Oceania & Australia Basketball News & Events • Noticias & Eventos del Baloncesto Australiano

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Oceania & Australia Basketball News & Events • Noticias & Eventos del Baloncesto Australiano

Leading from the top

In response to last week’s column ‘A big week Downunder’, a reader called @MoreHoops asked what Basketball Australia (BA) needs from their new CEO.

Great question, one that isn’t easy to answer.

To start I’ll look at some of what I think are BA’s strengths and weaknesses and I suspect my response will emerge from that.

Strengths
Numbers - When it comes to strengths, it is mentioned over and over again that around one million Australians play basketball. It places it up there with netball and soccer as the most played team sports, and is the most played sport by people under 25.

Guys and girls – when the government and corporate dollar is so keenly contested in tight economic times, having a sport that is so widely played by men and women, boys and girls, and people with a disability is a huge boost. The more groups in the community you serve, the more likely an MP is going to listen.

We’re pretty good – Australia isn’t a basketball powerhouse, but with our junior teams almost always in the top six, our women’s team considered a failure if they don’t medal, our men competitive with most opponents, and our wheelchair teams a constant title threat, BA can make strong claims to governing one of Australia’s elite performing sports.

Our national leagues – the NBL in particular has seen hard times, and has been mocked by many in this country. But the reality is both the WNBL and NBL have world-class players and play an entertaining style. The average attendance at an NBL game is 4,200-4,300 people, and both teams have a decent presence on free-to-air television.

Weaknesses
What national teams – In a country where many national sporting teams are national treasures, the Opals and particularly Boomers are barely known anymore. A big issue is the difficulty in getting quality opponents to Australia to showcase the international game, and this winter’s series against Brazil and Greece will be a real litmus test on whether BA can sell its elite teams.

What participants – While it is true basketball has a massive participation base, it seems BA has no way of really utilising is for commercial gain. Some state associations won’t give BA their databases and some local associations won’t give their databases to their state associations!

What youngsters – Too many of the country’s best young male players head to the USA to play college basketball. While a handful of players excel, a number of players seem to get lost in the system.

Where are the pro teams – The NBL has just nine professional teams, and that is a large reason why so many young players end up going to college. In 1996 there were 112 Australians in the league, this year there are 69 despite the fact participation has increased markedly in that time.

The wrap
So what does all that mean? Well obviously a good CEO will capitalise on as many strengths as possible and finds solutions to weaknesses.

But for me it all starts at one point, and that is getting all the sport’s governing associations on the same page.

For the professional side of the game to thrive, clubs need to tap into the local associations. For participation rates to grow rather than stay steady, local associations need the pro game to be attracting kids’ attention.

To attract big-time corporate support BA needs to be able to show they have pro leagues that both attract mainstream media attention and have a pipeline to grassroots participants.

If Basketball Australia doesn’t have access to databases of those who play the sport, it will never reach its potential.

It was once mentioned to me that BA has an excellent insurance set-up that both state and local associations access. If this is true then perhaps it is time to bring out the stick.

Any governing body who won’t join a national database could have their access to this insurance limited or cut out altogether.

After all, if you don’t want to contribute to the national strength of the game, why should you benefit from it?

There has to be some carrot as well. Local associations have grown ambivalent to the plight of professional clubs. They have seen them come and go and got used to going about their business regardless.

It is time to make a successful NBL club good news for the grassroots. Simple things like commission for local associations who sell NBL and/or WNBL memberships, game tickets and merchandise.

Strong links between professional players and associations, in a client management type set-up, is another way of building a stronger relationship.

Basketball can only compete in Australia’s sporting landscape if all its limbs are working together. The problem is it hasn’t really been done before, nor has there been strong leadership to attempt to make it happen. As a result the mention of it is met with suspicious eyes.

That is the number one task I would set out for the new CEO.

Effectively tap into the grassroots and the corporates will come, the professional clubs will grow stronger and the grassroots will benefit from the increased profile.




There is still plenty of work to be done once that is achieved, but work done without it is very unlikely to bear fruit.

If it were an easy task it would have been done before. But without it basketball will never challenge cricket, Australian Rules football and the rugby codes for public interest and corporate investment.

Paulo Kennedy from FIBA

Visit: eBA Portal, Blog, Encyclopedia, Clinics, eBA System Book, eBA on Google +, Facebook, Twitter, YouTubeBA & eBA Store

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Oceania & Australia Basketball News & Events • Noticias & Eventos del Baloncesto Australiano

DC to power Great Britain ?

