Kevin Bartlett pulled no punches in his assessment of the NBL last week. The fallout, though, turned the whole event into a giant positive.
The Melbourne radio host’s comments anticipated the death of the NBL.
“The best imports are no longer attracted and the home-grown stars just can’t be satisfied,” Bartlett said.
“It’s lost its position in the minds of sports fans and that spells death unless a panacea is found.”
Now, about 3-4 years ago Bartlett’s comments would’ve likely been met with apathy from the NBL community.
Few would bother to pick up the phone and call him out because a lot of it would’ve hit home. That was then, though, and this is now.
Were there still no meaningful team in Sydney, Bartlett would be right.
Were there still no free-to-air games and the majority of games not shown at all, Bartlett would be right.
Were James Ennis, AJ Ogilvy and Mark Worthington playing elsewhere, Bartlett would be right.
Were crowds not up in each of the last four seasons, Bartlett would be right.
Were Perth not pulling over 10,000 fans to every home game, Bartlett would be right.
Were TV ratings not double in Round 1 this year what they were in Round 1 last year, Bartlett would be right.
But the landscape has changed. Bartlett is not right. The NBL is no longer close to death.
And that meant NBL people did, in fact, pick up the phone.
Melbourne Tigers captain Tommy Greer eloquently defended the state of the league on afternoon radio and outlined some of the recent positives, including the arrival of the NBA-bound Ennis (who added to his extensive highlight reel once again over the weekend).
His teammates and coach hit social media with their responses also and by the next day, KB was back-tracking. The message from basketball had cut through stronger.
To be fair, there was one line the NBL should not ignore from Bartlett’s bake.
“It’s lost its position in the minds of sports fans” is an accurate assessment. For all the recent positives, this remains the case.
That’s the challenge in front of the new NBL ownership and management that’s still assuming their new roles.
But for the first time in a while, the NBL community can say the league isn’t close to death.
And you could mount the argument that it took Bartlett’s words for the NBL community to realise they had the power to say this publicly. So, in that sense, the situation was a major positive for the league.
You can say what you like about the NBL, just don’t mention the d-word anymore.
tommy t
Guest
Surely you realise that KB wants to spark interest in the NBL and is happy to play the bad guy if it helps the cause. To think anything else is absolutely naive, tooth fairy, santa claus level of make believe if you believe in Kevin The Anti-NBL Bartlett myth being put o here to spark some interest. (It worked too, I got a close mate text me about getting 3 game Melbourne Tigers memberships a few days after KB's spiel)
Jorji Costava
Guest
Agree, if a rich person or consortium took the sport under its wing it would be right up there again. Look at what Lowy has done with his influence. He has government handouts to prop up West Sydney, the FFA and a hand up the back of Les Murray at SBS to get tv deals done. With a lot of money it moves mountains, just look at NZ soccer stuck over in the dung pile of Pacific nations soccer compared to where we have moved. It is funny that David Hill tried to get Aussie soccer into Asia in the middle 1990s around the time of the Iran debacle and was laughed out of FIFA. It was a vote of 205 to 1(Oz voted for itself) to change confederations. Frank Lowy comes along, clicks his fingers and gets into the joint in 18 months. Wonder what he said(or gave) to get that to happen? Back onto hoops, it is a great game to play and whether or not the top tier of the men's game is a success in this country or not does not matter a hoot. People can play the game by themselves, just shooting, or against a friend or against a couple of friends. You don't need much to play this game. How do you do that with the rugby codes?
Jorji Costava
Guest
When Geelong Supercats were given a carrot to leave the league in the mid 1990s that was it for me. They also moved to tv coverage to Foxtel, as did the NBA so basketball just disapeared. Jordan retiring was a minor factor. Not getting air time at a crucial time in basketball's growth killed it off. The NBL owners got greedy and killed themselves. I was not as hardcore as what those Fitzroy supporters would have been losing their team and as not as gutted, but I find it impossible to want to get behind one of the rivals. So my interest now is following the Boomers when they are playing a big tournament and NBA if it is available to admire the skills. The NBL model was designed on the American system, not the AFL club system which works in this country that is why it is on death's door. They need to have community clubs, not "franchises" that come and go at the whim of a rich wanker. That happened in Geelong. The clown that took on the club wanted the glory, but not the losses. When he got fed up with the losses he just pulled the pin with the NBL's handout. It should have become a member's owned club and the city should have built a reasonable stadium for the club. The club goes on, but it is in the 2nd division and they play in a lousy stadium. A working bee to convert a factory warehouse could create a better stadium than that joint. I've seen it done in Europe.
