Could Free-To-Air Be Back?

Remember this logo. It could be what saves professional basketball in this country.

It seems that momentum is gaining that free to air NBL basketball could be back, all thanks to Channel Ten's new OneHD sports channel. The article below is courtesy of The West Australian.

The National Basketball League could return to free-to-air television next season — if there is an elite men’s competition at all in 2009-10.

Key players in Basketball Australia’s reform process are understood to have held discussions with the Ten network about having NBL games shown on the broadcaster’s dedicated sports channel, One HD.

The concept is viewed as a major boost for the league, which suffered a drop in popularity around the country once Channel 10 stopped showing matches almost a decade ago.

Although pay-TV provider Fox Sports has held the NBL rights in recent seasons, some of the competition’s more powerful clubs believe their product isn’t beamed into enough homes.

However, a new deal with Fox Sports, which included broadcasting every match live as part of a five-year, $30 million arrangement, was a sweetener from BA to convince NBL clubs to give away their control of the league to a new independent body last November.

Despite BA claims the arrangement would lead to a more commercially friendly competition to tip off in October, the game’s governing body has yet to release details of the new NBL.

A major issue that could hurt the Foxtel deal is the expectation that there will be no franchises from Sydney or Brisbane — two of the pay-TV provider’s three biggest markets — in the new NBL.

According to Federal Government agency Screen Australia, only 27 per cent of Australian households subscribe to pay-TV. But One HD is beamed only into Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Supporters of franchises in Cairns and Townsville would not be able to access the service.

The West Australian understands even if the Fox Sports deal goes through, replays of NBL matches could also be shown on One HD. The digital station shows NBA matches, including the play-offs, live. One HD also beams the ANZ Championship netball competition.

NBL great Phil Smyth said last week the lack of free-to-air coverage was a big stumbling block in plans to revive the 30-year-old competition. “There are two major factors in this,” Smyth told the Adelaide Advertiser. “Private ownership in sports in Australia is not looked at favourably. The second component is losing free to-air TV — that really hurt the game.”

Meanwhile, new Perth Wildcats coach Rob Beveridge could begin signing players as early as next week although the structure of the revamped NBL has yet to be released. Beveridge will make a short visit to Perth to discuss his recruiting process with Wildcats management. He will move west in June.

The former Sydney Spirit mentor, who has recently returned to Australia after working in the US and the Philippines, has plenty of work to do.

Perth have just three contracted players for the 2009-10 season, although the existing deals for Shawn Redhage, Brad Robbins and Stephen Weigh have yet to be ratified by BA.

Some clubs have legal opinion the existing arrangements will be void in the new league. The contracts were signed under old NBL guidelines. BA expects to dissolve the NBL as an entity at the end of next month.

News

- Panathinaikos wins their second Euroleague title in three years. They snuck by defending champs CSKA Moscow 73-71. match report

In the consolation final, Aussie David Andersen continued his great Final Four form with another productive game at the offensive end. He finished with a game high 20 points.

Barcelona/Olympiacos boxscore match report

- Pat Mills can be found at #30 on NBA Draft Day Countdown draft board.

This is good for Mills as this is the last pick in the first round and gets him a guaranteed deal.

It will be interesting to see where Pat goes as this is quite a deep draft for point guards.

Remember, as long as he does not hire an agent, he can still return to St Mary's for his junior year.

- The real "Birdman", Denver Nugget Chris Andersen is getting some credit for locking down scoring machine Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks.

- Aussie NBA enthusiast NBAMate pens his thoughts on the second round of the playoffs.

Germany Thru, Australia To Play Croatia First & Relive OZ97

Dirk finally gets to play at an Olympics. Dirk could lend Chris Kaman some of his wig though.

Germany has grabbed the final spot at for the Olympic Games. Dirk Nowitzki and his team defeated the Carlos Arroyoless Puerto Rico, 96-82.

I was a little naive in my thinking that Greece and Croatia would play off for the tournament title. Since both these teams qualified for the Olympics the previous day, no title game was necessary. That is just a little odd to me. Play a tournament and have no winner!

