Comments on: Forget the bandaids, the NBL needs genuine reform

By: Trevor

Trevor — Sun, 17 May 2009 23:55:33 +0000

Maybe basketball in Australia has made some errors in the past.
Maybe there’s been a bit of overspending on the salary caps.
A few business heavyweights went to the wall and took a couple of clubs with them.
Financially times have been tough for all of us causing a tightening of the family budget.

BA has been left to make some tough decisions.
Whether or not they’ve sat on their hands for too long isn’t the point.
The fact is they are looking at ways to rebuild the league.
Sengstock has been thrown in like a lamb to the slaughter.
His passion and credentials speak for themselves.

So the answer is a rebel league to further divide this struggling sport.
Doesn’t sound positive to me.

In basketball’s hour of need the two top clubs of ‘08/’09 have pulled the pin for whatever reasons instead of offering their support to help the elite competition regain it’s composure.
Their claims may be valid, or maybe not.

This is the time all involved in the sport should be banding together for the one common goal, not trying to tear it apart.
I don’t have the answers, nor do I claim to.
But then, as a coach, I do know one thing, there’s always someone who claims they can do a better job!

By: Timmuh

Timmuh — Sun, 17 May 2009 07:50:40 +0000

I’m not really much of a basketball fan, especially since the Devils were killed off over a decade ago. But neither do I like the idea of seeing sporting codes die.
With the advent of One and Fox, could a new NBL look at a mid-week schedule. Play rounds over Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday nights in winter with no football to compete against. Bound to get some free to air coverage on One and might fill a local sporting void for Fox midweek as well.

By: Clint Dogg

Clint Dogg — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:25:55 +0000

No Melb Tigers, Brisbane Bullets or Sydney Kings = NO NBL!.

By: Glen

Glen — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:38:45 +0000

No basketball club in Australia will ever make a profit… It’s just not an Aussie sport! Sorry to burst your bubble, but basketball has tried to break it into the Aussie sporting/ENTERTAIMENT sphere for more than 20 years and has actually gone backwards. I remember going to see Larry Senstock, Leroy Loggins and a whole troupe of others play for the Brisbane Bullets at the entertainment centre in Brisbane in the heyday and it was huge but…. it was all focused on the corporate box receipts. The game was just a sideshow to the hospitality. The novelty of a North American non-contact, predominately non-caucasion, sport with a break every 15 seconds was just too weird for the average footy-loving punter. Anyway, good luck!

By: Michael DiFabrizio

Michael DiFabrizio — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:39:10 +0000

YT, it’s good to see your passion for the game.

You’re right to say the owners have a lot to answer for, they historically have catered to their own interests and not necessarily what’s best for the game. Although a lot of that is in the past now — there’s been too much said/written over the last 7 days about what happened in the past, so I’m not going to focus on that too much.

As for the profitability situation, it wasn’t just the Tigers. According to McPeake, no club made a profit. That would include the Townsville Crocs, who pride themselves on the face they have broke even or recorded a profit in each year of their existence. You wouldn’t accuse them of spending over the cap. And even the thought of the Tigers not making money is hard to fathom — McPeake isn’t in it (and never has been) to lose money.

By: Midfielder

Midfielder — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:06:02 +0000

I think from someone outside looking in I get the feeling those running basketball overstate who / what they are in the Australian sporting landscape and then fall short of achievable targets and growth as they are always seen to be failing.

I would step down the league to an affordable one played over a 6 months and forget the US season and build it up using local talent from ground zero. Let it grow to what it will become … its like Basketball is … Demanding respect … rather than Commanding respect … and therefore I see almost certain failure as there appears almost no change to the already tried and failed business model now being used.

By: YT

YT — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:22:46 +0000

Was it the circumstances of last year that caused McPeake’s golden goose to suddenly become un-profitable as you “incidentally” infer, or was it the fact that he blatantly over-spent on the salary cap.

Simple accounting: if your expenses are more than your revenue, don’t spend more. Please don’t justify the excesses of these owners and look to blame it on the organisation. Investigate the connection between the ego-driven owners group and the demise of the NBL, you’ll see they were the ones who accepted Tim Johnstone; they were the ones who realised the weakness of their own group to adminster the points and salary cap; and they’re the ones who after committing to the reform showed all the fortitude and support of a rubber band.

No the game will survive without them. Yes, it will be something different, but personally I don’t want or need a select few telling me what product I should be consuming. The game in all of its other properties (WNBL, ABA, Juniors, International Teams) is doing just fine, this is the only thing that stinks, and the reason comes down to private owners, not those looking to return it to the community.