My greatest sporting memory as a child was attending Melbourne Tigers games with my Dad.
Andrew Gaze and Lanard Copeland were nailing those alley-oops, there was a fierce rivalry with the SE Melbourne Magic and big crowds attended Rod Laver Arena on a regular basis.
Fast forward to 2014 and I felt betrayed by the decision to change the name to Melbourne United.
The Melbourne Tigers NBL brand – a name that was synonymous with Australian professional basketball for over 30 years was wiped away in an instant – all for the sake of marketing.
Disillusioned and disgruntled, I swore I would no longer follow the NBL and focused my attention on the NBA.
It was only this season, buoyed by the chance to watch games again with my father that I decided to put old differences aside and support Melbourne United and the NBL. It is a decision I have not regretted.
Attending a recent United game, I was amazed by the match day experience and how much it has changed from watching the Tigers many years ago. The club has done well to acknowledge the past with the retired jerseys of old Tiger greats and championship flags all hanging in the corner.
The NBL and the clubs must be congratulated for their efforts in rebranding the league.
Despite keeping the same franchises they have managed to re-energise the clubs, assisted in creating a more financially stable model and helped reconnect passionate fans across the country.
The NBL.tv app is brilliant and it’s free live and delayed access to your teams games is a first in the Australian sporting market.
But what can the NBL do to create an even better product?
The NBL has adopted FIBA rules rather than NBA rules. My firm belief is we should adopt more NBA rules.
Of these, the two most important are the three-second defensive rule in the key and extending the three-point line. The first of these prevents the any defensive player from staying in the key when not actively defending an opponent.
This stops the centre sitting in the middle of the key protecting the rim. Having to step out opens up one side of the court.
This creates more lanes for players to drive, results in more slam dunks and alley-oops with the weak side opened up.
It also limits the effectiveness and ease of playing zone defence which can reduce the reliance on outside shooting. You almost only see man to man defence in the NBA and I think this makes for a better spectacle.
The three-point line distance was extended by FIBA to 6.7m in 2010 but is still short of the 7.24m used in the NBA. Extending the three point line allows for better player spacing and such a change can only improve the shooting prowess and skill of players at all levels.
But can the NBL pick and choose which rules it takes on from the NBA or does it need to adopt all of them?
I assume it would be the latter which would mean going back to 12-minute quarters, having extra-timeouts available, fouling out after six fouls (rather than the current five) and a change to jump ball regulations.
There would also be a change to the travel interpretation allowing players to take two steps after catching the ball rather than one allowed by FIBA. The other consideration is the flow on effect down to junior basketball.
Even if it is an all or nothing, the NBA rules are still preferable to the FIBA rules. I have no issue with an extra eight minutes of high quality basketball.
Extra timeouts (including 20 second timeouts) can be a hindrance in slowing down the flow of play but are useful in tight finishes where it allows a team making a comeback to stop the clock and advance the ball to half court.
The extra foul is needed given the length of quarters is slightly longer. Relaxation of the travel rules would allow for more athletic finishing at the rim when catching the ball off a cut – this would certainly be a positive.
These rule changes would further enhance the NBL on-court product – changes that hopefully lead to bigger crowds and an even better TV product.
Chris Pike
Expert
None of those rule changes would be bad if implemented, I think particularly the defensive three second rule would be good so no one can camp in the paint. Travelling is an interesting one. From talking to a lot of imports, it shocks them what they get called for as a travel! But the reality is very few NBL players will end up playing in the NBA where almost all of them will play in other leagues throughout Europe, Asia or Puerto Rico where FIBA rules are in place too. The NBL will be sticking with FIBA because that's what most of the world follows, aside from the NBA. BUT the one rule that annoys me every single year is the possession arrow. Bring back the jump ball please!
Swampy
Guest
Believe it or not game time as come down in the last 5 years (average 133 minutes for non overtime games)
Swampy
Guest
I wonder why broadcasters (there is no plural in reality) would want to cut down time anyway? Surely longer games mean more ads and opportunity to recoup outlay?
