I was thinking that Khazzouh would go Europe, and Luke is going to be hard to replace, here.
Sturt - bench, as you say. But sure looks pretty good, when he gets on.

Thats not looking good for the Sixers - especially since they can't start signing players until the lawyers get their sh!t sorted and transfer ownership from Mal to the SOS group.

Its looking like Schenscher or bust if guys like Khazzouh and Knight really go overseas. I'm not holding out hope for guys like Tragardh or Knight to leave the Hawks and Perth respectively either.

Doesn't leave much, unless Rick Rickert is available? Maybe back to the past with Horvath? Not the way to success!

Perhaps Nevill or Baynes from US college if they don't get drafted (unlikely)? I think they are both seniors.

I just hope it doesn't come to any of that because Luke is clearly the best option out there for the Sixers. I reckon its just about sign him or bust for season 09/10.

Daniel Johnson (named above) Standing at 212cm tall, would be a great Signing for the Perth Wildcats. He just keeps getting better and better. Johnson was a WA Junior and born in Perth. So maybe he should be a player to try and Sign up?

Johnson has a pretty respectable basketball resume which includes:

- 2007 Australian u19 World Championship Team
- NCAA Div1 College Stint. (Pepperdine University)
- 2008 BigV Youth Player of the Year (with a 66point game)
- Currently Averages: 29.8ppg, 14.9rpg, 2.3apg. With a FG% of 56.0
- 2009 BigV Player Of The Week: 3 times already after Round 9

Surely Clubs (especially Perth) would have this bloke on their Radar?

(That is of course, If the Tigers dont Resign him) They will be very keen to do so, and with obvious reasons. I do also know they rate this guy as a next Anstey. But he could be a good signing for any NBL club

Why would beveridge say europe isn't as stable financially as australia?

If this is the case why have guys like markovich, nielsen, andersen have been there so long.

Iti and kickert are other guys who might be worth looking at from overseas.

Baynes has signed with a lithiuanian team, Nevill might be the only likely ncaa player in the nbl in the future.

By the way what has happened to 7ft 4 sam harris?

Why would he say that? Because he's annoyed watching his top big and two alternative prospects look away from the NBL.

I think what he is saying tho, is if you are a bit player and not a star then you will be on some coin, but not top notch money...plus expenses...

we all know not all the players over there are on 500K plus right?

After some research I have found that Sam Harris is playing in the Tassie league, pulling down a ton of boards and blocking tons of shots but not scoring much.

Big 7'4" Sam Harris plays for North West Tasmania in the South East Australian Basketball League.

He is having his Best year yet, averaging:
16points, 11rebounds and 3 BLOCKS, per game!!

It's not that they aren't throwing the cash around it's how quickly guys who under perform get cut, even guys who perform get cut if better options become available.

maybe nbl clubs need to focus a bit more on o/s centres,a big dean utoff type of player would be handy in the currant "undersized" nbl.
not sure what $ they would demand,but there must be plenty of them out there.
lets face it,they wouldnt have to be nba quality!!

Where's Dodman these days? Did he make a full time shift to football? With Gold Coast and West Sydney coming into the AFL, it's probably a good time to be a key position prospect.

Daniel Johnson is going to be a very good big man in the newNBL.

As for Baynes and Nevill - Nevill may end up getting drafted late in second round but is likely to be able to score plenty of big $$$ offers in Europe. Baynes is likely to not get drafted but is likely to head to Europe as well.

Big guys who have college starting 5 experience and are proven rebounders/scorers will always get good cash in Europe.

skull, it could be the hardest position to recruit when it comes to imports. Anyone with height and skills will play elsewhere. I think Cairns were lucky to get Chris Burgess, for example.

lol at Dodman being a key position player - he struggled up and down a basketball court what will he be like on a football field

Dusty is a 4, but as we all know he can play as an undersized 5 and hold his own.
Would 36ers try to bring him back if Schenscher goes to Europe?

isaac, do you know where burgess ended up ?

imo when teams are thinking about the 5 spot they need to be thinking 5 spot,not 4/5 as most nbl clubs do.
unfortunatly there seems to be an ubundance of 4/5's out there in nbl price range.

big luke's lower body strength,and his ability to achieve 'great' seals on opposing 5's is the only thing keeping him out of nba!!

Last I searched for Burgess (years ago) he was in an Asian league, I think.

There really are few options. You start with Anstey and Schenscher, then you have some solid guys like Hinder, Tragardh, etc and those three that are looking at Europe. Then some older guys that haven't had a heap of luck recently in Rampton and Pepper. Finally, kids like Johnson and Sturt who'll be stitched up at their existing clubs or are too young to start, and finally bit-part mercenaries like Smith, Coops and so on.

Clubs are going to be looking at rosters and potential recruits and thinking: "Is this a championship team? Will my bigs be able to defend a Schenscher or Anstey?"

Or it might be that the only tactic is to limit them in the paint and win in other ways - big rebounding PFs, or run and gun. I think Hinder is a good pick-up for the Crocs because of that.

I'd be interested to know how many $$$ Aussies average for their first year in a top Euro league compared with the NBL? And how much has that altered in the last year with the financial crisis? Because Europe has been hit much harder than us and there must be a lot of teams that have had to to pull their heads in.

Also, hasn't the NBL cap gone up since last year? So perhaps it's not really a case of money if guys decide to leave - more a case of feeling there is better long-term prospects in Europe perhaps?

I think if you can't get a big centre you have to look at a big physical forward, who while giving away a few inches can bang inside against the talls. Eg. Davis, Abney, Bolden, Moore, Simmons, Vic Titans player was it Moseley? etc.

Guys with starting 5 expereince that are good scorers and rebounders don't make it big in europe. There are plenty of guys that score and rebound without a job.

thats right MJ, we only here of the good stories, not the plenty of players out there trying to ply their trade...

i wonder if the style of play in the nbl will gradually change now goorj is not coaching dragons/boomers.
he had a huge influence on the way the nbl game was played,(like it or not)
all these aussie kids heading o/s, big nate jawai showed that you can get a half a crack from here,IF YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH.(now mr.brown is watching)

i think some of them are dreaming a bit,cant blame them for chasing the cheerleader type thing though,hopefully most of them will be back soon.

Guarantee Bradshaw will not be back- he is now only interested in Europe for another season possibly two- the kid changes his mind more often than he changes girls and his underwear.
After trying to get a release from his contract in Spain after just one season, he's probably not the kind of guy a club would want to put their faith in anyway given the current instability going on everywhere- I would hate for him to screw around any more people than what he already has in the recent past.

I guess the thing is that there is even more uncertainty in Europe than usual, so we may see some blokes whose first preference is big Euros ending up back in Australia.

Exactly, but these guys ask for your thoughts then listen with only one ear open.
Whoever gets the last word in their ear is ultimately the winner!