I think the main difference is that the NBL guys are in the NBL because they can't crack the NBA or big dollars in Europe. The Euro players mentioned above have been NBA ready for a while but have stayed in Europe by choice.

The NBL is a strong league because the talent is so even and I'm sure teams could beat the middle to lower European teams. European league are top heavy. The NBL can't match the top teams or the or the talent level of the top stars.

Sorry, I need to pull you up on the first paragraph: the top Euroleague players are payed very well, historically more or on par with what they would likely earn in the NBA. Bogdan Bojanovic's first deal ($36mil/3yrs) is unusually generous, although potentially warranted given his ability, potential at 24yo, and Sacramento's situation regarding cap space and culture shift.

I wouldn't say the NBA transition is seamless either for most. Many of these guys dominate during the Olympics/World Cup, but struggle to earn more than bench warmer/rotation minutes - evidently not due to a lack of ability. I can't think of too many recent undrafted European success stories off the top of my head.

@Roofman, it is an interesting topic, certainly could take a few hours of discussion and spread to many areas. Briefly however, I think the money is a big factor and comparing the NBL with something as big as the Euro-League isn't quite fair to how good our players are that also play in their league.

Economics are a huge factor, the cash injection recently has certainly boosted the NBL's perception and recognition among basketball circles world wide. The difference now may be a willingness to play more of our youth, those who may not be going the college route etc...

That said, the transition into an NBA style of game is only for the top 0.01% or whatever the figures are, so when it comes to our best, well it has been proven that we can produce the talent but our low population base and limited dollars, lower than top tier acceptance in the media and overall interest in the sport a team the top level here will always go against us.

Yes, we are batting above over designated average, but I also things are improving and our best kids will be right up there with the best in the world, we just need to probably continue to support them as best we can at all levels.

On media and public recognition of basketball as a sport, I'm not sure that I agree at that level on any correlation between interest and success. There are a few countries where basketball is the top sport in terms of media coverage and recognition- the Philippines, China, I hear Puerto Rico, Israel, Lebanon and the three Baltic states (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia). In countries like Serbia, Croatia, the US etc it is an important sport, but not the most important. But I think if you look at a world level overall, in most countries the media and public interest in basketball is about the same as here. For instance, in Canada you have Ice Hockey (daylight), American and Canadian football, association football, then maybe basketball, in Japan the big three are baseball, association football, sumo, then there is a group of sports behind with rugby, basketball etc. Going further, in many countries basketball barely rates a mention (UK, Scandanavian countries). Long story short, media and public interest in basketball has relatively little to do with achievement.

Is the NBL only having 8 teams also retract internationally as it gives the impression that we have a small talent pool, even having 10 teams would make a great difference in my eyes.