4-Man Basketball Association now XBW

[Dan K]

The 4-Man Basketball Association has changed its name to Xtreme Basketball World and is preparing for a 2008 spring season [www.4manbasketball.com].

[SignGuyDino]

Yes, this is starting out as a recreational league to begin in the Spring. We had a last minute complication that fouled things up for this year, and I accept full responsbility for it. (Shudder the thought, somebody accepting blame for anything in sports.)

Anyway, any player who may be interested can contact me by IM or through our new website www.thexbw.com

Same rules, different name. 4 on 4 fullcourt with special rules to speed up play and open things up.

I will only start a league with four teams just to start out. League based in Asheville, North Carolina.

I'm not going to announce a fifteen team league with no venues. I want to see if this concept works and take it from there. It could develop to semipro, then minor league, and/or partner as a fall league to work with a legitimate spring league (this maximizes venue use), if there are any in the southeast (cough cough). But if it doesn't work out, fine, it'll only be on me.

Thanks.

Dennis J.

[SignGuyDino]

The website is updated a little. I have announced I am starting plans for a semipro league for Spring 2009 and have added a "franchise" page.

www.thexbw.com

Mainly, it will be teams in western North Carolina, upstate South Carolina, northeast Georgia, and eastern Tennessee eligible. It is said it's "semipro" upfront, so any talk about the XBW belongs in this particular forum, since it is not and should not be officially recognized by OSC.

The hope is to get four to six teams starting out playing on Saturdays, like in semipro football, playing when the regular seasons for college basketball ends until right before semipro football begins.

In case anyone is wondering, there is only one other potential league I'm interested in working with at this time, and it's NOT USBA or GBA, but a different league that MIGHT be born in 2009. Sorry.

[dbaproball]

cool stuff sgd. you may find yourself just as legitimate as many of the other "semi pro minor leagues" out there so don't sell your concept short in that regard. good move though to clarify up front what you intend to be to keep fromdrawing fury from those that like to dish it out for fun. btw, i now understand more of your perspective and interest in the "new" pbl rules, whatever those might or will be. i like the powerplay concept (though the purists won't.) i actually have heard the power play concept (in one form or another) tossed around in discussions by a couple of other leagues, but no one seems to have pulled the trigger on it yet (unless one of the smaller leagues I do not follow has.) good luck. i'll check out a game when i head up that way in the spring on an mtb trip.

[SignGuyDino]

Thanks. I am not even going to guarantee it will happen because I know better.

Not one of the ideas I had is original. Rob Ryder tried this type of league in the early part of this decade, but tried a national minor league concept. Check out the link "4-Man Rules" on my site and read his editorial.

http://www.teamarete.com/4balls.html

The game itself was fantastic but he overreached and couldn't get the funding for a league he wanted to build. You will find off Baden Sports website a league called the "3BA" that plays fullcourt 3 on 3 basketball. I don't want to kill my guys and all, that's sounds like a TON of running. (www.3ba.com) I dig their website but they apparently haven't done much with it.

My concept is start it up as a grassroots effort. Get one league season under my belt and plan my global takeover from there.

It's not intended to replace pro basketball. It's a diversion like arena football is a diversion to football.

The power play idea is Rob Ryder's, as is 4 on 4. The immediate inbounds rule is borrowed from the IBL and I give them credit for it. The one time out per period idea is also the IBL's (although I give 3 one-minute timeouts in the 4th).

It won't be fabulous play starting out, but it'll be competitive, and as higher quality players come in over the years, the greater the fast breaks and dunks will be.

What should be looked into is how minor league spring basketball leagues should function. On my "franchise" page, I am setting up the concept is that SHOULD be done even with conventional basketball semipro leagues in the spring. About the third weekend of March is the end of college ball, which is the best chance to get some of these smaller college venues, up to semipro football season which normally starts in mid-July.

I do give PBL credit for pushing weekend dates and only 20 games really hard. I won't even do 20 games. With 6 teams, you have 5 home dates, and 5 away dates, or 10 regular season games starting out. It's be kind of like football or soccer in that regard.

I don't call it semipro to sell myself short. I call it that because that's what it is. I already know what Paul expects a "minor league" to be. IF we ever get to that point, I certainly will ask for that designation.

I hope we will have games for you to check out. Maybe by then we can get some video on our websites.

[Pounder]

I think we're finding out with arena/indoor pointyball that people aren't necessarily interested in diversions.

So let me throw something out from behind the backboard here.

I posted something on another board yesterday, using a phrase "revolt against modern sports business." Somehow, providing the feeling of a revolution might suit your needs better? Guerilla marketing, underground feel... not sure how you could incorporate that into 4 v 4 basketball, but I'm finding that at the right places and times, playing the guerilla angle might work.

[SignGuyDino]

I intend to make bootleg copies of games, have fans make copies to give to others, then when I get famous, complain about people who copy tapes and fight to have their operations shut down.


Hey, it worked for Metallica...