"NBL general manager Jeremy Loeliger said Perth had re-rated several players under the player points system, using "loyalty" benefits, to create space for Jawai."

Curious to know who was re rated and how many points are left in the bank.

"High Greenwood"

LOL. This is hilarious. Anyone else find it funny?

LUL!

I don't understand what the GM is on about. How can the Cats re-rate any player using loyalty benefits to fit Jawai in? He's either been misquoted or he doesn't understand how the system works.

Train - from the player ratigns for the season and the loyalty discounts, I reckon Perth are on 69 points with Jawai:

Beal 10
Knight 8
Martin 8
Jervis 8
Redhage 6
Wagstaff 6
Hire 4
Prather 10
Jawai 9

Loyalty discounts apply to Knight (-2), Martin (-2), Redhage (-4), Wagstaff (-2) and Hire (-2).

They may actually have a lower points total. I've assumed the multi-year contract ratings apply to Redhage (current rating is 8 but his multi-year contract rates him a 10) and Martin (current rating is 8 but his multi-year contract rates him a 10).

If Wildcats argue the multi-year ratings shoudl not be applied for those 2 players and they won, they'd be on 65 points.

This is all based on the ratings published a couple of months ago. As best I can tell, that list has been taken off the new NBL site.

The last line of the article is interesting.

"The 36ers, meanwhile, have finalised their roster, former Melbourne United forward Lucas Walker arriving this week."

Have they confirmed a second import yet? I haven't seen one confirmed yet.

Yea saw that too.

Didnt someone mention Ebi Ere or someone who could have been him was at the trial v norwood watching, maybe he has arrived in Adelaide but not been announced for some reason.

Any reason why the 2nd import hasnt been confirmed/announced, even Boty hasnt dropped it on his blog like he does for many other teams a few weeks before its announced.

"208cm Cairns-born colossus" Boti is a retard, Jawai was born in Sydney and moved to Cairns as a youth to attend high school.

Boti explaining the points changes that Perth made:

Damo was released, then re-signed for a lower rating, couple of others NBL didn't name, also rated lower for loyalty. #loopholes

What reason is that? I thought they got rid of them last time because they made them transferable.

Still doesn't explain things though Isaac. Did the league decide to give three points discount to some Perth players now?

Haven't seen Ebi confirmed anywhere as a signing. Last I saw they were still looking at a couple of options.

If you drop a line that matter of factly to end an article surely you mention who they finished off their roster with.

Unless he still can't confirm who it is.

Redhage and Martin were both rated lower than when they originally signed their contract. For example, Martin was a 10 when he signed and an 8 this year. The player keeps it rating that it had when they signed that contract for the duration of the contract. By releasing Martin and re signing him as an 8 it frees up 2 points. The same would of been done for Redhage I imagine.

Personally I think the cap should and will go after this season. By the time you work these loop holes, loyalty discounts and asking for players to be re rated it just l loses its purpose.

This is the league that everyone wanted...

It's a clever move but I don't think they have broken any "rules". There nothing to stop a team tearing up a contract and resigning them. Pretty sure other teams would have done something similar with the salary cap if they needed to squeeze some one under.

The players are rated as they would of been if they signed this year. But yeah it shows how pointless the points cap is.

How about we just get rid of the points cap. The bigger question is how will the wildcats line up now will Knight play the 4? then where does that leave Redhage and Wagstaff

"208cm Cairns-born colossus" Boti is a retard, Jawai was born in Sydney and moved to Cairns as a youth to attend high school.

He grew up in Bamaga and only moved to Cairns to play state league basketball in the early 2000s when he was in his teens. Initially scouted as an Aussie Rules prospect.

Redhage, Martin and Hire were all rated lower for the 15/16 season then they were we hen they signed their contracts.
Martin was 10 and is now 8 (-2 loyalty)
Redhage was 10 and now 8 (-4 loyalty)
Hire was 7 and now 6 (-2 loyalty)

If all 3 of those players were released and resigned this year it would free up 5 extra points, if Jawai was rated 9 then they would have 7 points left ( they had 11 originally when Greenwood split)

Lol at Redhage being at 4 points !!!!

