2008/09 FNBL Rules thread (now locked and loaded)

[Skindog the Hawk]

The current FNBL rules (as per end of 07/08 season) - any discussion re: rules and/or changes allowed until Friday.

1. Roster
1.1. Starting 5 must consist of one (1) centre, two (2) forwards, and two (2) guards. Each player is designated one position only, and retains that position for the duration of the competition.

1.2. Bench may consist of three (3) players of any position.

1.3. Injured Reserve may consist of two (2) players of any position. Players make no contribution in any category while they are occupying an Injured Reserve position.

1.4. Each of the five (5) starting roster positions will accrue statistics for a maximum of thirty (30) games per position. The bench will accrue statistics for a maximum of ninety (90) games total across all three positions. If a roster position has filled its allocation of games then players selected to that position will not accrue statistics. When a position has not yet filled its allocation of games, but will exceed that allocation upon the completion of that week's matches, only enough games to take that position up to the allocation limit will be taken into account. In determining which games to include, chronological order will be the deciding factor. (Example: Going into the final week of the season, a team has used 29 games at the starting C position. The player nominated to fill the C position in the final week is set to play on Friday night and Saturday night. As the limit for that position is 30 games, the first game (Friday) will be taken into account (to reach the limit of 30), while the Saturday game will not (as the limit will then have been already reached).

1.5. An FNBL team may not have any more than two (2) imported players. A player's status as an import or otherwise is set upon his entry into the player list (either prior to the draft or arriving during the season as a free agent), and does not change over the course of the season, regardless of any real-life change to that player's import status.

1.6 Special rules relating to Centres
An FNBL side may have no more than three (3) centres on its roster (including injured reserve) at any one time.

1.7 Changes to rosters
1.7.1. A closing time for each round will be specified by the League Commissioner. This time will be relative to the commencement of the applicable NBL round.

1.7.2. All changes to FNBL rosters within the team must be applied by the team owner before the closing time for the round in question.

1.7.3. Free agents
1.7.3.1. All free agent acquisitions must be conveyed by Ozhoops Private Message to the league commissioner. No other method of messaging will be accepted.

1.7.3.2. When released from a team, a player becomes a restricted free agent for a period of forty-eight (48) hours following the Commissioner's announcement of their release.

1.7.3.3. When a player enters the NBL and is on neither an FNBL roster nor the FNBL free agents list, they are a restricted free agent for a period of forty-eight (48) hours following the Commissioner's announcement of their entry into FNBL as an eligible player.

1.7.3.4. Whilst a player is a restricted free agent, the waiver wire comes into effect. All FNBL owners have the right to Private Message the League Commissioner their desire to obtain the restricted free agent. The FNBL owner who is highest on the waiver wire and has bid for the restricted free agent will "win" the player and then be required to "drop" a member of their roster. The player to be dropped must be nominated at the time of the bid or the bid is invalid and will be ignored. Following a successful bid, the owner in question will then be placed at the bottom of the waiver wire, with all other owners accordingly advancing one position.

1.7.4. Owners may trade any number of the following between two teams in the same league: players, draft picks and exchange of waiver position. All trade requests must be conveyed by Ozhoops Private Message to the league commissioner. No other method of messaging will be accepted. The trade will be deemed to have occurred at the time the Commissioner accepts it, having received matching trade requests from both parties to the trade. The League Commissioner reserves the right to reject trades on any grounds which he sees fit. If FNBL players disagree with the Commissioners' decision, a vote of all FNBL players (excepting the two trading parties) within the applicable league is to be taken. If a simple majority of the remaining owners (regardless of the number who voted) votes to approve the trade then this decision shall override the Commissioners' decision. The Commissioners' decision is to take place within forty-eight (48) hours of the trade being communicated to him, and if a vote is arranged, it is to be open for forty-eight (48) hours or until all members have voted, whichever is first. In the exceptional circumstance that a rejection and vote occurs, and the allocated periods for this process overlap a deadline for finalising rosters, the parties involved are required to submit two rosters for that week's games, one constituted assuming the trade has been rejected and one assuming the trade has been approved. The outcome of the vote will determine retrospectively which roster is used for scoring purposes.

1.7.5 No player transaction (free agent acquisition or trade) may occur if the end result of that transaction would cause one or more teams to have an illegal roster makeup (eg more than three centres, more than 10 players, more than three imports). If accompanying player releases are necessary to render a trade or free agent acquisition valid, then these releases must be specified in the request to the Commissioner so that they may be actioned simultaneously with the transaction, otherwise the transaction will be rejected.

