There is another thread for the SBl already. Its all been well discussed in that thread. Should check it out

What about Ettridge?
He is the best coach in the league just ask him.

Nah Lako is.

will lako be able to guide his team into the playoff picture in 2017?

Holman out 6 weeks with a hamstring. Short term replacement coming in to join Pillard.

Which imports won't be cleared come tip-off time. Theres always a couple every year.

WOLVES, TIGERS, HAWKS imports all cleared.

How many games will Suns win?

"will lako be able to guide his team into the playoff picture in 2017?"

Not just playoffs but the title.

the WWE title or SBL title?

yo Ma boy Dwayne Benjamin can straight ball out AIIIII I SEE YOU CUH, REEEEEAL RASTA. LOW IT!

Rastafari Mustafari on Dwayne Benjamin man. He is lit.

Yo Giants gonna be legit...

Holloway
Pillard
Sanders
Stem

Holloway
Pillard
Sanders
Atem
Holman

Sanders and Atem are naturalised. Once again, they'll lose Atem and Holman for the first part of the year, but man... what a starting 5

What came out of the blitz? Anyone look great or below par?

I don't see anyone taking a game off Giants in Kal when they're firing on all 4

Lakeside will struggle without a legit 2,3 or 4 man. The kids just lack polish and will get bashed around.

Waters looks lethal for the Hawks, and Adekponya still to come.

Tigers pretty steady as expected, no Noordhoek but he'll be back before the season starts.

Nichols and Voelkel still uncleared by FIBA: likely won't make season start.

Flames look really dud.

Magic seem to be big improvers. If Jackson and Remmers play they'll be 5-6.

Guerin looks very average, Richard Ross is a real basher and a great mport.
Salinas and Iliadis looked like age was getting to them for the first time.

Tigers
Wolves
Hawks
Stirling
Giants
Gero
Magic
Redbacks

Only concern I saw for the Tigers is the back up big. None of their bigs have any range at all either.

Rocko look really rough. Only able to pull out a draw against Kalamunda, who only fielded their DLeague team all weekend apparently.

MVP - if he doesn't get sent home, Dwayne Benjamin. He's next level. Waters was great too but might lose votes to Adekponya.
Most improved - Daniel Grida, purely on minutes and lack of depth
First import sent home - hopefully not Dwayne Benjamin but the Gero lot have a knack of doing this. Strong money has to be on Vinny Zollo.
First coach replaced - coaches usually see out the whole year unless something better comes along. I'd say Parson if anything, as he has the best chance of going somewhere else for coaching ie eastern states.

Don't need range when you have Scott, Armour and Bowie who are all very capable of knocking down triples.

Why would Benjamin be sent home?

Rocko looked very average... #14 had some nice post moves but what was with #25… is actually a basketball player???
Mandurah will also struggle. Mully has gotten even slower and the other import showed flashes of ability.
Cockburn looked a little thin with no DT and Gav still recovering from his elbow injury. Import still to come in. Cummins can shoot that ball - ROTY candidate for sure!
Kal won't be a push over this year either.

I wouldnt take much out of the Blitz. Most teams barely played their main units. Perry Lakes sent out a team of bench players and U20s a couple of times as did numerous teams. Not much can be really gathered about it when half the teams didnt really bother too much. Still believe that its Tigers,Wolves, Hawks for the top 3 when they are a t full strength. Also believe that the Eagles will be a smokey.

Ive heard once Lee Roberts is done in Israel he is heading back to the spiders.
If that is true then look out.
Roberts,Vigor & Redhage be a hell of a combo.

I have also heard that about Roberts. Seems to be true.

I expect Cockburn will be better than predicted. Their import should be very very legit

Fighting for the top 4
Hawks/Wolves/Redbacks/Tigers/Wolves

Fighting for 5-8th
Giants/Cougars/Senators/Eagles

Best of the rest.
Magic/Eagles/Suns/Flames/Lakeside

*Buccs

5-8th.
Weedon/Nichols/Voekel/Lay alone will surely get them that!

Greg Gurr - Dont assume that the Eagles backcourt is what you saw this weekend.

assumption is the mother of all f@ck ups. The Eagles have a few players not even sighted yet that are going to come in. Guards amongst them.

Should be an interesting to see who will be suiting for their teams come week one.

Hawks should be pretty much full strength minus Adekponya, while who knows how many of the NBL guys will be playing for Stirling in the opening game of the season.

Same can be said for the Redbacks in their first game against Rockingham, which is always a tough friday night away game. The spiders then have to face the Giants Saturday night, with questions surround both clubs' depth.

Kalamunda have East Perth and Geraldton double header which can't imagine would go too well for the Suns based off East Perth's size, who back up against Kalgoorlie on the Sunday) and what the midwest club did during the blitz.

The young Lakeside mob might have a sneaky chance to get a W against Bunbury if Tre and Voelkel aren't suiting up, but one would think they should get cleared in time, but the lack of experience in their Sunday game against Geraldton will probably be their downfall.