You might remember a few weeks back I wrote about the marquee match-up between the New Zealand Breakers and the Perth Wildcats.

Well it was on again last Sunday in Perth, and these teams are so good to watch I took the 4,000-odd kilometre flight across the Nullarbor to see it.

The teams put on another classic, the packed house was thrilled until the end, and Great Britain fans should be too.

A minute into the third quarter with New Zealand trailing by 12 points, I remarked to my counterpart on the press bench that their shooting guard, Daryl Corletto, had taken just one shot.

Moments later Breakers import point guard Cedric Jackson sliced to the basket in trademark style, finding Corletto in the corner who coolly fired off a triple. Splash.

Moments later Jackson escaped in transition off a Perth miss and found his running mate on the wing. Bingo!

The man they call DC was feeling good so he took it inside next possession but missed the mark.

CJ Bruton grabbed the O-board and before you knew it, Corletto was firing his renowned line-ball triple. Bottoms! And Wildcat star import Kevin Lisch mistimed his jump to give DC the ‘and one’.

Free-throw made and it is a two-point game. The crowd at The Jungle - as the Wildcats faithful call their home court - is silent.

Perth small forward Cam Tovey nails a triple to bring them back to life. Bruton responds with a long bomb as he has so many times, but Wildcat captain Shawn Redhage hits one of his own and the place is rocking.

Perth are five in front once again, but Corletto slides into the basket against heavy defence to finish his run and get the Breakers back within a shot.

Twelve points in 3:25 and DC has single-handedly kept his team in the game.

“It was one of those games,” Corletto said.

“The first half I wasn’t getting open, other guys were doing their things … so I just had to stand in the corner and wait my turn.

“The third quarter I got a couple of open threes and I knocked them down.”

That’s what Corletto, 30, has been doing for much of his career, popping up when his team needs him to hit clutch triples or his patented soft floater.

From 2006-2009 he was the ‘microwave’ off the bench for the Melbourne Tigers as they made four straight grand finals and claimed two titles.

This season he moved to New Zealand and is again making shots at all the right moments as the Breakers close in on their second-straight regular-season crown.

What does this have to do with Great Britain?

“Mum and dad were both born over there so I’ve got a British passport,” Corletto revealed.

Does he see himself as a realistic chance of playing at the Olympics?

“They’ve got their camp in April and we’ll still be in the (NBL) Finals so it’s going to be tough. They’ve picked a squad of 22 so we’ll just wait and see.”

Corletto would have already suited up for the ‘Mother Country’ if it weren’t for the Tigers demanding he tour Ireland and China with them instead.

“The funny thing is we actually played against them last year with Melbourne,” he said.

“I got to meet all the coaches and have a bit of a chat. They said they were just going to keep an eye on me.”

With Luol Deng and Joel Freeland sure to attract plenty of attention, having a 41 per cent three-point bomber like Corletto on the bench makes perfect sense.

While he hasn’t experienced international basketball yet, training every day against Bruton, Mika Vukona, Tom Abercrombie, Alex Pledger and Dillon Boucher has him well prepared.

“It’s one of the things I’ve noticed, the training at the Breakers is 10 times harder than it was at Melbourne, the guys compete every day.

“You are going up against the guys who play for the Tall Blacks, then you throw in Cedric who’s probably the best import in the league at the moment. It’s fun to go to training every day.”

So is he picking the Breakers’ veterans’ minds about what to expect in the international game?

“Not really, I am trying not to talk about it,” he said.

“The New Zealand media made a bit of a fuss about it about a month ago and the boys were asking about it. It’s one of those things where I have to just wait and see, so I’m concentrating on the Breakers and playing my role.”

He is doing that to perfection, as last Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash showed.

As for the result? Well Perth looked home leading 87-81 late in the fourth but Jackson nailed a triple and a tough driving basket.

With eight seconds left Breakers import Gary Wilkinson missed a game-tying leaner but who should be there but the relentless Vukona, his athletic tip-in forcing overtime.

In the extra period Bruton stepped up, slicing through traffic in 36-year-old slow motion to dish off three assists in the last 2:41 as New Zealand took a four-point lead.

Redhage then scored five-straight points including a fastbreak three-point play to reclaim the lead for the Wildcats with 62 seconds left.




Wilkinson finished a no-look Bruton dish to steal it back before last-gasp attempts from Redhage and Matt Knight went wide.

It was an amazing game, with many different players making influential plays.

None though, were more important than Corletto’s 12-point run when the game was slipping out of New Zealand’s grasp.

