Fuck salty fans like you Mark. He has put millions of his own money into keeping the league alive. So why don't you sit down shut the fuck up and appreciate what he has done.

You need money to run an NBL team, get over it.
Dr Jack propped up the Wildcats for years before the move to the Arena, Sydney's new owner has pumped in Squillions, NZ's previous owners were big spenders for years, and even Adelaide's new ownership has increased the coin for this season.

If guys like LK weren't prepared to spend their own money, we wouldn't have a league.

Seems tbe truth struck a raw nerve
And i am not a 36ers fan or member. So not sour grapes.
If we cant state opinions or debate issues then don't bother replying with ignorant comnents.

It got Melbourne fans back into the stadium so I guess that's a huge box ticked. I think everyone thought this championship would arrive years ago. Now it's finally out of the way the original salary cap model where money filters down to lower ranked teams may eventuate? It was the championship we had to have I guess.

The team never wins the championship in Moneyball.

When Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne Tigers/South Dragons bought championships, they weren't putting huge $$$ into the league as well...at least LK has the decency to that ;)

As i've said before if you're going to be a self-respecting legitimate league in Australia, you can't have such a disparity in the key area of salary cap expenditure. Spending more is intentionally anti-competitive in the respect that the whole point to spend more and buy better than the rest of the league is to gain a competitive edge. Long term, it's also not ideal to create an unsustainable arms race. We all know the
risk that entails.

Now, with that said - it needs to be weighed against what is the standard of league we want, what's the standard of talent we want, what do we need to do to penetrate the market and gain greater revenue. This is where the first paragraph actually makes a point - when Brissy were spending big they bought a championship. When LK put huge funds into Melbourne AND the NBL, he's actually lifted the entirety of the league standard and gained greater audience - the kind of level that might well be required to generate revenue and be sustainable anyway. If we see an uptick in sponsors, audience, coverage and money, and the NBL clubs start operating a bit more effectively, we might see a more sustainable and legitimate league.

In respect of Melbourne United this year, yes they have more resources and a stacked side but I didn't see them destroy the league.

Adelaide were remarkably competitive and i'd pretty much have our side back minus Teysy if I could.


Next season I expect Sydney to be good with Lisch and Randle together, NZ to get it together a bit more, Perth to get their import combo right and if Adelaide retains most of their squad we could see at least 5 very very competitive and similarly talented sides trying to wrench into four spots.

The only thing that made me cringe was paying a import to hang around and play cheerleader just incase someone went down. Talking about splashing cash.

The thing with LK improving the league is that it's not JUST because he's putting money into it, it's his initiatives, it's the forward thinking and trying to grow it instead of just treading water and doing things half arsed (at the most) like previous leaderships... Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we've had leadership in the NBL that has pushed it so far, ever, have we?

Sure, that takes a lot of cash, but also the drive...

As for Melbourne buying the championship, the only problem I have is with them spending SO much over the soft cap, which is legit, but they stuffed around the whole redistribution of that extra cash to what they initially said they would do, which is dodgy...

When push comes to shove though, without LK, we wouldn't have a league by this time if it kept going the way it was, and no NBL teams would have played against any NBA teams, which was a pretty huge thing too...

Can't please some people.
If NZ or Perth had won title most would be whining it's the same teams winning.
Melbourne or any other team for that matter can pour X amount of $$$$ into a team but it all boils down to 40mins on court.
Too many Adelaide players didn't show up for game 5.

I think the redistribution model was legit to begin with but when Melbourne wasn't thriving and winning titles it got shelved pretty quick.

I don't get this argument that we bought a championship.

We brought back Ware and Boone from the previous season. Lost Moore gained Prather and gotten younger development players Moller and Hooley and two of our original DP’s played significant minutes in Adnam and Smith-Milner.

Demopoulous got fired and Vickerman was on the market as a coach?

Really we won the championship because of Vickerman.

How else are you supposed to win a championship? Ask players to play for free?

