Oh its so easy to be naive and uninformed and complain isn't it?

For one we have the same age groups as every other representative competition in Australia. The Vic's that came over for Easter may look bigger, stronger and better then your son/daughter but that doesn't mean they're older. It just means that they're bigger, stronger and better.

Why you may ask ... Knox the 'biggest' association in Melbourne had an average of 911 teams in 2005. BASA in TOTAL has less then half that. 911 for ONE Association/Club (granted they're the biggest but you get the point).

The issue of zones is interesting. It is believed that to benifit the 'development' of junior basketballers in S.A. that zones are banned for Under 14's and below. Victoria is one of very few (maybe the only one) that still allows zones in these age groups. They also allow 10 year olds to chuck up 3 points and get 3 points for them in Under 12's.

Yes our juniors may struggle against a zone at this level for many reasons, but IMO they are better long term for it.

Anyway its been discussed on here in length already.

Next time before having a go at big bad BASA get some facts from someone who knows what they're talking about!

Someone give that last post an icon... its one of the better posts i'v seen on here period.

Awesome man! I love you!

Ridden any buses lately!

I'm special too!

I've heard that the top level men's leagues in QLD have a different age grouping. Where we have under 20's, then open men/ABA, I've heard QLD go up to under 23's before going to open men/ABA. Would it be worth considering that here, as it would give younger players a bit more time to adjust to playing against bigger bodies ? There would still be the opportunity to play at Open level if the player was capable, but having that extra age group would just give a club more flexibility in directing a player's development.

Where to start!?

"Victorian teams allow a slighty older kid, by months, in a certain age group" ... clearly uniformed you are.

From the Basketball Victoria VJBL Rules of Operation ...

4.3 Ineligible players:
An ineligible player is one who:
o has not been cleared from another association or been granted permission to
play.
o has not been transferred between teams in an association according to the rules
and procedures of the VMJBL (see Restricted Player Rule 4.4.2) and the other
competitions.
o is suspended.
o is over age - for the competition, a player must be under the given age on the
31st of December of the year of the competition.

NOW you are not uniformed in fact!

Zones

How does teaching a 10 year old to stand still in the key way and cover a little space make that player 'miles ahead' of us poor South Aussies?

We struggle (as all teams of that age would) against zones because:
a) we don't play against it in regular competition;
b) to beat a zone you need movement off the ball, dribble penetration and wait for it outside shooting ability.

Hence in S.A. we don't allow teams of this age group to play zones because:
a) We think teaching a player defensive skills is better then teaching juniors to become trees!
b) Younger age groups rarely play structured offences with off the ball movement, dribble penetration and coaches definately DON'T encourage outside shooting!

Furthermore I suggest you take a good look at the results of the weekend and for example Sturt's Under 14 groups from last year and this year and tell me we're miles behind the victorians.

As for the rest of your post, 'cotton wool and tiddly winks' why don't you take your buzz words and use them in a place they're appropriate, because this topic definately isn't one of them.

Watch out before Awesome Man hauls you off in his Awesome Van!

Anonymous,

I don't think you're completely informed on the Victorian age groups. You will find that any club/rep team follows the same guidelines as South Australia. I do know that some country associations run slightly different age grouping. However, any team playing in the VJBL abides by the same by-laws as in SA (even if they're a country region team).

I think in U12s teaching man to man defensive principals is particularly important, and as such I am very much against coaches who play zones consistently to the detriment of the development of their players. I believe there's a time & place for zone defences in basketball, and that is not U12s. Being exposed to zones is probably not a horribly bad thing at that age, but I don't think it's beneficial for kids to play zone for long periods at that age. Having a "no zone" policy (as is currently in place in SA) eliminates the possibility of coaches neglecting to teach basic man to man defensive principals in the younger age groups.

I don't think the Vics are "laughing" as they "thrash the arse off of us" because they're allowed to play a zone. In fact, there's a "no zone" policy at U14 nationals. The SA results at U12 & U14 Classics & Nationals in 2005 don't seem to indicate that SA are "miles behind" the Vics.

There is no question that the Vic & NSW kids where a lot bigger (in most cases) than our kids especially in the under 14 comp; however as Awesome Man! pointed out, a lot of that has to do with the pool of kids each Vic & NSW team has to choose from.

Increase our population by 3 times and you will find that you have a lot more bigger kids to choose from.

Bigger aint always better. The under 14 girls from Gossford (I think thats NSW, stand corrected though)had a monster of a Polonesian girl playing centre for them.In my time chained inside one of the stadiums I saw her get beaten most of the times by smaller girls. She was prob close to 6ft and at least 70 kgs, playing against girls that came up to her ears that where at most 50-55kgs. This girl had no major impact in any of the 3 games I saw her in.

Another girl from the ACT in the same age group was a genuine 6 footer, but once again was well beaten by an Eagles girl that came up to her shoulders.

Its not how big you are (although it does come in handy) its what you do with your abilities.

Zones, leave em to the seniors.

"Am I wrong in saying that we need to look at our age groups when it comes to playing against interstate clubs ? Do they have an older group in the same age bracket ?

Tactics... Why are younger interstate teams allowed to zone up ? Should our coaches be allowed to teach zoning at a younger age ?

Come on BASA it's time to get with the times!!"


CHEER UP EMO!

Primary School SAPSASA basketball Carnivals (held just b4 Easter)have a policy of No zone - all man on man play. The ages vary greatly because the 2 competitions are for Year5/6 and year 6/7 and this can vary from school to school.

Just a thought I'm adding really a comment on any of the above.

Damm! that last bit was meant to say
"Just a thought I'm adding NOT really a comment on any of the above"