"Blows the comp wide open IMO."

Except the Breakers have what ever $ they were offering Jackson left to offer another Stud Import PG.

I guess he's going to Europe.

Sad to see him leave the team but happy for the chance to watch someone so talented play.

Mystro, having the money to get a stud import and actually getting one is two different things. Jackson has been one of the best players in the NBL and it is going to be hard to replace.

Mystro, it isn't as easy as "oh we'll just get another stud".

It's about playing style, not just if someone is considered a great player. Jackson wasn't expected to come in and dominate the league like he did. It goes both ways, imports come in with low expectations and turn out to be awesome, and stars who come in and disappoint.

I can almost guarantee you won't find another Jackson anytime soon.

Last two mvp's gone and last two championship coaches gone. Will see how they both go, hard to replace but it give's a chance to bring in a fresh faces and both teams are smart enough to replace the missing links. Still have perth and nz in top 2! Sad to see both lisch and jackson leave in the same season, all the best to both players!

I didn't say that I was leaving the league....

hahahahahhahaha ^^^

Will miss seeing your outbursts when Damian Martin holds you down.

Ultimately, it's a loss for the entire league.

"Mystro, it isn't as easy as "oh we'll just get another stud"."

that's why the Club has been scouting his replacement for months and the Breakers have a pretty decent record when selecting imports. Only Storey has been a dud so far.
I'm not saying that we are going to have another Cedric Jackson but you can put money on his replacement being one of the better PG's in the league.

Nick Metalinos tweeted the other day that Homicide would be potentially back in the NBL. At the time i couldn't see where he would fit , but now.

Nah, I think Williams had his time in the league. He turns 36 tomorrow.

He wouldn't fit in with the dynamic of that Breakers group anyway IMO.

Breakers would have loved Ervin if he was still on the cards.

Ayinde Ubaka will fit in nicely you reckon?

They need a PG import. They have no PGs at all even signed.

Hope one day the NBL will be able to increase the salary cap to a more competitive level to Europe. Too many good players only stay for too short of a time. It hurts the league.

No doubt NZ and Perth (with Kevin Lisch) could afford to keep these players but with the cap so low its impossible to do that. Perhaps a luxury tax should be added for clubs that can afford it?

Im not saying break the bank and go bust - pay within your means, but let the clubs that can afford to pay these players be in a position to retain them and therefore improve the league overall, rather than keeping them in line with the battlers for the sake of parity.

last time i looked CJ Bruton was on the roster

I can sense another "how to fix the league" thread...

If they don't get a PG who can pass, they won't contend for a title. Jackson spoon-fed all of his teammates and made them look better. Think about the individual players the Breakers have--they aren't world beaters. Jackson and only Jackson made them world beaters.

Will be interesting to see who they get. They have replaced stars in Penney and Wilkinson while barely missing a step, so who's to say they wont be just as good, especially with so many good PGs out there?

Replacing Jackson, Boucher and Lemanis in one off-season is their biggest challenge yet though.

"Jackson and only Jackson made them world beaters."

Yeah because they sucked before he got there! Huge hole, great player, but teams are bigger than individuals. Surely they cant win quite so many games again this year though, they cant keep replacing stars, can they?!

If Kirk Penney weren't there, they would've sucked. Ever since they have been a force, they've had efficient superstars. No coincidence.

I'm sticking by my statement that he's the best player the league has seen in the last ten years.

Jackson, that is.

He, Chris Williams and Chris Anstey would be my top 3 off the top of my head. I agree there, but saying if Penney werent there they would have sucked makes you look a bit silly, if I remember correctly they were on top of the ladder when Penney was away for the start of the 2011 season, and stayed there after he left and well before Jackson found his best form in the NBL.

How long ago was Chris Burgess in the NBL? I remember he was quite formidable.

Carlos Powell wasn't really a team player, but a definite solo force.

I really hope the Breakers struggle big time this season. Ive grown to truly hate them along with Perth. Cant wait for the start of the new season, going to be some new top dogs around the mark!

Have heard some chatter that they are in preliminary talks with the 'crime stopper' Aquille Carr..

Strange move if it's true!

I've always thought that if it was Cedric rather than Damo that did the achilles, the Championship would have a different home right now ;)

But in any case...


Huge blow to the NBL, Jackson was a hell of a drawcard because he was one hell of a player. NZ will no doubt be getting in a good import but you'll have to pull something really special out of the hat to replace him.

It's one of those cases where 10pts ain't just 10pts...

I'm also a Perth fan but have to admit he was one of the best players the NBL has had in a while. Hard to pick who will win next season should be a more even competition.

Aquille Carr to NZ would be perfect for the nbl but not to sure about NZ haha, that kid is an excitement machine and will bring a lot of attention with him! He is loved by lots of people around the world and if he was signed to an nbl team it would definitely help the nbl's name.

Jackson apparently has a deal in Slovenia on the cards.

The Breakers US Scout is Jonothan Givony from Draft Express.

Corey Williams has been mentioned in media over here due to him and Corletto being former team mates and Corletto recently catching up with him in NY.

