Portfolio NBL 2K18 - An Alternate History

[PhenomenalV1]

NBL 2K18

So I've had this idea kicking around for a few months now, and I've finally gotten around to putting it together.

What would the NBL look like today if the basketball boom never crashed so hard?

What teams would be competing?

What would they look like?

Is this portfolio just an blatant excuse to post my dream NBL team lineup?

The answers to those questions are, bigger than it is now, you'll find out over the course of the portfolio, see above, and yes.

So let's get this thing kicked off by undoing one of the more controversial rebrandings in recent years...




Mighty Roar

We'll kick off (or should that be tip off?) with one of the most successful clubs in the league's history, the Melbourne Tigers.

Consistently one of the most competitive clubs in the NBL, the Tigers are the toast of their fans, and the envy of their crosstown rivals (we'll get to them...).

Picking up the most recent premiership in the 2017-18 season, the Tigers, sporting names like Casey Prather and Chris Goulding, are looking to go back to back and bring another championship back to Hisense Arena.





The Tigers home and road uniforms are based off their outfits from the glory period of the mid-90's. Their alternate uniform is somewhat based off the real life Melbourne United's current away jersey.


Next time: the Tigers aren't the only red clad team with a feline mascot...​

 

[fumbler]

It’s beautiful, so beautiful.

 

[jmac91]

Hopefully all the old Melbourne teams are in this.

 

[PhenomenalV1]

RED ARMY

Way out west, the Perth Wildcats are still going strong. The traditional powerhouse (not the Clipsal one) has only gone from strength to strength, claiming 3 premierships in the last 5 seasons of the league.
After just losing in the semi-finals, the Wildcats are looking to bounce back. Led by star import Bryce Cotton, the Red Army will be cheering loud again.





The 'Cats home jersey is exactly what you'd expect, not too different from their IRL home outfit. I went with an all lowercase font to change it up a little, since all the other teams I worked on have allcaps fonts.

The away kit is based off the more traditional black with red the Wildcats wore before the '10s.

As for the alternate, well, this is a semi-realistic portfolio, so the curse of a sublimated logo on an NBL uniform strikes again (tbh, sublimated logos are kind of my graphic design guilty pleasures).


Next time: The first canonical revival of an old club...​

 

[royboy2]

Hopefully all the old Melbourne teams are in this.

The only one that matters is already there

 

[PhenomenalV1]

A CAPITAL IDEA

Here's the first team that never went belly-up in this timeline, the Canberra Cannons.

The Cannons are a relatively competitive team, usually finishing mid-table. Their most successful season was their 08-09 run, ending in a Grand Final series loss to the next team in the portfolio...


Yes, I know that's a Capitals game, it was the best picture I could find of AIS Arena in its basketball configuration.

The Cannons have added gold to their home attire, fitting for a team with a vaguely piratical nickname.

I went with their old blue home jersey as the alternate as a sort of heritage uniform. Theirs no gold the alt because (spoilers) it would look way too close to the 36ers home kit.


Next: we're heading back to Melbourne, or more accurately, a certain area of Melbourne...​

 

[PhenomenalV1]

A WIZARD DID IT



Heading back to Victoria now, we find our second club that survived in this timeline, the South East Melbourne Magic.

Although a powerhouse in the late 90's, despite narrowly staving off a merger with another club (hint hint), the Magic began to struggle in the early naughties, before a revival at the end of the decade saw them win their first premiership of the new millennium.

Now, the Magic are perennial finalists, with a long, long future ahead of them.



Keeping the classic Magic look here; it's hard to think of any way to improve on a damn good jersey.

The alternate kit is a heritage uniform, based off the old Eastside Spectres.


Next time: Gunning it up north...​

 

[PhenomenalV1]

BULLET THE BLUE SKY

One of the longest running clubs in the NBL's history, it's no surprise that the Brisbane Bullets are alive and well in this timeline.

Peaking in the mid-noughties, the Bullets have slumped in form over more recent years, but you can be sure that their fortunes will be revived in due time.




I wasn't sure on how to approach the Bullets home and away kits at first, but researching some old IRL designs, I decided to give the classic yellow and white angled hoops a more modern twist, adding Brisbane's recent tertiary colour of maroon to the mix.

Speaking of maroon, the alternate jersey is basically a blatant "WE'RE FROM QUEENSLAND!" design.


Next time: Don't lose my number...​

 

[PhenomenalV1]

Paging Number 36

One of the mainstays in the NBL, the Adelaide 36ers aren't going anywhere.

The Sixers remain a competitive team, rarely missing the playoffs, and are the current runners up.





For the home and road kits, I went all in on the new colour scheme, albiet dropping the red entirely, just to differentiate a little more from the Cannons colour scheme.

The alternate is a hybrid of two classic Sixers outfits; the shooting stars kit, and the late 90's back to back championships kit.



