Hoops

Tigers WELL over Salary cap.

If Melbourne have spent over the cap, they have seriously wasted their money. I doubt it. Sounds like a beat up.

@clarky - NBA bonuses for the All-Star game isn't that new, and most receive bonuses through endorsement deals as well. They're also payed more the farther they advance in the postseason.

NZ retain players because they get treated well by the club from the front office to the owners and they get treated well by the media and public.
They are attract local players who want to live close to family and friends as opposed to living in Australia playing for an Australian franchise for more money.
They can also play NZBL in the offseason to boost their earnings.

I would be interested to know if the NBL (or any clubs) offer incentives to players for things like winning playoff games/series, oor championships.

The NBA recently had bonuses for participants in the All-Star game (I think it was $25,000 for players on the losing team, $50,000 for winning team), and it got me thinking about bonuses being offered to NBL players as incentives for success.

If owners/clubs/the league does offer these kind of bonuses (and they are not included in the salary cap), then I can understand why players would take less money to play at a club which is consistently making the playoffs and playing for a title.

Based on the same theory used above for NZ players being able to afford a comfortable lifestyle due to low average wages in NZ, Perth would have to overcome the opposite.

Looking from afar, I would have thought WA average wages are reasonably high given the influence of mining.

This either means that Perth players are getting paid more than advertised (to maintain living standards) or there are other factors (general lifestyle, crowd, stadium, club culture etc) making them willing to play for far less relative wages. If the latter is correct, then Perth are perhaps even further infront of the league as a club than many think.

Ha - nice point, and its things like that that IMO make the points cap so important. No matter how well you try and police actual earnings there will always be ways to get around it if you really want to.

I know in years gone by soccer players have been 'looked after' when purchasing land from parties related to their club. On the coast Blaze players used to spend an amazing ammount of time at certain restaurants who sponsored the club. Im sure every club has a few perks here and there for players that may not be 100% to the letter of the law.

Interesting point MACDUB. If the average Kiwi gets only 25k a year and can happily live with that pay packet then the a basketball player earning 100k is going to have a pretty good lifestyle indeed.

If we go simply on multiples of the average wage then in Qld the average wage for Q1 2012 was 69k, thats about 2.8 times more than in NZ. So the lifestyle someone like Will Hudson Earning 100k NZD can afford probbaly equates to him earning upwards of 250k AUD over here. And remember the Breakers have about 1.2million in NZD to pay out as their salary cap. With this taken into account and their ability to keep local players is not hard to see how they can 'afford' such seemingly stacked teams

That being said with regards to the Tigers the number Ive heard thrown around that they are paying Flynn is flat out obscene, I think however its more of him b eing paid a standard ammount as his basketball contract and a hell of a lot more via other (third party) means

I agree NZ must be close to the cap every year, Im not saying their over it but it wouldn't surprise me if they were paying their players extra. I do like their competitive game style and they add much needed quality to the league, I think NZ should enter another team and that way they can spread the NZ players over 2 teams. I still think both teams would be competitive. As far as Flynn's asking price, I can't see it being to high, he still can't shoot despite what the so called internet nbl experts think.

Allwayz sus nz? No way ppl like abercrombe n vukona will play 4 peanuts add 2 imports! ???

Breakers players also get paid to play NZBL but as the back 2 back champions their books get looked at first by the league

VP, That's a good point. To add to that:

NZ Average income is about $24k NZD a year. About $487 gross a week.

The average ANBL salary for a Breaker would be around the $120k NZD mark (10 x 120 = 1.2m ), with some earning less and more.

So that means the average salary for a Breaker is 5 times what the average Kiwi gets.

Point being, Breaker players have a pretty damn good standard of living.
If people can get by on the average salary, you can see how the Breaker boys are living with wages much higher than that.

Without knowing much about AU salaries, I would say the discrepancy between average annual overall salary and average ANBL salary would be much higher in New Zealand.

@KingJames:

"I didn't think this sounded right either but then I thought why would they go for a Cheap import in Braswell if they had alot left to spend?"

Good point.

The NBL wouldn't fine the Tigers much (if any), so hopefully they are disqualified from playoffs this season and next if the allegations are true.

I'd be surprised if the Tigers were. Flynn would be the only expensive player.
Wildcats and Breakers would be near the salary cap.

Not surprised, and Johnny Flynn cant be free?

Oh dear, who will know for sure. If true it would be good if the premiership points were taken away, but some teams are working hard for the wooden spoon.

Tigers are realy only team that can trouble the cats or breakers. If the hawks, kings or townsvile get in then it will be a walk in the park 4 the cats and nz! If there over thats dissapointing!! U would think perth or nz will be over at least there in the top 2. Do players get paid 3rd party? Or would that be included in the cap?

Isacc, I'm quoting an NBL club official and the word "WELL OVER" was emphasised.

it hasn't helped much

When will we find out?

So do I, I mean it would be horrible for the league but the Hawks will have a huge chance of making the playoffs if its true.

So thats it for another season. Here is my brief review of the players. Brett Maher  Unfortunately another injury riddled season. The team certainly lifts when he is on the court but I think its time for Brett to become our sixth man. Body can no longer cope with 30+ minutes a game. Matt Sutton - Was a starter at the beginning of the season and finished with 17 points in his 50th game. Not a lot to mention in the middle tho. Didnt live up to the expectation upon him. Will struggle to find a spot on next years roster I would think. Darren Ng  Outstanding season for him. Shone brightly when Maher was out. Will go very close to MIP for the league. If he can be convinced to play next season, he must start with Maher as his back up. David Cooper  Ive always been a fan of his game. Started getting the recognition he deserves. Had to fight for his spot too with both Dench and Mottram arriving on the scene. Best season to date. More important to our team than most people think. Neil Mottram  Had a few injuries in the season as well. Gave us some good muscle and aggression and showed a lot of passion when he was out there. Maybe a little more was expected from him. I would like to see him back. Brad Davidson  Easily the best Australian recruit for us. He gave us that extra leadership that sometimes lacked when Maher wasnt on court. Good in defence, Great perimeter threat & had the passion that has been lacking from the team in years of late. Mike Chappell  Had 2 good games out of 15 or so. Should have been released a month sooner. Hopefully a lesson has been learnt. Lanard Copeland  Played his role well this year. An improvement on last season. Still sometimes forced his shot at the wrong time, but Im glad he finished his great career with us. Jordan Dodman  Didnt see the court until January and perhaps struggled in his first couple of games. Grew in confidence with more minutes and showed he could be a future long term player for the club. Axel Dench  Disappointing season from the big guy. Only showed glimpses of what he was capable of. Needed to be more aggressive offensively around the basket. Not sure who has the option on his contract but cant see him returning. Adam Ballinger  Fantastic recruit. Rarely has a bad game. Inside and outside he beat his opponent in most games. Will certainly make the NBL 1st team. Team MVP. Club must retain him. Erik Burdon  Didnt see much of him, but certainly looked comfortable when he was on the court. Will probably remain as a development player next season. Julius Hodge  One of the most exciting players to grace the NBL. Player of the week for the last 3 weeks. He is a triple double threat every game. Enough said. Also must be retained!!! Team I would like to see next year& Schenscher 10 Ballinger (naturalised) 10 Hodge 10 Ng 5 Import 10 Cooper 7 Dodman 1 Tovey 5 Maher 5 Davidson 6 Burdon and a Small Forward type player on Development. Points total of 69. 1 over current limit. Perhaps look to get Cooper re rated as a 6?