Also suggesting that the reason they aren't cleared yet is because Sydney play perth this week. What a dickhead.

Yeah I noticed that. Can't beleive he is still harping on about the whole Marvin having an unfair influence on the NBL. He also posted this the other day ...

THIS JUST IN: James Ennis' mother is delighted to report her son's All Star Five trophy finally has arrived by sea mail and now is proudly on display on the mantelpiece, right next to his dog-eared and well-read bound first edition copy of "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

http://www.botinagy.com/blog/week-17-rankings-kings-gone-no-joshin/

Get the "F"over it

Sydney have no hope of making the play-offs, so qualifying is irrelevant.

PS: If Marvin was trying to influence the NBL against Sydney, he'd have had Muo playing with them last week.

Haha that trophy line is funny to be honest.

#464, ok, I'll ask. What happened?

Perth pressure the NBL... NO never! Haha let it be boys, we all have opinions and we will never always agree, Boti has his point right wrong or in-between, its just another valid opinion.

Just read on twitter that Kings had Al Harrington lined up but the NBL knocked them back?

The more exposure the better, dont understand this!

Thats suicidal to the league if true. Should be no rule against this sort of thing. The only rule that applies is in the case of a playoff birth, the player MUST play 7. Imagine the Kings locking up Harrington and Childress for next season, that'll make some teams recruit a little harder!

agreed Kobe, and at the same time will bring more fans to games

Well by suicidal, I'm referring directly at the crowd participation. If this is true, someone needs to be held accountable and asked to resign. Sorry but this is just that big a thing IMO. The culture needs to be one that any agent of a out of work NBA guy thinks of Australia as a destination on the short list. Jesus as the world is these days, Id much rathe play here than past of Europe and the middle east!!!!!!

Forced Johnson to wear #32 instead of #21? I'm intrigued "Anon", what did Perth do?

Boti enjoys a playful dig and I suspect he, like many, see Perth (and anyone associated with it) being a little on edge. I didn't see much point him bring up the Ennis Trophy incident when I read it, but clearly I wasn't Boti's target.

What's this got to do with Perth and Marvin? It's an NBL rule, has been for years, that a player can't come in once his team has played 75% of their games. If you don't like the rule, that's fine, but don't suggest a conspiracy when the league actually enforces a rule.

"Nba names draws crowds..."

Unfortunately they haven't so far, but that doesn't mean we should be knocking them back when they want to play in our league!! It seems like a rdiculous decision and a ridiculous rule.

And what Boti is doing is super important, the owners of the rich clubs need to be held accountable to ensure league HQ operates with the best interests of the entire league as their priority.

I think the rule has merit because of what it prevents but we've come across a situation where following it to the letter of the law has shown its not the best thought out rule, or it needs some amendments. That doesn't mean it should be scrapped or amended instantly.

The Kings play all playoff contenders except NZ in their remaining games. Which of those teams would be happy if the rule was not followed?

No rule that prevents a team from replacing an injured player has any merit in my book.

Montreal is in Sydney at the moment.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Harrington lining up as its good for the league. I'd love to see him play at Perth Arena on Sunday too. The problem is, it is a rule and bending it at this stage of the season would cause another issue.

Perth just had the need to replace two injured players, Knight and Ross. They got Luke Martin. Can't really see how you can accuse them of pulling strings to suit themselves.

Fair point about the other playoff contenders now being given an advantage and hurting integrity in another way though. But as I said, the rule is just a one-liner and doesn't go in to other "what-if" scenarios unfortunately.

Yes, Yes .... Perth controls the NBL...I mean it so evident when you look at it at.... You know the fact they are in a 3 way battle for the last spots in the playoffs, the fact that NZ won 3 championships prior winning one themselves last year.....even the fact that they just had a gruelling schedule. Let's not forget Ennis NOT winning the MVP last year. Take off your tin foil hats peeps.

