Coverage should be better at this level, I wonder how good we would do it here if we held such a tournament?

Livestats at least...

Post the results on this thread please??

Dane Pineau has been really solid in the lead-up games, posting decent scoring double-doubles in most games.

Here is a link to the official U19 WC tournament page:

2013 FIBA U19 World Championships for Men - Prague

Exum and Pineau have been the stars in the warm up games of the Emus.

Shame Djeric is not there (gunshot wound!) and he will be a real loss to the team.

We have a real chance at the medal rounds...

Marcus Smart (Oklahoma State) and Rasheed Sulaimon (Duke) both playing for the US team. What a back court for an U19 team!

great win this morning by the boys... Everyone got a decent run..
http://prague2013.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/13/fu19m/p/eid/9616/gid/1/grid/C/rid/9617/sid/9616/game.html

here is a great article on Dante for those interested, looks like he is in hot demand

http://247sports.com/Article/Australian-Dante-Exum-building-worldwide-hoops-rep-134400

Australia defeated Senegal 90-46

Von Hofe 16p & 4r
Pineau 12p & 2s
Rowley 11p & 5r
Exum 9p, 6r & 6a (16min)
Oswald 8p & 11r

11 guys played (Krslovic DNP) and shared the load, with nobody getting less than 13 minutes (Pinder) on court.

Next game against Serbia, who are coming off a win against Brazil in their first game.

Australia doesn't have a player over 6'8", while Serbia's 7-footer Milutinov led the team in scoring in their first game with 15 points, followed by 6'8" PF Jankovic with 12 points.

A loss against Serbia will result in Australia needing to beat Brazil to advance to the quarters.

I am sure Pineau is over 6' 8" ...

Cheers, just using the tournament website where Pineau is listed as 6'8". Duncan is listed as 6'7". I thought he was taller than that. Just checked the 2012 U17 tournament website where Duncan is listed as 6'8".

Damn. Well 4 inches is a fair size advantage.. I think they are going to wanna play full court basketball with a lot of fast breaks to negate the height issue

seems as it will be up on stream sites
http://www.firstrow1.eu/watch/193196/1/watch-australia-vs-serbia,-u19.html

Duncan would be 6'7", 6'8" if in shoes. Plays bigger though.
Pineau 6'8" but has long wing span.

Not matter what they are in for a tough night against the Serbs bigs.

Going to need the guards to win their battle and the shooters to get hot.

What time will it be on?

http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/13883/08/24/34/83JG4omGrzBgg/

match has started, trying to find a link to watch

Looks like Australias got some trouble. 15 down before half time

Duncan an exciting prospect, Bolden a future boomer

Keep us posted on scores please youknowME, thanks

Aussies trailing 16 at the half (28-44). Getting hammered on the board, 19-9. The Serbs shooting at 65% from the field compared to 35% for Australia. Serb shot chart has a concentration right under the basket in the no charge zone. Looks like our lack of size is causing plenty of problems for us.

Hmmm. Is there no 7 footers in Aus under 19 years of age?

13 point game now Pineau has got 19 with 6 mins left of the third

Australia in big trouble at 3/4 time, down 18. Looks like they will need to beat Brazil in their final game to progress.

Australia relying largely on Exum and Pineau with 13 FG attempts each, accounting for 26 of the team's 44 FGAs. Pineau with 21 pts, Exum 14 pts.

After shooting the 3 at a good clip in the first game, just 2/12 tonight.

Serbia continuing to dominate inside. Every successful basket so far in the second half has been inside the key, within about a metre from the no charge zone or closer.

I am not sure who selected the team but you cant get away with everyone being under 6 ft 9 if your actually trying to win games. Sounds like Dane Pineau is a player anyone tell me more about him?

Australia lost to Serbia 57-78.
Pineau 21p & 5r
Exum 14p
Duncan 8p & 6r

Pineau is headed to Saint Mary's College.

Having a tallest player around 6'9 isnt all that uncommon at U19 level, although often if there are no good genuine big men therell be a token 6'11 guy who is still pretty raw but doesnt play a lot. That was Malone in the U17s but he's not in this team.

Aussies in action against Brazil right now. We have started off in the best possible fashion, commencing with a 17-0 run before Brazil scored their first basket!

