They only lost one game for goodness sake and it was in overtime, so they could have just as easily have been in finals.

I think you will find that both Vic Metro coaches performance was average. Teams were under prepared and coaches demonstrated their inexperience under pressure. Questions need to be asked of Basketball Victoria's appointment process and the experienced required to qualify for head coach of a Victorian team. Strange that there are three state coaches coming from the same Club......

Regardless, both SA Metro and NSW Country played well and thoroughly deserved their title wins.

#252, no conspiracy here, the two people I spoke with only talked about the coach, not about the games, hence the question.

#998, the lost two games both by 3.

All credit to the teams that beat them, just a question about the team and how they played.

And no I don't have a daughter who tried out or missed out.

give them a break they are not going to win it all the time 15 yrs straight is a pretty good effort

#3017 I disagree about both coaches. I think the girls coach certainly showed his inexperience under pressure but the boys coach, I thought, did a good job given his best player was out. As well as the boys had a very well respected coach in Scott Christiensen on his bench. The girls coach probably should have done the same thing.

It seems all of this has started over an incident with the girls coach. Unless someone explains what happened, then it's time to move on. All this talk sours the win for nswc and SAM

Anonymous ^ What is the current coach selection process in Vic?

#3125, In your opinion, what do you think people should have to do to make them eligible for a State head coach position?

#149 So if the selection is based on an interview, were there many other coaches that applied for the positions to your knowledge?

Yes and beaten by a state that also has a no zone rule...well done genius. Not sure if you're aware but it's not Vic Metro who impose the rules on 14 clubs.

You are clearly uneducated as there were not 6 applicants for the 16 girls. Until you have the answers, stop making up rubbish.

Anon #483160 the biggest hurdles our national based state programs and elite pathways have are funding, expertise and courts.

Yes, we have plenty of kids who are vying for that spot on an academy based program or the NITP etc... But every state has issues with finding enough coaches of the standard expected and required.

Distance is a problem in the country and sometimes just finding a court to train on every week is very difficult, especially a court situated somewhere not impossible to get to in a reasonable time.

Money is the one that's spoken about quite a lot, especially among those who pay the most for these programs, the parents. Until some major sponsors at the BA level and state level get on board, parents have no option but to pay for the incidentals, uniforms, coaches, court hire etc...

They don't pay for all of it, but how much they have to cover varies across the country.

483125, what a stupid comment all round, especially re the camps, you need to look at who actually is
1 hosting the camp at their venue
2 who is the organising person and it's NOT BV it's usually one of the clubs who have someone available to do this months before.
3 most clubs get the same email requesting staff for these camps, if one club puts their hands up because it's part of their club policy for them to help then you can't blame BV just because others don't.
The Andrew bogurt camp run at msac was basically a tigers camp, didn't see many tigers players there, two rangers wnbl/SEABL women, 1 bendigo wnbl/SEABL player and 1 Kilsyth player , and know for a fact many more were asked but didn't make themselves available because they were either working or away or could t be bothered. I would say all camps would be the same.
As for BA funding it's all been used up by boomers, and then opals as they prepare for worlds, plus on Joyce's salary. Add to this this year they have had un17 worlds, plus wheelchair worlds, it's been a huge year for finances
But agree No camps for un19s all year and they have Oceania qualifiers in nov, bit stupid really as they need to win Oceania to get to un19 worlds

^ obviously your kid didn't make NITP lol, those NITP camps are invitational to every single club in VJBL , the invites go to all clubs, the clubs then hand then to who they think have a chance at selection. You will get the majority of coaches coming from the venue area purely because it's easier and most coaches work other jobs anyway

Why would you be interested in facts now? You've done a great job so far at making up information that you post as truth. You don't even know who organises the camps. My guess is you are 1 of 2 types of people. Either a coach who applied and wasn't given a job or someone who's kid was cut that now carries a grudge.