Joondalup should get their revenge against a very different looking defending champions on Saturday, while the Tigers combination of Ray, Jay, Kyle and Damo should hurt the Magic in a very painful way.

Don't assume the biggest problems for SW is their roster.
Tre and Brian not cleared, and Eaton Rec is not allowing them any bookings until their court hire is paid from last year. Around $20k worth... doubt theyll have a venue

Waroona has wooden backboards...

They should play at the "shed" that is where the domestic comp is played and a solid venue and is actually in Bunbury.

Waroona is not actually a bad shout... their courts rival that of any metro club. At last check I'm pretty sure the backboards are glass? I could be wrong...

Whats the go with them not paying their fees from last year? Why don't they just pay whats owed.

Tre and Brian should be cleared you would think. Tre should already been cleared. He has been back for months now.

why dont they just pay the fees from last year - probably cant afford it.

maybe due to them paying basically 4 imports for the mens team the last number of years?

womens wrap-anyone game ? wont be surprised to Samantha w suit up for the tigers!needs to keep playing before camp. a few teams waiting for imports to finish in Europe cougars, flames,tigers.
hawks- could take a few weeks for the womens comp to settle.

4 imports and no finals.
Not a great return.

Last I heard redbacks were trying to bring back Stan Okoye to pair with Roberts.

Hi Lukosious

You sure thats the same Anything Lee (Ex Perry lakes)?

Eagles will have an import big man with SBL experience.

What kind of numbers can we expect from redhage?

I think something like 18/8/3 could be reasonable?

If fit and healthy then he would be top 3 in scoring.
Not sure what that equates to in a 40 min format.
Maybe 25pts a game.

If fit and healthy then he would be top 3 in scoring.
Not sure what that equates to in a 40 min format.
Maybe 25pts a game.

Yea cause you need energy for that Ball when you have a Friday game ;)

Redhage just retire fully ffs

Why? He is still in shape and very very able to contribute at an SBL level! Improves the league and no doubt will draw a crowd around Perth at each venue.

Only negative is how many flop charges he will draw

Better hope he and everyone else passes these drug tests

Joondalup vs Cougars = Redemption?? in the words of the great Ben Ettridge. It's only March! and Cougars are not too phased anyway I don't think. They are not going in to this season with high hopes of Back to Back knowing how little money they have under them compared to the rest of the clubs. Or compared to the fact Wildcats players only go where they are told to go.

Be nice to see a Wildcats guy join up with a team south of the river for once.

I laughed at that redemption post too.

I honestly don't think that the Wolves would be looking at "redemption" in round 1, that match isn't going to change what happened on Sept 3rd.
If they could knock Cougars out in the finals or better still a Grand Final that would go close to some redemption.

Anyway Wolves be far too strong for Cougars in round 1!
Wolves haven't dropped a home game since 2015.

Gabby O'sullivan is at hawks I think

Good Redhage article on SBL website.

I think we all knew he wouldn't be in the league for $hits and giggles. He isn't that sort of character.

He has that arrogance about him and you always knew he would be coming to the SBL not to take part, but more so to take over!

So you will see the complete package including the off the ball hits, the niggle/the flops the lot.

MVP candidate 100%.
At 6'8 he will be a nightmare match up at SBL level.

will be interesting to see how that plays out with Vigor Roberts Okoye all wanting some of the ball too.

Redhage will shoot it every time he touches it.

Lako hasn't exactly been a shining light for uniting a group over the years.
Can talk good game and open the cheque book but gelling a team of superstars together maybe not

I wonder if Redhage helps in the culture side of things with gelling, chemistry etc.

Are we really going with Perth having Roberts, Okoye, Vigor and Redhage?

Is it so hard to believe when other teams have Armour Scott Bowie Turner and Cody?

Cockburn might want to invest in some new rims if Billups is their import

WSBL

HAWKS
WILLETON
WOLVES
SUNS
MAGIC
LIGHTNING
REDBACKS
STIRLING

FLAMES
COUGARS
S/WEST
EAGLES

MVP- K WISCHER
COY- DOCCY SMITH
MOST IMPROVED G-DENEHEY

Redbacks have Alex Laughton and Shawn Redhage plus Lee Roberts. Joel Wagner should be averaging 20 assists per game and he also had Ben smith who's a catch and shoot player. Insanity. Funny to think that this team is under the salary cap. Or someone should audit them and see how many under handed payments are being made.

Alex isn't playing for free.
Redhahr isn't playing for free
Lee Roberts is not in league import minimum he will be on much more.

Perhaps the sbl seeing as though they are apparently getting drug tested and being all legit now. Perhaps they should look at the financial side of things.

Plus don't forget Lako as coach. What a dream team!

That team shouldn't even need a coach.

Seriously though surely someone from the sbl is doing research in to it?

If Lako wins the title the world ends from the smugness that will be radiating from him.

Loughton is only at Perth for the time Roberts isnt. Hes not going to be there all season.

noticed on chris pikes report of teams leading into the season that there is no amy kidner for wolves ? she was awesome for the wolves last year - interesting to see how they cover her loss. for me they are the team to beat but with that news they are know beatable.