We lead Brazil 35-16 at half time. Exum is leading the way with 1op, 5r & 4a. Naar has 11p, Duncan 9p & 4r, and Pineau with just 2p but 8r.

if we beat brazil what position will finnish and who will we crossover against?

We beat Brazil 73-45!
Duncan 18p & 6a
Naar 16p, 4r & 4a
Exum 12p, 5r & 5a (foul trouble)
Great win!

It would be safe to say, barring a loss to china, we would probably make the cross over then

Whether or not Thon Maker choses to ever play for Aus is debatable however..

Emus will have a tough task getting past Serbia with Dario Saric. Unlikely they make it through 2-1

Aussies take a 1-1 record into second round and their draw is:

Monday v China
Tuesday v USA
Weds v Russia

The China and Russia games are obviously going to be crucial to getting through to the QFs and getting a decent match-up.

Dario is the man for Serbia, obviously, but if someone in green and gold can sacrafice their pride a bit and take him on offensively with a purpose to get a couple of early fouls against him, then close him down at every opportunity...

Well, you just never know, do you?

Game plan and execution

My bad, he plays for Croatia...

We're 2-1 and we've already played Serbia, losing to them 57-78.

Given that USA have an average winning margin of 60+ points, we can obviously chalk that one down as a loss. But China and Russia are very winnable games, so hopefully we'll be 4-2 at the end of the second round. Ideally, whatever our record, we want to avoid third place, and a potential semi-final match-up with USA.

Dario Saric had a 'triple-double' versus Spain, though not one to remember - 23 points, 14 rebounds and 10 TURNOVERS!

For anyone interested and wanting to stay up late to watch live stats or find a live feed online to view, the game against China tonight starts at 11:30pm AEST.

Vart it will be tough to avoid a SF match-up with the US taking a 1-1 record through. I'd prefer to get the best QF natchup and then worry about the SFs when/if we get there.

surprisingly close game 33-37 aus up

Chinas up by 4 with 3 left in the 3rd. hmm

down by 11 with 6 left... we are staring down the barrel of losing to china :S

I nearly fainted this morning when I saw FIBA tweet out the score - 88-59!!!!

Obviously it should have been 88-79, but either way, Emus will be spewing to have let this one slip.

So just like that, our game against Russia has become a must win, just to hold on to fourth spot in our group. Hopefully the fellas can bounce back to get that one, on the back of what is likely to be an absolute thumping at the hands of the USA later today.

This could be good...
Tanking so we avoid USA in the semis!

just like the ceczh girls did in world champs!

But we still have to beat USA or Russia to advance...

Bad loss IMO.

We could still finish fourth in our group even if we lose to USA and Russia, but it would be totally dependent on other results, including Brazil beating either Russia or China. We wouldn't want to count on that, and besides, if we went into a quarter final game on the back of three consecutive losses you'd think we'd get smashed anyway.

Basketball Australia website is saying its a 1/4 final against USA. How i see it thats incorrect. If we manage to beat russia(which is possible)Also lost to china and serbia then we would finish 4th and meet the 1st place on the other side of the pool. I would prefer that then finish 3rd and have a potential semi final with usa if we made it!

The way I see it, if we finish 4th and we will struggle to beat the first placed team in the other group. To make the medal round, we have to win our quarter final. Hence I would rather a semi final against USA.

At this stage the first (Lithuania) and second (Spain) teams in Group E are both undefeated at 4-0, so regardless whether we finish 3rd or 4th, the crossover match will be tough.

Good on Basketball Australia for completing stuffing up their article. They called the game against China a 'classification round' match, which is incorrect, in addition to calling the USA game a quarter final!

BA are amateurs...

By losing to China I think they have completely stuffed themselves up. U19 games dont matter a whole lot I dont think, I see them morely as a scouting and development venture.

How did Gerard Martin make the team after a very average U20 nationals, guess they have to justify his ais spot somehow. Much better talent out there.

Australia lost to USA 51-94.
Von Hofe 17p
Rowley 8p
Pineau 8p & 8r
Exum 7p (11min)

Russia defeated Brazil and Serbia thrashed China. Both Australia and Russia with 2-3 records, and hence we now have to beat Russia to progress to quarter finals.