Why would the NBL block Harrington but allow DQ ? Doesn't sound right unless DQ can use the games he played for 36ers as games towards the 75% rule. I say let him play, good for the NBL

Actually, Perth used the rules correctly to get U'u signed.

The Ross signing is a different story. They, along with NZ, thought they were abiding by the rules. Some say it's wasn't officially a rule, some say that the BA/FIBA directive was the rule. Make up your own mind but Perth didn't set the precedent, and they didn't allow the precedent in order to benefit from it (Ross wasn't on the radar for two months after Wesley was signed).

You can presume that it's Perth complaining about as much as you like. You are basing that on nothing.

I'm disappointed that Marvin didn't use his dictatorial powers to force the recent Sunshine Swing to be played in Perth.

I heard that Marvin ordered United to lose to the Hawks to help the Cats make the playoffs.

For those saying that Boti is holding Perth and Marvin to account, nothing could be further from the truth.

Boti is allegedly an impartial journalist. He doesn't behave that way. In my opinion, his articles generally read as if they were written by the leader of of a cheer squad.

As a journalist, if he has information about improper practices, surely he has a duty to his employer to expose it and continue to write about it until the perpetrators are held to account. I would have thought that this would be the sort of stuff that sells newspapers and brings credibility to the publishers.

Instead, he continually makes silly anti-Perth comments like the Ennis trophy comment, the disrespectful nicknames he gives Marvin and the most recent "surprise surprise" comment re Sydney playing Perth. In doing so, I believe he damages any remaining credibility he has as a mainstream basketball journalist.

If you've got something to say Boti, say it. If not, would you like some fish with the chip you have on your shoulder?

FWIW, the rule concerned is probably this one:

"9. Deadline for Registration of Players
9.1. A player may not be registered with an NBL Club after that NBL Club has played more than
or equal to 75% of its regular season games.
9.2. Subject to Rule 9.1 and meeting other requirements in these rules, a player whose contract
has been terminated during an NBL season may be registered with a different NBL Club in
the same season."

So 9.1 stops Harrington or another such player being signed by the Kings. Rule 9.2 allows Muo and Montreal to be signed.

This is from the 2011-12 NBL rules. Presumably it hasn't changed. Maybe it will be considered for change after this chain of events.

Come on PeterJohn - please don't let a simple black and white reading of the rules get in the way of a conspiracy theory!

Man the Perth faithful are on edge. Have had to sift threw all the weird defensive comments to get to the Harrington stuff. If only the team were as defensive minded.... OH SNAP!

Its crazy to me to turn away high caliber players. This league is simply not in a position to be that confident within its self. No growth will come with holding talent out of the league. Where talking about a marquee city. If they can find a way to fill the stadium with a losing team and continue to attract sponsors well thats what has to happen.

We said Vodka63. Boti writes for the Adelaide market and is as parochial as they come. Anything he writes needs to be read in that context.

Thanks for posting the rule PeterJohn. If people don't like the rule then lobby to have it changed for next season but don't give one team an exemption just because they might be able to sign a decent player for a few weeks.

It's easy anon, just look at crowds with and without NBA players like Childress, Flynn, Mills and Young. Sadly, there is no real upward trend. Same goes for TV viewers.

Funny that all the people who are in favour of breaking (not bending) a rule to let Harrington in are the same ones who were up in arms when Perth and NZ acted within the rules to sign Ross and Wesley.

Remember when Perth got a roster rule changed mid-season last year so they could re-sign Jesse Sanders?

Oh, wait...

I feel for the Kings , losing Childress leaves a massive whole . I guess this is the risk u take when you spend half of your salary cap on one player.

Unfortunately at this stage of the nbls development into a solid league, if it was for a betterment of the league and solidified a stronger league for seasons to come id have to suck it up.

Haha give me a break, Kobe.

Just taking emotion out of the answer to the question and thinking about longevity of the league. The rule stinks, probs my main point.

