They had better start building a stadium, there is nowhere east or south Sydney area.

Would be a stupid decision imo to give the team to cannon-Brookes, the kings becoming west Sydney and the rivals become east Sydney makes some sense but I'm not sold on location within 30 mins of each other.
Wellington, Canberra or Newcastle seem like better options in the short term. 5-10 years.

I assume this new Sydney team will play out of Olympic Park because there is nowhere else in Sydney that has a stadium that can host a NBL team, though the idea of a NBL team being based out of the tin shed in Alexandria is amusing.

I suppose the NBL wants to replicate the Melbourne United - SE Melbourne Phoenix dynamic (including the shared home stadium?). It's curious they have said an East Sydney based team, because the Kings have traditionally been associated with this area. Maybe Western Sydney would be a better idea (or maybe they want people to just forget about the Razorbacks). It sounds a bit half baked at this point so I just hope they think it through properly if they choose to go ahead with it.

This sounds like BS and more a bit of deliberate misinformation being planted. You're not going to release to a journo that you intend to move a team to another city in 3.5 years time. It would absolutely destroy the team in it's current location for years into the future playing in empty stadiums, no sponsors and fielding a SEABL quality roster.

If you were going to give a journo the drop on this it would be an end of season thing basically if you don't start coming out and supporting your team now we're moving them at the end of the season. It's the final last card the NBL could play in this situation and you certainly don't pull it 3.5 years ahead of time.

This sounds more like muck-raking from the Kings dickhead owner than anything else, "Hey we just beat you by a point on the buzzer, now I'm going to really rip your heart out".

The aim is Sydney out of Qudos and the new (south or east) Sydney team next to the train station near the new atlassian tower. Like I said, the kings may become west under smith and east under cannon-Brookes Sharing Qudos until a new stadium is built, like united/Phoenix share John Cain in the short term before the sbc arena is built, possibly after the 10 court upgrade.

Zodiac - or it was a genuine leak out to the reporter than the NBL did not intend.

Could fit 9000 people at the theatre at the ICC (on the old Entertainment Centre site) and they've played Netball, Tennis and even Ice Hockey there, seats are mostly on one side though.

https://www.austadiums.com/stadiums/icc-sydney/photos

Whether this is true or not the Hawks fans have been on notice for years.

When they were winning (Rotnei Clarke year) they weren't selling out.

Even when they had the #3 draft pick they struggled to get decent crowds.

They have been given ample opportunity to support their team, they have chosen not to.

The old entertainment centre holds max 4500 for basketball.

It held 10K in basketball configuration.

(Sydney Entertainment Centre)

I'm talking about the new place, what ever it’s called, the SEC was fantastic, flogged off to developers. Very nice block units there now and some small theatres.

but you said old?

Do you mean State Sport Centre where the Razorbacks played out of and Kings used to pre-SEC?

I think Dunkman means the ICC - new building, old SEC.

The "4,500 max" capacity is a weird “I'm going to completely makeup a figure and claim it as an emphatic factual statement” despite there having been a netball game which exceeded 4,500 significantly. For some reason there’s this belief that the “floor seating” represents half of the 9,000 seats.

Which is frankly ridiculous :)

https://www.iccsydney.com.au/ICCS.MVC/media/iccs/seating-maps/seating_map.png

The ICC is a conference centre. It would need significant redevelopment to work for basketball but it is a 2 minute walk from where the 'old' Sydney Entertainment Centre was - which held about 10,500 when full.

It'd be great if someone with serious cash renovated one of the old art deco buildings at Fox Studios, next to the SCG and New SFS. They are basic being used for storage as far as I know.

Sorry guys, it was late, you are right, the SEC was great and it was 10,000. The new joint ICC holds l thought 4500 for basketball. Anyway it's not the answer.
Sydney’s east or south has nothing, never had and what it did have that might have been suitable was flogged off to developers.

The ICC was a prime opportunity to have not just a basketball court in an absolutely prime CBD location, but a more general purpose sporting/concert hall. They completely screwed it up.

The developers were happy, as I said previously, lovely block units there now.