Who cares how you spell loughton. He's there and that's al that matters. End of the day it amazes me the sbl does no searching in to this to make the league more fair however they want to be professional and start drug testing players. What a joke.

^ Hi Nik

You guys owe me back the 45 seconds it took to read this rubbish.

Back to basketball please

^^^ agree 100% but took me 3 mins of my life!

the sooner Random gets on here and gives us his predictions the better

Perry Lakes vs Stirling
Both teams down STAR power, Adekponya, Ellis, Wroe and Vague all won't be here for the tip. Fortunately for the Hawks, Waters, Purser and a very fit Carlwell will be suiting up.
PLH by 15

Rockingham vs Perth
Perth will be a top 4 squad this year and Flames a bottom 4, but in Round 1 no Redhage, Loughton or Vigor makes for a very undersized Rednecks.
Flames by 10

East Perth vs Kalamunda
Eagles have been flying literally under the radar, but you heard it hear first:
Bragg, Kernich, Williamson, Tahwiti...and wait for it...an EX Championship Import all starting. Easley, Kevin Anthony (ex Suns) and Tupaea off the bench, even add Jhonny Lutula and Donlagic.
EP by 18

Perth vs Goldfields
Goldfields are another team with a trick up their sleeve, and Aussie import quality player, with NBL experience.
This will go the way of Goldfields, winners by 8.

Kalamunda vs Geraldton
Dwayne Benjamin and Maurice Barrow are legit, and they got a handy pick up in a kid from over East Hancock.
Bucks by 16. Benjamin with 30 points.

South West vs Lakeside
Lakeside winners 20-0 by forfeit.

Joondalup vs Cockburn
Javlan Billups is in the state, but he is yet to be cleared so may be unavailable come this weekend. Either way, Wolfpack by 12 in a GF rematch.

Willetton vs Mandurah
First chance to see Jay and Ray go at it, and will be a good chance to see how they share the ball around. Kreklow has his work cut out for him and Mullenax may be Ray Turners first victim.
Tigers by 16.

East Perth vs Goldfields
Both teams won't be full strength, but the Giants have enough pieces in my opinion at this stage. Close one and game of the week. Giants by 4.

Lakeside vs Geraldton
Geraldton getting a rest the night before v Suns, Lightning with no game at all and tired after driving down to Eaton only for the doors to be shut.
Geraldton by 10.

Kevin Davis is import big for East Perth. It hasnt been a secret. If anyone bothered to ask the players they would have told you.

Josh Garlepp with a cool 27 and 5 in the Waratah league Domination!!!!

I cant believe their are two worst leagues then Darwin!!

*there

Why would the Slammers cancel their first home game?

haven't paid their venue hire bill from last season

What about TAS state league (not NWBU).

ACT league?

of course

Top Premier League teams would beat Big V teams I think.

I think one team there has Creek, Drmic & an import which is more than the best Big V teams could do. Think it's a league on the rise. The grand final was pretty high standard last year.

I think we might wait to see if the Slammers confirm anything over anons on a forum

"Really the only guy that's come into our group outside of our area has been Joel, and you couldn't have asked for a better fit for us.

Good to see Ettridge has is own aligned "catchment area" to poach his players from.
Your starting 5 players are not from the Wolves program.
2 x imports and 3 x Stirling players.

Yeah, it's poaching. Wolves were paying $ to local players whereas Stirling weren't or very minimal amounts. So it was just a case of more $, which is nothing to do with recruting.

So does he think he is some master recruiter because his club pay more than the others? and big LOL at creating your own catchment area. Lots of delusion there.

"ACT league?

Is there one?"

Yes, ACT Premier League. Recognise! Tipoffs tonight, with Tuggeranong Vikings vs Ginninderra Rats.

Odds $2.65 vs. $1.43 with bet365.

Ettridge is such a dud... just own the fact that multiple juniors from other clubs have come to Wannerroo, often for the $ more than anything. He likes to claim that Trian and Huntington never played sbl for other clubs (which is obviously true) but why did they play at Wannerroo once they returned from college when they certainly did not live in the Joondulup area?

"because of our culture a superior program" - doubt it.

Other non locals include:
- Salenis
- Questrel
- Brad Robbins
- Timms
- imports

The motives for these players moving may have been the program / culture but that is built by winning and it takes good players (Trian, Huntington, Salanis) on $ to win games.

Nothing wrong with this but quit pretending its all "home grown".

Exactly. Some mentioned above were Stirling all throughout juniors, then got offered $$$ so went to Joondalup. We aren't stupid, Ben.

Any tipping or Fantasy SBL going around this year?

Friday night Preview.

Hawks v Senators

No news on 2nd import as yet? Unsure if Ellis will front up week 1?
Looking at a big year from big Ash Litterick.
J.Coburn will continue to get better and hopefully injury free year.

Hawks will be without Adekponya (why he finishes his contract overseas).
Majority core group from last year remains in place.
They will unleash new import Waters, who doesn't seem as potent as Hobbs but looks to be a better fit and you would hope more a team first PG.

