Hooley's Call to Next Generation

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

With further expansion of the NBL seemingly a formality in the coming years, NBL analyst Peter Hooley says there is no better time to be a young basketball hopeful in Australia.

Hooley himself came through the ranks in South Australia, before heading to Albany for a successful five-year collegiate career. From there he returned to the NBL with Melbourne United and won the 2018 title.

With NBL Owner Larry Kestelman stating he foresees the competition containing 13-15 teams within the next half-decade, Hooley believes there will need to be plenty of talent to fill the new rosters.

“It’s exciting for the league,” Hooley told SEN of potential expansion. “If you’re an up and comer, if you’re a 15 or 16-year-old player who wants to play professional basketball, there is no better time to be putting a ball in a hoop at a local level and getting ready for expansion.

“A lot of things Larry says sound wild at the start, but he’s going to back it up and get it done. I’m expecting a team not this year, but next year would be close enough – if not that then the year after.

“I think if he’s saying three to five teams in the next few years, then that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

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One certainty of expansion is the creation of pressure on existing franchises – whether they can keep their players, their coaches, and their fans.

The league’s last two expansion clubs – South East Melbourne and Tasmania – have both not only become steady off-court organisations through their existence so far, but have impressed on the court immediately after coming into the competition.

Hooley says he believes there is enough of an appetite in Western Australia to accommodate a second team alongside the Wildcats, but the pressure will be on wherever the league chooses to expand to come in and perform.

“The one thing I take away from last season is the Bullets had one of the worst seasons we’ve seen, but right at the end of the season when they’re second bottom on the ladder Nissan Arena is sold out and it’s jumping and they continued to show up.

“Everybody wants to go and watch their team and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next club that comes in.

“The Phoenix were tremendous and made the semi-final when they first started, Tassie came in and lifted the bar, so whichever next franchise comes the bar has been set awfully high.

“We know the Wildcats have been the best fanbase for years on years on years, so it would be an interesting one to see how many fans [a new side] could take away from Perth if there was another team and how that would work, but I have no doubt it would be successful.”