The liberals have knocked down the SEC and not replaced it, the old Sydney football stadium, it was not that old and rebuilt it in same place, mind boggling.

I think Dunkman means the ICC - new building, old SEC.

The "4,500 max" capacity is a weird "I'm going to completely makeup a figure and claim it as an emphatic factual statement" despite there having been a netball game which exceeded 4,500 significantly. For some reason there's this belief that the “floor seating” represents half of the 9,000 seats.

Which is frankly ridiculous :)

https://www.iccsydney.com.au/ICCS.MVC/media/iccs/seating-maps/seating_map.png

To be fair they never said it was going to happen.

They were discussing the future of the Hawks and poor crowds etc making it very tough for them to survive especially in a smaller market.

They then talked about moving the team mentioned possibilities of Canberra, broader NSW like they wanted to do by making them the Hawks aswell as a 2nd Sydney team, which they mentioned cannot happen until 2026 under the agreement made when the kings return.

They mentioned possibly tapping into the south and the east given the Kings have covered the West pretty well.

But I think initially the key take away is not that the team was moving to Sydney, it was Illawarra fans if you want to keep your team long term, you cant just show up and complain when talk of losing the name or losing the team comes up, you need to show up in force and fill the stadium each and every week or the club wont survive.

The full show is on youtube, its an interesting discussion if those want to actually watch what was said.

@ Dunkman; agree - the "they" was definitely not aimed at the developers. :)

Are Sydney stakeholders making this decision? Or is it out of Melbourne?

I can understand the want (need ?) to move the Hawks, but the Kings are indelibly an Eastern Sydney institute. The move to Homebush was for no other reason than finding a suitable venue.

I mean this new team will not be the Hawks, its just the license taken off the Hawks and given to a new team... but for this new team to cannabilise the Kings, and force them west is absurd, and a slap in the face to any heritage the Kings have.

Unless the Kings crowds are replete with families from the Hills districts and the Bankstown area, this is harming an existing team, rather than expanding into an area where there is no team.

The NSW government is still is a circus building mode, if a new venue is required, it won't be hard to find help. Penrith Leagues is underwriting a new NBL1 east side, they have very deep pockets. Send the license there.

@McBlurter.
Agree, Penrith would be a great place for the new team, right next to the leagues club. The place is always packed, league in the winter, basketball in the summer.

Hawks and NBL both vehemently denying this.

I checked the prices for tickets for the lower section at WIN and it's $115 for one adult seat?

That may be the main reason why locals aren’t watching the Hawks. You can only get $30 seats up the top. It is too dear for a regional team. I can’t see much future for Illawarra but moving them to East Sydney. Silly Sydney government pulled down the SEC when they now need a stadium in East Sydney.

Why is t the league keen on a West Sydney Razorbacks return. They had a massive rivalry back in 2004. NBL are never keen on any older clubs, it always happens just move out the old clubs and forget them.

Isn't keen*

"Why is t the league keen on a West Sydney Razorbacks return. They had a massive rivalry back in 2004"

I was an inaugural member for the Razorbacks, I lived across the road from EG Whitlam.

It wasn't a massive rivalry in the Sydney sporting landscape.

Once the pigs moved to the SSC, they were pretty much invisible.

Pro basketball in Sydney is tied in with being a precursor to a night out. The SEC's location was key in the profile of the King's in their heyday.

Darling Harbour/Chinatown for the family, bars for a more mature gathering. Places like Kinsella's/Taylor square were synonymous with being an extension of the Kings.

A new Sydney team needs to be in a high density urban square with its own parochial identity, such as Penrith or Parramatta. It would be preferable to be serviced by a railway line.

Penrith, Parramatta is to close to Homebush.

Distance;

Homebush to Darling Harbour 12.8km
Homebush to Parramatta: 13.3km
Homebush to Penrith 44.9km

Homebush is nowhere near Penrith, and still closer to the old SEC than Parramatta.

As I said, Homebush is still too far west for the Kings, except there is no suitable venue for them.

