The National Basketball League has organised a pre-season tournament, known as the NBL Blitz, which will commence on the 13th of November. Among the teams included is the Tasmania Jack Jumpers, the newest team to join the league. The last time a team from Tasmania played in the NBL was back in 1996 when Bill Tomlinson coached Hobart Tassie Devils, which finished 12th on the league ladder.
This is an exciting opportunity for the teams involved, allowing basketball fans to check out the new player acquisition to the teams. One player that has sparked interest is the 7’2 Center from the Adelaide 36ers, Kai Sotto, who is the first Filipino-born player to play in the 42-year history of the league. Sotto will have a chance to match up against Liu Chuanxing, a 22-year-old 7’5 Center from China. Liu has signed with the Brisbane Bullets, as well as Zhou Qi a 7’0 Center from China who was picked up by S.E. Melbourne Phoenix.
The NBL Blitz is scheduled to start on the 13th of November until the 28th of November. The official start of the NBL 2021/22 season is scheduled on the 3rd of December and will run until the 24th of April 2022. Lucky for fans, all of the tournament games will be streamed live. The full NBL Blitz schedule is yet to be released. The Tasmania Jack Jumpers, Adelaide 36ers, Brisbane Bullets, New Zealand Breakers, Perth Wildcats and the Cairns Taipans will stay in Tasmania for the two weeks of the tournament; while Melbourne United, S.E. Melbourne Phoenix, Sydney Kings and the Illawarra Hawks will play their games across New South Wales and Victoria (exact locations to be determined).
The games played in Tasmania will have free admission as the Tasmanian government provided financial support for the tournament.
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