With the Games field finalized the draw is now available and the Aussies have drawn the European qualifying Croatia first up.

Having just come off three games against them (2-1 Croatia) the good news for the Aussies is they know what to expect when it comes tip off time in Beijing.

With Lithuania, Argentina, Iran and Russia in this pool as well, the Boomers first game result could determine whether they make it through to the next round.

The way it works is; you need to finish in the top 4 of your pool to advance to the next round. If you don't, you party hard for the remainder of the Olympics. I'm speaking from experience here.

So, the Aussies need to win 3 games to secure a spot in the next round. Win 2 and it could be determined by count back.

All teams in this pool have Iran marked as a "W". I feel as though Argentina is the number 1 team while the Lithos and Russians will battle for the next two spots, leaving the Boomers and the Croats to battle it out for the remaining spot.
There is no doubt that both Croatia and Australia can take games away from any of these teams, but I will play the percentages and say the Aussies need to win the first game to give themselves the best chance of reaching the medal round.

Aussie fans will get a better feel for how our team is progressing when they play in the Diamond Ball Tournament next week.

They follow this up with a game against the USA. Although knocking off the USA any time is a good thing, I think you need to keep that "one off" performance for the Olympics.

If Australia finishes with the 4th seed, there is a very good chance that they will meet the USA in the first cross over game.

Although Boomers coach Brian Goorjian has talked about the depth in this pool, I feel that the Boomers have a great chance of advancing to the final round of eight with Croatia in the pool.

Check out this ABC interview with Andrew Bogut talking about the Boomers chances.

Other News

Dusty Rychart has signed with the Wollongong Hawks.

The Hawks finally got Rychart to put pen to paper after the negotiating process taking some time.

The attraction for the Hawks with the USA born Rychart is, all things going well Rychart will play as a Aussie next year.

If my sources are worth their money, Rychart was trying to do the right thing by himself and only wanting to sign for one year, then renegotiate new year as an Aussie.

In the meantime the Hawks were trying their hardest to lock up the "Garbage Man" for three years.

Reading between the lines, both parties must have compromised and agreed to two years.

There is no doubting that Rychart has shown he has a great knack for accumulating points and rebounds in the NBL, without taking shots away from the "studs" on the roster.

In saying this, isn't that what the NBL's 2007/08 Most Improved Player Cam Tragardh does for them. I will be interested to see how these two coexist.

The NBL's Prospects Camp got underway in Melbourne today.

This camp allows 63 of Australia's best prospects to go and show their skills in front of an array of coaches from around the country.

This is a great concept and idea by Ian Stacker. It will only get better as time goes on and players on the fringe of the NBL realize this is a good forum to showcase their talent.

A reliable source of mine said that the best players from Day 1 were Adelaide's Matt Sutton and Gold Coast's Anthony Olah.

It will be interesting to see who shines during Day 2's action.

Perth Wildcat's rookie signing Stephen Weigh, talks up his QABL Rockhampton Rockets.

Portland TrailBlazers Rookie guard Jerryd Bayless is lighting up Vegas. For all other things happening at the Vegas Summer League, click here.

The Utah Jazz Summer League had a rest day.

Tully Bevilaqua will land in Brissy on Tuesday morning. This means that the World Champion Australian Opals will finally have their full squad together as they prepare to win their first gold medal at an Olympic Games.

Andrew Bogut is down to earth?

OZ97 - Australia vs Argentina (Check out the names in this game plus you will get goose bumps if you are an Aussie.)

Greece and Croatia Off To Beijing, Who Will Join Them?

Thought you were worthy of being an NBA cheerleader, click on the picture and dare to dream.

When you wake up from your weekend's adventures and head in to work Monday morning, the 12 teams competing at the Beijing Olympic Games will be finalized.

Yesterday, Greece defeated Puerto Rico 88-63 to advance to the final of the qualifying tournament, but more importantly the Greeks have punched their ticket to the Games.

Greece started the tournament as favourites so it is no surprise they coasted into the final of the FIBA tournament on home soil.