Mushi
Guest
In hunting around for the averages I saw something on deadspin that had NBA games at mid to high 130 mins on average not sure what the standard deviation would be but I’d imagine that means you need to account for at least 145 minutes if you want to aim for a “consistent” time period
James
Guest
No you cant. Back when we had 12 minute quarters games would consistently run over 2 hours. Initially that was a comment made by the league that broadcasters wanted to cut that down to under 2 hours. Key being 'consistently' - a lot of them will run over that time slot. With 10 minute quarters you may see a handful go over, plus any overtime games. Adding an extra 8 minutes of game time probably sees you add 20+ minutes of real time so it wont be fit into a 2 hour tv slot most of the time, as has been shown in the past.
Swampy
Guest
You can fit a 12 minute qtr game into 120 minutes of TV time quite easily AND it would be better for it. The NBA's biggest product issue is the length of the game - particularly the last 3 minutes. Simple solution is to reduce number of timeouts. In the NBA they created a 20 sec timeout which initially was 20-30 secs but now seems to run for 2 minutes or more. Adam Silver has acknowledged this issue pre-season and it is quite possible we will see action to shorten the end of games. The NBL could just adopt whatever future plan the NBA has for this. You would think maybe 2 timeouts per team in the last 2 minutes might help. And get rid of video reviews.
Theeva Kumar
Roar Rookie
Excellent Article. I too was a big fan of Melbourne Tigers with the likes of Greer, Anstey etc and thought the rebranding was silly initially but have liked this season. However, sometimes it makes me cringe with the style of play that occurs with full-court presses from the first quarter. It just causes turnovers that evolve into very sloppy plays which makes it hard to watch at times.
The Doc
Roar Guru
Thanks for the commend DB. I guess $35 is a bit if you have a family to take along. That being said, I was amazed by the number of families there and the kids absolutely loved it. Great activities before hand and in the foyer afterwards. Not sure how much big bash is. As for the travel rules - FIBA rules are fairly strict and slightly different to the NBA rules. Im sure from time to time, referees let off or miss the odd travel but no one is allowed a 4 step. The FIBA rules are outlined here https://www.fiba.com/downloads/rules/2014/official_basketball_rules_2014_y.pdf NBA travels are here: http://www.nba.com/nba101/misunderstood_0708.html Main difference is when you catch ball, you can take 2 steps (2 count) before releasing or starting dribble.
The Doc
Roar Guru
Thanks for the comment James. I agree 40 minutes is preferable especially for TV 2 hour package. I just dont think the league can cherry pick the rules it wants from the NBA without adopting all of them. Agree that NBA games can drag out for way too long with the extra timeouts, which seems to be a feature of most american sports. As mentioned in the article, on the odd occasion, the extra timeouts help teams making great comebacks by being able to stop the clock and advance the ball. But its a balance and agree that in the australian market, flow may be preferable over the stop-start issues that extra timeouts bring
James
Guest
Some decent proposals in regards to rule changes. I mean, its great to have the worlds greatest league to gauge how well certain things work. 48 minute games however are unlikely as the length of game is in line with FIBA, but more importantly dictated by TV. 48 minute games regularly go over that 2 hour slot that TV likes to package up games in. Less is more theses days. I think 40 minutes is actually better...and Im a basketball fanatic. NBA games go on wayyy too long. And the finishes can drag out for days with the amount of timeouts they are afforded. Good positive article though. The NBL has rebounded well this past season. A good springboard to build on.
James
Guest
Your poor sons love basketball, but you took them to big bash instead? Poor kids. Thankfully my parents worked hard and saved up and took me to the Wildcats games when I was younger and I grew up thankful to them. If they had taken me to the cricket when I was younger instead I think I would have resented them later in life haha
DB
Guest
My sons love basketball so I planned to go see Melbourne United until i discovered tickets cost about $35 each, so I went to the Big Bash instead. With regards to the travel rule from what I can gather professional players from NBA to NBL and Olympics can take 3 steps for a layup and even shuffle their feet equating to four or so steps when looking for the pass-off. I saw this multiple times in the Olympics. This is something not afforded to my sons at Junior level