To give an inkling of the distance from Homebush to Penrith;
Dandenong to Coburg: 43.0km

I didn't explain myself, which is not unusual:)), the point I’m trying to make is Penrith is out west where Parramatta is to close to Homebush. I just don’t see the people from Blacktown, Penrith areas going to Homebush. Let the kings stay there and cover north, south, east and Penrith gets the west.

The Hawks have been the league charity case for long enough now. The fans have a massive whinge any time anyone dare make a change to make the team more profitable, and yet, they don't show up. And there is always a new excuse. This year it's Monday games, but what about the 20 years preceding that? The league gifted them LaMelo Ball and they failed to really do much about it.

I know we dont want to see teams fold but theyre making it tough on the league to do much else.

The fans not showing up last season, when the team was very strong, was pretty alarming to me.

Whether this story is true or not, it's pretty clearly not sustainable to have these dwindling attendances.
I'd really like to keep the Hawks in the league but it's kind of important that their own city wants them to stick around too.

This year it's Monday games, but what about the 20 years preceding that?

2026 doesn't seem soon enough

Also with attendances I am sure the NBL and the Hawks have grounded expectations of what a Monday night attendance should look like - theyre not expecting packed houses. And yet the Hawks clearly fall well below those expectations hence this talk, which I think is more than likely true, and now theyre trying to bandage it up. "Oh it's not true!" I am sure Seattle said the same thing.

Re: the Monday night games I wonder if there is any monetary compensation for a team biting the bullet and having the game on a Monday. Maybe the arena operating costs cheaper on a Monday too, who knows.

Maybe this whole thing just a bit of scare mongering to get Hawks fans in seats. There was a noisy minority of Hawks fans in attendance in Sydney on the weekend which is good, but the problem is not the hardcore fans but the more casual fans who are obviously just not showing up.

For those not from Sydney, Olympic Park (Homebush) is geographically very much between eastern Sydney and Western Sydney. On paper it's great but the train line there operates in isolation and i believe only large events (i.e. Non NBL) are the only events with regular trains from Central or Western Sydney to go there.

There is one crappy pop up pub and a bar in a hotel. No real restaurants and not even many houses around.

A bad place for weekly sporting events. GWS and a few NRL clubs play in the same vicinity. No one likes it.

Time to move the Hawks on (either relocate or fold). The league has outgrown them and they're struggling to keep up. Any club in any professional sports league that only draws around 30% of the national league average attendance and has no major sponsors is going to find it hard to stick around much longer.

The league wont be in a "shambles" if they have to announce another club has folded. Some clubs just can't keep up with the growth of the league and it's a not a bad thing to cut them off. They've had plenty of chances over their time.

The hardest part in this whole thing really is the NSW gov completely neglecting basketball with not having any semblance of inner city infrastructure.

You've got two likely situations: #1 Hawks can’t survive like this and need to either fold or be in a different situation and #2 regardless of infrastructure, NBL is compelled by having a second Sydney side.

There’s not much point going down to 9 teams if it can be avoided, and the Hawks isn’t a tainted brand so there’s not necessarily going to be a benefit in folding the Hawks and creating a completely new side coming to Sydney.

NBL needs to make the Hawks into the NSW Hawks, give other places some games like Newcastle whilst you wait for 2026 to come, then you move your base to "east Sydney" play out of Qudos or Ken Rosewall Arena when in Sydney with some games in Newcastle and Illawarra.

If fans treat it like Melb Utd in Bendigo, that’s great, if they don’t and refuse to come at all Illawarra then you just don’t play there at all. If the masses don’t come, so be it, they’ve tried, move on.

Just really needs to be effective marketing - if your base is in Penrith or Paramatta or woopwoop, market the shit out of that area, let everyone know you’re training there.

Play the anti-hero, be “the other team” that’s taking up the fight.

That way they can claim their own market space - regional nsw, east Sydney, the contrarians; don’t be “the team pretending to be Illawarra” or “half Canberra”

I agree Ket, the league shouldn't fold the Hawks. Just relocate the team to a better market where sponsorship money and fans are. Play some games in Newcastle and Wollongong, rivalry is already there with the Kings.

I think a potential solution for the Hawks is to expand the potential fanbase and having them play say 3 games in Canberra, 3 Games in Newcastle, 3 Games in Sydney (could even play these at Qudos, much like Melb and SEM largely share an arena) and 5 games in Illawarra.

