Is this forum still for international basketball topics too? Anyway, a discussion for Aussie clutchfans. Sydney Kings signed Sam Young? WOW! That is massive for the NBL. He has the size and strength to be the NBL equivalent of Lebron James (which is kind of sad because it means the NBL is that weak). What are your thoughts? Are the Kings now the favourite to win the title this year, or are Ennis and the Wildcats still the top dogs?
Perth is the best /discussion I don't really follow the NBL though.. went to the GF last year and was not impressed. Still hometown team is the best
saying young is a massive singing is a bit of a strech even for this my our league. my tigers did have NBA LEGENDS patty mills (lockout season) and Johnny Flynn last year (who did beat me 3-0 in a random 1v1 after he finished practised) in conclusion go tigers, well not really, but as said above gotta rep your home team.
I was talking to a 19 year old today after a best of 3, up to 7, 1on1 scrimmage. (My first Bball action since my ankle reconstruction.) He didn't even know that there was an NBL season! The marketing of the league is worse than Lawn Bowls in Australia, which gets way more free to air and print coverage. The quality of the NBL has sunk so low that Jonny Flynn was the MVP! Back in the mid to late 90's up until 2000 (till approx 2005 from memory) the NBL was regarded as one of the best, most talented leagues in the world, on par with the Euro leagues...now? Pffff please. How many times did teams break the 100 point mark in scoring? Who's the best athlete? Which NBL player has any shoe deals or soda deals? The league is a bush league at best in its current form. Most American high schools would go through an NBL season undefeated. It's sad because the potential was there to have the league expand, add an extra import. Brother up with an NBA team, and be the D-League of the South Pacific, among other things. The potential was there to make the competition & brand exciting, marketable and, above all, watchable. It is some of the most boring style if basketball I've ever seen...When a team is promoting Sam Young, a career 5.8 per game scorer (13 per 36 min) is being touted as 'the next big thing', or 'massive for the league', y'all know that the league is in serious trouble. Serious, serious trouble. I've tried in the past to get a change through to the schedules and playoffs, when my beloved Razorbacks were in. ( my up the road neighbour & mate was Ya Ya dia) But the league is pure Aussie incompetence, nepotism, politics & stuck in the 80's. I wish this post was more cheerful, but the destruction of my home League is a true tradgedy.
^ get that I'm the newspapers now!!! One HD do possibly the worst job at it of all time.. I remember last year during the all star game was so embarrassing
I've been trying to catch the 2pm games on Sundays and it can be difficult viewing. We've been spoiled by the quality in production (on court and television) that the NBA offers to a degree, but there is obviously room for improvement. It's a discussion that is constantly being had and hopefully better days are ahead. The NBL game itself is far too scrappy for my liking. The pace is frantic and there just doesn't seem to be any structure or order when I'm watching. Just hard to watch. Uniforms are rubbish too.
Why would anyone watch an NBL game when NBA games are so readily accessible online? The only hope the sport has of growing is attached to the NBA. NCAA ball is more appealing than an NBL game.
Because some of us actually don't live in houston and watch our national basketball competition Edit: I can see you don't live in houston either, making what you said even more baffling
Yeah I agree NBL is no good, but still a bit of entertainment to watch the games live. Of course enjoy both if you can! Only wish I could go to Houston to watch the real deal live!
Youngeeeeey in the Kings mate! Anyway, even though I sounded so enthusiastic in the OP, that was really because there is nothing going for the NBL and Sam Young is such a big deal for this lowly league. The NBL's issue is much like the chicken or the egg. - The NBL needs strong talent to generate interest, hence generating revenue. - The NBL needs revenue in order to lure strong talent here. Which comes first? I say talent comes first, then the $$$ comes later. If an NBL franchise with limited revenues can sign an end of the bench NBA talent while still paying AJ Ogilvy, I think it can be done. NBL front offices need to start scouting D-League and improve relationships with player managers in the USA in order to entice these players to Australia. I also think the NBL should follow a similar to path the A-League (Australian Soccer for you non-Aussies) and sign up washed up has neens. Even if they're in their mid-40s. eg. Brisbane signed Robbie Fowler a few seasons ago Sydney FC signed Dwight Yorke in the early A-League days Sydney FC fills up the stands now with marquee player DEL PIERO! I mean the guys is 50 years old or something, but one of the biggest names in soccer history. Remember a few seasons ago when there were rumours of Iverson joining the Sydney Kings? The NBL needs signings like that. Heck, there were rumours of Kemp trying to make an NBA comeback only 4 years ago. Why doesn't an Aussie team target Kemp? Or Vin Baker or something. Another strategy is to sign talented players from 3rd world countries such as Africa and Latin America with the promise of Australia's highest living standards in the world. Living in Sydney, I see first hand how quickly the African population has grown here (especially the Sudanese). There's got to be some great Sudanese talent out there that is just not good enough for the NBA, but athletic enough to provide entertaining Aussie basketball. Luol Deng is Sudanese. I went to high school in Sydney with some of his first cousins, all of which were in our A-grade basketball team and won the high school championship. Just some ideas. The NBL should hire me.
Wouldn't it just be embarrassing if say, Chris Webber came in and started owning the league? What would it say about the talent level? It depends on who the NBL are trying to cater towards. I could see how brining in these ex-NBAers and International players could be exciting for basketball fans, but if the NBL are wanting a greater slice of that sporting pie it could be difficult. I'd love to work for them too. Their design department is awful. The league needs the cash. That much is true. A billionaire basketball tragic would be ideal.
Imagine if TMac or some other NBA retiree came down under and joined the NBL... the league would be transformed overnight! Ofcourse, the NBL has no money, so they'd have to play for other incentives... say, free cruise in Sydney harbour? Free tickets to the Opera House? As dakeem mentioned, who would have thought A-league soccer would be so popular so fast...
If memory serves me right, I remember hearing rumours that AI was trying to get poached by the Sydney kings a couple of years ago to play, that would of been crazy.
Just did a google search lol 'Steve Leven' (born October 15, 1981 in Sydney, Australia) is a British-American professional basketball player.
NBL is always going to be a ****ty league. International League Pass was probably a last nail in it's coffin. There's only a few well run franchise's and the lack of money means it's impossible to get many great players. We lose all our good prospects to US college for a 4 years, most of them either stay in American or go to Europe. In its glory days there wasn't much exposure on TV and no internet, I used to love even watching the local ABA team who would have a couple of imports throwing down monster dunks, place used to be packed and it would be an exciting night, that team has since folded and some NBL teams struggle to even get as many people as the ABA teams pulled back in the 90's. While the get some ex players as the A-League do would probably gather some extra interest, I'm not sure it will do enough as the bandwagon like fan of today is more interested in the flashy stuff and the old former NBA players probably won't be throwing down the massive dunks they may have in their prime.
