@weedy i know these are development tournaments, but who's the early favourites and which talent should we be looking our for? Boys/girls

i wonder how they'll split the teams.

I'm interested to see the u14 Girls tournament. A very strong South Adelaide team that has a real chance of winning the u14 Nationals provide a number of this contingent. I want to see how their players go against stronger opposition because the District competition is just passing time for them (without any challenge whatsoever) till they can have interstate competition (Easter Classics, NJC and Nationals). It will be a good chance to see where they stand against the benchmark set by others, without being all together (as I assume they'll be split to some degree).

The u15 Girls will be interesting to see how things might have evolved since last year. Vic were easily the strongest without even putting a strong team together becuase they spread their talent out across several teams. SA and WA had a close thing going on. SA had a stronger team and a weaker one, so not sure how they will set up for this one. If they split evenly then they might not show too much result wise. I'm keen to see NSW Country and the Illawara girls who were so impressive at Nationals recently. You might deduce that the NSW Country team must be reasonably strong to not have more of the Nationals winners in their line up at this point.

BV has released the selection for Vic Metro.

does anyone know where the U16 nationals is next year?

@Bluey I've been told by a HP Manager that its destined for Adelaide, but purely based on the seating for the new state basketball centre. If they cant get the funding and retractable grandstands built in time it'll move to another state..

That would be disappointing for Adelaide if that's the case!

cost wise, much better for most families if it's in Adelaide instead of Perth. Hopefully they get it ready in time, too many U16's in Perth of recent times for mine.

I believe the process is whoever host the tournament has it for 2 years.. So its due to move.
I've heard second hand if Adelaide doesn't get the seating sorted it could head to Ballarat..Dont hold me to this !

thanks Frogface, I won't hold you to it, but I hope your mail is good

Heard the players have been told if they have made the first NT camp. Anyone know anything more? I cant find any lists online.

@weedy ... I believe that's been the case..
Only heard from SA connection.. can’t find the list online either !

Keira Gardiner
Aspen Crase
Coco Hodges
Sienna Lehmann
Abby Jones

Ethan McDermott
Kale Hampton-Matthews
Issac Riddle
Alex Dickson
Koby Mior

Off the top of my head so apologies if I’ve missed someone…

sorry i meant @Bballfan

No somfai on sa list?

Possibly, i have second hand information. Not sure what there plans are now shes heading to college by the looks.

The CoE must be furious about how they've been used by LS so no surprise if she is not selected - although that is their fault entirely. It would have been common knowledge there was a flight risk.

Had a few people tell me when she was selected that this would happen - was told by former team mates families that everyone is just a supporting cast for the LS story.

But, opens a door for somebody else who would relish a NT place.

What can you do when better options are available?

The Coe on the women's side needs to die. They can’t lure the big players and so reward the 2nd tier or 5th tier given how shite the scouting is.

The training is not up to scratch, it’s a free ride through the jr national teams and colleges are beginning to see that going to the Coe means very little.

Outside of basketball, it’s a steep learning curve and helpful to some degree but it’s also detrimental. Being away from family and friends for long periods is not healthy.

A state based nbl1 npp side with elite training every week and access to medical, physio and good nutrition would solve this problem.

@weedy...…Do you know what option has been taken in this case?

For LS no, for a few of others, yes.

Can you share? I'm interested in what the best players are choosing to do.....if they don’t see the CoE as the place to be.

Local State based trainers.

Thanks.

How many are we talking about going this route?

Are they still on an elite path to the NCAA or WNBL?

Yes, still on the path to college or wnbl.

@weedy have you heard or know the full squad invited to Canberra in January?

"A state based nbl1 npp side with elite training every week and access to medical, physio and good nutrition would solve this problem."

Like the idea, and there lies one of the biggest issues, current NPP nothing more than an extra hour of court access per week, without intensity or corrective actions. Better coaching and programs outside of NPP, sad but true. System needs a shake down.

Therea are lots of ways all HP programs could be improved, the problem is they all involve decentralization, which would put the people making that decision, and/or their colleagues, out of work.

Funding aside, what would people think of a 'youth league' type set up where NPP programs play against other state? Maybe travel once a month or every two months?

I’d like to see NBL/WNBL DP’s and training players play in the reserves competition as a separate team, maybe a also a HPP team play in the reserves competition as well?

