A large part of that would be due to Bairstow missing 1.5 seasons with injury.

They had Bairstow and then he got injured and managed part of one season, and then none of the next. Then they resigned him for two years after that. But for that, it could've gone some way to answering all three of your points.

And aren't they now signing young Australian players to build around - Gliddon, Hodgson, Cadee, etc?

They're improving but lots to learn from after the inaugural two seasons and I'm saying this from the perspective of a foundation season member.

Right steps were taken initially in the signing of Lemanis and Bairstow/Craig but unfortunately injury and other opportunities have robbed momentum in that respect. The squad this year appears more balanced but time will tell. Brisbane is notorious for only ever getting behind a winner, look at the crowd figures of the Lions and Roar.

Placeholder is the last thing I'd use to describe them though, the league can't not have a presence in the nation's third largest city and ignore 2.5 million potential eyeballs. It will carve its niche here sooner or later.

Young players: it would also help to have at least 1 local player born and/or raised in the town. Someone the fans will love, who has character or charisma. The NBL used to get this from long term imports too.

Bairstow is a Brisbane local.

Isaac - your post prompted me to check those guys' ages. Gliddon'll be 29 next season, Cadee's 27 and Hodgson will be 27.

I have to admit to being surprised at how old Gliddon and Hodgson are. Gliddon has 6 NBL seasons under his belt, Cadee about 8 and Hodgson 3. Gliddon and Cadee are probably closer to the ends of their NBL careers than the starts, now. That said, Gliddon may go on for a while, as he seems pretty robust and injury free.

I wouldn't call them a young core but I could see them forming the Aussie core for 4-5 years, which probably supports your point.

Yes, a Healthy Bairstow would have been great.
Kickert was a Mercenary already near the end of his career.
Petrie was the kind of player you'd sign for leadership if everyone else was under 25.
Gibson has gone backwards every year since about 2010, not sure he was a great choice to build on.
Jervis was only ever going to be a good backup. Why lure him from Perth at his age? Glad to see him back where he belongs.

Gliddon is a good pickup, but at his age he's not going to become a Brisbane Legend.
Cadee I'm not sure on. Has shown flashes of brilliance. Could be a good pickup.
What I would rather have seen them sign is the NEXT Gibson, Gliddon, and Caddee.

Vukona = WTF. I'm sure the old warhorse still has something to give, but again he's at the tail end of his career.

If you consider that they have won 2 wooden spoons, and have once again assembled a questionable lineup, wouldn't they have been better off playing youngsters??

Damian Martin was (under) 25 when he joined the Cats, Wagstaff 23, Knight 25. That's the age you want to target...

I appreciate that good locals aren't just hanging around on tress waiting to be picked, but surely that's where you should leverage your imports??
Picking up imports from other teams doesn't really work towards the "Franchise Player" goal.
This season they have apparently restricted themselves to only 2, one of whom they claim will be the backup to Cadee??

So moving forward, I would be happy to see new teams given the following for the first couple of seasons:

Extra Import, 3, with everyone else back to 2.
Extra local, so a 12 man roster with everyone else back to 10.
Extra DPs, and suit up an extra DP at home games (2)

Bullets are looking every bit like the Kings were when they came back. Hopefully for their sake (and for NBL success in Brisbane) it wont take 8 years before they assemble a team that should start winning.

Just on the youth side of things - i feel this is a much older league, generally speaking. Aside from imports, there seems to be alot of veterans playing and a lot of players in their late 20's. Is that a fair assessment?

AD, so this season should they be trying to win or signing young players that stay with them for a decade?

Do you think Perth knew that they had Hire at the time and that he wasn't someone who’d struggle to crack the roster?

Adelaide don’t have a homegrown hero. Illawarra don’t either. Sydney?

Takes a while to rebuild a club especially without engaging much of history/legacy. Give Bullets a couple more years. If by year 5 things haven't improved then start worrying.

In all honesty, I don't know how important birthplace is for "Home Grown" heroes?
Maybe it's just a Perth thing, but we have a penchant for "adopting" people. People who don't attend Perth games have no idea just how popular Damo is with the Red Army. I've always just imagined other crowds were the same.

"Should they be trying to win, or develop youth?" That's the critical conundrum isn't it.
My concern would be that over the past two years they've done neither, and they don't seem to have learnt.

And again, my point is what should the model be for new teams?
Should there be concessions?
Should they push younger guys around the 25 mark?
Or just try to win/
Or should they follow the Brisbane model, in which case the two new teams should be called the Seagulls, and the Ibises.

I think people need to stop thinking of basketball like Aussie rules in that you get in an 18 year old, he hits his peak at 23-26 and by 30, he's signing 1 year extensions, and more like cricket (very rare to see players under 25 debut for the test team). NBL has extended the DP to 25 so someone that's elevated like say Rhys Vague would do well getting 6 seasons as a fully contracted player.

The stud youngster that can be a household name like Newley or Ingles when they came into the league aren't going to stick around long enough to make a heap of merchandise for. Simple fact is that Leroy Loggins is still the most well known Brisbane Bullet and there's nobody they will build a statue for anytime soon in this squad.

In saying that, I don't think this is a terrible squad, I like the look of Fullerton but I'm afraid he won't be seen on court much which will be a shame.

I think there initial squad for a start up was spot on, veteran leadership, exciting imports and a star local in bairstow. It all came crashing down quickly & they haven't recovered.

