National_Basketball_League_(Australia)

National Basketball League (Australia)

The National Basketball League is Australia's top-level professional basketball competition.

The league commenced in 1979, playing a winter season (April–September) and did so until the completion of the 20th season in 1998. The 1998/99 season, which commenced only months later, was the first season after the shift to the current summer season format (October–April). This shift was an attempt to avoid competing directly against Australia's various football codes.

There are currently 10 teams in the league, with teams in four capital cities Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth, as well as regional centers Cairns, Townsville, Gold Coast and Wollongong, plus New Zealand. A second Melbourne club, the South Dragons, entered the league in season 2006/07. The National Basketball League has also become the first Australian sporting league to field a team from Asia with the Singapore Slingers playing in the 2006/07, through to the 2007/08 season. The Gold Coast Blaze joined the competition this 2007/08 season.

The league's best years were arguably in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it has struggled recently and many teams have downsized to smaller venues to cut costs. A number of clubs have folded or ceased to compete in the competition. The previous major sponsor of the NBL was Mitsubishi Motors. Mitsubishi, which left its sponsorship when the ABC ceased televising NBL basketball games left the National Basketball League close to folding.

Despite these issues, at the start of the 2004/05 season the league struck a new television deal with Fox Sports in Australia and a multi-year naming-rights sponsorship deal with electronics manufacturer Philips. In 2007, Philips announced they would not continuing their naming rights sponsorship after the current contract ends in June in response to the National Basketball League wishing to increase the sponsorship deal. On September 18, 2007, the National Basketball League announced Hummer as their naming rights sponsor for the 2007/08 season.

Most teams have historically featured at least one and usually two American imports; teams are limited to having two non-Australians on the roster at any one time. Some of these players have moved to Australia permanently and become Australian citizens; a few have even played for the Australian national team (under a rule that allowed one naturalized player to compete for a national team).

Current Teams

Club	Founded	City	Home Venue	Venues Capacity
Adelaide 36ers	1983	Adelaide, South Australia	Distinctive Homes Dome	7,200
Cairns Taipans	1999/2000	Cairns, Queensland	Cairns Convention Centre	5,300
Gold Coast Blaze	2007/2008	Gold Coast, Queensland	Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre	5,269
Melbourne Tigers	1984	Melbourne, Victoria	State Netball and Hockey Centre	3,500
New Zealand Breakers	2003/2004	Auckland, New Zealand	North Shore Events Centre	4,500
Perth Wildcats	1982	Perth, Western Australia	Challenge Stadium	4,500
South Dragons	2006/2007	Melbourne, Victoria	Hisense Arena	11,000
Sydney Spirit	1998/1999	Sydney, New South Wales	Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre	4,500
Townsville Crocodiles	1993	Townsville, Queensland	Townsville Entertainment Centre	5,257
Wollongong Hawks	1979	Wollongong, New South Wales	WIN Entertainment Centre	5,800

Former and Defunct teams

Selection. See List of defunct National Basketball League (Australia) teams for a more in depth list

Brisbane Bullets
Sydney Kings
Canberra Cannons
Hunter Pirates
North Melbourne Giants
Singapore Slingers
South East Melbourne Magic
Geelong Supercats
St. Kilda Saints aka Southern Melbourne Saints
Nunawading Spectres aka Eastside Spectres
Hobart Devils

Broadcasting Details

Currently the primary broadcaster of the NBL in Australia is pay television channel Fox Sports, airing matches on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. A weekly highlights program, Starting Five (formerly NBL Wrap), airs weekly before the game of the week, on Wednesday nights. The primary broadcaster of the NBL in New Zealand is free-to-air network Maori Television, after signing a deal before the 2007/08 season, who will broadcast all the home games of the New Zealand Breakers. Pay television channel Sky TV, who previously broadcast the home games of the Breakers, are expected to show replayed games and other Fox Sports coverage.

