Melbourne United

VJBL now sponsored by Melbourne United

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Melbourne United have entered the naming rights realm by taking the naming rights to the VJBL with the VJBL now being the Melbourne United Victorian Junior Basketball League from November 1.

In an somewhat ironic twist the VJBL is a home of the original Melbourne Tigers who play in the competition, the Melbourne Tigers team in the VJBL were blamed for the downturn in interest for the NBL team by the owners of Melbourne United when ‘rebranding’ the Tigers NBL side.

If the Melbourne Tigers VJBL and NBL teams were such a problem for basketball fans for the team being in the VJBL (though living separately) and the NBL then wouldn’t Melbourne United being the naming rights sponsor of the VJBL while being in the NBL be seen as a conflict of interest especially to those in other leagues around the state? Could Melbourne United pick the best of the bunch to play for them as Melbourne Tigers NBL team were accused of having first dibs to the Tigers VJBL and BigV talent?.

It will be very awkward if the Tigers win a VJBL title and the Captain or Coach will have to say ‘We would like to thank Melbourne United for their wonderful sponsorship of the league……’ many people would probably tell you they wouldn’t even try to say those words

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Fans call for SEABL to NBL route for Tigers

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Melbourne Tigers fans are hoping that Larry Kestelman and Michael Slepoy do the right thing for Basketball and release the Melbourne Tigers name and history so others can start a new era of the Tigers in the NBL by entering into the next SEABL season before making slowly making it back into the NBL.

Fans have indicated that they are willing to donate money to any high profile group that is willing to take on the Tigers name and history to begin this rebuild, fans have said that they hope it is the original Melbourne Tigers (the one in the BigV etc) that get the name and history back for they have indicated that they would follow the Gaze family as well as former Tigers players and staff in the organization anywhere.

it is understood by many that hundreds of thousands will be needed in order for the organization to get everything it needs including getting a SEABL team going but if past players and staff, fans and big and small businesses join together will go from an impossibility towards being a certainty.

Former Melbourne Tigers players and staff are urged to stand up and speak out on social media and the traditional forms of media in favor of the effort to get Kestelman and Slepoy to release the Tigers name and history and to support the Melbourne Tigers organization in getting the name and history of it’s NBL spinoff and start the journey of coming back to the NBL.

Those who are setting on the fence should consider this, the NBL was always good with two Basketball teams, the Tigers are needed in the NBL, future Tigers vs United matches would have lots of spice particularly since United usurped the Tigers to sit in the throne of Melbourne NBL teams and lastly United can stand on it’s own two feet without being embroiled in a Civil War over where and who the club should be.

United eaten by hungry Crocodiles

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After almost a week of praise being lavished upon Melbourne United after defeating the New Zealand Breakers, it was time for the team to play against the Townsville Crocodiles, United were favorites after their performance against the Breakers but the Crocodiles were ready for United and had a 16 point lead at quarter time, Melbourne narrowed the gap to 10 points at half time and were at one point within three points before Townsville steadied to draw the third quarter and outscored United by one point in the last to win 92 to 81.

Melbourne United confused fans by publishing the news of the loss accompanied by a picture showing United won 92-81 with the post staying up for 15 minutes before being removed and a new post made with the corrected score as you will see in this article.

Sunday November 2 brings the Wollongong Hawks to Hisense Arena to take on United and people will no doubt be wondering what United side will show up, will it be the one that demolished the Breakers or will it be the one who lost to twice to Cairns and tonight to Townsville? An even bigger question is will United have a big paying crowd or will they stay away like they did against the Breakers?.

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Emailed letters to Crivelli, United Owners goes unanswered

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Melbourne Tigers fans email to Melbourne United CEO Vince Crivelli asking him to read letters addressed to him and Melbourne United’s owners has not been answered, this has been expected by some fans even though the message was polite and diplomatic in seeking a solution to the problem that has divided Basketball fans across Australia, the letter was also posted on this blog and passed around on Twitter hoping for Basketball reporters to pick it up.

