
Shooter McGavin
Last month
U18 National Champs 2025
Now that the East Coast Challenge is done, when can we expect State sides to drop?
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Now that the East Coast Challenge is done, when can we expect State sides to drop?
Lobby
Last month
I'm sure it won't be long before the favourites are selected and the obvious talented players ignored.
benchballer
Last month
That's actually quite funny Lobby, funnier if not true!
Boomer30619
Last month
NSWM will be really strong in the boys competition.
DeepWombat
Last month
I watched the ECC I thought the U18 boyz would be ranked more like this (projecting to the likely 12 players picked for each state):
1. VICM
2. SAM
3. NSWM
4. ACT
I think of the 4 games between VICM and NSWM, VICM were 3-1. Difficult to tell at the ECC of course, but I think VICM will be the team to beat.
Footloose
Last month
If I remember correctly it was Vic Metro v SA Country in the GF 2 years ago, with Vic winning in double or maybe triple OT?
DeepWombat
Last month
Yes, Vic Metro beat SA Country 112-106. Times thought it was maybe 1 OT period at most
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Why don't the country teams compete in ECC. Are they not invited or do they just elect to do their own thing?
Manders
Last month
Always interesting to see what changes are made from 16s to 18s. VicC 18s should be strong - were strong a few years back and don't think Hamilton played.
Deputy
Last month
SA Country will be nowhere as successful in the boys this time around. No depth and a rookie HC to boot
DeepWombat
Last month
ECC is a metro only tournament. There is at least one country only tournament, though I can't remember its name.
Shooter McGavin
Last month
@deepwombat any new talent coming through the boys or will it largely be the same names?
retired
Last month
ECC is a Metro tournament and the Country teams are in Albury this week for the AJBC which is SA,NSW,Vic,Tas,ACT(not all age groups),NZ and age groups are 14's,16's and 18's.
Tournament goes from tuesday to saturday playing.
DeepWombat
Last month
Mostly the same names for NSW and SA at ECC boys but 2 absolute new standouts for VIC in Jai Fa'ale and Guer Bar. Both are the only 2 boys to be offered AIS scholarships from the 2008 group as far as I know and both have amazing upside.
Blues67
Last month
Girls
Takeaways from watching ECC live.
Vic Metro clear favourite imo. Fagan, Ryan, Trout, McMechan, Nousis, Fakalata, Drmic plus bench depth. Fagan (Aus duties) and Trout (NSW) are additions from their 2023 U16 silver medal team. Ryan has gone on to another few levels as well.
SA Metro the legit challenger. Elliot, Tredrea, Hardin, Crase, Gardiner and Jones. Hilbig does have a good track record of getting contributions from his bench but not many stood out in Penrith. Hard to judge who they will take.
NSW Metro look a long way off the pace.
Queensland South - I'm guessing they will be in the top 3 with Vic and SA
Blues67
Last month
I meant to add, Jaysn Harvey as Vic Metro HC is a great appointment
Manders
Last month
That's interesting DeepWombat - don’t think those two boys featured in u16 in team or as emergencies - are they bottom agers?
DeepWombat
Last month
They are both top agers.
Guer has only been playing organised basketball for 2 years. He hadn't played reps and wasn't in the state basketball system. He was a member of the Red Roos AAU basketball team in Melbourne.
Jai was ineligible for selection in U16s due to a disciplinary issue.
Jai is a polished player, with a wide array of offensive skills and the ability to distribute. Guer is a phenomenal athlete with an intriguing skillset who I'm sure will continue to develop into an excellent player.
DeepWombat
Last month
Oops, Guer played on the Elevate AAU team and at school, not Red Roos.
Manders
Last month
Thanks DeepWombat. Good to see a kid be recognised from outside the rep system.
Shooter McGavin
Last month
@Blues67 are you expecting Soph Richardson to get a gig as a bottom ager after a strong Oceania performance?
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Jai is a talent. Haven't seen much of Guer.
Jayhoops
Last month
Vic Metro are overwhelming favorites for the girls. My best guess of their selections:
McMechan Fakalata
Nousis Tavete Newman-Morris
Ryan Richardson
Fagan Trout Angus
Trout Knight
Boys is potentially closer, but I also still expect Vic Metro to take it out.
Sunset10
Last month
From the whispers both Vic metro boys and girls will be looking very different from two years ago.
Hoping vic country girls will be strong considering they had 7 bottom ages last year and got bronze and also have appointed same coach.
Jai and Guer will add huge value
Blues67
Last month
My bad, shooter McGavin
I was bound to forget one or two. It does reinforce that VicM are favourite. Beatable though.
Mayer
Last month
From what I heard SAM were the only unbeaten u18's boys team at ECC. They will surely be the ones to watch at Nationals?
