Basketball On The Internet.

A SECOND NBL team in Melbourne, a second team in Sydney … it continually amazes me no-one ever seems to say: “Second team in Perth?”

Let’s face it, the Wildcats have built a powerhouse and there’s no let-up in sight anytime soon.

Perth fans have it great and so does the club and it has worked extremely hard to get to where it is – a profitable model very few interstate clubs can ever even hope to duplicate.

But couldn’t a second WA club?

Bunbury-born dual-Olympian Mark Worthington certainly believes so.

“I think it would be about time, personally,” he said of a second team out of WA.

“Fremantle and West Coast have proven they can be successful (in the AFL) and I can’t see why a second team in the NBL wouldn’t be.”

NBA triple-champion and Boomers assistant coach Luc Longley, for a long time the Fremantle Dockers’ No.1 ticketholder, was a little – for want of a better term – luke warm.

Whether influenced by his own time backing the Wildcats, he said Perth’s was a unique situation.

“Not everyone has a Jack Bendat in their corner,” he said of the Wildcats’ owner, a BRW Rich List member.

That conceded, the Wildcats in the last financial year enjoyed a profit of more than $1 million from revenue of about $10 million, a decent result for any business, but for an NBL club?

Extraordinary.

Unbelievable.

Borderline preposterous.

Building a second team in Fremantle would not impact as hugely on the Wildcats as a second team in Melbourne potentially would on emerging United.

The club is attracting sponsorship and support while fulfilling its desire to “unite” Melbourne behind one NBL entity for all.

But one year down the track, a second team would snap at United’s still settling foundations.

Especially if potential ownership was truly imaginative and called a new club “Victoria Tigers” and took steps to embrace the rich past NBL history of Melbourne Tigers.

Wouldn’t that put a cat among the pigeons? But I tigress.

Longley said local basketball was strong to the south of Perth and the developing demographic suggested potential for a Fremantle-based NBL club.

(Bummer that Western Force pinched that nickname because “Fremantle Force” has instant merit.)

Maybe it’s time for some more lateral NBL thinking.

There already are facilities in place.

STILL on expansion, no sooner had Brisbane’s return been formalised – and the cry for the retention of the “Bullets” nickname incredibly loud – than past-Brisbane players, coaches and administrators jumped back into contention.

“$5million,” was the blunt reply from Adelaide 36ers GM Dean Parker when asked if the Sixers would consider releasing coach Joey Wright from the last year of his current contract to take up the Brisbane reins in 2015-16.

“We would release Joey if the club gave us $5million. There’s no way we’d let him just go.”

Relax 36ers fans. Wright has no plans to exit. In fact we covered it at News Corp a little while back: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/adelaide-36ers-coach-joey-wright-thrilled-to-see-brisbane-back-in-nbl-but-has-no-plan-to-return-to-his-former-club/story-fnii09ki-1227068013022

CJ Bruton and Sam Mackinnon are two former Bullets Championship winners who would put their hands up if a new Brisbane franchise wanted to gamble on a new face.

And there are quality, established coaches out there too.

IT’S getting closer.

Look for the B.O.T.I. NBL season preview this week and my predictions for the finishing order.

Expecting more grief than last year when I picked Melbourne for second behind Perth.

Darn Tigers finishing third!