I’ve seen and spoken to countless people who believe the state of Australian basketball is below average. There are plenty of knockers but not many “ideas people” so I figured we could try and collate some ideas for improving the situation right here at Hoop Diary.
Watching our Under 17′s play in the Gold Medal game at the World Championships made me proud of what amazing talent we have at multiple age groups here in Australia. While the Boomers and Opals prepare to take on the world at the Olympics, let’s share some ideas in an open and productive manner.
Remembering, this cannot be fixed overnight.
This post will have no bells, no whistles and no filtering of responses. Please think of others when posting a comment and think twice before using any profanity please.
There’s also a forum to respond available at our Facebook page.
Thanks in advance and let’s brainstorm!
(Leave comments below)
313 days ago by koberulz
I don’t understand where the ‘knockers’ are coming from. Live FTA coverage, prime time FTA coverage, the Wildcats have more members than there were seats in their old stadium, the Breakers are selling out a stadium twice their usual size for meaningless mid-season games, there’s the possibility of even more FTA or Pay TV games outside of Ten’s allotment, and game three of the grand final this year was one of the most-watched NBL games ever.
It’s not perfect, and the Blaze situation isn’t exactly brilliant (though the council chipping in with the offer of free office rent or whatever it was is huge), but these people who seem to think the league is going to collapse any second unless drastic action is taking can’t be talking about the same league I’m seeing. And really, when your complaints are about the length of games, music during games, and courtside corporate boxes…seriously?
313 days ago by Daniel Attias
Basketball will never grow in this country without access to live games. So the NBL needs to negotiate better tv coverage, maybe that means going to a lesser known television station (ABC, SBS?) until the league has a decent following.
Also we need to have some kind of online availabilty like the League Pass that the NBA have available on their website.
They need to get on top of the whole merchandise thing too. Having more supporter gear available as well as getting the right companies involved. Nike and Adidas for shirts and singets, New Era or Mitchell and Ness for hats etc. would be a great way for people to represent their teams and get the league valuable exposure. Think of all the NBA gear we see yet rarely do we see NBL gear being worn by the general public.
Anyway just my two cents worth.
313 days ago by koberulz
A League Pass-type thing can only be done if the games are on TV anyway, as is the case in the NBA, or if the league can afford to have a crew cover the game purely for the stream. The former isn’t the case, and I’m not sure at this point that the latter is either, though Keneally has talked about wanting to do it.
Whilst And1 is absolutely atrocious, with the league as well as with merch, and any move away from them can only be a good one, you won’t see NBL gear out and about until the league is popular. It isn’t a way of making the league popular.
313 days ago by Jarrad
WOW, I agree with KOBERULZ completely! the league probably hasnt been in a better position in well over a decade. Kristina Keneally has already been great for the sport and has the guts to actually ask for funding and not just twiddle her thumbs and hope, which is great.. they have finally looked outside the same stagnant group of aging men without vision and gone to someone who has the balls to get things done and who wouldve thought that would be a woman. lol. (not bering sexist just making a pun)
Free to Air coverage is great, the NBl just waited and waited and now they have arguably the best deal theyve ever had, people always talk of the glory days of ‘Sunday Basketball’ on tenb… Well.. HERE IT IS!!!! what are ya gonna complain about next? that its not 1994 again? on the TV front we are doing just FINE and everything outside of footy, cricket, car racing would ARL would envy us badly right now for what has been achieved for what is perceived as a ‘minority sport’ (which it isnt for players numbers IMO.
Internationally, I am not sure what people want or expect… We have a team that is most likely going to make the top 8 in the olympics… This is no mean feat at all… every team in the olympics is particularly strong as is ther for a reason and we have consistantl;y punched above our weight and knocked off euro giants. Ok, Ok, we are not top 4 anymore.. but whats changed since then??? ummm…. everything! the emergence of all the euro powerhouses and the re-emergence of the old ones like croatia and lithuania has happened. out of all the quaslity teams to pop up this decade to slip 5 places from 4th to 9th isnt really a huge shamozzle.. we have had 2 extremely close games with the USA in the past decade, the glory boomers of way back when never got within 25 points of a full NBA team of the US. time to be realistic here…
The boomers have a glaring weakness this year, outside shooters… however, they will be one of the best defensive units in the comp. and look down the line, kids like djeric, exum, simmons, drmic, motum.. etc the list goes on, plus the eventual day when Andrew is finally fit and healthy… the future is bright and I doubt anyone looks at australia like a team they can sleep on (bar maybe spain and US)
Australian Basketball is on the way up….
313 days ago by Anthony Wadwell
I don’t think other codes should be seen as opposition. Why not team up with other codes?
A perfect example of this could be Melbourne Tigers playing games at Hisense on a Sunday afternoon with 20/20 cricket to follow it at the MCG at 6pm. I don’t see the games at Hisense or the MCG selling out, so why not fill the empty seats with half price tickets to those who purchase a ticket for the other sport. Melbourne Victory & Melbourne Heart also play right next door to Hisense and could be teamed up with for something like that.
The biggest issue in Melbourne is that there is no shortage of sports to watch. Building double headers for a discounted price could work in the both leagues favour.
Also when at the game itself, there needs to be more than Basketball going on to keep the non basketball supporting public coming back. Genuine half time entertainment is a must, whether it be Singing, Dancing, Celebs vs Fans in a 3 point shoot out with interviews? Anything.
313 days ago by Johnny white
Few different issues in here.
1. NBL
2. Boomers & Opals
3. Junior basketball and pathway to pro league
What we really need are strong leaders and movers and shakers that can get things done like packer did for cricket and Frank Lowey did for Soccer.
