Hoops

Your NBL Ladder Prediction

True, Adelaide has thrown everything upside down, they could be the Bulldogs, Sharks, Cubs of the NBL this season...

Interesting revisiting this now. Almost everyone had Adelaide and Cairns in the bottom 4.

This thread will be interesting to re-visit in weeks to come, and at the end of the regular season.

I kind of went for something like this:

Melbourne
Perth
Sydney

New Zealand
Illawarra

Brisbane
Cairns
Adelaide

Although the exact order of the top three, next two and bottom three were not specified, it already looks like Brisbane may be my biggest prediction mistake...

Still, a long way to go of course!

I agree Bear, we've seen the Wildcats go down to the Bullets and Melbourne go down to NZ. We've seen Hawks show their strength. It's a pretty damn good start to the NBL to see what might be an AFL type season, every win will count.

"I love seeing you bunch of experts rate Adelaide so low, it is hilarious seeing as they have incredible talent at every position this year. You are all keyboard experts, then again many of you knobs last year had Sydney finishing top if you go back and look at predictions. Clearly you do not know how high the ceiling is for this Adelaide team. Joey will make it work. Do not bet any of your money, you will lose it with your hype rankings before teams have even begun playing. Pathetic."

I know it's only been 1 game, but anon668's post the other night does make me chuckle when i come back to it now lol

Another exciting and unpredictable NBL season ahead, isn't this great folks?

First round not even over yet and no one has any idea who will win or who is going to end up where, just the way it should be.

League has changed in such a short time, it is tougher, deeper and more even than ever, great stuff!

We need an edit button so I can pretend my ladder predictions were:

Melbourne
Sydney
Illawarra
Perth

Cairns
New Zealand
Brisbane
Adelaide

Adelaide will win the championship, Goulding will have another stupendous flop season, David Anderson will prove to be too old.

Adel bottom.

We're still Perth defensively

Could be an all time worst Cats team from the perimeter doe

Everyone else went small, they went big and won. Now everyone else has gone big, they've gone small.

They've retained exactly what made them Perth last year - they still play in Perth. And they're still doing something completely different to the rest of the league.

Perth have lost everything that made them Perth last year;

Physical defense and bruisers - Jawai and Jervis...gone

Crucial piece of championship run - Beal...gone

Jacobsen
DJ
Egwu
Jawai
Pledger
Ogilvy
Holyfield
Bairstow
Jervis

Just a few names who are going to shred the Wildcats in the post this year...

Everyone thought they were making a mistake going big and slow in a pace and space league last year, look how that worked out.

Everyone thought they were making a mistake going big and slow in a pace and space league last year, look how that worked out.

One player.... 6'8" Knight isn't going to set the world on fire against a stacked bigman league,.. Perth will come last this year. Terrible misreading of the league, they went for all style and flare rather than actually looking at what would work. I guess they are bored of winning haha,

you do have to remember Knight will be coming back as that post presence

I'm not a troll I just know a lot about keyboards.
Microsoft, Logitech, you name it....

Sex life

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Daylight

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Keyboard Expert

7: Perth
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Daylight
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8: Adelaide

Picture becoming clearer already

Hahaha keyboard I like your style, are you that troll they keep posting about?

So after tonights games have you guys got Perth making the top 4?? Clear lack of offense in the post, serious lapse in offense. First year Perth will NOT make the playoffs. I swear by that.

1-7: unsure. Way too early to tell.
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daylight
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8: Adelaide

1. Melbourne
2. Perth
3. Brisbane
4. Adelaide
5. Sydney
6. Hawks
7. New Zealand
8. Cairns

"Too young" since when has that determined anything? Did you not watch the AFL this year. Bulldogs anyone. They have the most well rounded team (Adelaide).

I love seeing you bunch of experts rate Adelaide so low, it is hilarious seeing as they have incredible talent at every position this year. You are all keyboard experts, then again many of you knobs last year had Sydney finishing top if you go back and look at predictions. Clearly you do not know how high the ceiling is for this Adelaide team. Joey will make it work. Do not bet any of your money, you will lose it with your hype rankings before teams have even begun playing. Pathetic.