Now, how many national teams wouldn’t want that sort of scoring punch sitting on their bench for a time of need?

Paulo Kennedy from FIBA

Visit: eBA Portal, Blog, Encyclopedia, Clinics, eBA System Book, eBA on Google +, Facebook, Twitter, YouTubeBA & eBA Store

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Oceania & Australia Basketball News & Events • Noticias & Eventos del Baloncesto Australiano

Let’s talk about…FIBA Asia-Pacific

This discussion comes up a lot around Olympic time, at the FIBA Basketball World Cup or when the zone qualifiers are being played out.

People, usually from Europe or the Americas, tell me that teams from Asia and particularly Oceania have it too easy, and that there must be a better way to sort qualification.

The latter is certainly a point with merit, but let me quickly deal with the former.

At bi-annual world tournaments since the turn of the century, the number one team from Oceania has on average finished ahead of 4.3 teams from Europe and the Americas.

The second team from Oceania has played in four tournaments in that time and finished in front of an average of 2.5 of those same teams. For the leading team from Asia, the average is two Europe or Americas teams below them.

Based on those figures, it is hard to justify more teams from the two power continents to replace teams from Oceania or Asia.

However, there can be no denying the imbalance of having Oceania, with effectively two teams, as a qualifying zone, when the other four continents play out major championships with 10, 16 or 24 teams.

While both Australia and New Zealand are competitive and respected on the world stage, in the long run it’s not serving anyone’s best interests to keep them isolated Downunder.

The Boomers, Tall Blacks, Opals, Tall Ferns and their junior compatriots don’t get to play in continental championships every two years to hone their tournament-play skills.

This could well be the cause of Australia’s 2-8 record in knockout games across men and women, juniors and seniors from 2009 to 2011.

Having to front up night-after-night - in foreign lands with a wide variety of refs – and face the very different styles of teams like Iran, China, Korea and the Philippines to progress to world tournaments can only be a good thing for Oceania’s powers.

While they might be favoured to finish top three, there will invariably be nights when they are seriously challenged and their basketball lives are on the line.

We saw how that challenge was too much for Iran against Jordan in last year’s FIBA Asia Championship. Australia needs those tough situations.

There are benefits for our northern neighbours too. Asia’s best will get the opportunity to play two additional world-class teams to help them bridge the gap with the top western countries.

There was a clear gap between the haves and have-nots at both Asia’s men’s and women’s championship last year. The tournaments only really came to life in the final days.

Having two more quality teams has obvious benefits of increasing the standard of the top half of the competition, and it would also allow the Asian men’s field to be split in two as it is in the women’s.

This creates better competition for the two zones’ minnows, with the likes of Fiji, Sri Lanka, Thailand & Co able to test themselves against teams of their standard in a B-Division format, and if good enough they can challenge to move up.

This format has not hurt the peripheral teams in Europe, whose marked improvement in recent years has resulted in a very level playing field across the continent.

How long it would take for such a system to bring those results in Asia is anyone’s guess. But what’s certain is basketball is booming on the world’s biggest continent and anything that can be done to capitalise on that should be seriously looked at.

From Australia’s point of view, this opens up Aussie basketball to a massive region it has been trying to crack for some time.

It would also allow the national teams to gain a greater profile back home, something the current lack of meaningful tournaments makes very difficult.

So what are the negatives?

Understandably, Asia’s top teams might feel their Olympic qualification spot could disappear if Australia and New Zealand went one-two at the FIBA Asia-Pacific Championship.

This could be countered by allowing only one downunder team to claim a spot for the first eight years after the merger, or giving this region three places if basketball increases to 16 teams at the Olympics.

There are already five places for Oceania and Asia at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, so nothing need change there.




If Australia’s powers-that-be are worried about losing the current qualification path, I say harden up and look at the big picture.

To me, merging the two continents to form FIBA Asia Pacific is a no-brainer, and the wheels should be set in motion sooner, rather than later.

Paulo Kennedy from FIBA

Visit: eBA Portal, Blog, Encyclopedia, Clinics, eBA System Book, eBA on Google +, Facebook, Twitter, YouTubeBA & eBA Store

[oosie2012]

Oceania & Australia Basketball News & Events • Noticias & Eventos del Baloncesto Australiano

Will the Opals shine again?

In the Australian public’s eye, basketball is a sport that is rebuilding after some lean times. But one hoops outfit that hasn’t slipped out of the psyche has been the Opals.

