You missed the point trying to be made I think, the point is why not use what you have here, OK you dont really look for imports for AFL, but do NBA really look for imports no they dont, the odd one gets through in WNBA but they are Aussies best usually not their left over washed up discarded players like we get here

The point should be , why dissuade young players from staying in the country or even in the sport all together by bringing in inferior imports

How often do you see ( in SEABL and BigV in particular) those same imports sent packing after only the first few weeks, thats because when they get here, the hype thats surrounded then to get them here has been just that hype, and our own players are just as good and usually far better.

The Sixers are NOT looking at kids within this state! The poor finishes at 18's doesn't mean the talent from 1-10 is poor or not good enough when we are talking about 16 year olds in general.

So much incorrect fact here.

First off the 6ers do a good job at monitoring kids in juniors. Did anyone see Joey at state champs? He was everywhere!

2nd of all. The 18s metro and country performance are not an indicator of talent or where these kids will end up. You need to understand development takes years and nationals results are not an indicator of player's potential or development. Physical maturity, yrs experience and process is more important and will pay off later on.

Remember the 20s that won gold that you are talking about having so many prospects. Finished 11th in 16s, 6th in 18s and now dominated U20s, with more Aussie reps, AIS guys, D1 college guys in the history of the sport in SA.

The 6ers would understand this about athlete development; it takes time and effort invested by players and those that support them. Too many pundits and commentators worry about things that don't matter and not enough about the things that do matter.

Pro teams would not even be looking at guys for DP spots from u18s, other than monitoring them. DPs come from Premier League, College, SEABL etc.

Big Joe was with the ill fated u18s & their self promoting coach.

Joey Wright yes is one of the best NBL coaches re: keeping on the pulse with juniors.

Contrast him with someone like Gleeson who does nothing of the sort. Must be nice having an owner who gives you a $$$ import so development isn't necessary.

It is pretty simple.

There is a disconnect between NBL and state leagues.

There should be a junior NBL development league.

Look at what A-League do with their Youth League.

NBL should have the same thing. In the past when state leagues played at the same time as NBL this wasn't an issue. But like many problems that have stemmed with the change to a summer schedule, no one thought about having a second tier below NBL. Maybe LK can implement this next?

Also another example - NRL has their National Youth Competition.

The problem is not an NBL problem.

High performance programs do a poor job at building and facilitating pathways for youth athletes, globally. Not an SA problem, it is across the board in all states. AUSA hoops have filled that void which has created other issues because they see Aus pathways as a competitor and now encouraging kids to go to US High Schools and turn their back on Aust pathways.

AFL on the other hand gets it right thus the talent leakage to US HIgh Schools is always compounded by youngsters going to footy.

It is pretty simple.

There is a disconnect between NBL and state leagues.

There should be a junior NBL development league.

Look at what A-League do with their Youth League.

NBL should have the same thing. In the past when state leagues played at the same time as NBL this wasn't an issue. But like many problems that have stemmed with the change to a summer schedule, no one thought about having a second tier below NBL. Maybe LK can implement this next?


agreed, re a development league but isnt that what they use SEABL for and it should be for the women too

"The problem is not an NBL problem."

The NBL doesn't help though.

IMHO - a few opinions:
0. Sounds like a few disgruntled parents (again)?

1. There is not enough money in Australian NBL/WNBL to have a youth league.

2. Being good as Junior, especially in Basketball, is unequivocally no guarantee that the player will make US College, State, SEABL, NBL/WNBL, Euro/NBA! Unfortunately that is the nature of Junior sport. Kids who mature early have an undeniable strength & speed advantage. For the boys, it doesn't start to even out until top age 18's or U20's. There are many cases of kids being Centre's in U16's and by U18's are only guard size. Needless to say many haven't worked on guard skills, haven't played as a guard and probably wouldn't have made a state team if they were a guard in U16 - as they're not good enough. They only made the team because (in general) they were big and strong.

2. I seriously question that the majority of kids that go to the AFL would have ever been good enough to make it in the NBL. Some may make state U16 Basketball teams or been on the cusp of selection, but most that I have seen over the last 9-10 years were probably never going to make state U18 or U20 teams for a variety of reasons (not big enough, not athletic enough, not a good enough shooter/finisher, not a good enough player, didn't have the right work ethic, had skill deficiencies that were never addressed, etc).

