I haven’t written a whole lot about the NBL Showdown, only the one article about and ins and outs of the format. It just seemed to make more sense to sit back and absorb the conversations rather than intruding amongst them. Safe to say there are fair points to be made on all sides of the equation and as hard as the NBL has worked to get basketball out on the courts, they’ve also had to necessarily cut some corners to get there, and while the exposure of the league will be greater than ever the overall talent clearly isn’t and for mostly valid reasons too. But this was one of those unique circumstances where sacrifices and tough decisions were necessary – just look at the proverbial hoops the NBA is trying to jump through to finish their season – so forget about the dramas because there’s only one way this NBL Showdown can be judged: the basketball itself.

And, tell ya what, Gamenight #1 was great. There were top players missing and the minimal preparation time was pretty obvious but the basketball was pretty rapid and shots were flying all over the place. Taranaki were too good for Nelson, led by some quality ball from Derone Ruakawa, before the Cantabs were blew the AKL Huskies off the court with a pretty clear difference between the team who prioritised their own local/signed dudes in the draft and the expansion team coming in fresh with a coach who only just got out of quarantine.

It was decent, if sloppy. But unless you’re a bit of a grinch there’s nothing wrong with sloppy, sloppy is entertaining. Not the best for coaches’ hairlines but so it goes. A lot of things about this NBL season require contextualising and this is another one of those. The way it works, all seven teams take part in the week six playoffs. The bottom two teams have an elimination final, the top two teams playoff for the number one seed in the semis, the winner of the elimination game between six and seven plays the third placed team while fourth and fifth play with the winners of those two games going into the semis to face first and second with the lowest qualifying seed facing the winner of the top two playoff. The entire schedule is here if that didn’t make any sense to you.

Point being that the regular season is important but there’s still that safety net with the way the season is structured so you have to figure that while the lack of preparation for the teams feels borderline negligent, to be honest, part of that is because teams have the freedom to play themselves into shape and figure things out on the fly. Learning combinations. Settling into structures. Getting that match rhythm going. How that plays out, well that’s all part of the fun.

Speaking of fun...

It’s a shame that there aren’t a few more of the top Tall Blacks fellas involved here. The Breakers had a big presence on opening night: Tom Abercrombie did a live interview, Dan Shamir was smiling for the cameras too, Matt Walsh was there in his Huskies jersey supporting his old mate Rashid Al-Kaleem... cool to see them showing up for the league especially since none of their players are involved. Walshy has had to fend off plenty of questions in his time about the team’s commitment to the overall game in Aotearoa and rightly so, which makes that physical presence at least a little symbolic. It’s understandable why those contracted dudes don’t wanna risk things, it’s just awkward within the wider scenarios at play here. What would have been ideal is if a few Breakers development players took this chance to shine... but the Breakers don’t have any development players apart from Terry Li, oh well.

Which is why young buck up there Nate Wilson is such a beautiful example of what this 2020 NBL season has to offer. There are at least a dozen fellas who are in the country at the moment who chose not to participate who would have strolled onto any one of these rosters had they been keen. They’re not here. And because they’re not here it opens up room for a bloke like Nate Wilson. He was a twelfth round pick for the Huskies, a guy relatively new to the sport as well, and he came in wielding the fire of the gods in those long arms and doing a little bit of absolutely everything. He wouldn’t have had a chance in an ordinary season. You cannot possibly tell me that dude didn’t come tearing in desperate to make the most of this opportunity and he won’t be alone either over these next six weeks.

I dunno, there was just something really choice about seeing kiwi ballers against kiwi ballers. There are a few foreign players involved but there are no genuine imports, the top tier fellas from overseas who come in and take the big shots. It’s not just that more fringe kiwi talent is getting a spotlight here it’s also that blokes like Derone Ruakawa, Taylor Britt, Tom Ingham, etc. who would have been playing heaps anyway but are now getting to be leaders and go-to scorers for their teams as well. Whether that’s a balance that needs some addressing when the traditional season structure comes back next year, I’m not sure. You still want to see great players involved. But you also wanna see pathways for kiwis so hopefully a 10-team comp spreads enough of the talent around to get the best of both worlds.

And it’d be remiss not to mention the whole ESPN deal either. The league did some admirable things with that streaming pass thing they set up for overseas viewers, the kind of thing way more local sports oughta get involved in – there’s no exposure competes with that level of accessibility – but in fairness that ain’t really an avenue that feels too likely to pay dividends. It’s a great start to an ambitious idea but how many random jerries around the world are gonna pay to watch kiwi basketball just coz the NBA’s on hiatus? On the other hand, flicking through the channels early morning in the States and there’s a bit of basketball conveniently on the telly then perhaps that’s a better introduction. All 56 games will be broadcast on ESPN3 in the USA. Not quite primetime, these games are on at some pretty tricky times for the American viewer, but you dangle the bait for long enough you’ll eventually catch a few fish.

Again, it ain’t the golden goose. The NRL made a huge deal about the potential audience of their Fox Sports USA broadcasts but the realistic upside of that is slim – millions of viewers aren’t getting up in the middle of the night to watch a sport they have no connection with or knowledge of... apart from a couple journos who got to know Jarryd Hayne or Valentine Holmes. Having said that, basketball is different. Basketball lives in the United States. And the folks going out of their way to watch these kinda games might just include the folks whose job it is to scout for college recruits, for example. And in the very least it’s yet another example of the endless hustle of the NBL under Justin Nelson’s leadership and peeking around the country there are plenty of other leagues (who get a whole lot more funding despite zero ESPN broadcast deals) who could learn from that example. Make your own luck.

There are impressions made after one night of games. Plenty more where that came from and expectations are firmly pointed towards a few more Nate Wilsons emerging along the while whilst indulging in some dominance from the top draft picks out there. Jordan Ngatai’s off contract with the Breakers and the number one overall pick, he’s got a point to prove. Mika Vukona will have a crack soon enough, one of the last chances to see one of the all-time greats in action. Izayah Mauriohooho-Le'afa is getting heaps of love after his time at Sacramento State. Derone Ruakawa had a great first game. Tai Wynyard’s coming back from injury to get his career back on track. Jarrod Kenny and his mullet. Taine Murray is one of the hottest prospects in Aotearoa. Taylor Britt. Dominique Kelman-Poto. Sam Timmins. Tom Vodanovich. Hyrum Harris. Everard Bartlett. Mike Karena. Leon Henry. This is those fellas’ chance to shine and regardless of whatever compromises it’s taken to get here it’s those fellas who determine whether it’s all worth it.

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