In 2007, the league signed a deal with free-to-air Network Channel 9 airing a weekly highlights package of games that have aired previously on Fox Sports. The last time the NBL had been on free-to-air television was in the early 2000s, when a weekly highlights show and a game of the week were aired on the ABC. Prior to that, it had agreements with the Seven (1988–1991) and Ten (1992–1997) networks, the latter during the league's most successful period. Games were also aired on many regional stations as well, mainly Capital Television and Ten Northern NSW (now Southern Cross Ten), Seven Queensland, WIN Television and NBN Television at varying stages.

Radio coverage is limited only to local station 4TO Townsville, who cover Crocodiles matches, SEN who covers the Melbourne Tigers and South Dragons and ABC 891 who covers the Adelaide 36ers matches (usually over the internet.)

From Saturday October 27th 2007, Radio 1611 AM 3XX began broadcasting Melbourne hosted games of the Melbourne Tigers and South Dragons. Sport FM 91.3 currently broadcasts all Perth Wildcats home game and most away games. In the commentry box are Jason Dattilo, CJ Jackson and Eric Watterson.

Hall of Fame

The National Basketball League celebrated 20 seasons of competition in 1998. As part of the celebrations, the NBL initiated the Hall of Fame to recognise the outstanding players, coaches, referees and contributors to the league.

In order to be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame, candidates must have fulfilled the following criteria:

Players must have made an outstanding contribution to the NBL, have been retired for a minimum of four seasons, and have played 100 NBL games or more.
Coaches must have made an outstanding contribution to the NBL, have been retired for at least four seasons, and have been an NBL head coach for 10 seasons or more.
Referees must have made an outstanding contribution to the league and have been retired for at least four seasons.
Contributors must have made an outstanding contribution to the NBL, and may be elected at any time.

Inductees are listed in alphabetical order.

Name	Award	Inducted
Barry Barnes	Coach	1998
Ray Borner	Player	2006
James Hoff	Player	1998
Steve Carfino	Player	2004
Wayne Carroll	Player	1999
Eddie Crouch	Referee	2007
Ian Davies	Player	2001
Mathao Demetriou	Player	2006
Scott Fisher	Player	2007
Al Green	Player	1999
Michael Johnson	Player	2004
Damian Keogh	Player	2000
Brian Kerle	Coach	2006
Leroy Loggins	Player	2006
Jangluu	Player	1998
Danny Morseu	Player	2002
Bill Palmer	Contributor	1998
Darryl Pearce	Player	2002
John Raschke	Contributor	1998
Larry Sengstock	Player	2001
Phil Smyth	Player	2000
David Brent	Contributor	2000
Bob Turner	Coach	2000
Andrew Vlahov	Player	2007

List of Champions

Team	W	Season	Notes
Perth Wildcats	4	1990, 1991, 1995, 2000
Adelaide 36ers	4	1986, 1998, 1999, 2002
Melbourne Tigers	4	1993, 1997, 2006, 2008
Canberra Cannons	3	1983, 1984, 1988	Became Hunter Pirates in 2003
Sydney Kings	3	2003, 2004, 2005	Licence was revoked June 2008
Brisbane Bullets	3	1985, 1987, 2007	Team withdrew June 2008
St Kilda Saints	2	1979, 1980	Became Westside Saints in 1987
North Melbourne Giants	2	1989, 1994	Merged to form Victoria Titans in 1998
South East Melbourne Magic	2	1992, 1996	Merged to form Victoria Titans in 1998
Launceston Casino City	1	1981	Team folded in 1983
West Adelaide Bearcats	1	1982	Left NBL in 1984, now in ABA
Wollongong Hawks	1	2001

Teams in bold are current members of the NBL.