Hawks by 18pts (5pts if C.Ellis Plays).


Eagles v Suns

Be interesting to see who suits up for the Eagles with various names thrown around in the mix.
Luckily they draw Suns first up so should be able to scrap past them if they put anything decent on the court.
Hopefully Suns play a better style this season so not every player get career highs every 2nd week.
In 2016 more then 1/3 of the POTW awards went to teams playing the suns!

Flames V Redbacks

Big question marks over Flames import Vinny Zollo, so hopefully he can prove some doubters wrong and have an immediate impact.
Loss of big Chudier Pal hurts that big presence in the middle.
Ryan "Boof" Godfrey to lead the charge for the flames.
Redbacks will unleash 1 part of the 3 headed monster in S.Redhage.
Young Kyle Bowen continues to impress.
Redhage to dominate with 30pts+ and 3 flops.

Spiders by 5pts.

what team did chaudier pal end up going to?

Cheers Lukosius!

Seems Lako got access to a cheque book
http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-5011-0-0-0&sID=78732&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=53536627

I think they will struggle until Vigor arrives. Good on paper with those two good, albeit old, players. Vigor is a bit of a glue guy type player.

Will be watching the live stats tonight to see how redhage performs.

Good to see East Perth have their internet sorted out. No live stats again and it's only round 1!

Same as flames and redbacks

Rocko is up and running it just took half an hour for both games to show

Interesting game down at slammers probably one the slammers are kicking themselves they didn't get. Voelkel wasn't cleared and lakeside played mostly their kids, down 20 in the third they only lost by 2. Atkinson vs Nichols was a great battle.

Good to see Lordo back for the giants.

legit MVP candidate

What was everyone thought's on the 40minute games?

Stories of the weekend.

Perry Lakes huge loss to undermanned Senators.

Redbacks - Bowen is clearly going to be a player, but this is my concern bringing in Redhage and Loughton.
Redbacks pay all this money to bring in these guys and Bowen has 7pts (out of 103pts)alongside Redhage and Loughton on Friday.
Next night Redhage sits and Bowen has 20pts & 15rbds (of 78points).

Suns again look like giving people career nights every single weekend.
Manjang (24pts) on Friday.
Hopefully they can be competitive once the imports suit up.

Goldfields going to be in struggle town, season may be over before Holmen even hits the track.
Not a fan of the 9pts to 8pts in the third quarter.
No one wants to watch that.
Surely never happened in SBL history before??

Where was Ray Turner?
Magic seemed to give Tigers a bit of a run without him.

Wolves import Guerin (5pts/5rbds) will need to improve or could be first import released.

Geraldton seem to have found a player in Hancock, the imports they always deliver on but what the Bucc's do a great job with is securing that fringe NBL Aussie.

Ray Turner out for 5 weeks with MCL strain, has been practising, Tigers just being cautious. Huge win by them without him as they played their young kids a bit, and it's those wins at the start of the season that will set you up come finals.

Gero looks like the team to beat

Gero played Kalamunda and Lakeside you guys are joking? its week 1. Moronic statements off a game against the worst team in SBL history and then a Lakeside team that has struggled since Andy Stewart has left.

I don't know if the Tigers win against Magic was 'huge'

Magic missing starting PG, backup PG and starting import 2 man.

The fact that Tigers have one of, if not the toughest backcourt combo in the league with Armour and Scott they should have won much more comfortably. Magic started an 18/19 year old kid at PG who has just been out 2 years with ACL's. It was a tied game in the 3rd quarter!

Kreklow playing out of position still looked tough and not too far off a triple double.

Turner will make a huge difference to Tigers lineup as he is really the missing piece they have been looking for over the last 2 seasons.
S. Black managed to get a few killer fist pumps in on the sidelines which was great to see.

Week 1 Rankings:
Redbacks
Tigers
Buccs
Wolves
Hawks
Senators
Eagles
Cougars
Slammers
Lakeside
Flames
Giants
Magic
Suns

Tigers getting the job done early. any games they can win without Turner are huge for them, because once he's there they aren't going to loss

Refereeing of post play in the SBL has always been appalling.

Import Rankings after round 1.

Benjamin
Nicholls
Padgett
Billups
Mullenax
Barrows
Bowie
Kreklow
Atkinson
Waters
Carwell
Pillard
Ross
Sanders
Guerin

Mullenax and Carlwell are now deemed Aussies

interesting enough there are still a few imports yet to arrive

Roberts
Brandenburg
Davis
Anthony
Belger
Mandurah second import due shortly.

Some high quality players in this list!

after watching tigers vs magic on Saturday night .ricky krecklow is one of the best movers on a basketball court you will see.
to have him rated below jay bowie is a joke on that performance - bowie got freed up a little when krecklow was taken off him .
krecklow ahead of bowie after round 1.

lol Kreklow isn't on the same level as Jay Bowie. Jay Bowie wins games, Kreklow doesn't.

What a stupid thing to say, Bowie has always had a stacked team around him. He finished like seventh when he was with the Giants and got swept by Bunbury.