Next time: I guess we'll never be royals...​

 

[graeme gray]

what computer program did you use

 

[PhenomenalV1]

what computer program did you use

Photoshop, with Gimp used on the side for a few elements

 

[PhenomenalV1]

 

[Colonial]

Bring back the Pigs

 

[PhenomenalV1]

THE KING IS IN THE BUILDING


Of course the Sydney Kings are going to be around. Do you really think a major sports league in Australia wouldn't try and keep a team going in the biggest city in the country?

The Kings have been up and down in this timeline, snaring a couple of championships here and there, but they've never quite been able to shake the "Violet Crumbles" tag. At one point they came perilously close to going under, but managed to find backing at the last moment.




Look, the Lakers colour scheme that the Kings have had since the 80s isn't going anywhere, but I thought I might try to put some slight flares on it. Yeah, I''l admit that using the club logo on the jersey is a bit stock standard, but I didn't want to do the current pinstripes and a sports font thing they have...that's a design I'm using for another team. In hindsight, maybe I should've put the side crowns on the shorts too.

The alternate design is a bit of a nod to the Kings '96 jerseys.



Next Time: Well there's a big, big sound from the...North and West of the town?​

 

[PhenomenalV1]

CUTTING DOWN THE BEANSTALK


By the late 90's the NBL's golden age was well and truly coming to a close, with financial pressures forcing teams from outside of the state capitals to shut their doors and head back to the state leagues from whence they came.

One such club was the Geelong Supercats, who rejoined the SEABL after paying off their debts by selling their NBL licence, and quickly found themselves becoming a powerhouse again at a regional level.

But they weren't the only Victorian club feeling a financial pinch.

A long standing boutique club, the North Melbourne Giants were desperate to stay in the top league despite a worsening financial position. In a bid to stay viable, the head brass decided to shop around a merger proposition to anyone who was willing to listen. After talks with the Magic went nowhere, they were about to shut up shop entirely...but then the Supercats made an offer.

What about an amalgamation with some of the Supercats office, as well as getting backing from the Bendigo and Ballarat associations?

And so, the Victoria Giants were born, initially playing out of the State Netball & Hockey Centre and regional venues, before eventually moving into Margaret Court Arena as they grew more stable.




This one might be a little more contentious to old school NBL fans, but hear me out.

Yes, the home and road jerseys are a fusion of the golden age N.M. Giants uniforms, and the Victoria Giants kits from their dying days in '04. Yes, it may bring back war flashbacks of Australian basketball's dark age. I made these like, six years ago.

That said, I couldn't resist doing a fauxback to the 80's Giants away jersey for the alternate.


Next time: Do I detect a hint of pork product?​

 

[From The Pocket]

Paging Number 36

One of the mainstays in the NBL, the Adelaide 36ers aren't going anywhere.

The Sixers remain a competitive team, rarely missing the playoffs, and are the current runners up.



View attachment 534801

For the home and road kits, I went all in on the new colour scheme, albiet dropping the red entirely, just to differentiate a little more from the Cannons colour scheme.

The alternate is a hybrid of two classic Sixers outfits; the shooting stars kit, and the late 90's back to back championships kit.



Next time: I guess we'll never be royals...​

This universe seems better than ours.

 

[PhenomenalV1]

This universe seems better than ours.

To be fair, that post was made in a year where the Sixers made the Grand Final.

 

[Heardy_101]

This universe seems better than ours.

Ain't that the truth.

 

[BigChippa52]

pretty good so far

 

[PhenomenalV1]

WAR PIGS


Not every NBL team escaped the 90's unscathed. The Newcastle Falcons ownership struggled with finding backers towards the end of the decade, and after Topper went into administration, they sold their licence back to the NBL to pay off their debts.

From there, the licence was picked up by the CBA affiliated West Sydney Slammers. Despite opposition from the Kings boardroom, the Slammers were admitted into the league.

Before they played their first game, though, they decided to revamp their image. Drawing from their new name from a feral pig sighting near a Macarthur suburb, the West Sydney Razorbacks hit the court in late 1998. They may not have a championship to their name, but they've stirred up some heat in their time.

After playing out of the Whitlam Centre & State Sports Centre, the Pigs have recently moved to the newly roofed Ken Rosewall Arena.




And here we've got a (slightly botched on my part) some classic Pigs kits with a little bit of a re-jig.

I'm a sucker for those craggly side panels from the mid-00's. Here I've largely kept them to one side as to incorporate a little of their '02 Grand Final run jerseys in as well.

I did toy with the shade of blue in the alternate, so to reinforce the NSW State of Origin vibe. Just the Razorbacks showing off a little Sydney spirit, if you will.


Next Time: I remember when the rock was young... ​

 

[Chicken Parma]

Been enjoying this portfolio so far. Interesting to note that in the six-year gap between posts, the NBL has actually started it’s biggest boom since the 90s.

And I like how you made DrinkWise the Giants sponsor, since DrinkWise is essentially the modern-day version of Booze Less.

 

[PhenomenalV1]

And I like how you made DrinkWise the Giants sponsor, since DrinkWise is essentially the modern-day version of Booze Less.

That was the general idea! Glad someone picked up on it.