Yeah not a fan.

So this is the NBL Blitz, except it isn't the preseason, and the games count...

Sure.

They're using wins as a tiebreaker FFS. Idiotic.

Also well beyond time they dropped the "N" from the league's name. It's not fooling anybody.

This will be awesome - a month on bball in Melb. Why would you not want to see that? Miserable people cheer up.

This is a great concept that allows the season to be somewhat protected from a COVID event that could delay the season.

an opportunity for teams to bank extra revenue

Melbourne won the hub bid because it has the best infrastructure available, alongside support from the Vic Gov.

How is this idiotic?

Perth fans losing it because Perth isn't hosting, if Perth was hosting they’d be saying it’s a great idea!

Ultimately can’t hold anything in Perth where they crave hard borders

Because condensing a large number of games into a short period of time means a chunk of the season can be ticked off quickly. Rather than waiting for weekends to roll around, they can motor through 36 games.

Three NBL teams?

Didnt perth get some boomers games last year?

The wins/tiebreaker scenario is only to help decide who wins the prizemoney for the NBL Cup, not for the season. Again, not idiotic.

Perth fans losing it because Perth isn't hosting, if Perth was hosting they'd be saying it’s a great idea!

The point of a hub is it's one place - what’s your argument that those spots should have it over Melbourne?

The existence of other cities isn’t a sufficient argument. Melbourne makes a lot of sense, even though it provides an unfortunate home ground advantage to United and SEM.

The point of a hub is it's one place - what's your argument that those spots should have it over Melbourne?

Boomers have played China and Argentina in Perth in the last 10 years

I think people are missing the big picture potential of this idea.

It's clearly based on an in-season EuroLeague or Euro Cup type concept that's likely created to alleviate costs of the NBL season proper (separate broadcast/sponsorship deals in future) by generating hype of a Big Bash type tournament and I suspect the likely long-term goal is to try and get teams from Asia say China etc involved and all the potential outside broadcast/sponsorship contracts from them.

On the face of it it doesn't look like much but the NBL Cup has the potential to both offset the costs of the NBL regular season and if expanded to include club teams from other countries in our region could seriously take off.

Koburulz - yep it's crazy - they should put on games in small cities instead. That would make sense.

Dumb idea. Random hub set at a completely arbitrary time in the state that has been the least successful by far at containing the virus. Further this arrangement actually adds game to a season that probably should be expediated. My question is why? Why not start the hub in January? Is the NBL privy to information that we don't have that predicts a spike in February as opposed to the start of the season?


"On the face of it it doesn't look like much but the NBL Cup has the potential to both offset the costs of the NBL regular season and if expanded to include club teams from other countries in our region could seriously take off.
"

I don't see any cost offsetting in this season, though, where teams will have to relocate themselves to Melbourne for the entire month. Who is paying for that? Where will teams revenue come from in the games that don't have a Melbourne team involved which almost no one will attend?

I see no evidence that this is a smart idea. It's a lot of games of basketball in a small time period which could mean one of two things for fans - either a veritable basketball heaven with endless games to watch, or burn out half way through, and declining interest as it goes on.

Teams will also have shortened rotations because they'll be without their Boomers players.

WA could not get the AFL GF, and cannot get the NBL. WA people cannot see their family. The approach of the WA Gov has been to the great detriment to its constituents. A more balanced approach would have allowed all of these things.

I don't see any cost offsetting in this season, though

I see no evidence that this is a smart idea.

Calling it now the NBL finishes in a hub in Melbourne because WA won't open their border.

WA could not get the AFL GF, and cannot get the NBL. WA people cannot see their family. The approach of the WA Gov has been to the great detriment to its constituents.

People losing their shit because the NBL have decided to call their hub a cup?

It's clearly based on an in-season EuroLeague or Euro Cup type concept that's likely created to alleviate costs of the NBL season proper (separate broadcast/sponsorship deals in future) by generating hype of a Big Bash type tournament and I suspect the likely long-term goal is to try and get teams from Asia say China etc involved and all the potential outside broadcast/sponsorship contracts from them.

So it's the Australian Basketball Challenge? They tried that. It failed horribly.

And this version affects teams' regular season results.

Zodiac, weren't there Asian teams in the Australian Basketball Challenge for a couple years and that went nowhere?

