He wrote an entire season preview, something about the first Sixers game moving, and also gave some news on the NBL's dispute with referees. It was at least a full page. Were you reading the right paper?

i am sorry but i think boti has lost the plot in predicting melbourne to take it out.....their list is slightly above average IMO....and will in no way be in the semi finals let alone take out the whole thing.
D-Mac the money man....well he is still very good for his age....but clearly not a go to guy at the tender age of 41 odd.......get with the times boti!!.....i cant see any reason why sydney would not be favourites with most of their list returning.
adelaide not far off the mark in my opinion.

Melbourne won two pre-season games recently (admittedly against the Breakers) by 50 and 55 points. Those are utter thrashing in NBL terms.

In both games, Anstey looked to be in fine form. I don't think they'll win it all, but Anstey, Hoare, DT, Tucker, DMac is pretty intimidating. Corletto and Stiff are alright, but I don't know if their bench has loads of depth after that. Mottram is going to have to do something decent to stay in the NBL -- has had that horror run of injuries which would scare off any potential employers.

Whisper is that C.J Bruton might be playing elsewhere this season.
His recent form in China and the Gaze Cup has scouts from Europe offering some pretty big dollars.
My prediction is that he's Russian bound.

Surely Bullets would be early favourites until Bradtke's back creaks as a result of training?
Perth could be up there so long as Burstons ankle holds together and their import doesn't headbutt burstons knee at training?
Sydney-definitely same core plus recrited well and Melbourne on the back of Anstey and 2 quality imports plus a balanced supporting cast should be there.
Townsville-possibly with Newley delivering the goods.
Sixers =if Brett and Nashie hold together, Willie stays excited, Dusty delivers at last years rate, Coops flys higher and shoots straight, hambour and reesy redefine non contact sport and jake oscar and brad hill improve on last season then sixers will go close.

It might be hard to believe, but a couple of NBA teams have been sniffing at CJ since Athens.

Brisbane clearly has the most amount of talent, in fact they are simply loaded with it, so "on paper" they should be the favourites. However, I think the Tigers have a nice looking roster.

They have a quality, veteran point guard in D-Mac, a nightly triple double threat (yes including turnovers sometimes) import in Tucker, one of the finest defensive and rebounding imports in Thomas (whose offensive game has been criminally underused by the Tigers for the last couple of years, but not this year), a fine unselfish role player in Hoare & one of the finest Aussie centres around in Anstey. Plus, they have a nice pair of big guys off the bench in Stiff & Mottram (if healthy), Corletto will finally get his big opportunity to play and my bet is he will shine & from what I have heard Greer isn't going to be half bad.

Melbourne should well and truly be in the hunt this year.

Hate to admit it but my predictions for season 05/06 are:

1: Sydney (again)
2: Townsville (dark horse)
3: Brisbane (good list but too old)
4: Melbourne (slightly fresher legs)
5: Adelaide (on back of home ground performances)
6: Perth
7: Cairns (will definitly make finals)
8: Wollongong (stuffed - going for fall)

9: New Zealand (not done enough yet)
10: Hunter (no Wethers/Franklin, no scoring)
11: West Sydney (No good players, crap coaching)

Any thoughts?

Oh, and

Perth (experimental team, injury concerns)

Boti's Taipans section has Burgess, Mee, and newbie Tate Decker - all imports. How can this be?

Burgess is out injured. Apparently wanted to leave but Taipans won't release him. Decker is an interim replacement until Burgess is back in action.

The more I think about it, the more positive I feel about the 36ers for this season.
We have a settled side, so the players know each other well. Brad Hill will have the opportunity to show more, Oscar & Jacob will be huge as they continue to improve.
Two quality imports that other teams would love to have, a rejuvenated Nash and a champ in Maher. Why not feel optimistic?

and might want to edit his articles - shows Bradtke and Copes have departed TO Melb... is this a way to get around the slary cap?

My fearless predictions are :

1: Sydney (Can't bet against the champs)
2: Brisbane (Old, but that shouldn't be a problem until finals time)
3: Townsville (They look good. The champion probably is amongst the Top 3)
4: Melbourne (Start of the rest, will contend but probably won't win it. Maybe a dark horse?)
5: Adelaide (Will be a fun season, hopefully a trip to the Semi-Finals. Like Melbourne, could be a dark horse.)
6: Cairns (Won't be as strong to start with without Burgess, but will finish strong)
7: Wollongong (This is one stale roster that won't achieve much this year, but they should be in the 8.)
8: Perth (They have talent, but I'm not convinced. Their import PG had better be good)

9: Hunter (They look worse than last year, but maybe an improvement if their imports are good)
10: New Zealand (See Hunter.)
11: West Sydney (The worst roster in the NBL)

Any word on these NBA clubs Intrested In CJ ...

Sixers are the Only Team in the Leauge that dosent Have Practcally a New roster ... Which i think will hope the sixers get off to a fast start ... Most teams are gonna take some time to gel the sixers no how everyone Plays ... Sixers will finsh top 5

My Predictions

Sydney ( if Cj stays i think they will be to strong )
townsiville ( newly inproving the team can only get better )
Melbourne ( have some serious Talent Anstey will be hard to stop )
Brisbane ( may take some time to gel but will make a late Run )
Adelaide ( could be a dark horse once finals start )
Perth ( alot of question marks but if this inport is as fast as they say they could finsh alot higher )
Wollogong ( Will Make the playoff Quite Easily )

Hunter ( Cant see any of these Three Teams seriosly take on the top 8 )
NZ
West Sydney

Like him or hate him Boti does a good job in getting people talking about the sport. To that I say well done and keep it up Boti. If in doubt look at the response's about. It all started from his article

wak - i think you'll find the editors would have made that change.

A few seasons ago i e-mailed boti in regards to a story he did on Darnell Mee, and he admitted that often the editors think they know basketball better than him and change some of his stories before they go to print. I think this would be one of those cases.

I'm a Kings fan in Sydney here, so I'm probably supposed to hate Boti more than anyone. While he doesn't exactly write the most technically brilliant articles on the game, they are damn entertaining, even with his ridiculous King related conspiracies ;) It'd be great if every team/city had such a biased & entertaining writer along side the straight X and O writers most of us have.

spot on Frank

yeah, i'm just being pedantic - was bored at work.

Always enjoy reading Boti's articles, and along with this forum are the most informative sources of NBL in SA. Looking forward to his columns officially starting next week and the season commencing - going to be an interesting season with the injection of new names, reshuffling of teams and young talent stepping up.

My predictions -
1. Bullets (awesome lineup and role players - egos and gel essential for success).
2. Kings (teams will have their measure now).
3. 36ers (depth and familiarity)
4. Tigers (darkhorse that depends on bench numbers)
5. Crocs (high scores, lack of depth)
6. Cairns (good coach and signings, lack of depth)
7. Perth (bit of unknown here, have to familiarise with each other)
8. West Sydney (will surprise but be inconsistent)
9. Hawks (poor recruiting = poor season)
10. NZ (same old)
11. Pirates (will walk the plank!)