The player point system that NBL teams have to construct their teams with is a joke, all it does is stop teams going out and trying to get the very best players they can. If they can get 10 gun players and fit them into the salary cap then good job.

Couldn't agree more!

No way do i buy your A League argument, the same issues that effect global Soccer stars playing in Australia effect Basketball too

The NBL is full of stars right now if you open your eyes.

If you note, Redhage stats were right along side a guy linked to the Miami Heat this season

Abercrombie and Goulding where at Summer League as a starting point. Ervin held his own in the NY summer leagues vs dominant NBA talent too.

Give me a clue as to which "best Australian talent" isnt playing in the NBL right now. Be realistic, Ingles etc doesnt count because they are global stars.

Points also has nothing to do with excitement. I am excited to see Creek ( 3/4 points) , Ellis ( 3 points) play this season as I am Ennis and Ervin

Massingale isn't an Australia , Walker is- what is your argument?

AFL players the best in the world? Because there is no one else in the world who plays, but each week the players running around are only in the best 500 in their country.

The 60 players in the NBL are probably in the top 80 basketballers in Australia, a sport with a similar male participation rate to aussie rules.

The AFL is the one that has mediocre talent running around each week.

Seven NBL bench players, one NBL starter and four college players won the silver medal at the WUG this year, matching guys who are currently or will be in the NBA, Euroleague, ACB, VTB United etc. Just because theyre not household names doesnt mean they arent very talented.

The A-League doesn't have the best players available. It's propped up buy government hand outs that the NBL doesn't get and the best player leave to go overseas to better leagues just like the NBL.

Like BJF hinted Re Walker/Massingale. Massingale's point rating isn't stopping him from being signed, the fact he's an import is. If Lucas Walker was an import he also wouldn't be signed.

Lets name a bunch of Australian's who aren't in the NBL right now.

Andrew Bogut
Patty Mills
Joe Ingles
Nathan Jawai
David Andersen
Brad Newley
Aron Baynes
Julian Khazzouh
David Barlow

If there was a "marquee" player that could be signed outside of the player points cap. Would ANY of those players sign with an NBL team?

No.

Why? Because they wouldn't earn the kind of money they're currently on with their respective teams & leagues.

So it's not the point system that's stopping our stars from returning. It's money.

Then you hear people say "raise the salary cap". OK that sounds GREAT. Lets do that.. However where is this extra money coming from? Breakers and the Wildcats might be able to offer an extra 100k or so on top of the 1mil cap. But what about the other 6 teams? Cairns make a profit but it's very very small, we're talking a couple thousand. The others either lose or break even.

So what do we do? It's a catch 22.

You have to start small and build it up again. The first thing that should be done is expanding the import rule to 3 imports. 1 local import like someone said and the other 2 are for "true" imports like Rotnei Clarke, Kerron Johnson and so on.

Local import rule: Import must have played for a state league (SEABL, WASBL, Big V etc) for at least 2 full seasons. Could also join with the NZNBL and classify them as a "state league".

If the points rating stays then local imports shouldn't be rated as a 10. Should be a 7 max. If local imports are willing to play in Aus for 2+ seasons at min salary then I think they deserve a true shot at the next level.

"A-League has the best players they can afford.
NBL has best players they can fit into the points system."

Incorrect. Josh Pace and Tracy Mcgrady are both rated the same. So why doesn't Mcgrady come to the NBL? It's nothing to do with his points not fitting in. It's because he wants 1mil+ Pace (for EG) does not demand that kind of money.

So yes, the NBL has the best players they can afford.

The exceptions recently listed are guys like Tom Daly (sorry Tom, not a drawcard), Rhys Carter, etc. Someone like Barlow would be in the NBL if he were cheaper and wanted to play. Points cap isn't keeping him out. Get so bored of him getting mentioned.

The league needs to be solid before it's spectacular or the teams don't last long enough. And it's not as though it's abysmal either - look at what Ennis is doing, or Adelaide's crowd with a new coach and improved roster. Decent steps.

If new teams were added, then a concession for SEABL imports would be a good option I think. Maybe a basic luxury tax to allow Perth and NZ to keep driving forward the league with Ennis-level talent. But other than that, there is far lower-hanging fruit to chase like the site, stats, NBL.TV, etc.

Luxury tax that feeds into an NBL marketing fund pool could have a nice positive feedback loop going.

Worth mentioning, Wildcats just announced membership have jumped another ~500 since the weekend to 7,600, and I think you have to chalk up a fair chunk of that to Ennis and his highlights.