Scottie
Guest
I think the NBL would be just as big as the A league if the NBL had a Frank Lowy behind them. But it is too hard to compare an outdoor sport to a indoor sport in terms of crowds. People would be suprised how many basketball fans there are in Australia. I just think many are unaware of the NBL because it doesn't have the greatest media exposure compared to other sports. They need a 2nd team in Melbourne, get all those fans back. Revive the bullets an even introduce a AIS team. The NBL needs to Get back onto fox sports. One/ten doesn't have it on enough. The NBL can be successful again and I sure hope it does.
Swampy
Guest
+1 Any publicity...
Statler and Waldorf
Roar Guru
Jorj, as someone who has played both soccer and basketball and followed both I can tell you that you are off the mark with your soccer jibe. The amont of points scored in a game is not relevant to how good a game it is. In soccer goals are hard to score and so games are low scoring and a nil all draw can be as good a game as any. In basketball points are easier to come by, you are expected to score when you have the ball. The defending team rarely even tries to stop the offending team from getting into their half. A close game is a good game no matter what sport you follow. And as for singing - don't basketball games have music and announcers to liven up the crowd? Both are good sports
ctar
Guest
The amount of teams that have come and gone in the NBL is a joke. When both the Cannons and Bullets folded I stopped following. Bullets regularly had strong crowds as well and a great venue.
ChrisW
Guest
Media personalities should stick to commenting on the game they know and are apart of.
mushi
Guest
I'm not a fan of the NBL but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a machiavellian scheme behind these comments. Typically this shock jock stuff makes you pick a side and will get some of the fence sitters at least passingly interested in the NBL
cliffclavin
Guest
Whilst us soccer fans can be labelled whingers and dreamers we have remained vocal to help our game. This position has in part been built up over many years from being critcized and ostracized by mainstream media etc. It now looks like basketball fans are starting to really value the game and league in a way that differs fron its entertainment-focused hey day of the early 1990s. I am 36 and did not see a basketball game till I went to the Newcastle falcons in the late eighties . I like many fans drifted away but have come back in last three years and value it more now. Time again seems to be important in this matter
Jorji Costava
Guest
I suspect KB deliberately started this fight to shine a light on basketball. Bartlett's wife played hoops for decades and his two daughters play every week so he is down at the stadiums helping out with the scoring and what not all the time, so he is quite a dedicated basketball person. The thing with some cities of Australia is basketball and NBL basketball is far more popular than soccer in any form. Perth for instance has always been a big basketball town and the Wildcats consistently outdraw the Glory even though they play indoors at an arena not a stadium. In Townsville and Cairns basketball whips soccer hands down. The Townsville soccer team is now defunct but the b-ball team has been going since the 1980s. Same goes for Wollongong. The Hawks have been there for decades but the soccer club and rugby league sides have come and gone. Geelong should be still in the league and the Supercats club is one of the strongest clubs outside of the NBL winning countless titles and has a strong production line of talent. If they just moved the season back to winter and got a few of the old clubs back in the NBL would find it's niche. The standard is quite good, with loads of scoring unlike the grinding nil alls you get over at the A-League. Any wonder they need to sing through the boring bits.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Good to hear Kris, also the Herald Sun in Melbourne apparently gave a full page to NBL/WNBL coverage today. Cracking the big cities is vital so these are further positives we can add to the list.
Kris Swales
Expert
Ennis has already had a big impact on media exposure - he got a half page photo feature in the Sun-Herald yesterday, Heal and the Kings got the column beside it. And the DT ran a half page match report with big pic of AJ Ogilvy today, which probably wouldn't have happened last year. Sydney loves a good bandwagon so if the Kings can get competitive I think more of your casual punters will take notice.