Can't Buy A Basket has put together a cool Venn Diagram of all of the NBL team names since 1990. 

Go to CBAB to get on some other great NBL gear.

This 1989 NBA All-Star Weekend footage is a beauty. Kenny "the gambler" Rogers joins Dominique Wilkins in a 3-on-3 battle against Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas. Of course MJ doesn't turn down his competitive side at all in this show game, but Kenny has some tricks too! Check it out.

No doubt, in his prime, Rogers would've been an NBA superstar. *wink* And did they have to put Rogers on the 'White' team?

News surfaced this morning via the Townsville Bulletin and social media that the Townsville Crocodiles (under the ownership of Barrier Reef Basketball Pty Ltd) were going to return their licence to Basketball Australia, under financial stress. 

Basketball Australia have responded to these revelations with a statement this afternoon:

Basketball Australia has this afternoon met with representatives from National Basketball League Clubs, in light of the Townsville McDonalds Crocodiles’ moves to surrender their license to participate in the League.

It is our intention to support a viable NBL into the 2013/14 season, and we are working collaboratively with NBL Clubs to that end.

Basketball Australia will continue to work through the NBL White Paper process in order to ascertain a strategic direction – endorsed by the Basketball Australia Board and the NBL – to give the League the best opportunity at financial success.

Regarding the Crocodiles, Basketball Australia Chief Executive Officer Kristina Keneally is writing to Barrier Reef Basketball Pty Ltd to advise Basketball Australia will not accept the immediate return of their license, as the Club has not complied with the terms of the NBL License Agreement which would allow immediate surrender.

An immediate surrender of license would require the club to demonstrate they are insolvent.

Regardless of what direction BRB takes in their ownership of the team, it would be great to see the Crocs continue in the NBL in 2013/14 and beyond. If a community model can be established, as has worked well with the Wollongong Hawks, all the better. 

Either way, the loss of the Crocs to the league would be a tragedy, given the strong supporter base they have provided in Townsville over the years, since their introduction to the league as the Suns in 1993. The Crocs have boasted such league talents/personalities as Robert Rose, John Rillie, Derek Rucker, Pat Reidy, Corey Williams, Peter Crawford, Russell Hinder, Gary Ervin, Sam Mackinnon, Clarence Tyson and Larry Abney -- to name but a selection. It would be a true shame to lose their rich history permanently to the NBL.

Time will tell how this scenario plays out. One positive is that the league has an entire off-season to look for a solution.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (7'2") looks short next to Big Bird (8'2") -- but only one is a Hall of Fame NBA centre. That said, I think the yellow fella would be pretty good at boxing out in the post. In this video clip from Sesame Street, Kareem and BB teach you all about how subtraction works. Watch and learn.

PS No, "Big Bird" is not referring to Luke Schenscher.

Andre Drummond of the Detroit Pistons did his best impression of Shaquille O'Neal against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, as he airballed two consecutive free throws. Watch the video.

Tonight sees the tip-off of the first versus fourth NBL Semi-final series between the New Zealand Breakers and the Sydney Kings. In terms of disparity of expectations at the start of the season between these two teams, there could not be a bigger gap. 

The two-time reigning champion Breakers were clear favourites at the top of the league, along with the Perth Wildcats, whilst the Kings were tipped to take up the bottom of the ladder by most league pundits. Coming into this series, the Breakers are once again the definite front-runners, having only lost four games all season (24-4), whilst the Kings came out with a sub-.500 record at 12-16.

Unusually, many Kings supporters were gunning for a Finals matchup with the top-ranked Breakers rather than the second-placed Wildcats, as the Kings have performed better against the Kiwis this season.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Do not be surprised to see a Kings upset in at least one game of this series, as Sydney have performed well against the Breakers at times this season. The Breakers have a 3-1 record against the Kings in 2012/13, however not all of those wins have come easily. 

The first matchup between these teams, in New Zealand in round 5, saw a Mika Vukona three-point basket in the dying moments required to clinch the game for the Breakers. Their second meeting saw the Kings win by 13 in Sydney (round 10). The Breakers made up for this with a 95-76 spanking of the Kings in New Zealand six rounds later. However once again the Kings gave the Breakers trouble in round 18, as the Breakers scraped through with a two point victory in overtime in Sydney. 

The Kings will likely try to get into 2013 MVP Cedric Jackson's head, as the Wildcats attempted to last week. By throwing him off his game, possibly by leaving him more open than normal and covering all other options (thus killing Jackson's passing game), the Kings may have a chance to get an early edge until the Breakers adjust. 

A victory for Sydney in New Zealand is unlikely (despite their round 5 close call) as the Breakers have only lost one game at home all season. It will take some serious game-changing tactics to pull the upset that the Kings need in game one, before reverting back to Sydney in game two. For the Kings to pull off an upset, they would conceivably need to do it in two games, as a game three in New Zealand would be a very tough proposition.

