Ten ideas for a great NBL season

MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy's View from Downunder) - Almost all is in readiness for the new NBL season, with the pre-season Blitz kicking off in Townsville next Wednesday.

There has been plenty to get excited about - a new TV deal, new sponsors, returning international stars, returning superstar imports and the tantalising story of whether FIBA Basketball World Cup standout Corey Webster will turn from a New Zealand Breaker into a New Orleans Pelican.

So it's no surprise the signing of new referee boss Alby Joseph slipped under the radar, even if there was some controversy that Joseph lacks experience refereeing at the NBL level.

For me though, he is effectively the coach of the whistle-blowers, and given the past six championship teams have been coached by Rob Beveridge, Andrej Lemanis, Trevor Gleeson and Dean Vickerman - not a lot of NBL playing experience between that quartet – I don't see the issue.

In the official announcement, Joseph made a promising remark.

"Those involved in the previous administration are highly experienced, are elite in their field and what they did was fantastic," he said.

"We certainly won't be throwing out what they have already achieved, we will build on their foundations and we’re going to continue to grow."

The "previous administration" was headed by Mal Cooper, with Ray Hunt and Billy Mildenhall - a strong candidate for this year's lead role - in assistance.

Cooper's first year was close to outstanding. Gone was the wrestling culture of previous seasons, making way for an open, attacking style of game.

Unfortunately, last season things dropped away, with focuses like finishing inside broadcast windows and the obsession with flopping detracting from gains made in 2013/14.

It's Joseph's job to get things back on track and for mine it is about keeping it simple, predictable and clean, because this is the NBL's chance to get back into favour as an entertainment product, and for that to happen, skilful and athletic players must be allowed to shine.

Here are my 10 suggestions:

1. Give the offense space - If you want players to show off their skills you have to respect their cylinder. NBL defenders are expert at initiating contact to put their opponent on the back foot once they've caught the ball, making it hard to drive. Crack down on defenders who initiate contact - by enforcing a gap between the player with the ball and his defender - and we'll get a better show.

2. Give the defense a chance - Quite opposite to the above, don't punish defenders who absorb contact that is initiated by their opponent. This was a big weakness of the 2013/14 crackdown, resulting in quality big men sitting due to foul trouble when all they'd done was play positional defense.

3. Protect the elevating player - In the NBL, when an offensive player elevates to the basket and contact is made to a grounded player, it has traditionally been called either a charge or a no-call. It's time to punish defenders who establish position after their opponent has left the ground. Call those as blocking fouls and watch the athletes attack the basket more.

4. Make defenders earn charges - Traditionally, Australian referees have rewarded defenders who fall over, so not surprisingly many of them fall over when there is contact. If the offensive player hasn't taken the defender's ground - that is they've met at the point the defender is located - then put the onus on them to play like men and hold their ground.

5. Respect the grey area - Of course that doesn't mean calling more flopping technical fouls. Last year's attempted crackdown on flops was a farce - save the technical fouls for obvious flops like this one by Patty Mills.

In other instances, where there is contact but not enough to warrant a charge, let the play go on. The defender who didn’t hold his ground will then be punished by being out of the contest.

6. Allow the aerial contest - There are few things more exciting than athletes skying for rebounds. Unfortunately, in the 2013/14 crackdown contact in these situations was whistled tightly, even if the contact was incidental. Let the big men fly for rebounds, and only whistle fouls if they initiate contact to get an unfair advantage to grab the basketball, not if two bodies collide in mid-air.

7. Don't punish the stronger man - I hear big men all around Oceania say hallelujah! Too often fouls are called on bigs because their size and strength knocks a smaller opponent over. Referees must assess the technical element of what happened, not the reaction. Did the big man take his opponent’s ground? Or did the smaller man just come off second best when their bodies met?

8. Punish the grappler - The NBL is famous for players being able to grapple off the ball. The key here is allowing positional physicality by established bodies, but punishing those who grapple with their arms to prevent an opponent going where they want. Again, punish defenders who initiate contact.

9. Let the open court flow - Traditionally NBL refs have been great at judging when to pay advantage in open play, but since the recent crackdown the whistles have been going off on intentional open-court fouls to slow a fast-break, even when the contact hasn't impacted the offensive player. Fans want to see open-court play, so take the time to assess if that foul needs to be called.

10. Hold the whistle - And that, of course, means holding the whistle a moment. The best refs do this - whether it be in the open court or on a blocked shot - instead of blowing quickly thanks to adrenaline and then regretting a bad call moments later. Fans, coaches and players want the right call, even if it is a little late.

The players are ready for action, let's create a predictable and clean environment where they can strut their stuff.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

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