It's going to be interesting to see how DJ, Petrie and Walker deal with Knight, Jawai and Jervis.
That's an awful lot of height and size.

I think Boti has either worded the article badly or plain got it wrong when referring to the loyalty bonuses. The loyalty bonus has no bearing if a player is in an existing contract or not . It's automatically applied regardless. The advantage comes from them beibg rated lowere this season due to last seasons performance.

There should be plenty of quality guards they can get with 7 points available

They were looking at Jarrod Kenny. Not sure what his rating is

I don't think that any tearing up on contracts is required.

The loyalty discounts kick in even mid contract.

Pathetic reporting by Boti(love the guy) but puts he's mates, Joey and others before actually reporting facts. Prime example Joey tells Boti in the recent article that his team is complete, but did Boti report who the last import was for Adelaide even though we all new for weeks now that it's Ere. Boti knew longer than all of us but when his mate asked him not to reports it, that's just pathetic journalism!

"A player can be released and then sign a new contract. It's not cheating it's available to all clubs and most clubs do it and have done it."

This loophole was closed last decade after Melbourne used it, but sadly it seems to have been opened up again. Time to get rid of the points system if this is how it's going to operate, it's just a sham now.

The real question is will Redhage, Wagstaff and Hire induce Jawai to become a flopper and whiner or will he generate some spine into their backs ?

This loophole was closed last decade after Melbourne used it, but sadly it seems to have been opened up again. Time to get rid of the points system if this is how it's going to operate, it's just a sham now.

Gutted Adelaide couldn't land him, but it makes me feel better that they attempted to. Would rather them try and fail then be sitting on their hands. Win or lose I'm a 36ers fan just like to be able to get behind the players

According to Jawai he hasn't signed anywhere

Hopefully Boti is wrong then and he comes to SA.

A "Boti knew longer than all of us but when his mate asked him not to reports it, that's just pathetic journalism!"

How is that bad journalism? Why would Wright tell Boti anything in the future if Boti went and wrote that the Sixers are signing Ere when Wright and the Sixers asked him not too? When the Sixers are ready AND it is official, then he will report on it.

The kiwi commentators in the nz game referred to Jawai as a Torres strait islander, but Aussie commentators refer to him as 'indigenous'. Interesting.

By all means tear up a contract. That player is then a free agent and should be available to every club in the NBL. I bet that didn't happen. That's cheating in my book.

The kiwi commentators in the nz game referred to Jawai as a Torres strait islander, but Aussie commentators refer to him as 'indigenous'. Interesting.

Indigenous Australians are members of groups that existed in Australia and surrounding islands prior to European colonisation. The phrase is therefore somewhat broad in scope, including such ethnically diverse groups as Tiwi people, Noongar people, and Torres Strait Islanders

All this aside , how good is it that Jawai is back in the NBL. Just about every team is loaded this year.

He hasn't signed anywhere apparently. Still looking at options and ADL in the mix

Isaac, I don't care who the 36ers sign or who have signed, I believe Boti has double standards when it comes to his reporting/journalism and Blogging and you can't deny he doesn't, it's fine for him to speculate on every other club but not his beloved 36ers, sources or no sources. Other than that, like I mentioned earlier I think Boti is great and the guys fantastic for basketball.

A, of course his relationship with his hometown club is going to be different. Different access (a lot more face to face encounters, spectating in person, etc), different history, and the core audience for his employer.

And why shouldn't he have bias as an Adelaide-based reporter primarily covering Adelaide basketball? His longevity in the industry suggests he's doing something right. I imagine I'm not the only person who visits Adelaide Now solely for his basketball news, or used to track down the Thursday paper back in the day for his bigger column, etc. I don't think a robotic voice would have become synonymous with Adelaide basketball.

And are there sports reporters without bias? Covering AFL in Adelaide - I doubt it. Further afield, Woj is the only one who springs to mind from my limited reading.

Someone like Bill Simmons is open about, and more entertaining as a result of, his biases. How many of his stories include shared rants with his dad about the Celtics or whoever they go on about.

Jawai has officially signed the dotted line. The contract is signed - it is done.

Adelaide's second import will be announced September 1.

