Basketball On The Internet.

CAN’T speak for anyone else but I just had the most sound night’s sleep so far in 2016, so the Sino-Australia Challenge last night wasn’t all bad after all.

The game, between the Brisbane United Few Stars and members of China’s national Olympic squad may have profound benefits for the NBL and its association with the CBA in the future, but as a showcase of our league’s best, it was an embarrassment.

Let’s not put too fine a point on it but as a spectacle the game was just an awful heap of crap, the NBL’s “all-Australian” - plus, mysteriously, Mickell Gladness – team anything but the league’s best and the final 57-49 scoreline reflective of the dreadful dross viewers had to endure.

Don’t think I’m ungrateful about the chance to see the game live from Nanning. It’s just that it was an abortion of turnovers, missed assignments and no cohesion. Let me put it this way – it was so bad, the Chinese refs didn’t even have to cheat.

The Aussies shot at 38 percent in the first half to lead 31-22. Then it got WORSE, the boys shooting at 27 per cent and adding 18 points for the second half.

Is there paint drying anywhere?

Let’s hope and pray that the estimated 1.2 billion potential viewers on China’s CCTV5 instead were watching China’s Got Talent or Antiques Roadshow so they didn’t go away believing players such as David Barlow or Gladness – who haven’t played in our NBL for a year -  actually represent our elite competition.

An NBL interactive fan competition could have come up with a better team and as much as I’m a fan of the work ethic of Majok Majok, why the reigning Rookie of the Year, Nick Kay, didn’t get a uniform ahead of him is just another mystery.

In fact I’m sure many could have come up with demonstrably better teams to represent the NBL if, that is in fact what this collection of “who’s availables?” is actually doing.

Watching Cleveland come back to shatter Atlanta in the NBA today, or San Antonio restore order in its series with Oklahoma, was some riveting basketball.

Let’s pray Game 2 of the NBL All-Australians versus China tomorrow night on Fox raises its standard to barely bearable and this selection of our playing personnel gives a credible showing.

Either that or, at worst, another great night’s sleep coming up.