NBL better than ever

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The National Basketball League is set for a major revival this season on the back of exciting talent and a strong push into Asia, according to commissioner Rick Burton.

The NBL has struggled over the past few years to attract large crowds in the capital cities, but Burton believes with the introduction of the Singapore Slingers and South Dragons into the competition, the league is headed back to the popularity of the 90s when crowds were at their peak.

"We're coming back from being off the boil a couple of years ago. I think it's safe to say the NBL may have lost a little bit of its flash and I think it needed to go through a recovery period, but I'm very confident we've turned the corner," Burton said.

"There are a number of things going on that are indicators to me that we can start to see the NBL getting back to a period of time - back in the 90s - when basketball was a bit more flash and I think we're headed back in that direction."

"It's a season of expansion and one that excites me very much because we've put a team in Singapore," Burton said. "(It's) the first Australian team to really go into Asia."

Burton has been impressed by the way the South Dragons have established themselves in the lead-up to the new season and believes they will add to the success of the year ahead.

"They've brought in Mark Price as the head coach, Shane Heal has come back from retirement, they've signed Todd Fuller, an ex-NBA player, brought back Kavossy Franklin, so I'm very excited about this upcoming season."

It will be a tough season for tipsters, with Burton expecting there to be little between the top and bottom of the ladder come the end of the season.

"I think we've got better talent than we've ever had before and I think we've got new locations that we're going into so I reckon it's going to be a great year," he said.

"Two years ago we had the closest season the NBL had ever had in its history in that the minor premiers had the most losses and the wooden spoon had the most wins and there was not very much that separated the top from the bottom."

"I think we'll get that again this year - that the teams are going to be very deep. It's going to be very physical and very competitive all season long and I think when the bell rings at the end of the regular season, there won't be much difference between top and bottom," he said.

Not everybody agrees with the commissioner.

New Brisbane recruit CJ Bruton is confident there will be a breakaway group at the top of the ladder, and he's hoping the Bullets will be a part of it.

"I think three or four teams will escape from the pack as happens in a lot of sports," Bruton said.

"What teams, I don't know. The defending champions will be one of the teams to escape. I'm hoping (Brisbane) will be another and then you just don't know from that point on."

Bruton agreed that the level of talent throughout the competition has lifted and believes there will be a mad rush at the beginning of the season as teams fight to establish themselves.

"There is a lot of talent and there will be some close games so the first two or three months of the season will be touch and go in the win-loss column for a lot of these teams," he said.

Cairns Taipans skipper Anthony Stewart also disagreed with the league boss and went a step further than Bruton and predicted the two front-runners for the title.

"Melbourne and Brisbane are just that little bit further advanced than most teams in the league at the moment," he said.

"For Brisbane, picking up CJ Bruton was a huge coup, and I think you'll see Melbourne and Brisbane fighting it out for the top two spots, especially early in the season."