Only a few games into their inaugural season the JackJumpers have experienced the high of an overtime win on opening night but crashed back to earth with a pair of losses to Adelaide and Cairns in Round 2.
The road for a new NBL franchise is incredibly tough, with most teams and their supporters enduring a trying season with limited success.
To get a bit of an understanding of what previous teams encountered (and to keep our expectations realistic), lets have a look back at some of the inaugural seasons from new NBL clubs in recent years.
South East Melbourne Phoenix (2019-20)
Record 9-19 (8th place of nine teams)
Embed from Getty ImagesRumors of a second Melbourne team had been swirling for quite some time and in September 2018 it was formally announced the South East Melbourne Phoenix were joining for the 2019-20 NBL season.
The team was headlined by the signing of former Adelaide 36ers star Mitch Creek, who was coming off time in the NBA G league which included including appearances for the Brooklyn Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The roster was built around Creek and import John Roberson, while adding locals Adam Gibson, Kyle Adnam, Deng Acuoth and Dane Pineau.
Their season started off with in syle, defeating cross town rival Melbourne United in the inaugural “Throwdown” match which kickstarted an impressive 5-2 start to the season. From that point though the Phoenix struggled to find consistency within the team, only winning four more games from that early season rrun, including an eight game losing streak to end the season.
The result of this season saw a significant shake up of the roster, with only five players retained for the 20-21 season.
Brisbane Bullets (2016-17)
Record 10-18 (8th – last place)
Embed from Getty ImagesNot strictly a debut, but the NBL Foundation team returned to the NBL in 2016-17 after the eight years without a Brisbane-based team. One of the notable changes was the removal of the traditional Bullets blue from the logo and uniforms, and replaced with Queensland maroon (which thankfully was changed back the following season).
They assembled a great team on paper, led by Aussies Cam Bairstow who was returning to Australia from two seasons with the Chicago Bulls, Daniel Kickert from Melbourne, and former Bullet Adam Gibson. For imports they didn’t risk any unproved imports, signing Jermain Beal over from the Wildcats, Torrey Craig from the Taipans and Jeremy Kendle from the Kings. They acquired then Australian Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis to the club, while his national team role was reduced to a part-time basis.
The Bullets had a outstanding opening round on their return to the NBL, defeating then champion Perth Wildcats on their home opener and following up by beating the Kings on the road.
At the halfway point they were split 7-7 for the season and eyeing off a playoff spot. However the team struggled finding a dependable go-to scorer. Beal had come from being number two option at Perth, but suddenly was attracting the oppositions best defender each night. He was unable to play with freedom when Bryce Cotton was on the court, resulting in his scoring drying up. This left defensive minded Torrey Craig leading the team in scoring, while Bairstow was inconsistent with game time through injuries. The Bullets finished the second half of the season 3-11, including losing nine of their last ten and finishing with the wooden spoon.
Gold Coast Blaze (2007-08)
Record 15-15 (8th place of 13 teams – made playoffs – lost elimination final to Townsville)
Embed from Getty ImagesA Gold Coast franchise re-joined the league 10 years after the Rollers left the NBL in 1996. Their first signing was that of former Wollongong Hawks Brendon Joyce. Joyce quickly got to work for the assembling a strong roster for the opening season, including imports Juaquin Hawkins and Jason Crowe, with locals including Scott McGregor, Pero Cameron, James Harvey and Casey Frank. But the most notable signing was Joyce’s son Daniel, who followed his father from the Hawks.
Despite losing their home opener to local rivals the Brisbane Bullets and first road game to the kings, the Blaze then went on to win eight of their next 11 games. But they were consistently inconsistent for the remainder of the season not being able to string many wins in a row. This was reflected by their 15-15 record, which was enough to get them the final playoff spot. With only 5 wins on the road it was no surprise they were bundled out in the first round at the hands of the Crocodiles in Townsville.
South Dragons (2006-07)
Record 15-18 (7th of 12 teams -made playoffs – lost elimination final to Cairns)
Embed from Getty ImagesOne of the more memorable debut seasons was that of the South Dragons, their entry followed the purchase of the former Victoria Giants/Titans licence by Mark Cowan and Raphawl Geminder and aggressively went after the Tigers stronghold on Melbourne.
