NBL 2016/2017 Season Thread

[Dockerjonz]

hehe got off my arse and got to listen to last 30secs of the game

 

[Scotland]

Cotton MVP.

Would've been a close vote he was clear MOTM today.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Such a great club and a fantastic squad at the moment.

Bryce Cotton is the best player in the country right now.

 

[sportsmaniac89]

Sorry for your loss.

I wasn't even aware I was upset by it but apology accepted

 

[Shifty1]

Amazing Ogilvy was in the all-NBL team this year. Says a lot about the quality of bigs in the comp. Absolutely bog average.

 

[Exports]

Amazing Ogilvy was in the all-NBL team this year. Says a lot about the quality of bigs in the comp. Absolutely bog average.

He really is extremely Average.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Perf winning again got me like...

 

[Scotland]

Has anyone ever worn more garments other than their shorts and singlet uniform than Carmelo Anthony?

Anyway, 8 titles now. Catch us if you can.

NBL since 2000

2000 Perth
2001 Illawarra
2002 Adelaide
2003 Sydney Kings (missed 2 or 3 years)
2004 Sydney Kings
2005 Sydney Kings
2006 Melbourne Tigers (now Melbourne United, ugh)
2007 Brisbane Bullets (missed 7 or 8 years)
2008 Melbourne Tigers
2009 South Dragons (gawn)
2010 Perth
2011 NZ
2012 NZ
2013 Perth
2014 NZ
2015 NZ
2016 Perth
2017 Perth

2002 was the last time a team other than Perth or NZ that hasn't left the comp (with or without coming back) or sold their soul won the championship. It's been a great season and I hope the league can continue to build solidarity. Townsville didn't feature late in the piece and Brisbane were back for the first time since 08. The league really needs a consistent present in the 5 major cities + NZ. Too many teams came and went in the 90s and 2000s (80s too but I was a kid). Can't afford to have the league being without a team in Sydney or Brisbane or Melbourne chopping and changing teams on a yearly basis again.

 

[my name was taken]

Cotton too good.

 

[Exports]

Shame we won't have him next year

 

[Andronicus]

He really is extremely Average.

Seems like a really below average bloke too.

 

[Scotland]

Player turnover is part and parcel of the NBL.

Jervis, Beal and Jawai all left from last year's squad, and we've had a few one season wonders over the years (Rosell Ellis, DeAndre Daniels, James Ennis) and lost really pivotal guys like Lisch after a couple.

Perth's strength (on court, and the big support base and stable ownership massively helps that) is being able to keep a core of players together year to year (Martin, Redhage, Knight, Hire, Wagstaff) and complimenting that with guys like McKay, Prather, Cotton, Beal, Ennis etc. who are generally only there for a couple of seasons. Even during this season we struggled when one or two players were out and the balance with Prather/McKay/Johnson wasn't right and cutting Johnson was necessary.

 

[jod23]

Wonder who will be back next season for the threepeat. I think Prather, McKay and Cotton may all move on.

Cotton was almost saying good bye in his MVP acceptance speech.

 

[Scotland]

Cotton was only ever a short term prospect coming in late in the piece. McKay has been good but he's not irreplaceable. With Knight and Brandt we have two strong options at centre.

Prather will be a big loss if he goes. Hopefully we can find another guy on the fringe of an NBA side and convince him to come down under for a season or two.

Any chance Jermaine Beal comes back? Was great for us but never really the same at the Bullets. Sydney Kings are going nowhere fast, maybe we could poach Lisch back too. He's an Aussie now as well.

 

[Shifty1]

Wonder who will be back next season for the threepeat. I think Prather, McKay and Cotton may all move on.

Cotton was almost saying good bye in his MVP acceptance speech.

Prather and Cotton will play summer league in the hope of being picked up. I think Cotton may get picked up but I don't think Prather offers enough as a guard to make it in the NBA and lacks size to play a wing. I think he'll be back. It did feel like Cotton won't be back given his MVP speech.

McKay plays with a lot of energy and is good on the boards but is undersized as a centre and can't shoot to play PF.

If I was the Cats I'd get an import SG and PF and upgrade Brandt to starting centre. Assuming Knight calls it quits too, I'd be looking for some decent locals to backfill our FWD/CTR bench roles. Probably need another bench wing too.

 

[Shifty1]

Any chance Jermaine Beal comes back? Was great for us but never really the same at the Bullets. Sydney Kings are going nowhere fast, maybe we could poach Lisch back too. He's an Aussie now as well.

Didn't think Beal was that big a loss to us from last season. His form was dipping before the finals and Prather started taking a more active role in the offense.

 

[Scotland]

I don't reckon Knight will call it quits, he was pretty good this year. Oglivy did SFA compared to the likes of Anstey, Bradtke, Paul Rogers etc. in previous years and was the All-NBL first team centre so there's not a lot of depth in quality big men running around in the league at the moment. Hopefully Knight rotates out of the side via less minutes a la Redhage over the last couple of years.