Last but not least we don’t have to reinvent the wheel… Have a look at what the NBA, NFL and AFL do well and that should form the plan of attack for the NBL.
I could go on for hours about TV coverage, advertising, PR, media coverage, turning the music off during play, target market, using the boomers & Opals to promote the game with series against best teams in the world … Same as socceroos do for soccer.
I do strongly believe that basketball is alive and well in Australia but the NBL needs some serious help.
313 days ago by koberulz
I still don’t get why you think the music during play is hurting the league in the slightest.
As far as the Boomers and Opals are concerned, they should be playing more games in coming years due to a restructuring of the World Championships by FIBA. That said, there are only two Boomers players playing NBL at the moment (assuming Wortho goes to Europe), so it’s hard to see it translating into NBL viewership.
Or vice versa, for that matter: Wildcats games are almost always sold out, and yet the stadium was only half full or so for the YouYi games.
313 days ago by Scott
The quality of talent coming through may be as strong or stronger than ever. I have spent the last 3 days at u16 national championships and have seen the talent on display, and the future looks bright.
But the issues in Basketball in this country has never been about talent development, it has always been upper level management. Our sport was at its best when the NBL was being run by Malcolm Speed, a man whose abilities in sports business management has seen his ascend to the highest level of international sports management. Unfortunately we have been unable to attract others since who can achieve the same level of success.
Our sports success will come down to the people who manage it. From board & CEO of BA, NBL & WNBL management as well as what each state is doing.
Their goals should be to take our sport to a professional level nation wide. A successful business requires strength in 3 areas, all of which are interdependent; Product, Finance and Marketing. To this point, only the product is in reasonable shape and until the other 2 areas are brought into line, the product will suffer.
So our game needs to be better financed and better marketed and if we can get these areas right, success will come.
After all name another major sport that offers the following:
- played by male and female students from kindergarten through to university level
- is sun-safe, mostly played indoors
- is played year round, summer or winter, mostly indoors
- is played all over the world
- its a team sport which only requires 5 players to make a team, meaning even the smallest of schools could put a team together, 3 on 3 is even another option
- is cheap to play, all you need really is a ball and a hoop
For many of these reasons I see Basketball as a sport that the Education Department should make it the national sport of choice within schools. Over time this would also help breed a culture of basketball support that would see us overtake many of the other sports in this country, if not all.
The opportunity is there, the sport is played in 213 countries around the world and we are top 3. If we can just manage and market the sport better, we would be able to dominate the Australian sporting landscape.
313 days ago by richo3000
What the NBL needs right now is stability. Stability in that the teams that have been in the comp since the revamp three years ago are the teams that remain in the comp for the next 10 years, and more. Obviously the current Blaze situation isn’t ideal but its been a refreshing change to not read about several clubs going broke each and every off season.
With that continued stability the league will become less of a basket case in the eyes of a majority of the general public, and it will be able to build, slowly and steadily, on these foundations, with all parties (players, owners team staff, sponsors) feeling confident that the league is viable, even though the standard of play may not be the same as the mid-90s. From this, we can continue to watch coverage (print, television, and on-line) grow so that the product becomes a part of the sporting landscape, and not some flash in the pan, boom or bust league, that it was for the best part of the last decade.
What the league doesn’t need is a bunch of people (players included) continually throwing buzzwords and criticism around like “its not rocket science!!” and “the NBL is a joke” when it comes to providing feedback, because its safe to say that no one is going to listen, and those comments have the potential to damage the league even further . You’re either a part of the problem, or part of the solution, and highlighting flaws continuously doesn’t solve anything.
313 days ago by Coach_R
Richo hits this one right on the head, its all about stability!
With stability comes the confidence needed for major sponsors to sign up long term, at the moment we don’t have the money available to keep our top flight talent in Australia. You can’t blame them for taking the money in Europe and the Euro league is a far better league then ours right now.
5-10 seasons of small improvements like last season will do our game the world of good. If teams can start to keep some of there imports for more then 1-2 yrs like the “Glory Years” back in the day when teams like Adelaide held on Darnell Mee & Kevin Brooks fans can get more emotionally attached rather then having to introduce new imports every season (sometimes even mid season!)
Gotta keep positive though, try not to focus on the negatives and spruik all the positives however we can!
312 days ago by koberulz
“5-10 seasons of small improvements”
I think that’s key. People seem to be expecting the meteoric rise of the late 80s, and for basketball to reach that level again. Neither will happen, and treating the lack of this as a failure on the NBL’s part is folly. The AFL didn’t event exist back in the 80s. The VFL didn’t get out of Victoria until the year the NBL reached Perth.
Lest we forget, mind you, the 700% increase in TV ratings a couple of years ago. And they’ve continued to go up from there.
312 days ago by Brendan_E
Some great points raised already, I’ll try not to double up too much…
Biggest problem I see is that the League went through a bit of a boom in the mid/late 90′s. That was when we had NBL & NBA on free-to-air TV, even though it was just one NBA game of the week, it was huge! We had a sudden influx of young, athletic players come through – like Sam McKinnon, Simon Dwight, Glen Saville – who bought some of that “NBA style” game that the kids love to see.
How was that a problem? Because we soon gained the attention of NBA scouts and kids at that time started to think about NBA being a realistic goal and slowly, the NBL was becoming overlooked.
As our juniors have gotten better, the NBL has suffered as they are now heavily recruited to play NCAA and once they finish, if they don’t get drafted, they’re heading to Europe. Yes, a few come back, but we lose our best players overseas.
Add that to the seemingly turnstile of import players from some teams – rarely seem to try and “grow” with or build around like they used to…