If you take the ‘any publicity is good publicity’ view, the fight after Friday night’s top-of-the-table NBL clash should be applauded by the league office.
Fines? Pfft.
The NBL should be paying the Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers – with bonuses to the main perpetrators – for what went down, not the other way around.
Throw the book at 36ers coach Joey Wright? No way.
The league needs to hurry up and award him Coach of the Month already.
A head coach throwing punches at a sporting event! Repeat after me: a head coach throwing punches at a sporting event!
In what world does that not end up in primetime news bulletins?
Clearly, the man’s a publicity genius.
Okay, okay. So footage of men actually playing basketball might have ended up on the editing suite floor.
Not even a James Ennis dunk or two could niggle its way through.
But evidence that the NBL is actually capable of filling a 12,000-seat arena did, in fact, survive the cut.
In the backdrop to the action was a nice 360-degree view of Perth Arena’s red army. Not exactly the worst advertisement for the league.
You could also say that the passion on display was a positive promotion for the league, not to mention the Channel Ten watermark in the corner of the screen.
On top of all that, existing fans got plenty – and I mean plenty – of mileage out of the melee.
It sent the two most vocal fan-bases in the competition into online war.
It was a wonderful excuse for ‘Redhage even flopped during a fight’ jokes.
It was one of those increasingly rare moments where the Ron Burgundy ‘Well that escalated quickly’ meme could be posted and still retain its humour.
NBL in the news, people talking NBL. Is this not what the NBL wants?
“How many zeroes should I put on the end of this cheque?” should be the words coming out of Fraser Neill’s mouth this morning.
If you take the ‘any publicity is good publicity’ view, everyone came out a winner.
But that would, of course, require you to take the ‘any publicity is good publicity’ view.
In this case, I don’t. Joey Wright needs to sit out a few weeks and everyone else who escalated the situation should be fined relative to their involvement.
Matthew
Guest
It takes far too long for the NBL Commission to make a decision. Teams have played 1-2 games after the event.
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
I would hate to think what would happen if it was a NRL game and the same situation broke out.
Matthew
Guest
Ennis was found not guilty. Not sure about Wright. Im sure if he is found guilty there will be cries of 'Wildcats always get let off' as there are already cries of 'If the Wildcats are let off , then so should the 36ers'
Cantab
Guest
It's a 4 game series though, the scores now 2-1, if it ends up 2-2 they add all the scores up like its a first class cricket match, you'd be crazy not to take the points...or be offended.
Keggas
Guest
In an earlier game during the year Adelaide were winning by a small margin and took a shot on the buzzer to increase their lead, no wildcats players or coaches threw a punch after that! The " ettiquette" to not score at the end of the game if you are a long way in front is silly when positions depend on points difference and the Adelaide players and coaches were just having a sook. But either way it was publicity for the comp which is a good thing.
Internal Fixation
Guest
Can't wait for the GF between these teams ;)
Haz
Guest
Its good and bad. Its great to see some extended coverage of the NBL because of it, as long as the necessary punishments are handed out. Of which I don't think it deserves too much punishment anyway. Just a few small fines, and an apology will do for me. As a Wildcats fan myself, I'm still buzzing at all the commotion over it. Fantastic for the game. Brawls happen, but it definately adds some spice when the coaches get involved! Its even better that its was done in Perth - the marquee club with the biggest fan base to show the rest of Australia that basketball - at least on the West coast is alive and well! It wouldn't have had the same impact if this was done in front of an empty arena in Wollongong or Townsville.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
From the NBL website ... NBL Issues Charges For Post-Game Altercation "The NBL has completed its investigation Friday night’s on-court altercation between players and coaching staff from the Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers. "Two charges have subsequently been issued and referred to an independent judiciary. "Adelaide coach Joey Wright has been charged with allegedly striking Perth Assistant Coach Adam Tatalovich. "Perth forward James Ennis has been charged with the alleged attempted striking of Adelaide’s Mitch Creek. "The charges are expected to be heard later this week. "The Perth and Adelaide clubs have also been charged with a Code of Conduct breach for their role in the melee. The NBL is yet to finalise possible penalties and/or sanctions." http://www.nbl.com.au/article/id/25ii85hdky4k1u47nga6w502y