If you're able to hedge on all 4 of those, that's probably ideal.

Correction Goulding is technically a championship winner too, but not in the meaningful sense of being a major contributor...

Just as a bit of a reply to Zodiac, my thoughts on the individual Kings Aussies, since I said I thought they had a great Aussie contingent:

Lisch- Two time MVP. Very good perimeter defender. Very good scorer. Good play maker. Calm temperament.

Newley- I see him as being a bit like Mark Worthington of a few years back - albeit will play from the wing rather than the post. He won’t be brilliant at any one thing, but will nonetheless be a good player. Strong defender, and can score in a variety of ways. Will play the team game without forcing anything, but will do enough to score 12-14 points a game.

Yes, his numbers did drop but he still had a decent stat line in Spain last year. Goulding, Lisch and Penney all played in Spain in season 2014/15- all without putting up particularly impressive numbers- and were 3 of the top players in the NBL in season 2015/16.

Cadee- The kid can flat out score. Has poor shot selection, yes. But so did Lanard Copeland, Shane Heal and Chris Goulding at times (and plenty of others), and that hasn’t stopped them from being 3 of the NBL’s great players- and two of them are championship winners. Cadee’s trend is up, and he’s still quite young.

Khazzouh/Maric- Khazzouh is a bit of an enigma. Dominated the NBL a few years ago, then went overseas and didn’t play in great competitions. Not his best season last year- although he only played 17 games. This year is a crossroads for him. At his best, he’s an elite player in the NBL. Hopefully with a clean bill of health, we’ll see what he’s got.

Maric was good enough to earn a plane ticket to Rio, and would’ve played had Bogut not made a speedy recovery. Played in the Euroleague as recently as 2014. Put up decent numbers in the Adriatic League in 2016. Is slow, but he has the game to be effective, like Jawai was for Perth last season. Like Jawai, will need to watch his fouls, but when he’s going, he’ll be a handful inside the paint. And like Newley, his experience and his game style means he knows how to play the team game and won’t force it. Will only be called upon to play 15-20 mins a game, but his credentials suggest he’ll be a better player in that position than many similar others around the league like Pledger, Holyfield and Jervis.

Those two look like a balanced combination though- Maric will bruise and bang in the paint, Khazzouh has range.

Garlepp is a decent player and has gotten better every season.

My query on Sydney is whether there will be enough ball to go around, given there’s no pure pass first PG on the roster. But their Aussie group has genuine talent, there’s possibly a third import coming, and I suspect Jeff VG will be ready to pull the trigger if Bryson or Whittington don’t look up to it once the season proper gets into full swing.

Exactly 100% right zodiac, perfect summery, I disagree on gaze not coaching though he's implemented his shuffle and probably runs more through copeland from what I've seen. Re Cadee if he makes his first few shots he doesn't stop shooting, shot the first 3 against Brisbane I think that was the game and ended up 5 from 15. Garlepp plays for Garlepp. Is gaze going to be tough enough he certainly smart enough.

^ Great summary of Sydney, @Zodiac. Pretty close to spot on. I think the only thing you may be wrong on is Jeromie Hill. His biggest problem is that he's a tweener, I think.

This Kings team as currently constructed doesn't have a hope of finishing Top 2 IMO.

Some people are getting a bit carried away with their Aussie contingent. Yes Lisch is pretty good (albeit a touch over-rated) but that's probably it.

Newley is towards the end of a long career where he struggled last season in Spain and has made a career out of relying on his athleticism that's starting to dry up now which means he will lose his effectiveness quicker than otherwise would be the case. I think he will be a good player in the NBL capable of the odd very good game but not a star and I think his pre-season performances bear that out.

Maric is just a big body and five fouls. He's slower than the QE2, can't jump and has no touch around the basket. He's their back up centre when Khazzouh is healthy.

Khazzouh pea-hearted and never been part of a winner. Yes he gets rebounds and blocks when he has the desire but settles too much for jumpers offensively. Seems to always be susceptible to being taken out of the game physically.

