Link: http://www.nbl.com.au/featured-news/31131/

Everything old is new again.

Great news for the Kings. Hopefully the new ownership will bring in a great coach for them. Sorry but didn't think Joe Connolly did much- do realise he had to deal with injuries.
I do hope they retain Josh Childress, especially if the league goes to 3 imports. The guy has got personality to get the casual fan drawn in. Maybe also someone like an Ennis or Goulding. Someone else with a passionate personality. They should have a look at Rotnei Clarke- assuming Lisch stays at the Hawks. Was the dumbest move not getting him last season. Retaining Garlepp and Kazzouh is a must for them. Hopefully they can keep a core, including Cadee and just add a couple of smart choices to become more competitive (not Damo Martin though- hands off).

Looking forward to hearing what Sydneysiders think of this development.
It seemed to me like staying at the existing venue was a certain path towards doom. Allphones is at the opposite end of that spectrum and puts them in the Wildcats' position of having to get a lot of people along to break even, so having AEG involved seems to make a lot of sense.
It still has the intrinsic issue of where it is located though, which is a tough one to overcome.

Oh, I missed this part before

"AEG Ogden also announced that experienced NBL franchise administrator, Mr Jeff Van Groningen, will be Managing Director of the new Sydney Kings."

I guess that's one of the things D4444 was alluding to.

Holy crap that's brilliant news!!

How will they do at Allphones Arena when they average 3k attendance?

But the difference is they were packing the 4K venue in a city that doesn't have so many options in comparison to Sydney.

But I would love to be proven wrong and it turn into a massive success. Would be huge for the NBL, but it needs to be an exciting, winning team. Sydneysiders don't come until you win.

yeah but Perth Arena is in the city, Allphones Arena is in western sydney where nobody wants to go.

This ICC Sydney is right in the city, wonder how big it is capacity wise, and if so, potential for a long term future there?

Oracle arena is in Oakland... It still sells out. Get a good team in win some games and the fans will follow!

Great to see this happen. Kestelman's model is to spend money to make money, the whole league is either going to succeed or fail under that model and this season was a reasonable start, so playing games between Allphones and ICC fits with that, and given the owners manage both those venues it's the best time to give it a shot in Sydney.

Spot on Paul the way things were going with the Kings wasn't good it was looking like they were trying to do everything possible to fk it up for the new NBL and trying to keep a big name like Childress in the league along with his Warrick/Harrington connections.

The Kings will be getting away from that tin shed the Razorbacks used to play at and in to a proper professional stadium with room for growth and should make returning to the Kings more enticing for Childress too. Hopefully.

Can't complain about a big money organisation that part owns the Lakers buying into an NBL team and keep in mind JVG was responsible for getting the NBL back on FTA TV last time round.

I'm impressed with what LK has been doing since taking over the NBL.

Kings just need to use their marquee spot for Steph Curry and I bet the new stadium will be full every game just like Oracle is.

I gather at least some owners have retained a part share of the business since the announcement clearly states that AEG Odgen is the majority owner. I just hope they are not a silent majority.

I understand there is next-to no promotion of the Kings in Sydney. Seeing as the new owners have some money behind them, hopefully that will change.

A few good imports and some wins, some publicity, and maybe in time they can replicate what Melbourne and Perth have done.

It wont be immediate, though. But if Sydney used to fill big stadiums, and they have youth programs that are bursting at the seams, then the foundation is there. Perhaps its just been used poorly for the past decade?

I'd love nothing more than for this to work out for them. But it will start with a few hideous showings on TV with near-empty stadium.

What about Kochy?

As a Kings fan this is great news! The Kings have easily been the most disfuctional franchise since the re-entered the league. So I don't see them getting any worse, especially considering these new owners seem to have money.

I have to say, after nearly 12hrs of mulling this over, I still think it's a fantastic result... Clearing out the mess of the ownership and also hopefully the Hudsons as well and then that will be a nice clean slate to work with... Pretty sure I read an ABC article that said that AEG Ogden had taken a 100% controlling interest, as I was incredibly shocked that the owners, especially those that were happy to run the team into the ground if they were able to do whatever they wanted... They're saying all the right things moving forward so I guess we shall see in the coming fortnight just how serious they are... It is a good feeling having a single owner with the focus and cash behind them to make the Kings great again...

I actually had the crazy thought after reading something along the lines of them looking to spend up on players and just as importantly, coaches, that just maybe, the Great One could return? Or at the very least, they could afford and have made the right moves to prove themselves to the next qualified option?

A couple of concerns though... One is of course the venue size... As the anon stated above, even with 10,000 in it, it still looks empty and from memory last time we were out there, really struggles for an atmosphere as well, which is something that the players commented on being much improved at the tin shed, for all its other faults...