Completely agree with the comments about camps and funding. The sad part is if we don't perform at these tournaments, they will see that as a reason to cut more funding. There is a great article floating around about Germany's investment into the World Cup.

Heard that we may have been a little arrogant?

A touch off topic but so interesting watching people argue about the top 1% when with girls it is the drop off from the 99% once they get to around that 15-16 yr old range that really is the problem. Oh and as always with BA and just about any club, jobs for mates will always be a problem....

There is currently an over representation of Eltham coaches involved in NITP, SCC and ECC coaching and selectors and state head coaches. None of which have ever won a VC title or even come close. Neither coach even coached in the age group. I would hope and expect that those selected to coach state teams have at least done something at the VJBL level to warrant such a selection.

It was evident that the lack of experience impacted the performance of both the men and women's results. How about BV approaches successful coaches to take our state teams rather than waiting for applicants that are not qualified.

Coaching imbalance? Some of your statements are factually incorrect. Before you make comments I think you had better check your facts first, or refrain from making things up.

I dream of my state getting bagged for finishing 2nd.

The Vic's do have to work on the arrogance a bit, it's a strength at times but there are certainly times when I am surprised it's not worked on (note - not referring to this incidence as I don't know the details).

At the U18 carnival I was involved in - it was certainly an issue.

Maybe it is more of a perception than an issue @Maxymoo? Coaches, players and other people involved in state programs change all the time.

Now and then, so does the winning state, the issue has been that Vic (Metro especially) has just dominated the junior competition for a long time.

Rightly or wrongly, success has its own rewards and may create that perception of elitism sometimes confused with arrogance...

Get to know the people and your perception changes, funny thing that!

What I find frustrating is people making statements that are just incorrect! It seems that some people begin typing then continue making statements that they think 'might' be correct rather than actually knowing as this might support their argument.

I also don't want to get into a 'fact off' with anyone as this achieves nothing. However I think the past coaching achievements and qualifications regarding the head coaches in question have been drastically overlooked, including previous teams coached etc.

Saying that the Vics may be seen as arrogant (also being a Vic myself) is Ok with me because that is an opinion, which we all have a right to have!

@Bear - yep that is a fair point and I'm sure it is true to a certain extent.

In the carnival I was involved with, we had some rough and tumble moments but it was generally OK. However I witnessed a comment between the Vic Metro coach and one of our players in the post tourney mixer - which was arrogant and pathetic. To his credit - he acted on it (after I had spoken to him - nicely and calmly) and fixed that incident.

It's hard to win and not piss off others...acknowledged - however there always has been a plethora of tales from Nationals since day dot.

Even if it is perception - personally I'd want to manage that if it was my state.

Thank God for V basketball though, it sets a bar in this country.

Incidents asside @Maxymoo, I think the interstate rivalry at Nationals of all age groups is what drives the passion and of course can end up causing people to let out their frustrations in many ways.

It is both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on if you are on the winning side, the losing side or one of those impartial bystanders.

Ugly incidents are not tolerated and nor should they be tolerated, but I'd still rather the level of behaviour in baskteball than that which I see in some other sports...

No Anon - not this year.

When you have no administration or organisational ability, state program's are going to be a "fly by the seat of your pants" and it is reflective in the final positions by vic metro and vic country. Maybe look at whose is running state program's in Victoria and it reflects the final positions. The old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it" might be relevant.

Jobs for the boys. Just google vic style of play, then look at shooting percentages and say no more. (By the way, How did I go with cliches?)

How many players from victoria should make national high performances places, my estimation would be three but I bet it is about 15 to 20. When you finish outside top 4 (vic country) and top 2(vic metro) numbers should be less. Where is the reward for states who finish higher and athletes who play well.

Finally, interesting to note that tassie after getting rid of high perf. Coach beat vic country who picked him up. Well done tassie like your style. Program's look really good in the far south!!