Well said Isaac, I never looked at it this way but Boti is my juicy bit of gossip for the day lol.

The true test of the points system is whether or not Brisbane and hopefully Tasmania go at recruiting talent next season and how they compete with existing teams and their loyalty discounts... If that makes any sense

I can't wait to see Jawai in a Wildcats Jersey and Jervis an 8?

I love Tommy's game when he is agressive but he will rely on injuries to get to play 1/4 of a game this upcoming season... He's good but he isn't an 8 and it's good to see that he hasn't been lost to the league through his high rating such as others have in the past

Great to see Jawai back in the NBL, but I don't know if it's the best fit... If Prather isn't a shooter, is anyone not going to play zone against Perth?

Proud. "such as others have in the past"

Who?

Why Sep 1st?

Tom

I have no inside line on it whatsoever, but it would not be a long bow to draw to suggest that he is still under contract with Puerto Rican team until 31 August 2015 and hasn't got (or can't get) a FIBA clearance until the contract expires.

If that is the case, no team can sign or use him until that occurs.

That is a wild hypothetical from long distance, but it explains the public (and private) attitude not to confirm anything until 1 September.

There could be another reason, but seriously, what does it matter? It should be enough that there is a reason, and there have been more than enough informal insider leaks on this site (which is the normal way of disseminating information your are not yet allowed to disseminate!)

Great to have Nate back, it's fantastic to see quality players coming back here to better their games. They know our teams have a level of care to make them better they will rarely get in Europe.

I am fascinated to see how Perth make this roster work, and who they get in as the back-up PG. I think they're going to need Knight, Wagstaff and Redhage shooting the ball well this season.

Can't wait to see Nate trying to defend DJ and/or DJ trying to defend Nate.

Nate's return will certainly create interesting miss matches at both ends of the court when he encounters some of the more mobile 5's in the NBL.

This year though every team bar Adelaide and to a lesser extent Cairns (where Burston and Trigger share the minutes)now have a more traditional close to the basket big man as their main option.

"This year though every team bar Adelaide and to a lesser extent Cairns (where Burston and Trigger share the minutes)now have a more traditional close to the basket big man as their main option."

Melbourne will be running Ibekwe and Kickert, who are both "non-traditional" centres, but you're right, there's a real mix of styles this season from first option to third:

Knight/Jawai/Jervis
Johnson/Hodgson/Petrie
Ibekwe/Kickert/Patton
Jackson/Pledger/Wesley
Ogilvy/Davidson/Forman
Khazzouh/Brandt/Garlepp
Schenscher/Kay/Conklin
Burston/Tragardh/Loughton

I'm pretty sure there has never been this much talent at C in the NBL before.

Redhage and Knight would be my main injury concerns on that team, especially Knight with his concussion based stuff, you can't take that stuff lightly. Look forward to seeing Jawai play, will actually watch Cats games now, if they are even available too us on tv or net.

Such an odd week in WA, bounced back a little too quickly imo wonder if there was more behind the scenes stuff here, and it didn't play out the way the club would have you think.

I think Jawai would have been worth it had the Greenwood situation not occurred.
Now though, I'm not so sure. Ploughing heavy points and dollars into the paint seems foolish now that the backcourt is so weak. To me it is a luxury we can no longer afford. (Happy to be proven wrong of course)
Hope the team has been working hard on their jump shots!

DD. After Greenwood left the problem was that even if Perth wanted to plough the money and/or points that they have used on Nate into the backcourt there was nobody available to spend that resource on.

I love it!

Wollongong assemble a superstar team, Sydney have possibly the best side ever assembled in the NBL, and the Melbourne United owner just bought the league, and the Perth Wildcat are cheats because they read the rulebook?

If you're angry about the loyalty points system, perhaps your club should have been loyal to its players too?

Even with Jawaii the cats will struggle for the top 4. The last spot is going to be crucial, they need a combo guard who can both play the point and prove a threat outside when Beal subs out. I cant think of any Australians left that fit that mould.

Prather is the key now. If he can play some minutes as a combo he can help cover the backcourt deficiencies.

My guess is that if the Cats were in this position prior to signing their second import they would have selected a player with a different skill set to that which Prather appears to have.