Then overtime skew the games towards whichever of these bases produce the best crowds.

Hypothetically if Canberra draws the most at 5000 people and Illawarra draw the least at 2000 people then take an extra game from Illawarra and give Canberra an extra game.

You could also give them a game or 2 in say Darwin to look at the potential fanbase if they are looking at expanding their at some point.

Not sure if this would work either, but its pretty clear that drawing 2000 fans in Illawarra will not work long term, so need to try something or let them go imo.

Bit harsh by some on this forum. If they were charging the prices that they are charging at the WEC for comparable seats at the other clubs, their stadiums would also be half empty. Illawarra fans have personally dipped their hands in their own pockets to bail the club out a couple of times. The problem (and this is an issue for all small market/regional teams) is that the owners are running the club like it is a big market team and trying to make the same amount of money that a team with a 10-20K stadium makes with a 5K stadium. When that doesn't happen and coupled with unfavourable government rental agreements for their venues, owners of regional teams jack up ticket prices and cut costs to try and make ends meet, which in turn leads to poor attendance and poor results on the court. That's why so many small market/regional teams have failed.

Regional teams can be successful. Here are some ideas to turn the Hawks around and make money in Illawarra (and other small/regional markets):

1. Dynamic pricing - like the accommodation and airline industries, start with very cheap tickets, increasing the prices as the stadium starts to fill up. Also, higher prices for more attractive games and lower prices for less attractive/Monday games. Sell out the stadium at all costs. Consistently full stadiums make for a more attractive product on TV, which increases the value of the broadcasting rights. The greater exposure also drives sponsorship interest beyond the local area. TV rights and sponsorship is where sports make money anyway, not tickets.

2. Revenue sharing – split all the NBL revenue evenly among all club owners. Kestelman might not like this, but it's the only way regional teams will survive. Learn from the mistakes of the A-League. You will cannibalise the fanbase rather than grow it if the larger markets are oversaturated. The growth of the league will stagnate. As long as owners are not haemorrhaging money, which they are under the current model, they would happily invest in an Illawarra, Cairns or Tasmania if they don’t have to worry about how they can stay afloat because they are sharing the revenue with the larger markets. This model doesn’t limit the growth of big market teams in their cities, encourages investment in regional clubs, increases the value of NBL licences and the league grows its fanbase nationally by accessing untapped markets. Everyone wins.

3. Active support (Illawarra specific) – cheap (or even free) season tickets to a group of fans behind both baskets (loud, raucous, and boisterous fans, not kids like what we are currently doing), who agree to stand, jump around and lead chants every game. It’s essentially what Bogut did with Squad 6 in Milwaukee. Game day entertainment at the WEC is stuck in the 90s with the stadium announcer leading the cheering and dance music blasting all game. Active supporter groups create the atmosphere organically. It’s what makes attending football matches interesting, even if the game itself maybe dull. There is an opportunity, particularly in Wollongong with the size of our arena, to create a US college basketball/Euroleague-like atmosphere. I would personally love to see a local band playing the fight songs of the colleges that our players went to, which would make our imports in particular feel at home.

Basically, for regional clubs like Illawarra to thrive, we need to change our mindset and stop thinking that the Kings, Wildcats or the NRL/AFL are our main competition. They are not. Our competition is the pub, a restaurant or even Netflix. The Hawks need to convince people that they are better off spending their time and money at the basketball instead of going out to a bar or club. Currently, the ticket prices are an expensive cover charge for an overpriced beer and 90s vibes in a leaky shed.

I do hope the Hawks will stay in Illawarra and would love to see the league expand to other regional cities. If they move, the league will have lost its sense of history and tribalism that makes sport great. We don’t need any more soulless fabricated Sydney and Melbourne teams.

alansmithee you need to send that to the Hawks. great ideas.

Wonder what hawks did with their share of the revenue sharing funds they got last year?

Alan there definitely good ideas please let the club know!

Plus guys can someone unlock this story from the Illawarra Mercury.

