Don't think we would get anyone of a real high standard would we?

Don't Aussie players go to Europe to chase the better dollars? If a player was going to come and play for the dollars offered here, you would have to wonder just how good they would be..

I think the idea is very innovative and a potential area where basketball could lure more fans and subsequently sponsorship.

There will always be a majority of Australian players on each teams roster and as such oppurtunity will exist for young players to come through the ranks.

No you may not get the type of quality you'd expect from players who can command the big dollars in Europe but couldn't the same be said for the American imports? If they are good enough to earn that money in Europe, why are they here?

Imagine a Euro of Carlos Powell's ability?

I think it could be a great move for the league.

The difference is that in the Euroleagues imports are a commodity (much like the NBL) they can be cut and brought in without much trouble (and imports can get pretty ####ty treatment - unpaid salaries - summary firings etc)... But talented Euros are much more important to a teams overall success... Who remembers Rimas Kurtinaitas - Townsville "Suns" he ripped it up totally (and he was no spring chicken) but threw in the towel due to the fact he was getting chicken feed (relative to what he could earn in Europe)... I can`t see it working - NBL can`t offer enough to make it worth their while...

Great idea, especially with regards to increasing the supporter base here.

IMO opinion, however, the top-mid range players in Eurpoe are not a lot better than the top-mid range players here. Correct me if I'm wrong of course. Which means we could probably only attract the lower tier players, as they may be able to earn more money here than there, whereas the top-mid range players wouldn't.

What about conducting a tournament, inviting the top European teams not playing against NBA teams, and playing a series of games around Australia just prior to the NBL season, or at the end of it? That would surely expose the game to the Europeans living in Australia...

back when woodville were at athol park it was a long running joke that they use have refugees play for them and pay them with can food those yougos and bosnians and croats could tear it for a tin of baked beans.

I think a guest player slot annually (cap exempt - but publicly disclosed) for each team - where they can sign and bring in a "marquee" player for up to 5 games like the A-League would be better... Bring out reasonably higly credentialed ex-NBA or high profile Euro players to play a few games to get extra exposure...

Johnny, I believe that worked with United and Romario. Didn't exactly let loose on the goal front, but they earnt back their $60k/game or whatever it was with the increase in crowds and publicity.

Marketing sport on the basis of ethnicity is not a good idea in my mind. The A League for example was developed to combat the conflicts bought about by having teams based on a specific ethnic group (eg. Hellas vs City). For every ethnic group you cater to you alienate another (look at the tennis, Serb v Croat fight). Let's just get the best players possible and the rest will fall in to place. If you build it, they will come....

Nutwork, I agree that's a risk. They need to spend more on their talent I think that's fair to say.

With the decrease in the cap, I think you could argue that the quality of some teams has decreased - look at Adelaide's bench-level players for example - Ng, Nash, Sutton, Wheeler, Copeland, Timmons. Not crowd-pullers. Perth and West Sydney aren't too different.

What about the drawcard spot that is not counted under the cap? If the Bullets can afford to bring in a Carrawell, that frees up a Rychart for another team.

i think it is a great idea to have a european player in your team.

Expanding on what JohnnySack said, by the rules of the EU, anyone with EU citizenship can play as a local in any EU sporting league.

Accordingly, the top players in Europe can field the best offers from every club in the EU, and not have to fill an import slot. This drives the price of the top players up enormously.

When Aussies play in Europe they have to play as imports (with the exception of guys that have dual citizenship like Markovic). That we can fill import spots in Europe shows that either the Euro comps are not necessarily better than the NBL, or that there just aren't any good Euro players left to contract.

For an NBL club to contract a Euro player that would make an impact in the NBL, we would need to pay more than a Euro club would. Assuming that we want players at least nearly as good as the ones we loose to Europe, that cost would be prohibitive.

Some European players may want to come out here for the experience, but none would come because of the money.

Sorry Isaac, don't see it working personally.

Whilst its a great idea to try and tap into culture heritage to increase crowd numbers. I really do not think it will be great for the NBL and Aust Players. Australian players need to play against quality players, European players who are good will stay in europe the money is huge, We do not need the rejects that cannot get a game in europe. Euro players not good enough to make euroleage, i believe would not be better than US Imports. The key is to ensure that australian players have quality competition and can learn from Imports and ensure our brand of basketball remains high.

if we were to lift the profile of basketball in this country with guest players their's only one player who could do it in sleepy old adelaide and that is dennis rodman that would put the club on the front page as well as the back page.

When John Rillie played as an import for Olympiakos in Greece he was sacked very quickly so I don't think we are as good as we imagine we are.

As has already been mentioned the problem will be attracting quality. Any European player of quality would be snapped up by a high paying Euro side and IMO wouldn't be interested in playing for less money in an inferior league. Can you imagine Brett Maher deciding to leave the NBL to go and play in the NZNBL (I know the seasons run at different time, this is a hypothetical) for less money? Wouldn't happen.

The difference with US imports is that every year there are literally thousands of college basketballers graduating who don't make it to the NBA, and if you don't make it to the NBA then there aren't many other ways to ply your trade in the US (unless you're grinding away in the D-League for $30k pa). The result is the global import market is flooded every year by these Americans, while comparable European players are already playing for their local team back home and not looking for a shift down under. It's simple supply and demand, and when it comes to the Euros the lack of suppply will shift the cost out of the NBL's price range.

Best bet would be attempting to recruit some players looking to experience the Australian lifestyle in their twilight years.

Marketing by ethnicity (ie trying to get an Italian, Greek, Cro, Serb, Macedonian etc) is the LAST thing the NBL wants. I could rant on about this forever, Nutwork hit on it to an extent.

Prime negative example would be a direct comparison between the crowd numbers and merchandise sales between Adelaide City in the last 5 or so years of the NSL and Adelaide Utd in the first few years of the A-League. For a start, stereotyping and polarisation of various fans would turn people away from the gate, which is the biggest con. There are others, but essays have word limits.

This is a bigger downside, IMO, then the initial reason in the first post which stated that local players wouldn't be given opportunities.

I'm not saying that attracting a European import to a club is bad, either. Just that the manner in which you proposed originally to market it, Isaac, is probably the worst possible way to go about it.

The NBL should scrap the special restricted player rule and let FIBA Asian players play as locals.

Still have limits of 6/7 locals on each NBL rosters.


What's the import limit in the EuroLeague?

It seems many EuroLeague teams have no limits on how many imports they can have. Israel team only has three Israelis on their roster. It makes no sense.

Hard to perform for a team you never signed for. Rillie played for AEK.

A more people in Europe which helps.

Would love if the NBL could keep expanding and expand its player/import spots. It all comes down to money and right now the NBL can't go crazy. If they had enough support, sure?