Anonymous
Years ago

Young NBL Players

Just been having a think about which NBL team has the best young players.
For the purpose of the exercise I defined 'young' as 25 or under at the end of 2013 so born in 1988, 89, 90 etc.
I also didn't include development players, just contracted players in each teams 10 or 11.
I also didn't include imports.

Adelaide: BJ Anthony, Jason Cadee, Mitch Creek, Daniel Johnson, Brendan Teys.
Cairns: Shaun Bruce, Cam Gliddon, Clint Steindl, Mitch Young.
Melbourne: Chris Goulding, Owen Odigie, Nate Tomlinson.
New Zealand: Reuben Te Rangi, Corey Webster.
Perth: Drake U'U.
Sydney: Cody Ellis.
Townsville: Todd Blanchfield, Mirko Djeric, Scott Kenny, Mitch Norton.
Wollongong: Dom Cooks, Tyson Demos, Shane Harris Tunks.

Things I found interesting:
1. Despite having the largest number of young guys, Adelaide are sitting pretty in the top two. Saying that, Teys is the only one who isn't in his third or more season in the league.
2. Cairns having four young guys, two are rookies and two are second year guys, with Young the only one who hasn't started any games this season. May explain why they are not consistent as a team.
3. Perth and Sydney with one each. Do they prefer to let other teams develop the youngsters then take them with the lure of the big city?

I would have to say top three right now would be Adelaide, then Melbourne (just due to Goulding) then Cairns.

Anything that anyone else finds interesting about this?

(Apologies if I missed a player or two, NBL's player list for each team doesn't denote whether players are DP's or not so may have missed a couple).

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Phil
Years ago

i think the past couple of seasons has seen a very good influx of young talent into the league.

the introduction of steindl and glidden last year , then mitch young this year who i think can go on to be a very good player. tomlinson who i think needs to do a lot of work to improve. creek has stepped up this year. daniel johnson and goulding have emerged as stars of the league.

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Steven
Years ago

Add Ogilvy to sydney (1988). Agree Adelaide and Melbourne have best young players though Townsville with Blanchfield and Norton could rate well in a couple of years.

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Anonymous
Years ago

Original poster:
Yep I forgot Ogilvy. Big inclusion obviously, my bad.

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PlaymakerMo
Years ago

Wow AJ Ogilvy is a major omission - not that a blame anyone for thinking he's a seasoned veteran.

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Steven
Years ago

He (Ogilvy) seems like he has been around for a while once being projected as a 2008 draft pick and having a few years Euro experience.

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Phil
Years ago

what do people think of mitch young?

ive only seen him play twice , on tv so never live either but he looks like he could be something special in this league in time.

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paul
Years ago

Looking forward to more teams in the comp so we can see more young guys running around and also making an impact on the comp sooner.

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Proud
Years ago

I think the young players in this league are exciting but I'm gonna bang on again about Wollongong... Why are they not developing any big men?

I really like Mitch Young, I don't see a 'special' quality in him but I find him exciting to watch in person and whilst I'm not sure he can be a go to man, I do think he will have a long career in the NBL but right now I feel he is basically put out there to add physicality and maybe a hard foul or two before he in benched again

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Silencer83
Years ago

The Wildcats under Bevo had:

Wagstaff, Weigh, Martin, Robbins and Lisch on their championship roster who were 25 or under. 4 of 5 were developed at the club.

Then other young players to come through in the following years were Hire, Tovey and Trueman.

Wagstaff, Martin and Hire are still at the club. Robbins and Tovey are retired. Lisch and Weigh opted out and Trueman got a better offer from NZ (only to be screwed over).

So from the team last season you have Martin, Hire, Redhage, Wagstaff, Knight + 2 imports leaving 3 spots. Two were filled with late bloomers (Jervis + Muo) and 1 with a state league player (Burdon).

So rather than developing elsewhere it is more that team is retaining a core of players leaving little room to fit young players in.

Still they have chased Ogilvy, Gliddon and Ellis and lost out in the last few seasons.

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Big Ads
Years ago

Can't you expand the criteria to ensure Stephen Weigh gets a mention :-)

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commonsense
Years ago

look out for Stephen weigh in a future most overrated nbl players thread

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Wilson Sting
Years ago

Stevie Weigh's time in Perth and Adelaide was to his career's detriment. He should have always stayed in QLD. I'm glad to have him in Cairns. I bet opposition coaches hate having to deal with him coming off the bench.
I like the idea of a most overrated player thread, but don't want to throw too much hate around.

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Hoops

Young NBL Players

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