Ryan
Guest
Didn't a similar incident happen just a couple of weeks ago with Wildcats/tigers? Not as intense, but same post match sort of scuffle? Wildcats the common denominator? The shooting at the buzzer during a blowout situation I have always thought is just part of the game, you always dribble it out. Development player or star, you just don't do it. Its the final play, what sort of development are you getting from putting up the shot? I have never had a coach encourage me to do so, or heard of a coach doing so. "Play the full 48 minutes" does not mean shoot the ball with 2 seconds to go and your up by 20. I have only seen it once in an NBA game that I can remember; Rondo throwing up this ridiculous shot. Look at the Suns players just standing on court like is he for real; "a classless act". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHT71ivKue4
PerthHacks
Guest
This dribbling to the siren I also totally disagree with. We have already lost 8 minutes of basketball thanks to the 10 min quarters and you want people paying $40 to watch the mercy rule being implemented in a professional league? Speaking of development players of which Hire isn't, how insulting is it to sub on development players in the last minute and require them to dribble out 50% of their court time? Just looking ahead hypothetically, if a team were to win by 50 points will the losing team feel disrespected? I think the only people being disrespected in all this are the fans.
mushi
Roar Guru
I don't think you are alone.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
It was covered on 7 News around the country on Saturday night. Also, have a look at the front page of Adelaide's Sunday Mail yesterday: http://adelaideadvertiser.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
Peaches
Guest
Wright seemed to be chasing a Perth bloke in a polo shirt after it initially looked to be done. Perhaps something was said and that's why Joey was going off?
Matthew
Guest
TBH, I didnt actually hear about it until I was checking the NBL website and saw something about it. When I did a search on the brawl, I actually got a google hit on Shane Heal talking about his bankruptcy and being loaned money by Brett Brown.
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Ryan, cheers for Hammer's take - I can't help but agree with it too! Interestingly a week earlier Wollongong's Luke Jamieson put up a three at the buzzer against Adelaide and nothing seemingly came of it. Perhaps it's different when a development player is making the most of some rare minutes, but it is difficult to believe all that commotion started from someone putting up a three.
Ryan O'Connell
Expert
Michael, I asked Shane Heal on Saturday if he or his team would ever feel disrespected if an opponent shot a three in the dying seconds, despite already being up by a lot of points. He said absolutely not, as the head-to-head splits are so important, and he therefore tells his team to play to the final buzzer, regardless of the score. So if this is truly the catalyst for what happened - a sense of disrespect - then it is misplaced immensely. For what it's worth, with the lack of mainstream coverage the NBL gets, I didn't think the brawl making headlines was the worst thing that could have happened. By all means punish any offenders, and make it 'publicly' clear that that sort of behaviour is unacceptable. But behind closed doors, I'd be surprised if anyone at NBL headquarters was grossly upset. They may even be happy.
James Anderson
Roar Guru
Irresponsible article. Your last line hardly makes up for suggesting that the NBL shouldn't take action against violence. There's obviously something wrong if this is the approach that people take, which I'm aware it is not, but still to advocate that sort of behaviour, no matter how entertaining, or funny, or watchable, it's not how you gain supporters and not how you make it into the media
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Biggest in a loooooong time though, surely?
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Plainsman, the etiquette at the buzzer issue is an interesting angle to explore. When finals positions and home court advantage can be decided by the season series between two sides (which, could realistically end up 2-2 and fall down to points difference*) should you really have to follower shooting at the buzzer etiquette? You'd hate to miss out on home court advantage because you followed etiquette that other teams could very easily choose to overlook. Good topic for an NBL Ethics class... * This is, to the best of my knowledge, how the NBL system works. Happy to be proven wrong.
Swampy
Guest
What it really needed for coverage was an assistant wearing an Adelaide United scarf and talk-back radio and the Murdoch papers would literally be in meltdown... -- Comment from The Roar's iPhone app.