Day 1 Recap is now available.

Day 1 Recap - VIC remain dominant, QLD Men start 0-2

It will be interesting come finals when Vic Men faces teams that haven't already played a game that day. Only team to play three teams that have already played???

Zulu - you should be happy on Tuesday as Vic Men play Tassie and NSW on the same day - Does this now become a reverse conspiracy theory?

Have a feeling the women's comp has probably already previewed the GF match, with VIC dominating NSW, Vic's coach ran his key players sparingly, with his bench seeing good minutes and nsw was reported to be the main competition. Vic women got the ball into the bigs with ease, massive 30 points in 20 mins from Alannah Smith,, who also took care of the nsw bigs causing lots of fouls to be called against the nsw big Danielle Milisivic who played just 7 mins for 5 fouls.
The experience of Vic guard Rachel Antoniadou was evident keeping control of their game and causing issues for the nsw guards. All Vic's contributed their coach would have to be pleased considering Smith and Sharp only just arrived from CofE Thursday.
Anyone know what happened to Alannah Smiths nose to need her interesting taping.

No conspiracy, just pointing out the scheduling error by BA, hope it works in Vic's favour, and not against!

I can't believe ACT beat Queensland.

Day 2 of the U20's Australian Junior Championships is in the books and what a day it’s been. The NSW women’s squad looks to be back in form after their big loss to Victoria in Day 1, while the Tasmanian men’s squad is looking like a team that can compete for the championship. Here’s how Day 2 played out.

Day 2 Recap - NSW Women back on track, Tasmanian Men a frontrunner

Rhys Vague (10 pts, 4 rbs) W.A.

Matthew McCarthy (8 pts, 14 rbs) Vic'

Not seeing the game or any of the live stats, these two must have had a dog fight and had a big baring on the result. For Vic to keep W.A's big out of the paint and limit him to 4 rebounds you would likely have to give more credit to McCarthy for what appears to be a big defensive effort, I would have thought...

Who ever does the reporting, do they actually watch the games or just go by stats?

NSW women were lucky to get the win, not back on track yet!
Still think VIC men will take the gold, their roster is just too deep.
Vic women the same, don't think anyone has a match for Alanna Smith and Rachel Antoniadou combination. Add Alex Sharp and Elle Hellesey into that mix with support from all the other girls and they look a very impressive side on and off paper.
What's happened to QLD men's side???

ACT could have beat WA if Bul hadn't been in foul trouble.

Bit like the reporting from Olgun Ulic, you have to,wonder where the info comes from

No I have not - not my reporting...just sharing.

Is the person reporting at the games or just going off stats?

Olgun, the guy who writes these reports, is not at the tournament (or at least I did not see him).
I think some of the info he gets probably comes from a guy who works with Netscouts - seen him around and his tweets.

Very interesting tournament, very competitive, some surprises and close games - very impressed with Bul Kuol and Rhys Vague. Jack Mcveigh solid but with limited options around him so gets guarded heavily.

Others as expected, Victoria seems to be able to up a notch every time it is needed, although they have their lapses. NSW and Tasmania had a really tough day in the office yesterday loosing both games, now it is everyone's game to get into the finals with Victoria.

On the girls (womens) side, a bit boring affair - Victoria keeps rolling over every team, very strong in every position. NSW, WA and Queensland very inconsistent. Watched only one SA game - against Victoria - their coach made a mistake getting into a running game with Vics, got slammed in the first half, but recovered nicely later.

This U20's Australian Junior Championships is proving to be one of the most unpredictable of recent years. Both the NSW men’s squad and the Queensland women’s entered Day 3 at 2-0 and full of confidence. They’ll both enter Day 4 with 2-2 records after being swept in their respective double-headers. Here’s how Day 3’s action panned out.

Day 3 Recap - WA men back on track, VICs continue to roll

BTW: Olgun wrote the tournament preview for BA's website this year. He is well connected.

LC any American colleges having a look?

I know of a few scouts definitely in attendance but have no intel on any specific colleges.

#517542

Lay off LC. He is a good contributor here. So what if they are doing the stuff off the box score, at least they are committed to doing it.

Thanks LC for doing a good job sharing the info.

HO, I think some here are referring to a difference between reporting and commentating of the stats. Nothing wrong with reporting the score but describing some performances in a way Olgun, or whoever writes this, has done without actually being there is rather inappropriate.

Example, Jack Mcveigh IMO has had a tremendous tournament again, yet his team will likely end up last or second last. If you were there you would see double or triple teams on Jack with limited options due to poor supporting staff. Now shooting 45% under such pressure I would call a good basketball player, Olgun called it a struggle as if Jack was all alone on the floor.

I've noticed 5 scouts. I believe there are some NCAA restrictions in place for colleges to approach players (might be wrong).

Anyway a great tournament to watch - most teams are very close - Tassie hardly over SA this morning, so no real favorites here.