Any update on the Aus Camp selections ? I assume this is in readiness for the 17 world cup?
They must be close to picking the 15s N.T squad for next year also

Any update on the Aus Camp selections ? I assume this is in readiness for the 17 world cup?
They must be close to picking the 15s N.T squad for next year also

BV has released the selection for the SCC squad.

https://www.basketballvictoria.com.au/news/2024-southern-cross-challenge-squads-announced


Why are there 22 boys for the u14 squad (born 2011)? Isn't it limited to 20? Do they normally select emergencies as well?



1 Mofeoluwa Adio

2 Marqus Chunga

3 Ethan Cleary

4 Elijah Honeyford

5 Jackson Junkeer

6 Lenny Robinson

7 Jordan Rulach

8 Jake Seo

9 Jake Zeunert

10 Angus Dixon

11 Tom Fernandez

12 Jonathan Garbutt

13 Hugo Washington

14 Mobarede Akingbade

15 Khoder Ali

16 Austin Jackson

17 Emmanuel Labella

18 Flynn McKinnon

19 Arjun Sharma

20 Logan White

21 Jerry Zhao

22 Luke Watson



Further to this, I can only count 18 boys for the u15 squad (born 2010).

2 of those may be playing for u15 squad as bottom age?

(Mod: Please don't name U18 players in this context. See forum guidelines.)

For the U15 national team I assume that they will want to see them play at the U16 nationals next year and then have a selection camp in Canberra.

National Performance Camp list:

https://www.australia.basketball/news/3809605/emerging-talents-headed-for-national-performance-camp?

Thank you PlaymakerMo.

No Lara Somfai or Jesse-May Hall selected?? Anyone got an update?

Locks likely...

Agree. both should be a lock

Im worried JMH must be injured as shes not playing for NSW ? you heard anything weedy?

Lots missing from girls imo.
Camp pretty small...

Hall 07
Fotu 07
Corasaniti 07
Notoa 07
Aherne 07
Bijkerk 07
Taylor 07
Mead 07
Petrie 07
Somfai 07
Hanson 07
Hinder 07

Mcmechan 08
Halwala 08
Turner 08
Tredrea 08
Bobongie 08
Chisi 08
Kemp 08
Melksham 08


Some of those chosen probably lucky to be there.

Plenty of other players I've missed...

JMH played in School Champs and was fine

Turner has pulled out of SA HP

Somfai not invited, clearly the CoE arent thrilled with the withdrawal.

Good news if JMH isnt injured, no one likes seeing that

Turner ? Is she concentrating on football? dad played for carlton and the crows and ive heard great things about her football

Alot of kids play a few sports, alot of competitiins clash unfortunately, especially in janruary.

I've heard it from a pretty reliable source that Turner is focusing her efforts into AFLW. Smart decision as she’s already trained with the Adelaide Crows women’s team.
She will continue to play club basketball as she enjoys playing, just doesn’t enjoy the the HP side of the game and doesn’t have the time. Good luck to her football career.

Very good footballer. Very good basketballer too but the HP side of it leaves little time for anything else let alone another sport. I've heard SPPX was 3 times a week, add in ECC training now and club training and I can see why it becomes untenable.

Good move by her.

Wonderful news for Polly

WC squad?
looks pretty locked in imo, hard to see Garlepp making too many changes.

Perkins 1
Hall 2-1
Lehmann 1-3-2
Seumanutafa 2-3-1 >imo Aherne
Hodges 2-1-3
Dakic 3-1-2 >imo Notoa
Taylor 3-4
Russell 4-3
Somfai 4-5-3
Fagan 4-5
Crook 5
Jackson 5

Some other good players but unlikely if they have not been given a chance previously.

At Schools JM Hall was far from right. Well underdone and def not the best player in her school team, she only averaged 10ppg. I'm sure that she'll get back to her best.
Mead was by far the best in the same Barker team. with near 20ppg

The player that really impressed at schools was Olivia Olechnowicz

From a Vic girls perspective, I'm pretty disappointed in the camp selections. The three strongest teams in VC will likely be Melbourne, Nunawading and Dandenong none of whom have a single player invited. It would be interesting to know the process they use to select kids and whether some have been invited but declined.

XXXX - Probably a reflection on the performance over the past few years from VIC Metro at Nationals for this 07/08 age group.
NSW Met and SA Met have seen the better teams and probably could be even more represented.

