2007 State of Minor League Basketball Address

by Dennis Justice
Published on December 21, 2007 under Premier Basketball League (PBL)

As we near the end of 2007, let's take a look back as to what's really going on as we prepare for another year of excitement and headaches. I'll refrain from discussing the American Basketball Association as there isn't enough space on the Internet to chronicle that joke of a league. This is just a brief overview of various leagues, it is not comprehensive and really not new information for regulars on OurSports Central, just a recap on another crazy year in minor league basketball.

NBADL: Arguably their best season ever, they are slowly building the blocks needed to get the desired goal of having one D-League team per NBA team. They have recently said on NBATV that they hope to achieve that objective in 5-6 years. Joining the group of NBA-owned teams are the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, who recently bought out the Austin Toros. Also rumored to buy a D-League team are the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are angling to take over the Chevrolet Centre, a modest new arena that was run by Global Management until the management was removed by the City of Youngstown for poor performance.

The hottest news is that the NBA seriously wants to put a D-League team in Harlem, to be owned by the Knicks. If they can pull this off, it will be the best move the Knicks have made since hiring Isiah Thomas as coach, that is, until they finally fire him. There is no doubt in the world that the moment they take the court, they will be the most popular team in the D-League.

There is no disputing the D-League website is the best in the business, arguably the best website in minor league sports. Gamecasts of nearly every game, updated standings and scores, well run team sites, etc. I have argued that a minor league website must first and foremost be professional, accurate, and updated, that it doesn't have to have bells and whistles, but it's nice that the D-League exceeds all expectations.

As to the future, if the D-League is looking for a team for every NBA team, this presents an interesting dilemma: What about the southern NBA teams? The D-League was a huge failure in the southeast, mainly due to rushing a product and putting teams in venues way too big for the franchises, something they still do, by the way. Atlanta is going to have to find a city in Georgia that will host a D-League team. So will Orlando and Miami. Charlotte has an interesting angle, as they could put a team in North or South Carolina.

May I shamelessly argue the case for putting a team BACK in Asheville? There are very good arguments for it. For one, the Asheville Altitude is the only multiple time champion in the D-League, and never got the chance to win three titles in a row. Also, the situation with the greatly outdated Civic Center may be moot, as UNC-Asheville's Kimmel Arena, slated to open in 2010 or 2011, will be a good basketball-specific facility. Furthermore, I have always argued that playing in smaller venues are better in that they reduce costs and it's a much better atmosphere to have 2,000 fans in a 3,000 seat facility than 7,000 seat facility. You see even today a lot of large arenas that are never filled with fans for D-League games, and that kills atmosphere. When the Kimmel Arena opens, it will have around 3,500 intimate seats, which is far more palatable to build atmosphere. Yes, the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, South Carolina, and the Crown in Fayetteville are superior venues, but they are just way too big. Announcing a team coming back in Asheville in a couple of years gives the new franchise plenty of time to market, and a team with Michael Jordan involved (as he's running the Bobcats) makes a much bigger impact than the NBA owning the team, like last time.

CBA: Except for issues with the Atlanta Krunk, there isn't that much to report with the Continental Basketball Association, which isn't that bad a thing since most news in this field is bad news. They had an okay year, and are still considered the number two minor league behind the D-League. Hopefully, a way can be found to merge the two top-tier leagues for the good of minor league basketball.

USBL: There isn't much news of any kind about the USBL, which in this case IS a bad thing since there are serious questions about its return. The Gary Steelheads defection is a big blow for them. They currently have just six teams left in a once-proud league.

IBL: Clearly the top spring-summer league now, the International Basketball League, after 4 seasons, is slowly expanding everywhere but the southeast. The biggest good news was the pickup of the Gary Steelheads. The IBL brand of basketball, mainly with limited timeouts and the immediate inbounds rule, is a hit with fans and the ownership groups are mainly solid. Their website needs a little more updating, and the league certainly isn't perfect, but all in all the IBL is a solid league. I hope they eventually get about 6-8 teams in the southeast because they would have more credibility than any other potential league right now.