They brought in former NBA All-Star player Mark Price to take the reigns as inaugural coach of the franchise. The playing roster included Shane Heal who was coming out of retirement, an 18-year-old Joe Ingles who passed on the 36ers to sign with the Dragons directly from the AIS, and imports Todd Fuller and Kavossy Franklin.
Management wanted instand results, and it only took five losses to start the season before things got interesting. Despite averaging a solid 18 points and 9 rebounds Todd Fuller was released and Mark Price resigned for “personal reasons”. Shane Heal took take over in a Player/Coach role, with Price later stating he had been undermined by Heal since joining the club.
Former Wildcat import Rosell Ellis joined as replacement import and the team scraped into the finals to be knocked out in the first round by Cairns. This was the first of three eventful years for the Dragons in the NBL including a championship in 2008-9.
Singapore Slingers (2006-07)
Record 13-20 (8th of 12 teams, made playoffs – Lost elimination final to Townsville)
Embed from Getty ImagesAnother entry from the 2006/07 season was the addition of the first Asian based side, the Singapore Slingers. The team was the brainchild of former NBL player and coach Bob Turner, who purchased the former Hunter Pirates/Canberra Cannons license and moved it the team to Singapore.
With the quick sale of the Pirates license in 2005 and a number of multiyear contracts still ongoing, a large portion of the Pirates roster remained on the team. Ben Knight, Ben Melmeth Aaron Trahair and Brad Davidson led a strong core of role players that were led by former NBL MVP Mike Helms and Marquin Chandler.
Despite winning their opening match against Adelaide in Singapore the Slingers struggled for consistency and the heavy travel schedule took its toll as they slumped to 3-10. However they managed to hold their own on their home court and took advantage of some jet lagged opponents, to scrape in to the finals with 13 wins. This was mostly thanks to the expanded finals system that only saw four of 12 teams miss out on finals action. Similar to the Dragons they were also bundled out of the playoffs in North Queensland, but this time it was thanks to the Townsville Crocs.
Off the court the Slingers, playing in an Australian league, struggled to build rapport with the Singapore locals. Which was due to few locally based players on the team, and little knowledge of the Australian NBL. They managed three seasons in the NBL, before the franchise moved to the ASEAN Basketball league
New Zealand Breakers (2003-04)
Record 12-22 (10th of 12 teams – missed playoffs)
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Breakers were the first non-Australian based club to join the league. They spread their home games across the country, but were prominently based on the memorable dark brown court of the North Shore Events Centre in Auckland.
The team had a strong kiwi flavour that included Pero Cameron, Paul Henare, Lindsay Tait, Dillon Boucher, Casey Frank and Mika Vukona in the squad.
The Breakers opened the season with a tough 111-110 victory over the 36ers at home, but the winning feeling deserted them for the following two months as they lost 10 of their next 11 games. This led to firing of coach Jeff Green, who was replaced by assistant Fred Arsego, and former Canberra Cannons import Mike Chappell being added to the squad. The changes paid immediate dividends, as they finished the remainder season winning 10 of their remaining games and finished two wins short of a remarkable debut playoff appearance.
Cairns Taipans (1999-2000)
Record 2-26 (11th – last place)
Embed from Getty ImagesIn the late 90’s basketball was booming in North Queensland, the Townsville Crocs were consistently selling out games and their neighbour up north in Cairns were keen to part of the action. The Cairns Marlins had been dominating the Queensland Basketball League for years. They had taken their form on the national stage at the ABA finals, where they won the national championship in 1998, and were runners up in 1994 and 1997.
Following years of knocking on the NBL’s door the locals were finally rewarded with an NBL franchise. With construction of an expanded Cairns Convention Centre complete, the Taipans were ready to hit the floor for the 1999-2000 season.
Following his success locally with the Marlins, Rod Popp was tasked with leading the Taipans through their first year. The team included imports Ricky Robinson, Rashamel Jones, locals Terry Johnson, Grant Kruger, Aaron Grabau and a return to the NBL for veteren Andre Moore. Coach Popp filled his remaining roster sports with several Marlins players hoping to take their game to the next level and to keep a connection to the region.
Despite the strong local connection, it was apparently early on that the Taipans were strongly outmatched, losing their first seven games of the season. But that changed with a breakout 99-86 win on their home floor against the Sydney Kings. The joy was short lived as they went only one more game for the season, including 13 straight losses to finish their debut season.
