Who are the standout players in the men's? Anyone have a chance at representing the Aussie Boomers in the future?

SAC Girls only just down after leading most of the game, the girls went very individual in the last 5 minutes of the game. SAC back up against Tassie tonight, they must win every game left in the minor round, if they do this they could still finish top in their pool as NSWM d VICC on day 1. SAM still to be tested in their pool.
Metro boys travelling well with a great 4 point win over a tough Vic Country team. Vic Metro, NSW Metro, NSW Country & QLD Sth all quality, will be a great week of competition. Country boys struggling early with both Vic Metro/Qld sth to open. This was perhaps the toughest scedule for any of our teams. Good luck against ACT tonight.

Early days! Go SA!!!!

AFAIK, there are 3 x AIS scholarship holders on the men's side:

Mirko Djeric / NSWM / AIS
Dante Exum / VICM / AIS
Darcy Harding / NSWC / AIS

Not sure about the women's side...

Is Dante Exum the son of the guy Andrew Gaze dunked on in this video?

lol56. if he is, then Darren Rowe has got some 'splainin' to do!

BTW, sorry to get all territorial, but aussie boomers, your tag does seem rather similar to mine?

Yes, it is the son of Cecil...

SA Country boys got up in OT...were down for a fair bit of the game...

SAC girls got a good win over Tassie...

All SA teams going well...

metro girls beat vic metro - well done

BMF

Country boys hardly doing well. Might not make top 8.

FYI, Dante Exum's dad is Cecil - but that is not him being "dunked on", you can see Cecil at the end of the video - no. 32 with the flat top

Blu2, it's a bit of a forum in-joke after Cecil posted/emailed a bit of abuse over people perpetuating the idea that it was him that Gaze had dunked on. Streisand Effect in action. Almost any time the name "Exum" is mentioned, people will post questions/jokes about the Gaze dunk video.

Oh, I see, sorry about that.

sa country girls beat nsw metro

Yeah Sorry Hydra,...Was sort of trying to support all the SA teams without ripping one.

The country boys aren't really that strong, but i thought the comeback win against ACT was fantastic for them.

The SAM girls are flying so thats great. Troy would certainly be eying a gold or silver...would love to see a 1 v 2 play off between the 2 SA teams in the womens.

Hope the SAM boys get a gold too. would be great to see SA killing it.

Yes we all know your daughter should have been picked, but thanks for reminding us.

Congrats to Vic Metro and SA Metro girls - great final

Congrats to NSW Metro and Vic Metro boys - well done,
not a great game, but a low scoring game (lotta missed shots) not what I expected from "the best players" but they get to do it 'all over' next year.....

oh and Revhead - great reply - inspirational

but I have to say - sometimes a change is as good as a holiday

is it possible NSW did the same thing in the boys final and shut down the cherry picker/s
or
was shooting 3s from way downtown not the smartest thing to do?

sa metro well done

Q - is that 25 3pa vrs 10 3pa in final?

IMNOBALLER--TELL ME WHICH PLAYERS DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE.MY REPLY IS AS INSPIRATIONAL AS THE ANONYMOUS PERSON WHO ALWAYS KNOCKS SAC AND THE KIDS THAT GET SELECTED. ANONYMOUS TALKS OF A MYRIAD OF STARS, DOES HE MEAN BISHOP, FRANCIS AND MADGEN PERHAPS.

G.Y.G.T. - no I meant the mens final (bad shooting as a whole) but the 3s from way downtown - good option ? bad choices ?

REVHEAD - Im a Vic so no need to SHOUT, I can read - but can you honestly say you know who every anonymous poster is ? is it always the same poster ?

I cant say - and the reply "yadda yadda kid didnt make it - blah blah thanks for reminder" is an inspirational reply, IMO full of well thought out views and opinions and facts to back your claim
.
but cant anyone voice an opinion here
.
I actually agree with anon that coaches and selectors need reviewing after their performance at nats - not because of finishing position or expectation, but because the kids are reviewed every year on their performance so why not the hierarchy.
As stated before sometimes a change is better than a holiday.

Anon 488 - not at game your right

but the clear opinion is mine - its an opinion
not stated fact
but look at shot chart and give me your opinion

read the review, talk to parents that where there like I did and then put your opinion here.

if your one of the players or coaches - fine - put your opinion here.

everyone is entitled to an 'opinion' in my opinion !

correct it is a public basketball forum

Why do they need to be involved in DNSP?

Getting off topic guys..

Congrats to the metro girls on winning a silver...great job IMO..

The final results:

Men:

Gold/Silver: NSW Metro defeated VIC Metro 50-45
Bronze/4th: SA Metro defeated QLD South 84-60.
5th/6th: WA Metro defeated NSW Country 68-59.
7th/8th: New Zealand defeated VIC Country 61-58.
9th/10th: ACT defeated QLD North 63-59.
11th/12th: NT defeated WA Country 66-64.