Childers is arguably the best player in the NBL. Bringing in Harrington would not be a case of stacking a team, but rather trying to allow Sydney to maintain the strength of team they had before Josh was injured. As a fan, I'm going to become more anti- NBL/Perth as I watch our team be massacred over the next 6 games.

Having to bring in someone at this late date is likely to be unsettling to a team at any rate, and would most probably make little difference to the team's ability to finish strongly.

But bringing in NBA Talent into the league at least makes it interesting to watch.

I agree with the basics of the 75% rule, except I think teams should be able to sign bonafide injury replacements, PROVIDED the pro-rata salary does not exceed that of the injured player.
Nobody wants to see a team upset the applecart by bringing in a hired gun for a few rounds, but Childress was close to the best player in the league and should be allowed to replace with somebody similar.

That said, I disagree with the nonsense idea that bringing in an ex-NBA player will suddenly get an extra bunch of people flooding to the games.

I realise there are a few malcontents out there, who bitch about the NBL but claim to be ardent NBA fans. But fact is they're never gonna get of their arses and turn out to support NBL nomatter who's playing. The NBL needs to generate more support in the wider community, and most people would not have a clue who's played in the NBA.

I would normally agree with D4444 and others in that the rule shouldn't be broken but this is an exceptional scenario with the league on the brink of a new TV deal they need to raise the profile of the league as much as possible.

That and the fact that it's a like for like injury replacement is not against the spirit of the game.

Boti on the money again.

http://www.botinagy.com/blog/wildcat-strike-not-on-for-sydney/

Will be interesting if after Perth bury the Kings today Marvin relents and lets the kings bring in Harrington. He would want the Kings to beat everyone else. Even with Harrington, the disruption, I think it highly unlikely he would bring more to the Kings than Childress would have, had he remained healthy.

Hahahaha get off the crack Boti

Perth complained so no DQ

Did they? Please provide some specifics to that allegation.

I can't believe so many people read a Boti blog and take everything he says as being 100% truthful, and then turn this whole Harrington saga in to purely Marvin's doing. You'd all make great Scientologists.

Even if the NBL had approved Harrington's signing, the chances of him being cleared to play this weekend would have been close to zero.

Scientology is real. So what's your point?

Anon 2707 : So Boti comes out with some out there conspiracy theory about Perth controlling the NBL and stopping the Kings from playing Montreal and Muo but has not concrete evidence to back it up ? But it must be true because Boti is a journalist and journalists never spin a story lol I like Boti as a journalist and respect him for his contributions to the NBL and basketball in Australia...... But not when he is vomiting this garbage. If there is any truth to his allegations then they should be investigated.....IF...

You do realise Boti is writing these insinuations on his blog? It's an opinion. And I reckon he at least partly does it because he KNOWS it's so easy to get a rise out of Perth fans.
He's not making any accusations against Perth in his news pieces in the Advertiser, to my knowledge.

Is Boti accusing Perth of indirectly fixing results so Perth secure a play off berth ....cos that's some pretty serious allegations.

Just a co incidence that's all he was raising.

If Boti was able to hold off on the trivial criticism of Perth, he might have his current nonsense looked at more favorably. But since the middle of last season, he has attacked Perth for; Marvin's role in the post match melee that Ervin started (while completely ignoring what Dean Parker tweeted BEFORE Marvin said anything; for their cheerleaders doing their "voodoo dance" around the Hawks bench, claiming that a battling club shouldn't be subject to that; and he has tried to get continual mileage out of the Ennis trophy incident, making terrible jokes and constantly bringing it up when 99% of the basketball world has moved on.

Everything he writes gives the impression he has an obvious yet futile agenda. His latest blog with a "wink, wink" reference to players not being cleared with two days notice because of a Perth/Marvin conspiracy is so ridiculous when you consider how the NBL history is littered with examples of delayed approvals.

I am not speculating it is the truth.. Montr. went to training in Sydney ..flew to Perth was told that afternoon by the league he wouldn't be aloud to play due to a protest of the formerly named club.

On what ground was the protest made ? Had all the paperwork been processed or had he been officially signed ?