NBL Finals

Season	Champion	Result	Runners-Up	Notes
1979	St Kilda Saints	94 – 93	Canberra Cannons	Single game final used
1980	St Kilda Saints	113 – 88	West Adelaide Bearcats
1981	Launceston Casino City	75 – 54	Nunawading Spectres
1982	West Adelaide Bearcats	80 – 74	Geelong Cats
1983	Canberra Cannons	75 – 73	West Adelaide Bearcats
1984	Canberra Cannons	84 – 82	Brisbane Bullets
1985	Brisbane Bullets	121 – 95	Adelaide 36ers
1986	Adelaide 36ers	2 - 1	Brisbane Bullets	Best of three games finals series first used.
1987	Brisbane Bullets	2 - 0	Perth Wildcats
1988	Canberra Cannons	2 - 1	North Melbourne Giants
1989	North Melbourne Giants	2 - 1	Canberra Cannons
1990	Perth Wildcats	2 - 1	Brisbane Bullets
1991	Perth Wildcats	2 - 1	Eastside Melbourne Spectres
1992	South East Melbourne Magic	2 - 1	Melbourne Tigers
1993	Melbourne Tigers	2 - 1	Perth Wildcats
1994	North Melbourne Giants	2 - 0	Adelaide 36ers
1995	Perth Wildcats	2 - 1	North Melbourne Giants
1996	South East Melbourne Magic	2 - 1	Melbourne Tigers
1997	Melbourne Tigers	2 - 1	South East Melbourne Magic
1998	Adelaide 36ers	2 - 0	South East Melbourne Magic
1998-99	Adelaide 36ers	2 - 1	Victoria Titans
1999-00	Perth Wildcats	2 - 0	Victoria Titans
2000-01	Wollongong Hawks	2 - 1	Townsville Crocodiles
2001-02	Adelaide 36ers	2 - 1	West Sydney Razorbacks
2002-03	Sydney Kings	2 - 0	Perth Wildcats
2003-04	Sydney Kings	3 - 2	West Sydney Razorbacks	Best of five games finals series first used.
2004-05	Sydney Kings	3 - 0	Wollongong Hawks
2005-06	Melbourne Tigers	3 - 0	Sydney Kings
2006-07	Brisbane Bullets	3 - 1	Melbourne Tigers
2007-08	Melbourne Tigers	3 - 2	Sydney Kings	Marked last game of the Sydney Kings before licence was revoked.

Rivalries

Adelaide 36ers vs Perth Wildcats

Both teams were perennial championship contenders in the late 80's and early 90's and had several marquee players with excellent matchups, the two most notable involving the imports: Al Green (Adelaide) vs Cal Bruton (Perth), Mark Davis (Adelaide) vs James Crawford (Perth). Games during this era were rarely blowouts and helped to fuel the rivalry. Ironically, the two teams have never played each other in the final series. As the mainstay players began to slow with age and retire, the intensity of this rivalry has declined. The two clubs remain the most successful in the NBL with 4 championships each and are 1st & 2nd on the all-time wins list, and have also matched up on more occasions (76, including 20 in the playoffs) than any other two teams in the NBL (as at November 9, 2005).

Adelaide 36ers vs Brisbane Bullets

Both teams were perennial championship contenders in the mid 80's and faced each other in the final for 3 consecutive years between 1985 and 1987. NBL legends Al Green, Mark Davis & Darryl Pearce from Adelaide and Leroy Loggins, Larry Sengstock & Cal Bruton (who moved to Perth in 1987 as the Adelaide / Perth rivalry developed) from Brisbane were all in the prime of their careers during this period.

Adelaide 36ers vs Melbourne Tigers

This rivalry largely stems from the switch by Mark Bradtke to the Tigers (from the 36ers) at the end of the 1992 season, inciting the wrath of 36ers fans. As such, it could just as easily be referred to as the Adelaide 36ers fans vs Mark Bradtke rivalry.

Melbourne Tigers vs South East Melbourne Magic

This early 90's battle to rule Melbourne raged at a time when interest in the NBL was at an all-time high, and attracted very large crowds to the 15,000 seat National Tennis Centre (now Rod Laver Arena). Key figures in these matchups were, for the Tigers: Andrew Gaze, Lanard Copeland, Mark Bradtke, David Simmons, Warrick Giddey, Ray Gordon; for the Magic: Robert Rose, Tony Ronaldson, Bruce Bolden, Darren Lucas, John Dorge, Andrew Parkinson.

