Let hope it goes ahead for players thats put in the hard work.

i guess it just a case of bad timing, Townsville hasn't seen floods like this in years.

The lightning play in Townsville on Saturday!!

Is that game going ahead?

It is just another of the many cases of lack of forward planning and vision of BA and the state associations. Nationals held in Tasmania, Ballarat or Canberra in the middle of winter. I have sat and watched snow falling at a Nationals in Canberra ... last year's U20s held in Albury in February. Is there anywhere hotter? Oh yes,I know U20s will be held in northern West Australia next year. How about some forethought given to scheduling these events rather than the "let's give it to the isolated areas to make it a level playing field for all Australian basketballers". Well to make it a "level playing field" you would have to base all basketball in SA and Vic because that is where the majority of bballers are located. So the majority lose to the minority rule. That's not so "level". And ... don't even start me on the administration of basketball coming out of Sydney ... a place that cannot support even an elite team like the Sydney Kings. Why do we let our sport be governed by people who are thousands of miles away from the actual heartland of basketball - junior or senior.

irritated...NSW has a much larger basketball population than SA.

AFAIK twice as many.

Give us your model, and calendar, for playing the national championships.....

lol - yeah how could BA not have predicted that once in a lifetime flooding!?

"you sook" - Being a Qlder I know Northern QLD floods regularly. It is only the devastating floods that make the news. And obviously HO is from NSW. If NSW has twice as many players as SA ... why does no-one attend games?

Irritated...what sort of logic is that? Because I know that the basketball population of NSW exceeds SA then I am from NSW? Here's a thought....There are more sheep in New Zealand than in Tasmania - maybe I am a New Zealander? (go on...make the obvious joke).

Since when does the number of players have anything to do with how many attend games? I'm damned sure Townsville's venue capacity exceeds that of the townsville basketball population ......how do they ever fill it?

why don't they move the u/20s later in the year like april when its not so hot for the players instead of the players in 36degs its not good for the players.

The floods are 50 kms away from Townsville, and if we had the basketball in Victoria there would be the same problem with the bush fires. U/20's is early on in the year as most athletes have uni which is a major commitment and would be hard to leave a week of.

Irritated, very biased saying that basketball nationals should always be in SA and Vic, seeing that BA has equilisation rules in place now to even out payments. If it was in Vic and SA each second year how would that be equal. Also Albury wasn't that hot last year.

Has it occured to anyone that NBL don't sell out crowds because its a shit league and the standard is shit. Buy Austar or you subscriber shit and watch NBA,NCAA and Euro in the comfort of your own home.

People don't pay money to be bored they pay to be entertained.

Well said BTP.

However, the nationals are not evenly spread out, because the U18 comp is often at the same venue/in the same state as the U16 comp was held two years earlier.

For example U16 (2005) and U18 (2007)were held in Tasmania, and U16 (2006) and U18 (2008) were held in Balarat.
Often U16 players are again involved two years later in U18. Therefore the same people have to travel long distances twice in a row.

2005 U16s were not in Tasmania.
Fail.

Yo, forgot about Canberra. That doesn't take away from the Ballarat double!

"because the U18 comp is often at the same venue/in the same state as the U16 comp was held two years earlier"

Often is once now?

Fail.

Consider a top age Under 18 Boy in 2009.

If he has been to the last 6 nationals (which some will do) then he would have been to:

2004 - Terrigal
2005 - Gawler
2006 - Ballarat
2007 - Terrigal
2008 - Ballarat
2009 - Gawler

Hmmmmmmm

Cat 66,

Not one player has been to all six of those.

Well, here are your facts:
The same state two years later has happened in 14% of the cases.

Maybe, maybe not. NT kids maybe? I can think of a number who have been to 5 (assuming they are picked this year). Anyway, that is not the point. This group of boys keeps going back to the same places. That is the point.

Except for selection to Junior World CHampionships.

You Dope!

Not the last Mens team, nor the team that won it.

Ignorance is bliss.