"Ofcourse you'd disagree dazz, whats new. Same people annoying on here with their politically correct no growth of the league mentality."

Ok, so explain how signing an ex-NBA player for 5 games magically grows the NBL or its attendance?

7. Registration Process
7.1. Applications for registration of a player must:
7.1.1.Use the approved form (Appendix 1 & 2);
7.1.2.Be accompanied with a signed Player Contract (Appendix 3) or, in the case of a Permit
Player, written permission from the club providing a permit;
7.1.3.If the player is registered with another club (in Australia or overseas), be accompanied
by a completed application for clearance (Appendix 4);
7.1.4.If the player is a restricted player, be accompanied by relevant immigration
documentation, an international clearance and a Foreign Player Licence.
7.1.5.Be accompanied by a NBL Proposed Player Payments form endorsed under Rule 17;
7.1.6.If the NBL Propose Player Payments form was endorsed conditionally under Rule 17.4,
the NBL Club must establish that those conditions have been met;
7.1.7.Be accompanied by a registration of Membership with the Players State Association.
7.1.8.Include such other information as reasonably required by NBL from time to time.
7.2. Failure to provide all documentation required under Rule 7.1 when seeking to register a
player will delay the registration. A player cannot be registered until all required
documentation is provided.Section 3 - Registration of Players Page | 6
7.3. NBL shall register the player with the NBL Club once satisfied that registration complies
with these rules.

18.4. A copy of each player contract must be lodged with NBL at least five (5) working days
before the player intends to play in an NBL game.


Seems to me that Sydney wasted the best part of last week trying to get the rules bent, then when didn't work, tried to get paperwork for Montreal and Muo rushed through on a Friday, which wasn't enough time. Sorry, thats on them, not on the NBL, Nick Marvin or Perth.

Whats the point here? Both players have played NBL previously and it should be a simple matter to comply with the above points because it's already been done to get them into the NBL in the first place.!!!
NO time wasting what so ever is needed as its really just a matter of simple existing paperwork exchanges.

Read it again Nobody - they need a Player contract (with the Kings, not their old club), player payments form etc - and that all needs to be lodged 5 days before they play. Its not just tweaking the old paperwork. Perhaps people should be questioning the Kings administration rather than looking for conspiracies

So why is having a player contract so difficult?

Nobody, what do you think is a reasonable timeframe to have a contract etc submitted and approved?

Far less than a week in this case. Local already approved players basically require a rubber stamp.
Contracts are really the easiest part IMO. I would imagine DQ would need a seabl clearance which is no biggie either.

Ok, so if they submitted on Friday and its approved today, its been less than a week. Two business days - good turn around time. That is providing that the Kings were able to get all the documents together, considering they wasted a week on trying to get a player in who wasn't eligible.

From what I have heard, its likely that Boti's blog was online before the Kings had even contacted Muo.

"Not reading anything into that, of course. Obviously a coincidence, as always."

If that's the case, then the obvious explanation is that Nick Marvin intercepted their call and ensured that they couldn't talk to him prior to the Perth game. As Boti would say, I'm not saying that happened, but that's what people could think

"As Boti would say, I'm not saying that happened, but that's what people could think"

Then act with indignant when people call him out on his crap.

Certainly no idea about Muo being a player but DQ trained once with the Kings and fitted in well. Expectations were that he was to be cleared for this week. Despite some NBL board members being keen on that idea, it was ruled out immediately.
As to the replacement import happening that indeed is true as well with the NBL knocking it on the head. Sad days indeed.

Noboy, last week you were saying that Boti was on the money by saying Perth protested the Montreal and Muo signings. This week you're saying its the first you're hearing if Muo as a player. Which is it? Are you making things up as you go along too?

No I spoke to someone from the Kings today and I had it confirmed about DQ. I agreed with the principle of Boti's article that's all. The Muo thing may have happened and to that I have no knowledge as I said. Either way it shows how pathetic the NBL is getting.