Interesting if we only have one team in Melbourne will their name include Melbourne and Tigers and will they continue to play out of the Snack House or will they be made to play at Nosense Arena.

I agree with Blacky wholeheartedly.
Geography shouldn't be the whole reason to determine which clubs should stay- some that aren't necessarily doing well financially have some pretty parochial crowds and supporters, so where does that leave them?
And that ties in with Worthington putting in his 2 cents around the League on the 8 team format- how the heck do you justify telling teams that will have to merge or fold that they don't fit Worthington's and other players' preferance for the setup?
Who do the players think they are that it's their duty to tell people what they can and can't be involved in?
I know a lot of people around the traps that are offended by his comments and him using his profile to influence the 8 team decision.
He's paid to play- not tell people what they can and can't open their wallets to!
So for the teams in Melbourne and the players that were in challenging circumstances last year with their then clubs, they could be recreating the same learning curve for themselves all over again and not even realise it until it's happening.

id definately keep cairns and both melbourne teams, wildcats and the sixers. id say theyd be the most financially viable teams in the league?

I don't have a problem with Worthington having an opinion- everybody is entitled to an opinion.
The part that stinks is he is actively lobbying other players to join him in his push to the top to change things in a way that doesn't involve public consultation.
Goorj is right behind him, so although the two of them probably can't instigate enough change between them, they sure get listened to when they have something to say.
It's the influence he's trying to grow that seems insulting.

HAHA - haven't seen the article/quotes you're referencing. Can you post them? (Might even be worth their own topic, but up to you.)

This is the only one that I can find at the moment- there was another than had a lot more detail and talked about Worthington lobbying other players and a short interview with him advocating it.
If I can end up finding it I will pop back and post it.

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24370432-23769,00.html

havin no team in sydney in first year wouldnt be that bad in my opinion.

If we're modelling the new league on what the A league has done then perhaps we should consider scrapping the existing team names as well?

Rather than losing either the Tigers or the Dragons why not shut them both down and start a new Melbourne team without allegiences to either franchise and give them a new name that has no link to previous Melbourne teams. If West Adelaide and Adelaide City fans both got behind the new Adelaide United (despite the ehtnic allegiances that previously made them rivals) then I can't see why Melbournites wouldn't get behind a new, combined basketball team.

This raises the question of whether the other teams in the 8 team comp should also start afresh with new names and potentially new ownership. If it's basically the same teams from the NBL that are now playing in the NewBL (minus a few to cut the numbers back to 8) then how is that different from the current product that has failed? Is simply re-naming the league and culling a handful of teams going to shake things up enough?

Obviously there are some significant drawbacks in terms of lost history and that sort of thing, but surely any genuine basketball fan in Adelaide would get behind our team in the NewBL whether they're called the 36ers or not? And this would certainly make those fans in Melbourne or Queensland or where ever feel far less alienated if we're all in the same boat.

Something to at least consider.

Some good points although I don't know how they would get the numbers down to 8 teams and still cover everybody.
Eg- Qld is a big spread out state with previously 4 teams in the comp.
Their fans are not going to drive 400kms or more to support their 'local' state team.

Article on FoxSports website today...both Cowan and McPeake have their say on two teams in Melbourne:

http://linky.com.au/vp7ko

""The more it goes on, the more I realise we need an independent board and the people need to trust the board."- McPeake.

Pretty amusing coming from him.
So is he going to be on the Board, or remain the Tigers owner, because he's not gonna be both according to the new rules!