In order to keep track of the National Basketball League, I try my best to follow the online coverage provided by the league itself, the increasing content direct from teams, the mainstream media and the bloggers out there. Being overseas however, it is increasingly difficult to keep a grip on the state of play. Luckily though, I can rely on Daniel Eade (who writes at Gaze Hoops) to clue me in on things.

I posed a few questions to Daniel on the NBL season so far and here is what he had to say.

ASW: The Tigers have had a shocking year so far, which has seen them go from pre-season favourites to cellar-dwellers. What happened?

DE: Melbourne have since the dawn of time ran the shuffle offence, and the shuffle offence is very complicated to learn, and with so many new faces over the last few years and so many experienced heads leaving, there were too many new players coming in who didn't know all the intricacies of the offence and it turned into a rabble. Of course injuries have hurt them but if they had a side that could shoot from the perimeter they would've been fine, but they are last in the league in 3-point percentage. In their win last week against Wollongong, the biggest difference, outside the brilliance of Chris Anstey, was the ability of guys to knock down shots from behind the arc.

Wollongong has seen them go from not having the funds to put a team in the comp, to sitting on top of the ladder. Can we attribute their entire rise to Tywain McKee?

Yes is the easier answer, but Wollongong are the polar opposite to Melbourne. They run an offence they relies on ball movement and penetration from the guards and they shoot the lights out from deep. They isolate Cameron Tragardh and he finishes at the rim. Gordie McLeod basically made it easy and it's paying off.

McKee -- who is this guy? What type of player is he?

Everyone says he is like a mix between D-Mac and Butch Hays, I'd go the other way and say he is like Corey Williams, in the sense, he could get into the lane and score at will but he is also out there to get teammates involved, so he might hold back a little offensively on occasion. He is the runaway MVP favourite but his recent back injury has put a question mark over him. If he's right then all good, but if he (like Kirk Penney) is going to have to miss 1-2 months, what are the Hawks going to do?

Who has been the most promising youngster this year, in your opinion?

Promising youngster? Is that code for young kid who won't be in the league next season? You can't go past Jesse Wagstaff. To steal a term Nigel Purchase likes to use, "He's got balls," and he's not afraid to take a big shot.

Do you see a resurgence in NBL coverage purely through the online efforts of a few teams and fans or are we still in a dark age in that respect?

The problem is it's a select few of fans. This mini-community has broken out online, I think John Rillie was anointed President, but there would be thousands of fans who don't know it even exists. In a day and age when Twitter/Youtube/Facebook are such big marketing tools, the NBL fails to make a strong connection. Some teams do a great job, Townsville/Wollongong/Adelaide, and Nick Marvin in Perth, but that's 4 out of 8 teams.

Who is going to win it all this season?

I'll lose credibility if I say Melbourne!! I actually think it'll be between Townsville and New Zealand. Home-court will have no effect, the series will go three and it'll come down to the final 2 minutes. I'll pick Townsville only because DJ Rod is more likely to read this then someone from New Zealand!! 

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