Adelaide aren't going to be bottom dwellers is another thing the Blitz showed me. They may have lost a lot, but they looked like they already have some real cohesion going on. Will be deadly when the imports are good to go.

Adelaide were fun to watch in their first 2 games. Certainly will be competitive.
It's really hard to pick how teams will go from the Blitz Tournament. I got the idea a lot of teams had their poker face on and not wanting to show a lot.

I agree with the young guns comment.
Sobey, Hodgson, Hill, Majok, Kay, Wynyard.

But McDonald isn't a young gun, he's 30 years old.

Haha my bad. Thought he was a rookie

Meh, bite me :P

Lets not forget the great free coverage the NBL organised online for the tournament! It was just light years better than what we've had online up until now and I think its another great sign that we might finally have the right people running the NBL!

Also, of the four games or so that I saw, there is a lot to like about the talent in the league this year. I actually think my Sixers have improved from last season, with a better balanced roster and yet I'm not sure they will make the top 4, because Melbourne and the Hawks have improved so much! The Kings have a lot more talent too, although thus far they don't appear to be playing well as a team.

United are going to be scary if they click this year. There's something rather terrorfying about a team loaded with Goulding and Blanchfield. Those 2 players alone have the potential to destroy opponents. Mind you they were loaded last year and failed.

There's no stand out team. There are lots of teams who look really talented. This is the strongest NBL I've ever seen.

Each team has some question marks and some issues that could become weaknesses.

Should have just named the thread Blitz thoughts.
This is a message board so the way people are going to contribute to it goes without saying I would have thought.

NBL Dream Team has been made so much harder after this Blitz and goes to show that the talent in this league could easily extend by several more teams.

Look at Adelaide, they choose against Crawford that could still be serviceable for 10 minutes a game, Teys should be getting 20 minutes a game, Sobey looks a star and if he got 20 a game then that shouldn't raise many eyebrows, Hodgeson looks good for 15 and Waxy was a Boomer not that long ago and that's their BENCH!

I could add more but I wanted to raise a point on Jett, he always has looked out of shape ie in his YouTube footage and I thought he was brought in to keep Conklin happy and hopefully that's doing the job... But if Townsville had Thornton then I think they would be perceived as a far better side as he would give them the shooter they sorely need and he would get his numbers each night

Illawarra still have Lisch to come into the team.
Penney didn't really play and Lisch didn't at all and they still looked dangerous.
Melbourne have the most weapons. And it looks like they fit together better this year.
I didn't see Cairns play, but on paper, with the continuity they have, they are a scary list. Worthington, Tragardh and Craig coming off the bench? Come on now!
They are my top 3. And I can't pick the order.
Perth will always be fighting for a playoff spot. They didn't have Martin, who glues everything together. So hard to judge them off the Blitz. They will improve throughout the season, I feel. Jawai is someone who could be game changing.
The next group are Sydney, Adelaide and NZ. Sydney will destroy teams at times. Childress and Khazzouh alone will beat teams.
It's hard to tell what you'll get from NZ. Webster gone leaves a hole. Pledger injured, so not sure what to expect, Abercrombie too. Charles doesn't look promising.
Adelaide are a bit not quite there. Ere didn't play the Blitz. McNeail can definitely shoot, hopefully he can do other things too. Gibbo was thoroughly disappointing, but we know what he can do, was kind of hoping his Boomer time would have him back firing. The 3 youngsters are the talking point. Creek is ready to be a full time starter and take that step that he's been promising for a couple years, but injury hasn't allowed. Hodgson was a pleasant surprise, Sobey has some serious game. DJ is back in his 'I'm the man on offence' role. Petrie is Petrie. Walker is pretty much a taller, older Creek. Teys will fall behind Sobey by season end, but Joey loves him.
Then you have Townsville. They just don't have nearly the depth of talent of the other clubs and should struggle. It feels different to other years, where they do well in spite of their list, their list just really isn't any good this year.

It is going to be hard to find any legal way of defending any big more mobile than a tree in the post without fouling.

There is going to be lots of living and dying by the three this year (possibly more living than dying).

The bemoaning of years' past that Australia does not produce any good shooters any more may now die down.

Townsville and for mine Sydney look out of the race before it has begun, Adelaide needs to show a bit more interest than it did after mid way through its second game not to join them.

Joey Wright meant it when he said that he wasn't concerned about winning or losing at the Blitz.