Source: https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7994727/jackomas-unfazed-by-hawks-relocation-speculation/

Have the Hawks actually done ANYTHING in the last 20 years to improve? I've seen nothing new coming out of Illawarra from watching games on TV. If the Hawks organisation didn't try and implement some of these ideas in the past, why would they start now?

Every other club has tried new things to generate more interest over the years. I'd like to know what the Hawks have done, other than stay afloat? And I'm talking about marketing stuff, not bringing in LaMelo Ball and Goorjian etc... which they obviously didn't make the most of that either.

I wonder if the direction for premium ticket pricing comes from the league. I'm guessing there's some sort of sports marketing preference for getting sales at a higher pricepoint with capacity to spare, rather than selling out at half the price. Not sure how well it applies in their market though.

I tend to agree with the "they've had their chances" crowd. Great city and history but the requisite support just hasn't been there for years now.

I believe they picked the wrong owner, just a gut feeling and knowing people from the basketball community down there.
I hope they stay and maybe share a few games with Canberra.

Anyone know this story. The website won't load.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/crosscourt-our-likes-and-dislikes-out-of-round-10-of-nbl23/news-story/e82ea6c4128e283850d670250fe749b1?amp

Kestelman basically say they're struggling on court but that happens, Melbourne are struggling also. Says their crowds are a worry and that they need to find the right model going forward to be sustainable.

Looked to be a number of empty seats at Sydney's game last night too, though the noise from the supporters at times was older than most.

Sydney crowd last night wasn't good.

Crowds will be lower in the lead-up to Christmas.

Adelaide had a poor crowd Friday night against traditional rival Perth just 5.4k but obviously was competing with the Test cricket at Adelaide Oval.

At this time of year, you're also competing against Christmas parties.

@NBLTigers https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/7994727/jackomas-unfazed-by-hawks-relocation-speculation/

NBL: Jackomas unfazed by Hawks relocation speculation

Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas has been around the NBL long enough to know talk of the Hawks relocating is something akin to death and taxes.

Reports the NBL was again considering the foundation franchise's long-term viability in Wollongong surfaced over the weekend, with the club promptly rubbishing the claims in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The NBL declined to comment when contacted by The Mercury, pointing instead to the club's statement labeling the suggestions as "baseless rumours" and "factually untrue."

Jackomas echoed the call when asked about the reports on Thursday.

"I've been involved in this league for a long time and every once in a while there's a rumour about the Hawks relocating," Jackomas said.

"They've been here since the beginning of time. They haven't relocated, there's no truth to it as the club's said. I just think it's a great way to spread hot air.

"Within the team environment I don't think we know about [media reports] as much as everyone would think. At this time, these guys are turning a lot of the news down.

"I didn't really hear it either, I'm shutting it down a little bit too. I just think it's someone speaking just to get a bit of relevance about us. There's nothing to it, there's been nothing to it the million other times it's happened here.

"As the the club's said, the ownership has a commitment to [Wollongong]. I've got a pretty good rental agreement up now so I'm not prepared to move either."

Jackomas did concede that such reporting is bound to resurface when the Hawks are struggling, which they unquestionably are at 1-9 on the season.

They went desperately close to snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Kings last week only to be undone by a final-second buzzer beater from Shaun Bruce.

Arguably their best performance of the season came with just one import, skipper Tyler Harvey, on deck, with Peyton Siva injured and George King en route back to the US.

Read more: Hawks management pours cold water on relocation murmurs

With Siva set to return, and having acquired former Wildcat Michael Frazier II as a replacement for King, Jackomas will hit the floor against the Phoenix on Sunday with a full complement of imports for just the fourth time.

They'll be desperate for a win but Jackomas said it's simply important his side back up a strong performance with another having failed on that score on multiple occasions this season.

"We thought we did enough to win [last week]," he said.

"There's no real going back on it and saying what went wrong, this and that or whatever. We did everything we could to win, it's just really unfortunate we didn't get over the line.

"They're number one on the table right now, we did it with one [import]. I don't think anyone expected us to win, or even to be in it. Everyone was expecting a belting.

"The challenge for me as a coach, and the challenge we're talking about as a team, is trying to play two good games in a row. When we've played like that [previously] we've come in and been pretty disappointing.

