The Crocodiles are wrong that the league does not want a final outside capital city limits. And if the league really is wooing potential replacement sponsors for Mitsubishi it must take them to the towns and the games - they will be amazed, as have been cynical reporters used to the beating of basketball from the major sports, by the importance of the teams to their towns.
Basketball is alive and well in regional Australia, at least.
Take Townsville, where one of the NBL's great mercenaries, Rob Rose, cannot believe what he is experiencing. I was coming back from shootaround today and saw a ute drive by. He's got a plastic crocodile on top of his car, several white and green croc signs on the side of his car and my face was in the back window. It was kind of scary. I've played in Adelaide.