Keep in mind they wanted a roughly even split of 07/08 born athletes, and ideally representing metro and country.

Tough from a Victorian perspective, although I think they were granted more selections than their results warrant. Good to see NSW and SA well-represented for a change.

Mostly correct information regarding Somfai, Hall and Turner. I'm not going into details when people will make their own assumptions anyway.

Olechnowicz is 09.
09, another strong group which will be wiped out by girls turning to footy.

Girls not turning to footy in NSW so much as reps and footy are on the same day(Sunday), but then far fewer girls play BBall in NSW in the first place.

Olechnowicz leading U20 scoring at schools and high in rebounds bodes well indeed for 09.

Girls can still get an invite if they perform well at ECC

Olechnowicz is a jet. massive future

@weedy who else are you hearing that's at risk to swing over to footy?

I hope not that 09 group in the girls has a deep talent pool and i hope they stay in basketball!

Talking to a few in WA, 16s nationals, i was watching a SA Metro game and all the talk was how good Caitlin Hardin is at footy. the way she played im not surprised.

Hardin is also in the Crows Academy.

That would seem highly unlikely unless someone pulls out Juice.

4 from the 10 of vic metro u16 play footy at a high level.

ouch.. that could hurt.

Juice - very unlikely id say

Hardin is good at netball too.

I expect Agnew will be the standout Vic at ECC, hopefully that is sufficient for her to get invites in future. A number of the best performed Vic girls not in ECC or the Country Cup. Notables are DeDios is not on the Country Cup list, and no Dandenong girls in Metro or Country squads.

and rowing !

i'm not convinced football and basketball combos are helping basketball. Seems like all one way traffic.

All one way traffic because footy don't try to monopolise their every waking hour, makes it a pretty easy choice in the end

It's all so the promise of fame and fortune.

IMO - football is heavily investing in the culture more than the actual sport itself to attract. Basketball take note.

problems with netball, basketball, hockey etc atm, ends up helping grow aflw...
Salary and coverage continue to increase, pool of players significantly larger.

marketing psychology

XXXX there is a Dandy girl in the country team she is at the AIS.

Correction, she is at the COE

And, let's be frank, AFLW and AFL can choose kids from basketball without any reference to the politics of basketball associations. So, they have a more unfiltered view of athletic ability and potential.

Football scouts also do their homework, which means they come and watch our kids play on a Friday, and don’t just rely on limited inputs.

Basketball needs a massive reality check. If AFLW doesn’t provide that, then just look at the make-up of the kids just drafted to the AFL. More than several 200+ cm athletic and skillful kids pumped into the footy system.

Oops.

Biggest obstacle for basketball is the current system and lazy encumabants. I even see in the list of people asked to attend the camp in January a bunch of footballers. AFL thanks basketball very much.

You are comparing apples and oranges. Footy is not a global sport . Professional basketball teams have countries of athletes to choose from. If AFL or AFLW ever goes global with its talent ID and recruitment I guarantee it will have the same flow on effect your claiming basketball is enduring.
AFL clubs targeting youth athletes.. that's like a WNBA or NBA team targeting a junior. AFL and AFLW is the highest league you can play footy in the world. It's no contest.
Even at the highest HP basketball program a in the world they can't give the promise of playing in the NBA, WNBA or even the Olympics. But footy realistically can make those promises to kids. For that footy will always win.

Kids who play basketball dream of playing in the NBA and WNBA not NBL and WNBL

Kids who play footy dream of AFL.

Most kids would like to achieve their dreams.

They are much more likely to achieve them in a small pond than a big one.

Even more so when others in the pond are likely to help them to achieve their dream rather than hinder them. The AFL seems to be a lot more successful at doing that than Basketball Australia or it's state based divs are.

Of course, it helps that the AFL raises billions of dollars from Media Broadcasting Rights. Something Basketball Australia will never be able to match. But it seems the AFL is getting a lot better value for its money than BA is. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here?

Many elite Aussie Rules coaches say ... "Give me a decent athlete and chances are I can turn them into a valuable player." Basketball coaches seem to have a different view ... "Give me tall players who are athletes and chances are I can turn them into a valuable player."