"I'm just hoping we can get one for the players and the fans and go on a bit of a roll now that we've got a bit of talent on the floor."

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/crosscourt-our-likes-and-dislikes-out-of-round-10-of-nbl23/news-story/e82ea6c4128e283850d670250fe749b1?amp

Happy to post the full article if you like, but it's a long article so I just posted the Hawks bit that's relevant to this thread.

LARRY'S BIG CONCERN: HAWKS’ WOE CATCHES NBL BOSS’S ATTENTION

NBL boss Larry Kestelman has labelled the Illawarra Hawks’ current situation "concerning," as pressure mounts on the club’s fans to turn up and support the last-placed foundation franchise.

Just a season after a Brian Goorjian-coached side made the semi-finals, the Hawks have slumped to last on the back of a 2-12 record.

Illawarra’s disappointing campaign reached a low on Thursday night in a forgettable 39-point loss to the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The Hawks responded on Saturday night against the Taipans, but still left Cairns empty-handed thanks to a double-overtime loss.

Illawarra displayed impressive resilience led by star guard Tyler Harvey and Boomers forward Sam Froling, who combined for 43 points.

However, the Hawks are still anchored to the bottom of the ladder, and need their fans to attend games to secure the struggling club’s future.

Friday’s home clash against local arch rivals the Sydney Kings looms as the perfect chance for the Illawarra faithful to turn up.

Crowds of around 2000 have attended five of the club’s seven home games to date, with 4008 in round one against the Kings the highest attendance.

Kestelman wants the Hawks to succeed, and has faith the club can turn around its fortunes, but stressed the need for all teams to be viable to ensure future success.

“The Hawks are a concern,” Kestelman told Crosscourt.

“I think the crowds are down, that is factual, and they are not performing as well on the court.

“We do have concerns, but we also know it comes around. They were in the finals last year and doing well, just like Melbourne who isn’t doing as well on the court this year.

“Hopefully, they (Hawks) can find their model, but sustainability of clubs is really important to me.

“And finding the right model, for not just the big cites, but for the smaller regions is important.

“Because as the league grows, the budget grows, so we need to keep evolving as a model.”

"Kestelman wants the Hawks to succeed" - I call bullsh*t. All of Kestelman's actions thus far have been to find a way to get the Hawks out of Illawarra.

Thanks for posting part of this article, would be great to see the rest of it

@WC95 from what I can see, as the last remaining historical "association" team in the NBL, the Hawks seem to still be run like an association team. Much of the staff have links to the IBA and a lot of their marketing/community efforts are centred around children's clinics/school visits. There isn't anything inherently wrong about that and these are good hearted and well intentioned people, but this strategy is geared towards getting kids to sign up to play basketball rather than getting bums in seats of a independent professional team. This would have worked under the old model as rego fees are how the associations make money, but kids don't really make the purchasing decision in the household. You can see this in the demographics of the crowd - plenty of kids and people over the age of 40, but noticeably a lack of millennials.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/crosscourt-our-likes-and-dislikes-out-of-round-10-of-nbl23/news-story/e82ea6c4128e283850d670250fe749b1?amp

Crosscourt: Our likes and dislikes out of round 10 of NBL23

NBL greats believe the league has set a dangerous precedent after New Zealand import guard Barry Brown only received a technical foul for calling a referee a 'cheat'.

That’s the view of legends Shane Heal and Derek Rucker, who both insist Brown deserved a bigger penalty for questioning a referee’s integrity.

The incident occurred in the third quarter of Thursday’s New Zealand versus Sydney Kings clash in Auckland.

Referee Vaughan Mayberry approached the Breakers bench during a time-out with four minutes left in the third, saying: "Just so you know, he (Brown) said that is cheating. He said I was cheating. Stop that."

Brown received a technical foul for his outburst that was sparked when he didn’t get a call when he drove to the basket while he apologised to Mayberry after the time-out.

However, Heal insists the New Zealand import should’ve received a heavier sanction.

“It’s more than a tech foul, but the NBL has set a precedent now that is what you get if you call someone a cheat,” Heal said on this week’s episode of The Basketball Show.

