RIP johnrillie.com

Its a say day in the NBL blogging world ... I randomly checked John Rillie's website only to see the following:

Welcome to johnrillie.com

John Adventure Tours Books Broadband Business Education Car Rental Cheap Dvds Education Finance Flights Flowers

This domain may be for sale. Backorder this Domain


As anyone that follows the NBL would know, JR was by far the best blogger the NBL has seen and he will be sadly missed.

If you haven't heard what Rillie is up to lately, he packed up the family, leaving Townsville to take up a position as Director of Basketball Operations at Boise State in Idaho.

NBA 2K11 commercials

Thanks to the crew at Dime for pointing out the latest series of NBA 2K commercials. I didn't bother watching the first when it came out, but checked out the second one today and they're pretty funny.

Josh Smith: "Can't eat sushi in Utah brother ... land locked" ... funny stuff

(Edit: added another two vids today)

Gary Payton ... poker player?

I woke this morning to find a post on Facebook from PokerStars about former NBA All-Star Gary Payton playing on their Million Dollar Challenge.

GP's nickname was The Glove ... or lesser known as The Mouth, so Jason Mercier had very little chance of ever getting a word in against both Daniel Negreanu and Payton.

Check out the action below:

Mark Cuban - Behind the Glory

Thanks to a tweet from Mark Cuban, I came across this great documentary series called Behind the Glory that did a feature on him.

If you don't know Mark Cuban, he's the owner of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. More than that tho, he's a business idol of mine. To find out how he got to where he is and why he describes himself as the luckiest man in the world, watch the clips below.

Kirk Penney gaining international attention

Good to see one of our blog favourites getting some respect on the international stage. After an impressive performance in the World Champs, Kirk Penney has people thinking he can get back in the NBA.

I was pleased to see the following story on Dime this morning, unfortunately no mention of his feats in the NBL, but hey, can't have everything.

Kirk Penney Is Back Banging On The NBA’s Front Door | Dime Magazine (dimemag.com) : Daily NBA News, NBA Trades, NBA Rumors, Basketball Videos, Sneakers

By Aron Phillips

If you look at the Top 5 scorers from the World Championship this summer, it probably wouldn’t surprise you that all of them currently play in the NBA. That is, all of them except one. So while Luis Scola led the field with 27.1 points per game, it was New Zealand’s Kirk Penney (24.7 ppg) who scored more buckets than even Kevin Durant.

You may remember Penney from his All-American days at Wisconsin. But after brief stints with the Heat (2003) and the Clippers (2004), along with stops in Israel, Lithuania and Germany, he found his way back home.

This past season, Penney (6-5, 212 pounds) joined up with the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the D-League right before the playoffs and rained murder on his opponents. For example, in only his third game back, Penney dropped 40 on 16-23 shooting (5-6 from three) to go along with eight rebounds and two assists. After his impressive outing in the Worlds, he definitely deserves another look from the NBA.

NBL Launch

Plenty of big news coming out of the NBL launch today in Sydney. Great to see the league securing some sponsors and hopefully its another step back in the right direction.


NBL rebounds with iiNet

The resurgence of the National Basketball League has continued to gather pace with Basketball Australia announcing today that iiNet, Australia’s fastest growing Internet Service Provider, has signed a three-year deal as the Naming Rights Partner for the NBL.

The agreement will run through the end of the 2012/13 season and will see the competition officially known as the iiNet NBL Championship.

BA’s Chief Executive Officer, Larry Sengstock, unveiled the partnership at today’s official launch of the 2010/11 NBL Season, which was held at the prestigious Quay Restaurant on Sydney’s harbour.

Sengstock said the new partnership with iiNet gives the NBL competition an incredibly strong platform for growth.

“We’ve made some major strides in moving the NBL forward in the past 12 months, and it’s vital as that process continues that we work with strong and supportive partners who share our vision,” said Sengstock.

“In iiNet we now have a naming rights partner who is clearly established as a forward-thinking and innovative leader in the business world. We believe we share a lot of brand synergies and they will complement us perfectly as we continue to reinvigorate the NBL brand.

“They are committed to assisting us leverage the partnership and provide us tangible momentum and real confidence to further invest in the NBL brand.”

Speaking at the launch, iiNet Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Sam McDonagh, agreed that the rapidly growing telecommunications company was a perfect fit for the competition.

“iiNet is thrilled to be partnering with Basketball Australia – it’s a massive sport at a grass roots level and now it’s making a comeback at the highest level of the game,” said McDonagh.

