NBL Thread

[Arcane]

I hear the Sydney Spirit are having troubles pulling fans to games with less than 1000 people showing up to games which is just sad. I hate their name and 1 of the logos though I did see a logo for them which looked more like the Kings one. I really hope the NBL get their act together for next season.

I did get an email from Narelle Kelly a former Bullets management member in regards to the relaunching of a Brisbane team for next season.

[Andrew]

The thing is, as passionate as I am about basketball the NBL style of play just doesn't excite me all that much to the point where I'd want to tune in for a few NBL games on top of four NBA games per week. Of course, not following it closely enough to have heard of or be familiar with a great bulk of the players and not having a favourite team or any favourite players makes it difficult to become invested in the games as well.

For example, if the Warriors play the Bucks I can find a reason to be interested in the matchup and its outcome even though the Bulls are my favourite team. If the Tigers are playing the Breakers on the other hand, I'm sorry to say I couldn't care less.

[The X]

The thing is, as passionate as I am about basketball the NBL style of play just doesn't excite me all that much to the point where I'd want to tune in for a few NBL games on top of four NBA games per week. Of course, not following it closely enough to have heard of or be familiar with a great bulk of the players and not having a favourite team or any favourite players makes it difficult to become invested in the games as well.

For example, if the Warriors play the Bucks I can find a reason to be interested in the matchup and its outcome even though the Bulls are my favourite team. If the Tigers are playing the Breakers on the other hand, I'm sorry to say I couldn't care less.

That's like most Australian sports though....if a league game is on & Roosters are playing Sharks, then I couldn't care less....maybe if Warriors or Broncos are playing, then perhaps....it's about vested interest....NBL does not compel anybody in the Australian public to be interested in the game....I still play social bball, & I see that there are considerable number of passionate bball players, but when it comes to watching the sport, it doesn't happen....

[Fresh8]

X, no one is as passionate as we are.

Jokes aside, what do you define as a passionate basketball player?

[The X]

Jokes aside, what do you define as a passionate basketball player?

Brad

[Fresh8]

We love Bradley. For those who don't know him, he has Kareem-Caliber goggles that feature 'quick fog-up' action!

And Ben, I believe the NBL will be redone like the A-League in Soccer... so Sydney, Brisbane will both be back. Not sure how quick it will be done but in next 5 years, we should have a better national league. Fingers crossed!

[The X]

I think re-formed league will be next year....there'll be new leagues, teams will have to apply for licenses etc....I think they'll only have 8 teams (maybe 10 max) to start, much like the A League....

[Andrew]

That's like most Australian sports though....if a league game is on & Roosters are playing Sharks, then I couldn't care less....maybe if Warriors or Broncos are playing, then perhaps....it's about vested interest....NBL does not compel anybody in the Australian public to be interested in the game....I still play social bball, & I see that there are considerable number of passionate bball players, but when it comes to watching the sport, it doesn't happen....

Exactly. As much as it's criticised, I think the practice of singling out and hyping standout players is a good way of attracting casual interest and even ensuring that diehard fans have more of an interest in matchups they normally wouldn't. That's not to say teamplay should be downplayed but if you've got a guy who's a threat to go off for 40 points on any given night for example, there will be people who will want to watch to see him work his offensive wizardry even if his team is in the middle of the standings.

Even if they do try to reform the league as they did with A-League, I'll have trouble getting into it if there isn't a Newcastle/Hunter club in the comp. It's not just about attending games but if Newcastle has a team it will probably have at least a few local players who I can support and take an interest in even if they end up signing on elsewhere.

[Dan's Brain]

Andrew Bogut just donated 30 grand to help keep the Sydney Spirit afloat.

http://www.nba.com/2008/news/12/12/1212 ... index.html

The players had to take a 50% paycut before the season just to keep the team from going under, so Bogut's donated money into a special account for the players and staff. Good for him. Stupid rich prick.

[Andrew]

The Taipans have gone into voluntary administration as well. The plans for the revamped league sound a bit ambitious but if it brings in more money and foreign interest, hopefully it will work out better financially.

[Fresh8]

Lots of current NBL teams probably won't be in the new league. They are prediciting it to be a 10 team league. As long as Brisbane and Sydney are back and if it airs on FTA... I will be happy.