WBA: One of the biggest disappointments was the World Basketball Association. A league that had done a good job preparing players for the NBA summer camps and the D-League, suddenly had a horrible 2007 season. The Macon team had issues because of an owner (who was also associated with the ABA), who was arrested for things like check fraud and false aliases. The WBA also cancelled its annual Black All-Star Game. They cut their season to 35 days and did not have a playoff that was satisfactory to a lot of fans.

This is highly disturbing as the WBA is the only real minor basketball league in the southeast right now. Not much has been stated on the WBA website about this except for tryouts next April. Let's hope they correct a lot of problems, because they still need to improve things like game day operations, website updating, and such.

PBL: Most interesting is the Premier Basketball League, an upstart league slated to start in early 2008. Among the positives: Kenny Smith is the new Commissioner. They have a good website with some interesting features (although not nearly complete). They have a shorter schedule (they correctly argue that the D-League schedule is too long). The ownership groups appear mainly solid. There is a rumor that Commissioner Smith wants a bonus for the winner of the championship game as an incentive.

Among some of the questions: Although the owners appear solid, many are from the old ABA, which does bring the legitimate question as to why they would ever be associated with that so-called "league" to begin with. Also, they had touted a "game we've never seen before." Many of us thought they were implementing FIBA rules, which is not a game we've never seen before at all. Besides the Olympics and Euroleague, the original IBL also had some FIBA based rules. Well, we are now hearing that potentially the biggest rule change is the "plus 1 and 1" rule. Basically, in the last minute of each half, a 2-point shot is worth 3 points, a 3-point shot is worth 4 points. This rule is similar to a rule in the failed Global Basketball Association, which had 3 points for a 2-point shot late, and 5 points for a 3-point shot late. The PBL should at least acknowledge that on their website. In fact, they should actually print the rules changes on their website which after several months they still have not done.

Another thought on the rule change, if indeed the PBL does it: The D-League had a rule in their third season in which all baskets were 2 points, even behind the 3-point line, until the last minute of each period and overtime. The actual argument was it would increase scoring. The results were inconclusive, other than it denied players whose long-range shooting was their specialty a chance for experience and exposure to pro scouts. Thankfully, the D-League dropped that rule after one season. There is also the question as to how many foul shots a team would get if a player gets fouled shooting during that time?

In my humble opinion, it would make more sense to have that rule in the fourth period only, instead of the last minute of each period, it would be easier to notate in the scorebook (circle the numbers instead of crossing them out, etc.).

For those who may be wondering what happened to my "4 Man Basketball Association," that I talked about in my 2006 address, well, the venue I had secured backed out at the last moment. I blame myself because I didn't secure it sooner. That's a shock, somebody in sports blames himself rather than the city. I am currently working on a separate venue for spring 2008 and am hoping to start a semipro league in the Great Smokies area for 2009 (western North Carolina, upstate South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and northeast Georgia).

The league has also had a name change. It is now known as the "Xtreme Basketball World" and the website is now www.thexbw.com

It is 4-on-4 fullcourt basketball, an idea from Rob Ryder (basketball coordinator for movies like "White Men Can't Jump" and "Blue Chips," and also employs speed up rules borrowed from the IBL. (I always give credit for whoever gives me the ideas.) This league, especially as it develops over time, should have very high scoring and exciting basketball.

One of my concepts is playing March-June, and working with local semipro football teams, as they start in July, to really cross-promote. Another idea is to have TWO teams per market, one representing the city and one representing the outlying area, to build a natural rivalry. They would share the same venue, and play each other when scheduled on Fridays and other games on Saturdays. It is a semipro league and I announce that upfront. The scheduling idea acknowledges the players have real jobs to attend to. Fans would naturally gravitate to a team based on where they live and may show up for the other local team, not necessarily to root for them, but to let them know they are there.

Hopefully, I'll have more to report in 2008. Anyone who is serious in helping start a team in your town can contact me at xbwinfo@aol.com or visit www.thexbw.com for more information.

It is hopeful that legitimate leagues flourish, or at least right their ship, and go forward.

Let's make 2008 a truly great year for legitimate minor league sports teams and leagues.

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Dennis Justice runs wncsport.com, a regional sports website, and is a regular contributor to the OurSports Central message boards. The views expressed here are his alone and do not necessarily reflect anyone else's views.

Premier Basketball League Stories from December 21, 2007

• 2007 State of Minor League Basketball Address - OSC Original by Dennis Justice

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.