The NBL and why has it gone to the dogs?

[thegreig]

More FTA games and get a team in East Melbourne! With kilsyth, knox, dandenong, nunawading, ringwood, waverley etc the eastern suburbs would have to be the heart of basketball in Vic. SE Magic and the Vic Titans were always well supported out this way now we are expected to support Melbourne tigers our biggest rival from back in the day. Get an East Melbourne team located at the new stadium in Wantirna South and the local derby going again... that's what needs to happen if the NBL ever wants crowds like this again...

 

[peternorth]

i live very close to nunawading. VERY close.

problem with the stadium is its too small even for the L.

and parking would be a HUGE problem.

 

[Heardy_101]

Bring Back either the Magic or the South Dragons (or both). A few people want North Melbourne to come back as well.

 

[XFactor1979]

Bring Back either the Magic or the South Dragons (or both). A few people want North Melbourne to come back as well.

Make that a request that to Ms KK

Although that's not what I really want from KK

 

[Lockyer24]

Need to do the A League model.
8 teams each with their own colours and schmick unis without 100 sponsors on it.
Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night games all shown live on Pay TV.
3 imports per team. Stuff local development, the game is on life support and our good players make it overseas anyway. Lots of start up advertising, catchy theme song, hammer home that basketball is back.
The old NBL teams won't work as Giants/Magic etc disappeared so whats the point of being loyal again. You need to start with a whole city getting behind one team each which is feasible. Victorians naturally hate NSW/SA etc and vice versa, use this.

NBA rules incl 3 point line moved back to avoid 3 point shootouts, heavy emphasis on entertainment.
Look at taking one off games each season to regional centres Bendigo etc who have huge participation.

That's my dream, with $ being available to do it.

 

[peternorth]

Need to do the A League model.
8 teams each with their own colours and schmick unis without 100 sponsors on it.
Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night games all shown live on Pay TV.
3 imports per team. Stuff local development, the game is on life support and our good players make it overseas anyway. Lots of start up advertising, catchy theme song, hammer home that basketball is back.
The old NBL teams won't work as Giants/Magic etc disappeared so whats the point of being loyal again. You need to start with a whole city getting behind one team each which is feasible. Victorians naturally hate NSW/SA etc and vice versa, use this.

NBA rules incl 3 point line moved back to avoid 3 point shootouts, heavy emphasis on entertainment.
Look at taking one off games each season to regional centres Bendigo etc who have huge participation.

That's my dream, with $ being available to do it.

well said.

 

[Special Agent Utah]

well said.

x 2

 

[Jimmy_the_Gent]

Lower the rims a bit so that we can see some cool dunks.

 

[Heardy_101]

Food for thought:

Is it worthwhile brainstorming some ideas, like the above mentioned, putting them all together, then sending them off to Basketball Australia? Anyone?

 

[Admiral Byng]

Well, I've signed up and paid for the NBL.TV thing for the whole season.

Hope it is money well spent.

 

[Dags21]

IMO they need a better product... The way th game is ruled and officiated has turned me off th NBL. A pg can be damn near molested in th back court, slowing th game, encouraging full court defences constantly. Big men can't post a defender for fear of giving away a charge, to a flop of course.. The three point line needs to be moved back, I think it's too close, not spreading defences enough to creat more driving lanes...
Bringing back SE magic is not going to help th L, nor is more or better tv coverage... Although I would like to see both...
More input from great bball minds to creat a better style of game is needed

 

[catman 71]

That's actually not such a bad idea, or perhaps maybe even 'Shoulder' season (whatever that is )

What raised the standard of the NBL in the past was because it was not in direct competition with the NBA or even Euro leagues. Fringe NBA players, or NBA calibre players who couldn't get a game (for whatever reason) - came downunder. Loggins, Fisher, Crawford, Grace, Robert Rose, Joey Wright, Fred Cofield, Andre Moore, Dave Simmons. and they all became Australian basketball legends

The problem you have with playing it in winter is that winter is AFL and NRL Season.

I remember when basketball was on during winter, there was hardly any talk about it, because the media would talk about the AFL instead, and what is happening in that.

NBL gets very little attention in the media. I know that SEN, which is a perputed sports station, hardly ever mentions it. If you can't get a station dedicated to 24/7 sport to talk about your sport, then you are stuffed.

Maybe SEN feel that giving time to NBL is time that they can't talk about more AFL, golf or A-League.

 

[peternorth]

The problem you have with playing it in winter is that winter is AFL and NRL Season.

I remember when basketball was on during winter, there was hardly any talk about it, because the media would talk about the AFL instead, and what is happening in that.

NBL gets very little attention in the media. I know that SEN, which is a perputed sports station, hardly ever mentions it. If you can't get a station dedicated to 24/7 sport to talk about your sport, then you are stuffed.

Maybe SEN feel that giving time to NBL is time that they can't talk about more AFL, golf or A-League.

i recall when sen broadcast tigers games with gaze commentating. it was horrible

 

[Papa Juggs]

I'm glad that my feelings about Hodge are not unique

BBall has to compete with footy. It can't run over summer when people are watching/playing cricket and just don't care.

How do they do that?

Not playing on the same day *duh*

Should be a huge Wednesday night event each week yeah?

 

[silverscope]

They need to keep it in summer and play all games starting at 7:00 on any given night in the sunshine...

^^^ How awesome would it be to go to a game like the above!

 

[XFactor1979]

They need to keep it in summer and play all games starting at 7:00 on any given night in the sunshine...

^^^ How awesome would it be to go to a game like the above!