Hopefully we can take a snapshot of the quality of the Russian team in the fact that they only beat Brazil by 4, whereas we beat them by 28. The pressure of an elimination match changes things though. It will be interesting to see how the fellas respond. After last year's under 17 silver medal, finishing outside the top 8 in this event would be a real let down.

Such a shame we cant watch it. When was the last time Australia didnt make the QFs at an U19s? 1991?

Yeah, 1991. Tony Ronaldson, Brett Maher and Pat Reidy probably wouldn't appreciate you bringing that up paul!

You're right about us not being able to watch in paul. I remember watching the '95 silver medalist under 19 group (Trahair, Mackinnon, Dwight etc.) on SBS! Those were the days.

Word from Jon Givony from DraftExpress is that Exum went down with what appeared to be a very serious ankle injury against the USA...not a great sign ahead if a must win game against Russia whom we beat pre-tournament.
Nothing about this in BA's wrap from the game: http://basketball.net.au/index.php?id=302&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=2973&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=184311b773

This is what Givony tweeted about Exum moments before he went down injured:

Jonathan Givony @DraftExpressDante Exum drawing a foul every time he puts the ball on the floor. Even vs elite NCAA defenders he can create his own shot at will #fibaU19

Hope hes fine, he wanted to try out for the Boomers qualifiers

Australia defeated Russia 78-61 to qualify for the quarter finals.
Playing on his dodgy ankle, Exum led the way with a game-high 20 points and 6 assists in playing 36 minutes!
Pineau had 16 points and 6 rebounds, whilst Naar had 15 points and 2 assists and Duncan had 13 points in the win.

USA survived a scare in overcoming Serbia 71-62.

Australia now takes on Spain in the quarter finals.

Great win by the fellas with their backs against the wall.

That USA-Serbia game looks like it would have been a cracker. I don't feel as lousy about losing to Serbia by 20 now!

Despite Spain going 5-1, they only had one big win against Argentina, and even only beat the 1-5 Iran by 9 points, so our boys have a good shot at taking them down, especially if Dante brings his 'A' game.

The team's 'big 4' all looked like they played very well against Russia, that's a great sign. Hopefully they can repeat the dose against Spain, and we get to watch this one too!

Yep - but nothing yet on the BA website that highlights the great win let alone the quarter final match up against Spain...(sigh)

Tonight's game against Spain commences at 11:30pm AEST.

BA probably think it's all over given they had us playing a quarter final against USA earlier in the week!

Emus vs Spain starts in 20min

Great start by the Emu's, leading Spain 19-15. Exum leading the way with 10 points. Australia getting smashed on the offensive boards (7 given up in 1st quarter) but have not yet been made to pay.

FIBA Live Stats for some reason not working for me...

Stream: http://www.streamhunter.eu/basketball-live-streaming-video.html

Going awesome to half time, touch wood they can continue!! Aggressive zone working a treat and really challenging Spanish D at other end. Exum, Duncan and Pineau with the points.

The Emu's played a blinder of a 2nd quarter and now lead Spain 45-31 at half time.

The Emu's were on fire; with Exum and Fisher (8 straight points including 2/2 from downtown) sparking a run that saw the Emu's run out to a 14 point lead.

Exum leading the way with 13 points, Duncan with 10, Pineau 9 and Fisher with 8 points.

Emu's tightened up on the defensive boards, but have still given up 11 offensive rebounds - its just that Spain have not captilised. Defensively the Emu's have been extremely good so far and managed to create some fast break scoring opportunities.

Nobody for Spain has been able to stay in front of Exum - he has now had 4 direct opponents up to the half time break, and has drawn fouls almost at ease. Spain's leading scorer in this game (Pauli) is in foul trouble with 4.

Late in the 2nd when Spain looked set to challenge and reduce the margin, the Emu's have so far found an answer each time.

Looking forward to what is hopefully a great finish by the Emu's.

Thanks Paul - watching the same stream.

CHeers for the link.

If aus wins does that put us in top 4 or what happens?

Top 4...medal round if we win! Looking good so far...

hopefully we can stream that too

Australia still leading Spain 66-48 at the end of the third quarter.

It was a scrappy quarter full of fouls, and at one stage the Emu's led by 24 points following a reverse layup by Exum with 4:40 to go.

Did really well to survive that patch with the bench on without giving up any ground. Cmon, 10 more minutes boys!