Bowie has the same record as Kreklow in the SBL - 0 championships

Its ok its round one, always will be some debate.
You could make an argument either way on most.
I cant watch every game live but feedback welcome.

Bowie 24pts (54%) 7rbds 4ast 0tos in a win
Kreklow 16pts (41%) 7rbds 8ast 1tos in a loss

Nothing in it, lets see what next week brings.

Posterised:

Kreklow - 1
Bowie - 0

Hope you enjoyed the drive back down ...

^^ truths.

^^^ Irrelevant

^^^^$1.32/L hope the bank balance ain't too salty either. might need all the dollars for the pub after wooden spooning cob

LOL at playing SBL in Morley.

and yeah it can get way too yellow at Morley... if ya know what I mean *wink*

Good to see the tradition continues for POW agianst Eastern Suns!!

where is random

Good to see Ettridge shook a hand of the cougars after a win this time.

Dwayne Benjamin already been earmarked by the Cats as a potential import

Huge day down at S/W this weekend with Div 1 games as precursors to SBL. should be interesting to see if the idea gets up or not.

Dwayne Benjamin looked good but he is the same player as Jaron Johnson. Also he might not look as good when he has to play against teams that arent (no offence) Lakeside and Kalamunda.

No chance he gets a look in with the cats as an import. Poor defender and his shot creation and penetration won't be as good at NBL level.

HE PLAYED KALAMUNDA AND LAKESIDE. TWO OF THE WORST TEAMS LAST YEAR AND LIKELY TO BE THE SAME THIS YEAR.

Agree, needs to play against some real teams before you can tell what kind of player he is.

Suns suck

Not one player in that Suns team would make a top 7 player in any decent team.
Not the players fault, they don't have the talent, im sure they are all good kids and trying their best.
The league should step in and send a few wildcats to the hills.
If only it was that easy.
Redhage and Loughton would have Suns playing finals.

When the imports come for Suns it should help a little.

Why were Suns allowed into SBL. Absolute joke.

If they can't attract sponsors which are crucial to running a semi-pro team then they shouldn't be there.

^^^
HAHAHAHA please tell me that is a joke!

hahaha that made me laugh out loud. if you were trying to be funny - well played. if not then wow...

If any of those players are taking one cent from that club then call 000, they should all be up on fraud!!

icollege hahaha interesting...

yep every player gets a game fee of some sort for Kalamunda

haha speechless.

SBL is getting better and better every year. Look at the talent in our league right now, and even Pike is doing work. It's attempting to improve every year and credit to them.

A stipend or allowance isn't the same as getting paid a salary.

Cougars Tigers tonight will be a good game. If Turner plays Willo should get it by 10, but if not its a 50/50 game. Billups could have 50 if no Turner.

Mandurah Lakeside SHOULD be an easy one for Lakeside

agreed^^ should be close.
Armour v van Lit - Armour + 10
Thomas v Scott - Scott +10
Cummings v Noordhoek - Cummings +5
Field v Bowie - even
Billups v Cody - Billups +15

Close game

Kreklow v Lakeside - 12pts (25%) 5 reb 6 as
Bowie v Cockburn - 32pts (48%) 11reb 3 as

yeah look I'm gonna take Bowie.

enjoy the drive down bud , 0-2

They both lost, who cares. Willeton got completely smashed on the rebounds

smashed by an extra 7 rebounds. lol

Why is Della not playing many minutes ? Is he injured ?Could have beaten Wolves if he played a full game.

Cougars could/ should start

Thomas
Van lit
Field
Della
Billups

Then have young fresh legs coming in to speed things up and get more going along the way.

Chan
Cummings
Holmes

This team can still pose many problems for others and should never be taken lightly I don't think. why not play the guys who have just got them a championship and the young guys compliment it. Della is a gun and unorthodox as heck.

Smashes by 7 rebounds was a lot if you were at the game because it was hard for cockburn to get a rebound when all willo did was shoot free throws.

And the ft count is in Cockburn's favour purely on the last few minutes with willo fouling.

That's a strong experienced starting 5, with a good back up. Only really need 8 with the forty minute game With Field averaging about 25 Della 17 and Billups 30 plus, Cummings can get big numbers too, he should start.

There's a player named van Lit? lol

the 5 mentioned earlier is a very good 5. Having young legs off the bench is always better than having old guys off the bench. Doesn't make sense keeping Della and thomas on the bench for so long. Utilize them whilst u can and have them at the club.

And yes Steve van lit. With that 5 mentioned it allows gav and billups to be main focal scorers and then have Della, thomas and van Lit fill gaps. When Cummings comes on then at least there's not a huge drop off.

I was at the game. Willetton weren't outrebounded at all, they were outmuscled inside. Billups is a force, essentially an athletic Marcus Goode. They ran the exact same pick and roll for the first 6 plays of the game, 12-1 run. A really good pick up by Cockburn. Should they get another import, they go straight to favourites in my book.

It's amazing how consistent Gav Field is, even after his injury last year.

I'm a Tigers fan, and Cockburn fully deserved to win that game. Willettons young players had no answer for the more experienced Cockburn. Willetton will be a different team once Ray hits the court, but right now Cody and Collins are way too small.