Looks to me like Jackson will go to Union Olympia Ljubljana, who will play in Eurocup and the Adriatic League this year. There's only one other Slovenian team I think could afford him and they just signed a US point guard.

Ljubljana were a permanent Euroleague team for many years before financial troubles struck and they had to jump before they were pushed last year. They have been given a wildcard to the Eurocup with ULEB satisfied they are on the rebound and are paying off debt to former players etc. This the team that Aron Baynes played for and that offered Dave Barlow an import spot way back when.

From what I can tell they will spend about US$2.5-3 mill on players so the Breakers had very little chance, especially given the rest of NZ's roster is a lot more impressive the Ljubljana's, they're going to really rely on their imports.

Eurocup will be up a step this year too with the eight teams who drop out of the Euroleague regular season joining in the second round.

yeah apparently their offer was over double what NZ could offer.
Best of luck to him over there but I do think he'll miss playing with the Breakers Guys.

No doubt, and playing in a system so well suited to him too.

Will be a good challenge to carry a team in a new comp, playing against teams the standard on Perth, NZ and Wollongong (uninjured) every week. I'm looking forward to seeing him play, seeing who NZ bring out and hopefully seeing them come back to the pack a little.

I think Webster this year will be like Goulding last year though, so I still see the Breakers as the team to beat. Key for them last yea r was winning so many close games, it'll be interesting to see what impact losing Jackson (and Boucher) has on that.

paul - Chris Williams was the first name that popped into my head as well but it turns out he didn't play NBL in the last 10 years. He played in 2003.

I'd rate Hodge in 2008-09 as the standout from the last 10 years. He is the only player I can recall, in that time, coming into the league and having the scale of impact that Chris Williams had. He was unstoppable, to the same degree that Williams was. I feel the other ones that come to mind - Carlos Powell and Brian Wethers - didn't have the same impact on their teams' chances of success as Williams and Hodge mk 1.

That said, of the players in the last 10 years, I'd rate Anstey and MacKinnon in the same class as Jackson. Especially for their roles in making good teams into champions. Take them out of those Tigers and Bullets teams and

Cool Sory Anon, is BJ Anthony on huge money at Adelaide cos he's a Tall Black?

Big advantage the Breakers have is they are a big ticket item now, meaning companies want to be involved with their players, and the club has the contacts to take full advantage of that. Good on them, I dont begrudge players making money from the sport through legitimate means.

Perth also has a big profile and strong contacts, and I imagine opportunities exist for players in Melbourne too. It's the nature of the business, and good clubs find ways to add to what their players can make purely from playing.

Playing NZNBL is a nice top up in the off season for Breakers players whilst still staying local.

This season Corey Webster will get a whole lot more minutes and probably get a few few plays run for him.

I think just about every team has made some nice offseason moves in regards to rosters so everyone is going to be more competitive across the board.

NZ have a lot of long term chemistry and a winning culture but will need a lot of focus to win 4 in a row.
I don't know if they'll be as hungry as Adelaide or say, the Hawks who who were right up there until injury robbed them of a legit shot.

NZ, Perth and Wollongong had such a big advantage last season because of their continuity. Townsville would have too if they had not completely stuffed up with their imports.

Those teams averaged eight returning players where the others averaged five. This year that has disappeared a little bit, NZ still in front with seven but a lot of teams with six.

In terms of returning starters, NZ, Perth, Cairns and possibly Wollongong will all be bringing back four (depending on Hurdle), and that has to help.

NZ 7 returning this year, 4 starters(8 last season, 4)
Perth 5, 4 (8, 5)
Wollongong 6 or 7, 3 or 4 (8, 4)
Sydney 4, 2 (5, 2)
Melbourne 6, 2 (5, 1)
Cairns 6, 4 (6, 3)
Townsville 5, 2 (8)
Adelaide 6, 4 (4)

Union Olimpija has played in Euroleague for the past 20-odd years, and while they certainly havent been a top club, until recent financial troubles they definitely werent the worst either, even this past year they went 3-7 in the best comp in Europe.

In the past three years they have defeated European powerhouses CSKA Moscow and Panathinaikos and lost to Barcelona by a point, as well as defeating some other strong clubs like Khimky Moscow, Efes Pilsen, Valencia, Partizan, Milan and Roma. Definite scrubs!!

They are spending a lot of money on Jackson to lead the team back to where it was before they hit rock bottom financially.

Boo Hoo Cedric moved on (as he eventually was always going to).. be glad the NZ Breakers and NBL had him as long as they did, he is a world class player. Now, getting a replacement is the business at hand... it can be done.

I loved this bit...

"So the MVP of the NBL ends up in amid level Eurocup (league below Euroleague) team............ PATHETIC

My god, has the NBL really gotten this bad?"

Matt Nielsen went from NBL MVP to a Eurocup team who had been disqualified the year before and had been in bottom half of Greek the league the three previous seasons!

For that matter, Chris Williams went to a mid-level Eurocup team who were mid-table in the German league (and took them into the Euroleague).

Willie Farley went to a mid-table Turkish team that didnt play in any European comps.

Deron Williams went to a mid-table Turkish team that played in the Eurochallenge! Wow, has the NBA really got that bad?

Good stuff, paul.