A few SWEET moves by Exum. Havent seen Aussies do that before

Come on boys - teamwork got us the lead! Whilst Exum is drawing fouls, our scoring has dired up...

Yeah it got a bit scary there.. but Exum alone has fought us into a good lead again.

some dumb fouls.... outside of exum the rest have been duds.. missing sitters and fouling

Down to a 10 point lead - some really bad turnovers by the Emus and the Spaniards have made the most of them...

A few of the Emu's look like they have tightened up.

Got to hold on for 5:30 more.

Exum is a star... the rest and the coach need to have a long hard think about how theyve let them back into this

I only feel safe with the ball in Exum's hands right now...how big was his trey and then the fastbreak layup?! Exum now has 31 points...

Come on boys!

12 point game with 3min to go...

and why is exum off at the end of the game?????

8pt game with 1:47 to go.

I feel we need at least one or two more to seal this game.

I think up by 12 they saw an opportunity to give him a quick breather - he has played alomst the entire game

Australia held on to defeat Spain 87-76.
Exum was the star with 33 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals!
Naar had 15 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Pineau had 13 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Duncan had 12 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.

Australia now head into the medal rounds, and play the winner of Croatia vs Serbia.

Well done Emu's!

Wow. Some of that last quarter was downright disgusting...

... but beating Spain at any level is a great effort, by double figures superb, and making the top 4 in the world incredible! What a win!

Didnt like how they kept getting Exum to run the PG when that red head was owning him. Once they figured out get it to Naar and everyone get down the court they didnt really look troubled again. Let Exum finish.

Geez he made some great plays in that final quarter. I loved when it was back to 10 or 12 and he took a charge, then found Pineau for a gimme which he missed, so Exum went and got the o-board and made two FTs.

Not to mention that massive triple when it got to seven, that was the game-breaker there.

Shouldnt harp on the last quarter too much though, there are lessons to be learned, but those middle quarters were simply sensational. Made it well worth staying up.

Exum is the absolute star on this team. I actually was dissapointed by the rest of the team... fair enough, I only saw the second half... but the only player I could say played particularly well was Exum... Who I think is the future of the Boomers. Why was Keanu Pinder and Jonah Bolden not played tonight? there was a lot of clumsy fouls, missed sitters and general brainfarts from most of the team. The Emus remind me of the Jackson 5.... Exum is Michael

Pinder and Bolden arent really in the rotation, Bolden plays a little but looked iffy tonight. Pineau had an excellent game and Naar and Duncan were rock solid, I think youre being a bit harsh, especially when they could also have Djeric and Simmons.

+1 on your comments Paul relating to the use of Exum in the last quarter. I too was thinking the same when Pineau missed the gimme and Dante went and got it!

A win is a win - and I'll take one against Spain any day!

Bolden got minutes in the first half but could not really get into the game. Fisher's 3rd quarter cameo was outstanding.

Cotter went with his 'guns' in Exum, Pineau, Duncan and Naar. It was actually hard to find fault in most of the guys in the first half - they were simply brilliant.

Top 4 at a WC - don't hate mate - we have a genuine chance at a medal...This was an upset win over a basketball superpower!

This is another pioint of view from an "American Expert": Jon Giovony from DraftExpress tweeted during the game:

Jonathan Givony @DraftExpress
Dante Exum putting on a show here in Prague--scoring, defending, distributing and everything else. Australia up 35-22 on Spain. #fibau19

Jonathan Givony @DraftExpress
Dante Exum is slated #9 on the DX 2014 mock draft, but that seems low based on what we're seeing here in Prague. What a talent. #fibau19

Jonathan Givony @DraftExpress
30 second half points from Dante Exum help put Australia in the semifinals in a major upset win over Spain. Amazing performance. #fibaU19

Lithuania defeated China 89-59 in one of the other quarter finals completed.

Lithuania will take on the winner of USA vs Canada in the other semi final.

There were some issues under pressure, but Ive seen top men's international teams have problems like that.

I wouldnt throw the cart out on one quarter, especially when they have beaten a Euro power who topped their pool! If they have those issues again next game then questions need to be asked.

There isnt great depth in this team, but throw Djeric and Simmons in this team and it looks a fair bit healthier.