Cairns keep winning, and even after last year I still can't quite work out why. Like many of its players, good at everything without being exceptional at anything.

Every team will look different during the real season when their starting 5s start playing 25-30 minutes instead of 10-15 minutes.

I am ambivalent about the change in emphasis so long as the umpires are consistent about it.

That said, there were examples on the weekend of what I would call legal post defence with the offensive player initiating contact where fouls were called where I don't know what the defender could have done differently.

I raised it as a post Blitz thought because I think it will be intriguing to see how it develops in the real season.

(Warning: Long post!)

Some people are getting a little bit carried away. I'm a United member, and the fact that they won the Blitz means very little.

A couple of general points:

- There are a lot of teams who look good on paper. There is more talent in this season’s NBL than I’ve ever seen.
- It will ultimately come down to who has better team balance, who gels and finds some chemistry, and who has a good run with injuries.

A few points on each team:

-The Taipans, like the Cats, have exceptional depth in their front court- except they’ve probably got better balance in their lineup overall than Perth. They are well coached, disciplined as always and will be difficult to score against. However, the number one reason they made the Grand Final last season was a bloke named Scottie. Is Markel Starks the new Scottie? His stats look solid. I only saw a few minutes of him and I wasn’t impressed. Although it’s clear that he’s streaky, and I saw a few minutes when he was very cold instead of hot. Time will tell.

When you get into the playoffs you need a genuine go to guy who can put the team on his back and win them the game. In the Grand Final, Wilbekin went cold and Cedric Jackson was that man for the Breakers. Who will the man be for the Taipans? Beal has done this in the past for Perth. Childress, Warrick, Goulding all look to have the ability. Cairns looks to me a lot like the Freo Dockers in the AFL. Well coached, disciplined, work to a plan and generally successful. But winning a championship *usually* requires genuine top end elite class in any sport. Having a very strong *team* is essential, but only gets you so far.

-United will have a starting 5 with all five guys legitimately being able to put up 25 points on any given night. Incredible fire power. Incredible outside shooting with 4 of the 5 starters being capable of lighting it up and hitting 6 or 7 3’s in a match. But- who will take a back seat? Blanchfield, perhaps? Will they be willing to sacrifice their individual games for the sake of the team? Will they gel as a team and find a balance where they’re willing to make the extra pass because let’s fact it, there’s a few guys there who like putting up shots? The signs from the Blitz here are good, but the question remains about how they’ll go under the serious pressure of the regular season.

Also, Majok impressed with 21 boards yesterday. But is he enough of a rim protector? Almost every team has an impressive big who can pound it down low and kill you near the hoop. Conklin, Jawai, Johnson, Khazzough, Childress, Ogilvy. Traghardh, Do Majok, Patton, Kickert and Warrick have the ability to stop these guys? In the Blitz, coaches are trying different things but in the regular season one thing will be on their minds: Winning. The team lacks legit size and muscle- Majok is 6’9 and skinny- Kickert was exposed regularly last season and the league’s bigs are much better this season. Do they have the defensive skills to counter the beasts near the hoop?

Perth’s potential issues with outside shooting have already been discussed plenty. I expect teams will play zone against them all season.

Illawarra- can they defend? Played a nice press against United for a few minutes. But are they physical enough, and good enough defensively to survive in a half court grind?

Sydney- look to me to have one of the most well balanced rosters in the comp. Saw a couple of minutes of Jeromie Hill and he looks solid. Hard to read into the Blitz because they were missing the best player in the competition. Yes, it’s only pre season but getting embarrassed by 36 points - including 26 point first half deficit- is never a good sign. Outside shooting could be an issue perhaps. The general question on Sydney is just the standard one- will they gel?

NZ- Impressive in the Blitz given how undermanned they were. But at the end of the day the equation for me is simple: Get Webster back and they’re still favourite or close to it. Lose Webster and keep Bartlett and I think they’ll miss the playoffs- that’s how good the league appears this season.

Adelaide- Didn’t see much of them. Hodgson is reportedly ready to play some minutes. Johnson’s never been the best defender, and like United, contending with the beasts on the inside could be an issue. If Hodgson can play 10 or 15 solid minutes a game to give DJ a spell, and if imports McNeill and Ebi can push the ball well enough like Ervin and Wilson of years gone by then this team can follow the fast paced, high scoring Wright trademark and is a chance at top 4. But I still rate them very much an outsider if you’re talking about the championship.

