NBL 21/22 Season.

[The_Game_1981]

God I hope the Wildcats find a new coach soon.
They need to start signing players.

Apparently Matt Neilsen is a leading candidate.
I hope he is appointed because another rumoured option is Joey Wright and nobody wants that!

 

[Bleedblueandgold]

Apparently Matt Neilsen is a leading candidate.
I hope he is appointed because another rumoured option is Joey Wright and nobody wants that!

Thought he'd be a great option, but he's currently a G-League head coach and has aspirations to be a coach in the NBA. Also he's currently in Tokyo as an assistant coach for the Boomers, so he'd be busy for a while.

 

[Colonial]

 

[The_Game_1981]

The Frolings are playing together at Illawarra.

 

[kane249]

The Brydens Lawyers Sydney Kings

Just rolls off the tongue

 

[The_Game_1981]

Congratulations Mike Kelly on becoming the Perth Wildcats new Associate Head Coach.

Question: What is an 'Associate' Head Coach?

 

[peternorth]

Congratulations Mike Kelly on becoming the Perth Wildcats new Associate Head Coach.

Question: What is an 'Associate' Head Coach?

They sit above the assistant coach

 

[Luuuc]

Big news for the league!

- 3 year deal with ESPN, supposedly worth up to $20M per year
- All 140 NBL games on ESPN platforms (incl Kayo) (some games on Kayo Freebies - which is the first time I've even heard of that)
- Coles Express NBL1 games of the week and national championships on Kayo
- NZ to broadcast through ESPN
- Free to air partner T.B.A.

https://nbl.com.au/news/nbl-achieves-history-making-media-deal

ESPN and NBL sign landmark new broadcast deal

ESPN and the National Basketball League have extended their broadcast partnership for a further three seasons as part of an expanded television rights package.

www.espn.com

 

[brucetiki]

Big news for the league!

- 3 year deal with ESPN ~ $20M per year
- All 140 NBL games on ESPN platforms (incl Kayo)
- Coles Express NBL1 games of the week and national championships on Kayo
- NZ to broadcast through ESPN
- Free to air partner T.B.A.

https://nbl.com.au/news/nbl-achieves-history-making-media-deal

ESPN and NBL sign landmark new broadcast deal

ESPN and the National Basketball League have extended their broadcast partnership for a further three seasons as part of an expanded television rights package.

www.espn.com

So basically ESPN show all games and a handful will also be available on Kayo Freebies.

 

[larrikin]

So basically ESPN show all games and a handful will also be available on Kayo Freebies.

Works for me - the SBS platform was awful if you weren't watching 100% live.

 

[Colonial]

So basically ESPN show all games and a handful will also be available on Kayo Freebies.

Will be interesting who is covering the production costs.
Will we go back to commentary live at games or still that stupid “media centre”.

 

[Royces Hart]

Will be interesting who is covering the production costs.
Will we go back to commentary live at games or still that stupid “media centre”.

I think the days of commentary at the venue are over.

 

[JT_the_Man]

Big news for the league!

- 3 year deal with ESPN, supposedly worth up to $20M per year
- All 140 NBL games on ESPN platforms (incl Kayo) (some games on Kayo Freebies - which is the first time I've even heard of that)
- Coles Express NBL1 games of the week and national championships on Kayo
- NZ to broadcast through ESPN
- Free to air partner T.B.A.

https://nbl.com.au/news/nbl-achieves-history-making-media-deal

ESPN and NBL sign landmark new broadcast deal

ESPN and the National Basketball League have extended their broadcast partnership for a further three seasons as part of an expanded television rights package.

www.espn.com

Assuming this equals more $$$ to bring in better players?

 

[brucetiki]

I think the days of commentary at the venue are over.

Yet Sky still do commentary at the venue even post COVID for Breakers home matches

 

[drd23]

Yet Sky still do commentary at the venue even post COVID for Breakers home matches

Surely that's because there is only one venue.

When you've got 8 different venues it makes financial/logistical sense to have the commentators in one place and stream the content to them, rather than flying multiple people around the country multiple times per weekend. Also allows the broadcasters to have less commentators.