As for location and being out at Homebush, plenty of other sports teams draw crowds out there and Allphones with so much better parking and facilities is a much more appealing prospect...

Is the ICC Sydney venue going to be the theatre? I thought that was going to be a clamshell design that is COMPLETELY wrong for basketball?

The other concern is JvG... Hasn't he been around some shenanigans in the past? (to put it nicely) People in Kings fans groups have been spouting about how good a choice he is, is that all behind him now?

Look what Melbourne United did, if Sydney get their marketing and promotion strategy right, draft and put together a decent team and get a good coach they can draw a crowd no doubt.

They just need more luck than last season, especially with injuries and maybe a few home games early might help them get some wins on the board to start the 2016-17 season...

If I was asking for their dream draw next season start it may look like this.

Home game v Illawarra promoted as a huge rivalry game.
Home game v Brisbane promoted as a State of Origin type of game, welcome the new team and all that.
Home game v Melbourne United and bring the hype.

May cop an away game, but then try and get another one at home, then another rivalry game at Illawarra.

Just to set up the season, maybe some tough games, but the NBL will be tough going as teams work themselves out in early games, however something like this as a starter could be what attracts Sydney people back to the hard wood...

Lots of contradictory reports regarding who is already gone & who might be staying. Fox Sports also quoted Tim Hudson as follows:

Sydney Kings head of basketball operations Tim Hudson is excited about the new majority ownership, and hopes it can revive the franchise.

"It's exciting. It’s very exciting," Hudson told foxsports.com.au.

“To have that kind of brand behind the Kings brand is a massive association.

“I’m excited about what this partnership means, and what this could do for the Sydney Kings. Now that a structure is in place, decisions can be made.”

I see that Telegraph story was simply a reprint of the Fox Sports article.

Harvey Lister has been linked to NBL quite frequently hasn't he?

Apparently him and JVG and visited the Lakers and Spurs recently to see how it's done.

Lister is stated to expecting Kings to make the finals next season, anything less being unacceptable and willing to finance it.

That's a great idea Bear... and could possibly happen, look what happened with United this season just gone... Their huge run of home games at the start combined with going all out with marketing and getting as many bums on seats and providing not just a great on court but off court effort as possible, really set them up...

Hopefully the combination of owning the arena and knowing that getting off to a good start and throwing money at it could help kick their season off to a great start (provided they have the coach and team behind them to actually put the wins on the board)

Part of the problem with injuries last season, apart from the freakish nature of them, was that there was no cover when the very few key players went down... If we had Lisch when Chill went down, the damage would have been lessened, no doubt, but we had Thornton... Hopefully they can fix that this season with a lot more top quality starters and better bench depth, so if something like that DOES happen again, they're better covered...

A huge thing was that they didn't start training until probably nearly every other team had started pre-season training... Sure, Cairns were one of the first and that didn't help them, but hopefully they're the exception to the rule...

$25-50 for parking? Jesus. That's ridiculous.

I think parking is $5/hour or $25 flat rate:
http://www.allphonesarena.com.au/venue_information/parking.aspx

$25-50 for parking? Jesus. That's ridiculous.

Not familiar with the area, is there no public transport?

When the Kings played their previously there was a deal where you could pre book for the entire season at a reduced rate. It wasn't too bad and they should look at doing that again. Also meant missing the lineup of people trying to pay on the way out

Not familiar with the area, is there no public transport?

Well at least this will bring some stability to the Kings and help them attract and retain talent.
IIRC correctly most of their players are out of contract, and a few of them might have been targets for recruitment, with better organised teams seeming a preferred destination.

Assume they will be going after Vickerman (and maybe even Gleeson) with both barrels.

So the take out from that SMH article is

Gone:

Head coach Joe Connelly
CEO Craig Meagher
Head of Basketball Operations Tim Hudson

Players under contract:

Julian Khazzouh
Jeromie Hill

Josh Childress has a 'special clause' to come back if he wants to.

There was a photo taken of Andrew Bynum in Sydney today. The pic is posted in the Sydney Kings Fans Facebook group.

They said they will start Allphones arena with a capacity of 7000 and build fro m there.

Vickerman confirmed as candidate for head coach

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/sport/a/31085275/new-owners-demand-nbl-finals-for-kings/

They said they will start Allphones arena with a capacity of 7000 and build from there.

Zodiac, Brandt is also under contract.

As much as Sydney really need a coach, is Vickerman the right coach? Don't get me wrong, he's a great coach, however I think we need a more vocal coach (Dennis or Beveridge would've been perfect).

