36ers - Gibbo, DJ and Ere
Taipans - Starks, Gliddon and Wortho
Hawks - Lisch, Penney and Ogilvy

Adelaide - Gibson, ere, DJ
Cairns - gliddon, wortho, Starks
Illawarra - penny, oglivly, lisch
Melbourne - holt, Goulding, blanchfieldd
New Zealand - cedrick Jackson, Webster, vukona
Perth - Martin, beal, knight
Sydney - Childress, khazzouh, Thornton
Townsville - Steindl, Conklin, jett

Penny, Ogilvy and Lisch are the best big 3 IMO.

Haha slambour that's a blast from the past. Ebe def has some weight to lose, doesn't look like he is in game shape, but is amongst the 6ers best 3.

at the moment for me the 6ers big three looks to be Gibbo, DJ and Sobey. Just based on current form.

With all due respect to sobey, if it ends up looking anything like this for the season.... itll be a long one.

Also Worthington or loughton at Cairns alongside there imports? Toss up for me, Worthington has the name but is his game still solid enough.

Perth - Knight, Prather, Martin (Jawai if he gets in shape)
Adelaide - Johnson, Petrie, Gibson (plus Ere in crunchtime)
Melbourne - Kickert, Blanchfield, Goulding
New Zealand - Vukona, Webster, Ced Jackson (Abercrombie if Webster leaves)
Illawarra - Ogilvy, Penney, Lisch (although Martin will be just as important)
Sydney - Khazzouh, Childress, Thornton (although Markovic could be just as important)
Townsville - Schenscher, Conklin, Jett
Cairns - Tragardh, Gliddon, Starks

Do Hawks have the capacity to bring in a 2nd import?

"Big 3" implies 3 impact players who are legitimate game winners and elite players, all on the same team. Or, you could say that it means the 3 most important players on any given team, if you think there are 3 guys who are clearly more important than the rest. But a true big 3 should fit the first definition. Otherwise we're watering down the definition a bit too much for my liking.

And on that basis, there might be plenty of teams who don’t have 3 legit elite game winners and hence, don’t really have a “Big 3”.

I nominate the Ogilvy-Lisch-Penney, Khazzough-Childress-Thornton and Holt-Goulding-Blanchfield groups as the trios most likely to fit that billing this season.

Others:

- NZ’s Jackson and Webster are both elite, clearly. Vukona is a strong contributor but not elite.
- Perth has Beal. Prather possibly. Martin is similar to Vukona in that he does some things really well but I don’t think he’s a pure game winner. There’s a question mark over how much influence Jawai can have since he has to share court time in a stacked frontcourt.
- Cairns game style means that it’s difficult for individuals to shine to the extent required to really have a big 3 to speak of. Although you could say Gliddon, Wortho and Starks could all turn out to be at the elite level this season.
- Townsville, Adelaide seem unlikely to have 3 guys who are elite.

LV, I think you have mistakenly equated match-winner with points scorer. Martin and Vukona are as much match-winners as almost anyone in the league.

Yeah I suppose they are, Paul.

If you're asking who the 3 most important players are on each roster in terms of their team’s chances of success this season, I’d answer like this:

Adelaide- Gibson, Ere, Johnson.
Cairns- Starks, Gliddon, Craig
NZ- Jackson, Webster/Abercrombie, Vukona.
Perth- Martin, Beal, Prather
Sydney- Khazzough, Childress, Thornton
Illawarra- Ogilvy, Penney, Martin.
Townsville- Jett, Conklin, ?
United- Goulding, Ibekwe, Holt
If Barlow is injured as rumoured: Goulding, Blanchfield, Holt.

Actually I wouldn't say Martin and Vukona are close to as important as say, Childress, Cedric Jackson- true elite level players.

But you are right in that they have as much of an influence on the outcome of games as many players who are more flashy and score many more points. They bring very valuable things to the table so you're right- they are match winners.

That's why I said almost anyone! If the oppo PG can't initiate the offence regularly due to Martin's pressure (as well as his teammates' help) then Perth win most of those games.

Similarly, if oppo teams can't get anything from pick-n-roll because Vukona is able to shut it down, the Breakers will probably score a heap in transition from their oppo's rushed or contested shots late in the shotclock, and they win games where they score in transition.

Martin and Vukona are rare beasts in that regard, and while not as influential as those two, I think the work Anthony Petrie does at both ends of the floor is often underappreciated. I think his 36er teammates would have him as one of the three most important.

36ers : DJ, Petrie and Creek

Taipans : Gliddon, Trigger, Burston (some might find it funny I put Burston but when he plays well Cairns are nearly impossible to beat)

Hawks : Lisch, Ogilvy, Coenraad (i think Tim is poised to really star this year and if he starts the season off the bench then i believe that will motivate him to get the most out of his minutes and it wouldn't surprise me if come playoff time if he starts and Penney is 6th man and firepower off the bench)

United : Goulding, Blanchfield, Ibekwe (if United break even in rebounds and can get Ibekwe's rim protection from him staying on court then they will win most games)

Breakers : Vukona, Abercrombie, Pledger (counting out Webster and I don't respect any guard that air balls free throws, sorry Cedric so if Pledger gets back to top form then NZ will make playoffs regardless if Webster is there or not)

Wildcats : Damo, Knight, Prather

Kings : Childress, Khazzouh, whoever is point guard on court (I think Cadee and Markovic will push each other so greatly for court time and if they don't then Carter will take their place)

Townsville : Conklin, Steindl, Norton

The NBL's next big three : Bullets, Tassie Devils and Territorians