2024-25 NBL Season + Off-season news

[Gozu]

Game 1

Australia 80 (Vasiljevic 23, Pepper 16, Glover 10) def New Zealand 68 (Te Rangi 15, Ili 12, Davison 11, Smith-Milner 10)

Boomers lead the series 1-0

[Gozu]

Not exactly NBL news but the WNBL's Adelaide Lightning have been saved by the state government which will see them continue on after 32 years.

The Lightning have won five championships since entering the league in 1993, but their future was in severe doubt after previous owners relinquished their license to Basketball Australia in August 2024.

The Malinauskas Labor Government will provide significant financial and in-kind support of more than half a million dollars, joining forces with the WNBL to ensure the continued and sustainable growth of women’s basketball in South Australia.

The Lightning will have access to train at the newly-opened $88 million South Australian Sports Institute headquarters, including office space, a training gym and court, medical and physiotherapy support, while retaining their place in the WNBL competition.

https://nbl.com.au/news/wnbl-south-aust ... des-future

[Brodlach]

Fantastic news

[Gozu]

Game 2

Australia 92 (Cooks 16, Pepper 12, Blanchfield 11, Glover 10) def New Zealand 67 (Britt 19, Ili 18)

Boomers lead the series 2-0

[Gozu]

Game 3

New Zealand 106 (Britt 23, Te Rangi 18, K. Isaac 14, Smith-Milner 13, Davison 12) def Australia 97 (Pepper 28, Norton 19, Vasiljevic 13)

Boomers won the series 2-1

[Gozu]

The NBL have announced European pre-season tournament the Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament will be held in Australia this September which will see EuroLeague powerhouse clubs Panathinaikos from Greece, the current EuroLeague champions and Partizan Belgrade from Serbia play games against the Adelaide 36ers and Sydney Kings at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Sunday the 21st and Monday the 22nd of September.

https://nbl.com.au/news/nbl-hosts-european-powerhouses

Prior to the start of the four team tournament the two visiting teams will play a game against each other at John Cain Arena in Melbourne on Thursday 18th September.

[Gozu]

The 36ers have signed forward Matt Kenyon to a one-year deal who spent the past couple of seasons with the SE Melbourne Phoenix.

https://www.adelaide36ers.com/news/36er ... -for-nbl26

The Brisbane Bullets have signed Jacob Holt to a 3 year deal. He's a 6'10" F/C from Canada whose mother was born in Australia allowing him to play here as a local player and he just finished playing his college ball at Sacramento State.

https://nbl.com.au/news/building-a-stro ... -key-piece

Also in some suprisng news guard Mitch McCarron has announced his retirement. Beginning his career at the Cairns Taipans he then was the starting PG on Melbourne United's 2021 championship winning team followed by an underwhelming three year stint at the 36ers and then playing this past season at the NZ Breakers.

https://nbl.com.au/news/mccarron-says-f ... -270-games

[Gozu]

The NBL is bringing back an in-season tournament which will see teams play an extra four games during the season, a now 33 game schedule, with the tournament games to be played on Wednesday nights and prize money up for grabs in the Grand Final.

https://www.espn.com.au/nbl/story/_/id/ ... olgun-uluc

The Blitz pre-season tournament will be played in Canberra and is expected to start in late August.

Also the SE Melbourne Phoenix have signed F/C Gorjok Gak to a one-year deal, he returns to the Phoenix after playing for the Tasmania JackJumpers last season.

https://nbl.com.au/news/return-to-the-h ... at-phoenix

The SE Melbourne Phoenix have also signed DJ Mitchell to a 2 year deal. The 6'8" forward returns to the NBL after playing for Manchester in England last season after previously playing a couple of seasons with the Brisbane Bullets.

https://nbl.com.au/news/remixed-remaste ... g-comeback