Rex, Brandt has an option, apparently... Not sure if it's team or player...

I agree that Dennis or Bevo would have been much more ideal, but since they are both locked in for multiple seasons, the next best (current) option I think is Vickerman...

That is, unless the Basketball Gods shine down on us and they can afford and convince The Great One to return...

Would be happy with DV though...

Great news re: the new ownership group, obviously. A strong Sydney team is good for the league - as an added bonus, it's good for me too. ;)

As far as coach goes, at this point, I'll take experience over every single thing else. Vickerman is exactly the kind of guy we haven't gone with previously, so more than worth a roll of the dice if he's interested IMO, unless a better candidate appears. Before the change in ownership I'd say that was doubtful, but I guess we'll see now.

Good opportunity to start fresh with the roster, too. I hope Brandt is under contract but thought he wasn't (player option maybe)? Inking a strong Aussie starter would be a huge boon, and agree with the comments on going with experience over "flash" with the import spots - I would have loved Jamar Wilson last season, and I'm not even a huge fan of his. Just having a guy who can handle pressure and put points on the board consistently would have been huge.

I don't even think you necessarily avoid picking rookies over experience either, just base your personnel decisions on basketball reasons, and not entertainment reasons... at the end of the day, flash might put some bums in seats for the short term, but it's wins that will keep them there long term..

Wow, I didn't know that, let's hope it's a team option cos Brandt still has some huge potential.

I wasn't doubting Vickerman, just questioning whether he was right for us, although with that being said, I'd love to have coach our squad.

Wilson is an interesting option, one that I didn't even think of, personally I wouldn't mind having him, however I'm pretty sure he said that he's played his last season in the NBL, although I can't confirm that.

For Aussies I wouldn't mind a rookie (although it would be best to avoid it), however for imports, just because of our track record, I think we should stray away from them...

Jamar Wilson was apparently last offseason - he expressed interest in the Kings, but the Kings weren't interested, opting with the NBA draft pick. Same was apparently true with Lisch, but I haven't heard that from anywhere outside of Boti (the Wilson comment comes from one of the new ownership group).

Why wouldn't you want Vickerman? He's a proven winner.
You could argue that he benefited greatly from Lemanis' legacy and the Breakers systems, but at worst he will be able to bring what he has learned.
(At best, he's the guy that took a struggled, fractured team, brought them back from the brink, and to a 2nd GF.)

Besides, personally, in a situation like this, possibly looking at rebuilding, an experienced coach is what Sydney needs.
The new ownership and management is a HUGE step in the right direction, but if you want to retain key players, and attract new quality, a coach who's a known (winning) quantity is better.
Especially considering that Brissy will be trying to hoover up all the available local talent.

What would happen if members got public transport like the Wildcats have?

Andrew Bynum in the Kings team?

That would be great to see them go the twin towers with Khazzouh or Brandt on court with him.

Can't imagine Garlepp will get a new contract as Hill is still contracted

After what the new ownership has said re: the mistakes of the last couple of seasons both in the import and coaching situations (pedigree over production), I would be surprised if we see the likes of Bynum - one of the worst flameouts in NBA history - and some unknown American coach.

"even making statements like we must play finals is counter productive"

I agree. I cringe a little when I hear things like that.
Everyone wants to make the finals every season - that should go without saying. Half the teams won't though, that's the mathematical reality. That doesn't mean they're all failures as organisations.

Sydney finished the season with the wooden spoon and the perception as a bit of a basket case, so IMO there is plenty of scope for them to have a successful 2016/17 without necessarily making the playoffs.
They need to not go 6-22 again. I don't think any NBL fan wants to see any* team be that bad, because that's bad for the whole league.

Just for starters they need to put a roster together that doesn't scream "bargain basement" so that fans actually have some cause for optimism. Hopefully find an import with some entertainment value to go with it. They've got a lot of seats to fill now.
Their record in the 6 seasons since re-launching is 58-110 (0.345) and their best season is 12-16. Ugly stuff. Results-wise, just getting near .500 would be a good start.




* Possible exception: Perth Wildcats ;)

Changing coaches and ur roster every year doesn't help, i think perth and new zealand prove that, people come in and try to win straight away and it never happens. You gotta build it with keeping players & imports (beal & ced Jackson) and even trying to keep coaches, bringing a guy in for a year or replacing someone without giving them another chance doesn't help.

If you haven't coached before 'STFU' all the keyboard CEOs, Owners & Managers u guys fucking kill me

What would happen if members got public transport like the Wildcats have?

