SOMETHING rather interesting is happening to Australian basketball, actually scratch that –something rather big is happening.
The opening weeks of NBL27 have provided another reminder of just how far the competition has come.
The Brisbane Bullets and Cairns Taipans remain the State’s two NBL representatives despite Queensland’s growing population, the massive distance separating those two bases and a booming basketball scene that includes one particularly fascinating hoops belt stretching across the south-east corner.
Basketball courts are everywhere and, more importantly, so is the talent.
Ipswich continues to produce elite talent through its own thriving basketball system, and then there is the infrastructure. ingredients for something bigger are increasingly difficult to overlook.
There is another intriguing piece to the puzzle in Ipswich, where the Jets continue to push their case for the next NRL licence.
Jets chairman Steven Johnson recently told Local Ipswich News that, if the organisation was successful in securing an NRL licence, its ambitions would stretch beyond rugby league.
Johnson said the Jets would work hard to help other sports establish professional teams in the region – including basketball.
Now that should make basketball people sit up.
Imagine a professional sporting structure capable of tapping into Ipswich and the western corridor while working alongside the enormous basketball community.
