1. United to go close to undefeated and win the whole lot
2. Wildcats, home court will be huge for them
3. Hawks, improvers
4. Sydney, you never known what you'll get really

5. Adelaide, post Randell is uncertain
6. New Zealand, home court might win them a few but could be ugly on the road
7. Cairns, should go OK or could bomb out, who knows, wouldn't surprise me to see them in the top 4.
8. Brisbane, they don't deserve to finish last but can't see how they are better than the 7 above.

"Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face"

Should be a fairly even competition, but like all seasons, a couple of injuries will turn the tide for that team. The team who wins on the road will take the flag.

Melbourne
Illawarra
Brisbane
Adelaide

Perth
Sydney
NZ
Cairns

Sydney to beat MU in another GF classic series.

I think the top four will include Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Illawarra. Melbourne-Adelaide GF series.

A lot of people are high on MU but the signing of Prather was IMO ridiculous way, way too many cooks in the kitchen and although the amount of talent on the roster makes it unlikely that team completely implodes I can't see them beating a team like the Sixers.

The 36ers were the cinderella story last season and if not for Randle trying so hard to be the man in the fourth quarter of Game 2 would've swept the Hawks and matched up well against an inferior Perth team. Alas, Randle shot us out of Game 2 and we shat the bed back home in Game 3 in probably the most disappointing finish to a season I can remember.

A new import trio of Shorter/Moore/Roberts is an upgrade on Randle/Ferguson/Jacobsen and with the expected growth of our young Aussie core another year of improvement in Sobey, Creek, Hodgson, Drmic, Deng along with DJ now just starting to decline and it looks to be a big season for us. If the new imports click with our group and realise it's about team ball I expect a GF at the minimum and think we would get past MU for the title.

Adelaide
Melbourne
Perth
Illawarra

Brisbane
Sydney
Cairns
NZ

Every year it seems people rank Melb top (or close to it) and Cairns bottom (or close to it). And every year they are proven wrong.

Rubbish under Fearne they usually miss the playoffs.

Zodiac - completely agree that Adelaide will only be better without Randle. More food for the loyal fans also.

The reality is that MU are the most hyped / publicised team on the east coast every year. And every year they falter. IMHO, if this year is to be any different, and I'm not sure that it will be, it will be solely because of Prather. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want Prather as a teammate. His level of intensity and will to win alone may be enough to lift MU from pretenders to contenders. But perhaps not even Prather and Vickerman will be enough to get Goulding to care more about a championship and less about his hair.

My money will be on Adelaide for the abovementioned reasons and also Brisbane as a dark horse. They have the Boomers head coach, they were wooden spooners last year and they have a pretty formidable guard rotation. Issue will be the wings (on that note how is Te Rangi still in the league?) I just feel like Lemanis is too good a coach to not improve on last year. The team showed glimpses of defence-first, gritty team play last season and that is always a solid foundation for success. I expect them to do much better this year.

Cairns has never finished last under Fearne and has made 2 grand finals and one semi-final appearance in eight years under him. Hardly disgraceful for that franchise given its restrictions (and I've never been a huge Fearne supporter)

anon,

I'm not sure about Prather to me he appeared to sulk a bit once Cotton appeared on the scene and went into his shell as the clear #2 option. He will likely be the #3 option at MU and don't think he will like that.

Like a lot of big name imports that have success and switch teams usually for more money I think he will be 'found out' a bit this season and probably depart the league for good after this season.

snooch,

The Taipans have only made the playoffs three times in Fearne's eight seasons as coach. There is a reason most usually pick them to miss the playoffs.

Melbourne
36ers
Perth
Illawarra

Sydney
NZ
Cairns
Brisbane

36ers v Melbourne Grand Final.

36ers to win it all.

anon,

I forgot to mention about the food throwing situation with Randle's wife. That was a disgraceful act and if his play in the fourth quarter of Game 2 wasn't proof it had all gone to Randle's head then his wife's antics at the end of Game 3 certainly was.

I wouldn't have been comfortable if he and his wife were coming back this season so glad the Sixers didn't make much effort in trying to re-sign him. It's interesting that despite so many years bouncing around from team to team in Turkey no team from their first-tier league signed him and instead he will be playing in their Div 2 league.

"I'm not sure about Prather to me he appeared to sulk a bit once Cotton appeared on the scene and went into his shell as the clear #2 option. He will likely be the #3 option at MU and don't think he will like that. "

Prather undertook multiple duties when Martin and Kenney were out, including bringing up the ball. I would go as far to say he carried the Wildcats until Cotton arrived.

Soon after Cotton's arrival he suffered some injury for about the last quarter of the regular season which explained his drop off in production.

But when he recovered just in time for the last couple of games of the regular season and into the playoffs, the results speak for themselves.

Would Prather alone have taken the Wildcats to the playoffs? No. Cotton made Prather better and Prather also made Cotton better.

I think he is good enough to make a big difference for MU. Vickerman knew how to use Abercrombie and but DD did not know how to use Blanchfield. Prather may not get MVP stats @ MU given the scoring guards. But he will make MU much better.

