If any NBL fan thinks hard enough they can come up with at least one great All Star game memory. My memory would be of Andrew Gaze being out on a fast break and laying the ball up instead of dunking it and bearing the brunt of the crowd’s boos. Or what about Nathan Jawai’s total domination in the last All Star game in 2008? These games were fun and exciting and showed a different side of the players, one that didn’t include their ferocity to win all the time. What I’m trying to say is that many people had fun watching these games and if the league wants some much needed publicity they need to bring this game back next season.
The All Star game would be part of a bigger weekend that would include a slam dunk contest, a skills challenge and a three point shootout. I am confident that all the participants of each contest do their best to dazzle the crowd in a fun manner and I can expect some thunderous throw downs in the dunk contest. There needs to be some interesting and unique skills challenges, apart from the usual foot race and dribble course. Maybe have a full court shootout or a game of horse where the shots have to outlandish and exciting.
Another thing that is up for consideration is how the teams would be picked. Would the public vote in the starters and coaches the bench like the NBA? Or will the league office pick the players? I would love to see the former in action with ballot boxes at all the games as well as huge advertisements for voting on their broadcasts and website where votes can be done online at NBL.com.au. The only downside would be all the Cairns supporters stuffing the ballot box and voting in someone like Kerry Williams. One main point that would need to be address at the start of the preparation is the telecast on One HD. The game HAS to be shown live and advertised aggressively otherwise the marketing punch is lost.
There have been three different past iterations of the All Star game – the Australians versus the World, East versus West and North versus South. There is another way that has just come around recently which I will also go over.
The Australia vs. the World matchup
An old chestnut which would be the favourite if the game was resurrected. This gives the Australian talent a chance to shine without having to defer to their imports like usual games while freeing the foreigners to really showcase their skills. The only downside I can see is there aren’t as many import big men this year which could swing the game to the locals.
Possible starters –
Australia
PG – Adam Gibson (Gold Coast)
SG – Thomas Abercrombie (New Zealand)
SF – Cameron Tragardh (Melbourne)
PF – Daniel Johnson (Adelaide)
C – Julian Khazzouh (Sydney)
World
PG – Cedric Jackson (New Zealand)
SG – Jamar Wilson (Cairns)
SF – Gary Wilkinson (New Zealand)
PF – Diamon Simpson (Adelaide)
C – Jerai Grant (Sydney)
The East vs. West matchup
This method only works if a Brisbane team was introduced instead of the Melbourne side, with the Western All Stars made up of Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Cairns and Townsville with the East consisting of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, Wollongong and New Zealand. It may only be me but I find it strange to classify Melbourne as a ‘west’ team and make me wonder that the other variations of the All Star game are better just because of the locations of the cities. Another problem that I can see is that many of the players selected would be imports limiting the exposure of the Australian players.
Possible starters –
Eastern All Stars*
PG – Myron Allen (Melbourne)
SG – Kevin Lisch (Perth)
SF – Jacob Holmes (Townsville)
PF – Cameron Tragardh (Melbourne)
C – Matthew Knight (Perth)
*Will include any Brisbane players that are deemed All Star worthy.
Western All Stars
PG – Cedric Jackson (New Zealand)
SG –Jamar Wilson (Cairns)
SF – Diamon Simpson (Adelaide)
PF – Mark Worthington (Gold Coast)
C – Julian Khazzouh (Sydney)
The North vs. South matchup
This is my personal favourite because it groups all the Queensland and New South Wales teams together which makes much more geographical sense than the East/West game. I’m including the rumoured second Melbourne team in this scenario to round out the teams. The North would obviously be Cairns, Townsville, Gold Coast, Sydney and Wollongong while the South would be a team of Perth, Adelaide, the two Melbourne sides and New Zealand. I would love to see the usual rivals of Townsville and Cairns having to play together while Sydney and Wollongong players may have some bad blood between them because of the prince/pauper argument. And I’m pretty sure Adelaide and Melbourne have a heated rivalry in nearly everything they do, which could make for some great stories.
Possible starters –
North
PG – Adam Gibson (Gold Coast)
SG – Jamar Wilson (Cairns)
SF – Jacob Holmes (Townsville)
PF – Mark Worthington (Gold Coast)
C – Julian Khazzouh (Sydney)
South*
PG – Cedric Jackson (New Zealand)
SG – Kevin Lisch (Perth)
SF – Cameron Tragardh (Melbourne)
PF – Diamon Simpson (Adelaide)
C – Daniel Johnson (Adelaide)
*Will include any players from the second Melbourne side that are deemed All Star worthy.
The NHL style fantasy draft
Last year the National Hockey League introduced a fantasy draft style voting where the fans voted for their favourite players like usual with the league also putting in a certain amount of players into a pool. The difference was that after these guys were selected two players out of that group were chosen as captains and they alone picked the teams. One captain could be from the team where the game is being held while the other would be of the team leading the standings at that point in time. So one by one players would be selected to their respective All Star team, giving a more personal touch to the game. Preferably the captains would not just selected players from their own NBL team as I would think that selecting a wide range of players would be advantageous to their success in the actual game.
Anyway the league goes they need to bring back the All Star game to bring in new fans. Casual fans don’t want to see grind out, defensive minded games like a lot of hardcore fans celebrate, they want dunks and highlights to get them out of their seats. Offense all the way for fair-weather fans. Sure those guys can get annoying but if we want this league to grow then the NBL needs to bring in new blood and the All Star game not only does this but gives recognition to the players who worked their guts out during the season.
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