Hoops

Ken Coles further thoughts on the way forward...

I do like how the NBL has started the odd bit of gametime commentary with players on the bench, a leap out of Big Bash's book with the player in the field mic'd up.

Cricket's got the erudition of such commetary-analysis as Ian Chappell. Someone of that calibre wouldn't be able to handle a courtside announcer yelling out 'deefence ' a hundred times.

Yeah, nice post Isaac, especially the reference to the Big Bash. I too have had a look at the bash version of cricket and I will throw in a few facts I think they have over us at the minute...

1. Ch9 and the Packer Enterprise love cricket with a passion and will plough any amount of $$$ to save it, promote it and make it work.

2. The size of the venues and crowd capacity gives the game that colleseum effect that will draw very large crowds.

3. Crowd interaction is encouraged and so is hitting the ball into the crowd.

4. The rule changes give organisers the ability to make the game suit the audience and the market, but they also have enough scope with which to make a market almost out of thin air.

I am more of a cricket purist, loved the test matches and also had no idea of these bash teams or most of the players, but it is so well promoted and in your face that it is hard not to have a look and get drawn into the circus.

I think basketball has some things over the cricket, yet we don't have that shining knight and media mogul with plenty of cash who wants to take a risk and throw all his/her wealth and power behind our sport, with passion, unfortunately.

So, for me our game must find its place in the sporting picture and solidify that place from which to build on. Yes, throw around plenty of ideas, then take on board the best of them to look to the future, at the same time understanding that if we can't reach the moon, we should at least aim for the sky...

Great post Isaac. Your take on the Big Bash and the NBL as a TV product is spot on.

Of course things were great in the past, but when people talk about the past they tend to paint over some of the flaws. We had a product and a business model that worked great for the late 80s-early 90s, but the simple fact is we couldn't get that product to work on primetime TV, which became the battleground from the mid 90s onward. So even if we could transport the league back 25 years and have the same business model, the same product, the same fans, the same sponsors ... it would probably all collapse quite quickly.

(For those who missed my column on the NBL schedule Isaac refers to, it's here - http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/01/06/should-the-nbl-move-back-to-winter/ )

For me, we go to the line too much and too many timeouts for great TV. I flick over during timeouts. Take a side ball rather than watch Burston,Frye,Garlepp and others struggle at the line to hit the ring