Alternatively, this series could get very ugly, with the Breakers arsenal of Jackson, Thomas Abercrombie, Alex Pledger, Vukona and co putting on a show and putting on two straight blow-outs. Certainly, the relative positions of the two teams on the ladder would indicate this.

X-FACTORS

New Zealand: The offensive spark of Corey Webster, CJ Bruton and Daryl Corletto could kill the Kings if they are to underplay their potential impact. Getting out to the shooters on rotations will be key.

Sydney: Equally, the ability of James Harvey to light up in high pressure situations could be a welcome addition to the Kings' offensive array, after him having little impact during most of the season. If Harvey can complement Ben Madgen's potent league-leading offence on the perimeter. 

BOLD PREDICTION

Breakers in three.

One week after the National Basketball League Tribunal heard a case against Jacob Holmes (Townsville Crocodiles) for tripping, a second case regarding Larry Davidson (Wollongong Hawks) came before it today.

Whilst Holmes came away from his alleged trip of Wollongong's Tyson Demos unscathed, Davidson was not as fortunate in his incident with Sydney Kings guard Ben Madgen. Davidson was found guilty of the charge of tripping and will cop a $1,500 fine.

The tribunal findings indicated:

The finding of the Tribunal is that the reported player fell to the floor in a rebound situation. As a result of that fall the player was on the floor and was very close to the feet of Ben Madgen as he went to run up the floor. That player continued to run, that is directly over the player on the floor.

 

The umpire Brett Hogan told the Tribunal he was unsure if there had been any contact by Ben Madgen as he ran by Larry Davidson but that he had seen a grab with the left arm around the leg of the player. He explained to the Tribunal that he was unsure at the time if the player Ben Madgen had stepped on the player on the floor or if his leg had made contact with the body of Larry Davidson. The player Ben Madgen told the Tribunal he had not made any contact with the player on the floor and felt a hold on his leg around the shin which as he continued to move slipped down to his foot.

 

Larry Davidson in his statement to the Tribunal said he saw the leg of the player and he attempted to deflect any contact to him. The Tribunal did not accept the explanation given by the player and formed the view that the player grabbed the lower leg and foot of the player Ben Madgen which tripped the player who subsequently fell. The Tribunal accepted that this action of grabbing the leg was not a premeditated action on the part of the player but rather a reaction to the situation in the game. The contact in the view of the Tribunal could not be described as accidental.

The tribunal took into account the fact that Davidson had not been previously reported during his nine years in the league and contributes to the community.

There seems to be a little bit of a trend lately. Inspiring videos are popping up on youtube and in news bulletins, showing high school teams giving opportunities to disadvantaged team mates and team managers. Often they are someone who has loyally served the team and shown support, and the team decides to reward that by getting the player a basket at the end of a game.

This video is a little different, in that the basket comes at the start of the game, and it's a dunk. 

From the youtube video description (by Sean Mullaney):

Joey Mullaney, a senior manager for Lawrence Academy's Men's Basketball Team, dunks the ball to start the game on senior day. Joey suffers from Friedreich's Ataxia, a rare, neurological disorder that has sidelined him from playing and forced him into a managerial role. However, Joey suited up for his final game on senior day and starts the game with a dunk.

Australian Rules Football club, the North Melbourne Kangaroos, has signed Eric Wallace, an American College basketball player, to a two year contract after he impressed in a 10 day trial and the AFL Draft Combine in October.

Wallace is described as a 196cm (6'5"), 102kg (224lb) big man in this article, however his profile at Seattle University lists him as 6'7" and 233lb. It wouldn't be the first known case of "Pacific Shrinkage" however -- just ask all of the NBL teams that have brought out imports over the years!

Wallace, who also attended Ohio State and DePaul, appears to have been an imposing rebounder and scorer in his collegiate career, playing as a forward.

If the North Carolina native makes the senior roster, he will be just the third American to do so. Conversely, a number of Australians have made the leap to America's NFL -- with Darren Bennett being the most successful.

He has been signed as an international rookie list player.

Coach Brad Scott said Wallace's work ethic and athletic ability suggested he was worth taking a chance on.

'Eric has worked extremely hard and proved to us he's willing to do whatever it takes to play AFL football,' Scott said.

'The ovation he received from the playing group when we announced his signing was evidence of how highly regarded Eric already is at our club and the way he has fitted in so easily.

'He still has a lot to learn about the game but his passion for Aussie rules is already very strong and his athletic ability is outstanding.'

This video is a fantastic example of how dominant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain were as physical specimens, as they dunk all over each other in some brutal matchups. These guys would certainly make their mark in today's big man-poor NBA.