The women’s national team has continued to capture the imagination with seven Olympic and World Championship medals between 1996 and 2008. Many of their stars have also earned significant media attention with their excellent WNBA performances.

So when the Opals finished a disappointing fifth at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women, there were some questions asked.

The Opals certainly didn’t look the same tight unit whose teamwork was once feared by opponents.

Reports of some serious rifts between star players emerged, and the team’s extremely brief preparation due to WNBA commitments was criticized.

Either of those factors could explain the out-of-sync performance, but it must also be remembered the team went 7-2, losing only to the USA in Group play and then the home-town Czech Republic in the Quarter-Finals.

But when you are a regular guest on the podium, expectations rise and the Opals were clearly outclassed in crucial stretches of those two games.

It’s a different looking Opals team these days though, and Australian women’s basketball may be going through some growing pains.

The Australians rose to prominence in the 90s behind their perimeter play, the likes of Michelle Timms, Robyn Maher, Trish Fallon and Shelley Sandie standouts. Kristi Harrower, Belinda Snell and Penny Taylor continued this tradition.

Of course, powerhouse centre Lauren Jackson was the inside force the team needed to complete the picture, and she led the team to their first gold medal in Sao Paolo in 2006.

But in 2010, Liz Cambage burst onto the scene, giving the Aussies genuine ‘twin towers’ for the first time. Her and Jackson led the team in minutes, points and shot attempts as the Opals became an inside-focused team first, second and third.

Lacking perimeter stars, they shot just 26 per cent from the three-point line and committed over 17 turnovers a game. In the previous decade, they had averaged 35 per cent and 13.6 respectively in those categories.

Point guard Harrower, 35 in 2010, was a shadow of her former self and back-up Tully Bevilaqua was 38 and rarely used in the Opals’ final four games.

The era of great Australian guards has finished, and that makes it much harder to exploit the advantages Jackson and Cambage have inside.

The Australian U19 women’s team – the Gems – had similar issues at the FIBA World Championship in Puerto Montt, Chile, last year.

After making the top four, the Gems coughed up over 50 turnovers in the medal round, their outstanding size inside countered by a lack of any genuine ball-handlers.

So what are the chances for the Opals in London? Are there any new guards on the horizon?

For starters, with Taylor, Snell and Jenna O’Hea there is still genuine athleticism on the wings. Whether the team, given its size, can play the aggressive defence needed to free these athletes in the open court is an interesting proposition.

Sam Richards from the Bulleen Boomers in the WNBL has been receiving rave reviews for her point guard play, as has Kath Macleod from the Dandenong Rangers.

Given Richards saw limited minutes in 2010 and Macleod has only played in FIBA junior tournaments, how much of an impact can these two have at Olympic level?

Erin Phillips continues to promise much, but hasn’t quite converted that to international form.

There is plenty of work to be done by coach Carrie Graf and her players if they are going to capture that elusive Olympic gold medal.

Most of Australia’s WNBA players have prioritised country over club this year, and that’s a great start.

Time heals all wounds, and if the are indeed fractures between some of the Opals top players, hopefully the perspective gained from falling out of the top four in 2010 will put those disagreements on the back-burner.

There are other issues to address though.

Who are the shooters that will keep the defence away from Jackson, Cambage and Suzie Batkovic?

Where are the guards who will make sure the superstars get the ball in the right positions and in the key moments?

And what style of play can the Aussies run to utilise their size advantage, the athletes they have on the wings, and the aggressive manner that seems to come naturally to Aussie teams?




No team will be taking the Opals lightly come August, but it remains to be seen if they can again be the slick, cohesive unit that had the USA looking over their shoulder for so many years.

Paulo Kennedy from FIBA

Visit: eBA Portal, Blog, Encyclopedia, Clinics, eBA System Book, eBA on Google +, Facebook, Twitter, YouTubeBA & eBA Store

[oosie2012]

Oceania & Australia Basketball News & Events • Noticias & Eventos del Baloncesto Australiano

Can Damian Martin be a FIBA star?

Patty Mills was on the fly in transition, approaching a stationary Damian Martin near the three-point line at Challenge Stadium in Perth.

Mills turned on the jets and exploded to the hole, a sight international basketball fans will be all too familiar with. The Portland Trailblazer elevated for a lefty lay-up, but somehow Martin was there towering above him to throw it against the backboard.

For those who haven't seen him play, Martin is a 188cm point guard who is often the best rebounder and shot-blocker on the court.

Like an Australian Jason Kidd he makes teammates better, does all the things that don't show up on the stats sheet, and will always want to defend the opposition's best guard.

