Basketball On The Internet.

MARK Worthington is as passionate about the future of the game as he is about playing it so he was the right man to be the NBL players' liaison with Team 9 - our national elite referees.

One of the genuine pluses of having a league-sanctioned preseason tournament is the chance to get everyone together under one roof and sometimes, better yet, in one room.

League CEO Fraser Neill addressed "NBL stakeholders" - yeah, I'm digging the whole buzz word deal now too - speaking directly to the players, coaches and referees.

In that meeting he spoke to the fact free-to-air TV remains committed to our matches being contained in that two-hour block. (After all, anyone who's ever set an IQ or a tape to record a program would surely know that punctuality is THE absolute essential of TV networks ... hmmm)

Dual-Olympian and United star Worthington could not let that one fly through to the keeper without a challenge.

"I brought it up in the big meeting when Fraser was talking. When he said it was about us entertaining but staying in the two-hour block," Wortho said.

Wortho's point was the referees too had to buy into that because since the league tightened its rules ahead of the 2013-14 season with the intention of cleaning up the game, officials sought to establish the tone by calling the game extremely tightly in the first five minutes.

"People pay to see the stars and presumably they're among your starters," Worthington said.

"So do we want to see the stars on two-three fouls early and having to sit?

"I mean, then why not start your bench players so they can cop those early fouls?"

Then what is the alternative?

Short of turning contests into free throw shoot-outs by being overly strict in the opening minutes - fortunately no-one has yet topped referee Toni Caldwell's effort at last year's Blitz of calling a foul on Anthony Petrie at 9:58 after the tip off ... yes, within two seconds - what can officials do to ensure we get the game fans pay for and want to see?

"I asked if in the first five minutes of a game, it would be more beneficial for the refs to talk to us," Worthington said of a subsequent meeting of player representatives and NBL referees boss Mal Cooper and his team.

Each club was represented at the meeting and both Worthington and NBL Players Association president Jacob Holmes said it went well.

The idea is for the refs maybe not to start with the whistles in their mouths but perhaps obliged first to talk to the players before blowing a penalty.

"It would be like: 'Hands off Damo, hands off Damo' and after two warnings, the foul is called," Holmes explained. (Though the "Damo" in his example was NOT a reference to anyone nicknamed Damo, so stay cool Damo. And in case you were wondering, he didn't use "Shawn" in his next example.)

With the referees largely based in Melbourne, Worthington was the logical player to represent the entire playing group in what will be a regular monthly meeting and interaction with Cooper and Team 9, keeping those same communication lines being sought in-game, alive and flourishing outside the games as well.

"We've got great imports, and people want to see action and dunks," Worthington said.

"More communication and talking to the players will really help that.

"And referees can't ignore coaches either."

Worthington cited an example of an NBL referee who regularly ignored a particular coach by forever standing away from him on dead ball situations when communication could have been possible.

"You won't get them (coaches) yelling at you across the court if you're prepared to talk to them," he said.

The good news is the communication lines are open and everyone again seems to be on the same page - the one that says let's keep taking our game forward.