Never heard of it

I love that Zodiac's argument is basically "this is a good idea because if you change everything about it so it becomes something completely different it might work", and yet that's still been proven wrong.

But they're having the hub after the season has already been underway. They may well have to replace the January home and away games with some form of hub, only to lose out on all the February home and away games because of the NBL Cup. Then what?

This is cover for the FIBA break hiding behind shitty marketing.

They don't get paid on a per-game basis.

I love that Zodiac's argument is basically "this is a good idea because if you change everything about it so it becomes something completely different it might work", and yet that's still been proven wrong.

That may be so, but to lose up to 50% of your salary, play an extra 8 games and also lose any career ending injury insurance seems pretty crappy

Sounds like it was another B-squad exhibition game. And it was ten years ago; Melbourne has had six or seven meaningful Boomers games in the past two or three years. Adelaide's had one. Did Brisbane get one? Nowhere else has got one.

All the marketing is Melbourne-centric. Melbourne was the preferred hub location even as it had by far the worst COVID situation in the entire country a few of months ago.

All the marketing is Melbourne-centric. Melbourne was the preferred hub location even as it had by far the worst COVID situation in the entire country a few of months ago.

Koberulz- perhaps move to Melb, where all the bball is played and will be played. It is and always be the heart of bball in Aust. You'd enjoy it.

I don't mind it being in Melbourne but the games should count as Melbourne and SEM home games (ie: for regular season they should only get 10 home 14 away).

Hubs are the only way this season happens so Melbourne should go first then do another block in another city that's Covid safe.

However, if things turn to crap and the NBL wants to do it all from 1 location thats BS. All fans but Perth loved to put an asterix on last seasons title. Only fair that who ever claims this seasons is tarred with that same brush.

Yep, and the timezone in Perth is rubbish for the overwhelming majority of NBL fans. Perth never an option.

"
It's strategically the best idea LK has ever hard re: the NBL even more so than buying NBA pre-season games. The potential with Asian teams involved is huge whilst still being relatively cheap to run in the meantime."

How is the potential with Asian teams huge? 1) Their standard of play and talent is vastly inferior save for some high paid imports 2) out of everything we've ever done with China they've NEVER shown any genuine interest in the NBL 3) what money do you even expect to come from Asian teams dipping their toes here for a month and having their asses handed to them?

I don't get it man.

I just saw this, so the NBL cup wins count towards the regular season ladder, or not?

They do. Despite different rules and rosters.

[Melbourne has three NBL teams, and gets almost every Boomers game. Melbourne can f*** off.]

That's cos Melbourne is the sporting capital of Australia, and the world.

3. The asses handed to them aspect would be in dispute as they buy up all the best imports outside of the NBA so the games would likely be closer than expected

Koberulz, believe me NBL teams couldn't dream of being able to afford the imports that Chinese teams get, some of those guys are on $1m-$1.5M USD a season. Their standard of imports are far above ours. Big gulf in standard between our locals and their locals sure but their best imports are a level above what we get in the NBL.

This whole idea the NBL Cup will become some sort of Asia Cup Championship exists only in your mind, Zodiac and anonymous. There's no evidence whatsoever that this is heading that direction.

Not withstanding the stupid points system, this is absolute lunacy.
JL has snorting too much Coke again.

The idea behind a hub, is that you move teams to where the Virus isn't.
Odds are we are going to see more virus flare ups, and Melbourne would be top of the list.
If the Victorian Government had any brains (which I guess they have already show they don't) they would have BANNED this event, not supported it. Might as well just put all the teams together into a swimming pool, and throw a bucket of virus in. As we have seen, again, and again, it will only take one idiot cleaner or bus-driver, and this could destroy the entire season. Even if you test everyone every day, by the time a positive result is reported they've played three teams, who have each played three more teams, and the entire fucking competition is shot.

$300k in prizemoney? Is it April 1st? Is this some kind of a joke?
Even for a teams like the Hawks that wouldn't cover their costs or the money they've lost.

Koberulz, believe me NBL teams couldn't dream of being able to afford the imports that Chinese teams get, some of those guys are on $1m-$1.5M USD a season.

Odds are we are going to see more virus flare ups, and Melbourne would be top of the list.