Tigers fans will be delighted that a Tweet carrying the blog form of the letter was favourited by Lanard Copeland and we are extremely grateful for that, the letter will continue to be passed around until somebody in the media or Melbourne United reads it and attempts to answer the plea to let the Melbourne Tigers name and history be in somebody else’s hands to enable a future return to the NBL either by straight return or a slower return via SEABL or BigV.

A Letter to Mr Kestleman and Mr Slepoy.

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Dear Mr Kestleman and Mr Slepoy,

Ever since the announcement to replace the Melbourne Tigers on May 20 2014, Tigers fans have been hoping to convince the both of you to overturn your decision and restore the Tigers name.

There is no doubt that you feel that doing so would not be good business sense but we strongly believe that the Tigers name and history deserve to live on in the NBL or in another competition and make its way back into the NBL from there in someone else’s hands.

Millionaires like yourselves are often said to be always doing what they think is right in terms of dollars and cents and not what is right to those whose lives are impacted by what you do, the Melbourne Tigers is considered by its fans to be way more than just a ‘brand’, the two names go together much like the partnership of Copeland and Gaze and for many the Melbourne Tigers was and is a team that brings joy to their lives.

Releasing the Tigers name to the Melbourne Tigers club that competes in the BigV and other competitions will undo in one swift movement most of the pain that was put into fans hearts and minds by the arrival of Melbourne United and it will show that you truly have in your hearts and minds the desire to secure the future of Basketball not only in Victoria but the rest of Australia, one important condition would be that the Tigers four NBL titles and historical records go to the team as well for we all know that without the local Melbourne Tigers team there would have been no Melbourne Tigers NBL team and therefore you would have no Melbourne United team to own.

Perhaps the two of you could spin off the Melbourne Tigers as a new group away from Melbourne United and the two of you own a minority share and let others like the BigV team and the Gaze family plus any Tigers supporter with financial clout or members who get to have a say to buy in and get the second NBL club in that way.

There is no doubt that if the both of you and your advisors put your brains together there will be a solution to please Melbourne Tigers fans and Melbourne United fans

Melbourne Tigers fans who have not joined United by now are most likely to never will and will be instead waiting for the opportunity to join a new Melbourne NBL team no matter if they are from the North, East, South or West and all the directions in between even if the team names are names like Magic, Titans, Giants, Supercats and Dragons.

We really hope that you will address this letter and give us an answer that is not automated or insincere, we really look forward to the both of you being open to the above suggestions and start the process that will end the Civil War that is tearing Basketball in Victoria apart.

Yours Sincerely,

Ryan Stevenson
On behalf of Melbourne Tigers fans

Ballers win, that’s right the Melbourne United Ballers

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Crowds returned to watch Basketball at Hisense Arena for the first time since Melbourne United’s disastrous performance against the Cairns Taipans one week ago, The crowd who turned up for the Melbourne United vs New Zealand Breakers game were treated to a video which shows all the past Victorian teams before the Melbourne logo appears which will no doubt upset fans of past (and hopefully soon to be current again) teams who do not want their history being used by the Melbourne United Ballers in any self promotional way, reaction to this video was mostly quiet except a huge roar erupted around the Arena when it was the Melbourne Tigers turn to be ‘honoured’.

Melbourne United were then introduced onto the court at Margaret Court Arena as the Melbourne United Ballers which will no doubt win the team ‘Worst Team Name’ in any awards ceremony that has it as a category although people can now say that the team name matches the name of the mascot for example the Tigers had Tigerman and the Magic had Magic Man etc, Melbourne had a sizable crowd at the game although most of the crowd sat at the sides and not at the scoring ends of the court, depending on their season this will probably be rectified with greater attendance but it may be some time before the Ballers threaten Perth’s crowd sizes and before then a new Melbourne team should be in the competition, the downsides reported were that entertainment during breaks needs further work while also reporting that the crowd wasn’t into the game to the point that they were appearing bored with one spectator being seen sleeping during the game.

In the game itself, the Melbourne United Ballers made the most of their opportunities as their shots hit the mark often while New Zealand’s went all over the place except where it was supposed to be which was the net, The win for the Ballers did not bring many Melbourne Tigers fans joy even if they want to be happy that Melbourne won it is hard to do so and will be for a long time but it the win will do Darryl McDonald’s chances good to coach the Ballers next season if his style of coaching brings continued results.

