Aussie Basketball Discussion

[Kenny]

It's really a shame the lack of commitment One is showing to a once great league. I actually think it could be time for the NBL to follow the NSL and look to create a different league with a different structure. The A-League had a fair bit of immediate success and even last season's grand final attracted 50,000 people to Suncorp Stadium.

It'd be an expensive exercise, but it could be an option.

[koberulz]

They did that two years ago, to a degree.

[Andrew]

It's a shame they gave up on the idea of One being a sports channel so quickly. I know ratings and dollars figure into the bottom line, but I doubt the current approach is going to fare much better.

[koberulz]

It has so far, by an absolute mile, apparently.

[Andrew]

I guess I stand corrected.

[koberulz]

Lowest common denominator, and all that.

The other aspect is that what they're showing now is apparently a lot cheaper, too. So it doesn't even need to rate as highly to achieve better financial results.

And that's not even going into the whole 'Murdoch just wants people to pay for Fox Sports' theory...

EDIT: Ratings are up from 1.5 to 2.3 since the shift, on average.

[Kenny]

Some of the shows on One are pretty good (eg: Sons of Anarchy and Idiot Abroad) but if there's a show I like, I'll generally buy or borrow the DVD, so I pretty much exclusively use my TV to watch sporting events and play video games.

[Andrew]

I suppose it's a sensible approach and the ratings support it. So long as there's a strong commitment to live sports, I guess it's fair enough that they also branch out into other programming. If it's supposed to be a channel for men (wasn't that the creed of the relaunch?), you'd think sport would still be a big part of that.

[koberulz]

Adelaide have just lost one of their imports to injury, and re-entered the Bogut sweepstakes. I personally hope they get him, since Adelaide come here earlier than anyone else bar Melbourne. For the league, though, I'd say Sydney is the best option.

[koberulz]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nbl-t ... 6149689632

If TEN were requiring the other two games be dropped in exchange for Sunday being live, then it's at least a bit understandable, but either way...what the fuck NBL?

[Andrew]

See, that's why I have trouble supporting the NBL: bewildering decisions.

Admittedly it's not a great deal to have to lose two games to get one live game a week and that's kind of lousy on Ten's part if that's what was on the table, but it still seems like the league is cutting off their nose to spite their face. One live game a week may be peanuts, but has to be better than three taped games in a death slot.

[Kenny]

Definitely a bizarre decision. I personally have no problem watching games that late (well, at least under my current circumstances), but I can't imagine it's a great way to market the game. I wonder what kind of credentials you need to get a job in the NBL's marketing department anyway...

[Andrew]

I guess they're thinking of the game and don't want to lose those extra couple of games per week, but the significance of having even one live game can't be overstated. They're not really in a position to play hardball; the NRL or AFL could while cricket, tennis and events like the Olympics/Commonwealth Games etc are big enough for channels to set aside huge blocks or practically full days of programming to show them, but the NBL doesn't have that leverage. Again, cutting their nose off to spite their face.

[koberulz]

It was a midday EDST slot. Requiring 11AM starts for QLD games and a 9AM start for WA games. Must say that given that, the NBL made the right call (particularly given that there's still the three-hour rule, so Sunday afternoon games would have to be aired in a decent slot anyway, and they could always move some Saturday games to the afternoon too).

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/nbl-r ... 6152302488

Stupid that One isn't even open to still broadcasting one of the games live, despite obviously having a slot (even if it could only be NZ and Melbourne games). Basically paying the NBL to go away.

[The X]

Ten is trying to save money. At the moment they need crews and commentary teams to cover 3 games in 3 different cities. Good on NBL for rejecting them.

[Andrew]

Fair enough, that makes more sense.

Comment on the article:

Who cares it is a boring game,if One HD had any sense they would screen it after midnight. We are very lucky that AFL and Cricket dont ruin their games with time outs.

Typical ignorant Aussie response to basketball, sadly. Also a typical comment on the Internet, it's about something he has no interest in yet feels compelled to read and comment on. A round of applause, everybody!

[koberulz]

Yeah, the thing I love about cricket is the complete lack of breaks. Helps the games get done with so much quicker.

http://www.nbl.com.au/scheduleresults/201112-season/

Tip-off times have been determined...a week before the opening game. Better than a week after, I guess, but still late. TV schedule has also been released, and some games are slated for 'NBL Radio'. Whether that's being broadcast on an actual radio station or just streaming on the NBL website, I don't know at this stage.

[Kenny]

While I love Cricket and don't mind a little AFL, both sports have their fair share of problems. What that dick forgets is that during the IPL, the teams have something called a "Strategic Timeout", so really, he's wrong about that too.

[The X]

Cricket gets timeouts and a commercial break every over.

[koberulz]

Exactly. Not to mention that games take a minimum of a full day to complete. As an example of games that are constantly compelling, it's poor.

[Kenny]

I actually find cricket pretty engaging most of the time, but hey, each to their own I guess.

[The X]

Yeah, the thing I love about cricket is the complete lack of breaks. Helps the games get done with so much quicker.

http://www.nbl.com.au/scheduleresults/201112-season/

Tip-off times have been determined...a week before the opening game. Better than a week after, I guess, but still late. TV schedule has also been released, and some games are slated for 'NBL Radio'. Whether that's being broadcast on an actual radio station or just streaming on the NBL website, I don't know at this stage.

That's strange, Gold Coast Blaze had all their tipoff times sorted weeks ago. Ticketek had all Blaze home game tipoff times on their site for ages.

[Kenny]

Interesting looking through that schedule, I found these two games:

----

Blaze Vs Taipans

Date: Sun 16 October, 2011
Time: 6:30 PM
Venue: Brisbane Convention Centre

Blaze Vs Crocodiles

Date: Sun 19 February, 2012
Time: 6:30 PM
Venue: Brisbane Convention Centre

----

Guess I can't whinge all that much about games not being played in Brisbane

I'd like to check those out actually.

[The X]

Sucks that they're Sunday evening, clashes with bball

[koberulz]

Interesting looking through that schedule, I found these two games:

----

Blaze Vs Taipans

Date: Sun 16 October, 2011
Time: 6:30 PM
Venue: Brisbane Convention Centre

Blaze Vs Crocodiles

Date: Sun 19 February, 2012
Time: 6:30 PM
Venue: Brisbane Convention Centre

----

Guess I can't whinge all that much about games not being played in Brisbane

I'd like to check those out actually.

They announced that while back; their usual stadium is unavailable for those games.

Rumors have Earl Boykins in the empty Wollongong import slot, but I doubt there's much, if any, factual basis to that. Still no news on Bogut. FIBA hoped to have the insurance issues cleared up a couple of days ago. Even without the lockout ending, he might not end up playing here at this rate.

EDIT: Insurance issues are now sorted. Bogut's expected to sign in the next couple of days. Blaze, Kings, or Sixers.