http://websites.sportstg.com/comp_info.cgi?client=1-4101-0-462162-0&pool=5&action=ROUND&round=-1

Few girls and boys missing from there teams. Only 9 players on the roster.

Really talented boy from Rockingham and a takented girl from Forestville.

Who's streaming?

Define talented. Does that mean, they shoot it every time they catch it?

Dunno. who you referring?

Southern tigers streaming. Not sure who else..

It's looking like it could be a Bulleen vs Dandenong final in both boys and girls.

I don't think that's possible in the boys? They will meet in the semi?

Boys Semis
Dandenong vs Sydney
Eltham vs Hawthorn

Girls Semis
Dandenong vs Gold Coast
Eltham vs Bulleen


Credit to the Dandenong and Eltham associations for making both semis.

This looks like a slightly higher standard than the last couple - has anyone been at a few in a row to comment?

So sa basketball dropping fast?

Above poster. Seems ok to me? What are you comparing it to?

The standard of vic.

$15 bucks for entry to watch u14s basketball is a nice rip off.

Tigers vs Forestville for 15/16 tomorrow.

Dandenong vs Bulleen girls final.

Without a doubt the 2 best teams in Aus in this age group.

Sydney vs eltham final in the boys.

Sydney back to back I reckon.

So propose something better. It's pretty tough if you've got two top-4 teams in your initial pool, to spend the week playing for a spot no higher than 13th. In fact, it's pretty rare that the team that finishes 13th wouldn't have been very competitive in the 9-12 bracket. I'd be all in favour of the shield being an all-or-nothing proposition: you get a gold medal for 13th but no silver, bronze for 14th, 15th. It is overdone, and the clubs or parents claiming it's a national championship gold medal I think are failing to respect its value and purpose. But until it's set up so that going 6-2 with your only two losses coming to top 4 sides gets you better than 13th, I think having something to play for in the bottom half is worthwhile.

They don't give rubbish awards for the 16s or 18s. Why do we need a new system? Just use that one.

I said "propose something better," which you haven't done at all. 16s and 18s are 14-team tournaments that play two pools of 7 and then crossover quarter finals. To win the damn thing, you only have to finish 4th in your pool. The absolute worst-case scenario for an u16 team capable of finishing 5th is that they get the 4 best teams in their pool and finish 9th. If you're good enough to win a medal at 16s, you are guaranteed a chance to play games to prove it. That's not true at 14s. For 16s/18s, at least two thirds of the games they play are in competition for 1st overall. For the 14s, it is one quarter.

An u14 team capable of finishing 3rd could get the two best teams in their pool and finish 13th. So no, you don't need an award for the team that comes 9th in 16s/18s. They had plenty of opportunities to finish higher than that. For a bunch of 12 and 13 year olds at their first national tournament, maybe parents who want to whinge about medals for 13th are just as much a problem as parents who think coming 13th makes their kid some sort of superstar. I don't like the system. I don't have a better alternative. You haven't presented one, either.

No one is winning a national 16s/18s coming from 4th in their pool. If you're not good enough to finish top 2 there, you're not winning it either. The 'opportunity' to get demolished by a Vic Metro in the cross over 1 v 4 only gives you the illusion that you're a chance to win a medal.

We don't need medals for 13th and 14th at a nationals level. Its ok to not be the best. I don't understand the need to reward mediocrity.

The teams that were unlucky to have Eltham and Sydney in the boys pool this year weren't good enough to beat the best teams in their state to get into a better pool. They were massive underdogs coming into the competition, just like every team from every non Victorian state that squeaks into the club nationals.