Are United becoming Ballers?

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Melbourne United seem to be in two minds about their name, the newspapers and the scoreboard may say Melbourne United but the crowd is encouraged to chant  ‘B-A-L-L-E-R-S Ballers!’, the team Mascot is named Mr Baller and the Melbourne United shop is called the Ballers Store, common sense would say that the crowd should chant U-N-I-T-E-D United!, perhaps keep Mr Baller as the mascot and the store be called something like The Melbourne United Store.

Could it be that Melbourne United will soon become the CTI Melbourne United Ballers? Some may say that calling the team Ballers will be an improvement on the usage of United but it will also lead to people believing that United are making things up as they go along and that would not boost anybody’s confidence that the team will be having a long life in the NBL.

 

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Taipans bite United again

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Cairns Taipans last week gave Melbourne United a ‘debut’ to forget and last night the Taipans again dominated United by winning 88 to 73 with former Melbourne Tiger Cameron Tragardh top scoring for the Taipans with 18 points.

There have been many wisecracks made since the end of the game with many wondering if Darryl McDonald will be coach on Sunday against the NZ Breakers after Chris Anstey ‘stepped down’ after coaching United for just one regular season game, United will be playing at the Margaret Court Arena and Bet365.com is being really generous giving United ($1.87) shorter odds than New Zealand ($1.95) who is currently 2-0 compared to United’s 0-2 while TAB Sportsbet has both sides at $1.90 each.

It will be interesting to see if Melbourne United do honour any of the past Victorian NBL teams with jerseys ranging from the rafters (or outside the court like the Tigers ones at Hisense Arena) or not, while hanging famous jerseys is considered a good gesture it is considered meaningless by many for the numbers aren’t retired and in many eyes an honoured player is known by both name and number.

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Will the Giants fans rise?

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Over the last few days we’ve reported on South East Melbourne Magic  and South Dragons fans starting to increase their efforts in the hopes the NBL brings their teams back into the competition but fans of one team have largely been quiet and they are the fans of the North Melbourne Giants, As most of us know the Giants who were originally the Coburg Giants (who still exist) had their own array of basketball stars such as Darryl McDonald, Scott Fisher and Ray Borner and great coaches such as Bruce Palmer and Brett Brown and they as much as any team have the right to oppose any moves by Melbourne United to ‘honour’ them particularly when their club is not dead.

Giants fans are encouraged to make a group or a page and share the Giants greatest moments, keep people updated on how well Coburg are doing and enable fans to give Melbourne United their point of view, the Giants as well as the Geelong Supercats (who are very much alive and will be written about later) deserve to not have their history used as a membership and/or game attendance selling point by Melbourne United because as mentioned earlier both teams are still living in different competitions and have been successful in their own right.

 

Media belts United over Anstey’s departure

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Chris Anstey’s departure as Melbourne United coach just one game into the season has brought Melbourne’s media to United’s doorstep and some of the statements reached mocking levels, SEN today asked listeners ‘Should Melbourne United’s longest serving coach been able to double his record.’, 65% said that Anstey should of been given the chance instead of his United stint ending at just one game.

Meanwhile on Facebook 94.44% of those at  Save The Melbourne Tigers (not Melbourne United) answered ‘No’ to the question on ‘Do you believe that Chris Anstey really did step down on his own accord?’ while there has been a sharp spike in pro Tigers messages at CTI Melbourne United’s Facebook page as many feel Chris Anstey was pushed out of the job despite Melbourne United denying this was the case.

The Herald Sun slammed Melbourne United with the headline ‘United No More’ with a picture featuring Darryl McDonald, David Barlow, Chris Anstey and team owner Michael Slepoy looking downcast on the sidelines during Sunday’s game while a cartoon showing Anstey in a net saying ‘Time Out’ was also shown in the article while The Age also weighed into this chaotic situation even as United said they’ll undertake a nationwide search for a new coach .

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