LC, the Sir Eric Pearce of Hoops

If I was a millionaire 23 year old athlete who had a 40k a year side gig (opals) I probably wouldn't be too fussed about missing day or 2 of side gig basketball camp for a music festival gig that would have been booked a long way ahead of time.

Also, BA helped her with her rehab? She did the injury on BA time. Of course they should help her with her rehab. She missed out on 500k+ due to that injury. I doubt BA helped her with the 500k + that she lost due to not playing in China this past season.

Also, it was clearly an issue for choc and jarry. I'm sure they could have just covered up the reasons and said she had a slight setback and left it at that, instead of calling her out in the media.

Yeah pretty hard for anyone to find this and write an online article. Source Roy Ward who had the scoop.
Sir Eric Pearce would be turning over in his grave at the comparison.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketball/liz-cambage-out-of-opals-rio-olympic-qualifiers-after-missing-start-of-camp-20150726-gikuwf.html

Sir Eric with the late news...

Disgraceful. Regardless of $... she needs to decide whether or not she has pride in playing for Aus. otherwise stay in china and make the money

Liz always has been and always will be all about liz. Team & country not important.

She absolutely is entitled to go to a music festival if she wants. She just can't complain if and when that results in her being punished by the national team. Same goes for any Liz fans.

She plays a ton of basketball? When is that?

So the final 12 squad members are?

Madgen/Wilson
Ebzery/kunek/snell
Jarry/Talbot/Blicavs
Hodges/penaluna
Batkovic/burton

I couldn't see lavey, Clydesdale or Garrick in the pics on basketball Australia.
Could be wrong...


Nz tall ferns 2015
5'9 Cocks/5'8 hunter
6'0 Beck/5'10 gallaher/5'11 paalvast
6'0 Taylor/6'1 bygate/6'0 wallbutton
6'2 Purcell/6'2 Boagni
6'8 Craig/6'3 Davidson

Nah no Phillips, Mitchell, Francis, tolo, allen, ohea, Taylor or Jackson.
Wnba or injured...

Yeah didn't Madgen miss her brothers wedding because she had Opals duty?
Cambage is a gifted athlete with the world at her feet. She is just headstrong and wants to live large. However there are sometimes repercussions and accountabilities

Probably last time representing Australia for these girls if chosen?
Phillips, Mitchell, snell, Taylor, hodges, Jackson, batkovic.

just saw this one
"LIZ Cambage has said she will consider legal action if Basketball Australia did not overturn a sensational playing ban imposed on the Opals star"

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/australian-basketball-star-liz-cambage-dropped-from-opals-after-missing-camp-to-attend-music-festival/story-fni2u9cl-1227457738410

The highlight is this part
"I am a person that does not pull out of things"
Bahahahahaha!!! Does she really think that? The player who was on her way to Tulsa for a WNBA season and then infamously changed her mind mid trip and flew home to Melbourne, is telling us she does not pull out of things? She doesn't pull out of music festivals I will give her that much. Credit where it is due, her mates were relying on her to dance with them and she made sure she came through for them.

It is supposed to be an honour to be chosen to represent your country, one that of course does not pay in monetary terms but certainly allows the financial doors of sponsors and professional teams to open to allow the monetary benefits to flow. Liz cambage has benefitted from this yet feels her importance to such a team gives her the right to choose a music festival , one that is on every year and one of many that are available for her to attend around the world when not required for national team duties. Yes it is HER choice, but what an arrogant and misguided one to make.
So many sacrifices are made by these elite athletes during their development but that's what it takes if they want to pursue a sport at a professional level.
It's called commitment, dedication and responsibility, it's required in all aspects of a successful life. What a shame liz either has not had advisers to guide her through this or she's chosen not to listen.
Joyce made the right call

We honestly didn't need her anyway. More recovery time for her.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens next year when all players that are either in the wnba or injured come into camp.

I Mean..
Phillips/Mitchell
Taylor/allen
Ohea/
Francis/tolo
Cambage/Jackson

That means their will only be 3 spots available.
And you almost can put your money Joyce picking lavey, jarry and burton as the other 3.

^agree re lavey burton they are guaranteed but not so much jarry

Talbot over jarry maybe?

She probably should.
What I don't get is why she comes out with these dumb remarks about how important it is to her to represent her country. It clearly isn't. I don't think she could give less of a f--- about it in fact.
I don't begrudge her that. If she wants to skip the Opals and skip the WNBA and have a cruisey life earning big $$$ for 5 months in China and then partying the other 7 months of the year then she should go for it. I would respect that. Hell I might choose that route myself in her shoes. No shame in that. But why mess everyone else around by bullshitting? Play or don't play, but make your damn mind up and don't disrupt the team. She walks into a spot but some of these other players are working their absolute arses off just for a spot on the team even if it means missing out some games and playing a garbage minute in others. They want it badly, and I'll bet it would shit them no end to have Liz partying at concerts while they are training and then just waltz into the starting lineup when Rio comes around.
So good onya BJ & BA. If players don't want to be there then f--- 'em. Team comes first!