I'm with nat. I'd also chuck in that we need to change the points system to be realistic. Let's stop kidding ourselves by giving 10 points to guys who don't rate on the world stage. Lets get a points system that's realistic, and which has the flexibility to let a team go for a real 10-point player instead of shutting them out.

So, just to chuck something out there -

10 points - for someone who started on an NBA team, top Euro-League club or the Boomers in the last couple of years

9 points - for a bench player on one of those teams

8 points - for a starter on a good Euro-League team, someone who played NBA or top Euro-League or Boomers between 2 and 5 years ago, or if they started for a US D-League team or an NBL Grand finalist in the last two years

7 points - for a bench player on one of those teams, or someone who has played NBL for 5 or more years

and so on.

listening to an all Australian AFL player being interviewed on local radio the other day,reckons half the modern day players in the league wouldn't even have made it on to the bench years ago,watered down terribly.

The AFL can thank its lucky arse that no one else in the world plays it's game.....

Another idiot Anon trotting out the same argument, more than satisfactorily beaten down by Nat and Paul... nicely nipped in the bud, guys...

I'll even add to the player list of players not playing here because even out of college they're getting bigger bucks...

Bose (playing nearly 4mpg compared to being a star over here)
Broekhoff
Motum

and don't forget Delly who we won't see play here either... Why? CASH... It's not unlimited...

The points system is stupid and we all know it. Let the teams get the best they can AFFORD. If the financially strongest teams are getting a couple players better than they could based on being able to pay more, and they pull more heads isn't that better for the whole league? The points cap is just ridiculous and has not been of much use at all. I like the idea of allowing a SEABL import spot is good also, especially if used on one who's been here a few years and potentially has planted roots here with family etc.

But they do have the best they can afford. Why haven't you picked up on that yet?

If the top teams dont have anyone to play against that wont be good for the league, and thats what will happen if the other teams arent competitive. Fans dont want to go see their teams being thrashed.

ricey, that's more or less what they're doing. The difference is guys like Daly (bench player) and Carter (I imagine he's too streaky or expensive to help his cause). The points cap hasn't forced Ennis out, Ervin to Europe, etc. The Tall Blacks are still in the NBL. Gibson, Petrie, Johnson, Worthington, Ogilvy, Markovic are all here.

The points cap being removed is not going to make a huge improvement and suddenly break open the game for the better. There are serious risks however.

This is something that could be fixed pretty simple. One of the problems is the coaches rotation system during games. The coaches want to bat 10 deep. Within the 6th minute of 1st quarter all starting 5 have sat on bench.
You try and spread $1 million around 10 players and you are going to get compromise which means cheap players, which means ........
In the 90's the games were 48mins and you would would have players playing over 40 mins. Your 3 aussies plus 2 imports played majority of minutes,
Now we get 40 min games with most players 20-30 min game time. I know the old argument of "these days the intensity is so much higher will be trotted out"., full court press, etc, etc.
The talent is spread around so widely within all the teams.

So, what's your actual argument? If teams could spend up on starters and play them 38 MPG and win, they'd do it. Instead, they maintain a high intensity and spread the minutes. The coaches are tasked with winning first and foremost.

I've suggested lowering the minimum salary before which wouldn't hurt the recruitment of premium talent, but probably wouldn't help much. Others have suggested adjusting the points values for the upper end.

I'm still keen, once we have 10 or more teams, to see allowance of a third import, if they've played 20+ games at SEABL/ABL level in the previous season. I think that could drive interest from more fans and also bring better talent to our lower leagues.

I've also talked before about soft caps being used to permit flexibility but at a cost that is returned to weaker teams so they stay competitive. This could be done with any restriction such as the salary cap, points cap and even import restrictions.

My argument is that by concentrating on 6 players with all the money, you are going to have the best players playing, putting a better product out on display. (and probably a team that will win more than lose) But coaches will always put their interest first, before the game.

Maybe if a coach had of been brave enough to buck the current trend of 10 deep benches, who knows what would happen with a super 6 squad, especially with the current environment with regards to the referees making calls to clean up the game. If all you have are sheep, they will just follow the same path.

Is the AFL a better game because of the rotations? or do they just recruit more athletes who are good footballers, instead of great footballers who can run and jump a little.

But coaches will always put their interest first, before the game.

And then you have your best players fouling early ( Forman , Abercrombie ) fixed to the bench and have to run cast offs to fill the void whilst getting spanked.

Deep rosters are successful for a reason

Then as long as people are happy with deep rosters, you will not have the best players playing.

Yes. Coaches are there to win for their clubs. But winning playing ugly will be good for the coach, but not the game as a whole.

Which best players arent playing? I dont want to see good players making bad plays because they cant keep up with the fresh players on the other team.