I reckon the quality is fantastic. The marketing would have to be the worst of any league in the world but in terms of the quality of the basketball its awesome.

the NBL's quality has dropped considerably in the past 12 years. Take the Atlanta 96 olympic team for example, every player on that squad was playing in our league, the only quality australian not in the NBL at the time was Luc Longley. Now in Beijing for 2008 half the team is playing overseas. The import quality has dropped considerably as well, most of the imports in the league now would have been laughed at in the 90's. Long gone are the Gaze's, Bradtke's, Rob Rose's, Dwayne McClain and Dmac's. I miss the good old days, and i believe the fans of basketball in Australia do too.

dont agree at all, the talent of Australian basketball is so good that our best players dont play in the NBL.

The world is a lot different place compared to the 1990's. Europe was not exactly first choice for imports to head to then. I think it was Trimingham who was found playing in Malaysia to give you an idea

The Australian talent in the league is overall far better IMO that the imports role has also changed.

It used to be get the 2 best imports you could find and give them a few aussie guys to hold onto for the ride.

Now NBL teams look at what imports will complement their Australian talent ( see Perth) rather than guys that dominate the game.

Right now the NBL is so even that anyone part from the Blaze can beat anyone on the night.

yes, i agree the standard of the league is very good and by and large better than the NCAA. Has anyone ever watched the filipino or chinese leagues, they really suck. I've said this before but "everything about the NBL sucks except the basketball".

The NBL is not that even its pretty clear cut who is going to beat who most nights, only top teams will beat dragons, tigers and breakers.

So the sixers who would miss the playoffs if they were held now are a top team then as they beat the Breakers last week.

So by that logic they comp IS even as a team that would not make the finals is a top team.

Cameron Tovey starts for Townsville. Enough said. Major European leagues and even some second divisions(Greece, Italy, Spain) crap on the NBL. Not even close.

When did the comparison to the Euroleague come into it? This is a discussion about 90's nbl v todays nbl

i think australian player depth is better than the 90's era of basketball, but dont believe the league is better talent wise than the 90's. i agree cameron tovey isnt a real good player, but benches are deeper than the 90's. I dont believe about the imports having a different role, melbourne have great aussie players, 2 boomers and sam mackinnon, and have good imports, and everyone saying there the team to beat. why cant other teams with good aussie talent think its better to have role playing imports? id pick the tigers over perth, wouldnt everyone else? my point is the NBL lacks signature names, SA's best player is overseas (Newley) as well as Australia's elite basketballers. The 90's was a mix of great aussie players with gaze, bradtke, heal, vlahov and later davis and loggins etc. imports were exciting, fun to watch and better than todays imports. there are not many players id pay to see play in our current league.

carpenter...are you serious...second division european leagues would crap on the nbl?

Second division euro clubs are just that...second division. Its not like English football where a championship club would whip most a-league sides.

There would be worse players than cameron tovey starting for some Division One clubs in those leagues.....(and yes, that includes the power leagues of Spain, Greece, Italy, Russia and France). One of the reasons is that their competitions are bigger....more teams, less depth of playing base etc.

of course having a relatively poor quality player starting in a club in a division 1 league does not make the league weak which seems to be your premise.

no. wrong.

our second division = SEABL/Big V. Train twice a week, hit the piss on the weekend, two imports who are chasing tail.

NBL = same thing happens. lack of professionalism with the exception of some clubs/coaches.

their second division = professional. Full time coaches, train every day, better facilities.

Quality of games and play in some Division 2 leagues in Europe is far better than the nbl. fact. Maybe 3 or 4 NBL teams would be good over there. The rest would struggle.

Have you ever seen a div 2 game in europe carpenter, i doubt you know what the hell your on about. If so what games have you seen, what country was it and when was it.

seen plenty numnuts. plenty of practices too. what about yourself? have you managed to leave your hovel over there in SA and seen the world, or you giving opinions based on what you've seen at the local rec centre?

Dude if you dont think NBL teams train everyday if not twice a day and have full time caching staf fof three of not more people then you need to get up to speed.

That may have been the case in the 80's but not so now. Even then the sixers would train every night after they had finished their day jobs.

carpenter. Because you say someone is wrong....does not make it so....because you say its fact does not make it so.

got a question for you...in terms of a points diffential...what does FAR better mean?

OK here are my thoughts

NBL is crap compared to NCCA and NBA im sorry
-> no dunking
-> even if they can they wont

NBL is declining coz they barely show it on free to air.

NCCA in a sense is better than nba too. Because i see it as more exciting than the nba.

I dont know anything about the euroleague except they got a lot of $$$ to make it better. They play in cruddy collge and high school gyms