Hoops

BA keen to see Mills in NBL

Isaac, as much as I would love to see Mills play for the Sixers, I think the priority has to be a high quality big first of all.

Last season, DJ and Balls both got into foul trouble on numerous occasions and we were punished when we couldn't keep them on the court. Even when they were on the court, we weren't great defensively or rebounding wise!

So the 3rd big has to be someone who is good enough to not only spell both DJ and Balls, but also to step into the breach when one of our starters gets in foul trouble (or is just not having an impact as happened a lot last season too).

Ie, it has to be someone who can play 30 mins if necessary and compete with an opponents starters - a Rychart, Hinder or Gruber type.

So IF we get that kind of big man, then I think we could get away with Mills as our tenth player, but not if our backup big man is just a benchie who can only be relied upon for 8-10 mins per game against the opponents backups.

yes all this is hypothetical interweb banter until someone actually expresses serious interest in signing with an NBL team. No argument that it would be great for fans to see some serious NBA quality players in the NBL

That's the thing, Paul Blackwell (Breakers Owner) is now on the BBNZ board, so what's to stop him from financing BBNZ through his other business interests (before mentioned Supermarket Chain) and getting Sean Marks over here but under a false guise of BBNZ to benefit his NBL Franchise?
If there is a way to do it that is fair to all Franchises I'm not completely against it.

what if Pak N Save Albany or Burger King decided they want to front the money? How do we differentiate between BBNZ, BA and a 3rd party putting up cash for top tier players? Then we have a league where only the rich (or large centres) have a shot.
I personally believe teams should recruit their own players under the salary cap and points cap without interference or direct help from BA or BBNZ to keep the playing field level for all not just a few.

Would be good to see Marks play in the NBL.
But, no way BBNZ could put in a lot of money.
They are in GRAVE financial strive--Always have been.

BBNZ lost $214,000 in 2009--They blew a lot of money staging the World Champs

They made a surplus of just $1,000 in 2010
In 2011, they predicted they would make $70,000 (Excellent for their standards, but still hardly anything)

As you see, they don't have the money to fund Marks.

for 10 years he has consistently had a contract in the NBA and while I agree that he hasn't had much consistent court time, there is a reason he keeps getting contracts.
It is easy to say that Penney is the marquee player as you get to see him play all the time where you hardly ever get to see Sean Marks play, I have watched a bit of Marks playing for NZ (and a few NBA games he has got Court Time in) over the years and was surprised how good he is for an NBA "benchwarmer".

Anon: Sean Marks has spent the last 10 years in the NBA, the same league that Penney has been busting his ass to get another shot at playing in.

So if BBNZ stepped in to help make that happen no one on here would have a problem with it?

should they then help the Breakers get Sean Marks?

Jonno, the 36ers have Warren and Crosswell as the PG's.
I know the chance of having Mills is exciting, but theres no need to get him if it means upsetting the team balance and been guard heavy. Teams would absolutely murder Mills defensively at the 2 spot (He would have to mark players like Penney, Daryl Hudson-if he was to return etc.)

Yes Mills would be the best PG in the league if he came to Aussie.

But IMO the 36ers just have to bit the bullet and say..We've got our PG's, we need to build a BALANCED team and go after what we need, not what we already have.

Id take Mills at the 1 spot, or not at all. Offensively he wouldn't have a problem at the 2 (because he has that scorers mentality), but defensively his lack of height would be exposed severely.

It's not their fault (36ers). IMO its BA's fault that they didn't put this offer to Mills as soon as the lockout was upon us. At least if they had done it back then, a team like the 36ers may not have gone after Warren, and potentially they could have got Mills.
You have to reward teams that put their rosters together early--I think that is a sign that the coaching staff have devoted time and effort and they have been proactive in the recruiting process.

It's unfair that teams that haven't put their rosters together should get the opportunity to recruit Mills.
Every team should have an equal chance, or BA should just can the idea.

Exactly, Mills will bring so much to the table for the team and excitement to the fans so i also would sign him regardless of team balance, we would still have the import spot spare, so at worst sign a cheap NZBL/SEABL import who can play both PF/C ala Galen Young who has just finished playing NZBL, and would likely be cheap.

A team of Warren, Herbert, Weigh, Ballinger, Johnson, Mills, Crosswell, Ng, Creek, Young

Depth charts of

C Johnson/Ballinger/Young
PF Ballinger/Young
SF Weigh/Creek/Herbert/Young
SG Mills/Herbert/Ng/Weigh/Creek/Crosswell
PG Warren/Mills/Crosswell

Training players such as Daly, Mottram, Vasiljevic, Harris if available/interested with one of them going into the 10 if Mills goes mid season.

Defiantly seems workable to me, a bit small but the NBL isnt really a big league and guard combo of Warren and Mills would be seen as small and with defensive issues, but would be lightning quick, be high scoring and a nightmare for opposition defenders, i think a SG such as Penney would have more trouble guarding Mills, than Mills would Penney.

So definatly have a go with the small team and sign Mills if possible

Would have been much better if BA had acted earlier.
Unfortunately, its almost too late, as many teams have their contracted PG's.

At least if they had done it earlier, EVERY team would have had an opportunity to offer him a deal.
Now only really Cairns and Wollongong can do something about it..If he had a full set of teams to chose from, there would IMHO a greater chance of Patty coming to the NBL.

And I think BA are going to have to give more than 50k-100k to secure his services.
200k sounds more appropriate (on top of what he could be earning in the NBL).