“He isn’t getting charged for it. He only got a tech foul for calling a referee a cheat.

“You can’t do that.

“That is a real personal thing for somebody’s integrity as a referee to insinuate or say that he is cheating.”

Rucker, who won the league’s MVP in 1990, was also shocked to see Brown accuse Mayberry of ‘cheating’.

NBL referee Vaughan Mayberry is respected within the game. Picture: Adam Smith
The former point guard turned commentator says the league needed to come down harder on the Breakers import.

“It’s a huge no-no,” Rucker said.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before and I’ve been around the NBL for 32 years.

“The way he (Mayberry) reacted, I knew it was not only a basketball infraction, but he took it as a personal front to his integrity as a referee.

“I’ve never seen him react like that. We know he can be distant as a referee at times, but he is a quality person and a quality person.

“Barry Brown was quite apologetic when they came out of the time-out. He was trying to backtrack on what he said without admitting that he was entirely wrong with his stance.”

Could this team of NBL players win NBA Summer League?

Could an NBL All-Star team excel — or even win — the pre-season NBA Summer League tournament?

NBL boss Larry Kestelman certainly thinks so.

Kestelman confirmed an NBL team playing in the pre-season NBA Summer League remains a possibility, but he isn’t sure if officials and teams in the world’s best league would welcome the move.

“Quite frankly, if we took a serious team over to the Summer League, we would probably do very well and I’m not sure how that would sit with them,” Kestelman said.

“Because they (the NBA) are worried about their image as well, so how will our teams fare?

“We are already doing the pre-season games at the moment, so I think it will be a question of whether the NBA is not a little too wary.

How would a team of NBL stars go in the NBA Summer League?
“But I think it (an NBL team in the NBA Summer League) can absolutely happen.

“We used to take teams to China, like an NBL All-Star-type set up.

“We’ve discussed this with the NBA before and they were open to it, so we will continue those discussions.”

So what would an NBL team in the Summer League look like?

Crosscourt has picked a team — with a few stipulations — that we think would go pretty well in the big league’s pre-season comp.

***Minimum one player from each team

***Two imports

***One Special Restricted Player

***Three young prospects

***Luke Travers would play for the Cavs

***Xavier Cooks isn’t a big fan of Summer League

DISLIKES

LARRY’S BIG CONCERN: HAWKS’ WOE CATCHES NBL BOSS’S ATTENTION

NBL boss Larry Kestelman has labelled the Illawarra Hawks’ current situation “concerning,” as pressure mounts on the club’s fans to turn up and support the last-placed foundation franchise.

Just a season after a Brian Goorjian-coached side made the semi-finals, the Hawks have slumped to last on the back of a 2-12 record.

Illawarra’s disappointing campaign reached a low on Thursday night in a forgettable 39-point loss to the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The Hawks responded on Saturday night against the Taipans, but still left Cairns empty-handed thanks to a double-overtime loss.

Illawarra displayed impressive resilience led by star guard Tyler Harvey and Boomers forward Sam Froling, who combined for 43 points.

Illawarra is in struggletown - and NBL boss Larry Kestelman is concerned.
However, the Hawks are still anchored to the bottom of the ladder, and need their fans to attend games to secure the struggling club’s future.

Friday’s home clash against local arch rivals the Sydney Kings looms as the perfect chance for the Illawarra faithful to turn up.

Crowds of around 2000 have attended five of the club’s seven home games to date, with 4008 in round one against the Kings the highest attendance.

Kestelman wants the Hawks to succeed, and has faith the club can turn around its fortunes, but stressed the need for all teams to be viable to ensure future success.

“The Hawks are a concern,” Kestelman told Crosscourt.

“I think the crowds are down, that is factual, and they are not performing as well on the court.

“We do have concerns, but we also know it comes around. They were in the finals last year and doing well, just like Melbourne who isn’t doing as well on the court this year.

“Hopefully, they (Hawks) can find their model, but sustainability of clubs is really important to me.

“And finding the right model, for not just the big cites, but for the smaller regions is important.