So thousands of young players out there who dream of being elite Bballers but never get tall are overlooked. By the time they are 16 their basketball dream is pretty much over. This doesn't happen as much with Aussie Rules.

Elite basketball is a tall player sport by virtue of the way it is played. The excessive influence of player height could be regulated out of the game. That would make it much more appealing overall because skill would then be rewarded over physique. But that's unlikely to happen.

It's the same with tennis. Tennis would be completely different if the equipment (ie racquets and strings) was more heavily regulated. The modern game rewards big hitters. Big hitters tend to be those with bigger physiques. Modern equipment gives these players much greater margins for error.

In both cases, certain factors have created huge disparities which favour a limited cohort at the expense of many who are highly skilled but don't fit the desirable mould. This is not the case with sports like Aussie Rules and Rugby.

Basketball in Australia is going through another purple patch at the moment. But I fear it will squander the opportunities it is being presented with because of a tendancy to hold onto outdated traditions rather than embrace the future.

Looking forward to seeing the ECC. Is there a stat platform for it? Couldn't find one! Thanks

Karma Basketball which player out of Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Alcaraz have a big physique?

There is no stat platform for ECC the teams do the scoring.

JM Hall alive and well at ECC for NSW. Was good to see her cook.

I didn't think it was that hot Juice! :-)

Reviewing the lists for SCC - It's a Vic M landslide this coming week. NSW's best are spread, SA only have a couple at best so not much to see there and Qld are not as strong as their older u16 age group. Will be interesting to see how many bottom age players show enough to be selected for AJC though. Especially difficult for Vic M, even with their stronger players, becuase even then they might not get too many young ones in the AJC u16 becuase the top age is very strong on the back of ECC.

No mention of WA who came third last year is no surprise from our east coast counterparts. It is a stronger team this year and should be thereabouts...

It looks like Pool B was the stronger pool with the 2 x VIC girls teams finishing 1 and 2 and NSW Country coming in 5th. I'd assume by other results NSW Country would be 3rd/4th if the pools were even and has a chance to play WA or SA Red.

it's a development tournament - some age groups first national state tourney experience.

@pinch for arguments and comparative sake the two teams NSW Country and WA both played, WA won by 30 v 11 against NSWM and 47 v 4 against ACT. SA lost to 2nd place Vic team by a point in SF and then lost to WA so think the results were a fair representation and the pools were pretty even...

Anybody have links to SCC fixtures?

Not on PlayHQ as yet and I cant see where they are publicly available but teams have been provided their fixtures.

POOL A

WA
NSW METRO
QLD WHITE
VIC BLUE
VIC SILVER

POOL B

NSW COUNTRY
SA METRO RED
VIC BUSH
QLD BLACK
VIC ORANGE

POOL C

TAS
QLD MAROON
SA METRO BLUE
VIC GOLD
VIC GREEN

How will the fixtures work with 15 teams?

play everyone in your pool then crossovers for placings

VIC Metro with 4 teams?

looks like it - that's cool

The 'better' talent will now be spread out across 4 teams instead of 2. Is it because VIC Metro has been dominating the past tournaments?

Vic Metro entered four teams last year as well.

Somebody in another thread stated that 50% of junior basketballers are Victorian but that seems way too high to me, but bigger the states, more teams is self explanatory.

I think for development sake and transparency of talent the best kids should be spread over multiple teams.

Based on last year it appeared the best players were spread over two teams somewhat equally and then there were two weaker teams.

it's a development tournament - no silverware

Actually, last year in girls there were 3 metro, 2 country teams.

In Under 15s there were 4 Metro teams and 2 country.

Too many teams would also mean that teams may be diluted. I think for development you'd want to play against the best of the best. And not the best plus some others.

Kids improve at different stages, bigger kids take longer, and girls drop out of sport early so need to continue to develop a decent sized pool so that you have the best talent pool later.

I hear what you are saying about pitting the best against the best, perhaps instead of having 15 teams in 1 division you could split into two divisions.

Semi Finals

QLD Maroon v WA
NSW Country v SA Blue

That's just the u15 girls. Bit of a surprise that there aren't any VIC teams in the Semi Finals in that age group.

But, no surprise that Vic dominated the u14 girls and boys.

Good spread for u15 boys with 4 states having a team in 1-4 place games.

Does anyone know if they are livestreaming the SCC?

