Save Our South Dragons

“We are pleased that, with the exception of the two Melbourne sides, wehave received a vote of support for the competition from all the otherseven teams and will meet with their representatives in Melbournetomorrow to hammer out the details of the competition structure for2009/10,” said Sengstock. “We have initiated discussions with a numberof established Melbourne groups aimed at maintaining a Victorianpresence in the league, which could see them included in the 2009/10season.

this is wat sengstock has stated, any idea as to what groups could come forward?

tigers and dragons may never get bak in the league!!!

I personally have decided its the Dragons or no one,i cant dedicate to something that will disappear or could go defunct...

Although i will loosely follow the Hawks...

No.  Dragons or nothing.   Basketball Austra;lia are being pig headed.  How can you expect owners to put in millions of dollars with nothing to show in the future

Well Larry was on sen at around 4 and he was saying how they would be exploring the option of a totally new team representing Victoria. And even the interviewer was saying that it was the worng idea and that fans would rebel against it as they support the Dragons and Tigers.

They only thing worst they could do is call them the Melbourne Dragons or something.

Dragons or nothing simple.

there is absolutely no way i will go for another melbourne team. i will rebel 100%. theyre kidding themselves if they think this is a good idea. they will fold by seasons end if they do this. I will just wait for the dragons to come back and u no there is no way that tigers supporters will support them. stupidist idea ever, losing respect for sengstock...FAST

That is a tough one. I had given up on basketball and only got back into it when the Dragons came along. The problem I have now is that my kids love it and if we stopped going they would miss it. Happy to miss a season and then have the Dragons back

Brett Rainbow at 05:07AM on May 12, 2009

That is a tough one. I had given up on basketball and only got back into it when the Dragons came along. The problem I have now is that my kids love it and if we stopped going they would miss it. Happy to miss a season and then have the Dragons back

Yeah alot of people are in the same boat as you. I for one am very frustrated at the whole thing, although i understand and agree with the reasoning. As i have got many people to come along. I have got 5 other to people to buy memberships with me and we have all spent alot of money on merchandise ect, also invested alot of energy ect.

However that is why i cannot go for another team.

dragonsfan at 04:44AM on May 12, 2009

there is absolutely no way i will go for another melbourne team. i will rebel 100%. theyre kidding themselves if they think this is a good idea. they will fold by seasons end if they do this. I will just wait for the dragons to come back and u no there is no way that tigers supporters will support them. stupidist idea ever, losing respect for sengstock...FAST

+1

Ill go for Woolongong for this season but will never be as dedicated as i was with Dragons again,Im really pissed off with the Dragons for doing this,they were the ones fighting for a no break between seasons!

Also Senstock and the Board have got basketball further than the NBL did in 10 years,they have brang it under 1 body and have put in the bid for Goverment Funding which we will get as that was the deal in getting the funding,the Dragons and Tigers are the ones who have thrown it all into turmoil for withdrawing and killing any chance we really had of a decent relaunch,their argument is that Foxtel cut the deal and we need a year off when they were the ones who voted against anysort of delay in a relaunch.

Still no third Melbourne team will work.

Basketball Australia says it will now attempt to have eight teams in the new men's National Basketball League, including a representative from Victoria.

BA chief executive Larry Sengstock says a meeting of the seven clubs which have submitted expressions of interest for the new competition to replace the former NBL decided it would proceed with plans for a league starting later this year.

But despite the withdrawal of the Melbourne Tigers and the South Dragons from the planned league, BA and the other seven clubs have decided they will find a Victorian representative to add to their ranks.

Cairns, Townsville, Wollongong, Adelaide, Perth, New Zealand and Gold Coast have all agreed to be part of the new league.

Sengstock said discussions were under way with several interested parties to be Victoria's representative in the new competition.

Sengstock said BA would proceed with plans for a 28-match home-and-away season - each of the eight teams playing the other four times a year.

Sengstock said a meeting in Melbourne between BA and representatives of the seven clubs already was a "positive" one.

All parties were determined to press ahead with establishing a new competition starting some time in late 2009.

But the major surprise was keeping a spot in any draw open for a Victorian side - though Sengstock admitted any would-be entrant would have to be found swiftly.

"We've had some very positive pushes and discussions in that area," Sengstock said on Wednesday.

"We want to make sure there is a basketball team in an elite competition down here.

"It has to be sooner rather than later because we need to get out there with the draws, stadium bookings, it's a very tight time frame unfortunately."

Sengstock said even if attempts to bring in a Victorian club failed, the competition would proceed in 2009-10 as a seven-team league, with the prospect of adding more clubs the following season.

i hope a team comes in so i have someone to watch....

south01 at 07:11AM on May 13, 2009

i hope a team comes in so i have someone to watch....

I will just watch the wnbl and some seabl or big v.

SEABL & Big V is over when NBL is on though,ill get into WNBL i guess,ill watch new comp i think the new team will play in Dandenong so its around the corner for me.

NO way. It is war and for me its is either backing the teams from VIc or BA. Cowan has done so much for the game and in a way for me over the last three years so i owe him one:D

By the way, the latest reports is that the new club is going to be heavily funded by gaze and to be called the Melbourne Gazes. Hmm, still want to follow this team. It would be like folloiwing the Melbourne Tigers. Each to their own i surpose.

Well, heres a thought Basketball Victoria moves to Knox. Knox is without doubt the biggest basketball association in Victoria. Whats the bet its a team from Knox with a bit of a mix of Kilsyth, Dandenong and maybe Bulleen. Have a think about that

Ok, It seems I'll be the voice of dissent.

