Hoops

Alex Pledger win NZNBL MVP!

The guy he came off the bench for was kinda handy (Gary Wilkinson) and also made the NBL first team at the conclusion of the season.
Pledger is a work in progress that is coming along nicely, no need to rush things.

lol at the underarm freethrows. great to see the trans tasman rivalry is alive and kicking still. I do cheer for Australia tho when you guys are playing anyone but the Tall Blacks.
I believe that Oceania basketball is strong enough to warrant 2 spots at all major tournaments based on how strong both teams have performed of late. It would be rubbish for one of these teams to miss a tournament and then have teams like Lebanon get a spot and be complete cannon fodder.

now anon explain how you are going to get that team on the court?
beating a country of 3million on paper doesn't get you to the Olympics.

there is no doubt that Australia is the stronger country in Basketball. You have produced some amazing players and teams over the years especially an NBA 1# draft pick (arguably 2 lol).
New Zealand make do with what we have, we don't have an institute of Sport comparable to yours to breed top athletes. Sure we have the odd freak like Pero Cameron and Kirk Penney to keep you guys honest but at the end of the day the Boomers are the benchmark in this part of the world.

damn I love it when we beat you tho ;)

No, standard is much better than what that list will tell you.
Wellington this year contained 7 players that have played or are playing ANBL (And the other players --One is a commit to PITT, another just returned for Div 1 college at Stephen F.Austin)

Waikato contained 4 players that play or have played ANBL (and then you have Jerry Smith unbelievable player from Uni of Louisville, Hayden Allen who is miles better than someone like Crosswell,)

Nelson contained 5 players that have played or are playing ANBL including Grizzard, Jones, Vukona, Fitchett and Bloxham
Then throw in Dora as an import.

NBL teams can put out 6/7 very good players.

This years stars ..Jerry Smith, Abercrombie, Jason Crowe, Vukona, Erron Maxey, Dillion Boucher, Craig Bradshaw, Mike Rose, Josh Pace, Galen Young have all made noise in the ANBL + Smith who could make noise!

I mean the Pistons would have potentially beat last years Kings:

Dickel or Martin v Crowe = Crowe
Madgen v J.Smith = Smith
P.Sanders v Abercrombie = Close, im going to stay even
Dann v BJ Anthony = Equal (BJ can play)
Khazzou v Pledger = Khazzou (Pledge could match him on the boards though and he is taller than Khazzou)

How does the NZBL compare to the NBL talent wise? I always assumed it was somewhere between NBL & ABA level. Honest question, I have never seen a NZBL game.