They could get LeBron and Giannis, they're still not making up a 70-point deficit.

Sadly, they have fucked this season up from the start.

Their precious Melbourne had the virus, so obviously the rest of the country had to be put on hold.
Now, After delaying the season by 3 months, they've realised the bloody obvious. Flare-ups will continue to happen, and if we're going to wait for that to stop happening then they'll be no NBL till 2025.
And, they simply haven't left enough time to play a full 28 game season plus playoffs.

Whilst I can understand the desire to "recoup" some of those lost games, it doesn't really make sense for the NBL. Teams need home games to make money, period.

What they needed to do was keep a flexible posture, and be ready to shift, close, or postpone games as required. And just accept that, even playing twice per week, we'd be lucky to get a 20 game season in.

No NBL team is beating a cashed up Chinese team by anything approaching that, 10-15 maybe.

Their precious Melbourne had the virus, so obviously the rest of the country had to be put on hold.

Flare-ups will continue to happen, and if we're going to wait for that to stop happening then they'll be no NBL till 2025.
And, they simply haven't left enough time to play a full 28 game season plus playoffs.

It's literally already happened, but okay.

So a tournament involving NBL clubs and Chinese clubs, occurring outside the regular NBL season, and highly promoted in the hopes of getting money from China, is not a predictor of the success of a tournament involving NBL clubs and Chinese coins clubs occurring outside the NBL regular season and highly promoted in the hopes of getting money from China?

Okay then.

I remember I gave a suggestion about the NBL doing a Cup format competition. A lot of you guys on here weren't big fans.

I am really shocked because I thought many people were not up for it. I emailed the president and commissioner in November about adding more home games for each NBL teams. It is not a bad idea because the European teams have annual Cup competitions like Spain, Italy, France, Russia and Britain.

Different with the hub in Melbourne, but it is a good business decision because we see how unpredictable Covid-19 can be, look at Sydney? It would of been better if teams could play interstate but understandable this year.

I am uncertain if this is true, but I heard a rich American do not quarantine in Sydney and may of exposed the virus in Sydney's northern beaches. The Government need better plans in place to stop overseas travelers from spreading this virus. There has been too many cases with the upper-class people not doing quarantine.

I heard today that one hospital has the mutated virus from Britain but they in hotel quarantine. Government need act.

I think people have brushed over the more concerning part , non Melbourne teams have stated there was zero consultation and the first new about it this morning at 6am , there was tweets by Perth , hawks and cairns this morning saying as much which have since been deleted , guess it pissed head office off

And how's cg43 smug smirky saying they deserved the extra home games for going through covid , blame your government for not controlling it from the start, just because your state poorly handled it and yes you went through hell , doesn’t mean the other states miss out on home games and fans as well , how will this effect clubs financially now , if we (36ers fans ) miss out on 5.6,7,8 home games they will have to refund members negating any possible prize money from this NBL cup bs

But they don't, because they're games that wouldn't have been played at all otherwise.

NBA hub model surprisingly worked with everyone (umps, support staff, cleaners, media etc) involved kept in isolation for the entirety of the hub. Otherwise it will go the cr@p, as shown by preseason player infections and shear stupidity of people in general.

- There is no Final. The best part about a cup competition is that there is a final to win the trophy.

One major issue with a hub style tournament that's a month long is it may be difficult for officials to be involved depending on what restrictions for travel are in place at that point in time.
With only 2 full time referees, you're then potentially expecting the rest of the panel to relocate to Melbourne for 4 weeks. How many bosses are going to allow their employees to do that, which results in sub par crews being appointed to games.
Hardly what you want when your officiating panel isn't deep as it is.

Odds are we are going to see more virus flare ups, and Melbourne would be top of the list.

Why is Melbourne any more likely than anywhere else?

Well
This new , 70% more contagious strain of corona has just been detected in Sydney and Victoria

I actually love the idea of an NBL cup like champions league soccer that gets played midweek and gives clubs more trophies to play for is something that appeals to me.

What I don't know nor understand is if this will impact on home games for other NBL clubs (my Wildcats memberships just accrued a late fee yet games aren't on and it's unsure if I could attend anyway) so can we get more equal amount of home games (all non Victorian based teams) and even including them.

