Patty Mills, playing for his old mentor, Marty...

Trey Gilder

It'd be interesting to see the entire NBA and D-League set loose to play in other leagues. I imagine the top tier would sit out a year to relax but others could play short-term stints.

In 2008, Jennings was in the Italian League and "played sparingly" - didn't average more than 10 PPG. On NBA debut, he went for 17/9/9. In late 2009, he went for 55 points. Makes you wonder about the strength of the NBA.

Most good nba players don't perform as well in europe, they're not used to team defence and swarming zones.

I've said this a million times before but if the league made a rule whereby provided an nbl team only had 1 import that they could pay him whatever they wanted then we'd get higher class imports over here.

I think (not 100% sure) that the single-player restriction is gone from the NBL and that clubs just need to stick to the salary cap. Again, not completely sure, but I think a team could get a guy for $500k and then spread the remaining money amongst the other players.

Yes that's right Isaac - only problem is that try spreading the rest of that money around 9 other players, and you don't end up with much - barely over the minimum wage for all of them.

Now if you could have 1 marque player, outside of the salary cap.... Problem is, some clubs would send them selves broke banking on all the extra income this big name would bring!

Anon- I know that Joe Ingles new team - BArcelona, beat a full strength NBA championship side in the LA Lakers, and they weren't the only ones.

If Kobe, Gasol, Odom and Fisher can't get it done against quality european opposition after back-toback titles in the NBA, then I think Isaac has a solid point.

And before you reply with "they didn't play their hardest" Let me recamp by saying, I'm a lakers fan, and i watched it, and i can admit that Barcelona won it fair and square. Those guys wouldn't suit up, if they weren't going to give it their all...

CSKA Moscow, who were well below full strength and are last in their Euroleague group beat the Cavs in Cleveland, while Barcelona beat the Lakers in Spain. I believe both these games were played under purely NBA rules? The last couple of seasons when they were played under composite rules the Euroleague teams had about a 50% winning record.

The strength of the NBA is in its athleticism, and that is accentuated by its rules. You have to be an exceptional (or 7 foot) non-American to make it because of this. Skill wise, aside from the very best players, it is not a standout, but the combination of skill and athleticism makes it the best league in the world.

I would love to see Luis Scola out here for a season, and Chauncey Billups would love the physical guard play over here, he lapped it up at the WCs.

Not saying that the NBA isn't superior, but I suspect that a lot of it is simply about opportunity. Put Kirk Penney on a mediocre team and give him 30+ minutes and 20 shots a game and he will get his stats.

Gazza, marquee player rule has to be considered, but I do wonder how many teams could really make use of it? And who they'd be able to get? Can't see many teams gambling a whole lot of money. Meanwhile, Jennings was getting $1.7m or so for a season in Italy.

Even if it was a drawcard name, selling an extra 2,000 tickets (optimistic) to every one (optimistic) of 16 home games at $20 is only about $600k. Perhaps teams would spend $400k, but who could they get for that, and what could they realistically expect (in terms of talent, wins, publicity, etc).

But you can put it down to:
- The combination of skill and athleticism
- The NBA's rules catering for more athletic players
- The NBA having the money to get the world's top few players

Isaac's point was that the NBA isnt in a world of its own anymore, which is a very valid point.

As for a marquee rule, you could spend big coin competing with Euroleague teams for imports and there would be no guarantee they would be a star here let alone bring people through the gates or get them to turn on their TVs. Imports are a lottery, there is a HEAP of talented guys out there but you need to get one who fits this league and the team’s playing style.

Sanders and Ubaka didn’t make an impact in Europe but look the goods here. Darden, McCullough, EJ Rowland etc have been scorers in Europe but couldn’t put up the numbers here. Carlos Powell comes from the NBA D and is very good in the NBL, but many others have not made the grade here from that comp. Oriene Greene stepped pretty much straight from an NBA bench role to the Breakers and was solid but far from great.

The list goes on, and I think if we are going to increase spending we should spend more on Aussie and Kiwi players and make the NBL an attractive pathway for young players from the AIS etc.

Team defence is better in Europe. Because they are taught basic defensive principles from a young age, all 5 guys on the court in Europe can play containment defence.
In the NBA, there is often 1-2 superb defensive players on the court at one time for one team. e.g. Lakers--Kobe and Artest are great defensive players, but Fisher is fairly average.

In the NBA, people exploit the weak links i.e. The 3 or so on the court that are average or below par. I was watching NBA the other day. Some defensive decisions were terrible..Help side was too close to the split line (not enough time to recover to shooter in NBA), Players allowing penetration by poor closeouts etc.

i have really liked our league the last 2 years i think it has looked quite strong. i think we have a style that will see very good, well drilled teams beat a team with a couple of superstars anyday.

would much rather see money go back into the junior systems than to higher class imports.

sam day, who was reportedly an exceptional athlete and had opportunities in footy, baseball and basketball.

option 1. football, enter draft, guaranteed min wage ( im not sure but 1st round is quite decent)

opt. 2.1 baseball, scholarship in u.s uni, then try out for league in 2-4 years.

2.2 try out for local state or national league. get a part-time job.

opt 3. bball, scholarship in u.s. uni. try for nba or euro or nbl in 2-4 years.

the decision is very very easy for these boys to make. we need a pathway for these juniors that may not want to leave the country for several years, and want the security of being able to clearly see the pathway or steps to get where they want to go.

i.e, sam day, draft- signed to club min 2 yr contract, professional training, good reserves comp while trying to crack seniors.

sam day, bball, play for local team ( sturt ?) try out for nbl development player. train. hope to gain more mins after several years with the club.

would rather see absolutely any money that can be spared go into improving this situation. i know the 36ers could never compete with an afl club but we should at least have a better system to encourage and develop players.