Yeah, I agree. North v South just like the old days!

Perth is actually above Sydney (technically), so I would go;

North - Cairns, Townsville, Gold Coast, Perth
South - Sydney, Wollongong, Adelaide, New Zealand, Melbourne

I too think North v South.

Although Perth is further north than Sydney, I would still put Sydney & the Gong on the North team.

Otherwise, if a 2nd Melbourne team comes in next year as expected, it would be 6 teams onto 4.

Other option could be..

Capital cities vs Regional cities.

Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth v Cairns, Townsville, Woolongong, Gold Coast and NZ.

City Vs Country?

I voted Nth v Sth as well, but was disappointed that they didn't provide explanations as to the what the formats would look like.

Whatever they decide I think the most important thing is fan voting for the starting 5 of each team. Just like the NBA.

Got to get people involved.

I still think it should be interactive and have fans vote for captains, then basically do a schoolyard pick.

Add some restrictions (1 player from each team, max number of imports per team, etc), this way it makes it a bit more competitive with players feeling like they may have been snubbed, slipped to low or matching up against teammates etc.

Anon - Pretty sure they aren't a capital city of Australia playing in the 'ANBL', so they can deal with it!

TBH, North v South sounds stupid.

6 teams are on similar latitudes, and 3 are north of this.

Aust vs Internationals is not as ambiguous, and easily defined.
The only problem with this is that they're may not be enough Boomers talent to form a really good Aust side as really good players are in Europe.

East v Work, won't work. Will be it Perth vs Rest??

I reckon maybe an NBL all-star team vs an asian league all star team.

Could go one year over in Asia, one year here etc. Good revenue maybe

^ I like that idea.

Maybe get two captains, and they get to chose who they want to play in their team

And go at it

State of Origin Tournament? SA, Vic, NSW, QLD, WA, NZ all play off over 4 days, and then a grandfinal.
Eg.

Pools:
A: SA, WA, NZ
B: QLD, NSW, VIC

Round 1:
Pool A (SA vs WA)
Pool B (QLD vs NSW)

Round 2:
Pool A (NZ vs SA)
Pool B (VIC vs QLD)

Round 3:
Pool A (WA vs NZ)
Pool B (NSW vs VIC)

Final:
Top Pool B vs Top Pool A

Could do this over a weekend, Thursday till Sunday during the middle of the season or even as an offseason event.

The weekend rotates cities each season like the all star game would.

@BALLER#3 - Love the State of Origin idea.

As far as an All Star format goes, North vs South seems to be the best split.

The main reason (perhaps the only one) people will want to go and see a game like this is for the show!

Just like the All Star game they hold in the USA, we need to put on a shw, that means less emphasis on defense and more about the big dunks and athleticism.

Let's face it, if we go down this track we need to forget N v S, E v W etc...

It must be eye catching and exciting, so it must include imports and the very best in this country, whether it is directly them against us or two captains picking team is not the issue, the issue is how do we put on the best SHOW!

Voting is open on the NBL website. I think North vs South would be best.

I completely disagree, Bear.

No NBA fans really care about the all star game. I might tune in once every few years.

Compare that to something like the NRL's State of Origin and it's no contest: Origin is the best in the business going hard at each other for three games, and its the pinnacle of the sport.

The NBA all star game is a joke.