I would have liked to see the whole game... Dante is a gun! btw doesnt Australia have 7 footers in this age group? I hope our 7 foot well doesnt dry up

http://www.insidethehall.com/2013/07/05/notes-from-dante-exums-performance-in-fiba-u19-quarterfinals/

7-footer Darcy Malone is an option but is still relatively raw, but is headed to LSU.

Djeric and Simmons would be greeat additions but they are not in the team, but go to show even though we are top 4, we have more up our sleeves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv0AaC72P90&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Serbia beat Croatia and will be Australia's semi final opponent.

USA thrashed Canada and will take on Lithuania in the other semi.

Particularly good effort to win by 11 while giving up 19 offensive rebounds to 10, not such a good effort to give up so many. To have any chance of beating Serbia theyll need a five man rebounding effort, but of course they also need those transition baskets.

Fair to say though after beating Russia and Spain by a combined 28 points they are playing better than when they lost to Serbia earlier in the tourny, so here's hoping for an upset.

Just on Exum, the amazing thing for me is he is still so raw. His left hand is iffy, he handles with his head down at times and slaps at the ball at others - something Diaz exposed in that last quarter. If he can develop a smooth handle he will be near unguardable.

Semi final against Serbia is tonight @ 2:30am AEST according to my calculations for anyone willing abd able to stay up!

will it be streamed?

Can we actually beat Serbia?

Of course we have a chance, and I would think it will be much closer this time around

If they play like they did for the first three quarters against Spain, anything's possible. They cant give up 26 two-point buckets again like the pool game against Serbia though, and hopefully not get outboarded by 12.

Exum highlights from his tournament-high 33 point outburst in the win against Spain:

2 hours to game time. Lets go Emus!

concerning signs early.. Van Hoffe is missing everything and coach doesnt want to take him off the court, and Dante Exum appears a bit fatigued. Nick Duncan however has been huge on the boards and has kept us in it thus far. Australia is dominating the boards but not having a fantastic shooting night... trail by 7 at the half after having a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Exum misses two from the line to tie, game over! FREE THROWS WIN GAMES!

A gut wrenching loss... I cant help but think the Emus tore defeat from the arms of victory.. they had so many chances to get a lead or to close the gap and generally missed sitters and made some fairly idiotic passes... Exum was ok, but not like he was last night. Van Hoffe in the end hit some massive 3's and Nick Duncan was big on the boards however missing easy shots in my view was the reason they lost the game. I might be being a bit harsh on the guys, there like what... 17? lol. But yeah... I feel they could have got that game. Now on to fight for Bronze.

I also think Exum needs a bit more help offensively on this team... Its like he is too far ahead of the rest of them... Why doesnt Bolden get much time? he has great offensive tools that never get used?

Australia lost a thriller to Serbia 58-63.
Exum had 20 points, 4 reboubds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Duncan had 12 points & 8 rebounds
von Hofe had 12 points & 4 rebounds
Pineau had a shooting night he would rather forget in going scoreless on 0/7 shooting.
We still were outrebounded, but this time we onky gave up 10 offensive boards, whilst gaving 7 of our own.

We look like we had our chances but could nit take them this time around.

We can still win Bronze which would be an amazing achievement. We now play Lithuania who were thrashed by USA.

And this is what DraftExpress' Jon Givony has tweeted:

Jonathan Givony @DraftExpressMy ballot for the #fibaU19 World Championship all-tournament team: Micic, Exum, Winslow, Gordon, Okafor. MVP: Exum pic.twitter.com/Ic3ZPiMhSZ

Jonathan Givony @DraftExpressSerbia just pounded Australia inside the paint all night long. Scored 44 points inside compared with 16 from Aussies. Smart gamelan #fibau19

Bad luck but a great effort considering the Serbians caned them earlier in the tourny and they had such a clear size advantage. Shame Pineau had such an off night too, he had 21 against Serbia last time!

Will be another huge game tonight, but after a slow start the guys have shown theyre at the level of the top Euros so here's hoping.

Re Bolden, watching him against Spain he looked very hesitant, perhaps not quite ready for big minutes at this level just yet? He does have good physical tools for the future.

As will Simmons too...

Givony voted for three Americans when the ballot clearly indicates he is limited to voting for only one from his own country. Comprehension fail? Or does he have dual citizenship?

