Hoops

NBL is boring

The NBL has its scrappy and frustrating games and moments, but plenty of NBL games are high speed, high scoring, unpredictable and the results are generally tight.

Good NBL games are as entertaining as any league in the world in the regular season for mine. The NBA playoffs are sensational, but too many of their regular season games are a sleep walk to keep me entertained.

If the NBL cleaned up the way the game is officiated and gave the offensive players more space the product would be consistently high level, as it was for much of 2013/14 once that reffing crackdown settled down.

To me, that's the biggest thing holding the league back at the moment. Crowds around the league are very good, they just need a cleaner product for TV so that if someone switches across they're more likely to see the best side of the NBL than the scrappy side.

Bucci, you mentioned it being stale, but are not a fan of the three imports because it makes for too much roster change. What are you actually hoping to see that isn't stale? Or do you mean something else?

There have been loads of new imports this season and some solid European returnees. Some of the better or at least solid imports have returned (Randle, Jackson, Prather, Clarke, Beal, Craig, etc). The three import thing has been a bit scrappy (Williams, Egwu, Ferguson, Holyfield) but the player mix has been decent. Ware, Stockton, Powell, Blake - they're strong recruits on court or paper.

If a comp is competitive. .. that is excitement. That's what we're getting with the NBL. It's not always about seeing the most skilful players.

My son dropped a bucket load of points 2 weeks ago but I bet there'd be folk who didn't find that game exciting.


You could watch a game between a bunch of no talent hacks.... but if the game is close and you don't know what will happen next. ... that can be just as exciting as a top level game where both teams are loaded with the best players.

Yes, the NBL have changed, yes sport is evolving and teams in elite competitions sometimes lose sight of the community connections or grass roots level supporter, that is true.

However, based on anything you can compare or present to this argument, the NBL is NOT boring!

The NBL can be judged or an opinion can be cast on many things, good, bad or indifferent, however the competition and the games are not boring.

I don't know how else to put it into words and this will be the last time I post on the topic of this thread because it has been answered in spades...

New people running the sixers.
They are not very friendly of course.
The old days are gone forever , the attachment is fading away.
I used to walk down and watch them train , some of the time , not all of the time. But they are frightened of the public going in.
I have lost contact with them.

Oh and how could I forget Adelaides win

This weekend- specifically Melbourne's win and Illawarras win- shows you what's so great about the NBL.

Nah it's dull

Every week there is something amazing and some huge upset or highlights aplenty.

NBL is anything but boring...

End of thread, cheers!

The NBL is certainly not boring. Would love to see it as a viable 12 team comp without dropping in standard becasue I reckon its Australias greatest sports secret, which is why LK is spending so much money trying to give people the chance to see it for next to nothing. Mainstream media will take a lot of convincing because of the checkered past with teams folding all the time, but it is a great league.
I maybe a country basketball hick but I reckon 90% of the time in 90% of NBA games its just not interesting. Players just look like they are doing a job instead of actually caring about the result.
So many uncontested dunks etc, so little defensive effort. The NBA does have sone great athletes and becasue of money it does have the best basketballers in the world BUT they don't play with much effort for most of the season.
NBA teams rarley mix up there defenses compared to the various man to man, zones, full and half court presses we see in the NBL.
To me the NBL seems to have much more player movement off the ball as players try to get free or to free up a team mate whereas the NBA its contant one on one isolations.
I know as basketball fans we are not supposed to question the NBA but there are just so many games that just seem to drag on for ever.
How many players with NBA on their resume struggle in the NBL? They may have the best natural athletes in the NBA but they often play without the intensity I like to see.
I reckon the NBL is a great competition which doesn't get anywhere near the credibility it should.

Games are close and players are competing hard.

That's about half of it for me.

I'm not really an NRL fan but I like watching State of Origin because you can see how much it means to the players. Same thing, sure skill and entertainment isn't as good as NBA, but In the NBA, the coaches put the cue in the rack early in a blowout, cos they're probably playing again the next night or the night after that. NBL coaches are looking for the points split.

Can't agree with the OP.

NBA is far better than NBL, and NBA playoffs is the greatest sports event every year.

But at this time of year my eyes are on the NBL. Example, United are playing for their season every night. But in the NBA, you have another 70 games left so who cares if your team loses a game?

Troll is boring, phark off

Bucci Mane,

Being a Wildcats fan maybe a part of it is that your team has been up for so long winning titles or at least making GF's nearly every year for the last 7 years and this year they are really struggling with injuries. Still doing well win-loss wise but I made the comparison to Hawthorn you could see this season despite all the close wins they just weren't the team they were it happens it's life and they got put to the sword in the Finals and I think a smililar thing will happen to Perth this season. Probably still make the playoffs but not a legit title contender.

My team is second last (36ers) and I'm still loving this season. Randle is the most exciting import I have ever watched, I call him must watch TV.

As mentioned above the league is very close, plenty of upsets and close games.