On the subject of Ray Turner, he looked really pissed off not to be on court, can't be too far away.

"Having young legs off the bench is always better than having old guys off the bench."

Seems to be working for Lakeside

Is van Lit actually lit? otherwise he isn't playing up to his name haha

What seems to be working for lakeside? They have lost have they not? And they start young guys galore I'm sure.

They lost against Geraldton and they beat mandurah and bunbury first game. Whoo hoo. Let's see how they fair against the other top teams. Will be a quick slide down the ladder.

2-1 is still 2-1

Guerin & Ross combined for 10pts @ 28%, 5 rbds and 2 assists against the lowly ranked Giants.

Would Wolves look at moving one or both on.
Guerin especially looks weak.

It depends what they are paying him or what VISA he is on, if he is free then I guess u keep him if you dont have the intention of getting another paid import.

Hire coming back?

The league this year is looking very very top heavy. With 2-3 top teams and then the rest dropping off heavily after that.

lol 2 rounds in and the league is supposedly top heavy. Wait till every team has their imports and overseas players back before making that assessment. There are 7 teams which will be capable of winning it all by seasons end. Willeton, Cockburn,Hawks,East Perth, Joondalup and Perth and Gero. Most of these teams have players missing which could completely change their current situations. Thats a pretty strong crop of teams.

Who are Gero and Wolves missing? Cockburn?

2-1 isn't just 2-1. When you play Kalamunda that shouldn't even be considered a game of SBL. That is SBL vs D League. That is SBL vs Just Jack it up and hope.

Wolves still have a few guys to come in. Hire, Ironmonger.

Cockburn still have Pesava and second import to come.

Gero have their squad now.

Willetton signing a brandt new player this week and next in Turners absence.

smart move by the tigers to bring him in ! I guess when you have $$ you can operate this way.
will be interesting to see how much damage he does in the games he plays.
buccs and hawks next couple of games .

I would guess that while Turner is on the injury list his pay won't count to the cap.

Great pick up by Willo if it is true. Brandt should dominate the SBL

This weekend will be the first time both Buccs and Giants field Div1 teams. Games will be played as an opener to the SBL game.
It will be interesting to see who those teams put on the park, how competitive they will be and if the supporters will get along early and actually watch.
Good to finally have the country teams in the comp IMO.

Do you think the SBL website will be updated any time soon?

NEXT JOKE!!

Hey ease off, its only been 60hrs since the last game finished!!

The SBL should be looking in to teams and how they can afford these guys. Some teams are well over budget but because it is not on the books, the SBL turn a blind eye to it. "Well if we can't see, why make more work for us type of thing". There is now way Willetton is paying Turner, Bowie who moved from Kalgoorlie for more money, Armour, Scott and now Brandt without being over salary, not to mention Stephen Black.

It should be dealt with. I mean players are now forced to get Drug Tests for Panadol yet we can't be professional enough to adhere to money issues?

What even is the club salary cap for players and coaches per season?

clubs have a salary cap for the club as a whole supposedly. How they break that up is up to the club. Well thats how it is being presented by some clubs. The Mens team can have 100% of it if they want. Im not 100% on that but thats what a few people involved in clubs have been saying.

Outside sponsorship doesnt count against the cap I think. Thats why Willeton can field a team they do. Pretty sure thats how most of the teams do it. From all discussions had in the past Scott and Amour have private sponsorship that allows them to not count towards the figure.That may be totally incorrect but thats whats always mentioned when the discussions take place.Many teams dont pay anyone except their imports,even their top notch Aussies. The running joke is that Gero have 5 development officers this season. Its a strange way to look at it but if a club can get around the rules in place legally then why wouldnt they.

Surely coaches don't count.. Otherwise teams couldn't possibly have full time coaches.

Suns pay everyone though.

U have the kid from East Perth who couldn't get a regular game or regular minutes last year, now he is top scoring for Suns!
That is not a dig at him, he can only do what he can do, but when your top scorer is not getting a game for a team that didn't make finals the previous year it sort of sums up where you are at with talent!

Word is Turner is only a week or two away anyway so highly doubt they will bring Brandt in for a couple of weeks.

If Brandt qants to play SBL then lets get him to the Suns!!

Brandt is a cover for the injured Turner and he's still in Perth. Just like Loughton is only playing 3 weeks of basketball before Lee Roberts gets here, same way Brandt will.

its an interesting topic and perhaps someone such a Lukosious or Random can give us a clue as to how it all works, because fans and players alike are rather interested.

As far as I knew Sponsorships are still part of the club salary allowance. Because private sponsorship although is dealt with on a personal basis, it still needs to filter through the club because players are not able to put up signage or provide services without being tied to the club.

It's interesting and would be kind of nice to hear something, perhaps an article on the sbl website to actually bring this all to light. I mean they have seemingly changed the rules and loop holed the writing to allow Wroe to play for Stirling as unrestricted, so would be interesting to hear the take and the exact ruling on this topic.