Playing the game, people become less confident with shooting the ball outdoors, because they are exposed to the elements (ie wind, air pressure), it will create an ugly spectacle if players refuse to shoot as a result, ie players clog up the keyway, making it a game of handball

 

[silverscope]

Playing the game, people become less confident with shooting the ball outdoors, because they are exposed to the elements (ie wind, air pressure), it will create an ugly spectacle if players refuse to shoot as a result, ie players clog up the keyway, making it a game of handball

You mean less 6 foot 10 white guys shooting 3s is a bad thing??

 

[Papa Juggs]

I don't like it. BBall is an indoor sport.

If they do want to play it in summer they need to really muscle into the cricket market.

I think summer sports could start to get big. I mean I haven't really followed cricket for a while, big in India and had a revival in the UK but I think it's time has come and gone. They needed T20 just to be able to compete with better spectator games.

 

[rickyp]

I've got the NBL.tv subscription too, and I've got my Tigers tickets reserved for the Hisense games. They're making steps to improve the game, but it seems like this needs a revolution rather than gradual improvement. Still a long way to go. The post before about an A-league style revamp is spot on imo

 

[September_Glory]

Malcolm Speed, who was in charge of NBL during it's peak in the early 90's was a big loss. He went on to CEO Cricket Australia during it's peak years and then onto the ICC during the introduction of Twenty20. Admins like Larry Sengstock were useless for the game in Australia, failing to attract sponsors and sell TV rights.

For WA at least, I think the move to summer was a mistake. People here like to be outdoors in the summer and it gave AFL a complete monopoly during the Winter months. Kids want to do other things when there's sun outside.

And once the major free-to-air stations (7,9 and 10) decided it wasn't profitable to buy the rights, it completely fell of the map.

It is sad to see the demise. I grew up going to basketball camps, getting Perth Wildcats to sign posters and t-shirts and hanging out at my local Basketball Center afterschool.

I was there recently and the participation rates for the Sunday Leagues (kids leagues) are virtually non-existent and the NBL can barely keep afloat let alone promote the game at grass roots levels. Rob Beveridge and the Wildcats team do a lot of good community stuff but it seems to have little effect. AFL has monopolised sports in WA.

I totally agree with the points made about technology giving easier access to NBA and thus hurting the local league.

People want to see the best, the NBL is a poor standard of basketball relatively speaking. Why watch the B team when the best players in the world are a mouse click away?

 

[caveman]

I have started a NBL dreamteam comp through nbl.com.au

The code is 902979 if you would like to join.

 

[keepzitreal]

it the development system.. it's non existent... nowhere for kids to be given a profile... we need something on part with college basketball... something for people to care about the kids coming through..

Also all the advertising and crap doesn't help..

I've coached for the last 6 years and can vouch that the level of play at all levels isn't where it needs to be..

Not enough ethnics make it through to higher levels and all the decision makers are all saxons without a good grasp on the game...

 

[peternorth]

perth played shanghai in some mini tourney. saw a few mins on foxtel.

is it me or is the court really small?

 

[sportsfanforever]

This is about the Australian NBL.

Some of you may be old enough to remember that the original Australian NBL started off in 1979 with 10 teams, including Brisbane, Newcastle, Glenelg (!), Canberra, Bankstown, City of Sydney, Nunawading, St. Kilda and West Adelaide.

Over the years, many teams including 3 (!) Tasmanian Teams, various Sydney/NSW teams, various Melbourne/Victorian teams and Singapore.

The 80s and 90s were clearly the halcyon years of the NBL, where crowds and number of teams competing were at a high and Basketball could be spoken in the same breath as Cricket and Aussie Rules in terms of the respect the league had as well as the number of people who were interested and participating. It was not uncommon to have many NBL matches on Free-to-air TV as well as to see NBL results in mainstream news and sports news, eg "Hawthorn smash _______, such and such retires from Cricket and the 36ers defeat the Magic in a thriller".

By the end of the 90s, the NBL was still enjoying success however many, if not most, of the teams had folded by the end of the 90s and now only has 9 sides, a few years after packing up and starting again all in the same year, and in many senses is in the same box as the A-League, wondering what will happen next year and wondering if Basketball has a brighter future in terms of a proper professional competition.

The question is, what can be done, and how?

Media coverage?
Participation?
More (or less!) teams?
Another complete re-shuffle?

 

[sportsfanforever]

This is about the Australian NBL.

Some of you may be old enough to remember that the original Australian NBL started off in 1979 with 10 teams, including Brisbane, Newcastle, Glenelg (!), Canberra, Bankstown, City of Sydney, Nunawading, St. Kilda and West Adelaide.

Over the years, many teams including 3 (!) Tasmanian Teams, various Sydney/NSW teams, various Melbourne/Victorian teams and Singapore.

The 80s and 90s were clearly the halcyon years of the NBL, where crowds and number of teams competing were at a high and Basketball could be spoken in the same breath as Cricket and Aussie Rules in terms of the respect the league had as well as the number of people who were interested and participating. It was not uncommon to have many NBL matches on Free-to-air TV as well as to see NBL results in mainstream news and sports news, eg "Hawthorn smash _______, such and such retires from Cricket and the 36ers defeat the Magic in a thriller".

By the end of the 90s, the NBL was still enjoying success however many, if not most, of the teams had folded by the end of the 90s and now only has 9 sides, a few years after packing up and starting again all in the same year, and in many senses is in the same box as the A-League, wondering what will happen next year and wondering if Basketball has a brighter future in terms of a proper professional competition.

The question is, what can be done, and how?

Media coverage?
Participation?
More (or less!) teams?
Another complete re-shuffle?