leap out to ten and allow asians and southern hempisphere players as non-imports.

Keep it simple i say, small steps, as long as they are in the right direction. Go to a 9 team comp, because you have to eventually grow. Id like to see Sydney, aslong as they can get a solid fan base, and are financially sound, otherwise the Brisbane Bullets. At this stage, if Cairns are still finding funds, id say they are not a good thing for the NBL's image.

Typical NBL, when has any decision ever been made by one of their self-imposed deadlines. It totally destroys what little credibility the competition has left if they cannot meet firm deadlines that they set.

if cairns fold would we be interested in dusty? know hes getting on, but surely be value as a sixth man? i would love to see him back! sydney and brissy both for me, 9 teams or 10 if cairns get up..then add a melbourne team in 11/12.

If Cairns go under which players would you take from their roster and add to the Sixer's lineup.

You'd consider Dusty, and perhaps also Grabau despite his age. He's probably got a couple more years left in him.

You'd also look at Crosswhite depending on whether we can lure Schensch back.

Apart from that I don't think you'd want anyone else.

Defintely consider Dusty - I belive we tried to get him this season.

Dusty at the right price if Holmes didn't stay, but wouldn't be killing myself to get the rest. I reckon Grabau will retire. Rampton's already retired. Boodnikoff seems ready for post-basketball career. Not sure about Williams. Mills isn't going to be a championship-winning import. Crosswhite is a bit sour and I'd be wanting Burston and/or Schenscher far ahead of Crosswhite. Don't need Melzer. Don't really need Vale.

Phill Jones at the right price depending on composition of the team - he'll be a competitor until his legs collapse, I think.

Back on the league, I don't think the NBL can handle delays and iffy headlines every season as Cairns struggles to stay alive. Sad for the Taipans, but I reckon the NBL will have relished this close season, put a lot of credit for that on a cap and fewer teams, and try to stick with eight sides. A Sydney team is better for Fox and for any OneHD hopes, so that's probably where a priority may lie.

Until the competition gets stronger and some of the guys in Europe and college come home, going to 10 or more teams might be spreading things too thin.

Phil Jones - now there's an idea! If he didn't cost too much and we plan to run with Ng at shooting guard next season, he'd provide great experience and depth at that position. It'd be great to know that when we take Ng out, we can actually put another guy on the floor who can shoot the three!

Agreed about Dusty for the right price if Holmes goes too.

Jones would alleviate the problem of who can shoot at the death as well IMO.

I think 10 teams would be ok Isaac, because extra teams mean extra money to bring some of the Euros back home (Knight, Rush, Carter, Kickert, Ryan, Khazzouh, Loughton, Mottram, Tait etc) but youre right, many more teams than that it would be getting a bit thin.

Although from what Ive heard from BA, they are not too fussed about the NBL being an elite comp by world standards, they are happy for it to drop a little bit before it builds back up over time.

I too get the feeling it will be Cairns out, Sydney in. From reports, Brisbane and 2nd Melbourne sound well progressed for the year after. 8 teams with Sydney is perfect for Fox, and we might see 3-4 games per week, which would be nice.

I wouldnt write off Cairns for future years though, once the economy up there recovers.

So how has the Adelaide franchise travelled this year, off the court? From the lack of talk otherwise, I assume that SOS is going to continue on with the licence, but does anyone know if they covered costs, made some money or lost money but not enough to discourage them?

And how did other clubs go generally? With lower salary cap, some lower salary costs, did any of them turn a profit? Anyone else other than Cairns still feeling the pinch?

I'd guess that they lost money but not enough to discourage them. All talk suggests nothing but an intent to be in it for the long haul. If they can tweak things off and on court, plus get some on-court success to boost crowds, they will be moving in the right direction financially.

I think youll find most teams struggled this year. On top of corporate dollars being down due to the economy, without the league having much revenue the clubs had to cover a lot of costs.

With Sydney in next year there is a good chance of a naming rights sponsor and a tv deal with a cash component, so that will give clubs a better chance of breaking even.

Sydney and Bris are definites. So unless someone else goes under apart from Cairns there's 9 teams for next season.

Brisbane has been refused due to lack of funding so it looks like Sydney is the only team looking to get in this year with more the following. I agree with more teams the better as long as the league stay competitive like it was this year.

If Brisbane don't have the money to get it going, they don't have the money to get it going. Won't really matter if they started earlier or put more thought into a venue. I'm sure they'll get there with time.

Big difference between encouraging talk in the press and real data though. And there's nothing stopping Sydney making huge ground late in the day, right?

On top of that, I wouldn't underestimate the belief within the NBL and Fox that Sydney is key for them getting a TV deal and major sponsor. Some will always point to "Kings threepeated and still the league struggled" but Sydney is only one piece of the puzzle and the league hadn't filled in the other pieces at the time (nor have they still, IMO).