I'll definitely support a Melbourne based team in the interim year. 

I'll do it because, while I'm a Dragons supporter, I'm more so a supporter of Australian basketball and no player, or team or (especially) owner is bigger than the game.

I don't necessarily agree with all of BA's decisions to this point but jumping ship will only harm all the players we claim to care about. A Melbourne based team will give them the opportunity to play in elite level competition without relocating to another state or country.

As far as skipping the whole 09/10 season? That's one point I agree with BA on. Let's not forget that the FIBA World Championship is next year and if half our top players have 'rested' for an entire season we'll be an embarrassment on the world stage.

Chickenboy at 07:22PM on May 15, 2009

Ok, It seems I'll be the voice of dissent.

I'll definitely support a Melbourne based team in the interim year. 

I'll do it because, while I'm a Dragons supporter, I'm more so a supporter of Australian basketball and no player, or team or (especially) owner is bigger than the game.

 

I don't necessarily agree with all of BA's decisions to this point but jumping ship will only harm all the players we claim to care about. A Melbourne based team will give them the opportunity to play in elite level competition without relocating to another state or country.

 

As far as skipping the whole 09/10 season? That's one point I agree with BA on. Let's not forget that the FIBA World Championship is next year and if half our top players have 'rested' for an entire season we'll be an embarrassment on the world stage.

Once again i reitterate my point that if the Dragons owners cannot afford to continue to lose money, and that the new league really just gives them more of the same than i totally understand why they did.

I was only really a huge fan of basketball because of the South Dragons so I'm very loyal to them and am dissilustioned by BA and its bad decisions. I think that the Majority of Dragons and Tigers fans will abandon this new team,  so they better hope that they are able to find some new supporters.

Also all this talk about the Dragons ditching supporters is rubbish, they are staying open, not closing so they are still around.

Forget about Fiba world championships we have to ensure that we get this right and this may be our last chance to have a financially viable and prosperous league in Australia. We need long vision thinking not short sighted thinking,

If the owners can't afford to run the club because it's losing money at the moment, fair enough.

BUT that means if we really want to see the Dragons back in the NBL, they need sponsors money. For businesses to get on board and supply that money they'll want to see that sponsoring basketball exposes their product/service to lots of people (nothing ground breaking here). But if that's the case, why would you turn your back on basketball in Victoria because there's no one playing in a Dragons singlet for the time being? There's short sighted thinking.

I think the best option, for the long run, would be to embrace the new Melbourne team (assuming it happens) and get as many Dragons fans to go along to the home games in all their Dragons gear, showing support for basketball as a product and continuing the support for the Dragons and their re-entry into the NBL.

Chickenboy at 01:21AM on May 17, 2009

If the owners can't afford to run the club because it's losing money at the moment, fair enough.

BUT that means if we really want to see the Dragons back in the NBL, they need sponsors money. For businesses to get on board and supply that money they'll want to see that sponsoring basketball exposes their product/service to lots of people (nothing ground breaking here). But if that's the case, why would you turn your back on basketball in Victoria because there's no one playing in a Dragons singlet for the time being? There's short sighted thinking.

 

I think the best option, for the long run, would be to embrace the new Melbourne team (assuming it happens) and get as many Dragons fans to go along to the home games in all their Dragons gear, showing support for basketball as a product and continuing the support for the Dragons and their re-entry into the NBL.

I may go to a new teams game here and there, but if i do i would defitely be wearing a South Dragons singlet.

Why would i turn my back on a BV team?? Because i want the Dragons not some new team. If i could be assured that this new team would only be temporary and then the next season the Dragons comeback, then i would 100% support this new team. But unless i was given this then i wouldnt support it as, i really dont want it to be a success because if it is not the Dragons and Tigers would almost be certain to comeback to the new league.

southdragons at 07:26AM on May 17, 2009

Chickenboy at 01:21AM on May 17, 2009

If the owners can't afford to run the club because it's losing money at the moment, fair enough.

BUT that means if we really want to see the Dragons back in the NBL, they need sponsors money. For businesses to get on board and supply that money they'll want to see that sponsoring basketball exposes their product/service to lots of people (nothing ground breaking here). But if that's the case, why would you turn your back on basketball in Victoria because there's no one playing in a Dragons singlet for the time being? There's short sighted thinking.

 

I think the best option, for the long run, would be to embrace the new Melbourne team (assuming it happens) and get as many Dragons fans to go along to the home games in all their Dragons gear, showing support for basketball as a product and continuing the support for the Dragons and their re-entry into the NBL.

I may go to a new teams game here and there, but if i do i would defitely be wearing a South Dragons singlet.

 

Why would i turn my back on a BV team?? Because i want the Dragons not some new team. If i could be assured that this new team would only be temporary and then the next season the Dragons comeback, then i would 100% support this new team. But unless i was given this then i wouldnt support it as, i really dont want it to be a success because if it is not the Dragons and Tigers would almost be certain to comeback to the new league.

If i was to go to the NEW Melbourne teams games, which would be very unlikely i would as well as reloaded wear Dragons singlets there as a sign of support/ However I believe their is only three ways we get back into playing bball.

1) the league doesnt run and they take an extended break to get it right

2)  That this new teams isnt a sucess so they  look back to the Dragons and tiger

3) that the Melbourne Tigers re-enter the league and that the Dragons can try and enter second year, as many bball supporters would refuse to support the Tigers and therefore there would be a need for the Dragons.

So therefore i will not be supporting this new team as i know they will be run with  and by gaze and a group of Tigers supporters. One reason enough and i want to stick by the Dragons.