Interesting to hear that the only two 2008 athletes offered CoE scholarships are from Victoria and both were not in the HP program? Is that correct DeepWombat?
DeepWombat
Last month
One of the two SAM boys teams may have been unbeaten, but the other one lost some games I believe.
Manders
Last month
VicM boys (Webb, Martin, Hamilton, Johnson) had a few bottom age players in the team and as emergencies last year in u18. Assume they get in - did they feature at ECC DeepWombat?
Looking at last years u18s, some key talent now trying out at AFL clubs - Oliver Greeves, Cooper Duff-Tytler.
IamBear
Last month
Early whispers from the recent ECC line up for VIC M girls:
S Fagan
S Richardson
M Angus
S Alexander
M Ryan
V Tavete
No Fakalata
Currently watching the ACJBC IN Albury.
The U18 country girls team will be a challenge this year. Some big improvements made over the past year.
L Exton
N Machot
M Harvey
M Nightingale
J King
All standout players throughout the tournament.
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Webb injured. I believe Martin, Hamilton, Johnson, Warry all played
Boomer30619
Last month
Bol Diing & Antonio Browne stood out of NSW boys at ECC and led them to bronze in U16. This will be a well balanced nationals with a few teams able to go all the way.
IamBear
Last month
@weedy, No, Ljubicic likely missed due to limited court time after ACL injury.
Barbakas cut from what I have heard.
A real shame, she was massive last year coming in off the emergency list in U16
DeepWombat
Last month
Yes, Webb was injured for the VICM boys at ECC.
Warry, Hamilton, Kirikiri, Martin, and Muric from the 2023 team all played, as well as the bottom agers Wilson, Dammers, and Mabbott.
Manders
Last month
Will the VicM team be stacked with Knox and Nuna kids? It is as if no-one outside that 10km radius plays basketball. You cannot tell me, in a city of 5m people, the majority of the talented players come from such a small pocket, which just happens to coincide with where BV is situated. Let's see when the team comes out. Nonsense. We need to defund BV.
Manders
Last month
Sorry about the above - just trying to wind-up a mate!
Mayer
Last month
@Manders - you are probably right (even though it is a wind up) I suspect 70% of the team will be made up from those two clubs.
Manders
Last month
Yeah - they attract good talent and that area has always been the heartland. We in the north just a bit jealous!
Cantshoot3s
Last month
Does anyone know how the draw works? Does it reflect off ladder placements from 2024 ?
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Assume Webb and Hamilton from Knox are locks and would be hard to look past the 3 Nuna bottom agers from two years ago who have also represented AUS in Oceania since. So there's 5.
Neal and Muric would also be close.
Siegle has moved to Eltham, and probably more likely next year for Witkowski.
Sunset10
Last month
Early whispers from Vic m boys
No Hamilton
No Muric
No Windsor
No Martin
No Pavey
No Johnson
Wilson
Dammers
Mabbott
McCann
All bottom ages that have made the team
Assume
Kirkiri
Jai
Guer
Warry
Webb
M Langmaid in
Mayer
Last month
@sunset if the above is true and if those 4 bottom agers made the team that means Keogh isn't in the team either. So the exclusion of L Hamilton doesn't make much sense? You would need another wing?
Sunset10
Last month
I believe Neal made it also but not sure if his a wing or more big
So it's a different looking group so will be interesting to see how it works out
QLS north and south have just announced their teams today
Manders
Last month
Wow. If true, that means the three bottom age emergencies from last year did not get through.
Manders
Last month
And from the 2023 u16 team, that won, it would seem that 5 players didn't make it and 5 emergencies didn’t make it. You would assume that those are amongst the players that BV have put the most development time into.
Shooter McGavin
Last month
I think half of VICM boys at ECC were bottom agers, so if 4 in the final side that seems reasonable. The U16s last year were very strong and not really tested at Nationals.
My mail is that Hamilton is in so maybe only 4 different from 2023 side. Do you think that is too big of a change over 2 years? Have teams typically stayed the same between u16s to u18s in the past?
LittleKat
Last month
Both Vic teams looked strong at ACJBC
Hamilton played limited minutes and not at all for the 1/4 and semi.
SA started slowly but finished strong toward the end of the week.
NSW started well but dropped off at the end of the week.
TAS were a mixed bag, but definitely seemed to be playing better in their last couple of games.
Manders
Last month
Hamilton is VicC. Actually think VicC will be v strong, prob better than VicM if they come together ok.
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Apologies Manders if my last post confused. I was referring to Logan Hamilton from Metro rather than Will from Country. Both can play!!
DeepWombat
Last month
VicC boys will be talented, but they will have their usual problem of no size inside. Also, I think the lack playmaking ability. But some great individual talents.
Manders
Last month
Ah, got it - and you are quite right they can both play!