Kevin, I note anon has commented re who Lee, Coulter and Cesari have coached. None of these comments relate to Trevor Lee. Comment was that Coulter coached at DV before moving to Eltham. My question is how successful was he ? Cesari, who has he coached and what are his successes? The point I was trying to make was that both these coaches demonstrated a lack of experience, did not prepare their teams sufficiently and their teams suffered as a result. Which prompted me to ask the question about their coaching history. My expectation is that head coaches of state teams need to have demonstrated success at the top level before they should be charged with such responsibility. By success I mean winning VC or coming close, winning the Classic or coming close. This demonstrates they can prepare a team AND coach under pressure. Just coaching a team that comes 8th in VC isn't good enough.

So when you put together the questionable background and experience and then they both come from the same club where Grant Wallace coaches, that is when you start asking questions about selection. Don't forget SCC coaches. More Eltham coaches. Too many for a relatively underperforming club that doesn't have VC representation in 12 boys, 16 girls and 18 boys.

Who cares.
Proving a point on the internet doesn't actually achieve anything, other than self gratification.

Who cares you ask? Plenty of Vic people care big bird. 16 straight years of winning the national champs broken because of poor coach selection. You are not from Eltham by any chance?

All anyone can ask is that those responsible for selecting Vic Metro head coaches do a better job. Let's hope some experienced and successful coaches apply so they have a good pool to choose from and the kids get coaches they can learn from and the standard of play gets back to what we have all come to expect of Vic Metro teams.

Go do something about it.
Pissing and moaning on an Internet forum never achieved anything.

Cannot under prepare if time was limited with the team ?

Goodness, how long do you want ? 5 months preparation, at least three trainings or game per week. If that is not long enough to teach an effective offense and defensive structures with elite players then again, experience is lacking.

Elite coaches from other states watching various games through the week who didn't know the players or coach commented on the lack of cohesion and looking underprepared.

If you watched the GF game you would question the the decision making, rotations, lack of discipline by some players, lack of back court pressure until last quarter etc etc. They were out coached as the NSW country coach had his team playing a good brand of basketball despite their lack of height and the Vic team did not. The responsibility for this ultimately rests with the coach.

Really, it isn't the coach's fault, he did the best he could. It is the selectors that should be shaking their heads.

Coaching imbalance.
Maybe the u16s were beaten by better teams, and that no matter who coached.them they finished where they deserved! It does happen.

I think Coaching Imbalance is from a club that constantly gets beat by Eltham.
He/she really dislikes Eltham.

For goodness sake it's not like Vic metro were flogged they lost in OT by a very slim margin to the team who would eventually win the whole thing

The amount of on court time is drastically reduced from the 'glory days' that Coaching Imbalance is clearly still living in. As a parent of a kid involved I would say to you, find out just how often all kids were on court for a session due to injury. Find out how many kids were actually injured during that final. I can't speak for the girls team but our preparation was as professional as I've ever experienced and the coaching staff were fantastic.

Kids with injuries being selected is one of the biggest issues in any state team, injuries that occur during the tournament are just bad luck, but persisting with players who can't or don't train before nationals is just ridiculous and happens all the time in all age groups in Vic metro. It's time they stopped this as hard as it may be for the player who is injured it's a fact of life sometimes you have miss out and wait till the next opportunity

If injuries occurred during preparation that's when you call in your emergencies, you most certainly Don't take injured players away

I'm talking about injuries that are still an issue going into nationals you fool, BUT if a player misses best part of the preparation then yes I think it's only fare you can have a player who's only been back a week go to nationals and expect them to perform to their best, and that is after all what they should be doing at this level. I have seen players sit out for all bar the last training , go on to nationals and not given one ounce of productive play, when an emergency who had done all the hard yards for weeks on end could have easily contributed a hell of a lot more. But I blame parent for that too, I know if that was my child I'd pull them, it's not fare on anyone to keep them in. But then some parents want little johnnycake to got to state no matter what even if he/she just sits on the bench

And it's wrong that it happens, it's often the same kids each year too, and they rarely go any further once out of juniors.

^ looks like they did select her in the u18's