1.8 Positions of players
With regards to rosters, an approved player list will be posted on August 31, with players listed as centres, forwards and guards. Any player joining the NBL after that date may not be selected in the draft, however will become a restricted free agent after the draft is complete.

2. Other Applicable Rules
2.1. If a situation is not dealt specifically with by these rules the League Commissioner will make a ruling on the situation, taking into account precedent from prior seasons and the reasonable input of FNBL members.

3. Scoring
3.1 Ozhoops FNBL is scored using a standard rotisserie scoring system with nine categories: points, field goal percentage (cumulative, not averaged), free throw percentage (cumulative, not averaged), three pointers made, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks and the negative category of turnovers (ie least turnovers wins). For an explanation of how rotisserie scoring works, see http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/basket ... es-03.html

[TheRifleman]

Has any consideration been given to changing the make up of the rosters?

With the number of teams in the NBL being reduced by three, there are now 30 less players to choose from, including 6 less imports. This will result in only development players being listed as free agents by the time the draft is complete.

One option could be to drop a bench spot or alternatively having only 8 or 9 teams in each league? Maybe a two import limit might be more appropriate also.

[lukus13]

Interesting points there.

I wouldn't be opposed to 9 teams in a league.

[moonshadow]

Has any consideration been given to changing the make up of the rosters?

With the number of teams in the NBL being reduced by three, there are now 30 less players to choose from, including 6 less imports. This will result in only development players being listed as free agents by the time the draft is complete.

One option could be to drop a bench spot or alternatively having only 8 or 9 teams in each league? Maybe a two import limit might be more appropriate also.

I think were are ok for numbers.
(NBL: 10 teams x 11/12 players, including dev)... meaning that they're probably be around 10-15 free agents - most would be useless, but injuries could play a big factor.
Probably not ideal, but it definately makes the last few rounds of the draft more interesting.

However - I do like the 2 import limit. (given that it matches up with the number of imports in the NBL).
Except, if there are exactly 20 imports in the league - then this could be a huge factor in the draft. If at the end of Round 5, 19 of the imports have gone - then the remaining team with only 1 import can wait until their very last pick to sign a guy who would otherwise have gone much earlier.
Strategy? yes... fair? I dont think so.
(The same thing happened a few years ago when you could only draft 1 centre in the first 5 rounds)

It could also make the Waiver Wire redundant unless multiple imports are sacked at the same time.

(This is all assuming that every NBL team comes in with 2 imports... if NZ/Melb doesnt sign a 2nd, then my issues dont really count because even 1 less adds flexibility).

[Stumps]

HOne option could be to drop a bench spot or alternatively having only 8 or 9 teams in each league? Maybe a two import limit might be more appropriate also.
I don't really see the point of dropping a bench spot -- those guys aren't playing any way so even if you have a development guy who's getting no burn there, it's better than having nobody at all.

I would definitely support a change to a two import limit, as there'll only be two imports available per team anyway. It will force us to all be a bit more strategic.

Reducing the number of teams per league ... I'd wait and see how many people sign up before finalising that call. I'd hate to think that somebody who thought they'd earned a promotion or avoided relegation would lose that security because we've pulled the rug out from under them with a rule change. Let's not forget that even if the player depth is reduced, every participant will be in the same boat -- we'll ALL be having bench warmers at the bottom of our rosters, which in fact probably increases the capacity to demonstrate your astuteness by selecting the right ones.

[Hoffa]

Yep I also think imports should be reduced to 2 per team.

[Skindog the Hawk]

WE have 47 signed-up players at the moment with 4-5 I'm still waiting on a response from, so it looks like 10 per league. As for the reduction to 2 imports, we'll take a vote on that and work from there.

[Stumps]

Before going through all the hassle of a vote, how about just asking anybody who thinks it should remain as 3 imports per team to speak up, and give a reason. If nobody does, then we can safely change it.

[Skindog the Hawk]

Before going through all the hassle of a vote, how about just asking anybody who thinks it should remain as 3 imports per team to speak up, and give a reason. If nobody does, then we can safely change it.
Go for it then - any objections to changing it to 2 imports??? Speak now or forever hold your peace... :lol: 8)

SD.