“We know what it’s like to have big ambitions, iiNet started in a garage to become the leading challenger for internet services in Australia, so we’re keen to take basketball in Australia to the next level.

“Australians love sport and together we have an opportunity to help bring basketball to households across the country. Trust us – it’s going to be big,” adds McDonagh.

In recent months, the NBL has made some significant announcements, including the return of the league to free-to-air television via a five-year deal with Network Ten and its digital sports channel ONE, as well as the resurrection of the Sydney Kings as the NBL’s ninth team.

The NBL has also recently signed AND1 as the league’s Official Apparel Supply Partner of the NBL and its teams; together with Spalding as the Official Ball of the NBL.

The iiNet NBL Championship Season tips-off on 15 October, and all nine teams will gather in the Northern Territory from 28 September to 2 October to participate in the official ‘Top End Challenge’ pre-season tournament.


NBL SPONSORSHIP SURGE CONTINUES WITH CENTREBET AGREEMENT

On the same day that Basketball Australia announced that it had secured iiNet as Naming Rights Partner for the National Basketball League for the next three years, BA also revealed that it had signed a major partnership for the NBL with Centrebet.

Under the terms of the deal, Centrebet will be the Official Sports Betting Partner of the NBL for the next two years.

Centrebet, who were first licensed as a sports bookmaker in 1992, already have in place partnerships with several major sporting codes including the AFL and NRL.

BA Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock said the new partnership was further evidence that the NBL was continuing to enjoy a massive upswing in its commercial attractiveness.

“Centrebet are one of Australia’s leading sports betting providers and they have recognised that the NBL is making major strides commercially,” said Sengstock. “They have a history of being ahead of the curve and in 1996 were the first licensed bookmaker in the Southern Hemisphere to offer online sports betting. Clearly they see that the NBL is poised to move its business to a whole new level.”

“As a sport we’ve undergone a massive structural transformation in the past two years in order to put ourselves in a position to reap commercial rewards, and we are now starting to see the tangible benefits of that hard work,” added Sengstock.

“Sports betting in Australia is hugely popular and wagering on basketball is a large part of that industry that generates millions of dollars. Basketball has lagged behind other codes until now in terms of reaping the rewards of that public expenditure but this new partnership will see some of that money flow back into basketball and be reinvested in the sport.”

In the past few months the NBL has signed new long-term commercial partnerships with Network Ten and its digital sports channel One as broadcast partner, iiNet as Naming Rights Partner, AND1 as official Apparel Supply Partner and Spalding as Official Ball partner. The NBL has also signed an agreement with Sky Television as its broadcast partner in New Zealand.

Luke Brill, Head of Marketing and Gaming at centrebet.com, said Centrebet was excited about the new partnership.

“Centrebet are delighted to be the Official Sports Betting Partner of the NBL,” Brill said. “This partnership includes full integration with all the broadcast media and branding throughout the competition.The opportunity to be part of the future of the NBL is very exciting for us at Centrebet and we truly buy into the vision for the sport.”


NEW NATIONAL BRAND CAMPAIGN FOR NBL

The National Basketball League has unveiled a new national marketing campaign that brings to life the unique elements of the sport of basketball at its launch of the 2010/11 NBL season in Sydney today.

The campaign centres on a television commercial which will launch in October before the season commences on October 15, and will be supported by an underpinning targeted national advertising campaign.

Basketball Australia Chief Executive Officer Larry Sengstock said the campaign focused on the unique advantages basketball has over other sports.

“Unlike competing codes, the National Basketball League’s appeal is that from the moment the game starts until the final siren – anything can happen anytime,” said Sengstock. “There are no nil-all draws, no drawn-out penalty kicks, no waiting for a result – it is non-stop action for the whole family.

“The point of difference for the NBL is linked to a key part of the game structure – the 24-second shot clock. The constant action and urgency created by the ever reducing shot clock means that players are always on the edge – looking for the next quick pass, the next screen and the unexpected shot.

“The feeling of needing to beat the shot clock leads to the insight that for the players, that shot clock drives the demand that a great shot is put up before the clock ticks down. Every play has to have urgency. Every play has to count. Every play could change the game. Every play has explosive potential.

“The campaign will underline the NBL’s promise of being one of the most exciting spectator sports for fans at the game or watching on TV,” Sengstock concluded.

The key brand device that brings this to life is an explosive basketball. Using the image best remembered from cartoons and old Hollywood movies, the exploding ball device captures the feeling of impending action and extraordinary explosive action on court and off.