As long as there isn't a delay in the commentary (like happened in some games during Euro 2020 last month), I think you only lose a little bit of the sense of atmosphere (and only some of the time) when commentary is done remotely

 

[Luuuc]

Assuming this equals more $$$ to bring in better players?

I'm always skeptical about how many of those $$$ are real cold cash money $$$. I wouldn't expect a quantum leap in salary cap just yet, but it will be great just to keep some clubs financially in the black, and maybe improve the tv production and general promotion of the league.

The partnership with News Corp could turn out to be an important piece of the deal too. Mainstream promotion of the NBL has been pissweak for ages, and might just be the tonic for pushing the sport up the level of status it (IMO) deserves.
I reckon that when it comes to bang-for-buck, it's more important for the league to get itself in front of more eyes than improve the quality on the court. The quality is already pretty good IMO, and it starts to become diminishing returns once you start paying higher than the top NBL salaries.

 

[brucetiki]

Surely that's because there is only one venue.

When you've got 8 different venues it makes financial/logistical sense to have the commentators in one place and stream the content to them, rather than flying multiple people around the country multiple times per weekend. Also allows the broadcasters to have less commentators.

As long as there isn't a delay in the commentary (like happened in some games during Euro 2020 last month), I think you only lose a little bit of the sense of atmosphere (and only some of the time) when commentary is done remotely

Don’t the Breakers play out of a couple of venues in Auckland, plus the odd game elsewhere in the country?

 

[JT_the_Man]

A lot of interesting Next Stars signings today.

Ariel Hukporti, German big man, joins United.

Nikita Mikhailovskii, Russian wing, signs with the JackJumpers.

Interesting the sudden flurry of Euro prospects joining the NBL, with this adding to Ousmane Dieng and Hugo Besson (both French) at NZ (the latter not a Next Star afaik, but has draft hopes).

 

[kane249]

So Wildcats new owners don't take ownership until Friday, so might explain the lack of signings so far

Interesting enough the league has ticked off on them not sharing their stake in Melbourne United yet

 

[Total_Juddshanks]

Surely that's because there is only one venue.

When you've got 8 different venues it makes financial/logistical sense to have the commentators in one place and stream the content to them, rather than flying multiple people around the country multiple times per weekend. Also allows the broadcasters to have less commentators.

As long as there isn't a delay in the commentary (like happened in some games during Euro 2020 last month), I think you only lose a little bit of the sense of atmosphere (and only some of the time) when commentary is done remotely

I get why they do it remotely, but you lose a lot more by not having live commentators in basketball compared to many other team sports.

The view from courtside seats is exceptionally close to the action compared to say football or soccer and for a sport where a lot happens quickly on and off the ball, you see and hear a lot by being there

 

[Verdun]

This is the Jackjumpers line up so far:

6'1 J.Magette(i)/6'0 J.Weeks
6’2 J.Adams(i)/6’6 S.Mcdaniel/6’3 S.Deans(dp)
6’8 J.Mcveigh/6’8 N.Mikhailovskii(ns)/6’7 C.Steindl
Import//6’8 F.Krslovic/6’7 J.Bairstow
6’10 W.Magnay/local c or ap

Looking solid and they should be competitive in their first season.

 

[kane249]

Jackjumpers have put the finishing touches on their squad with some development players

Wildcats still don't have a head coach or half a squad....

 

[Verdun]

Jackjumpers have put the finishing touches on their squad with some development players

Wildcats still don't have a head coach or half a squad....

Yep getting a lot of grief from Wildcat supporters that apparently the JJ list is crap and no one can have a crack at the Wildcat list as they are a great organisation.

Jackjumpers have signed 15 players in a month - the list has a lot of unknowns with imports new to the league but having played in legit leagues, quite a few players are Moneyball signings with a lot to prove ie McVeigh, Bairstow, McDaniel, Weeks, Kenyon, Krslovic and a next star from Russia .... Mikhailovskii .

Not sure where thy will end up but they should be fun to watch!

 

[The_Game_1981]

Kevin White has re-signed with Perth

 

[larrikin]

Kevin White has re-signed with Perth

Glad they are getting the big signings sorted.