skull
Years ago

In support of the NBL U23 rule

larry was in the press recently,upholding the u/23 rule for all nbl clubs.
i feel it was a great decision,in particular the taipans case and also for the future of the nbl.

they identified earlier the need to clearly define the path to the nbl for up and coming juniors.
in the taipans case deba george and rowan grey(both very good aba players) were denied developement places because of age restrictions, while two young potential nbl players had their paths clearly defined for them.
seems a bit harsh in some cases but b/a has held its ground again.
what needs to happen now is, for grey and george,to contest the positions of rampton and vale, all in all a healthy situation ,well done b/a.

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Mutley
Years ago

I am not a big fan of this rule. I think too many teams will do what the Sixers are with it with Molitor, who has absolutely no hope of playing in any game which isn't a blowout. At the same time it disadvantages guys like Garlepp and Burdon (who has been around the Sixers for three years). So the result is that you get a team of 9 guys plus the next best kid under 23. Some teams have picked up excellent players to fill their under 23 spot (Connerrad or however you spell that at Wollongong, Johnson at Melbourne...). But these guys would have been signed anyway. In Adelaide's case, we have a starter in Hill who missed out on the under 23 spot by about 4 months (Garlepp was something similar). So we have gone with a guy who, no disrespect to him, isn't even an exceptional ABL player.

I think that this sort of rule is never a good thing as anytime you get into a situation where you are setting "quotas" then you eventually end up with the situation like in SA public schools, where men have been reduced to a 20% minority in classrooms, and guess what, we now have a generation of students who have no understanding of mathematics or science.

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wasportsfan1
Years ago

Coneraad & Wagstaff have been great this year in some games!

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Isaac
Years ago

Mutley, how many NBL clubs have been hamstrung by the U23 rule? Not Perth, Cairns, NZ, Wollongong, Melbourne, or Gold Coast. All have stand-out U23 players: Wagstaff, Williams, Abercrombie, Coenraad, Johnson, Goulding. Townsville have Dowdell who isn't brilliant but gets by. That just leaves Adelaide so no surprise that a lot of opposition to the rule might come from around 36ers fans.

Change from U23 to U24 and I doubt there'd be many complaints at all this season since Cedar would fit in for the Crocs and Hill for the 36ers; also, returning college players might sneak in too.

Yes, Burdon misses out and some vets get pushed out of the comp, but all had a fair shot at gaining traction.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Mutley,

The Under 23 rule in Adelaide sucks but only because the club was not organised enough for this.

The rule was in place last year so its not a new rule despite what Boti/the club claims.

It was simply one of those things that Bauer dealt with in the past that was missed in the handover but rather then accept responsibility the new club passed the buck and blamed the NBL.

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mball
Years ago

Skull - I know of Michael Chitham but who is the second one please?

All in all I agree with this rule - it does give this age group an Australian path way. It is especially good for those late bloomers who did not make it to AIS and for those not wanting to go to college in the US.

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skull
Years ago

mball - james comino

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XztatiK
Years ago

Isaac, any idea why Trueman is on that list instead of Pledger or Webster? I was thinking he was their u23er.

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Isaac
Years ago

Trueman is 10th man. Abercrombie is probably the designated U23 though since he was first signed out of the bunch.

I do know the reason that Trueman is in the ten while the other two are development players, but not sure if it needs to be public - no conspiracy or anything exciting.

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paul
Years ago

The YAP rule, in place for a number of seasons before this year, meant NBL teams had to have an U24 player on their roster. This is not a new thing this year, just a slight change to the age requirement.

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mball
Years ago

Yes, of course. Thanks skull.

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Hoops

In support of the NBL U23 rule

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