Some 36ers fans will never appreciate that without LK there would be no NBL to watch in your home between blackouts.

This is one of the funnier threads ever started here. What a sook. Get the kid a participation ribbon.

The Kings bought a 7th place finish. Spending big doesn't always workout the way it did for United this season.

It's bizarre seeing all the "If LK didn't spend this cash we wouldn't have a league" comments. If your league can only survive because of one rich guy with an expensive hobby, and some questionable conflicts of interest, then that league probably shouldn't survive in its current form, and simply won't, if/when LK decides to take his bat and ball and go home.

Cut to the chase. Demolish the league, and build something sustainable that doesn't rely on a benevolent dictator model.

The inconvenient truth about sports in Australia is this:

The only sport where the majority of clubs make a profit is the AFL.

And most of them only make profits because of pokies.

That's it.

So, hate LK all you like but we need to thank him for having a league.

On United, no one really knows how much they spent. Sydney, NZ, Perth and Adelaide certainly splashed some cash around too. United's bench contingent included a back court which is essentially two SEABL guys who are unproven in the NBL (Hooley and Adnam), a 37 year old who we all agree is retiring imminently (DA), another old guy who hasn't played a major role in the NBL for several years (Barlow), and a young guy with potential who's only been playing basketball for 3 years (Moller).

And Majok.

Sure, the starting 5 was star studded but I don't agree that United's overall lineup was head and shoulders above everyone else's. Last year a similar group went 10-8 after Casper's arrival. Much credit must go to Vickerman for his work this year.

How it seems @ Hoops.

If Perth win....NBL is boring.
If NZ win....NBL is boring.
If Sydney win....OMFG AIG Money.
If Melbourne win....OMFG LK Money.
If Adelaide win....We deserve it.
If Illawarra win...Hawks are dirty.
If Brisbane win....Cairns players won it for them.
If Cairns win....LOLZ jk

The only thing that made me cringe was paying a import to hang around and play cheerleader just incase someone went down. Talking about splashing cash.

LOL... just like Perth bought the title last season with Cotton.

Adelaide's mental immaturity is what lost it for them the past two seasons. They choke in the big games. Their mental immaturity was also evident by the way they carried on during games.

They've got a lot of talent but they have a bit of growing up to do.

Cut to the chase. Demolish the league, and build something sustainable that doesn't rely on a benevolent dictator model.

If a suspended player is part of the team during the game the punishment and the result is simple.

Melbourne forfeited

Adelaide got to game 5 of the finals series despite their "mental immaturity". I think factors like losing Childress for 3 out of 5 games plus what happened in the second half of game 3 were much bigger factors.

I still can't believe Mayberry looks straight at Wesley's headbutt/mental immaturity on Sobey in the first quarter and chooses to ignore it.

this shit of buying a championship. when they weren't top, where were you? no humming from left field?

the finished top, earnt the home final series and won. end of story

Cut to the chase. Demolish the league, and build something sustainable that doesn't rely on a benevolent dictator model.

I do follow the SEABL, and completely agree that it's an entire club funding structure that sustains that level of comp. My problem with the NBL is that it's not sustainable or tied to club structures at all. I don't at mind income coming from a variety of places, but when it's almost entirely out of the pocket of one guy with an interest in the sport, it creates huge problems in terms of governance, and stability. If that guy puts away his checkbook and goes home, you are left with a rudderless league, with no money left to float it, and clubs, players and fans in limbo. I don't particularly like LK, but as far as I'm concerned he could be the nicest guy in the world, and you'd still be stuck with the same problem. That's why the league needs to be rebuilt. I'd be really interested to hear peoples' ideas for creating a sustainable league, as a change from both LK bashing and LK championing.

The obvious place to start would be a SEABL, CABL merge, with divisions in place and a top level comp with relegation and promotion opportunities, BA, community and state league investment, but there's a lot of possibilities out there.

jodiechrist:

but when it's almost entirely out of the pocket of one guy with an interest in the sport, it creates huge problems in terms of governance, and stability.