LC
Years ago
Is the NBL set to shed the "small ball" tag?
With a number of returning Australian players from overseas, whether it is from college or Europe, the NBL and its teams are looking decidedly bigger for the 2010/11 season - in fact, teams one could argue that the teams are already looking bigger and stacked with more talented big guys than at any stage in the NBL's history.
With the recent signing at the Tigers, this is how a few of the team's front courts are shaping up with only players listed as being 200cm or more listed:
- Tigers: Nevill (216cm), Burston (211cm), Tragardh (209cm), Walker (203cm), Greer (200cm)
- Crocs: Schenscher (216cm), Allen (211cm), Hinder (208cm)
- Kings: Khazzouh (209cm), Janev (207cm), Knight (202cm), Dann (202cm), McCullough (201cm)
- Wildcats: Trueman (211cm), Knight (207cm), Redhage (203cm), Wagstaff (203cm)
- Blaze: Rickert (211cm), Davison (203cm), Petrie (203cm), Garlepp (203cm), Hoare (201cm),
- Hawks: Davidson (206cm), Forman (206cm), Coenraad (201cm), Jackson (200cm)
- Taipans: Crosswhite (210cm), Loughton (206cm)
- 36ers: Johnson (213cm), Ballinger (205cm), Dowdell (203cm)
- Breakers: Pledger (213cm)
The Tigers boast 1 potential star centre and 1 quality backup centre in Nevill and Burston (uninjured) and have an amazing array of front court depth. The same can be said of the Crocs who with Schenscher on board alongside the scoring of Hinder and now Allen, they have two bigs capable of knocking down triples. The King’s picked up Khazzouh and an array of big men to complement him. So far all of these centre’s can score and offer a lot to their teams. Despite losing Schenscher and Rogers, the Wildcats remain big with the signing of Trueman.
Both Pledger and Johnson will get starting duties at this stage, and both are young and potential stars - and both can score as well! The Blaze has a solid centre in Rickert and the Taipans have the tandem of Loughton and the blue-collar Crosswhite to throw at anyone.
The Breakers only have 1 player in Pledger over 200cm and look very short at this stage. Looking past Loughton and Crosswhite, the Taipans also look very small at this point. The Hawk’s lack a legitimate sized centre and also appear light on for rebounders will need to add a big body to compete with some of the other teams one would think.
Some big bodies yet to sign for teams include Wade Helliwell who would be a very good pickup for a number of teams. The Hawks would be desperate now to snare a player of his size and quality at this point, but so too would the Breakers, Taipans, Wildcats and the 36ers.
Other free agents include Sam Harris (221cm), Tim Behrendorff (211cm), Tim Lang (207cm), Marko Deric (206cm), Todd Blanchfield (200cm) and Ryan Bathie (200cm) just to name a few Aussies still available. Blanchfield, Behrehndorff will definitely be signed soon, but even Lang and even Bathie are worth picking up if not all these guys.
What are other people’s thoughts? Is the NBL getting bigger with more talented big men than ever before? Given another season or two, will the "small ball" tag become a thing of the past fro the NBL?