Last Friday, he led the Perth Wildcats to a dominant 92-76 home victory over Mills and the Melbourne Tigers in the NBL.

Martin hounded Mills into a 7/19 shooting night, 10 of his 19 points coming in late in the game once the result was decided. For his part Martin finished with 13 points on 5/9, 7 assists, 2 steals and that emphatic block that brought the sell-out crowd to fever pitch.

While Mills is widely considered Australia's best point guard, Martin's performance showed the science is not settled.

But what about international basketball? Apart from his prominent role in Australia's triumph at the 2003 FIBA U19 World Championship, Martin has largely been invisible on the world stage.

At the 2010 FIBA World Championship the 26-year-old saw a total of 10 minutes in the Boomers' crunch games against Argentina, Serbia and Slovenia. In this year's FIBA Oceania Championship he was kept out of sight until a spot in London was secured.

Some say his relentless style is well-suited to the fast-paced NBL, but he simply won't be able to apply the same pressure at the highest level, particularly against the world's best guards.

His five fouls in 14 minutes against Germany in 2010 seem to lend some weight to that theory, albeit in junk time, but Perth and former Australian junior coach Rob Beveridge will have none of it.

"He just destroyed Patty Mills in pre-season and he did it again," Beveridge said of Friday night's display. "Damo was an absolute nightmare for him and that's what he can do to other guards.

"Just throw him out and let him dog them; get in their face, deny them, he'll pinch a couple of steals. He'll make every player work for their points, and I think the Boomers need to have a little more faith in him."

Martin doesn't appear to be as confident as his coach.

"Coming into it (Oceania) I knew I'd be the third string point guard and not many teams play three," he said after the series win against New Zealand.

"You've got Patty Mills and (Matthew) Dellavedova … and those two have secured a spot, but there is 12 months to improve my game to get a spot in the team and a spot in the rotation."

For Beveridge, Martin has been his own worst enemy in the FIBA game, playing with uncharacteristic hesitancy and attending training camp despite a significant back injury.

"He played like a scared rabbit, I was completely disappointed with how he was," Beveridge said. "He made the worst decision by going to Boomers camp and training. He said 'I don't want to sit out', but he only trained at 70%, he lost his quickness and lost his athleticism."

Beveridge added: "Damo thought 'I am not going to let anyone down' (by not training), but he let himself down."

So what is the next step for Martin to become a genuine player on the world stage?

"It's all about opportunity and game style," Beveridge said. "If you want to bog him down in the half-court and be careful and over-cautious, no he won't (excel). But if you give him the ability to play with some freedom and back himself and play with no fear he could be a FIBA star."

While Australian junior teams have long played aggressively at both ends of the court - and the senior team introduced aspects of that in 2007 and 2008 - the Boomer's current style is focused more on half-court play.

It is a contrast to how Australians grow up playing basketball, and a paradox coach Brett Brown is trying to overcome by encouraging his squad members to play their club basketball in Europe.

Martin is focused on adapting his game to try and crack the rotation for the London Olympics.

"Ball-handling and patience are the main ones, and Ill continue to work on my shot," he said about his aims for this year. "It's just a completely different style of game in Europe so you look at their skill package and you try and adapt the skills that can help my game."

They are necessary adjustments for Martin, but his many fans must wonder if he will ever get to show his free-wheeling, creative open-court game in FIBA play. Beveridge thinks he needs to take that into the Boomers' half-court style.

"Damian Martin is never going to be a great scorer, but he makes everyone else around him better," Beveridge said. "I think he has to aim to have five assists per game. He's got to get into the lane and find the open man because he is such a good passer.

"If he continues with the defensive side of things he will be one of the top defensive guards in the world. If he can create for others as well that puts him in a position where you have to play him."

His performance against Mills backs up Beveridge's thoughts, and it has given Martin extra confidence.

"When you get to play against someone like Patty, who is a legitimate star at international level, you do take confidence away from it when you know you can match up with them," he said.

Friday was a desperately needed confidence-booster after a disappointing international season, according to Beveridge.

"He was not the same Damian Martin who left us when he came back," he said. "He really had no self-belief and now we're trying to get him back to where he was."

Mills will confirm that Martin is flying high once again, the question is when will the rest of the world get to see it?




Paulo Kennedy from FIBA

Visit: eBA Portal, Blog, Encyclopedia, Clinics, eBA System Book, eBA on Google +, Facebook, Twitter, YouTubeBA & eBA Store

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