12's. How can 1st years develop when clubs like Forestville field 2nd year teams of bigs that persistenly zone and clubs like Magic in 2's (wide age group problem) and 3's with top age players that are good enough for 1's and Centrals fielding 1 teams in 2's. Basketball in our state lose potential players in this first year summer season that do not continue but may be late bloomers. Potential guards without height but great skill and game IQ can not penetrate zones at this age or make the long range shots. This is why Zones were busted and Vic JBL now about to stop zones too. Well done Forestville you'll win State Champs but you will not be respected. Not good for the Sport. Poor form on BSA not addressing the issue but no surprises, you can't boot a Forestville Coach but you can other clubs for questioning and getting frustrated that no one will address it. Footy and Netball are the real winners.....

True. On the Centrals issue, I heard that BASA tried to convince centrals to put their teams in Div 1 and Centrals refused. It's just lazy and all they did was harm the development of their own players. The lunatics are running the asylum there. Clueless!

So if Centrals put the team in d1 and they get pumped every week, there will be posts about how they need to go down and it's not good for the game (like the under 14 girls woodville/south post a few months back) or if they come 5th in div 2 (boys) there's posts whinging about how it's unfair...... People just want something to whinge about. Worry about your own club not Centrals.

In regards to the original post, maybe the coach should teach the kids a zone buster? Having coached in the 14s age group before I agree it is frustrating, but you can't dwell on it. Parents having a tantrum on here saying it's unfair isn't good for the kids, they should be teaching thier kids to work around obstacles. Not get upset and whinge about them. Most teams in 12s/14s that play zone would have never seen a zone buster offence, and would have no idea what to do about it! Would be quite ironic them playing a defense that they think you don't know what to do with, and instead you show them an offense they don't know how to gaurd! Look for solutions to the problem, not excuses for a loss. And definetly don't stoop to thier level and play a zone back, that's not helping your kids.

Lunatics running the asylum? Their results are on the up and better than a lot of clubs.

They're actually getting kids wanting to play for them.

What club are you involved in? Prob too gutless to say

And thier catchment area is more densely populated. Centrals southern and Eastern may geographically have the largest catchment areas, but it's all relative to population density.... And not all kids want to drive 3 hours for basketball.... And if the do drive say 2 and a half hours from ports pirie to get to gawler, what's an extra half hour -45 minutes to get to hillcrest/mars. If you've already made a 2 and a half hour comitment you don't care about another hour to get to an inner city team if they offered best development opertunities

I think some parents would travel that extra hour to get to a club that offers that of there son or daughter had a lot of potential.

Doesn't stop the likes of Sturt trying to poach the good players off these clubs. They even try and poach good players that have been at centrals from the beginning and are local.

Get of centrals back. If it's that easy why aren't southern and eastern as strong in the boys group (this isn't a knock on those clubs either, it's for these people on here that are pathetic and negative cause one of the big clubs that knock and are negative)

Coaching depth is the problem for centrals. Good clubs produce coaches who come through playing ranks of a well coached, successful program. Centrals doesnt have that luxury.

really like sturt?

how many of their div 1 coaches are sturt people? 1?

Centrals are strong in boys coaches in u14, u16 and u18. I don't see the problem. They offer better and more experienced coaches than some other clubs.

Bruce, what club are you associated with?

Well considering they don't have good coaches centrals are doing well in the boys. Second in state champs last year and three of the top 5 div one teams ATM

Bruce are you referring to the established clubs like Norwood west woodville north south who centrals at a div 1 level are doing better than????

Seriously no idea at all

I think Bruce is stuck in a previous decade and actually has no idea about recent results.

So Meseche gets beaten and has a sook... Blah Blah Blah

Are you a Centrals parent Bruce?

Its not Mesecke sooking. An observer who was watching the game who made an independent assessment of what was and has been happening. Don't make assumptions. Some people have the best interest of basketball for all juniors at heart not just a club or individuals. People do exist that care about that. We have to remember 9 & 10 year olds are in the hands of refs, coaches and supervisors. We owe it to them to provide them with a game that is within the boundries of the rules on a fair playing field win or lose. It is the right thing to do, that is why we have rules.

Why are people getting on centrals??? Get on some other clubs like south north woodville Norwood who are performing worse (well don't get on any team really but why aren't people getting on them).

Or is it people from the more "elite" clubs who are central bashing cause some of their teams cant compete so it's easier to get stuck into the club.

Centrals should be proud of where they are as they used to be the easy beats of the competition yet now there are some teams like 16 boys and 14 boys that most teams cannot get close to.

OP
If your coach was up to it they would run a play to prove the zone with the supervisor in attendance. I would be very surprised if it was a zone. Trying to teach zone takes many hours of practice which I'm not sure a coach would waste on this age group. Perhaps it was split line defensre? Can be easily confused with zone but run a play against it to prove once and for all. Just putting it out there!