MU- The difference between this year and prior years? They have a decent coach this time. If the Big 4 stays healthy (CG/Ware/Prather/Boone) anything less than a GF berth would be a catastrophic failure.

Perth- Cotton is pure gold, the Aussie core is aging but intact, and you know they'll chew through 17 other imports if they have to, finding all kinds of excuses until they find two decent ones to supplement the roster.

Hawks- Bevo. Consistency. System. Conger looks alright.

Adelaide- test for Sobey- will he look as good without Randle taking D’s attention? Wright gets the most out of his players, they’re deep.

Sydney- Loads of talent but serious questions on the frontcourt for the time being. And I haven’t developed much faith in Drewy’s coaching yet.

Brisbane- I haven’t done much scouting on Buford yet. Is he any good? Pending that assessment I might lift them up a couple of spots. Solid enough but not much star power. Trice and Holt are good but not in the league of the likes of Ware, Cotton. Kickert is what, 34 now? They’ll get their share of wins but hard to see them challenging for the title.

Cairns- Fearne is a great coach but the roster is a downgrade- unless Carrera and Smith are stars. Wortho is a big loss- especially on the defensive end.

Breakers- I can’t believe I’m putting them last, but someone has to go here.

Melbourne
Sydney
Adelaide
Perth
Wollongong
NZ Breakers
Brisbane
Cairns

I'd like to think the Taipans aren't cellar dwellers but nothing speaks to me in volumes of their line up.
Melbourne is the pick; they've taken charge of their interests and have a very convincing team and one which I tend to think will show up the 36ers first game.
Sydney is a dark-horse in that Andrew Gaze doesn't coach teams that finish in 6th without injuries.
Perth will make it again. Its that home court advantage that really wins games, especially close ones.

This year, Finn Delaney will become a really important players for the Breakers whereas Kirk Penny's age will see him struggle later on in the season.

The gong are in the mix, but just don't see strengths in the team. Did super well last season to win twice and end 36ers GF aspirations. Cant see it happening again.

Brisbane, after what I watched on NZSport's channel the other night V Breakers; not good. Gibson doesn't offwer much, Petrie either.

Andrew Gaze doesn't coach teams that finish in 6th without injuries.

Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
Illawarra

Brisbane
Sydney
Cairns
NZ

Melbourne
Adelaide
Perth
Illawarra

Sydney
Brisbane
NZ
Cairns.

Why is Newley "spent"? Is this the thought of just one person or a general consensus?

Some good thoughts on this but for me it's all about squad depth and ability to play championship winning Defence. There is one stand out team that have both in spades. Perth. This Wildcats team is one of the deepest I've seen. Tokoto and Cooke Jnr look very promising and Cotton is the gold standard for the league. When you have 5 coming off the bench who could play significant minutes on all other teams this Wildcats team is loaded for a crack at the 3-Peat.

Paolo, potentially you are right.

But we won't know until they play for keeps how they go with Tokoto and Cooke.

Questions I have is whether Tokoto can be the scorer, open court threat that Prather was? Prather was supreme in the open court and I reckon it was worth about 6-8 points a game.

Is Cooke the rim protector Mackay was? Mackay was so important as a defender and mostly unheralded. More important even given Knight's fragility.

Brisbane Is the dark horse I reckon

"1: Melbourne - loaded roster like usual with a very good coach for once. Do they have the depth though?"

They will have Boone or Majok, then there is Wesley, Barlow and then Adnam and others. While Adnam is a bit off the starters, he can hold his own with other reserves and developing a reliable long range game.

Which bench would be better than this?

After watching 2 and a bit games so far, I think we are in for a ripper season again.

Perth deserve favouritism. Tokoto looks fantastic and if Cooke isn't the right guy they'll replace him and find someone who is. Cats have all the ingredients to win the title. Proven quantity having won 3 of the last 4, and are looking very strong again. I'm actually surprised that two thirds of posters here put Melbourne ahead of them. I did, but I'm biased....

United are loaded 1-8 but question marks over 9-11 in particular backcourt depth. Plenty of teams out there go 10 or 11 deep, Melbourne doesn't have that same proven depth yet. I'd rate plenty of benches ahead of theirs. Hopefully Adnam, Holley and Moller show they are capable NBL players but at this point they haven't shown that. They're all unproven.

Adelaide and Illawarra are my early picks for 3rd and 4th. Both have made good moves which have added extra dimensions to their team. Both very well coached and very deep. Adelaide obviously lost Randle but Shorter looks OK, Moore will give a lot more than Ferguson did, and improvements in their young roster will help.

Sydney have talented scorers but need a good big man. I really don't think Ellis at the 5 backed up by Humphries and Singh is sustainable based on what I saw today. Question marks remain over Drewy's coaching.

I think we're in for a very competitive season though. Rosters are more stable than ever. We're now a few years into this new league. Players signed 2 or 3 yr deals. Minimal roster movements compared to some off seasons, long term coaches who get the best out of their teams year on year, it all makes for a great competition.

I've enjoyed this first weekend. Hoping someone dethrones Perth but they remain favourites for now. Let the games begin.