They should publicise how the salary cap works "just like in the NBA"

The person could just have a sponsor that help them play basketball with no need for advertising. Like a rich uncle who doesnt give a toss about exposure. It doesnt necessarily have to be tied to a club

Lakeside vs Suns
Expect Courtney Belger to play but the Lightning should still be far too strong inside for the suns to handle. Ferguson could have 20 rebs.

Cockburn vs Hawks
Billups and Purser would be worth admission alone in this one. Bit of a matchup issue for the hawks there though as that leaves Field to have a field day! Hawks by 5

Geraldton vs Tigers
Simple, if Turner plays then tigers by 7 if he doesn't then Buccs by 10+. Bowie will be able to slow down Benjamin.

Goldfields vs Mandurah
Mandurah's new import arrived Monday and will hopefully be cleared by this weekend. No sign of Holmen yet meaning Mullenax could have another 30+. Tough one to call but I think Magic get up in an upset of sorts.

Slammers vs EP
Have Bunbury played away yet? Need Voelkel back ASAP for this one with Davis and Anthony here with a week of training under their belt. No Bragg but EP still too strong winning by 15.

Wolves vs Rockingham
Wolves by 15

Stirling vs Cockburn
Tough double for the Cougs backing up. Field and Vague will be a great matchup along with Billups and Ellis. Stirling by 8

Suns Redbacks
Redbacks by 30+ Redhage for 40+ if he plays enough minutes.

Redbacks EP
Both on a double header but Redbacks should be able to rest easy in the second half. Loughton and Redhage vs Davis will be very interesting. Redbacks by 4 but not a confident tip

Lakeside V Suns

Lakeside young guys to get a lot of confidence out of this one, they will all put up numbers and be better for the experience.
Lakeside by 15pts but will never be in danger.

Cockburn v Hawks

Interesting what coach Parsons will come up with for Billups.
BC will be far too slow.
Purser may be the best match up but that may only slightly limit his damage and then that leaves BC guarding Field. Yikes!
I think you can expect to see a lot of ZONE.

Geraldton v Tigers - Match of the round.

I expect if this was at home then Turner would play, but with the travel may just rest him another week.
Or fly him up, why not?
Bucc's at home by 8pts, they are a 15pt better team at Tip Top!

Goldfields v Magic

Strangely I would have the Magic favourites in this one, Giants seem in a world of pain atm.
Holmen's return can’t come quick enough, Jury is still out on all these new recruits.
I think the coach said Atom Atom would be another Mathiang Muo, think he went a little early on that call!
If Magic have the 3 x imports, I don’t see why they wont be able to get the W.
Magic by 6pts.

Slammers V Eagles

Where is Voelkel at? Injury or VISA issues?
Everyone understands how important early wins are and Slammers don’t want to drop off the pace.
Eagles will be too strong and put some early heat on coach Nix.
EP by 12pts


Wolves V Rockingham

If this was at Rockingham I would tip flames, Im not sold on Wolves imports at all, and without any real ring protection and inside presence they dont get a lot of 2nd looks from the offensive rebounds from the 3pt jacking.
Flames import Donovan Jack is an athletic freak and will be a top 5 import this year, will get better as he adjusts.
Zollo on the other hand will be matching up against Guerin who is under just as much pressure to remain in the country!!!
Wolves by 3pts.

Suns v Redbacks

Lucky this wasn’t 48mins, SR would be going for 60, he still may!
I honestly believe SR/Loughton/Bowen & Wagner would beat this team themselves. No subs, 4 players for the full 40mins.
SR & Loughton will be in genuine shock at the quality of this team.
I reckon a few of the Suns players may even ask for autographs after the game.
Reds by as much as they want to win by.

Redbacks V East Perth

Davis will no doubt make things a little harder for Redhage as far as limiting his offensive put backs and getting a hand to some of those rebounds and changing a few shots, Perth will still have too much class.
East Perth putting a decent squad together and will be hanging around that 4-6 by seasons end.
Be interesting few weeks once they get some cohesion in place.

If a person is being sponsored, they need to be sponsored for something. It needs to be placed in record keeping and therefore needs to be documented or it is highly illegal. Just like working under the table.

hawks v cougs: interesting to see how long BC stays on the court. The Cockburn bigs are a tough cover for him. He'll get his points at the other end but he won’t do it easy against Billups!

I also noticed they wiped off all previous years results/boxscores etc.
And last years are all now jiberish!

Why would State teams be on the WABL website... they have nothing to do with WABL would the SBL post about players who made NBL? lol. everyone looking for a bone to pick. BWA site is a disgrace though.

YOu guys know the SEABL and Big V are having the exact same problems. Check the other threads. Keyboard warriors.

Magic's 2nd import is Will McNeill, a combo guard out of Washburn University

Good news for Mandurah!

You are extremely over sensitive if you think that is throwing shade at anyone

Poor comments by Mitch Tinley on the article. Thought someone in his position would have more professionalism than that. Pretty weak.

