In a recent Beyond the Buzzer episode on The Basketball Fix Podcast NBL commentator Felix Von Hofe was given the chance to let his imagination run wild about what the NBL could look like in 5 years time.
Von Hofe is a polarising figure in the NBL media landscape but there is no denying his pedigree and love for the game shown through his energy and deep knowledge and understading of the sport.
Felix's comments come not just from a commentators perspective but from that as a fan of basketball in the world we are living in right now. With the NBA being such a central piece of basketball media it is hard not to compare the two league's stats right up against each other.
"When you tell your mates, someone has had a big game... they've gone for thirty, which in the NBL, it's tough to go for 30"
With Bryce Cotton's run of scoring this season it is not hard to imagine what his 59 point scoring night against the New Zealand Breakers could have been if there were another 8 minutes on the clock.
Von Hofe's reasoning from a commercial standpoint is that when the league is trying to sell the game not only internationally but within Australia, new fans to the game are comparing the stats of NBL players to that of the NBA and are coming up short.
"I don't want the MVP averaging 22 points"
To put it into perspective this year's MVP favourite in the NBL - Bryce Cotton is averaging 27.7 pts on the season including that 59pt game and 4 more 40 pt games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the current favourite for the NBA MVP award is averaging 31.5 pts per game.
The league has long kept the game time to 40 minutes to reduce the total event time of their games allowing for families to be in and out of a game on a weeknight in 2 hours. Whether or not fans would now forgo that extra time for more scoring, more triple doubles and more action is something the league will need to consider as it continues to grow.
Catch Felix Von Hofe as the co-host of Beyond the Buzzer with NBL Experts Josh Higgins and Ryan Tucker on Spotify and Youtube
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