I think any leauge needs some kind of salary cap ... Maybe if the country teams get maybe anthor 20 grand on the cap ... Like a Brisbane Sydney thing in the AFL ....

A league without a cap turns into soccer where they have the same three rich teams fighting for the cup each yeah

Truth, I'd agree with you ..... except the SEABL experience says otherwise. The SEABL is such a wide and varied league, with teams from small country centres and large metro capitals, that there would never be an even playing league.

As long as Redhage keeps swapping teams, the powerbase will shift from season to season. I can't believe he didn't crack it big-time in the NBL last season.

Finally, on a serious note, the Pioneers would destroy any CABL team so the argument isn't even worth having. Their depth is shallow but their core strength would leave any CABL team for dead.

interesting...

i am not sure on the dates, but the ABL season finished around the same time as the NBL starts,

wouldn't it be great to get the Pioneers up to the Big Smoke to play against the winner of the central conference as a Sixers Curtain Raiser.

(although Sturt will probably have a few players in the sixers).

How about get the Pioneers up to play an ABL all-star team as a curtain raiser???
Food for thought.

Against Sturt or Forestville at full strength (e.g., Forestville with Newley and Mottram)? "Destroy"? Surely it'd be at least competitive?

Pioneers are starting Williams and while I think he's a solid ABL player, I'd say that he's since been surpassed by Ng. Bauer still holds his own, IMO. Gower is not a defensive slouch. If you look at the Eagles, Dix, Newley and Mottram are NBL material, Farman and Sullivan are decent, etc.

Remember the Sabres in a past year took on future NBA players and didn't entirely embarrass themselves. Yes, they had Maher, but he didn't do heaps.

Isaac, I'm just trying to bait the CABL followers with the use of hyperbole. You should know better .....

Isaac - the thing i found most amusing from that game against Arizona was IMO the best player for Sturt, Leith Marston! Wasn't exactly in ideal match-fitness, wasn't a regular player (from memory, was playing footy up in the hills somewhere), but against arizona was close to un-guardable.

Moses - you'd better be carefuly, i've seen people put in hospital, as a result of fights over CABL vs SEABL. And without getting hooked on your bait, Pioneers aren't in th best form at the moment, would be a good game against Sturt or Forestville.

That's alright. I've got twins to be born in a month or so, so I could be living in hospital for a while! ;-)

I thought Jason and Oscar were the best for Sturt (didn't Jason go close to a triple double?), though Leith was their top-scorer. Leith was one of those players who was either on or off. Definitely on for that game!

Here is the article from the Border Watch newspaper in Mount Gambier about the Pioneers pledging three more years to the SEABL.

"THE Mount Gambier Pioneers have thrown their support behind the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) and made a commitment to the association for a further three years at a meeting of
league members in Melbourne on the
weekend.

In fact, the entire 14 clubs involved in the men's competition have put forward their support, promising a strong league will remain until at least 2008.

Whispers had surfaced in recent years that the SEABL was not going to survive, but the three year commitment by all clubs puts those rumours to rest, instead bolstering the league's standing as the country's second best competition behind the National Basketball League.

SEABL president Hugh McMenamin was adamant the support from the league
members was a huge boost for not only the SEABL, but for all clubs.

"The decision will provide the clubs and the league with a deal of stability and certainty into the future," he said.

"Such certainty is essential if we are to effectively plan and consider options for the collective benefi t of all concerned.

"The stability now allows clubs and
the league to actively pursue greater sponsorship deals, as they can now strike up three year deals and push to fill corporate boxes."

As well as assuring the future of the league is a bright one, the three year agreement from member clubs has also allowed the league to introduce some changes, with
a memo from the league claiming "the
meeting was a huge success, with a number of initiatives implemented".

However, those initiatives do not include the introduction of a salary cap.

"Basically it allows us to commit to
sponsors, but we are also looking at some other initiatives," McMenamin said.

"We will be reviewing staffing structures in the league office and just some activities on the side.

"The main aim is to retain the
professionalism of the presentation of SEABL games, so that fans can go and see entertainment, not just a basketball game.

"Until we had the commitment some
people were sitting on the fence and
wondering if they wanted to be part of the league, but now we have the support, others may sit up and think they would like to join the SEABL.

"There are no plans to introduce a salary cap, it is more about knowing we have stability and knowing we will be around for another three years."

For Mount Gambier, it means three
more years of entertaining basketball at the Icehouse, providing local sports fans
an opportunity to support a team that is battling for a national prize."

I thought that was what the ABA Nationals were for.... Pioneers National Champs in 2003.