Anonymous
Years ago

NBL Next Gen

Weren't the Bullets supposed to be picking up a NextGen player this season?

AD
Years ago

I must say this whole thing seems to be a fiasco.
They've signed one player, who is shaping up to be better than most imports, and gave him to the team that needed the least help.

Reply #711827 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

Agreed. Sure he didn't have a lot of options but to come to Australia but he did already have a high name before the 'incident’. For Tugs to go to Kings when they already had "the best lineup on paper ever" seems like a strange first next gen signing. Are we putting expectations this high on next gen players and expecting this quality all the time? I thought they were coming over to learn and develop from us not be a star already?

Reply #711829 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

He's looking a lot better already than he did in the blitz, for all the Gaze knockers Bowen has made a great improvement under his coaching.

Reply #711849 | Report this post

Proud
Years ago

As good as Bowen has been, the issue is that we all felt that every team would have their own Next Gen player that we could cheer on this season and then into the NBA next season with additional interaction between the NBL and NBA club.

That isn't happening as far as we know for any club besides Sydney.

I know that college gets out later in the year (I think Cody Ellis had to wait to finish studies before getting into NBL) so could we see new Next Gen stars at the end of 2018?

Reply #711853 | Report this post

Benno
Years ago

"I know that college gets out later in the year (I think Cody Ellis had to wait to finish studies before getting into NBL) so could we see new Next Gen stars at the end of 2018?"

The f are you on about? The whole point of "NEXT STARS" is to have players skip college and come play NBL before they're drafted..

Reply #711873 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

"for all the Gaze knockers Bowen has made a great improvement under his coaching"

haha I am a big fan of that kind of spin attempt

Reply #711880 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

Correct, getting 'Next Stars' confused with 'Next Gen'.

Reply #711882 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

Personally I was someone who was really excited for the next gen program. Bowen looks great, but overall the concept has been a huge flop with him being the only one in the program. I thought each team would be getting an exciting young player. May as well have just had him as a Ferguson style import.

Reply #711907 | Report this post

Violet Crumble
Years ago

For anyone who has a better memory than I, what qualifies a player for this spot, and are they league assigned (for some reason I was under this impression), or is it on the team to go out and recruit these guys? (If so, bravo Sydney, Bowen looks better and more confident than Ferguson ever did)

Reply #711926 | Report this post

AD
Years ago

Sorry my BAD, for derailing/hyjacking thread.
OP ask ed about Next Gen, not Next Star

Bowen is a Next Star
They must be eligible for next year's NBA draft.
Their salary is paid for by the NBL.
The recruitment was coordinated by the NBL (JL) but individual teams were involved, and the player ultimately gets to choose.

First obvious mistake is recruiting only one player.
2nd is allowing him to choose Sydney.

It's also a very small niche.
The target is the "one & done" players like Simmons.
The idea being that rather than wasting a year at college achieving nothing, and having to pretend to be an amateur. They can qualify by spending a year in the NBL, potentially opening the door for endorsements to flow early.

Next GEN is a "Draft Combine" style camp that invites a range of players, including U18/U20, college returnees, state league, etc.
It's goal is to help identify talent, but there are no special provisions attached to the players.

Reply #711943 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

My read on this situation is that LK thought to himself:

"FML this JvG 'tard is ****ing up the potential Sydney has with ownership with money to spend, a 20K arena and pending Bogut signing!"

One of his cronies comes up with an idea:

"Let's introduce a 'league-wide' initiative for an extra young import following on from what the Sixers did with that OKC dude. The player gets to 'choose' where he goes so if anyone asks we just say of course someone from overseas is going to say 'Sydney' by default."

"Excellent. Sydney get an extra import/young stud to offset the handicap of JvG and Gaze. Next issue: First Ever trendy advertising campaign..."

Reply #712101 | Report this post

Anonymous
Years ago

The NBL Next Gen will probably be done by next year as the NBA G-League have started a new program in similarity to this where the player gets $125k USD to skip college

Reply #712945 | Report this post

Hoops

NBL Next Gen

Recent Posts