Can't imagine Garlepp will get a new contract as Hill is still contracted

I think Hill has more to offer than he showed last season as a stretch 4, but ideally it would be as a 7th or 8th man. Having Hill and Tommy - assuming you don't have Tommy starting, which to me is key to improving our woeful D - is a waste as they both fill a similar role, although Tommy is obviously miles better on the offensive end right now.

Kings should take this opportunity to massively overhaul the roster, especially in the backcourt. Cadee is great as first guard off the bench, but we need a steady, experienced import at PG, and someone a bit like Madgen at the 2 spot.... ;)

That has coached in the NBL in the last 3 years, or just has coached in the last three years?

Correct info would be appreciated... I know it's only been a week, but still! #Impatient

Wookie,
You're right that under-performers shouldn't be retained just so they can have continuity. Lack of continuity is mostly a symptom rather than a direct effect.

But its also about having realistic expectations, and about the way a team goes about building a squad. Looking for players who will continue to develop, rather than trying to build a championship winning team from scratch. Its about looking a few years down the track.
Look at someone like Cadee as a hypothetical example: Is he good enough to be the starting PG? Possibly not, but could he get there in a season or two, and go on from there? That's a judgement to be made by the coach(es) but its the question that needs to be asked.

Under the PPR system (which rumour has it may be scrapped) the Wildcats get 12 points discount for loyalty. That's better than a whole extra top-notch player. If the system isn't scrapped then other teams really need to start building those discounts to be competitive.

Daz,

I completely agree about building for the future and have been a big advocate for it... I think shooting for a championship straight away is a dangerous game and while it should be a focus in building a strong and competitive team, a bunch of one hit wonders that aren't going to work as a team or be together a few seasons, is the wrong way to go about it... I think the talk of that from the Kings new owners and JvG is just a commitment to doing the right things to get the team back on track and have quality players... We had a couple last season, but some really poor decisions as well... The depth wasn't there, they were just filling gaps and that didn't do anyone any good...

I've been a big Cadee fan and I think expectations of him have been a bit unrealistic, which is why I was happy to have Markovic come back this season gone and be able to work with him, although that didn't work out. Both him and Brandt are great local options that should be in it for the long term... That ticks both the long term and local boxes, which is important, especially when trying to bring the West back into the Kings family...

I think a large part of not being able to grow long term success is not having those 2-3 long term high quality local players... Madge was starting to get that way, but then got injured and then was clearly focused on getting his numbers up so he could go OS... With Jules back, hopefully we can fill that hole, but there needs to be more... We can't just rely on imports who may or may not return, and that's why I was glad when JvG was quoted as saying they were chasing high quality local talent as well, so fingers crossed...

First things first though, 10 days until FA officially is up for grabs... No teams yet have announced any resigning players, so fingers crossed that the Kings are in the hunt for what we need...

Be careful you might get the wish you ask for. The history of the Kings franchise could easily be a movie. In the eighties under Bob Turner and others the Kings averaged about 6000. Gordgian arrived with his robotic boring but effective system and despite winning championships, having recruited 5 Boomers the crowds disintegrated and atone game the numbers dropped to 1490.
In Bruce Bolden's day with the Kings they imported and released 9 Americans in just 1 season. so claiming that recent disfunction is a one off is making me smile.
The recently departed owners I understand gave their time and cash on the hope of getting a dividend back in the third year. So i'm not sure if they would have gone on losing money next season.
Mcleod would bring a grinding system, Vickerman enjoyed the fruits of Lemanis in Auckland, an American Coach would need a great deal of help in recruiting local labour.
Oh yes the new owners are keen to risk millions on having a super team. Will this mean ignoring the salary cap or have they not been told yet

I think you're using history a bit to suit your own needs... Crowd numbers on average in the last season were similar to what they were last season, I agree that they dropped from about 7500 around the time of the first championship, but the more championships they won, the less they got out there and rested on their laurels... They expected the people to come just because they were winning, but I never got the "boring" label... My wife came to the games in those days and she didn't have any interest in basketball but always enjoyed herself...

Pretty sure Brian didn't recruit 5 Boomers, but he certainly turned a couple of Div 2 players into Boomers... One of the best qualities of Goorj was that he got the best out of all his players, even those like Kingma!

9 imports in one season is mental, I don't think we're saying that the madness is limited to these owners, just that they've so royally screwed things up...

The recently departed owners I understand gave their time and cash on the hope of getting a dividend back in the third year. So i'm not sure if they would have gone on losing money next season.

Mcleod would bring a grinding system, Vickerman enjoyed the fruits of Lemanis in Auckland, an American Coach would need a great deal of help in recruiting local labour.

Oh yes the new owners are keen to risk millions on having a super team. Will this mean ignoring the salary cap or have they not been told yet