[the_ox]

without sounding like the whiny bitch of the week, id personally prefer more imports. They obviously are a big risk at the start of the year, but found most of my trades were stopped last year because of the import rule one way or another. This limited my trades to 2 for the year, instead of 5-8, which would have made me alot more interested in the game (a team sitting there for 22 weeks without changing much got a little boring after a while). Id prefer atleast 3 but will try not sulk if everyone disagrees

Why is there a limit? Why not just open it right up and let people pick as many risky players as possible?

[lukus13]

I think the point is there are only going to be (probably) 21 to choose from anyway, instead of around 26 or so last year.

So at best, only 1 person is going to be able to have 3 anyway. Limiting to 2 imports per team will mean that one will always be on the free agent list, assuming all teams except New Zealand have 2 imports.

Having said that, it's a tough one. Making it 2 per team will probably limit the ability to trade a little bit. I'd still prefer a model which allowed more flexibility for trades during the season.

[JBO]

I don't know if this would work but what about only being able to draft 2 imports but you can have three on your roster once the draft is over. This will make trades easier to make and makes the waiver wire more important.

[lukus13]

I like that idea....

[Stumps]

I think the point is there are only going to be (probably) 21 to choose from anyway
No, 19 or 20 (10 teams, remember), which means even with a limit of two somebody may not be able to get that many.

[lukus13]

I think the point is there are only going to be (probably) 21 to choose from anyway
No, 19 or 20 (10 teams, remember), which means even with a limit of two somebody may not be able to get that many.

Yeah of course, my bad :oops: Somehow i was thinking 11 teams.

[moonshadow]

Before going through all the hassle of a vote, how about just asking anybody who thinks it should remain as 3 imports per team to speak up, and give a reason. If nobody does, then we can safely change it.

Im still concerned about the impact on the draft where an Import will be sitting there until Round 10 because only one team can draft them. (which I think would be a farce)

I'd like to see some sort of strategy in place to prevent that from happening.

I like the "Draft 2" but can later have 3 rule, and I think that could be slightly adjusted to prevent the above from happening:

eg. start of Rd 6 - 9 teams have 2 imports, Team A has 1.
so: Team B trades an import to Team C (now with 3)... and that creates competition to draft the remaining import. (so either team A or B will use their 6th pick, rather than team A using their 10th pick).
(I know that Team B is theoretically drafting 3 imports, but I dont think they would be breaking the intention of the rule)

(Does that make sense?)
Could we introduce a clause like this?

[Stumps]

Im still concerned about the impact on the draft where an Import will be sitting there until Round 10 because only one team can draft them. (which I think would be a farce)

I'd like to see some sort of strategy in place to prevent that from happening.
Well, it won't happen because at this stage we have 19 imports across 10 teams.

[Grand Master Funk]

Stumps you make a lot of sense. Well done, you're obviously a seasoned veteran. Logical.

[moonshadow]

Im still concerned about the impact on the draft where an Import will be sitting there until Round 10 because only one team can draft them. (which I think would be a farce)

I'd like to see some sort of strategy in place to prevent that from happening.
Well, it won't happen because at this stage we have 19 imports across 10 teams.

yeah fair enough... and it probably doesnt look likely that NZ will sign a second import - so everything i've said can be ignored in that case. (as i mentioned above)

[Hulk Hogan]

Don't care people......Lets just rock and roll people. Bring on the FNBL season!!

[Stumps]

So with well less than 20 imports available at the draft, can we assume the limit is changing to two per team?

[Cousin Of Topcat]

confirmed 2 per team?

[Skindog the Hawk]

confirmed 2 per team?
Confirmed - teams are restricted to 2 imports per team at any one time.

And with that, the rules are confirmed for FNBL 2008/09.

Skindog.
FNBL Commissioner.

[Cram]

Can you confirm the 2 import rule in relation to League's 5A and 5B? With only 7 teams, it will mean that 5 imports (currently, and 6 once Ebi/other Tigers import is cleared).

Would certainly make things interesting having so many imports sitting on the FA list though I guess.

[Stumps]

I think it will have to stand now that the draft has commenced and participants have acted in reliance upon it.

[Clips]

I'm quite happy for a third, I've already filled both my import spots :P

[Skindog the Hawk]

I'm quite happy for a third, I've already filled both my import spots :P
No...2 imports per team - all leagues.

Skindog.
FNBL Commissioner.