[Andrew]

I think they need to make sure a fairly wide region can be represented by or be in support of a single team if they're only going to have ten teams. For example, if they're not going to have a Newcastle/Hunter based team, I wouldn't have too many qualms about following a team from Sydney and being that it's easy enough to get down there for a weekend or whatever, attending games would be feasible. You could also have the team play a couple of exhibition games in Newcastle and Gosford so it kind of becomes the team from Sydney through the Central Coast right up to the Hunter Valley. Then maybe if there's the money and the interest, you can expand the league into those areas.

I'd still find it difficult to really get into the league without a true hometown team but if some games were played in Newcastle or there's at least a team in Sydney, it would be within reach.

[Fresh8]

Looks like the new NBL will only have ties to Fox Sports. Oh well.

As for the new league, I think it would be nice to have a team in each capital. So you have ten teams... and my ideal 'new NBL' would include: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide.

That's five teams. You could add a New Zealand team in there and you have four more spots to fill. You would then give another team each to QLD, NSW, Victoria IMO... so say you keep the South Dragons, have a 'regional NSW team', and keep the Gold Coast Blaze (I don't see Taipans and Crocs suriviing)... and then a team in maybe Darwin, Canberra, or Hobart... eventually expanding to all those places.

[Andrew]

I think you definitely need to cover all the capitals. With Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Darwin, each state and territory is represented by a team so in lieu of a nearby team, you've at least got a team that represents your state. Then you could have another couple of teams, one in each of two states to bring the number of teams to ten and have the NBL in a couple of other markets. By population, Newcastle and the Gold Coast/Tweed Heads are the largest cities in the country so perhaps those could be the others. I'm obviously partial to Newcastle but seeing as though this is where the league began and Newcastle was originally a founding club, I think it would be appropriate so long as the funding was there.

[Fresh8]

That's the thing.. funding needs to be there. I mean... If we had a team in Hobart/Darwin, would they have the infrastructure to host a team... down the track I think it would be cool to have a team in each capital but right now... It doesn't look likely a team will be formed in those cities...

I would like to see Blaze stay in comp... I wonder what will happen with the Hawks... NSW needs a second team IMO... QLd, NSW and Victoria should have two teams each...

[Andrew]

Well if we're going to eliminate Hobart and Darwin for the moment, you could certainly keep Wollongong since they're currently the ninth largest city in the country and they'd have lineage in the original NBL. I guess you'd have a couple of teams based in Melbourne and Brisbane and the Gold Coast representing Queensland. That would be two teams in Melbourne joining Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Wollongong, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra. Newcastle, Cairns or Townsville could be that tenth team or perhaps Sydney could host a second team or you could have an AIS team, assuming that wouldn't already be the Canberra team.

[Fresh8]

Canberra would be the AIS team. I would get rid of Cairns and Townsville... I'd much rather see a New Zealand team or the Slingers again. Somehting like that... I think concurrent-expansion into Asia is the way to go.

[Andrew]

True, a team from New Zealand could be the tenth club.

[Fresh8]

Brisbane
Gold Coast
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
South Dragons
New Zealand
Canberra (AIS Team)
Woolongong

[Andrew]

Yes, that could certainly work though I'd still have trouble really getting into the league with a local team. Sydney would suffice but it wouldn't be the same.

[Fresh8]

After 3-4 years, maybe add a few more teams:

Hobart
Darwin
Newcastle
North Queensland

[Andrew]

If the money and interest is there, I wouldn't bother waiting that long but that's admittedly a big if. I'd suggest franchising the teams but there aren't as many investment groups or wealthy moguls in Australia to really make that work.

[Fresh8]

The thing is, there is no money/interest right now. So we gotta wait a few more years for expansion. Basically, whatever has made the A-League so successful... that's what we need for the NBL.

[Andrew]

Well that could never happen, since there's a lot more interest in soccer than there is in basketball. A lack of FTA coverage will continue to hurt the league though, you'll get people who might get pay TV for the NBA as they might get it for the WWE, movies and additional coverage of NRL, cricket and soccer but they're not going to pay just to see at least one complete NBL game per week.

[Fresh8]

Soccer was never 'popular' enough until after we made the World Cup... maybe I am being ignorant but I thought basketball ranks up there in popularity alongside soccer. I guess perhaps it will take the Boomers winning something or coming close to winning before it puts the popularity over the top...