If you're a 6"8 women basketball player with talent its pretty hard to ruin your international career (see Britney Griner TMZ).

doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you do nothing for 2/3s of the year (apart from rehab) and then choose to go to music concert when it's time to go to work.

Reports pinging from byron bay

It's such a clicky group and a real mates for mates or maybe Dates fr Dates....! It seems if you weren't in LJ or Taylor's "crew" you never got a gig and appears same power struggle is happening again. BA gave her little notice of the camp and the music event she was working at was scheduled 6 months out.

She has business interests outside bball and let's be frank if we want holder need liz playing well.

Such tall poppy syndrome is said, just cause she gets paid big coin ppl want to drag her down!

Can't believe ppl actually think we'd be better without her!

"I know I said I'd come to your party, but I've got commitments with the Australian team now this weekend"

You don't think we can beat nz without her?

We don't need her until rio build up anyways...
Let her do her thing until then. Let the others fight for spots.

Batkovic, burton, penaluna and hodges will be fine against Purcell, Boagni, Craig and Davidson.

I'm sure burton will be just fine BJ will be happy

She has always made junior rep sides without trying out (always played the injured card ). So has grown up with the attitude that she will always be picked regardless of attending try outs. I blame these vic rep
Coaches who let her get away with it for all those years. She has a sense of entitlement and its just not good enough. All the other players give up everything for a chance to be selected. Good on Basketball Australia!!

Sounds just like someone in the current Sapphires squad.

If it is good enough for Durant and Love to have to show up for the USA Mining camp even when they're injured, good decision by the players and BA.

Sounds like she doesn't really care, shame all that talent. But right or wrong will be hard for her to gain any respect from her teammates at this point. All over a music festival, put that in perspective.... dumb.

She should go party and hook up with Bernie T, match made in heaven.

LC
Did you bother to ask Miss Cambage why she went? It appears it was a prior arrangement. And now all the ferals are out knocking her.

#163

Who in the current sapphires squad are you referring?

so as article says
"Cambage had apparently committed to the Byron Bay music festival as a "paid host for a band", only because dates for the Opals training camp and the Japan games were uncertain earlier"

Poor form by Basketball Australia IMO, should Cambage have to ring BA for permission any time she wants to arrange things?

and most people that brought tickets for the Women's game would have because they wanted to see Cambage play. surely they could have given an other penalty

Andrew Gaze was just saying on SEN that she met with BA yesterday and she turned up with her manager and two lawyers.

Andrew Gaze is BA's puppet

I bought tickets to watch the Opals play, regardless of who's in the line up. The Opals squad represents the top echelon of Australian women's basketball, and are always great to watch regardless of which individual players are suiting up.

If the coaches can't set a few high standards at that level then what hope is there for the rest of us plebs coaching at a junior level trying to ingrain intangibles like work ethic, team commitment, priorities, etc?

It would've been nice for my junior team to have seen Liz in action, but more importantly they've learned that even when you're an automatic selection, if you don't put the team first there's consequences, no one player is/should be above the team.

what you all seem to have missed is BA gave her the option of coming to camp on the Sunday so she could still attend the opening gig Saturday(miss one session of the camp), BUT Liz refused and wanted to stay till Monday.
NOW tell me where in that decision is commitment.
This concert is on every single year. and on the money she is on she would NOT be doing it for the money (they pay people nothing to do what she claims she was doing) and WHY would a music gig want a women's basketball player to begin with.
I think BA have made the absolute correct decision, Liz has only herself to blame which should be very easy as after all its always ALL about her.
She is also already a National player and thye sign contracts for that too, so where is her commitment to that, I say let her go, her type of work ethos makes a joke out of those who work their backsides off to earn a spot. The opals can and will survive very well without liz, they did just fine when she did her achillies without any prep of playing without her, personally think Joyce makes questionable choices many times but this one he is spot on.

So if i arranged to go function on the weekend and i ask my work beforehand and they have no idea whether they require me on that weekend or not. So arrange everything and then work goes and says oh we need you.

I suppose all the people criticizing Cambage would happily cancel everything and have gone.

She's a goose!

This is not her employer. That's her Chinese team.

This is her national team.

If she chooses not to go to camp then she should accept she doesn't make the touring group.

