Basketball On The Internet.

ORIGINALLY the thought of NBL clubs latching on to an NBA franchise in a “little brother” type program seemed a great way to go when Perth Wildcats signed James Ennis.

Several NBL teams play out of cities which already have existing “sister city” arrangements – Melbourne with Boston for example.

So imagine the Tigers having access to the Celtics’ project players or draft choices as options for their import roles.

Not exactly a hideous thought.

But when rolling that out today to a few of the NBL directors meeting at the Gold Coast to consider, they were already way ahead.

Acting CEO Steve Dunn was all over it, saying the league building a relationship with the NBA was preferable to individual clubs endeavouring to do so.

I slouch amended.

And Wildcats CEO Nick Marvin was quick to point out some of the issues the NBL would need to address to make a definite bond with the NBA work.

Like more games, for example.

But the idea of linking the NBL to the NBA – remember David Stern was a guest at the NBL Grand Finals back in the mid-90s and loved the way the league was going/growing – is long overdue and absolutely worthy of investigating.

But if the NBL was to go to a season with more games, would that also mean a return to 48 minutes?

Major League Baseball actually funds the Australian baseball league to the tune of $5million a season. MLB made a five-year commitment and the league enters its fourth season coming up in 2013-14.

Clearly, MLB sees Australia’s as a development league, with lots of young players sent over here by MLB.

It is also important for local talent.

Now that sort of NBA pact may be way more than the NBL can hope for but even a minor partnership has to be beneficial.

This was today’s report at News Ltd: http://bit.ly/17I3XKh

Can’t help feeling we have a few people running the show now who are thinking outside the box – at last – and that basketball fans will be the beneficiaries.

Certainly, basketball fans in Brisbane aching to see the return of the Bullets and those crying for the return of a Melbourne rivalry won’t have too much longer to wait, either.

WITH the Breakers today announcing they have signed import Kerron Johnson (http://bit.ly/11Ydj5X ) we are getting close to the full lineups for most teams.

Just in case you haven’t been keeping up, they look like this:

Adelaide 36ers: BJ Anthony, Jason Cadee, Mitch Creek, *Gary Ervin, *Jarrid Frye, Adam Gibson, Daniel Johnson, Anthony Petrie, Luke Schenscher, Brandon Teys.

Cairns Taipans: Matt Andronicus, Shaun Bruce, Matt Burston, Cam Gliddon, Alex Loughton, Clint Steindl, Cam Tragardh, Stephen Weigh, *Jamar Wilson, Mitch Young. Import to come.

Melbourne Tigers: Adam Ballinger, *Stephen Dennis, Chris Goulding, Tommy Greer, Auryn Macmillan, *Scott Morrison, Owen Odigie, Nate Tomlinson, Lucas Walker, Mark Worthington.

New Zealand Breakers: Tom Abercrombie, CJ Bruton, Daryl Corletto, *Kerron Johnson, *Darnell Lazare, Alex Pledger, Reuben Te Rangi, Jeremiah Trueman, Mika Vukona, Corey Webster.

Perth Wildcats: Erik Burdon, *James Ennis, Greg Hire, Tom Jervis, Matt Knight, Damian Martin, Mathiang Muo, Shawn Redhage, Jesse Wagstaff. Import to come.

Sydney Kings: Ben Allen, Kyle Armour, *Charles Carmouche, Cody Ellis, Tom Garlepp, Shaun Gleeson, Brad Hill, James Harvey, Ben Madgen, AJ Ogilvy, *Jesse Sanders, Kevin White.

Townsville Crocodiles: Todd Blanchfield, *Brian Conklin, Peter Crawford, Mirko Djeric, Russell Hinder, Jacob Holmes, Steve Markovic, Mitch Norton, *Josh Pace, Greg Vanderjagt.

Wollongong Hawks: *Rotnei Clarke, Tim Coenraad, Larry Davidson, Tyson Demos, Oscar Forman, Dave Gruber, Rhys Martin. Import and two Aussies to come.

(*Import)

The Hawks tonight play St Mary's, with Matt Logan, Daniel Jackson, Dominique Cooks, Shane Harris-Tunks, Xavier Cooks, Luke Jamieson and Zac Delaney rounding out the squad.