Sydney Kings vs West Sydney Razorbacks

West Sydney Razorbacks fans are generally ex-Kings fans who became disillusioned with the team during the 1990s and ceased following the NBL altogether. The Razorbacks played the Kings in their first ever game in 1998. A controversial double technical foul late in the 4th quarter by Matt Nielsen, firstly for swinging on the ring and then for an obscene hand gesture, swung the game the Razorbacks way and gave the Kings a humiliating defeat. The two teams have hated each other ever since. The two teams met in a memorable Grand Final series in 2004 and the Razorbacks led the Kings 2 game to 1 and had a chance to clinch the title at home in Game 4. Behind their home crowd the Pigs rallied to tie the game but the Kings found a way to win the thrilling Game 4 and the Kings put the series away with a come from behind Game 5 victory in Sydney.

Cairns Taipans vs Townsville Crocodiles

Despite the large geographical separation of these two cities, a local derby style rivalry has developed to determine which is the dominant North Queensland team.

Cairns and Townsville are two teams that are allegedly widely reviled by fans all around the league. Their rivalry mirrors that of South East Melbourne Magic / Victoria Titans / Victoria Giants and the Sydney Kings.

Sydney Kings vs Wollongong Hawks

Being only 90 minutes drive away from each other there was always going to be a rivalry. This rivalry has also seen a Grand Final series where the Kings swept the Hawks in 3 games in a very one sided series winning all 3 in blowouts. Whenever the Kings are playing in Wollongong, WIN Entertainment Centre is usually sold out. Wollongong fans view the Kings as spoilt cousins, and as such, hate the Kings. The signing by the Evil Stydney Kings of beloved Wollongong hero Glen Saville has taken the rivalry to a new level, however, the Hawks are such a crap team that the Kings dominated them and torn them a new asshole. As such this wasn't really a rivalry as the Kings always were the better team.

Melbourne Tigers vs South Dragons

In its infancy, but with all the hallmarks of being the battle of Victorian supremacy. Local derby matches typically sell out at the Tigers 3500 seat home stadium (mostly Tiger Fans), "The Cage", and attracts 7000–9000 fans to the Dragons home stadium, Vodafone Arena. In 2008 the rivalry became bigger when Ebi Ere (thought to have signed with the South Dragons in the pre-season) signed on with the Tigers.

The NBL in the future

The NBL experienced its golden age in the early to mid-1990s, but its popularity, media attention, attendance and corporate support deteriorated and plateaued in the decade afterward. Australian NBA player Andrew Bogut suggested the NBL try to adopt a model similar to the Australian Football League (AFL) whereby there are the same 10 or 15 teams over a 10 year period

Disgruntled Australian basketball enthusiasts have suggested expansion to 16 teams, most importantly locating a team in the city of Darwin

making the Singapore road-trip less drawn-out, also Darwin currently does not have the support for a national domestic team of any sort. Since the inception of the Singapore Slingers in 2006, both Asia and Oceania are represented in the National Basketball League, however Asian players are not considered local players unless they are from Singapore and play for the Slingers. Unfortunately the Slingers are no longer part of the NBL.