WITH THE ADDITION OF WILL MCNEILL I THINK THE MAGIC CAN BEAT THE GIANTS THIS WEEK, IF THIS HAPPENS THE GIANTS ARE GOING TO STRUGGLE TO MAKE THE 8.
THERE IS NO PRESSURE ON MANDURAH AS THEY HAVE BEEN TOUTED TO FINISH LOW, HOWEVER THERE WILL BE ENERMOUS PRESSURE ALREADY ON THE GIANTS TO WIN THIS GAME AT HOME.
IF THEY LOSE EXPECT ALOT OF FINGER POINTING IN A GROUP THAT HAS BEEN THROWN TOGETHER.

lol yeah you shouldnt rely on the imports you have brought in to win. Until Nener wins anything as a coach he really shouldnt say anything.

Della and Thomas are so important? yet they have played minimal minutes and they are coming off the bench to guys who have played at Kalamunda or never in a Men's League and after leading the team to a trophy last year. Confusing, to say the least!!

Its all fine to score the ball or be young but to win games you need to play as a team and get the right shots at the right times. Those two guys are exceptional at doing so and yet they are on the bench.

Della played 13 minutes. Just clocked over half a game in two games. so consufed.

His comments were not at all bad or a plug against the team last year.

Armour
Scott
Bowie
Brandt
Turner

name me a more imposing starting 5...

Brandt if he comes in is for the time Turner is out. An injury replacement.

until they convince him to stay on

$$$$$$

Comment #632267

if for example D Scott(example only) had a suga mumma giving him money to follow his basketball passion and buy rubbers etc, why would the club have to report it? The agreement is between the two parties independent of the club. Sure there may be some stuff that the two involved would have to keep records of, but what does the club have to do with it?
what if your rich uncle said to you dont worry about finding a job this season, im going to give you 10K to just relax and play ball. I dont need anything from you except to know you are doing your best. Does that count as sponsorship? Do the records of the club need to be involved in that.

Salary Cap is $60,000 per team per year which is player/coach included.

So if a coach is being paid $10,000 for the year. That leaves $50,000 for players per year. Which means $25,000 per import, so to look at it. The club can spend $25,000 on an import, which means over 25 weeks of basketball/being here, that's $1000 a week. This is meant to include cost of housing per week, Car, and any other costs which totals up to $60,000.

the cap is 120K per year for both mens and ladies teams combined. Im not sure it has to be a 50/50 split.

Nener was way out coached last night. Had Big lead , maybe 20 points and threw it away. Matches Stevie Van Lit against Ben Purser. Purser thought all his Christmas's had come at once.
No team work, seemed every man for himself . Gavin Field couldn't get the ball? When you have players such as Field and Della ( Injured)? Use the. Did the same thing against Wolves.
Will he be the first coach sacked this year? Who would be a good replacement? Cougars Will NOT make the Eight with this coaching team.

Lakeside women are going to be dangerous when they have the full squad.

Took PL a bit of time to get into the flow. Spent half the game making turnovers at critical junctions that would stop their runs.Back to Back tech fouls in the middle of the 3rd also didnt help. Gifted Cockburn 9 points from the ensuing Fts and out of bounds plays which kept them in front heading into the 4th. Cockburn had a red hot crack and with 6 mins left looked like holding on. Experience in Purser, Carlwell and Smith showed though and they just locked in defensively and choked the offense. Anytime Van Lit was on the floor the Hawks exploited it. 100% should have played Della more than 8 mins.

Ray Turner is back.

Watched the wolves absolutely humiliate rockingham tonight up here at Joondalup. Is zollo the worst import in the league? 1/12 from the field and just plain sh*t AF. If he lasts until the end of April, the flames are seriously stupid

Turners stats dont even scratch the surface. He handled the Buccs so easy, we had no answer for him. Armour and Scott rotated onto Benjamin, he was just getting frustrated by them all up in his face.
It's scary what Turner will do against Lakeside or Eastern Suns

Cockburn snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Van Lit needs to go back to his minutes from last year he was terrible and hasn't contributed anything as a starter apart from turnovers and questionable D. DT had more impact despite his foul trouble and Field seems to be a third option on offense. Della seems very frustrated by his lack of minutes as well. Cockburn won't make the 8.

Flames won't bite their pride and will see out the season with Zollo. It's sad because he's getting beasted and hasn't even come up against a Carlwell, Billups or Turner where it'll be embarrassing.

Suns men were within a whisker of beating Lakeside men. Belger first game in and near triple double. Brandenburg to come in. once they are at full strength they will probably surprise some teams

lol no they wont. Lakeside Mens side is almost as bad as they are. Beating Lakeside shouldnt be an achievement

Suns Men within a whisker ...
I don't think its fair to say they'll surprise a few teams with a second import when they lose to the State U20s team. They'll be competitive with Lightning and Flames near the bottom.

Clarke is a horrible coach. Im not sure why everyone looks at him as some sort of coaching guru. His in game adjustments are woeful. His substitution pattern is pre determined no matter what and he really hasnt done much to justify his tag.

3 Rounds in who are the standout players to watch in MSBL. Need to get to some games soon and want to know which teams/ players are worth a look.