MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy’s View from Downunder) - There was lots of news this week, but none bigger than the retirement of Opals legend Kristi Harrower, who represented Australia with distinction over almost 20 years.

Harrower’s resume just makes ridiculous reading, four Olympics, four world championships, seven seasons in the WNBA, nearly 18 years in the WNBL, seven WNBL All-Star Five honours, three WNBL titles and a WNBL MVP.

The crown in her career, and a fairytale ending, was returning to her home town of Bendigo, playing under father Bernie and leading the Spirit to back-to-back titles.

After reportedly trying for some time, Kristi and husband Aaron announced they are 16 weeks pregnant and she would retire after last Sunday’s clash with the Adelaide Lightning.

Harrower subbed in with just over two minutes to go in the fourth quarter and the crowd gave a spine-tingling welcome.

The Lightning – under former Bendigo assistant coach Jeremi Moule – did their gracious part and fouled to get the legendary point guard to the free-throw line, where she connected on one as the crowd rose again.

Then, with 30 seconds to play, Bernie subbed his daughter out for the last time and the fans gave her one last incredible salute. It was a fitting tribute to an incredible contributor and role model for women’s basketball.

Congratulations Kristi and the best of luck!

Superstars abound
So good is this WNBL season that there are plenty of legends left on the court even with Harrower now an assistant coach.

Lauren Jackson is finally back for the Capitals and starting to make her mark, teaming with remarkably in-form Olympian Abby Bishop to have the Canberrans back in the playoff race.

Opals giant Suzy Batkovic and Cayla Francis are wreaking havoc for Townsville, who sit atop the ladder as they look to avenge back-to-back grand final losses.

Penny Taylor and Cappie Pondexter, the greatest wing duo in league history, are starting to roll for Dandenong, who have now won six in a row including inflicting the Fire’s first defeat in Townsville.

If you haven't been following the WNBL, I suggest you start tuning in.

Stepping up
A big congrats to the folks in the NBL office this week, who peppered social media with highlights from the weekend’s games.

For those who follow bigger leagues that might seem like a no-brainer, but providing replays of the best on-court action is something the NBL has never done well, going all the way back.

Given how understaffed the league office is, for them to listen to fan feedback and start pushing highlights out is a great start which I'm sure all fans hope continues.

Really stepping up
Anyone who reads my columns knows I haven't been a fan of the television production of the NBL for a long time (Sky Sports NZ excepted), but credit must be given for the NBL’s efforts covering tonight’s Perth v Adelaide game.

Miked-up coaches and players, half-time addresses from the locker room into your lounge room, camera angles from the roof and a moving boom. It was great stuff.

Since the NBL took over production last season it’s been a little frustrating, getting teases of improvements that could be made only to regress back to the ‘bad old ways’.

But if this is a tease of what’s to come next season, I can happily wait.

The big chair
There was news on a bigger scale too, with the NBL appointing Graeme Wade as their independent Chairman, after the position had been held by a club representative since the league’s demerger with Basketball Australia.

While some fans predictably responded with ‘Who?’, it doesn’t really matter whether Wade has a big name or a fancy reputation, what matters is if he can guide the board effectively.

His background is in accountancy - indeed he was recently appointed the Global President and Chairman of CPA Australia – so you can expect a practical and finance-based approach, which can’t be a bad thing with the league not on a solid footing.

As for the rest, well only time will tell how effective he will be, but I certainly wish Mr Wade all the best.

Nick the controversial
Wade replaces Perth Managing Director Nick Marvin, whose dual position attracted much comment.

Marvin’s involvement at both league and club level seems to polarise people, with popular positions being either he has been highly successful with the Wildcats and so should be running the league, or the conflict of interest is too great.

I explained my view a few weeks ago, that while having a club GM as league Chair is highly unusual and far from ideal, Marvin was put there by the clubs so his position should be respected, as long as a move to an independent Chair was made as soon as possible.

I'm glad that has happened, even though it has taken some time.

The important Qs
Adelaide journalist Boti Nagy has copped some flak for his reporting of this issue, but to his critics I would say, if scribes like Boti aren’t asking the hard questions to keep the league accountable, who is?

Some say he shows bias in his reporting, but the reality is he is posing questions, and even if they are slanted in one direction, it is up to the NBL to answer those questions and provide their fans with the relevant information.

The league has been quiet publicly this season on big issues like the move to a more independent board, expansion, club viability and its vision for the future.

It doesn’t require major announcements, small snippets of news are enough to keep fans (and journos) content the competition is heading on the right direction.

I think Boti summed it up very well in this editorial and I hope the NBL gets ahead of the game with proactive announcements – great and small - in the coming weeks and months.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

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