Ideally we should be able to see every team at home atleast once this season. Seeing imports in the flesh is always the highlight and with ex NBA players on rosters, there's plenty to look forward to... If we can see them

I'm based in Melbourne. The tickets are still being finalised. Be interesting to see if United and Phoenix will add the 8 extra games to our memberships.

It would be obvious if the we will need to buy another membership (8 game membership) to see these extra games. I wouldn’t mind watching the Breakers, Hawks or Wildcats.

Interesting how and why decisions are made and the mechanisms etc.

For example, is it possible players are paid for x months in their contract and therefore they're simply playing more games and training less? Some have argued this is a smart idea to have a more financially viable league.

Interesting how this affects clubs cash flow wise where there’s a month they may not get that home ticket revenue that they likely rely on. All well and good to say they still get their 14 home games but if you’re not getting that revenue for a whole month that may be an issue.

As a general proposition, I think the NBL needs a way to find more value from players to make it a financially sustainable league but also to find ways to make basketball a financially attractive option for players. Ie. more games to increase revenue; over a short time frame to allow players to make $$$ in other leagues. That needs to be balanced against physical demands on players, travel costs, costs for consumers (there’s probably a limit on how many games a member wants to pay for; more games may not increase your overall/game day/non member ticket sales by much), and time slots - weekday games perhaps may end up in losing money.

All about striking that balance for league, players and maximising of revenue

^It's possible the NBL is hedging its bets. Hoping that if the season does go to hell, at least they've had the cup.
I'm just not sure of the logic.
To me, this is going to lose a lot of money. Few Melbournians will turn out to watch the out of state teams play each other.
And is the risk really worth it?

With this new strain now apparently spread to Victoria, I would not be surprised if this still gets shit-canned.

^And I tend to agree.
They should have abandoned plans for any normal season,
packed off as many players as possible to Europe and Asia (where presumably TV is paying the bills)
Slashed the salary cap,
No imports
And then, if circumstances permitted, played some kind of "Challenge" with what they had left.

At this point, its almost inconceivable that we get anything like a normal season.
All the changes already in place
2-3 month delay
Breakers playing in Aus
Reduced capacity everywhere,
No games in NSW for a while,
Who knows what happens next.
Not withstanding this nonsense

re: "Few Melbournians will turn out to watch the out of state teams play each other."

I don't agree that Victorians will not want to watch these games live (as opposed to live games). Melbourne is not regarded as the basketball centre of Aust just on the basis of numbers. Their passion for any sport that they are "into" is huge. Same for basketball. I know that there are plenty of basketball fans in Vic who would love games such as these (but un-like the Blitz, these results will matter!)

Case numbers in NSW are back down to single digits already, it's entirely conceivable that things are good to go by season start.

Huge turn off when the NBL Cup has an influence on the NBL season standings. NBL Cup should just be a knock out competition for all NBL teams and all top tier state teams.

Koberulz spoke too soon. Cases in NSW at record levels and is working hard to engulf the Kings.

Koberulz spoke too soon. Cases in NSW at record levels and is working hard to engulf the Kings.

Just saw the official league ad for this competition on ESPN. It's Goulding and Adnam monotonely telling us how good the cup is for basketball, Melbourne and Victoria. Hardly inspiring.

Which goes back to my original point - it feels like they recorded the ad in two minutes with minimal effort for a product most are unconvinced by.

Well produced rather than recorded.

Players I'd rather have representing the NBL than Kyle Adnam.

Shane Heal.
Brett Maher.
Leroy Loggins.
Larry Sengstock.
Norman Taylor.

Can't come up with current players LB?

Lovebroker if you were a serious NBL fan you would already nkow that The LATE Norman Taylor is no longer with us.

*whoosh*

VIC boarder closed to all NSW. What's does that mean for the NBL

It's weird how history repeats.
For many years the NBL was dogged by it's Melbourne-centric mentality.

Apparently nothing has changed.

They've backed everyone into a corner by delaying the start, again and again. And why? Because Melbourne had covid.
They ignored the obvious solutions, and have simply made it harder.

And then this. As I said from the start this was always an epically stupid idea, driven by nothing except the standing belief that Melbourne is the centre of the universe.

Does it though? You're going to get basically no crowds to a neutral game anyway, so you can just as well put them on at four in the afternoon.