uuu
Years ago

Can Isaac Humphries and DJ Vasiljevic lead 17's?

opinions?

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Humphries can.. DJ not so much. Let's be honest.

Humphries had arguably the greatest performance in FIBA U17 history and still, DJ wanted to keep chucking up shots.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

With Mark Watkins coaching - no.

Last nights game was frustrating to watch (and not just because of the sketchy stream). If you saw the first 6 minutes of the match and turned it off you would have thought Australia would win by 40 points. And then the "coaching" happened. Players subbed into the game, switched from man-2-man to a zone, Canada got back into the game.

Humphries played an awesome game, but since everything went inside to him, no other Aussie player found a rhythm, nothing against the player, it's just unbelievable that the coach didn't notice it. DJ took 1 shot in the first quarter, a transition 3 that missed. So in the second quarter he forced A LOT, especially in transition as nothing was being run for any other player.

The other strange coaching scenario in the second half was that when Humphries sat down, so did DJ and Kuat Noi who were Australia's other top 2 scorers for the tournament. Surely with Humphries resting it is a good chance to give the other scorers options in the half court set. But no, he goes to a mainly bench team and look at the +/- on the stat sheet and you can see that when Humphries was out, we couldn't score. No plan B.

I don't know Mark Watkins, but from watching these 3 games he just hopes things go well. This team is running the same sets as the Boomers which looks mostly based on the Spurs motion offence. And the AIS kids look okay, but the other players look lost in the offence. And when you are hoping your big guy just rebounds missed shots and gets cutbacks then you are in trouble.

Had we won the game, we would be playing the Phillipines. Had we lost by less than 7 points, Angola. We lost by 9 points, so we are playing a Greece team that only lost to team USA by 10 points. They have a 7'1" Centre to match up against Isaac. I want Australia to win bad, but based on the last 3 games, our best result will be 9th.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Anon^ while I will agree with many of the points you have presented, I am not sure why his assistant coaches could not have suggested a plan-B or advised him of the issues unfolding before them during the game?

Not knowing what they discussed means we can only speculate but the half time conversations would be interesting to know.

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Naph  
Years ago

When did they change from U16/U18 to U17/U19? I can't remember.

Humphries had an awesome game, but I can't help but think you'd go with one of Ricky Rubio's U16 heroics for best games of all time for FIBA juniors.

You can pick from the quadruple double (19p 10r 13a 12s in 28 mins) or more likely the euro champ's final where he put up 51p 24r 12a 7s in the European championship finals... including a half-court heave on full time to put the game into OT. (Spain eventually won)

http://www.draftexpress.com/article/U-16-European-Championships-Unbelievable-Rubio-1442/

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Alpha  
Years ago

#487671

Fair assessment although I don't think DJ had a shocker of the game overall, maybe some of his decisions were off i.e. taking a triple in the 2Q from 8 meters out. He did force the issue in this quoter but if you go back and watch it again DJ would drive and kick it to an open man behind the arc. Unfortunately we simply could not buy a backet. The team shot 1/19 for 3.

I do think the team miss Will White as SF. Personally I would not play Wilson as PG at all, mainly 2 or 3 and when Owies is off the court I'd play DJ as PG since he plays it for the CoE. At least the transition offense would be far quicker.

Isaac really enjoyed himself during the game, could not get much wrong, but we should all remember - during his 16 point run the team had 7 assists, so we should support the team.

I do agree with Watkins' assessment by the way, he should have not been selected.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I saw the whole game. The difference between both teams was shooting. Canada had no reason to respect us on the perimeter.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

@#487678 - could have either been Watkins or the assistants who made the calls, but the accountability falls on the head coach. He has to make the decisions and from what I saw they were terrible.

@Alpha - I agree that DJ did contribute, although his production was by far the lowest out of the 3 games and box score junkies will only look at 2/12 shooting. What I was saying is that due to no deliberate offence being run for him, he tried to create shots and forced shots he shouldn't of taken (i.e. floater from the foul line in trans, long 3 ball, etc). I am amazed Kuot didn't try the same thing. 3rd leading scorer only gets 1 shot all game!! Nothing run for him.

Also agree with DJ's movement with the ball. With his height he will have to be a PG and his work off the screen is good. The pick and roll he did with Humphries in the 4th quarter was awesome, but because he is a good scorer, coaches keep playing him in the 2 guard.

I also agree about Will McDowell-White missing, he would help as either a tall PG or SF. Look at team USA running a 6'8" PG this tournament and Serbia a 6'5" PG. We wouldn't be able to match up. I really think Isaac, DJ and Will are the only 3 who could make the U19 team.

Also, does anyone know why Deng Gak hasn't played? Injured?

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LC  
Years ago

Isaac Humphries was the man of the moment but his huge effort wasn't enough as Australia falls to Canada - a tough 85-74 loss.

Australia falls to Canada despite Humphries' monster effort

Isaac Humphries had the performance of the tournament - 41 pts (16/23 FG, 9/11 FT), 19 rbs & 5 blks – with scouts and journalists alike raving about his performance. The huge showing wasn’t enough, however, as Canada got the best of the Aussie 'Goannas’.

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KLBALLER  
Years ago

Talk about big games both of them stepped up today and helped the Aussies through to the semi final. Isaac 16 points and 11 rebounds but a guard Dejan Vasiljevic with 21 points and 13 rebounds? Wow

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Humphries has looked pretty good from what i've seen during the tournament. Surprising mobile for his size and has a nice touch around the rim. He did a spin move against Greece that really took me by surprise. He has massive potential but it'll be interesting to see if he can keep the dominance up when he doesn't have the massive size advantage he has now.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

I think this tournament is showing Humphries is the real deal. Some of his opposition is similar height, but you are correct that his mobility for his size is outstanding. He has taken the step up to worlds without hesitating. He and the rest of the team are looking better very game...

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BallaratBaller  
Years ago

How tall is Humphries officially? Cannot seem to find an accurate measurement.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

On court he is 6' 11"

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Anonymous  
Years ago

213cm is Humphries' official height.

Standing next to USA's Diamond Stone (who's listed at 6'10), he seemed at least a few inches taller so the '7 foot' height that he's been listed with is accurate.

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Anonymous  
Years ago

Anon #487671, you were a fair way off the mark with your prediction of 9th place, got anything more positive to say now they got 2nd?

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