“Because as the league grows, the budget grows, so we need to keep evolving as a model.”

SIXERS’ MILESTONE FLOP

Just when you thought the Sixers had started to turn the corner, they come up with that against Perth — in stalwart Daniel Johnson’s 400th game, no less.

The Sixers looked up and about for most of the game, but went to sleep defensively in the last quarter, allowing a 17-6 run that closed it out for the Wildcats, 98-90.

The build up to Daniel Johnson’s 400th NBL game was huge for the Adelaide 36ers, but the performance fell short. Picture: Getty Images
“The talk was about getting it done for DJ and we didn’t get that done, so that’s disappointing,” captain Mitch McCarron said.

“It was all about coming to play for DJ.”

The loss pushed the Sixers back out of the top six, after they had won two of three and looked on the up.

While it initially appeared the Sixers had enough talent to take their time with their import search, there will be a little more urgency after back-to-back losses and the season fast approaching its stretch run.

VALE GOORJ SENIOR

Crosscourt sends its best wishes to NBL and Boomers coaching great Brian Goorjian, whose father Ed died over the weekend.

The LMU Basketball family is saddened to learn about the passing of Ed Goorjian. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

Once a Lion, always a Lion. pic.twitter.com/XqECBWzX5t
— LMU Men's Basketball (@lmulionsMBB) December 10, 2022

Goorjian senior served as an assistant for coaching legend Jerry Tarkanian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, during the 1990s. He started his coaching career at California’s Crescenta Valley High School in 1960 as the school’s inaugural head coach. His three sons – Brian, Kevin and Greg – played for him on the school team.

Goorjian senior won seven league championships in his 18 seasons at Crescenta. His 1970-71 side had an impressive 29-1 record and is regarded the greatest basketball team in the school’s history and was inducted into the Crescenta Valley Hall of Fame in 2013.

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NOT CP3, BUT SHEA IS A-OK

A comment was made to Crosscourt last week that Shea Ili was “not Chris Paul” so why was Melbourne making such a big deal about his absence?

You need only have watched Saturday night’s game against the Brisbane Bullets to understand why United had missed the Kiwi maestro so much.

The United coaching stuff clearly mulled on it, because the starting line-up didn't come through until about 10 minutes before tip-off. When it landed, Ili was inserted straight into the starting five for Xavier Rathan-Mayes after missing 12 of the first 15 games with concussion and inner-ear issues.

How Melbourne United’s 35-second meltdown against Perth played out

The 30-year-old didn’t miss a beat with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block — including a trey on three-quarter-time buzzer that almost lifted the roof off John Cain Arena. He pressed the pace from the word go, moved the ball and was a constant thorn on the defensive end for the Bullets as United snapped a five-game losing streak, 104-88.

He might not be Chris Paul, but Ili is a damn fine baller in his own right and United has missed him dearly.

COACHES HIT UP WNBL THRILLER

There was a distinct NBL feel in the crowd at Wednesday night’s WNBL blockbuster between Melbourne Boomers and Townsville Fire at the State Basketball Centre. Illawarra coach Jacob Jackomas and South East Melbourne mentor Simon Mitchell were in the house as the Boomers came back from 14 down to take victory — and second place — from the Fire. Jackomas, with new Hawks import Michael Frazier, was there to support girlfriend and Fire captain Lauren Nicholson, who poured in an equal-game-high 23 points.

So do they talk hoops? “Surprisingly, not as much as you’d think,” Nicholson told Crosscourt after the game.

With the Hawks in action the next night against the Phoenix, Jackomas said it was nice to be able to attend Nicholson’s game, given their schedules rarely matched up.

Mitchell attended with wife Kerryn, who has been a long-time mentor of Fire point guard Steph Reid, a product of the Mornington Peninsula, where Kerryn has had a long association with coaching.

Dynamic pricing would work for all NBL teams, especially if they want to put games on random weeknights and compete with Christmas parties. We need all team's arenas to be full to justify a higher price for league-wide broadcasting rights and more sponsorship.

Thanks for posting the whole article. It's a bit rich to have Heal & Rucker as the authorities on morality

Exactly, ^^^ my thoughts as well.