Pretty sure that it they did and when approached by the umpire in change the Forestville coach in question went on a tirade and abused the BSA rep.

No ones playing a zone. Have heard and read this for years - different team every year. Guessing you are the coach of the losing team, I suggest you need to understand the difference between a zone and split line. Suggest also you talk to some of the top junior coaches around the league to understand how hard it would be to teach kids at this age how to play a zone let alone remember it on court. Or if you truely believe it is happening, coach your kids to deal with it.

Are you a Centrals parent Bruce? From Kadina?

PlaymakerMo = Forestville coach.

Oh, the irony of PlaymakerMo calling anyone else naïve.

so "PlaymakerMo = Forestville coach" = correct?

Yes, one who loves zones.

Who is the forestville coach? He has the right to abuse BSA head refs doesn't he? He after all has Paul's support and Bet that coach doesn't get match bans.

Paul Arnott
Competitions Manager at Basketball SA
Adelaide Area, Australia | Sports
Current: Video Analyst at Adelaide 36ers, Competitions Manager at Basketball SA, Basketball Coach at Forestville Eagles Basketball Club
Past:Basketball Coach at Basketball SA, Senior Software Engineer at Freescale Semiconductor, Junior Coaching Director at Forestville Eagles Basketball...

Sure. Thats why Victoria just band zones in u12's.

Nice try though.

I think spectator has no clue on a zone

You realise that a zone defense players defend an area and not a player????? Crazy hey.

Well having seen the centrals game, their players were clearly guarding players as they moved from left to right and high to low. Now if they were in a zone, wouldn't those defenders merely stay in the same area?

Now if a big sags at the foul line when there is an on ball screen and encourages the perimeter shot, that's not a zone. Also from what I saw in the second half the big played above the foul line.

Centrals big is long and is able to challenge shots most boys cannot and if you watch most times he's helping if on the split. So once again that's not a zone!

Woodville at times actually had three players on the big even before he caught the ball. How's that man to man? Not saying it's a zone, but they're not guarding a player each.

At least ubderstand a zone before you come on here and say a team played it when they didn't.

Hey spectator please enlighten us on what plays were run to expose it? You seem to know a lot for a mere "spectator".

I agree with the anon above - spectator has no clue.

I also saw both U/14 finals and can say none of the four teams zoned. Split line defense, and dropping on screens, is all legal and part of man defense. Amazed as you may be, I'd say the Forestville coaches didn't notice as they have far more basketball knowledge than you do!
Matter of fact, I think the whole U/14 grade has been good this year with it's coaches playing man defences.

I'm still waiting for "spectator" to explain the plays that woodville ran to show this so called zone?

I really think this person is clueless and has no idea at all.

Next he will be saying it's the only reason centrals won the game.

The 'split line' v 'zone' argument will go on forever.

Some would say good coaching is bending the rules to get as big an advantage as you can.

Many coaches plug their big guy on 'split line' pointing at a weakside offensive player to show they are responsible for someone. Unfortunately if that player moves, cuts, rotates to ball side they don't follow their player they just point at the guy on weak side, see I'm just playing split line and the other players switch. Happens all the time. 4 players man-to-man, 1 defender zoning.

Two issues with the current rule.
1) No one knows the process. Coaches often abuse referees about it, abuse other coaches over it, abuse Court Supervisors over it. Read the By-Law it refers to another document which is a BA document, isn't followed and isn't descriptive of the SA Basketball model. Makes it hard for the correct process to be followed.

2) Court Supervisors are Zone Busters. Most are average or past referees without the training required. Others are just people around basketball, again without the training required. Makes it hard for a Zone to be seen when the only people able to enforce it don't know what a zone is. I've seen this happen on many occasion when a team follows correct process followed by a Court Supervisor watching play after play scared to enforce the rule because they're not sure. This happened just last Friday night.

Either enforce the rule properly with a clear process which is District specific (like it used to be), train current staff or place zone busters in stadiums or scrap the rule altogether.

The current system is embarrassing and as usual the coaches that bend the rules benefit most.

I see the U/18s aren't the only massive sook group at Woodville. 14s following suit?

There seemed to be a complaint made against centrals for playing a zone when they weren't. Yet they has two or three players on centrals big even before he caught the ball but centrals never mentioned it until woodville did.

Yes I'm involved with centrals and I was sitting behind their bench listening in and I clearly heard their coach say that if they want to put more players on their big then they're good enough to score elsewhere. That's what they did their guards hit threes and were able to get into the paint and finish or dish to open perimeter due to two or three players staying on the big.

The score was something like 70 to 20 so why would you even mention it?