No livestream

No surprise that none of the four Vic teams didn't end up top four - their talent was spread out over all the teams as the tournament is seen as development - all the other states have turned up to win

Not alll have turned up to win. There's a definite advantage to only bringing 1 team though so completely agree about diluted talent.

So VIC who's had 3 teams in 14 girls and 14 boys make semis didn’t turn up to win...…ok gotcha…….maybe it was because they weren’t as deep as they thought they would be in 15’s?

Some years for some states are just deeper than others. Last SCC Vic Metro had 4 teams in the U15 boys and it was still an all-Vic Metro GF. 2007 born and 2009 born seemed to be particularly strong for the Vic Metro boys.

Regardless, when you collapse the Vic Metro kids down to a team of 10 (12 now), they are still usually the favourites at nationals.

Pinch. .. 3 teams is less diluted than 4 which is how many teams Vic has in the 15's div.

Re: Girls 15s, the VICS were probably too represented by their number of metro teams but they have the biggest numbers and don't need to travel so it makes sense to development as many as they can.

As per my first post directed @Bballfan, there has been no talk of WA talent in this age group on this site and they were clearly the strongest team all week and have some quality players.

Is it a Victorian thing when teams on the ladder are tied in Win/Loss results to use For and Against overall % to determine group standings rather than use the FIBA head to head method? ie if two teams were tied on the ladder, then the head to head result/s would determine who takes the higher seeding.

i saw the David Anderson trophy being held by the eventual winners of the boys u15 team.

curious why didnt QLD have any u14 boys, when they did have an u15 team?

QLD didn't send U14 boys to last year’s SCC either. They had an U14 playing in the U15s team last year.

I presume they don’t send U14s due to the cost to the parents. It quickly adds up if they are going to U14 Club Chanps too.

Most of the Boys games are on YouTube.
Not too much footage of the Girls though.

MVP?
Cox u14 girls.
Bonham u15 girls.
u14 and u15 boys, much harder to pick...

Is MVP just top points scorer?

Pants - well done to WA. How many do you think from the u15 will make the u16 AJC team?

Best player who happened to be top point scorers.
Hill - Cox, both good.
Bit of clearer gap between Bonham and Daly over the tournament.

@Bballfan the top age guards are pretty strong, but they are pretty light on for talls, dont think they would select more than 1 bottom ager, a few should be in the mix dependent on what they are looking for, who they want to develop and who they think is ready...

I was in attendance and specifically watched Bonham and Daly(including when they played one another). I concluded the opposite to you but agree there is daylight between Daly and Bonham, only with Daly being the much more rounded player.

I understand WA sent one team in age groups - combined metro and country - so expected strong results - stronger team than nationals but less preparation.

Link to you tube for boys games?

Just search southern cross challenge 2024.

I think it's safe to say both girls have a lot more to add to their games and also a bright future ahead in basketball.

Quite a few girls games up now too.
Parents starting to post full games.

@weedy Did you get any feedback on Albury ? How's the usual suspects go over there?

I watched the games, the talent is obviously not as deep as SCC or ECC.

U16s girls, Hocking looks to be a future sapphire.
U18 girls, Aherne finished top at u18s, don't think she’s a lock for WC imo.
U18 boys, Same names at the top as previous years.
U16 boys, The young Tassie boys will do very well in the future.
U14s both, too early.

thanks @weedy.

What about ECC ? No results on line for those games ?

No results, not alot of footage.

I have not seen many comments about U15 Jones. Jas had a good SCC as well. Possibly a future captain of the Big V down the line. The standard of the U15 girls comp this year was clearly not as good as the U15 comp last year. A few good players in SCC but our Victorian Metro teams were not as strong. Next year we should have only 3 teams and not 4.

I also agree with the comments about the NSW girl bonham though, looked like a real talent. Has a good future.

Highlights of the Girls 15 final, WA v NSWC produced by Baseline.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiGLbl-Tv50&feature=youtu.be

They also did Boys 15 final VICM v QLD.

Can anyone tell me who runs the Albury event, is it a profit making event for someone or a group? Is it run by Basketball Vic and NSW or Aust even?

Small group run the Country cup

My Predictions for AJC 16's Girls from what I witnessed at ECC, ACJBC and SCC.

Top 3 (in no particular order)

VIC M
QLD N
QLD S

Next 3 (same)

NSW C
WA
SA M