Women:

Gold/Silver: VIC Metro defeated SA Metro 70-61.
Bronze/4th: QLD South defeated VIC Country 59-50.
5th/6th: SA Country defeated NSW Country 84-44.
7th/8th: TAS defeated ACT 59-51.
9th/10th: NSW Metro defeated WA Country 56-42.
11th/12th: New Zealand defeated WA Metro 55-51.

Congrats to everyone and NSW Metro Men and VIC Metro Women on winning national titles!

LC, you forgot the 13th/14th. I know the SAC boys were pretty bad, but surely they still deserve a mention?

What was that song by Jimmy Barnes?
-- There ain't no 14th Prize?

LOL - sorry ;)

colege prospects LC ?

college - any scouts from stateside ?

I'm not entirely sure as I was not personally there...but I would start with the AIS players and go from there.

Interesting...I'm not sure how they would stop a college coach or scout from attending the national champs in any case.

there were about 8 college scouts watching the QLD South vs Vic Metro womens game. one from St Mary's, Idaho (or Ohio?), Montana - that was from the looks of there dress shirts!

who was the player guarding Dante Exum in the gold medal game?

Yeah def scout's there....as stated they must register and they usually wear their college gear...

Also from what I remember they are also not allowed to talk to players during or at the tournament. Contact must be made after tournament is over.

Yet another BA brainwave - let's pretend that the college path is not a viable option and try and discourage it.

BA's view - young man or woman, you are a basketballer of some talent, but not so much we would ever think about using our funding on you, or even actually talking to you about where your basketball might take you. We would, however, like you at our beck and call to fuel our NBL/WNBL development players and 'underpinning league/s' and think your development is best served by staying in Australia where you can still go to school, accumulate a signficant HECS debt, pay for your own living costs and maybe pick up some petrol money in our second-tier league (probably not at your age though).

Player's view - hmmmm, I can go where they actually seem to want me to play, they will pay for my education and most of my living expenses, I can get a life experience being immersed in the game I love and another culture at the same time, and then come home and start a career and continue playing for petrol money if I so choose.

Sounds like a tough choice to me.

Heaven forbid BA should try and be pro-active and assist players making a choice, keep tabs on their development while they are over there, guide players into programs which will develop players or even work with particular programs in building alliances for alternate pathways.

Off-topic but had to be said - by the way congrats to all the young men and women and played their hearts out at Nationals.

Doesn't matter if she is or isn't (she hasn't yet decided) - the same thing applies to any kid in the country.

BA will tell you the college system doesn't develop players. Yet from my vantage point the BA development pathway has fallen apart - right now it's the AIS or nothing.

That doesn't mean development isn't happening anywhere else, clearly it is, but I would suggest that its in spite of BA rather than because of BA.

Just one person's perspective of course.

Ankles, What development post U 20/21 state exists in NSW? Is this U23 a B A initiative across Australia with a view to further state nationals at this age or another dead end?

In SA while the concept of U 23 is fantastic, the reality falls somewhere in between with teams made up of both U18's and the odd case of U16's. S A basketball seems to fudge the actual playing numbers a little because almost every senior team is a combination of juniors playing every division up from U16's. That is, some players play 16 or 18's, plus U23's (1 or 2s etc) plus/or seniors 2/3/4 plus for some, ABl.

A player could play Monday night, Tuesdsay night, Friday night and Saturday night with lots doing 3 nights plus club training. Quantity over quality is BSA's catch cry.

One of the most disappointing realities for players post SASI is the lack of further development at anywhere near the level experienced and the overall poor level of coaching at 18's and above with very few exceptions.

Ankles
I can agree with you that BA are not encouraging players to take the USA College system.
I am not sure college is a good fit for female players who can step out of 20 nationals into the WNBL. We only have a handful of these players around the country each year, but they are better staying IMO.

For players who have not represented Australia(Junior) and are of Metropolitan State League standard, then it is viable, but rarely at Div 1 level. These players need to pitch at Div 2 to gain court time over their scholarship period. This is a far more exciting prospect that bumming around in Australia.

The WNBL / BA could really help players with transferring of Uni subjects within Australia so players can get around to different states and fill those 10-14 spots on WNBL rosters, but still study. Many players must compromise their education to chase the dream.

There is so much to learn after 18's, but currently programs (other than Victoria) have few options and limited opportunity's at the moment.

Handling the usa college system and the culture differences between Australia and the USA are still major hurdles for most players to overcome, with most not lasting the 4 years.

Just want to break the news to all those people south of the NSW boarder that - You will be the second best in U18 Nationals from now on for a very long time.

NSW has got the depth in all its junior basketball teams for the next 20 years.

Go NSW

Uhhh, RugBaller, that's kind of a big call to make when the U18's of twenty years time have not actually been born yet.

titan86 - it goes to show that we are planning ahead and we have got a vison for junior basketball for the next 50 years.

RugBaller - haha.

I actually think you're probably right. The improvement in NSW junior basketball in recent years has been dramatic. Something is going very right there.

Haha Titan86 - We have learnt alot from you guys and we even recruited excellent state coaches from SA and Vic to get us where we are now.

(Mod: Legally questionable. Please take it up with the relevant authority.)