Info here:

http://www.basketball.net.au/index.php?id=302&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=3072&tx_ttnews[backPid]=1&cHash=322ee6499e

Humphries played a lot better tonight than at U/16 Nationals

Both girl's and boy's teams did well and are off to a great start to qualification for next year with a 1-0 lead in the series.

Very healthy crowd last night too, maybe 800 or so when both teams were there near the end of the first game, just as the boys started their match.

The new State Basketball Centre is just a nice place to play and watch isn't it...?

Live stats link for tonight's games?

Tasman,

FIBA Oceania you seek. Follow your nose via:

http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?assoc=3621

From a NZ perspective I agree with anon. You have bigs like Timmins and Wynyard that can play the 4 spot and a 6'8 kid in Freeman that could be shifted to the 2 or 3. The rebounding last night wasnt good enough and will need to be fixed

Agree @Cell, NZ boys can't go one for one with the Aus team, they have to create some kind of mismatch with their bigs and medium bigs to at least give our coaches something to react to. NZ have to take a front foot approach and be pro-active here or they will go down 3-0 IMO...

Does anyone else just get blank boxscores when they open the link?

AK-47

No. Starts off blank but then fills with data.

http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/151/09/03/96/46elZ3NT5Y0lk/

T,
I thought so too but still not happening for me!

Congratulations to our boys and girls on qualifying to the Worlds! Great effort last night!

Dejan with 29 in Game 2 WOW

Dejan has ice in his veins! He could be the cleaner for the boomers on a few years!

Congratulation Alexandra Sharp for MVP and Matthew Owies.

Who picks the MVP's anyway?

They got the number and the name right but the wrong team and the last name - Freeman - definitely the best on the court and carried the Kiwi's to the W. Well done to him and his teammates, you carried yourselves proud.

Realistically, a disappointing result for the U/17 Boys. I am aware Kyle Clark's injury would undoubtedly have made a difference. But without naming names, a few players were way out of their depth in this series (which does not bode well considering this is only qualifying for world champs)...

It makes no sense that not even 1 player from the U/16 National Championship winning NSW Country Men (and only 1 from the runners up) were selected in the squad for these games. Why not give more players from U/16 Nationals a chance to have a go?

Surely it would seem logical to select players who are in form, obviously playing well as opposed to certain unfit players nursing injuries (again, I won't name names).

Anon, I appreciate the point you make RE: bottom aged players but I just think it defies logic to play certain players who are carrying injuries/just recovered from injuries rather than play some of the talent I saw at U/16 Nationals. I am not aligned to any team myself myself but some of the talent in the winning NSW Country team was outstanding and I think certain players from that team could have done a better job in this series than some of the players in the squad. Does that not mean that these kids basically have no chance of getting a look in to play in the U/17 team at all given that coach would likely stick with the same squad to take to Worlds?

In regards to U/18 Nats I think Vic Met, Vic Country and QLD South would have to start favourites - however both NSW teams will be stronger than 2 years ago, Country in particular, with the talent from U/16's moving up.

Anon, I appreciate the point you make RE: bottom aged players but I just think it defies logic to play certain players who are carrying injuries/just recovered from injuries rather than play some of the talent I saw at U/16 Nationals. I am not aligned to any team myself myself but some of the talent in the winning NSW Country team was outstanding and I think certain players from that team could have done a better job in this series than some of the players in the squad. Does that not mean that these kids basically have no chance of getting a look in to play in the U/17 team at all given that coach would likely stick with the same squad to take to Worlds?

In regards to U/18 Nats I think Vic Met, Vic Country and QLD South would have to start favourites - however both NSW teams will be stronger than 2 years ago, Country in particular, with the talent from U/16's moving up.

I would not debate much about the result since I was under the impression during the third game that Watkins did not want to move away from his strategy (which obviously was not working), in translation - he lost the game. He admitted it himself in his interview - he wanted a few players to step up and they failed. I guess some of them will have to look back and reflect how to improve themselves and play better, so this last game would be a good lesson for them and the benchmark to move forward. No doubt these are all talented kids and I doubt that there are other 12 more capable than these in the country but some will have to work harder to keep the spot. I would not be surprised if 5 of them do not come back if they keep the same level, simply not good enough.

There isn't one player helping Dejan out he has to do it all himself . He is the best in the age group though so it can be done

This team has got to go through the bigs. They did in game 1 and they won convincingly. Played a perimeter game in games 2 and 3 and that didnt play nearly as well. As good as some of you think Dejan is, he's not the best in this team. The best players in this squad are your bigs Humphries and Akintola, there's no denying it. Australia's only way of competing in Worlds is to go through them

Dejan is the best, he had no support. If it wasn't for him they wouldn't of qualified , it's that simple

Nicely said Anon... I am a big Dejan's fan, like his scoring prowess, but if this team really wants to succeed in the Worlds, they need to execute transition and inside game far better. They need to get their bigs going, and they need more than 2 bigs. Having a good shooter (Dejan, Kyle) on the court will be an added bonus but not the first choice.

And correct they need to play more often together in order to gel.