I've lost interest in the NBA personally, this whole Durant thing going to the GSW has made me lose interest. To many regular season games featuring mediocre teams, then you have to watch your young starts leave you for a better team once FA arrives.

For me the word is not boring but frustrating. Every aspect of the league has improved over the past couple of years except the quality and consistency of refereeing. To see the same calls not being made throughout a game/weekend/season is frustrating. To see make up calls being made is frustrating. to see home-cooking is frustrating. To hear Carfino say 'good no call' is frustrating.

The other frustrating part is the generally low FG%. I suspect this has more to do with only playing once or twice a week, so it's hard to maintain a groove. I'm not talking about low FG% where there's good D and shots are contested, just the wide open shots that there really is little excuse for missing.

Full court pressing sound theoretically lead to a faster pace game but teams seem to pull the ball out once they reach half court rather than attack quickly. The average length of possession stats between the NBL and the NBA would be interesting information

People naturally come to a sport and drift away at times in their lives. For fans of a particular team, they can be influenced by rosters or by the season-by-season story of their team - did they finally beat their nemesis in a grand final? - or even how that team markets to them.

People obviously can go through lifestyle changes with work, having children and so on. It's easy for your following of something on the side like sport to change with your priorities.

For me personally, I have run Hoops for a period of 10+ years during which my brother has played in the NBL. When he retires, I don't know how my interest level might change. Also during that period I've done work for/with an NBL club and not. I've had children. I feel quite detached from my local team because I think their marketing is abysmal.

My theory is that the NBL is in a transformational period and that during that, it's likely that many people who might otherwise have fallen away quietly, will think about how they feel. e.g., a good number of people might find the season exciting, but if other things have happened in your life and you don't find the season exciting or the nuances of the game no longer appeal, you offer the contrarian view.

Some don't like the grinding game. Some complain about full court presses because they lead to more scoring. Hard to win sometimes.

The NBL won't seem so boring once the Delly movie has been made.

So, yet a troll bitching about the league even though they don't watch it???

Anything can be boring if you have no interest. I like watching Basketball and am a long-time Cats fan, so for me the NBL is anything but boring.

I guess if you have no team to follow, or your team has sucked for so long you can't stand watching them, then yeah I guess you turn off and complain its boring.

The Irony is that if anything the changes in the league make it more interesting, not less.

The NBL would be ok if it wasn't just full court presses every game in 2016/17 and blowouts every game in 2015/16. I wonder what next season's theme will be.
Well at least they're trying new things I guess. Credit where it's due for that.

Agree the games are too scrappy why don't they fix it up the refereeing

Lots of great points since Bucci's last points, especially XY, so I'll just add to the list of fans that think the on court product has only gotten stronger this season and moreso across the board...

There's been a couple of games I've dozed off watching, but overall, I've really enjoyed watching most teams' games...

"Ask Rotnei Clarke how much the league has improved in the last couple of years."

That logic doesn't stack up. You could ask Torrey Craig or Jason Cadee how much worse the league has got. Players having good seasons or bad seasons happens.

I actually think it's a credit to NBL HQ how much they've been able to spread the perception that this year is so much better than previous years.

It's more been a continual improvement from when the Blaze folded and most of their roster remained in the NBL and the money on offer in Europe started to dwindle.

The perception of stability LK has brought has allowed that to grow further and it's a great thing, hopefully people keep spreading the word that the NBL is so much better!

"Pretty much every import from 2011-2014 would struggle to get a job now bar James Ennis."

Obviously the imports who are still in the league from that period show this statement isn't correct.

I think you've bought the perception rather than the reality. This year's import crop isn't particularly good, there is a real mix from superstars to role players to deep bench guys.

Guys like Jaron Johnson, Jameel McKay, Eric Jacobsen, Terrance Ferguson, Devin Williams, Ramone Moore, Ben Woodside, Akil Mitchell, Michael Holyfield, Fuquan Edwin and Nnanna Egwu aren't stars in this competition by any means. Some of them are solid but not stars.

The top end of the league hasn't gotten much better - of the top 20 scorers this season only four haven't played in the league in recent seasons - but there are more of the top-end players and more of the top-end teams.

Ask Rotnei Clarke how much the league has improved in the last couple of years.

Being able to watch every game the last couple of years has had me a lot more interested and engaged. I find myself watching games between two teams that don't involve my team just to see players like Goulding, Lisch, Randle, Craig and Newley.

Pretty much every import from 2011-2014 would struggle to get a job now bar James Ennis.

Brian Conklin for one.

"Guys that were stars just a couple of seasons ago would no longer get a gig here."

Like who?

The period from 2009-2011 was certainly a downpoint as teams consolidated financially and a number of players headed overseas.

But since then the league has been on the improve and the fact almost any team could beat anyone else (and this season it is every team) for a number of years makes things very exciting.