3. Do your research - how many kids who have made State U16 or U18 teams just fall off the basketball lanscape? I could name many that are not playing in State, SEABL, Big V leagues. They're just not good enough. Then there are the players like Kyle Adnam (Melb United) who never made a Junior State team. Why? My guess is because, for a basketball player, he was physically small/slight and still is. He didn't fit "the mould". I remember at State Talent ID camps coaches asking kids "How tall are your parents". I heard Andrew Bogut didn't make a State U18 team - because the coach/s didn't like his attitude.

Fact - The 2011 a National Championship winning U16 boy's team (Vic Metro) only had two players in the state U18 team two years later. I am sure there are many cases of this happening. Why? Development, maturity, other players working harder at their game, etc.

4. The NBL pool of teams is smaller now that it has been - this directly equates to a loss of roster spots. So 'back in the day' the likes of a Joe Ingles could go play NBL straight out of Juniors and have an impact. Who could do that now? Yes we've had the Ben Simmons/Dante Exum. But players like this are few and far between.

5. There are many players that have played Div 1 college that just aren't good enough for the NBL, let alone the State/SEABL leagues.

6. The NBL don't have limitless financial resources to uncover potential talent. The NBL clubs all keep an eye on the National Junior Champs and what's happening in US College. They have DP spots for up and coming players. So it is up to the player/s to 'earn a spot'. Game time is not going to be gifted and nor should it. The school of hard knocks.

7. Most NBL clubs are well connected in the Australian Basketball fraternity and know who is around. Good word travels.

8. Finally - how many kids have gone to the AIS (COE) over the last 20 years? Of those - how many have gone on to have a "reasonably" successful and lengthy professional careers (NBL, Europe, /USA)? My guess is less than half.

It is the parent/s who usually bemoan the lack of opportunities and then, as a good parent, will try and do whatever they can to help their child go to US High School or College.

Stop looking at your kid with rose coloured glasses. Be realistic and assess them impartially.

I personally know of several parents 'paying' AUD 60,70,80,90/100K to send their kids to US College as a full fee paying student?? WTF?

Part of the reasons that kids from AIS, COE don't make it is because there not always the best, the selections are often biased towards who knows who.
The afl talk up the basketball converts but as noted above 99.9% wouldn't make it. It doesn't stop the afl from talking them up though to show that they are the big boys and basketball are pour cousins.

The AIS/COE select kids on potential.

What the kids do with that potential is the $64,000 question.

Unfortunately the basketball world picks size first and hope they can teach the skills. Unfortunately it doesn't always work like that.

It is played in a different time window. So if an NBL team wants to pick someone up midway through the season they can't.

Every other league/sport has a tier below them to pick players from when injuries occur. NBL has nothing running concurrently underneath it.

State, SEABL, Waratah, QBL, Big V league players are always available out of season.

They don't all exit the country to play in Europe!!

Some of these players get called in to train/scrimmage with the NBL teams, especially when they have a few injuries.

Bennie Lewis got a short term gig with Melbourne United last year under these exact circumstances.

October 13 2016
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/basketball/melbourne-united-back-defence-shooting-to-improve-in-adelaide-36ers-rematch-20161013-gs1lmy.html

"Melbourne United have declined to put a return date on veteran guard David Barlow, who is recovering from a calf injury and listed as "week to week", with shooter Bennie Lewis remaining on the roster as a short-term injury replacement."

What planet are some of you people on?

Please do your research before you post!

AFL get imports from Ireland, USA, NZ, that I know of and they're always looking for more countries.

What planet are YOU on #637023?

Out of season means most state league player are out of shape and rythym. It's obvious a lower junior league being played at the same time as NBL would be beneficial. God some people are slows.

Obviously money is an issue. But that doesn't negate the fact that a lower tier isn't being run during the NBL season. We all know why there isn't one ($) but that doesn't it wouldn't be beneficial to have one.

doesn't mean*

Yes there are, but in a different time window. Which is my point all along. You can keep saying what you are saying which is correct, but the fact is the best scenario would be if there was a lower tier played at the same time as NBL.

I was thinking more like each NBL has a second/junior/dev. team.