hopefully One SD will be available for Southern Cross viewers by the time the season starts, One HD is but I don't have an HD TV ), I have a feeling that's going to be a very painful game to watch. Glutton for punishment that I am, I'll watch it all the same.

[Dan's Brain]

Nice to see the Jazz scheduled so early on. For a good team, they're always extremely under-represented on our screens. As for the Bulls' game.... I assume that was chosen on the strength of the playoff series. Goes to show that they should wait a couple of months before picking which games to put on.

Would love to see a Bulls/T-Wolves game.

[Andrew]

As for the Bulls' game.... I assume that was chosen on the strength of the playoff series.

Good point. Though with the loss of Gordon, the return of KG and the Bulls' now traditional struggles at the beginning of the year, I'm not sure it will resemble that fine series all that much.

[AMenace]

Putting a bulls game on isn't good.

It's obvious that it isn't going to replicate the playoff series earlier this year.

[Andrew]

There's a fair few Bulls fans in Australia though as somewhat of a hangover from the 90s, so a token Bulls game or two is acceptable. They make up a small percentage of all the games shown (and we've got the One coverage this year as well) so it's not like they dominate the schedule.

[Dan's Brain]

There's a fair few Bulls fans in Australia though as somewhat of a hangover from the 90s, so a token Bulls game or two is acceptable. They make up a small percentage of all the games shown (and we've got the One coverage this year as well) so it's not like they dominate the schedule.

Speaking of Aussie Bulls fans, and at the risk of being slightly off-topic (which I generally care deeply about), I managed to find a Derrick Rose replica jersey in Melbourne!! I'd been hoping to find one in L.A., but for some reason, there were more Lakers jerseys than anything else.

Back to topic: we generally see about 50-70 games per year, including playoffs (without One's coverage) so Bulls games shouldn't be left off the menu completely. In a perfect world, we'd be able to see every team at least twice. But it just doesn't work like that. In the 4 or so years that I've had Foxtel, I think I've seen teams like the T-Wolves, Clippers and Raptors once or twice. And teams like San Antonio, Phoenix, Lakers and Miami are shown 7 or 8 times a year.

[J@3]

I think 99.9% of Bulls fans in Australia were bandwagoners, but I think the bandwagon laws allow that for people aged between 5-12.

[The X]

I think 99.9% of Bulls fans in Australia were bandwagoners, but I think the bandwagon laws allow that for people aged between 5-12.

Ditto for Lakers fans

Speaking of Aussie Bulls fans, and at the risk of being slightly off-topic (which I generally care deeply about), I managed to find a Derrick Rose replica jersey in Melbourne!! I'd been hoping to find one in L.A., but for some reason, there were more Lakers jerseys than anything else.

Yep, I also found that. I just assumed as you did that there would be more league-wide stuff. I did manage to pick up some swingmen jerseys for $5 from the Lakers store (Shaq, Payton & Caron Butler). They were cheap as each player had left the team in the offseason and it was a fire sale. Still good value for $5.

I never get the replica jerseys myself as I don't like screenwriting that fades. Stitching/twill is my preference.

[J@3]

Ditto for Lakers fans

New age Laker fans definitely. The team was 48-34 when I started following them.. although now that they're good I don't give a shit and pay more attention to the Bucks. Reverse bandwagoning.

[The X]

Ditto for Lakers fans

New age Laker fans definitely. The team was 48-34 when I started following them.. although now that they're good I don't give a shit and pay more attention to the Bucks. Reverse bandwagoning.

Yep, I was a big fan of that Lakers' team with Cedric Ceballos, Eddie Jones, Anthony Peeler, Van Exel etc, but once they brought in Shaq & got rid of Ced & Divac, I was done with them. When a team gets good, I have trouble supporting them. Maybe tall poppy syndrome, I don't know.

[Dan's Brain]

I think 99.9% of Bulls fans in Australia were bandwagoners, but I think the bandwagon laws allow that for people aged between 5-12.

I was 8. It was 1992. The first Jordan years were coming to an end even if we didn't realise it at the time. But I have stayed with them since then.

Yep, I also found that. I just assumed as you did that there would be more league-wide stuff. I did manage to pick up some swingmen jerseys for $5 from the Lakers store (Shaq, Payton & Caron Butler). They were cheap as each player had left the team in the offseason and it was a fire sale. Still good value for $5.

I never get the replica jerseys myself as I don't like screenwriting that fades. Stitching/twill is my preference.

Surprisingly the Derrick Rose one is stitched. Unless we're talking about two different things.

And I did buy a Blake Griffin Clippers jersey at the Draft Party. He'd been with the team maybe 45 minutes. I also sold out and bought a Pau Gasol one.

[Andrew]

No question a lot of people jumped off the bandwagon after 1998. Seeing as though I started an NBA Live season with a Bulls team that featured Mario Bennett as the starting power forward following the break-up of the championship team and remained a fan of the team through those six dismal years, I think I can safely say I'm also in the true fan camp.

Speaking of Aussie Bulls fans, and at the risk of being slightly off-topic (which I generally care deeply about), I managed to find a Derrick Rose replica jersey in Melbourne!! I'd been hoping to find one in L.A., but for some reason, there were more Lakers jerseys than anything else.

That's pretty cool, I haven't seen any jerseys in the sports shops around here for a few years now. Was it an authentic or a swingman?

[Dan's Brain]

yeah it was an authentic. I managed to get a Ben Wallace one a couple of years ago, unfortunately.

[Andrew]

Fantastic, excellent find (the Rose jersey, that is ). How much was it?

[Dan's Brain]

I think it was about $90...? Thereabouts. It was from rebel sport.

[Andrew]

Not bad at all. I haven't been to Rebel for ages.

[The X]

Replica jerseys are like the real thing but numbers are essentially ironed on rather than stitched on, which is crap.

Swingman jerseys are the mesh ones with stitching (my best one is Oscar Robertson Hardwood Classics that i picked up in LA).

Authentics are what they say they are. Very good buy if you got an authentic one for $90. Usually at Rebel the Swingman jerseys are about $80. I wouldn't piss on a replica jersey

[Andrew]

An authentic for $90 would be an absolute steal. Mine cost $175 US.

[Andrew]

Seems they changed their minds about showing the HOF ceremony and repeated the Seton Hall documentary instead. Plenty of footage on NBA.com though so I guess it would've been a bit redundant to watch a cut down version of it anyway.

[Dan's Brain]

Hmmmm. Thank God for that. Completely forgot that it was on.