 

[Altum Volantes]

I think Knight will retire - the whole concussion thing has clearly rattled him and rightly so, Cotton will definitely go - hope he makes it in the NBA, serious talent. Prather to try his luck elsewhere (fair enough after a couple of great seasons) but I don't think he's an NBA level talent.

McKay improved as he mastered his role, I think he could be back but if he went it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world - Brandt is the future at C and they should be focused on building that Aussie core again.

Will be a challenging time ahead - hopefully the whole mess with Jaron Johnson hasn't hurt the clubs reputation in the States - but surely any out of contract Aussies would see their best chance of a title out West?

 

[3socks]

It does sound like Knight will retire, from the little I have seen of him being interviewed since the win. Was speaking in past tenses of playing, and talking about having to consider his young kids etc. Would mean a fair bit of turnover in the team, but good on him if he needs to make that tough decision and think of the future and what is important.

Cotton is way too good for this league. But, let me dream for a second of having him for a full season Ennis and Cotton to both return in 2024/2025 to finish off their careers post-NBA

 

[2006_Eagles]

Was at the game yesterday. Never felt a less tension filled grand final game ever.

Dat crowd though, I've never seen it bigger which confuses me as I thought Grand Final fatigue would have set in by now for Perth fans.

 

[jod23]

Knight will definitely retire. It was the slightest of knocks and he was heavily concussed. He has problems there. He's had a great career and will nondpubt look to the future now with his family.

Is it just me or is Brandt better than Ogilvy anyways. I think Ogilvy is dead set average. Has better shooting range than Brandt but Brandt is better in the post, better rebounder and defender. Bump him to the starting spot and give him plenty of burn and he'll have a big year. He's ready.

McKay id love to come back. Excellent rebounder even if he is ubdersized. Knows his role and plays it really well. Super athletic too.

Cotton will surely find a new home for more money whether thats buried on a bench in the NBA which is unlikely as he is undersized. His best bet is probably Europe on much more money.

Prather isnt good enough for the NBA. Just a touch under what is needed. Like just not athletic enough. Just not a good enough shooter. Just not a good enough defender. Like he's really good but just falls short of NBA standard. I could see him coming back for one more year.

We'll need a Cotton replacement though which will be difficult.

 

[Genesis67]

Knight will definitely retire. It was the slightest of knocks and he was heavily concussed. He has problems there. He's had a great career and will nondpubt look to the future now with his family.

Is it just me or is Brandt better than Ogilvy anyways. I think Ogilvy is dead set average. Has better shooting range than Brandt but Brandt is better in the post, better rebounder and defender. Bump him to the starting spot and give him plenty of burn and he'll have a big year. He's ready.

McKay id love to come back. Excellent rebounder even if he is ubdersized. Knows his role and plays it really well. Super athletic too.

Cotton will surely find a new home for more money whether thats buried on a bench in the NBA which is unlikely as he is undersized. His best bet is probably Europe on much more money.

Prather isnt good enough for the NBA. Just a touch under what is needed. Like just not athletic enough. Just not a good enough shooter. Just not a good enough defender. Like he's really good but just falls short of NBA standard. I could see him coming back for one more year.

We'll need a Cotton replacement though which will be difficult.

Preach.

I have a suspicion we'll see Knight do a Redhage. Join the bench. Play 5-10 important minutes when we need him to. Help Brandt work on his 18-20' jumper. I agree on Prather, so feel confident we'll see him back. Cotton though....

 

[leungtl]

Amazing Ogilvy was in the all-NBL team this year. Says a lot about the quality of bigs in the comp. Absolutely bog average.

Cotton is 100% gone - if not to the NBA, then to the Euroleague. He was putting up reasonable numbers in the Euroleague before he came to Perth, it's just that he had [very legitimate] concerns about the security situation in Turkey so decided to pack up shop and come to Australia. What we want from him now is to get in the ear of other NBA players once he gets in, telling them what a great place Perth is!

Prather is basically gone if he's willing to play Euroleague. I'm less optimistic of his NBA chances but he'll definitely command offers in Europe beyond what Perth can afford to pay him. It's just whether he wants to go or not...

Knight needs to retire, for his own good. I've loved watching him play for the Wildcats but it's tough to watch every time the goes down.

Unless we have a gun big waiting in the wings in America, I think McKay will be back. His offence is below average, but he is a legitimate rim protector and still has plenty of upside. Assuming he doesn't bump his price up too much, I can see Perth giving him another go.

I can also see us throwing the cheque book at Brock Motum and Ryan Brokehoff, though I don't know how successful that will be...

 

[kane249]

Neither Prather or Cotton are good enough to make it in the NBA IMO.

 

[Genesis67]

It does sound like Knight will retire, from the little I have seen of him being interviewed since the win. Was speaking in past tenses of playing, and talking about having to consider his young kids etc. Would mean a fair bit of turnover in the team, but good on him if he needs to make that tough decision and think of the future and what is important.

Cotton is way too good for this league. But, let me dream for a second of having him for a full season Ennis and Cotton to both return in 2024/2025 to finish off their careers post-NBA

Hasn't Ennis said that he'll be back to play for the Wildcats once he's done in the NBA?