Knight played a lot at the 4 with the Spirit because they had Khazzouh at the 5 from memory did he not. They sort of rotated through the 4/5 with Gruber.

DD played the 3 last season so I see no reason why Wagstaff who probably handles the ball as well as DD and certainly shoots it better should not be able to play big minutes there.

Why do people always accuse Perth of cheating for following the rules?
To be honest, its a rather stupid rule that says Player X is an 8, but because he signed last year he has to be a 10.
Renegotiating a contract is a no-brainer. The downside is that a player may not WANT to renegotiate, or may ask for more money, giving the club other problems.

So the Cats would have had 11 points, now they have upto 15.
Assuming that sign Nate (and they have NOT confirmed it yet) that would still leave them 6 points.
Nate doesn't solve the problem of "High" leaving, but I don't think they are any worse off. They're still scraping the barrels looking for a guard. If there as a 9 point guard out there, they would have snaffled him already.

As mentioned Prather remains the key, but its also a lot easier to replace an import.

Perth for the spoon

Dont be silly.

The CLB is looking a far better option already. No points cap, no salary cap and no import limits.

I agree that this cut and re-sign business is nonsense but I don't see how that translates to a victory for CLB?

It's got nothing to do with "cutting," its a contract issue. Nor is it nonsense.
It would be nonsense if you COULDN'T
The NBL rates your players at "X" but hey you can't actually have those ratings because they signed more than a one year contract?
So every other team can spend 70 points on their squad, but you can only spend 66.

The existing contract rule, as it applies to INCREASES, is there to limit the immediate penalty for improvement. I get that imposing the reciprocal might be seen as balanced, but penalising clubs and players for longer contracts would be silly.
It's also arbitrary. If your contract expiry coincides then no problem, but if not its tough luck???

The points system is supposed to impose "equality" not arbitrarially penalise teams just because some people don't like them.

At the moment Perth have 8 players collectively rated at 55 points, yet people think allowing them to use those other 15 points somehow makes the system a joke?

Sign a ten point player and sit them on the bench for a season

They are then rated 5 at seasons end as they have little to no stats

Sack and re-sign player to long term deal at 5 points

It has happened in the past and shouldn't be allowed

Yolo. Enlighten us on who the 10 pt player/s are who were deliberately sat on the bench in the past to reduce their points for the following season.

Dazz, the NONSENSE is that the rules say that your rating is yours for the duration of the CONTRACT, but they then allow players to be cut and re-signed for the LOWER rating. Why bother having a RULE in the first place which also has a loophole attached that says you can manipulate it, providing you waste time pretending to cut someone? Just say that your rating each season is what counts, not this "rating for the duration of the contract" rule as it stands.

I think he was deliberately pointing out how long this has been in the making. His comment about it happening so quickly was squarely tongue in cheek.

Agree Chalmers, it should be one way or the other, that is rating changes each year regardless of contract status, or you can't cut and re-sign.

It's sad all the changes made to ensure the points system worked have now been undone with owners back in charge. The arms race is well and truly underway again, let's just hope the league can generate the commercial deals to survive it.

Or making it clear you get the benefit of signing a person at the lower rating for the duration of their contract, but are not held to higher ratings that subsequently drop.

That means players who go to Europe, end up a 9, don't get stuck at that rating for the duration of their contracts even if they are, in reality, only a 7.

I am coming around to the view that the whole points system is a nonsense. I do believe it served a purpose once upon a time, but has been tinkered with and manipulated so many times that it is merely a sham. You can still only put 5 players on court at once, that is pretty much all that should matter.

Yeah I think the intent of the rule was to avoid clubs being caught out by having players bumped up and suddenly being unable to field the same team this season as they did last season, but the execution of that has been a fail.
I agree with XY, that decreases should just take effect automatically while increases should come into effect at re-signing time.

That's how it used to work. They changed it two years ago. Given that's also how it should work, I find it difficult to get too upset about teams using this loophole.

I agree XY, and that's effectively how the Cats have used it.

I note that there is STIL nothing official on the subject of this thread.

Hahahahhahahahaha what?

Is it opposite day or something ?

Townsville C***s

Wildcats officially announce Jawai signing.