Sure Alpha. Your points are reasonable, just no need for rubbish from childish anons about a person like LC, who always contributes really constructively here.

Fully agree HO, LC has done a tremendous job promoting the game, not just here but to a wider community.

I don't mind Olgun's stuff either although not always agree with the way he presents some of his views and facts. He obviously is a fan of the game but needs to brush up on his understanding of it and especially media skills.

Is it true that the VJBL has a bye for the U20 mens competition this Friday - due to the U20 Nationals? If so what a joke - not one of the Mens Vic U20 team members play in the Friday night VJBL competition. Surely that is an indictment on the VJBL?

Alpha

As you have said LC & Olgun do a good job of promoting the sport, creating awareness, promoting kids who are trying to get to college.

I agree, sometimes the articles have factual errors.

However, do as I have done, send him an email with substantiation to support your case and he'll gladly retract or change the content.

As for the Stats. Very dangerous to go by stats alone. Context of the game is very important and Stats don't provide that.

Also, I've found the Stats to be not that accurate.

zulu02

"It will be interesting come finals when Vic Men faces teams that haven't already played a game that day. Only team to play three teams that have already played???"

Agree for Day 1 V QLD, but given QLD are presently winless, I don't think this would've made any difference.

I'm sorry, but Vic's 2nd game was against WA who also only had one game that day?

Vic's 3rd game was against Tas, who also only had one game that day.

Vic's 4th game was against NSW. Both NSW & VIC both had earlier games yesterday before playing each other at 7pm. That's only fair. Interestingly, NSW played the 10am game, Vic the 11am game. So NSW had an extra hour's rest! Also, the Vics played Tas & going by results so far, Tas are a better team than WA, who NSW faced earlier in the day.

Seriously, what are you smoking??? Can I have some??

^^anon
"Is it true that the VJBL has a bye for the U20 mens competition this Friday - due to the U20 Nationals? If so what a joke - not one of the Mens Vic U20 team members play in the Friday night VJBL competition. Surely that is an indictment on the VJBL?"

Check the grading map and you'll see there are only a few crossover games left that will be played this Friday, what other teams will do it is entirely up to them. The rest of your post is not really worth commenting on.

^ Obviously you don't like what they write.

At least they are impartial. What was it someone said - never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Do you ever read Newspaper sports articles? Most of them are personal opinions and a lot of the time they use a liberal dose of journalistic licence to 'tart' up the story to sell papers!

If you don't like what they write, then don't read it. It's far from libelous. Write your own stuff, to make your child look like a star.

Alpha I checked the grading map and you are incorrect - there are no U20 games this Friday. If you don't know what you are talking about - maybe you are the one who shouldn't comment.

^anon

for a few bucks you can enroll in online courses on how to use the internet

http://www.vjbl.com.au/index.php?id=66

or better

http://www.vjbl.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/images/PDFs/Grading_Map_16_Girls_and_Under_18.pdf

Now you will probably tell me that Feb 27 is not on Friday

Alpha - get it together and stop trying to be smart - take a bit of self advice and check the U20 grading map. Would you like me to provide some reading lessons to you in return for your advice on how to use the internet!!!

Alpha - If you are still struggling to work it out and you don't know how to use the VJBL website - get someone to read you the current VJBL calendar and you will then realise what a fool you have made of yourself!!! Ha Ha!!

Can anyone name the players that are missing this tournament due to being in the USA?????

#517624

"Also, I've found the Stats to be not that accurate."

How do you determine that?

^anon

ok, you got me there - missed part of your question about U20 men - and made you feel so good.

But if you were as smart as you claimed you were then you would see here

http://vjbl.com.au/fileadmin/user_upload/images/PDFs/Grading_Map_20_Boys.pdf

there are no games scheduled for this week. You could stake your claim only if there were scheduled games that got postponed - this will only happen never with VJBL.

Talk to your association and organize a game or something else - come watch the Nationals or maybe learn how not to ruin a good topic

HO, probably by sitting there taking own stats :)


buckets - you can go 1-2 years back and find out who played - most notably Bolden, Healy and Noi from NSW, and maybe if we stretch it Simmons and Adel from Victoria (they did not play but if they were here they would be picked). In the girls - Queensland would be a huge contender with the Froling twins and Wallace

Why do they not have country teams like the do at all other nationals any idea ?

Add to Alphas list Geremy Mckay Vic. Thon Maker NSW and Robert Colton NSW

ok. so far we have:
Geremy McKay - Vic
Ben Simmons - Vic
Deng Adel - Vic
Kai Healy - NSW
Jonah Bolden - NSW
Thon Maker - NSW
Noi - NSW

I can now also add to that list:
Callum Barker - Tas
Tad Duflermire - ACT
Deng Riak - Vic
Matur Maker - NSW (heard rumours he's pretty good)

I haven't looked into the girls but i agree that if QLD has Wallace and the Froling twins they would be very tough to stop!

