Aussie Basketball Discussion

Warriors have apparently signed Khazzouh.

In response to intense media interest in potential new National Basketball League licenses for the 2011/12 iiNet NBL Championship season, Basketball Australia CEO and NBL Commission member Larry Sengstock issued the following statement this morning.

“The NBL Commission has received applications for an NBL license from two new clubs, one based in Brisbane and a second Melbourne-based team,” said Sengstock. “The Commission met last night to review the applications.

“The Commission has asked NBL management to validate some of the detailed information contained in the applications before we can make a determination as to whether either bid group has satisfied the requirements to be issued an NBL license. Expansion of the league is a strategic priority however it remains imperative that it is achieved in a measured and considered way. It is imperative any expansion is sustainable for the long term and we will undertake all necessary steps to ensure as a Commission we deliver that.

“The Commission hopes to be able to make a final determination on the applications early in the New Year once that verification process has been completed.”

As per standard BA policy, the details of the parties bidding for licenses will remain confidential until such time as a license may be granted.

Sounds promising and seems they're proceeding with enough caution to avoid teams folding left and right again. Getting those teams should be great for the league, hopefully Tinkler can make a Newcastle team a viable option at some point in the future.

I just realised that Julian Khazzouh's girlfriend was in my year at high school. Jessie-leah... well i'll be damned.

Rumour has it that the NBL is out of a TV deal. No idea whether it's true or not. On the one hand, you'd think that if One could get out of the deal they'd have done it pre-season. On the other hand, it's One.

Oh well. I literally don't care about NBL now that NBA is back.

I just wish ONE would televise the freaking NBA, the kuntz.

I want to keep up with it, but I can't exactly say that the NBL is my priority either. When it comes to sport in Australia, the cricket is much higher on my priority list at this time. It's merely a quality issue, not that I like cricket that much more.

I went and saw Blaze play Tigers a couple of weeks back. That will be my NBL fix for the season.

Turns out the rumours are false, and One will continue televising NBL. I've really no idea what the fuck they're doing, as none of what airs on One is even remotely worth watching anymore.

Got my Tigers heritage jersey earlier today. Somehow ended up with a Copeland one instead of a Gaze one, though. No idea how that happened.

I wonder if the rumours of Kyrie Irving playing for the Boomers in the Olympics will eventuate to anything. Apparently he needs a waiver since he played for the USA under 18s. He can get it under these conditions:

A) he is "going back" to his country of origin
B) this change is in the interest of the development of basketball in the country of the national team he wishes to represent (i.e. Australia).

He'd definitely have to be considered under B. If he gets in, it'd be a pretty poor year for old mate Patty

He also needs the USA to agree to let him go, which is unlikely.

Townsville shot zero free throws last night. That is not a typo.

Agreed, seems he's out of luck there but it'd be great if it could happen.

How can a professional basketball team possibly attempt zero free throws? Did they just hoist up shots from 30 feet out the whole game?

Not a clue. It wasn't on TV, and even those who were at the game are at a loss to explain it. There weren't any notable errors in officiating, nor was there a particularly perimeter-oriented offense - and given that Luke Schenscher is on the team, you'd think a failure to get the ball inside would be mentioned fairly quickly.

The final score was 67-65 or something like that, too, so it can't be put down to a complete lack of defense on the part of the opposing team either.

Truly bizarre. Sounds like an ugly one to have been at.

Cairns just had four FTAs tonight. And made two. Scored a total of 49 points.

Stuff like that makes the NBL a hard sell. Although to be fair, the lockout has resulted in some pretty ugly NBA basketball too.

Referees let a lot go this weekend. Teams have been getting up around 90 points fairly often, and there's been more than a handful of 100-point games, which is equivalent to about 120 points over 48 minutes. The NBL, on average, has been far better than the NBA this year. The Lakers/Mavs game, for example, had the Lakers winning with just 73 points, equivalent to 60 points over 40 minutes. That won't win you a game in the NBL.

I'd still rate the NBA season over the NBL, but a big part of that is how the Nuggets are playing at the moment. They're playing an attractive brand of basketball at the moment and they have some fun players to watch (they really need to give Faried more minutes though).

60 points would never win you a game, but then again, no NBL team has the 9 All Defensive First Team epicness of Kobe Bryant

60 points would never win you a game

It won the Lakers a game.

Word is there won't be a Newcastle team in the foreseeable future.

Took my quote a little out of context there. I was implying that it was because of Kobe's "epic defense" that the Lakers won with such a low scoring total:

but then again, no NBL team has the 9 All Defensive First Team epicness of Kobe Bryant

I guess I was being facetious though.

Brisbane's bid to rejoin the league has been rejected.

Another win for the NBL

Better to reject the bid than have them back for a couple of years and then collapse again.

It's not been officially announced, but the info is apparently pretty reliable.

Definitely for the best if there are concerns about the financial stability of a Brisbane team, but very unfortunate that it couldn't get off the ground. Perhaps down the road though, as antsy as it can leave fans there is merit in slow expansion.

A second Melbourne team should be announced tomorrow.