2 minutes left - down 6 - Townsville need a stop ... The crowd need to get behind their team... And Gangnam Style is blasting - need I say more. Crap like this is why real basketball fans refuse to watch a decent basketball league.

Having said all that man that was a great finish before the overtime some really clutch efforts.

I assume their music guy has changed recently as the previous one is now one of their assistant coaches.

One of the many reasons the Crocs are in trouble, Isaac...

An ex high school principal as a CEO and a DJ as a scout.

A high school Principal runs a business/school, deals with a lot of different people and takes care of limited budgets. How is it funny they are a CEO of a basketball team?

The Crocs are still alive in one of the NBL's smallest markets so cannot be doing a bad job.

Mick a bit harsh on Rod, last I checked he is an intern coach or scout if you like, which is a unpaid gig. I have known or played ball with Rod for about 15 years and he is an absolutely basketball junkie. Has coached numerous club and rep teams, and has been around the crocs team for years, so I would think he would be the perfect person for an 'unpaid' coaching internship.

As for ceo, I'll give you that one, cheapest team in the league, and we can't stump up the cash for a decent 2nd import.

Personel is my biggest issue with this Crocs team, as you have said in the past too many old guys past it (hinder, Abney) and too many young guys who aren't top contributors yet (norton, c cedar, allen). Only Holmes, PC and Ervin are players who you would consider to be in their prime and Blanchfield on his way.

Compare that to the top teams who have at least 6 guys at their peak.

As for michael cedar omg, touted as one of the best shooters in the league he is flat out last in three point shooting in the nbl at 10%.

Almost forgot once again smashed on the glass. Imagine if Mick Cedars spot had gone to steidl or Gliddon with legit size at 3, and Abney to Seth Scott type import.

There will be some real pressure from the ownership to make some changes asap.

Should probably stop now, I could go on forever.

Yeah sorry Rod, was just commenting on the strange transition from DJ to scout rather than anything about him personally.

The CEO, on the other hand?

Dead man walking.

In the five or so years since he has taken over, the league as a whole has experienced steady growth while the Crocs -- the most financially stable club at the time when he took the reigns -- have gone into a fiscal nosedive...

What is the population of Townsville compared to a place like Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth?

There is also an increase in competition in the last five years from A-league, etc. So you want the Crocs to spend big on imports/players and then go bust and then say how bad the CEO was to overspend?


I do agree there are a few players on that team lucky to be in the NBL - M Cedar, Abney, Hinder (although heard he is on minimum)

If you watch the game highlights, every single second is blasted with music...

I've always had a soft spot for the Crocs and used to love watching their home games, but over the past 2 seasons it's been almost unbearable to watch

The Crocs used to be able to spend the full cap because they filled the stadium with sponsors and fans.

There is obviously a disconnect between the franchise and local business and average punters. That needs to be remedied and it starts at the top.

Smythe has said that Cairns fills their stadium out because their tickets are cheaper, and the Crocs don't sellout any more ecause they have more expensive seats and corporate boxes. Therefore they still make more money per person through the door, with much less people in the stadium, because the tickets are overpriced. He actually says that with a straight face.

Townsville doesn't have an A-League team, Ant. Only competition is from the Cowboys who mostly play at a different time of the year.

And as an aside, can the game announcer stop yelling "HAAAAAANDS UUUUP!" right before OUR OWN GOD DAMN PLAYERS ARE SHOOTING FREE THROWS. Bawking and distracting is what you are supposed to do to the opposing team. And they wonder why we can't make free throws at home. Get the simple things right, guys. It's not hard...

I'm all for the NBL improving and being the professional basketball league that it has the potential to be..... Therefore an honest criticism of the Townsville Crocodiles needs to be addressed.

They have become the black ducks of the NBL. While every other club has grown (some faster than others and some clubs have needed a change in ownership to do so), the Crocs have clearly gone backwards.

On TV, the game night presentation looks amateur. As others have mentioned, the constant poppy music, the court announcers ramblings, the "hands up" crap at the free throw line - this is fine if you want to entertain the kids, but for basketball fans - and sports fans in general, the Crocs make a hard case to sell.

The Crocs need to 'grow up' as a club and put on a show that the city of Townsville can be proud of.

Their roster is all over the place. It's like they are semi rebuilding, and semi contending... But they're not doing either effectively.

7 years ago they were leading the league in attendance, and were the model franchise on and off the court, so their fall from the top has been a dramatic one.

Question: are the Crocs even a likable team??? Watching the game last night, I was leaning more towards Cairns. There's something about the Crocs that has put me off. I think a complete overhaul of their organization is needed to make them fresh again.

By the way, I want Townsville to be successful, I know they can and they need to put effort in again to make it happen. Go Crocs!

A very valid assessment, Wildcat fan.

The problem is, what is going to be done about it?

My bet would be that a change in management would do the crocs a world of favours. And the first agenda would be to reconnect with it's fan base. The fans are there, they just need to like the Crocs again. Not pissing them off would be good - how many fans did they lose after dumping John Rillie for example? Things like that.

Also, I would consider scaling back the McDonalds sponsorship or getting more money out of them for the amount of exposure their getting. I know that sounds crazy, but promoting so heavily a fast food company is not sending a good message. McDonalds are the only major sponsor of an NBL club with their logo bigger than the Crocs logo sitting behind the Croc logo (if you get what I mean) I hope they're paying good money for that type of exposure! Watching a Crocs home game, you would have no trouble identifying Maccas as the major sponsor - they're branding is everywhere.

All of 'em " Lets go .. lets go . Deefense De fense ."
is not good TV . I'm not mucha fan of false laughter either. Anyways - pretty good game last nite.
Seems CNS opened a big lead - Steindl & Gliddon look pretty good - subbed out - but used in overtime.
Steindl shoots pretty good , a nice offensive rebound and dunk and good D - much like we got here with Weigh

I was at the game in Townsville on Friday night and sitting in the upper area the music isn't actually blasted, not sure if it's different down closer to the court, but I can't recall it being loud at all.

Maybe it's something to do with oneHD or whoever covers the game? As in how close they sit to certain speakers or something?

Also the price of tickets in Townsville are ridiculous seeing the seats are plastic shit stuck on a bit of cement... you can't charge top dollar for something you'd go to a local football match and sit on...