There has been significant support for the NBL to expand into Asia by many NBL players as well as Australian national coach Brian Goorjian , be it differently to how it was done with the now defunct Singapore Slingers which had a 14 hour round-trip flight to the Australian East Coast The 2009/10 season is earmarked as the season in which the NBL will begin its revamping, much like the old National Soccer League which has now become the eight team A-League, with an eye to expanding to 10 teams within two seasons. The preffered method is to have three more teams in The Asia/Pacific region with locations such as Hong Kong, Manilla, Taipei, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and even United States territory Guam being earmarked as possible locations for clubs as well as re-instating the Slingers licence; although this expansion is not likely to happen for up to five more years. However it is possible the Perth Wildcats and/or a new Darwin franchise may make up the numbers in an Australasian division also Each of these clubs would then play just one home and one away game against each club not in its region or division and play up to three games against those clubs in its immediate area. A new Brisbane club is expected to replace the old Brisbane Bullets , thereby placing this team in a division of its own with the other three Queensland clubs, the Townsville Crocodiles, Gold Coast Blaze and Cairns Taipans. The Sydney Kings name was purchased for the sum of AU$20,000 on July 31st, 2008 adding hope to the club also making a return to the league Other possible locations for clubs include Hobart, Southern New Zealand and even an Australian Institute of Sport team based in Canberra comprising the best Australian players under the age of 22. Canberra has not had an NBL side since the Canberra Cannons which folded in 2003, the success of the AIS team in the Australian Women's National Basketball League underlies the likelihood of such a venture working

With the eventual expansion into Asia is it expected that Australia's significant Asian population would follow the game as well as creating revenue from pay-TV rights throughout Asia. With Basketball booming in Asia with the success in the NBA of Yao Ming as well as Yi Jianlin, Hamed Haddadi and Sun Yue Australia's role as hosting the best league in the region and one of the best in the world is obviously appealing The new NBL would ideally open the import restrictions to include Asian pasport holders as well as Oceania and possibly Southern Hemisphere born players to play as locals creating a wider player base and a better standard of basketball. Strong basketball nations such as Argentina, China, Brazil, New Zealand, Iran, Korea, Angola and The Phillipines would ideally all have representatives in the new league, which was recently merged with Basketball Australia

Notable NBL Figures

Award Winners

Statistical Leaders

All-Star Game

The All-Star game is an annual event in the NBL. It was once contested between the East and West but was now contested by the locals (Aussie All-Stars) and imports (World All-Star).

All-Star Games by Season


Year	Result	(Arena), City	MVP
1988	North 127, South 122	(The Glass House), Melbourne, VIC	Leroy Loggins, Brisbane Bullets
1989	North 141, South 143	(The Glass House), Melbourne, VIC	Andrew Gaze, Melbourne Tigers
1990	North 139, World 119	(Perth Entertainment Centre), Perth, WA	Derek Rucker, Brisbane Bullets
1991	North 168, South 154	(The Glass House), Melbourne, VIC	Mark Davis, Adelaide 36ers
1992	Australia 149, USA Stars 132	(AIS Arena), Canberra, ACT	Andrew Gaze, Melbourne Tigers
1993	NBL Stars 124, Australia 119	(Rod Laver Arena), Melbourne, VIC	Terry Dozier, Newcastle Falcons
1994	NBL Stars 101, Australia 133	(Sydney Entertainment Centre), Sydney, NSW	Tony Ronaldson, South East Melbourne Magic
1995	South Stars 138, North Stars 140	(Clipsal Powerhouse), Adelaide, SA	Robert Rose, Adelaide 36ers
1996	South Stars 132, North Stars 146	(Melbourne Park), Melbourne, VIC	Darryl McDonald, North Melbourne Giants
1997	North Stars 151, South Stars 142	(Sydney Entertainment Centre)), Sydney, NSW	Derek Rucker, Brisbane Bullets
2003/04	West 126, East 129	(State Netball and Hockey Centre), Melbourne, VIC	Ebi Ere, Sydney Kings
2004/05	Aussies 156, World 140	(Townsville Entertainment Centre), Townsville, QLD	Brad Newley, Townsville Crocodiles
2005/06	Aussies 151, World 116	(Sydney Entertainment Centre), Sydney, NSW	Darryl McDonald, Melbourne Tigers
2006/07	Aussies 133, World 136	(Distinctive Homes Dome), Adelaide, SA	Rashad Tucker, Melbourne Tigers
2007/08	Aussies 146, World 141	(State Netball and Hockey Centre), Melbourne, VIC	Nathan Jawai, Cairns Taipans