How is syd similar?

They lost guns in grant khazzouh Bose and replaced them with role playing scrubs.

Clear top 4 to me are Nz Perth cairns Adelaide. Coincidence that they have the best coaches also?

Who is the best seabl/ABA 3 man slasher right now? They should get an Nbl gig.

I agree with The guru..
Top 4
NZ
Perth
Cairns
Adelaide

But also depends on Import signings for Townsville & Wollongong.

Bottom dwellers - Sydney, Melbourne

Adelaide have improved, but big call on top 4 when they've got a guy running the point as a starter for the first time, and haven't signed any imports yet.

Adelaide will need good coaching, not just recruiting, to make the top 4.

I think NZ, Perth, Cairns & Adelaide is a realistic top 4 at this stage but Adelaide definitely could underacheive without some good decision making in what could be Marty's do or die NBL coaching year.

Woolpert has been talking a lot about how good Townsville's two imports are going to be, so he better deliver...

Top four will be NZ, Perth, Townsville & Cairns, a.k.a. the usual suspects in recent years.

Wool pert is American so should have good sources to recruit from compared to other clubs. He was the d league coach for oklahoma thunders affiliate.

Let's hope he recruits better than Joey wright.

Thomas, you just can't stay away, can you?

1- Perth / Same core, Top 3. 1st if Knight is healthy. Have the 2nd import spot if needed.

2- Cairns / Added scoring to a great defensive team. Hopefully a better import than Warren to come.

3- NZ / Hudson can't spread the floor like Wilkinson but they will still be around the mark.

-----

4- Adelaide / Heaps of queries, Cadee up to starting? Will the twin towers work? Clarke? On paper pretty good at the moment.

5- Melbourne / Again heaps of queries, Ballinger got anything left? Will Rush actually be used? A lot depends on the imports to come.

6- Townsville / How do they cover the loss of Big Luke? Can Holmes maintain his form? Could have big issues inside.

-----

7- Wollongong / Always tough to gauge, so much depends on their imports. Their core is already better than Sydney. I could probably have them on par with the 2nd group.

8- Sydney / Lost starting front court, replaced them with Crosswhite and very little else. Madgen needs to have an MVP type year for them to be close.

9- Gold Coast / Who will wanna play for a team with a real chance of going into VA next season therefore no guarantee of pay?

Hopefully some good odds are offered on Cairns, I really rate their chances this season. Generally win at home and are putting together a great squad.

I will pound cairns if odds are over 10 dollars. They are a small market team so are underrated.

I like Perth but no back up shooting guards or legit centre. Trueman is the dud on the roster now drew has left. Assuming he's dirt cheap.

What is the melb roster?

Balls, rush, greer, rush, Dorsey, who else?

Cairns have 2 rookies though, could be vulnerable...

Tragardh dowdell?
Laughton rychart
Grabau steindl
Gliddon hill
Wilson ???

Too many swing men type in thos 2/3 spots for me.

Steindl Gliddon hill all similar types and not legit sgs.

I think Cairns will go into this season overrated by bookies:

- Their new franchise player has just come from a big market so southern media/bookies will take notice

- They have effectively replaced Crosswhite (arguably the best defensive C in the league) with Trigger (one of the worst defenders in the league) on a team whose identity is on that end of the floor. That's a lot of points in the paint they'll be giving up, even if Trigger is great on the other end.

Mick has hit Cairn's problem right on the head. If they can find the balance between their loss on the defensive end and the extra points they'll score of offence, then they could potentially win the championship. They lost a lot of games last year purely on their inability to score, so they had to make a move in that area. They've got a great low post scorer and brought in a couple of shooters which will undoubtedly help their offensive production.

They'll also need to deal with the inexperience that comes with having two rookies that are expected to contribute fairly significantly. Though, that having been said, they appear to already have good depth and are yet to sign their second import (is there any word on who this might be?).

Is jeff dowdell signed?

If not perhaps grab a big rebounding bench import and sign tait as back up pg? Cutq Kerry Williams?

In order of Nbl favourites and talent level, I'd go:

Wildcats
Breakers

Crocs
Taipans
36ers

Hawks
Tigers

Blaze
Kings

Personally I don't see Adelaide's roster working.

Lots of pieces to make fit for an immature coaching staff. Getting a young, green PG to try keep the floor spaced with a twin tower style frontline is gonna be tough.

And if you are looking at Schensch to be a leader / centre-piece, you might as well keep looking because it's not in his nature.

Fearne is in the US looking for an import Centre (no Dowdell)- Trig will play more PF. Rychart and Loughton can play 5 defensively so I expect the shuffle offence to create a lot of mismatches and trigs defence to improve within the Fearne system.

Clint went and played with Stankovic cup and was very good defensively, rebounding and hit the big 3 when he was open. He is already showing composure with his International experience so I wouldnt be overly concerned he is a rookie. He played alot of SG in China but slipped into SF easily as well.

Cam Gliddon may have some early season jitters, but if he didn't hurt is back he would have gone to China as well. Just a pure shooter but he can pass sharply from watching them practise. Can surprisingly block a bigger guy and has quick hands for the steal. Was a few Ally-oop passes to Hill or a big 3 from his hands.

The backup PG is the only real concern I have for the Taipans as they need someone to compliment Jamar and rotate through the SG depending on the team. Doubt Kerry W will be re-signed but Bruce and Gleeson have been thrown around (nothing substantial)

As for the defence of Trig - he has locked himself away from twitter for the week to get stuck into it. He is fit, pumped and has 2 of the best defensive coaches in the country in Downer/Fearne getting him ready. He will surprise quite a few with his new found skills and a team system setup to create open shots for guys like himself. Jamar to Tragardh will be heard a lot.

PS: A lot of people rating Townsville, not sure about them this year. PC is always a triple threat but everything hangs on their imports (and no Schenscher to cover up the holes). Preseason will be heavily watched this year. My top 4 are - NZ, Cairns, Perth, Adelaide (Luke factor)

Get Gleeson, he will probably win qbl league MVP this season. Deserves a shot!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/basketball/7323949/Breakers-ready-to-take-Corey-Webster-back

Breakers looking like

Jackson/Bruton
Corletto/C. Webster
Abercrombie/Henry
Vukona/Boucher
Pledger/Hudson

DP: J Bloxham, D.Prewster, T Webster


looking forward to seeing Cedric Jackson minus the bung ankle. Tommy Abercrombie minus the bung ankle. Pledger getting more minutes and Webster back in the team.

Jackson re-signed?

nope not signed, he's waiting on offers from the NBA before signing but has expressed interest if no NBA offers are forthcoming which is better than nothing and I don't think his jump shot is consistent enough for a long term NBA gig

Has Webster learned his lesson Mystro?

I'd say so, be pretty stink packing shelves at the supermarket while your little bro is overseas playing with the Tallblacks especially when you could have been there with him. He's apparently kept his head down and trained his ass off during his suspension and he didn't kill anyone after all, he just smoked some fake weed.