Skinny might've been an exaggeration, but he certainly isn't big. He looks very small standing next to the true bigs of the NBL in Ogilvy, Jawai, Burston, Pledger.

I saw a little bit of Majok and I did like what I saw, but the jury is still out on this question for me- how well he will defend the rim against those types of guys. Plus the smaller or more mobile ones (who are mostly still bigger than him) eg Johnson, Khazzough, Childress, Conklin.

Yeah but Ogilvy is about 7 foot isn't he? While Majok would be lucky to be 6 foot 9...

I'm not overly concerned about the Kings re: the Blitz results, but I would have liked to have seen Markovic and Carter do better. I felt good about our 3-headed PG rotation with Markovic/Cadee/Carter, but only Cadee has performed, with Markovic and Carter both looking pretty woeful.

If the refereeing is consistent with what we'll see in the season, it might be worthless having a legit 5 man like Khazzouh in this league if they are going to pick up ticky-tack fouls every time the opposing team goes inside the paint. Better off having an undersized energy guy.

From what little I saw of Warrick, he could be the most dangerous player in the comp if he can stay healthy and out of foul trouble.

I hope he keeps that form going. I watched 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there at The Blitz so I never saw a full game but I was impressed when I saw Majok posting up hard and scoring around the hoop- with so many jump shooters on this team it'll be fantastic if he can add some balance by being an inside target (and Warrick too)

Rim protection and interior D generally was a weakness last season. So since Majok is a new guy it will seriously help the team if he can bring that.

And rebounding too. Kickert is not a good rebounder for a 6 foot 10 guy. So Majok's 21 boards is a reason to be optimistic about him

I wasn't referring to Majok at all... talking about the state of bigs in the NBL in general.

Just a personal prediction for the ladder, don't take it too seriously.

1. Melbourne 20-8
2. New Zealand 17-11
3. Sydney 16-12
4. Adelaide 15-13 (%)
5. Perth 15-13
6. Illawarra 14-14
7. Cairns 13-15
8. Townsville 10-18

MVP: Josh Childress
Leading Scorer: Chris Goulding
Defensive POTY: Ogilvy
Rookie of the Year: Majok Majok

Top scorers from the Blitz:

22.0 J Cadee
20.7 S Holt
20.0 T Coenraad
18.3 E Bartlett
17.5 K McNeail
16.7 C Goulding
16.7 M Thornton

Title is as wide open as I can remember it ever being.

There's 8 teams. I consider one of them to be no chance, another to be a veeery long shot, and 6 of them a legitimate chance.

And those 6 are hard to separate. I can't see a clear favourite, or two clear favourites.

Although if I had to pick a top 4 I'd go Melbourne, Sydney, Cairns and Illawarra in that order.

The potential problems with Perth's team seem a little more serious than the others, and I'm just making a gamble that Webster is still over in the US. Season starts next week, even if he misses the first month it could have a serious impact on NZ's season.

Actually switch Illawarra and Cairns

Melb, Sydney, Illawarra then Cairns.

Starks stat lines from the Blitz (and the bits I saw of him) do not impress me, when you consider he played against Perth, NZ and Townsville- 3 teams whose back courts were seriously undermanned at the Blitz.

If Starks is for real (Like Holt clearly is for Melbourne, for example) then I would've expected him to take those teams to school.

But of course, we all thought Dennis was going to be a superstar due to his pre season work 2 years ago. It wasn't to be when he played a year later.

So we cant't read *too* much into these things.

NZ look a lot different at both ends of the floor with Alex Pledger at Starting Centre and Tom Abercrombie at SF.

Cedric Jackson is still one of the very best players to play in the NBL.

Charles Jackson wasn't bought in to be a star import, he got the job because Vickerman saw him as a bigger Mika Vukona and much like Mika he picked up some quick fouls.

Shane McDonald definitely looked like he belongs in the NBL. He directed traffic, hit some threes and I loved that lefty floater, lets hope that wasn't a Ben Allen pre-season performance.

Tai Wesley was looking like he put in some work in the offseason and turned up looking ready to play. I think he has good shot of 6MOTY, especially with Ebekwe gone.

Presumably a Brownlow medal style voting system - not many players played 3 full games across the weekend for any club.

Yes, Boti implied in his latest article that the refs voted post-game.

Yes, Boti implied in his latest article that the refs voted post-game.

Each team played three games over the five-day event in Townsville, with the referees nominating a 3-2-1 vote to the most valuable player after each game.

As I suspected. Refs have NFI about the game. Starks was shite.