I immediately thought it was all over too.

Regional teams?

What about all that talk about formalising links with the NBA? Could this be it?

What about 3 points for a dunk.Lucky to see 2 dunks a game these days.

bahahahahahahahahahaha

@mrjohnnywhite @danieleade really hurt my head.
wish i could put a filter on twitter and stop either of thier posts being retweeted by people i follow. perhaps it says something about the people i follow.

Okay, waiting patiently, with interest...

I like the idea that entertainment may be big on the front line of their agenda, let's make sure the officials tow the line on that one and I'm sure the players will deliver!

Biggest impact would be NBA affiliation or Asian championship series. In the case of the former, some sense of legitimacy. In the latter, gradual ramp up with TV/money to be able to increase our cap and value of players here.

Me to Boti:

@boti_nagy Hints? Too impatient.

@HoopsForum 2013-14 & topic we don't speak of - import restrictions. Why do we still have them? It will be on the table. And marquee players

@HoopsForum Oops. 2014-15 I meant.

Interesting as a discussion point at the very least. On one hand, I think we could see fringe Australian NBL players on the outer in favour of SEABL and NZ NBL type imports. On the other, it's likely to be more entertaining and boundaries of nationality are somewhat arbitrary anyway.

If a points cap no longer applied, that wouldn't work in favour of the Macmillans, Teys, etc. Probably not even in favour of someone like Holmes? Wonder what the NBLPA might think?

I guess it would be up to each team to balance between entertainment and supporting their local basketball community.

The league could drop the import restriction, but require a penalty fee for each import over the first one or two. e.g., $20k import tax. So if you want to ditch Teys at the 36ers to add in Willie Farley on the minimum, you cough up a fee that goes towards league marketing or special events.

I think I'd be more comfortable with the idea if there remained protection for Australian players (young and old). A stronger underpinning league? A split season with regional games and a limitation on games played by imports? Extra imports can only play road games?

Massive hype for a small change!

If 2-3 new teams come in next year it would make sense to allow an extra import, and a marquee rule is good so long as it is designed to encourage spending on top Aussie/NZ talent as well as imports.

... but hype is good at this time of year!

paul, at least it's something not regularly mentioned. We have our share of 48 minutes, marquee player, etc.

NBLPA might not stand for the rule in general. Increased competition would drive down the salaries of Australian players.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/basketball/cairns-coach-aaron-fearne-and-sydney-kings-director-steve-dunn-have-called-for-the-nbl-to-have-three-imports-or-a-marquee-player/story-fndkzqrr-1226698590035

Type faster boti!!

No problem with the idea, as long as it comes with an increase in teams, just chuckling at 'the end of the world as we know it'!

Not really a game changer though, Germany got rid of import restrictions and didnt really help their league, in fact it hurt it, and they have only started recovering since reducing the number allowed.

Clean the game up, call the fouls when they are there and bring back the silky skills. You will see more dunks if the game is more free flowing and the players can play clean bball. Won't matter how good the import is if they cant get past the defender as he is hanging on with both hands.

Some teams (we all know who) would have no players left on court if they actually called the hand checks/dirty defense tactics. Id go as far to say goorg wouldnt have won any championships if they called the over the top physical D.
As Johnny F stated its way too physical in the NBL when the player has the ball, no advantage hence the low scores and boring games for non basketball lovers..

If you want entertainment then clean it up firstly so players can actually entertain and show off their skills..

@igotmadskills ZING!!

oh shit, I thought they were going to bring back the Magic Man - anyone else hear that on Hamish and Andy this week?

Turns out the suggestion is of three imports rather than a free for all. With two new teams after this season, that isn't unreasonable. 14 new Australian spots added, potentially 7 removed. More jobs for everyone.

No panacea given so many of our imports aren't picked for showtime, but shouldn't hurt.

3 points for a dunk is dumb, the next thing we'll be playing a 20/20 (cricket) type of game to make it 'entertaining'. If you don't like the game the way it's played, scatter. Can't keep changing and altering it to suit a league's needs, address external issues, don't change the game. May seem like one little rule but you leave the door open then to more and more and more changes.