The campaign, which has been produced by strategic agency shift.101 and award-winning creative agency 12:20, has the full support of all nine NBL clubs, who have welcomed the idea as a fresh and exciting approach to the marketing of the NBL.

VIDEO: Click here to see a teaser for the new NBL campaign.

2010 NBA Free Agent movement

In what has likely been the biggest summer of free-agency in the NBA ever, its easy to miss a few names changing uniforms. Sure, everyone knows about the LeBron and Bosh decision, Amare moving to NY but there are so many other less well-known stars whose change will impact the upcoming season. If you haven't been following the NBA news closely, Dime have you covered. Click on the title below to read the full breakdown on the contracts signed and who has gone where.

Dime’s 2010 NBA Free Agent Tracker | Dime Magazine (dimemag.com) : Daily NBA News, NBA Trades, NBA Rumors, Basketball Videos, Sneakers

By Dime Magazine

Just how many NBA free agents will be on the market this summer? Put it this way: Even if two of the three best players in the world weren’t part of the pool — i.e., LeBron James and Dwyane Wade — 2010 might still qualify as the most important free agent class in League history. Look around the NBA right now; most teams only have a handful of players actually under contract, while everyone else is either looking for work or having work come find them.

So if you need help keeping up, we’ve got your back.

For Dime’s 2010 Free Agent Tracker, we put together the master list of every free agent in the League, then we broke them up into tiers: From the franchise-caliber superstars down to the guys scrapping for jobs who could find themselves in Europe or the D-League next season. Throughout the free agency period, we’ll keep the list updated with info on who is talking to which teams, who’s signed, who’s sealed, and who’s delivered.

TIER 1
Franchise superstars. You don’t just build teams around these guys, you build championship-caliber teams. They aren’t just the face of your franchise, they’re the icons who may end up with their statue outside the arena someday.

* LeBron James — Signed 6-year, $110 million deal with Miami
* Dirk Nowitzki — Signed 4-year, $80 million deal with Dallas
* Paul Pierce — Signed 4-year, $61 million deal with Boston
* Dwyane Wade — Signed 6-year, $107 million deal with Miami

Boomers finish tenth at World Champs

If you haven't been watching the World Championships, you're not alone. The time difference between us and Turkey plus the coverage only being on Foxtel, means that many Aussies haven't been following the tournament to closely. I am one of those, but have stayed up to date with the results on Twitter and Dime magazine. Full credit to guys like Mookie from A Stern Warning and DJ Rod for staying up till all hours to support the Boomers.


MEDIA RELEASE

9 September 2010

BOOMERS FINISH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS WITH TOP TEN PLACING

Despite suffering the disappointment of being eliminated from the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey at the Eight-Final Round stage, the Golden Star Boomers Australian men’s national basketball team have finished the tournament with a top ten placing, FIBA has announced.

The Eight-Final Round of the 2010 FIBA World Championship came to a close on Tuesday night and, teams do not play classification games once eliminated from the tournament, the teams that did not advance to the Quarter-Finals have now been ranked by FIBA to provide a final placing.

Australia, who are currently ranked 11th in the world by FIBA, finished the tournament in 10th place, ahead of world basketball superpowers such as Greece, France and Croatia.

Australia’s highest ever finish at a world championship was fifth, achieved in 1982 and 1994.

The Boomers finished the 2010 FIBA World Championship with a 3-3 record after being defeated by Slovenia 87-58 on Monday morning Australian time.

During the course of their world titles campaign they recorded wins over Jordan, Germany and Angola. They lost games to Slovenia, Argentina and also Serbia. The Serbians subsequently have advanced to the top four Semi Finals overnight by scoring an upset 92-89 victory over reigning world champions Spain, while Argentina have also advanced to the top-eight Quarter Finals and will play Lithuania tomorrow morning for a Semi Final berth.

The final standings for the teams eliminated at the Eight Final Round stage are below.



Standings for 2010 FIBA World Championship (places 9-16):

9 Brazil

10 Australia

11 Greece

12 New Zealand

13 France

14 Croatia

15 Angola

16 China



2010 FIBA World Championship

Australian Boomers Results

28 Aug - Australia 76 defeated Jordan 75

29 Aug - Australia 72 defeated by Argentina 74

30 Aug - Australia 78 defeated Germany 43

1 Sept - Australia 79 defeated by Serbia 93

2 Sept - Australia 76 defeated Angola 55

5 Sept - Australia 58 defeated by Slovenia 87

New NBL commercial

Here is the new NBL commercial that will be shown on One in the lead-up to the upcoming season. After first viewing, I don't mind it ...