NBL update

It has not been a good weekend for professional basketball in Australia. With the fans, players, owners, etc waiting for news to come from Basketball Australia about the new NBL, it all started to fall apart.

First there was this (click on the title below for the full story):

South Dragons > News

An Open letter from Raphael Geminder, Co-Owner of the South Dragons To our sponsors, players, staff, members and supporters, The 2009 championship team, the Crazy Johns South Dragons have always been about aspiration. Our vision is about an exciting professional league, connecting with a thriving grass roots basketball community and in turn delivering a new level of excitement, to a sport that has lost its way. We have achieved great things in a short period of time, the highlight being an opportunity to reform our league. The Dragons have remained committed and at the forefront of that process, in an attempt to achieving a meaningful reform. Reform is never an easy process, its charter was to deliver financial stability, broadcasting of all games, government funding, a new governance and leadership group, a viable budget to connect with community and market the game, adequate player salaries to attract the best talent and finally playing a different period in the year. Sadly this basketball reform has run out of time and failed to deliver on any of its promises.

Followed shortly after by this (click on the title for the full story):

Tigers 'next' NBL casualty - Basketball - Fox Sports

By Scott Walsh and James Dampney May 10, 2009 Basketball's national revamp is in danger of unravelling amid claims Melbourne Tigers had pulled out of the 'new' National Basketball League. Tigers owner Seamus McPeake told Channel 9 News the club would sit out the 2009-2010 season, which is scheduled to begin in October, because of fears about the way the league was being run. The claims were immediately rejected by the NBL, which said McPeake could not speak on behalf of the Tigers.

And so now we find ourselves here:

AdelaideNow... D-Day today for basketball future

BOTI NAGY
May 11, 2009 12:30am

ELITE level basketball in Australia is not dead yet but today is most definitely D-Day for the future with three clubs determining their commitment this morning. Rarely if ever has Basketball Australia's stance in adopting reforms which divest private ownership of the major decision-making been more clearly vindicated than the events of the past three days. Friday's stunning decision by management of reigning NBL champion South Dragons to go against the strong public stand of club chairman Mark Cowan and instead withdraw from a planned new league sent shockwaves across the sport. Then on Saturday, former Melbourne Tigers director and minority shareholder Seamus McPeake announced his club also would withdraw leaving existing clubs and potential investors reconsidering their positions. But McPeake, who quit a BA Board position and last week also quit the Tigers after teaming with Cowan to represent the owners to BA, is not empowered to speak on Melbourne's behalf.

The club's shareholders and board is holding a meeting today to determine whether they do, in fact, continue as they previously had indicated before McPeake's very public outburst.

In Townsville, the Crocodiles' board has scheduled a meeting after the Tigers' to consider its position, contingent on what comes out of Melbourne's meeting.

In Adelaide, a consortium hoping to take over the 36ers from owner-in-absentia Mal Hemmerling - currently on holidays - also will meet this morning to consider its position.

So basically there are a lot of meetings going on around the country this morning to discuss where team's stand regarding the new league and the upcoming season.

To see what the die-hard basketball fans are saying about what's going on, click here.

Will we have a new league? Will there be a new season this year? We will have to wait and see, I'll keep you updated ...