Basketball On The Internet.

BOOMERS coach Andrej Lemanis last Saturday endorsing the continued relevance and importance of the NBL could not have come at a more important time.

A day away from Basketball Australia returning governance of the elite league back to its clubs, the NBL rarely has been in a more exciting position and Lemanis, elevated to the Boomers job after winning three consecutive championships with New Zealand Breakers, had it right.

His comments came on the heels of two statements which unfortunately backhanded the NBL, the first from BA CEO Kristina Keneally when speaking of the imminent divorce.

Referring to the contrast of direction for BA with the NBL - elite performance against entertainment value and commercial sustainability - and factoring in the diminishing number of players from the league in the Boomers, Keneally said: "The way it is going, by 2016 the NBL is unlikely to have any Boomers."

That brought a howl of derision from fans, including a former national junior coach who said that attitude pointed to the very reason the NBL needed to self-determine.

"What sort of message does it send the guys in the league, and to college players in the US?" he emailed me.

"Why come back home to the NBL? You might as well play in some back-water European league because if you are in the NBL, you are unlikely to make it to the national team?

"That is BS. We are three years out and they have all ready selected and ratified our National team? How ridiculous."

That's a fair counter point though KK's point of view was somewhat reiterated last week by BA High Performance manager Stephen Icke.

"I think it's fantastic we've got Aussie athletes playing in the best professional leagues in the world,'' he said, referencing Andrew Bogut, Patty Mills, Aron Baynes in the NBA, Joe Ingles and Nathan Jawai competing in the Euroleague Final Four. (And there's a raft of other Aussies scattered across Europe and down to the US college system.)

"It's an enormous development for them and an enormous development for Australian basketball.

"The fact we've got three in the NBA playoffs this week and another three trying to get in through (NBA) workouts augurs well and is very positive.''

Icke said those developments pointed to the changing landscape of Australian elite basketball.

"We had 11 NBL players on the Boomers at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and three from the NBL at London in 2012,'' he said.

Fair enough. But it took Lemanis to point out that, with only a couple of exceptions, our players succeeding in Europe originally cut their teeth in the NBL.

Ingles, Jawai, Brad Newley, David Andersen, Matt Nielsen - all had NBL careers first.

To read Lemanis' observations in full, go to http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/basketball/healthy-nbl-crucial-to-boomers-squad-says-coach-andrej-lemanis/story-fndekpx4-1226639621923

They came as a timely reminder that regardless what direction the NBL may yet eventually go - it remains the foundation point for Boomer success and longevity.

THIS JUST IN.

Cairns Taipans rookie Cam Gliddon has been added to the Boomers squad and a couple more likely lads are also being courted.