Cadee at times looks like a potential star in the making but isn't. Too eratic and poor shot selection and not a true floor leader in my opinion.

Garlepp has always struck me as guy that gets his and puts up numbers on weak teams. Doesn't do anything exceptional of note but can be counted on to show effort offensively even if just for selfish reasons. Should be a much better rebounder than he is too.

Hill last season didn't look NBL standard to me.

Imports Whittington looks a bit like a poor man's Childress and should be solid and dependable enough but Bryson doesn't look up to it.

Throw in a rookie coach when even if Vickerman does most of the coaching the jury is still out on him a bit inheriting a strong Breakers team from Lemanis along with Cedric Jackson coming back there doesn't feel me with the greatest faith in the coaching staff.

Playoff contender but not championship contender for mine.

If you're the NBL management, you're probably hoping for something like this...

1 Melbourne
2 Sydney
3 Perth
4 Brisbane

5 Adelaide
6 Illawarra
7 New Zealand
8 Cairns

Thanks Jack Toft was hoping someone would put up consensus ladder.
3 to 7 is going to be close other than Adelaide anyone could play finals

Jack Toft... you've gone above and beyond

I think the ladder positions alway rely on a lot of non-talent factors that crop up during a season, but according to the crowd, the ladder will be: (ave score)

1. Melbourne (1.29)
2. Perth (2.93)
3. Illawarra (3.71)
4. Sydney (4.36)
5. Cairns (5.14)
6. Brisbane (5.21)
7. New Zealand (5.71)
8. Adelaide (7.28)

Personally, I think Brisbane really need to go out hard to get into the top 4 early to build some home town pride. Sydney would be disappointed if they finished less than 2nd based on their roster, coach and general ambience. Melbourne might find the pressure of expectations too much to handle.

They were stacked with alot of Boomers at the time.
I remember Dontaye Draper coming off the bench which wasn't common duringthat time

Did a couple of Goorj's Kings teams go without imports?

Can anyone think of any team in NBL history who had a better Aussie crew than Melbourne or Sydney this year?

& Hoggy Time for MVP

Cairns
Who Cares?
Someone.
Don't Care.

Loser.
Loser.
Loser.
Biggest Loser.

#FairAndBalanced.

I have similarly confident feelings about the Bullets. I'm stoked that they managed to pick Lemanis up, that gave me instant high hopes.
They've put together a very solid roster for a 'new' club. A lot will depend on the impact Bairstow has when he returns.
Jervis could be the most underrated signing of the season. He certainly had the better of Maric on Saturday night.
Not many are picking them for top 4 here, which is understandable considering the quality elsewhere.
But the Bullets do have another import spot up their sleeve if an injury occurs...

@fstos, I am not just taking into account the appointment of Gaze as the King's nominated head coach, look a little deeper at their coaching and you will see why I am bullish on that aspect of the Kings this season.

I'm fairly sure there have been some solid teams at different points with just one import, or no imports, so maybe there have been better Aussie groups. But with 3 imports this year to round out the roster, Melbourne and Sydney's Aussies are very impressive.

Can anyone think of any team in NBL history who had a better Aussie crew than Melbourne or Sydney this year?

Maybe the great Bullets of 2007, with CJ Bruton and Sam Mackinnon in the prime, Steve Black, Mick Hill, an aging but still solid Bradtke, an up and coming Gibson?

Their imports can easily be replaced. As long as their Aussie crews stay healthy, they should be very good teams. Fair question marks on Demopoulos and Gaze- but the rosters themselves look staaaacked, and that's without Sydney even signing their last player or two.

You won't be because your order is different to mine!

So...what do I get from you boys and girls when I end up being 100% accurate?

IMO a person has no business insulting another person's predictions if they're too gutless to put their own up.

Pre-season means nothing, I don't even bother.

Lots of new talent in the NBL this season, going to be interesting to see how it all comes together.
I expect some teams will dramatically fail to live up to expectations, just hard to say who'll they be, and injuries will play a part.

What I find particularly interesting is that several teams seem to have added a lot of height, but the Cats (who were overly tall last year) have gone the other way.

Adelaide looks easy money for the spoon at $4.