NBL 2019/20 Season - Congratulations to the Perth Wildcats

Who takes the 2019/20 Title?

  • Adelaide 36ers

    Votes: 1 2.6%
  • Brisbane Bullets

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Cairns Taipans

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Illawarra Hawks

    Votes: 3 7.9%
  • Melbourne United

    Votes: 8 21.1%
  • New Zealand Breakers

    Votes: 1 2.6%
  • Perth Wildcats

    Votes: 14 36.8%
  • South East Melbourne Phoenix

    Votes: 10 26.3%
  • Sydney Kings

    Votes: 1 2.6%

  • Total voters
    38
  • Poll closed .
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BG__

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This sydney roster is just taking the absolute ******* piss now

The Sydney Kings have announced the signing of Xavier Cooks, who joins the Club for the remainder of the 2019-20 season on a multi-year deal after being released by French team SIG Strasbourg.

Sydney Kings CEO Chris Pongrass was excited the Kings had been able add the 24-year-old Boomer.

 
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Feb 23, 2009
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Don’t write off the Cats just yet.
At this point I'm not writing teams off (apart from the clear bottom 4), I just feel that the Kings roster is ahead of any other, and they are performing at that level too.

Personally I think on paper United are the closest to them in ability/potential. But yes I have a top 3 teams, the smokey being the Phoenix in 4th, and then a bottom 4 who I doubt make an impact.

Also I know that we get better quality teams by having fewer teams, but I would love more than 8 teams as it gets a little repetitive.
It would be amazing within 5 years to extend to 10 teams, put in another Sydney team alongside the Kings and I'm not sure where the 10th could go, possibly Canberra? GC? Tassie? A second WA team? A distinct area of NSW like Newcastle?
 

BG__

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Also I know that we get better quality teams by having fewer teams, but I would love more than 8 teams as it gets a little repetitive.
It would be amazing within 5 years to extend to 10 teams, put in another Sydney team alongside the Kings and I'm not sure where the 10th could go, possibly Canberra? GC? Tassie? A second WA team? A distinct area of NSW like Newcastle?

It's looking likely the next team will be Tassie, LK seems keen on it and has been making some moves. It could possibly be as soon as next season depending on how things progress. If not next year I reckon they're a lock for the following season.
 

Rettolalia

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It's looking likely the next team will be Tassie, LK seems keen on it and has been making some moves. It could possibly be as soon as next season depending on how things progress. If not next year I reckon they're a lock for the following season.

Yeah that’s what I’ve heard as well, Tasmania most likely spot for expansion (Southern Huskies).

I would like to see the Cannons back in some shape or form as well.

Second Sydney team once we know we aren’t in a bubble.
 

workhorse

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At this point I'm not writing teams off (apart from the clear bottom 4), I just feel that the Kings roster is ahead of any other, and they are performing at that level too.

Personally I think on paper United are the closest to them in ability/potential. But yes I have a top 3 teams, the smokey being the Phoenix in 4th, and then a bottom 4 who I doubt make an impact.

Also I know that we get better quality teams by having fewer teams, but I would love more than 8 teams as it gets a little repetitive.
It would be amazing within 5 years to extend to 10 teams, put in another Sydney team alongside the Kings and I'm not sure where the 10th could go, possibly Canberra? GC? Tassie? A second WA team? A distinct area of NSW like Newcastle?

I think 10 teams is probably ideal without diluting the talent pool too much. Tassie will be the next one which will make it arguably the most national league of all major sporting codes.

From someone who is a business layman, it appears the strategy over the past 5 years and into the foreseeable has been, and is, to amend the rules and implement exemptions etc. that allow the bigger clubs, such as Sydney, Melbourne and to an extent Perth, to bring in high quality players, both Aus and International, on bigger salaries than they would be able to under a strict salary cap, ala the AFL. In turn, the quality of the league is generally better, despite the same teams competing for the title year-on-year. The idea being that the increase in quality of players to the bigger clubs will bring more exposure and coverage to the league as a whole and, in turn, aid the smaller clubs in their survival and growth. For a league that was a basket-case for the better part of a decade, I actually think it's the right strategy, despite probably not being the fairest. If you look at the growth of the league in the last 5 years, it's hard to argue.
 
