Greg page is a Diamond Valley junior and former state captain. You will never meet a harder worker nor a better quality person from a fine family, one who always gives back for the kids whenever needed. He left Diamond valley to play at a higher standard at Knox in the SEABL and went from there.

There are probably better players around but you won't find one with a better work ethic so maybe it was his personal qualities that got him in over others. I wonder why you would come on this forum and anonymously have a crack at a guy who has done nothing but work his tail off? In the absence of information to the contrary could I suggest jealousy?

Might I suggest to anyone who wants to get better that they work a hard as Greg and you will reap the rewards that he had.

so work ethic and great personality = making nbl. okay.

what above said

so work ethic and great personality = making nbl. okay.

Isaac = Mrs Page?

lel

PlaymakerMo
Why would you bring Greg's mother into this? Please, that's not on

lel
Perhaps you might be good enough to give us your name so we can check your cred v Greg's or would that be expecting a little much? Let's see your level of courage, I'm betting it's pretty low

Lel,

Firstly your creditability has been called into question straight away when you say there are 500+ juniors who are miles better than Greg Page.

Secondly you are questioning the coaching staff of the Melbourne Tigers in selecting Greg in the first place. I am sure Chris and DMac have seen enough of Greg to offer him the spot he ahs been given.

Thirdly, the club that he has come from, really. As mentioned above Greg is a DV junior who played all of his junior basketball at DV. Represented and captained Vic Metro, played juniors for Australia. He then went to Knox to continue to improve his basketball so to say he doesn't deserve to be in the NBL, well again I question your creditability.

So Lel, will you have the courage to not just be a keyboard warrior, put up your playing career and then we can debate it.

As for PlaymakerMo, not worth the effort to even justify his comment.

What should I do? Adamantly defend a position which isn't my own? Bring Peter Steven's mother into this? Point out I'm not a role model?

What should I do?

FYI - I was actually talking about a different Mrs Page.

No relation to Greg as far as I know, but I'll get onto that right away.

Boy is your face red, Peter Stevens!

[hint: there's some inflection in the above text, somewhere]

What a pointless post!! I have no knowledge of Greg or his talent but an attack like this can be nothing but personal. Give the kid a break will you!!

Speaking of Melbourne players lucky to be in the league.How is Tommy Greer still in the league? The guy doesn't seem to offer anything.His season averages are 0.6ppg, 0.4apg and 2.9rpg. Down from his massive career stats of 3.9ppg, 0.5apg and 3.4rpg.

I though Greg Page was the yellow wiggle

Didn't the yellow wiggle die?

There should be a box to put people in who don't understand why Tommy Greer has played NBL for so long.

The idiot box?

Anybody who has ever had the pleasure of working with Greg Page in a basketball capacity already knows the reason why he was selected initially as a development player by the Melbourne Tigers coaching staff. As has been previously said by others in this thread, he is an extremely hard worker who is always looking for feedback and ways to improve his game. On top of his basketball skill (and yes, he IS a skilled basketball player), he is a genuinely good guy with a fantastic attitude to basketball and life in general.

Greg was selected as a development player from open tryouts and earned his spot. Through early injuries at the Tigers he had the chance to prove himself by being promoted to the full roster, and he held his own in the pre-season Blitz. The Tigers could have brought in other injury replacement players, but they chose to give the spot to Greg because he EARNED it through hard work and training.

Once the injured players were back Greg returned to his position as development player.

Anyone who would begrudge Greg this opportunity and do anything other than encourage and support a great young Aussie kid who is pursuing his basketball dream is no real supporter of basketball in this country. Enough with the tall poppy syndrome, let the kid enjoy the beginning of his professional career.

Any other juniors who think they also have what it takes to be in the NBL, I whole heartedly encourage you to contact your nearest NBL club and find out when where and how you can attend try outs for a development spot for next season, and work your ass off to get it, like Greg did.

Good on him,done the hard yards and deserves his spot.

Putting Greg aside the whole Dev player systems needs to be looked at.

I understand alot of players can't afford the time away from uni or the major pay cut to go ahead and train with an NBL team which really hurts the games development.

It is an issue that many quality performers from the SEABL/SBL/State leagues get overlooked when compared to a Page, Qaafow etc whom are never going to make it and at best will be solid state league performers.

Nothing against those guys cause they are taking every chance they get but surely we’d be better to try and get player whom physically more chance of making the NBL level and competing for a number of years.....i.e Odgie & Dumovic are prospects who at least physically could make it and hopefully the basketball skills side gets to that level as well.

You don’t see to many NBA teams putting battlers with limited or no upside into the NBA D-League….they are normally the project guys or guys on the cusp of regular playing time not 5"11 athletic limited players who aren’t even considered a better player at the lower levels.

I don't think that's how the Tigers view Page, I think they see him as a genuine NBL prospect.

There are always plenty of guys at the pub with a "could have" story, but if someone's not willing to make some sacrifices at a young age it suggests they don't have what it takes to make it.

It does bring up an interesting point regarding payment of development players in all sports.James Magner (ex Melbourne AFL) said on radio with a wife and child plus a mortgage he couldn't afford to be rookie listed by an AFL club. He was better off working full time rather than playing on rookie wages.I would suggest that would be the same for a number of fringe basketball players.

Some good points made, but back to the original thread.

PlaymakerMo and lel have gone quiet. Working on your inside shot so you look better when compared to Greg?

