Just adding to my comment above about that 38-36 game, there are several others where the scoring is low (be it in the 50s or 60s), yet when I see the game story or highlights being presented/discussed, there is usually no comment about the scores or efficiency being low.

Whereas in the NBL, where there is a game with scores in the 60s, the comment will be "ah the standard of the NBL is poor, look how low the scoring is, much lower than NBA etc etc"

An attitude thing of the Australian sporting public?

I think people in the NBL need to stop worrying about America and try and create a league for Australian fans. We love the faster, up tempo, high scoring game.

I know its way out there but could the NBL switch to a completely new format and go the way of thirds haha?

3 x 15 minute thirds would be an interesting watch, no long half time but instead two shorter breaks of about 10 minutes each third.

Reduce time outs to one per third would be a good step too. Keep the flow going.

It sounds weird but it would work in so many ways. TV could remain in a two hour time slot whilst the fans get 5 extra minutes of Basketball.

40 minutes of basketball and 16 minutes of breaks comes in just short of two hours. How is 45 minutes of basketball and 20 minutes of breaks going to fit?

Quote: "Georgia State upset Xavier?

You must have inside information because they don't even play each other until the next round."

Oops, got my names mixed up, they upset Baylor in the first match.

You knew what I meant :P

300M people v 21 M.

Basketball part of American culture, we already have AFL, rugby and cricket.

The whole collage system and generations of student allegiance.

The NBL is a completely different beast. Apart from the actual sport being played.

Add to this the fact that Aus is an outdoors country, its snowing most of the time bball is played in the US and Europe.

Here's a wild thought, some outdoors feature matches... Allstar weekend and some regular season fixtures.

Once in a lifetime tournament is the difference every game every minute matters as it will not happen again apart from the history and culture of the event

Interesting point re: the weather. I know many have scoffed at moving back to Winter because it would be in direct competition with the AFL/Rugby, but perhaps Jono's point is valid? After all, the NBL did have it's glory years in winter...

As Jono said, most ex-students have an almost fanatical loyalty to their 'alma mater'. You just need to see the fan support for the St Mary's Gaels, for example.

There's also a lot more tradition around going to basketball and family allegiance to playing & watching basketball, sort of like we had with VFL up until it went AFL.

As a result, so much more money flooding into the university system, strong sports departments in most universities, and coaches appointed for life almost (even if they lose).

Teams also have time to build up a loyal fan base because players almost always stay with the team for four years, so fans learn to identify them and 'bond' with them.

One thing I noticed - there's a lot less bitching to the refs in NCAA, and a lot less tolerance for it. Over here, every miss or bump or turnover seems to need a ref to blame - it's never the player's fault. Maybe it's because they're playing for their jobs, whereas in the NCAA they're just playing for a few extra minutes.

Imagine a stable NBL where teams didn't die and coaches weren't turfed for losing a few matches, players stayed with their teams for four years, the venues were great, loyal fans kept coming for years on end because the game was fun to watch and occasionally amazing, players were optimistic and did their best (instead of being moody ass-holes constantly complaining to the refs), and nobody mucked around with the format and the rules and stuff.

Well said Hoopie couldn't argee more.

Something could also be said for creating good sporting formats for betting markets.

Melbourne Cup is a classic for getting a whole bunch of people interested in horse racing for one day a year. Why? melbourne cup sweeps and betting.

NCAA has bracketology, all over the country people fill out brackets in offices etc.

Adding a suitable betting format for the NBL, even just for the finals series could be an exploitable opportunity not currently being undertaken.

One thing we do know about the australian population, we love a good punt!