Should definitely go for the marquee rule for one Aussie and one import over allowing three imports for established clubs who already have talent.

I like the idea of allowing extra imports for new clubs though to allow them to be competitive early on without breaking the bank. Reasoning is here:

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/colu/viewDown/p/newsid/55294/arti.html

paul, what about two import restriction. $20k "premium" paid if you want a third import. Premium is waived if you finished bottom 1-2 last season or are an expansion team in their first year.

Mmm, I dont know. I would prefer to see teams with money spending it players with names, be they locals or imports.

What's the point of spending money on extra imports who arent better than the players currently in the league and dont generate extra publicity?

NBA draft 2nd rounders would be an easy pick up, many this year are looking for jobs overseas as they need financial stability for there families, if clubs could offer 250k for a season or more (with out clause) . Im sure some like ennis would jump onboard, if the NBL gets a good name among imports the better quality players we will get and the more the league builds!

Agree Benno, if more teams can build relationships like Perth have it can only be better for the league.

And that's where a marquee rule for a couple of players can work, Wollongong cant afford those guys but can pick up imports just as good as they have shown. We just need the rest of the cap to be reduced to allow an even playing field.

@paul use this season to figure all this out, even everything out and really pump up the 2014/15 season, I'm not much of an NBL fan myself but i know this game is building. Consistency is the key!

Yeah spot on.

The big changes shouldnt be to the on-court product though, they have to be to the off-court stuff that has been neglected for a long time.

There are only smart tweaks needed to what happens on court.

Its simple, attract better players with more lucrative cash. This will make the league better than it is, which in turn will attract more highly skilled players to play in a more skilled league. The more highly skilled players in the league the stronger the league is. The more the league will grow and the more happy us aussie basketball fans will be!

Unfortunately it's not quite that simple Benno. First, the money has to come from somewhere. Second, you have to make sure the clubs with more cash dont just dominate so the smaller clubs lose support and die.

It's about finding a way to balance the need to attract some marquee names who provide marketability. These ideas are good if the right framework for them can be found.

@paul the money will come over time as the league continues to grow! Yes i agree, strong named players will get the medias attention!

Isaac, NBA (through its China office) is already looking at an Asian/Oceanian type club tournament.

I dont think Euroleague has any restriction, but national leagues in European countries have varying restrictions from 2 (Spain, Greece) right up to 9 in Germany!

Typo, that was meant to be 6 in Germany. Used to be as high as 11/12 from memory, or close to.

I do like the marquee idea. I follow the A-League as well and the Marquee rule has, by and large, worked very well, especially this last year.

will allow NZ to replace CJ Bruton with Kirk Penney when he retires and still keep the pieces they have built/developed.....great news.

@igotmadskills

Well, it sounds like people are starting to agitate in that direction, even people from Those Teams We Aren't Mentioning. The off-season changes make it sound like they're pushing to change the philosophy towards excitement/athleticism.

I think it would definitely be a good move.

Improve the way the game is called, the TV production, social media/highlights and advertising in local stadiums and there will be a huge improvement.

Then add in a well thought out marquee player(s) rule and I think we will be on the right track. Let's hope the new admin gets it done, the ideas I have heard from HQ are certainly very good so fingers crossed.

@paul totally agree, they are all pretty easy things to change which gives the league a great outlook. Someone just needs to implement them. Thankfully it seems like things are changing.

I think we need to focus more on AUS and NZ and not worry as much about the Asian market until we get ours right. We should however get some nba stars to come to AUS after their china tours, they will get similar receptions to kyrie so hopefully kyrie can start a trend.

76ers v boomers would be nice in a few years once bbrown gets em going.

Love the idea of a marquee rule.

Look at what A-League clubs have been able to attract ( who cares if they're at the back end of their career...look what Del Piero did for Sydney!)

The idea would be for clubs to get maybe 2 average imports and one absolute stud (the latter being the marquee player).