May 5, 2006
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What's the relative standard between the NBL and the NCAA Div 1?

Pretty impressive for an 18 year old to put up a 30 point triple double in any open age comp. I know he was a bit older but James Ennis killed it when he played for the Cats, made the All NBL First Team and has been bouncing around the NBA since as a bench player.

How good is LaMelo? Is he a consensus #1 yet? His brother went #2 and has been fairly underwhelming so far.

I'm really interested to see how the Next Stars program plays out. Players not wanting to waste a year in college or not wanting to do the full 4 years and get a degree while not getting paid will be interested, but it also changes the dynamic from a team perspective. Teams have historically taken players out of college at 21/22 pretty much knowing what they are going to get. There have been plenty of one-and-dones and previously high school players picked, but it's still pretty standard for players to do at least one or two seasons at college level. Draft age is still 19, but using later picks (no one really cares outside the top 10) to speculate on talented but unproven kids then play them against men elsewhere while retaining their draft rights sounds like a pretty good strategy.
 

Rettolalia

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What's the relative standard between the NBL and the NCAA Div 1?

Pretty impressive for an 18 year old to put up a 30 point triple double in any open age comp. I know he was a bit older but James Ennis killed it when he played for the Cats, made the All NBL First Team and has been bouncing around the NBA since as a bench player.

How good is LaMelo? Is he a consensus #1 yet? His brother went #2 and has been fairly underwhelming so far.

I'm really interested to see how the Next Stars program plays out. Players not wanting to waste a year in college or not wanting to do the full 4 years and get a degree while not getting paid will be interested, but it also changes the dynamic from a team perspective. Teams have historically taken players out of college at 21/22 pretty much knowing what they are going to get. There have been plenty of one-and-dones and previously high school players picked, but it's still pretty standard for players to do at least one or two seasons at college level. Draft age is still 19, but using later picks (no one really cares outside the top 10) to speculate on talented but unproven kids then play them against men elsewhere while retaining their draft rights sounds like a pretty good strategy.

I think the major difference between NCAA and NBL is the fact the NBL is fully grown men, with a mix of ex NBA vets sprinkled throughout.

An interesting video on Melo’s NBA draft stock, and where the NBL rates on an international level.

 

BG__

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May 22, 2018
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What's the relative standard between the NBL and the NCAA Div 1?

Pretty impressive for an 18 year old to put up a 30 point triple double in any open age comp. I know he was a bit older but James Ennis killed it when he played for the Cats, made the All NBL First Team and has been bouncing around the NBA since as a bench player.

How good is LaMelo? Is he a consensus #1 yet? His brother went #2 and has been fairly underwhelming so far.

I'm really interested to see how the Next Stars program plays out. Players not wanting to waste a year in college or not wanting to do the full 4 years and get a degree while not getting paid will be interested, but it also changes the dynamic from a team perspective. Teams have historically taken players out of college at 21/22 pretty much knowing what they are going to get. There have been plenty of one-and-dones and previously high school players picked, but it's still pretty standard for players to do at least one or two seasons at college level. Draft age is still 19, but using later picks (no one really cares outside the top 10) to speculate on talented but unproven kids then play them against men elsewhere while retaining their draft rights sounds like a pretty good strategy.

Imo NBL is definitely harder than NCAA. College may look more entertaining and better because of the highlights, but I reckon NBL is harder to play in.

The last few years they actually have had match ups between basically NBL reserve teams (missing starters and regulars) and college teams (tbh from memory i can't remember which colleges though and how good they were) and the NBL teams comfortably won.

Bigger bodies, better defense, playing against zones, more experienced guys. Lots of NBL imports were great college players who just didn't make the NBA. I'd be putting money on most NBL teams if they played NCAA teams.

The stats Melo is putting up are insanely impressive to me.
 
Interesting comment from Lemanis after being replaced as Boomers coach. He said Australia have been loitering around the 4th mark for several years and nothing will improve unless there are changes. I wonder what the Rockets think about that :)
Someone tell Lemanis that if he wanted to keep his job he probably shouldn’t have picked half the Bullets roster for the WC.
 
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