Save Our South Dragons

Tommorow there is to be a press conference in Melbourne that is almost certain to tell us what and how many Melbourne teams there are to be.

The has just been that announcement. Of course all i have been hearing may not be true, but i love to share so be prepared!! Well we all know that the Dragons and Tigers conference was postponed due to unforeseen circumsatnces, well it is now believe and people are pretty certain that the Melbourne Tigers will re-enter the league for the 09/10 season, possibly a reduced model but none the same. Also BA is expected to announce that there is going to be two melbourne teams in the league which will be interesting to say the least.

Now in regards to that ofcourse if this happens one will be the Tigers and the other will either be a Cowan- and Basketball victoria or a district team partnership called the South Dragons or just a BV team which would mean that the South Dragons are dead..

There has been a recent push for the Dragons to be part of the league, but Cowan could not put the money up by his self, so therefore BV or another association may also be a part of it. The want the Dragons in because it has a really good name and has a reputation and has already been marketed, which would mean that they would not have to spend asmuch money to market it. However the catch is that they would be moving almost all of their games to the Cage, with a handful of games at Hisense. You can also expect that alot of the entertainment will be scrapped ect as BV would not allow Cowan to spend like he has in the past. I think that the most liekly association to be part of this possible new partnership is knox, as the Dragons and them have a very good relationship, however Dandy have been pushing for stronger ties for awhile now.

Also the league will not have a new name it will just take the name of the major sponsor, but i have no news on what that could be. The tv deal will be 2 games a week on foxtel as it stands at the moment, but all should be announced tommorow. That is pretty much all the stuff i know hope it is helpful friends Should now be 9 teams.

I cant believe how uncertain this all is and how bad BA are, yet if the Dragons are in, I'm first to be buying a membership.

Heres a little article i wrote on my other site.

There is much speculation that

Melbourne Tigers will announce their return to the new league today,the

BA and Tigers have seemingly settled their differences and will

announce the 8th team today believed to be the Melbourne Tigers.

Ill update on information as it comes through.

Dragons still are not participating at this stage.

Also Knox will be our new home in 2010 with the 4 million dollar facility and internation showcourt that has FIBA standards.

Hi all, Just announced on SEN that the 8th team will be the Melb Tigers. Dragons not included at this stage. BA said that only one team per city would be allowed in this season. They said that a team from both Sydney and Brisbane would be included next year and that they would run with a 10 team competition from next year.  Dont know what will happen with the dragons next season.

Wally

that is a letdown,i really cant see us coming back,i dam pray we do,we'd have a complete new team and coaching staff,Guy Molloy could coach us if he doesnt take off overseas?

OM well obviously dissapointing that the Tigers HAVE Dogged us and have essentially tried to lock us out, they saw the opportunity to get the city back to a one team city and now they have achieved it so good to them. South noticed that you said the Dragons are to release a statement in the next 24 hours. How do you know this and do you know anything about this??

I hope that the Dragons decide to enter the league again, even if we have to play all of our games at the cage or even move to dandenong for a while and just play the derbies at Rod Laver Arena or Hisense. I am worried about being locked out of this new competition, but i do think that today was the best possible outcome, as there will likely have to be a second Melbourne team as i doubt no Dragons fans will want to follow the Tigers and i would say that they are alienating a huge number of fans. where as if a new team was to have been entered we would have been screwed.

Oh well looks like more uncertainty for us Dragons fans but atleast we will soon know what the end result will be for us..

Dude Dragons left with egg on face,Tigers board overruled Mcpeake and got them in so thats a good thing for Basketball in Australia.

NBL champions shut their doors 29/05/2009 1:49:00 PM Defending NBL champions South Dragons have shut their doors for at least the next 12 months, and perhaps permanently. Dragons co-owner Mark Cowan re-iterated the club would not be part of the new elite men's basketball competition next season.

He said all players had been released and staff including five-time NBL champion coach Brian Goorjian let go.

Cowan said the club was officially taking a one-year hiatus beforetaking another look at whether it could be part of a competition in the2010-11 season.

But Cowan warned the only way the Dragons wouldreturn to the new NBL was if those in charge of the game showed "anappetite for reform", believing the upcoming eight-team competition fornext season will not work.

The Dragons had been in the NBL forthe previous three years, going from wooden spooners two seasons ago towinning the championship in 2008-09.