I don't know how effective it would be for those teams that just went out and got another average/run of the mill import.

If they did that then theyd see no return on the 300k or so they used to get the marquee import....because average imports won't help drive TV viewership, crowd attendances nor league interest and media coverage.

3 imports and a marquee player rule for Australian players only would be great and dropping points system. None of the teams would pay big dollars for the 3rd import anyways, and would end up used on a SEABL type player coming off the bench as a 6th man. If it helps the league to make it more competitive and increase the overall talent level that can only be good for the Australian players to improve themselves but also get more seats filled.
We do need more teams though to join the league before we could make it work however. 2 teams to kick it off and a plan to increase by a team or 2 over the following 5 years.

ok. Go for the marquee player rule all you like. Just don't compare it to the a-league.

There is precious little evidence that the marquee player rule has any medium or long term impact in the a-league. And a second year marquee player has basically no impact at all. Which means you are potentially back to rotating imports every year.

However, given 5 on court, it needs to be tried in basketball.

However, it does not fix the fundamental problems of the league.

Get rid of the points system so teams don't make decisions for there last one or two players based on what points are left. delaney delaney, DELANEY at the Hawks.

I think by having one marquee player is going to kill the league. This guy will come in and think he is the shit. Making so much more than anyone else on the team will mess with chemistry. Mark My Words

I like marquee rule, but one issue is how good the NBL is. We had the leading scorer from last WCs and Olympics play in NBL and while very good players did not stand out from the pack of top players.

People expect marquee players to stand out, if not they lose interest in watching them as happened with Mills and Flynn.

Where do you consistently get players better than Penney and Mills for less than $1million?

#432787

You completely misinterpret the premise.

I did not say del pierro and numerous others cannot play. I did not say it did not cause publicity.

These are only meaningful if they boost crowds consistently, along with viewership. The impact however is short term only.

I have detailed here many times the true impact (or lack thereof), of A-league marquee players on crowd levels.

A blip, not a bump...

A-league crowds are still not back to the levels they were six seasons ago (07/08 was their best season by far). They remain well below that level. In that time they have removed their worst drawing teams, and last season in particular, attracted exceptional marquee players....

The evidence, as opposed to the optimism, does not measure up. The damage, realised in part already by Victory, is what happens the season after your best "marquee" player leaves - the one-upmanship cannot continue forever.

I hope that the league can upgrade his sponsorship from Virgin (Australia) and players and support staff can get free travel through out the season and if we go into Asia then you'd gather that would help make it beneficial to our community based teams.

I'm not sure how I feel about 3 imports as I've always been a fan of making imports naturalized and rewarding teams for their loyalty with players and hope that this continues long into the future

No so sure the NBL is quite ready for the marquee player yet.

I tend to agree with HO on this one, don't compare a game played outdoors in a 50,000+ capacity stadium to Hoops when looking at something like a marquee because Soccer has that broader audience (makes it easier for soccer to promote the marquee concept)!

The other ideas seem pretty good, but I think the money that a club would throw at a single player 'marquee' if you like, would be better served with three imports and no restrictions on the points...

Improve the product, sure, but we still need to walk before we run IMHO.

This is about 5 years over due!!!! Great news if this can get off the ground, league needs to show some creativity in its attempt to make it more enteraining.

I like the idea of - 2 x imports + 1 x "bring an aussie home" a 10 point player not included in salary cap,but with increased points cap(85)

All just @@@@@@@ into the wind, 3rd Marquee import would send most clubs bust. I would rather employ more australians and stop teams stacking themselves.

What, so just keep doing what we have been doing for the past few years a die a slow agonising death, no thanks, let's try something at least...

@Hawkeye, everything is a risk mate, but doing nothing at all is the biggest risk of all!

Wildcats had a nice half-page advert showing off Ennis in his Miami Heat gear in the inside cover of the The Wests's sports pages. Nice to see them putting in the yards to capitalise on the signing.

probably should be..... 1 x import + 1 x "bring an aussie home"

Agree, dont do nothing, have 1 import