All she is doing now is creating a greater division between herself and the coaches and her peers. Who all seem consistent in their opinion Liz is wrong.

Plus this is not the first time she has shown a lack of commitment.

And going to the court of arbitration will do what? Enable her to make a team where a coach can play her zero minutes. Or is she expecting them to guarantee her a starting spot and 25 minutes a game???

Agree Billy..

If she wants to miss games during the Olympics cause she is hosting the Columbian cycling team that should be ok too, it won't impact team culture at all. (This is also sarcasm)

That her team mates have come out publicly and agreed with the coaches speaks volumes,

If the coach where too play her they would lose the trust and respect of all the other players in the team.

and just when has she actually played in the WNBA she baulked on that too LOL
All pro athletes need fitness testing and especially ones coming back from injury, probably even more than the juniors who due to having youth on their side are generally naturally fitter than most anyway.
Its pure arrogant and ignorant minds that think what she has done should be acceptable because she's so dam tall.
better players willing to work their tails off, and its far more productive to have those on a team than one who thinks she doesn't have to work at all just turn up.

It would be different if she had a history of being extremely reliable and committed, right? I feel like I couldn't care less whether she ever plays for the Opals because she seems like a head case who doesn't care except that playing for the Opals is the kind of thing you can brag about to your friends. But it's not really worth it if you have to put effort in. If this were the first time, I doubt I'd feel that way.

Let's be clear. Kevin Durant and Kevin Love had to turn up at the USA basketball mini camp even though they are injured and can't train. If they don't - no chance Olympics.

This is the kind of commitment required to play for your country.

I'm glad nobody on hoops.com.au ever missed a Monday at work after a big weekend, or tried to compromise on conflicting obligations and got the mix completely wrong.

She is in her early 20s and made a mistake. Lets all calm down.

Liz would have been first selected to rep junior Australia at 15 or so and I haven't ever heard of her missing anything else over the last 8 years. Her decision this last weekend can be easily called into question although she has always gone all out in the green and gold. Her first half v the USA at the London Olypmics was pretty special and I hope this is the wake up call she needs to get her motivation sorted and we get to see her compete for the next 10 years in major tournaments.

Love Gaze in SEN oh BA helped with rehab etc where did she do the injury ?
Also Cambage was not told till june what the dates where I would have thought being a professional sports person you would be booking things a lot further in advance than that.

I agree she has missed out on being a teenager and yes she has made a bad decision but not the end of the world!

Splendour line-up was awesome though- good on you Liz!

Missed out on being a teenager? Lauren Jackson could make a claim like that but not Cambage.
Her problem is that she is about to turn 24 but is STILL acting like a teenager!

more like a spoilt brat

Suddenly

They knew at the start of the year about upcoming games but the exact schedule was not released till June as in interview with KB and Andrew Gaze on SEN http://www.sen.com.au/audio
Did not even know where they where going to be Europe etc

so oh i have a tournament sometime in July so i will not do anything and sit by the phone and wait for a call. Glad you do not have a life suddenly

Can the forum administrator stop Liz's Mum putting up support posts every 10 minutes. That's the only was I can explain anybody supporting her stance.

Isn't it funny how all the other players had no problems at all making it to the training camp! :O
Maybe they do not have lives either. Or maybe they actually care about representing their country.
Do your daughter a favour and go through her school bag every week or two. That way the permission slip for camp won't get left in the bottom of the bag and forgotten about!

I tend to agree with the person who said mum. I'd like to think that an agent or PR person wouldn't bring such weak retorts.

Whoever it is, they are not helping...

whats to say that IF BA overturn their decision that Brendon Joyce will select her in the team for August.

"As yet, I don't even have clearance from the team doctor to play competitively, and I hope to have that clearance over the next fortnight which would, all going well, see me take the court at Rod Laver Arena."

The squad is still at 16.

looks like jarry is off lizzy's christmas card list. classy.



http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/basketball/basketballer-liz-cambage-returns-fire-on-facebook-over-team-row/story-fni2u9cl-1227461285016

To Liz's mum suggesting that with unconfirmed dates in July, her only option was to plan nothing until dates were finalised: Hoops posters might not be brilliant, but we're smarter than that. It just means any plans you make are tentative until you know what your Opals commitments are. You know how many people in the country do this ALL THE TIME? Uni students waiting for exam timetables, shiftworkers waiting for next fortnight's roster, anyone whose job requires that they be on-call at certain times, and you know who else? I'm guessing professional basketball players playing in leagues like the NBA, WNBA, NBL, WNBL and everywhere else in the world who don't know whether their team is going to make the playoffs or how far they're going to advance.

If that is true then Cambage has no grounds to complain about being left out of Monday's match given she only planned to see her teammates next tuesday