Something tells me you guys aren't good enough to be his drink bottle, he did what he had to do to make the grade, worked hard and got better. What have you chumps been up to other than slagging people off who never did anything to you?

Anon #456597 - Greg was a student at the Australian College of Basketball and graduated in November last year with his Diploma of Sport Development. To suggest that ACB paid his wages on behalf of the Tigers is completely ridiculous and false.

Whoever started this post is absolutely ignorant about Australian basketball and how the NBL works. Development players actually don't earn any money for playing unless they travel with the team and are in the ten. An nbl club is under no expectation to pay a development player for their time and there is no minimum contract payment imposed on them. so the rule doesn't get abused by nbl clubs you can only have 3 registered with the nbl, you can be a development player up until the age of 24 and once you are contracted and get a points rating your forfeit your eligibility to be a development player. If you step on the court in more than 14 games in an NBL season you are given a points rating and are included the the points and salary cap. this is all in the rules of the NBL if you bothered to get a copy!! As for greg page i believe the kid has a lot to offer. Stop your hating.

How is it that anyone actually believes I was being serious?

Bethdavis, Anon 611 and Jeff, all absolutely correct.

PlaymakerMo, perhaps you should have taken some advice from your own mother, if you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything. Your post was unneccesary and uncalled for. You know nothing about Greg Page's mother, I on the other hand do.

Sorry, it's just not funny, nor were your follow up remarks.

Given that your post wasn't exactly 'nice' either by calling me out, feel free to take your own advice.

My comments were neither nice, nor hostile. The joke wasn't even directed at Mrs Page... but obviously you wouldn't have a clue.

The advice from my mother might be: perhaps you need to prioritize your time better if you feel it necessary to police the 'seedy underbelly' of Hoops.

Whatever happened to the days of taking the piss out of Ben Allen? I dont see the big deal about Page anyone stuck behind Goulding, Tomlinson and Farrakhan is going to be a bench warmer anyway

Interesting post, some good points.

I would say though, Norton and Djeric were starters on our junior national teams, I dont think it's a case of giving them a go than signing talented young players who skipped being DPs and signed onto the main roster.

Wow so many people on this page have no idea.

First off, greg isnt that great a basketball player. Played against him many times.

But he came up through the "system", and knowing certain coaches/people within the basketball community especially in Australia where politics in sport are rife, gets you places.

There was open try-outs, anyone could have gone. Hardly anyone did, because who the hell wants to be a dev player these days? It makes you ineligible for college, and you get paid NOTHING. With NO guarantee of a contract the next year. Especially if your player who is only 6 foot without exceptional athleticism or skills.

So the tigers had about 3 or 4 legit guys to choose from. Some were just too old. 23 is "passed it" in terms of being a dev player. Greg was still pretty young so he was chosen, has a decent resume as hes made state teams etc.

There are definitely a LOT of other kids with a lot more potential, but if Greg is just a development player, earning no money, who cares. If he gets a contract next year, which I highly doubt, thats when the Tigers will be taking a wrong step, there are obviously a million other players that could use that money.

But we'll just have to wait and see.

If those players with potential want a spot, they could try proving it like many development players already are. If they're in financial difficulty, that's another thing, but many share houses with teammates, etc.

I am pissed off big time. the goose who started this thread needs to be put in a place where he cannot have contact with humans.
I have coached Greg and coached against Greg. If you were going to war and wanted someone to cover your back - Greg's the boy.
Is he a flashy player - no. Nor was Steve Waugh.
Is he gunna get ya 20pts a game - no but he will get you stops and assists. Will he drop his head and dog it if he is having on off night - no way. he will bust his arse back on D and set the example for others to follow.
I would have greg in my team all day, every day. I have coached for over 20 years from SEABL to Juniors. I am not Mrs Page - Lisa would not dignify you idiots with a comment.
Lets start posting threads about Kids who have guts, integrity, intensity, focus, work ethic, fitness, leadership, aggression, nous, smarts, passion, humility, mental strength, etc, etc, etc.
All you coaches out there - THESE TRAITS ARE GREG PAGE!!!.

I hope you don't read this crap Greg - not that it would affect you anyway. Greg Page will play SEABL/NBL for many years just to prove you DH's don't have a clue about player talent.

Not sure how true this is but I honestly heard from a reliable source that Greg page is the recarnation of 2 PAC?

Anonymous, thankyou for posting those NCAA by-laws to reinforce my point that playing as a DEV player in the NBL makes you ineligible for college.

Not sure if you were trying to say the opposite, because if you read it its clear as day.

And also considering I've spoken to the assistant coaches at Melbourne and they told me that, Id say Im right.

From only reading what you posted - 12.2.3.2 seems like it makes you in eligible if you play minutes in the NBL. All Pretty vague to me though.

People will agree or disagree with this. If you play progressional sport, your always going to have people with totally opposite opinions on who they think should or should not be playing. That's what happens in professional sport.

People are passionate about sport, love their pro teams, and hate it if their side drafts a dud or someone they don't like. Why should NBL be any different.

He's not a kid. He's 19 trying to begin a professional career. Haters are all apart of that. The greatest players ever have forum topics of people saying they are no good. It won't change unfortunately. So no point crying over it or trying to baby Greg.

Use this stuff as motivation. It's only a young fella's opinion. Ridiculous how defensive people are getting

@wow - According to 12.2.3.2.1 if you aren't being payed by the professional team, you're eligible for college.

Jack Salt (a development player for the Breakers) is leaving for college in a few months. Case and point.