In the other semi final Croatia got the better of Germany despite Dallas Maverick Dirk Nowitzki having a monster game. Nowitzki's 30 points and 13 rebounds was not enough to combat Croatia's team effort.

The final score was 76-70.

Croatia makes their return to the Olympics after missing out in Athens in 2004, while Greece will try and secure a medal after missing out four years ago.

With Greece and Croatia on their way to Beijing, I would love to be in Athens to see the Germans and the Puerto Ricians go at it for that final spot.

To me, this is actually the championship game of the tournament. There is so much on this one game.

I'm sure Dirk will be looking to have a big game and help his country get to the Olympics. This might help erase some of his recent NBA playoff disappointments.

I cannot wait to wake up in the morning and find out the result of this game. One team will leave Athens very, very disappointed, the other over the moon.

Onto the final. There has been a little speculation around this game, especially the result.

You win this game and you join the bracket of Lithuania, Argentina, Australia, Iran and Russia.

You lose, you play host China, the USA, Angola, Spain and the winner of the third place game of the FIBA tournament in your pool games at the Olympics.

A lot of the philosophies centre around when do you want to match up against the USA. Some countries want to play them in pool action so you do not have to cross over against them to reach the medal games.

Others will take their chances and hope they do not have to meet them until a medal game. Then they roll the dice and hope they have a good one against them.

Personally I believe you have to play to win every game and let the chips fall where they do. If you start trying to map your path, you will stuff up somewhere along the way. Whether it is you dropping a game you thought you would win, or some other team causing and upset you did not see coming.

At the Olympics, if you are playing good enough to win a medal, you will beat whoever is in your way.

Argentina was a great example of this in Athens. I watched nearly all the basketball games played (yes enter your own joke at my expense) and I could see that Argentina had an edge about their game.

It did not matter if it was the USA or New Zealand, they played the same way.

In the end you can say that this attitude paid off, they won the gold.

Lets get back on track, Germany or Puerto Rico? I will say the combination of NBA stars Nowitzki and Los Angles Clippers centre Chris Kaman will be too much for the guys from the Americas.

And the final. I'll stick with the home team, Greece. I feel they could be a medal contender next month in Beijing.

Let the Games begin!

Other News

"He’s the kind of thin that makes you think of pipe cleaners, Calista Flockhart and M.C. Hammer’s wallet. He’s as long as Lawrence of Arabia and as wide as a crack in the sidewalk. He’s as skinny as Pete Wentz’s jeans and as lean as Stouffer’s diet cuisine." - NBA.com's Dave McMenamin describing Golden State Warriors rookie Anthony Randolph.

Click here and read how Randolph is making people look past his build. You got a love a guy like this. Well, Leroy Loggins and I can.

Click here for all your Vegas Summer League news and scores.

Nathan Jawai finally got his Summer League and NBA career underway over the weekend. Big Nate opened his account against the Los Angles Lakers. Starting and playing 24 minutes Nate produced 8 points and 6 rebounds. Today Jawai backed up that performance with a 13 point, 5 rebounds game. (click on the above link to see boxscores and highlights)

Click here to get the latest scores and news from the Rocky Mountain Revue (Utah Jazz Summer League). Anyone who is interested, the Olympic bound Iranian team is playing in the Revue.

From the Torres News - Mills in, Jawai out

"And "Nude Nights" should be scheduled without warning. This Festival of Flesh would get everyone talking hoops. You know what they say about men with big feet. Once the public tried a night courtside, with everything hanging out, they would be hooked." - The Courier Mail and HG Nelson's take on what needs to happen for basketball to grab the headlines.

Nate Tomlinson (former King's assistant coach Bill Tomlinson's son) getting the wraps from Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik and other Aussies having an impact in college.

Stick a fork in the Tall Blacks. Their Olympic dream is over, thanks to the Greeks. The question now must be, when will they get their next Olympic berth? I cannot see them hosting the world's largest Games any time soon.

Matt Smith returns to the Snakes.

Ever Wonder What Happened To Brett Wheeler?