I do agree though that the NBL has failed to have a vision for its on-court product. In 2014 there was an emphasis on opening the game for talented offensive players and that was fantastic.

The past three seasons though it's gone back to allowing scrappy defence which drags the spectacle down. I'm sure that contributes to the NBL not being able to attract TV viewers.

As it is I think the quality NBL games are amongst the most entertaining games anywhere in the world, if they can clean it up consistently the product really could be something special.

There aren't many quality leagues around with the attacking offensive mindset the NBL has - probably only the NBA's western conference - and that should be what the league tries to emphasise through how the game is officiated.

I'm loving this season.

It's still interesting enough for you to go on a primarily NBL discussion forum and post...

Nice Troll. The NBL has been getting better every year for the past 5 in every department. Some of the proof of this is in the quality of the players and the steady improvement in attendance.

If you can't get into it this year you either have problems in your personal life or you don't have a pulse!

I actually agree that this has been the least-interesting season since I first got back into the league in 2011/12.

I've started following the SBL in the off-season, so the NBL is no longer breaking a lengthy basketball drought. NBL TV was much more exciting during the off-season and ended up being a massive disappointment, along with the continued issues with the website, jersey design, court design, etc. Things I could look past last year that I can't really this year; the Kestleman shine is starting to come off and it's looking like a lot of areas actually aren't getting any better. Plenty are getting worse.

On the court, two years ago I finally got to see the Wildcats win a title after missing out on grand final tickets in 2010, and then last season we finally beat New Zealand. To a degree it feels like finishing the main story of a video game, then being dumped back into the world to finish side quests. It can be fun, but it also seems kind of pointless.

I was also super-keen to see Terrance Ferguson and Rotnei Clarke this season, having loved Clarke in 2014. They've both been basically invisible until this past week. Damian Martin not being on the floor makes games significantly less interesting as well.

As great as the even competition is, I also think the past few years benefited from the opening storyline of an undefeated streak (Melbourne 2016, Cairns 2015, Perth 2014).

I think I'm tipping below .500, too. It's not helping.

Bucci, which team did/do you support?

Neither am I there has been a clear upgrade in talent into the league and despite my 36ers being down near the bottom I'm enjoying watching this season more than any since the 90's.

I only wish the Kings or another team had have been able to keep Childress here. He was the best player I've seen in this league since prime Gaze and when healthy was a joy to watch how good he was across a number of areas.

The quality of the players in the league and quality of games as been pretty top notch in my opinion.

There have been some blow outs but that is because most teams are now capable of playing some great ball when they get on a roll. The standings are pretty much as close as you could ask for and any team could win any game.

I'm not finding too much about this season boring, personally.

I felt there was a significant decline a few years ago over several seasons. My interest in the league definitely waned as the standard diminished, crowds were underwhelming and stagnant, coverage was disappointing and frustrating (namely, the old nbl.tv) and teams continued to fold or rename themselves. IMO this season has been part of a huge resurgence. I can't pinpoint the reason, but I have been totally reinvigorated as a fan of the NBL, and this is all while I don't really have my own team to support. It could be the most entertaining season since the 90s, so I don't agree with the OP's assessment.

As far as the revolving door of imports, that was a predictable consequence of the 3-import rule. While imports will be seen to be more expendable, I think it will actually also encourage teams to stick with known and proven imports, so there will be stability within the league in that respect.

The amount of games going down to the wire far outweighs the blow outs this year. I've watched probably 90% of games this year and found them entertaining.

What bit of the sporting contest exactly sucks? I ask out of interest to see where this is coming from, because from my perspective the on-court product is better than it has been in over a decade.

Every team has won at least 4 games, every team has lost at least 4 games. The last placed team on the ladders is only 3.5 games behind first place.

Then there are the players - heaps of interest in quality players on every single team. Budding NBA talent, past NBA and Euro journeymen with 10+ years professional experience, pure excitement machines like Randle and others. Young local players taking massive steps up in a more competitive field than ever before (Sobey). In fact, there are so many good players that (unlike the Gaze era) the good players don't stand out from the crowd.

Then there is the controversy. Goodness, has there been some controversy. Great stuff (screw you Perth home cooking!)

It's not even like it has been that ho-hum this year. There are highlights a-plenty, sufficient dunks, good shooters, some gripping low scoring games, exciting high scoring ones etc.

The NBA is boring. Nobody cares what happens during the 1,230 regular season games unless a player or team is breaking some sort of record. No body cares if Harden has a triple double unless he is still averaging a triple double in late February. My only interest in the NBA regular season is to check stats, watch Shaqtin blooper reels or watch the highlights of a record breaking effort.

So if you are a long term NBL fan, I just can't see where you are coming from.

Well, to each their own. For my money, it's been the most entertaining season since the mid-90s.

Full court press... and so on and so forth

I do agree that the three import rule has been a revolving door but not willing to call it a failure just yet.

Yep, you're right. I mean, it's not even as good as the NBA. Just full of rejects.