Dazz
Years ago

Should the NBL expand Internationally?

Whilst some will never be satisfied with the way the NBL is run, lets assume for the moment that they can get their act together...

Is their an opportunity to expand internationally?

I wonder if there are two opportunities; the potential to add teams to a "premier league," but also to assist in the actual running and development of leagues.

The previous attempt to expand into Singapore was probably ill-conceived as an expansion team. Singapore's population is relatively small (~5M) their local talent is mediocre (and short) and their operating costs would be on par with Australia. Plus there was no real opportunity for the NBL to get involved locally.
On the other hand; Indonesia has a huge population (250M) a larger gene-pool, their costs are low, their current (I)NBL is basically bankrupt. If you consider that players in their NBL get around $75 a month, the NBL could assist them in developing their league for very few dollars. (Basically they could support an entire league for a fraction of the cost of supporting one team in Aus.) This would open the way for a (A)NBL team based in Jakarta, and a local TV deal.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Are you Cussy+ ?

You seem to know everything

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Anonymous
Years ago

maybe NZ apparently they go ok.

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Jono
Years ago

Philippines

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Juice Bronson
Years ago

Would love a team called the Indonesia Boats.
Chanting stop the boats would be a nice change from the standard d-fence chant.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Idiot

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Isaac
Years ago

An effective option would be strengthening the NBL, but playing the elite teams against some Asian counterparts each year.

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Libertine
Years ago

The ASEAN League almost folded this year due to lack of funds / interest - and the office is in Jakarta!

I'm a 30yr old hack with dodgy legs and I scrimmage occasionally against the Malaysian national team with my other expat mates (and we compete and sometimes win!).

I don't think you'll get anything in SE Asia anytime soon that would be worth your while.

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Anonymous
Years ago

No!

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AngusH
Years ago

Yeah, I think it's one of those things that sounds great in theory, but the fact of the matter is that there's too big a gap between Australian basketball and SE Asia. I think a tourney similar to Euroleague but extended to all Asian/Oceania leagues might work.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Agreed. A Basketball Champions League would be awesome! Top two teams from China, Japan, some SE Asian countries, plus central Asia (Kazakstan) and a couple from the Middle East.

That I would watch!

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Anonymous
Years ago

Re-read what Libertine wrote. Even if NBL clubs got to play in FIBA Asia Club Championship they would dominate too easily. So the next problem is competitiveness.

At the moment there is more to be worried about domestically anyway.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Liertine its and asean league so what part of asia should should head office be?

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Dazz
Years ago

Part of the involvement would be assisting in developing the sport locally.

A club-based tourney won't work, because the worst NBL team would be too tall & strong for the Best Indonesian club. (Local players get about $75 a month, so there's nothing to attract quality.)

However, spend a couple of years developing the local league, get together the BEST talent, with a couple of imports, and you could have have something competitive. It would be the difference between playing The NZ Breakers and an NZ-NBL team.

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Isaac
Years ago

Has to be the clubs in China at least. They have money, bit more skill and often decent imports. Earl Clark (Lakers) is about to sign. Delonte West was just released. Michael Beasley was there recently. Andray Blatche, Will Bynum, Earl Barron, Al Harrington, Bernard James, Pooh Jeter, Stephon Marbury, Seb Telfair, Ron Artest, etc. A number of the Chinese players there are more than competent.

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paul
Years ago

The Chinese game is improving quickly.

From the late 90s the depth of talented players in Australia increased significantly thanks to the popularity in the 90s (ie more kids started playing in 90s and standard improved when they reached adulthood).

The boom in China was inspired by Yao Ming and that has now started to have an impact on their pro ranks. They're still not at NBL level, even with expensive imports, but a game in China against a top CBA team would be a challenge, as it was for Real Madrid last year.

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Anonymous
Years ago

It is a great concept but would need some very strong promotion to get buy-in from the public.

Certainly worth exploring as part of a new NBL model though.

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Anonymous
Years ago

CBA/China don't need NBL/Australia though so it won't happen.

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paul
Years ago

The lure for the CBA would be additional TV dollars, exposure around Asia assuming teams from other countries were involved, and the chance to show they are the best, which would be a big one for China.

If something does happen, it will be on their terms though, that's for sure.

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Hoops

Should the NBL expand Internationally?

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