Basketball On The Internet.

IT was a good news day for the WNBL today, Paul Maley revealed as the league's new general manager and findings of the Australian Sports Commission report into the league revealed by Basketball Australia.

First things first and Maley becoming the WNBL's first dedicated GM in as long as anyone can remember already is a hugely positive step.

Apart from being one of the smartest players I've had the pleasure of dealing with - guess that should be expected of a Yale graduate - the former NBL import and naturalised Aussie has run a successful business and been heavily involved in various aspects of sports administration since his retirement as a player in 2001.

Knowing some of the other quality people he beat out for the job shows he went well-prepared for his interview and into a capacity which also includes SEABL, Australian Junior Championships, Wheelchair Basketball and Referees.

It's a fulltime job alright and he's well qualified for it.

(I caught up today with the 270-NBL game former Saints, Giants, Titans and 36ers forward and that report for News Corp can be found at the link below.)

In its 53 recommendations, the ASC report has said BA needs to have a replacement ready to go for Adelaide Lightning - tick that disturbing box with the new South East Queensland outfit - and that, among other things, it should return to winter in a shortened season.

Sorry, but that one leapt out as a truly ill-conceived recommendation.

For starters, as new GM Maley reiterated, the WNBL is in the top two or three leagues in the world. Obviously the WNBA is at #1 with EuroLeague at #2, though the depth and quality of our WNBL challenges the latter contention.

Let's not confuse the ability to pay far more money to its players as immediately equalling a higher overall standard.

The whole reason the WNBL now can challenge as a high quality league is because we have our own WNBA superstars such as Lauren and Penny - and before that Kristi and Belinda, etcetera - back playing in it, along with regular stars from the US pro league and college.

Shifting to an April-July season "to drive attendance" as recommended would be folly for two main reasons.

The first is the biggie - we wouldn't have those same WNBA stars because, um, they'd be in the US playing WNBA!

In one fell swoop, the quality of our league would drop to a level just slightly ahead of the SEABL.

And that's the other major problem. The SEABL.

That second-tier interstate league, along with the QBL, Big V, Waratah, Premier League etcetera, is where the second-line of WNBL stars supplement their incomes during winter.

They pick up their main salary in the WNBL over summer, then supplement in winter when they go from the second line of big league stardom to the first line of second-tier stardom {our very best over in the WNBA}.

When he recently spoke at the Free Throw Foundation lunch in Adelaide, BA CEO Anthony Moore already addressed that potential flaw in a shift back to winter for the women.

His idea was to finish the season on the last weekend in February - a la the last weekend of SUMMER - and work backwards to the starting date so as to always have that as the Grand Finale.

That makes way more sense but then, not every recommendation has to be adopted.

Let's not even contemplate how lost the WNBL would become in terms of mainstream media coverage, considering winter is 100 per cent the bastion of AFL and NRL.

Or how Maley would immediately also be compromised running two leagues - the WNBL and SEABL - at the same time. The main idea of his appointment was to have some dedicated focus on our women's league and that can be achieved across summer.

Then he swings to the SEABL in winter. Smooth and preferable.

The recommedation for a best-of-three Grand Final - who DOESN'T want that?

The 102-page report makes for some interesting reading. Just don't start on it before you head for bed.

Online

http://bit.ly/1Dn7K5z