And the last reserve is Corey Maynard.

135745,

Yeah I can see the pattern too - there all from the State Championship winning team. How dare the coaches select five proven winners!

135745

I am sure that their being undefeated, having won summer finals, having won Easter tournament and having won State Champs should have nothing to do with State selection though. Especially when country have just selected 8 Mav's players.

Speaking of patterns - did anyone else notice a pattern in the SA Country U18 boys?

8 of 10 wear grey & maroon. And unlike the 5 SA Metro Sturt boys, they're not undefeated in SA & haven't beaten a top ranked Vic side.

A couple of guys most would've thought shoe-ins didn't make the team. Not surprisingly, they don't play in the hills on a Friday night.

HA - hardly surprising considering the grey and maroon home court is in Country SA.

As for players "most would've thought shoe-in's." There's not a player listed in the squad that didn't make the team that i would classify as a shoe-in, let alone unlucky to miss out.

There's at least one I can think of who I'd have figured to be a walk up starter. But he plays on the very opposite side of the competition to the hills boys.

Just not sure how people can mention the 5 Sturt boys (all proven winners, all proven performers at a high level) in the metro team, but not anything about the Country side.

Especially when you look at where Eastern are on the ladder...

Two years ago he was a walk-up start. But due to significant injuries, missed Albury and early trainings, isn't a walk-up start for his district club (the games i've seen) and hasn't been the same player he was before the injury. IMO it was a 'safe' move to not include him in the 10.

HA - there's alot of tall poppy syndrome floating around on this forum, that's why!

Here are the teams U16 & U18

http://www.basketballsa.com.au/fs_newsitem.asp?id=71927&orgID=9&Oname=Basketball+SA&O1c=6&O10c=12

the 4th reserve is me good mate corey

gotta score to win a game. can't win a game just by denying the other team a basket.

HA

Your comments show your poor understanding of the under 18 competition in SA.

Did you think about the fact that lots of Mavs are in the country team may be due to the fact players in other clubs players are primarily metro (ineligible for SAC), whilst EM players are ALL country (in this age group). The most any other club has is 1 or 2, some have none, and some of these did NOT trial, and one pulled out after Albury. Do the math, and work it out, not many left to compete with for spots, yes there are some that didn't play in the metro comp that went to Albury, but most of them also pulled themself out.

You cannot just read a ladder and pick out a team based on position alone. I wish not to comment more, but let me assure you my understanding of this process is better than yours.

I am sure coaches have picked the best team available, and unless you have followed every training, trial match, and game that the coaches have, I would suggest they have a more balanced view than you do. Thus are more able to make a more informed decision on whom to take to war.

Their decisions are made with respect to taking away a team to be competitive, remembering they too may be judged on the teams' performance, they would not leave out a "shoe-in". This would make them look bad. Your decisions however are based purely on emotion, because your mate (or similar) got left out. Think about it before you are quick to comment.

How can anyone complain about the team they've picked? One of their players even got interviewed at the esteemed hoops site aussiebasketball.com

I don't see any Metro players being interviewed, so clearly Country > Metro.

I think you should take note that Daniel Lean is only 17 and has been playing in the ABL - i don't see anyone else doing that. Just cos they are all from one team means nothing, apart from the dedication of those players.
Stop trying to shut down Mavs -they are far by the best team socially & have a great atmosphere.

The question is - does that say more about Lean's ability or the Mavs senior teams struggles?

The Classic is invite only - the top 4 div 1 teams from state champs in each age group from U12s-U18s usually attend (pending their nomination into the event).

The U12s & U14s are played at MSAC (Albert Park) and the U16s & U18s are at Dandenong.

If you're a division 2 side, or a non-top 4 div 1 side, you'r emost likely playing the Nunawading tournament. They use plenty of venues for this tournament, including Nunawading & Knox.

To check if your team is going to the Classics, check out the list of teams here.

(Mod: Read the Forum Guidelines.)