My experience is that they don't test playmaking particularly well as part of their try-outs, and so you should assume they are missing some talent that is there in the system.
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Really enjoyed how they organized the U18 A Grade games at the Eltham-Dandy tournament over the weekend. Isolating a block on each of the Sat & Sun arvo/evening where all teams played 2 games at Monty worked well. Plenty of great basketball that you could just sit down and watch game after game.
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Some great talent from abroad, but keeping it at a local team level:
- Knox have the most depth, but are beatable
- Sandy, Dandenong & Frankston all looked fairly even - consistent output
- Eltham has a high ceiling, but needs to work on consistency
- Didn't see much of Keilor, Kilsyth, Geelong or Casey but their results indicate they are not far away
- Nunna has some great talent, but lacked cohesion which will be a worry
- Diamond Valley (no Jai) and McKinnon had limited depth off the bench
- Whittlesea not quite there
Manders
Last month
Thanks Shooter. DV may not need much of a bench if Jai plays!
DeepWombat
Last month
Jai is at the NBA Global Academy until he transfers to the COE when the academy shuts down. He is playing with the academy team in Ballarat now.
Manders
Last month
DV will miss him a lot. Knox seem to be the stand out this year. They didn't have all their players this tournament based on the score sheets. Some teams will be impacted during the year due to BV and other stuff - mainly Knox, Dandy and Nuna. That will bring them back to the field for periods. MacKinnon have a really strong back court. Eltham great shooters. Geelong should be good as they have a few great pieces. Sandy seem to be pretty strong also based on grading but I saw the score against Knox in tournament so maybe a little off.
Shooter McGavin
Last month
Are you anticipating that players will miss as they prepare for Nationals or are you referring to other events?
Baseline
Last month
u18 Nationals is in April so the impact on teams will be minimal. Has more of an impact on the u16 teams as the prep for Nationals is longer.
I went along to watch a few of the u18 teams over the week end and I must admit that the level was very impressive. I watched every team play at least once and I agree on the above Knox and Dandenong should be strong this year but I was so impressed with Kilsyth as well, they could be the dark horse.
DeepWombat
Earlier this week
VIC has announced their state teams:
https://www.basketballvictoria.com.au/news/congratulations-to-our-selected-2025-under-18-teams
Cantshoot3s
Earlier this week
@deepwombat - are you surprised there is no Fakalata ? Is she back playing ?
IamBear
Earlier this week
Fakalata is back playing and making a big impact. Her season lost last year has not impacted her abilities whatsoever, she actually looks better!
According to all that seem to know, (that were there at ECC), she had a few indiscretions whilst at the tournament and was dropped from the last game. This led to her being excluded from the list for Nationals.
Nothing confirmed, but i've heard it from multiple sources.
Massive
Earlier this week
Vic M girls look very beatable. Surprised Baensch is missing from Vic C girls
orangelemon
Earlier this week
@weedyslug - is your comment in relation to the mens or womens team or both?
Weedy Slug
Earlier this week
Both men's and women’s.
Massive is correct, how could you leave Baensch out?
Manders
Earlier this week
@weedy - who do you think was unlucky in the boys. And don't think VicM could field two sides and be competitive?
Shooter McGavin
Earlier this week
On the VICM boys, I think de Koning probably the unluckiest, but I guess he would be first called up if Webb doesn't recover in time from injury.
Team seems well balanced; I like that it includes natural shooting options, although not sure on the need for 3 PGs.
Shooter McGavin
Earlier this week
Unlike the u20s, I think a second VICM team would be competitive but a touch behind the stronger sides. The 2008s don't go deep so there would be significant reliance on a few top agers who must have just missed, add to this some strong 2009 talent coming through. Thinking names such as de Koning, Martin, Johnson, Muric, Pavey, Seigle & Keough would all be in the mix.
Mayer
Earlier this week
I would say for the VicM boys that there were so many that were unlucky. We live in a State that has so much depth and talent. We need to remember that the team is one person's decision and it doesn't mean that those selected are better than those not. It just means that they are the right fit for what the Head Coach is looking for. Shooter McGavin, I like your thoughts about a second side but don't agree they will be a touch behind, names listed above would be a deadly squad. All positions covered, think they would cause an upset.
DeepWombat
Earlier this week
Completely agree that teams are picked to fill roles/positions, rather than picking the 12 best players. You win golds by picking teams with talent and balance, which VicM has an enviable record of doing
Weedy Slug
Earlier this week
NSW
https://www.bnsw.com.au/news/2025-u18-state-team-announcement/
ACT
https://www.basketballact.com.au/u18-territory-teams-named-for-national-championships-in-april-2025/
Manders
Earlier this week
What is clear is that social media will not be seen to influence the VIC coaches. If I had one word of advice to an aspiring State player and their private coaches, calm down on the profile it won't help in fact it is counterproductive.
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