Basketball On The Internet.

WHEN the talk turns to NBL and expansion, no question the league needs the Brisbane Bullets as first cab off the rank. But lately it seems there is Magic in the air.

Not sure if it was the recent brilliant Sheryl Swoopes “Nine for IX” documentary on ESPN or the emergence of the Facebook page advocating the return of the South East Melbourne Magic which first stirred my own thinking.

Given the pressing need for an NBL presence in south Queensland, moves to reload the Bullets can only be seen as positive.

But the talk then always also includes the prospect of a second team playing out of Melbourne, which is where the Magic and Sheryl come in.

Let’s take a leap of faith and presume the new NBL club would play out of the State Basketball Centre at Knox.

Given its proximity to Nunawading, Kilsyth, Dandenong, Knox in the very heartland of Victorian basketball, it would be logical to home the team at the SBC.

So if it is already in the South East, is it then such a leap to reinstate South East Melbourne Magic as the name for the “new” club?

If it makes sense to stay with an established brand name in Brisbane by regaining the Bullets, would it help or hinder the second Melbourne team by regaining the Magic?

If that name and history isolates the old North Melbourne Giants fans, well, what would be different?

Not too many North Melbourne folk ever embraced the Magic-Giants merger into Victoria Titans, the prevailing view being it was a takeover, not a merger.

Without descending into the merits or otherwise of that viewpoint, South East Melbourne Magic in the south east of Melbourne would make absolute sense.

The club had great support during its tumultuous life from 1992-98 inclusive.

Seven years yielded the following:

Four Grand Finals series; two NBL Championships (1992, 1996); seven seasons of semi finals at the minimum (top four); three Coach of the Year awards for Brian Goorjian (1992, 1997, 1998); one league MVP in Robert Rose (1993); Larry Sengstock Medals (Grand Final series MVP) to Bruce Bolden (1992), Mike Kelly (1996); NBL First Team selections by Robert Rose (1993), John Dorge (1995); Rookie of the Year for Sam Mackinnon (1994); Best Defensive Player accolades for Darren Lucas (1994, 1995) and Mike Kelly (1997, 1998); Most Improved Player to Chris Anstey (1996); Best Sixth Man to Jason Smith (1998).

Those are some of the NBL’s all-time most impressive players but the club also claimed three regular season championships (1992, 1997, 1998), compiling a regular season record of 133-45 (74.7%), including a 26-4 season in 1998, one of the best marks of all time.

Restoring that history - yes, it does easily top South Dragons’ three-year run – would be another step in the right direction for the new NBL.

So where does Sheryl Swoopes fit into this conversation?

Her arrival in the WNBA at its birth in 1997 helped it soar and capture the imagination, much of that league’s launch-pad success a result of her team, the Houston Comets, being so good to watch.

The Comets won four straight WNBA crowns amid extraordinary scenes of support and love in Houston.

The club folded in 2008 and now its banners, its MVP recognitions – all that rich, rich history is gone and well on the way to forgotten.

That is the sad truth and it also is the truth for the Magic.

Restoring all that as the foundation for a “new” Melbourne club, at the same time revitalising the derby rivalry with the Tigers, makes great sense. In fact, it makes common sense.

Imagine their opening night with many of those former Magic greats all there?

I mean, do you think Leroy Loggins will be at the first Brisbane Bullets game in 2014-15?

You bet.

Restoring a brand name is a darn sight easier than introducing a new one, especially when all you associate with the old name is success.