The squad they’ve built this year is perplexing to say the least. Caddee as starting PG, vukona to play a meaningful role and Hodgson to be there starting centre? They’d need to nail both imports and have bairstow in all nbl form to be finalists - which is unfair given he’ll likely need a year to recover. Qld teams to battle for the spoon I feel.

In all honesty, I don't know how important birthplace is for "Home Grown" heroes?
Maybe it's just a Perth thing, but we have a penchant for "adopting" people. People who don't attend Perth games have no idea just how popular Damo is with the Red Army. I've always just imagined other crowds were the same.

Bullets were 7-8 after round 10 this season and 7-7 after round 9 last year. They haven't been far off the mark. Amazingly, they then went 5-22 after that across both years, with 13 of those losses being by single figures and/or in OT.

Comparing them with the Kings when they came back is way off the mark. Had they been better at finishing close games the Bullets first two years would be seen as successful.

Whether the players they've recruited make them better in that area I doubt, however if Bairstow had been fit in the first two years it's a different story in possession areas where they struggled late in games, and the same probably goes for next season.

AD - I was wondering about why you were being so arrogant. Then I saw your post about you being a Perth fan.

Makes perfect sense now.

In the NBL you should either have a roster that is competing for the title or one that is setting you up for the title.

Every season NBL franchises have the opportunity to bring in at least 1 big name local signing and of course quality imports, how you manage this whilst also protecting your core is what tend to set apart the better managed clubs.

On Brisbane - Personally I just don't get it and this looks like a squad that is assembled with the prime focus of not finishing last but equally this will most likely mean it probably won’t finish first.

An Aussie core of Bairstow, Gliddon, Cadee, Gibson and Hodgson and throwing in Mika & Te Rangi ....it’s going to need to hit a serious home run with imports to be a competitive top 4 team. Bringing Holt back so early to me is another sign of just being happy to be in a safe space. Surely you at least wait for the beginning of the season to target those who have not made Europe or the NBA rosters?

On the plus side all appear to be very savvy basketball players and maybe that will be the edge Lemanis is going for. To me Bairstow aside (health willing) and maybe Gliddon …..all it looks like to me is a pretty strong bench line up. If Bairstow cannot stay on the court or Gliddon isn’t paired with a creative import point ….they are going to be in a world of pain.

Success accelerates the adoption of players. When Damo, Wags, Knight, Robbins etc were recruited there was a fair share of people bemoaning how Perth wasn't signing players like Iliadis, Armour, Jervis, Purser etc to full roster spots instead of these eastern staters or going harder at Wortho and DJ.

When Wagstaff didn't turn into a Wortho level MVP contender but rather a consistent role player (e.g. Stephen Hoare) fans complained that the Wildcats should replace him with a local.

Brisbane is trying to head in the right direction but some of it comes down to finding the right players who want to stay and build a legacy. Bevo came in day 1 and said I want to build the next Perth dynasty to rival the 90s teams and found a core of players who bought in and have formed the core of the team for the past 9 seasons.

If Wagstaff, Martin, Redhage and Knight had decided they wanted to be elsewhere it doesn't work as well.

You are always going to have some false starts (e.g. Stevie Weigh) but recognising what you need in terms of stability is a step in the right direction.

Who is to say that Stephen Holt can't return to his Melbourne form? Kevin Lisch's first season was mediocre (seriously there were calls to sack him in the preseason) until he exploded in the finals and then two seasons later he is league MVP.

Mika Vukona played with CJ Bruton and Tony Ronaldson who are guys synonymous with knowing what it takes to win and he now gets to provide that veteran guidance.

Gliddon is a guy who does a bit of everything and seems happy to do whatever a team requires of him.

Cadee is judged more harshly because of what people's expectations for him were at 18 rather than anything else. He has been consistent for 10+ppg ~3rpg and ~3apg for several years now.

Bairstow was much hyped out of college and a lot depends on how well he can bounce back from the major injuries but he has the potential to be in the top echelon for his position with DJ, Bogut etc

As with most teams it is going to come down to if they can find imports that can be the final pieces to the puzzle.

Your rational points and reasoned arguments do not belong here, Silencer! Begone!

As I said from the start, this isn't so much about having a go at Brisbane, but examining the model required for New teams.

Aren't they potentially adopting Gliddon, Cadee, Hodgson, etc? Or at least starting what might become that?

I think you aim to win and things like marquee players and homegrown heroes emerge from that.

"Fit & Healthy" and Bairstow don't seem to belong in the same sentence, but if it happens he should be very good. Will probably take a while to regain touch, but that's ok.
He doesn't have to be MVP (although the potential is there) but if he sticks around could become the backbone of a good core.

Bairstow has been an important contributor internationally for Australian junior and senior teams. His college trajectory showed serious potential as evidenced by huge improvement in his senior year.

He was a great prospect coming out of college and into NBA. Then injuries.

The question is whether or not he can regain that trajectory.

"They have lost their top 4 scorers Buford, Trice, Kickert, and Jervis"

Only one defender amongst that lot though. Adding in Bairstow, Vukona and Gliddon will help a lot at that end, but the import SF will need to be very good at both ends.

People are harsh on Bairstow I think. He's been very good whenever he played for the Boomers, and I think if he's fit, he'll be one of the best bigs in the league.