Oh and I forgot Colten - who i believe is actually ACT? but could be NSW

Rob Colton = ACT

Thon Maker is bottom age - so Matur Maker (Thon's little brother) would not be in this age group.

We're now in the home stretch of the U20’s Australian Junior Championships, with the top teams now separating themselves from the pack.

Day 4 Recap - Victoria looks unstoppable

^^^ Could of been for a number of reasons. Don't assume it was poor coaching because he sat his starters. I believe they are undefeated, so getting their bench key minutes against a strong team could of been intentional.

Did you watch THAT game lol

#830 you're most likely not a coach posting a cowardly swipe like that. Al has an unbeaten record which shows that he and the coaching staff are sitting right where they're supposed to as are you in the bleachers with your opinions as company. You were obviously too far away to see the effort the girls put in.
If the game was close between Vic and WA women through its entirety then it was due to the efforts of the WA girls who have so far provided the toughest competition. It was a great game to test the young players on both sides, both physically and mentally.
How dare you take away a gutsy win by the Vic girls who showed a great depth of character, poise and intestinal fortitude fight back and regain a lead with what you obviously regard as the smaller or weaker guards.
The coach and his assistants showed great faith in the depth of their squad to get the result.

"Nothing wrong with reporting the score but describing some performances in a way Olgun, or whoever writes this, has done without actually being there is rather inappropriate."

Alpha: you're 100% right. Blind reporting would not only be unprofessional but highly unethical. Olgun recently moved to the U.S. to study journalism at DePaul University which is why he hasn't been at the Nationals. However, as LC previously mentioned, he's built some amazing relationships and sources with players, media, organizations (Basketball Australia etc) and receives video footage of the games he reports on/recaps.

No reason for you to take my word for it, but he's one of the most (annoyingly) principled and ethical people I know in terms of journalistic integrity and he's left many news scoops he's received to be broken first by someone else because he wanted to make 100% certain of the facts before reporting.

In terms of needing to brush up on his media skills, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't room for improvement (although there are very few basketball journalists who couldn't use some improvement ESPECIALLY when only 20 years old). However, the only thing more annoying than his principles is his perfectionism, and I've got no doubt that attending a top 10 ranked journalism University will very quickly bring his media skills up to scratch.

In the interests of full disclosure, while I've never met Olgun, I've gotten to know him pretty well as I also contribute to The Pick and Roll.

Kara if you read the post correctly it didn't knock the girls it knocked the coaching, yes WA did a mighty effort so too those Vic guards / wing players that had to battle with those bigs from WA for that 3rd quarter, I was not alone in this opinion that the coach was lucky to get away with that win , several very experienced coaches were all holding the same opinion. Hopefully the coach will watch that game again and realise what happened, as the momentum did not change until he finally added a true post into the mix in Hellesey who then proceeded to monster the boards and pull down the rebounds at both ends. If you were watching the game you would have noticed that, and if you did infact see the game and didn't pick up on that then your obviously NOT a coach.

Vic women are beating teams due to the depth they have within the team that the others simply do not have, not through superior coaching. Lol

We've had 5 days of exciting basketball and we’re down to the final 4 teams in each division. It's time to preview the semifinals match-ups of the U20’s Australian Junior Championships.

Semifinals Previews

Everyone has one, but not everyone is one?

As a West Aussie it's nice to see the girls playing well and being competitive against the Vics. It would be nice if BWA could recognise the u20 tournament and put a couple of articles up on their website on how the teams are going.

Because they have the largest and strongest junior basketball competition in the Southern Hemisphere from which to choose athletes a d develop them over the years.

Victoria could send two teams and they would both achieve a high finishing position. There are so many very good Vic. players who miss out on national exposure.

Agreed ^
They should be allowed to have a country team as well like the other age groups.

^your absolutely right

I agree, Greeny. I think it's absolutely disgraceful that BWA didn't even acknowledge the Championships when we had 3 teams representing WA.

I agree, Greeny. I think it's absolutely disgraceful that BWA didn't even acknowledge the Championships when we had 3 teams representing WA.

Tell me more about the 'terrible' job the Vic Women's Coach is doing!

Wiped the floor with everyone. Enjoy another Victorian win and great campaign coached by one of Australia's best.

Don't bark up that tree... that tree will fall ON you!

Vic women were always going to win with the line up they had it was nothing to do with the coach, who sat with his arms folded at the end of the bench looking totally disinterested .

Boys game was amazing both teams deserve a medal, Jack white was standout

For the second year in a row, Victoria has swept the U20's Australian Junior Championships. The final day of the tournament was capped off by an unbelievable Men’s Championship game which showed off the incredible talent that Australian junior basketball has to offer.

U20 Nationals: Tournament Recap

Vic women were amazingly good, congratulations to them and of course all teams for their efforts.

Vic men had to fight hard, well done to Tassie for giving it to them, bad luck as you guys could have got up for sure, but Vic held their nerve and congratulations also to the Vic men on another terrific result.