Dante Exum was great.... But you can really see that this is boys playing the game, not yet men. i expect Exum will be a star for us one day, but from what I am seeing, I am not sure I would have him on the Aus/NZ series or neccesarily next worlds... I think he still has a bit to go yet

Is the Bronze medal game tonight?

Australia getting thrashed right now. :S

wow.. we tied the game after being down by 11 in a matter of minutes. And yeah Bolden was impressive... hopefully he gets a few more minutes here

Holy shit. Up by 5 now

Overtime! its been a hell of a game. C'mon Aussie

Such a good effort by the boys but at the same time an absolute demonstration of how not to defend a European team!

Such a shame Exum couldnt make that 2nd free throw in regulation, and the subsequent call on Duncan was dubious to say the least.

Thems the breaks, no shame in fourth.

The boys played really well, too bad #9 got on fire with those 3s... at one point I thought Lithuania would just run away, they were +18, but the boys were just great, they played their hearts out.

We needed a genuine PG, Naar did not play as good as the last two games and Fisher did not struck me as a PG, they both struggled to carry the ball which put too much pressure on Dante. And in the clutch situations we missed Mirko...

Dante again a standout, too bad he ran out of steam, got frustrated with some calls but he has a really bright future in front of him.

Congratulations, there is nothing they should be ashamed of. All the best to all of them in the future...

The young pups showed a lot of heart out there... theres absolutely no shame in how they played.

Heartbreaking for them. Three huge efforts in three nights and showed they are right up there with the cream of European U19 basketball.

Loved the way Pineau bounced back from his poor SF to have 20 & 17, and Von Hofe was outstanding in both medal round games. A bit shorter but a little bit of Cattalini about how he plays.

Exum played his heart out and it means so much to him, he can do everything except shoot free throws. Hopefully the devastation of the past two games is an extra kick to fix that part of his game.

Dante can shoot FT as he showed it in the game against Spain... it is just the nerves and shear pressure on him to carry the team, he was fairly disappointed at the end..

Also a lack of competitive games was apparent. These players and others involved in the AIS basketball programs should compete regularly, not only on occasions overseas...

USA - Serbia 40:38, half time... we should use the Serbia's playbook on how to run pick and roll

.. or Lithuania's. They do it so well. The only guys we have who use it like that are Delly and Rhys Martin.

The USA's pressure finally cracked the Serbians early in the fourth and they partied their way to gold from there with some impressive highlights.

Dante has now shot 63% on FTs across two WCs and shot 10/23 in this medal round. He needs to work hard on that area of his game.

Exum named in the all-tournament team alongside Gordon and Okafor from US, Mcici from Serbia and Saric from Croatia. Gordon named MVP.

What a shame!

Still top 4 at a WC is noting to sneeze at - their achievements should be applauded.

Lithuania beat us for bronze again? This brings back bad memories!

That's a good way of looking at in Anon. As much as anyone would love to win medals, a top four finish at a major international tournament is a great achievement. Pity a lot of so called 'fans' say the Gaze era Boomers underachieved despite finishing fourth at the Olympics on three separate occasions.

Not playing regular games at the AIS is a joke. How is it meant to prepare players for professional leagues?

Mimo, it is not the AIS's role to prepare players for professional leagues. Their long term objective is to develop athletes to represent Australia at the World Championships and Olympic Games.

Vart.... With the personnel we had in 2000 i have absolutely no doubt we should have medalled. Poor coaching undid the potential. Lets all make Luc Longlet a pg FFS!

We've already had the Sydney discussion on another thread. All I'm saying here is that regardless of anything else, fourth place is a great achievement.

True Anon, 13 years is a long time. Seven years sounds better. Can we count the 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medal?

They did real well in 2006, beating such world powers as India... Scotland and South Africa!

@Vart:

Mimo, it is not the AIS's role to prepare players for professional leagues. Their long term objective is to develop athletes to represent Australia at the World Championships and Olympic Games.


Correct, but how do you prepare players to handle a shear pressure of an occasion i.e. shooting FT in the last minute in a major tournament - worlds, Olympics? You can't unless you place them in this position on a regular basis. Many of these players would benefit from playing in BigV, SEABL...

Many European kids play in major European leagues and their national teams have been performing well consistently over the years. IMO AIS should rethink the model they use at the moment.

Don't get me wrong - this is a tremendous achievement by this group of boys, but why not going 1, 2 or 3 places better :)