I am in love with the cats this week after what they did to the scum up the road on the weekend. The NBL needs to go through a revamp like the National Soccer League did. They need to make sure they get it right and plan for the future this time. It will all come down to what sort of tv deal they can get as well. I know this year with 90% of the games being played Saturday night in Perth I am unable to renew my membership but from what I have heard speaking to people around the club the interest in the Wildcats this year is very high. If it wasn't for the planning of Vlahov, the cats would have went under 5 years ago. Get him in charge of the NBL, the guy loves the game and isn't just going to take up the job for his own gain.
If you aussie believe that your "professional bball league is in serious financial trouble or gone" is literally equal to "basketball in Australia is dying", then as a non-aussie, I can't argue with it. Quite a few players participate in the leagues other than her/his own country, get nurtured & manage to keep at a competitive international level. That's partly reasons why your Australia women's team made huge success at the 2006 FIBA. Argentina set another good example as well.
Its a massivly competitive sporting market in Australia and because we have only 20 million people here, its the most competitive in the world. You need that proifessional competition because without it kids are going to end up playing other higher profile sports (Which to a big extent happens now anyway). Like I said, basketball looks like it will end up along the lines of Baseball in Australia where we can produce world class talent, but there is no real professional league in Australia.
The Australian women's team have been a strong side for over a decade. They've medalled in the last three Olympic games. I think their success has more to do with the nurturing of players at the Australia Institute of Sports than from the WNBA. Aussie players head over ready-made.
fully agreed. The Aussie girls that are doing well in the WNBA - Jackson, Taylor etc - are home grown Aus Institute of Sports commoditities. keep your hands off our girls
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23916888-23769,00.html Out-clase is a year after. So Zaza's spot on the Hawks roster is safe for now.
here is a positive spin on the state of Bball in Australia...a VERY positive spin. http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=75281 Basketball Australia and the National Basketball League have made the decision to merge in an effort to reform the sport in Australia. The structure and re-organisation is currently in the final stages of review, and will provide a positive move in strengthening the position of basketball as a key sport within Australia. The decision to merge stems from a two-stage report, commissioned by the NBL, Basketball Australia and the Australian Sports Commission - the first stage of which was completed by Ernst & Young in November, with the major recommendation being a move to a single unified national body. The second stage of the review, which is being undertaken by Dynamic Sports and Entertainment Group (DSEG), will see the completion of the final report on 30 June. The interim Board appointed to oversee the review process has already made significant progress, and has been bolstered with the recent appointments of David Thodey, Group Managing Director for Telstra Enterprise and Government as Chairman of the Board, and Diane Sias, Group Executive, Westpac Business & Technology Solutions & Services. They join Mark Peters (CEO of the Australian Sports Commission), John Maddock and Seamus McPeake. To ensure a consistent, centralised and consultative process is maintained with all Basketball Australia and NBL stakeholders during this review period, Basketball Australia Chief Executive Scott Derwin has been appointed to the role of Interim CEO for the new organisation. Both Basketball Australia and the NBL owners have welcomed the decision of a single governance and management structure. For Basketball Australia stakeholders, it will mean strengthening its focus on building basketball in Australia across all levels of the sport, while putting in place a formalised franchise agreement between the new organisation and each of the NBL Clubs will provide greater uniformity and a blueprint for a much improved positioning of the NBL. "The Board has received an interim report, and while satisfied with the content, has recognised there is a lot more to be done, with the report raising a number of critical issues that will require sufficient time to consider properly," said Chairman, David Thodey. "As a result, the Board has decided to postpone the review meeting, initially planned for 19 July with key stakeholders, until 11 October 2008. "It is vital for the future of our sport that we get it right. This will involve ensuring the necessary time to undertake a thorough review of the final report, and make sure that no stone is left unturned," stated Mr Thodey. "It will also ensure that all key stakeholders are given adequate time to review the recommendations resulting from the report, and provide valuable feedback. "The revised timing will also ensure a positive focus is placed on supporting the efforts of the Boomers, Opals, Rollers and Gliders as they prepare for their Olympic and Paralympic campaigns in August and September." Mr Derwin said the move to a unified body would help capitalise on basketball's strengths. "Basketball has a bright future in Australia, but there is no doubt that there is a substantial amount of work to do to ensure we set the right foundations for the next decade," said CEO Mr Derwin. "Australia is currently ranked 2nd of 213 playing nations on the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rankings, while in Australia basketball is booming at a community level with more than 600,000 people participating in the sport and numbers continuing to grow. "The challenge is to ensure greater unity and cooperation from a grassroots level right through to the elite level of the sport," stated Mr Derwin. "This is no short-term plan. The aim is to deliver a revised governance and management structure and a sustainable business model and plan to ensure the sport's successful future."
I didn't mean to overemphasize the nurturing of players from the WNBA than that from Australia's own basketball infrastructure. The latter certainly plays an essential role in detecting & fostering native basketball talent. Suppose those players are not at least half-made, if not ready-made, how could they get chance to be drafted/play in high-level pro league like (W)NBA or in Europe? But, no matter what you are going to justify, you cannot ignore the experience in pro league has made valuable contributions to their continuous improvements - both skills and physical/mental matured, and is eventually beneficial to their own national team. Just take an example of those well-known male players like Dirk Nowitzki/Ginobili/T.Park/Yao, you'd find how significant changes happened on them since they entered NBA. gotta back on topic of your girls again Australian Women’s Basketball Team(AWBA), during 1996-2006(I followed), from Bronze model(1996,Atlanta), 2 Silver models in the ensuing Olympic Games(Sydney & Athens) to finally peaking the world champion, has shown a process of quantitative change to qualitative change. Where is the source of momentum? A analogy here(since AWBA professed to be "Australia green Jade"), - it's Australia Institute of Sports that created the Green Jade from Nephrite, and not to unveil its elegant silky lustre until pro league's elaborately (wrought) carving, imo.
