Hoops

Quality of the League

" but the entertainment was high because a lot of teams didn't put a great emphasis on defence and the lack of depth of locals meant imports could dominate."

I read this as 'the defense was not focused on getting away with playing outside ethe rules by psychologically pressuring referees and holding players when in "blind spots"

and this
"I wish we could still have Billy Milldenhall and Eddie Crouch, they seemed to ref forever and now they are gone you can tell that most refs are scared "

as
- they refused to be intimidated by 6 men in black sitting on the bench abusing them.

I absolutely hate the New Zealand Breakers but I'll give them their plaudits, you can't possibly talk about how much better the NBL has become without recognising that New Zealand as a basketballing country has developed some brilliant athletic players and the production line seems to be continuing and because of this no Australian team has settled with Their roster without risking being flogged by the Breakers.

80s refereeing? We've had some out our all time great refs come from then... I wish we could still have Billy Milldenhall and Eddie Crouch, they seemed to ref forever and now they are gone you can tell that most refs are scared

"The early-mid 90s really weren't that good."

They were in Perth :)

Overall quality of the league is the highest since I've watched NBL (10 or so years - too young to comment on what it was like in the 90s).

With that being said; I don't necessarily think the bench players are any better (or worse) than historically. With respect; NZB, though on fire at the moment, don't really have the deepest bench.

But certainly the overall jump in the quality of the league has been driven by the sheer quality of some of the starting 5's (and 6th men in some cases maybe more) teams can put out there.

Question I'd like to put to the floor, is the quality of the league the highest its been since those early to mid 90s days?

Can someone explain what the salary cap rules are?

so there is a cap but you can sign one guy that doesnt count towards the cap?

Goulding, Penney, Lisch, Jawai, Ogilvy

Most things about the League have certainly improved. All bar the refs and Andrew Gaze's coaching

Add Fearne too. Never won a championship but a great coach. And has been in Cairns forever.

I think it's gotten progressively stronger each year. In 2015 and 2016 we saw a lot of top Aussies/locals returning like Goulding, Penney, Lisch, Jawai, Ogilvy etc. And at the same time, we've had great imports like Cotton and Randle joining the league. And we've got a number of coaches who have been long time NBL coaches and won championships, all settled long term with their clubs (Bevo, Wright, Gleeson) and that contributes to the quality too.

Yes.

Strongest it's ever been since I've been following reasonably closely (since 2001).

The recent changes have contributed:

- Marquee players. Now, multiple marquee players which means the salary cap is officially a soft cap.

- 3 imports.

- 11 contracted players.

Without getting into a complete whinge section of things, the refs sadly are stuck in the 80s for quality. But yes the quality of the game is as good as its ever been, most probably the very best. Its a really nice thing for fans that have seen some pretty ordinary NBL over the years.

Yes, it is very professional now under LK (Larry). Popularity stemming from this has slowly increased.

thanks mate.

ive always been a massive bball fan. Whilst i took a hiatus from the NBA i continued to be a big follower of the NBA. i dont know exactly why i stopped properly following the NBL in the late90s and through the 2000s. i think once i got to Uni i just had other things to do and i cant remember if the nbl was on free to air tv? i didnt have foxtel back then.

this year ive purchased season tix to the 36ers and gone to every game. also, the new NBL Fantasy game is great and playing the game gets you up to speed with the rest of the league very quickly.

so yeh, ive been super impressed with the league. the officiating could be a bit better but whatever.

would you say that the league is going through a little surge in popularity since this Larry fella bought the NBL?

john welcome back.

How did you get back into following the league?

true, but some of the best aussies are in the NBA. 20yrs ago, Delly is not playing in the NBA.

Mid 2000s cap-rorting era when the Big3 were the Bullets, Kings and Tigers who dominated was the peak for me.

I was just wondering if anyone knew who was coaching the Under 20 state teams for the Boys and Girls?