Hoops

Emus team

Emus team chosen for tour of Croatia and Russia

From the Basketball Australia story:

Basketball Australia has announced the 12 players who will form the Australian U19 Men’s Team, The Emus, to compete in World Championship warm-up games later this month.

The group will travel to Croatia and Russia, departing on 25 May, where they will compete in a series of warm-up games against the Croatian and Russian national U17 and U19 teams, ahead of the 2011 U19 FIBA World Championship in Latvia, which tips off 30 June and runs until the 10 July.

The final team that represent Australia at the upcoming FIBA U19 World Championship will be announced in early June.

Australian Under 19 Emus Team for Croatian and Russian Tour:

Jackson ALDRIDGE NSW/AIS
Mitchell CREEK VIC
Anthony DRMIC VIC/AIS
Andrija DUMOVIC NSW
Hugh GREENWOOD Tas/AIS
Igor HADZIOMEROVIC VIC/AIS
Jackson HUSSEY WA/AIS
Mitchell McCARRON QLD
Mitchell NORTON QLD/AIS
William SINCLAIR VIC
Lewis THOMAS WA/AIS
Daniel TRIST NSW/AIS

Head coach: Damian Cotter
Assistant coach: Paul Goriss
Technical Assistant Coach: Markus Kluseman
Team Manager: Bob McGugan
Physio: Peter Suffolk
Team Doctor: Dr Graham Lee

I think the team will run with what they need to in order to get the win.

I also think that Creek can definitely play any of the 3 or 4 spots at U19 level.

I guess the beauty of some of the players in the team is they can play a number of spots and roles to suit the situation. We have some great young prospects at both the PG, SG (inc. combo) and SF spots in particular in this group. I hope that the core group of players (Greenwood, Aldridge, Iggy, Drmic & Creek) can continue to step it up but also progress from being outstanding junior players to making it at the senior level internationally as well. Unfortunately this is where the men's program has seemingly not been good at over the past 10 years, with just a handful of guys getting to that level (if you know what I mean).

No need to run Iggy at the PG spot when you already have Aldridge, Mitch Norton (who is a great pure PG) and Jackson Hussey (who can handle the ball).

Iggy is a 6"5 frame with a scorers mentality, with a nice shot and the ability to penetrate and finish..Its a no brainer to use him at the 2/3 spot as that is where he is truly effective and plus the team is already stocked with capable pg's/guys that can handle the rock

Well ok then..Who do you think should be the starting 4?

I think it could be Thomas or Trist.

It looks as though you've put Creek at 4..As i said I know he played there at the AST.
But he is not a 4 man..You can't be criticising me for saying G'Wood and Drmic could play 4, when you reckon Creek should play there. Gwood, Creek and Drmic are very similar in size.
I respect Creek as a player--He has a very very bright future. But at the end of the day here is the facts:
-He is an undersized 4 man(by a considerable margin)
-He doesn't possess the outside shooting abilites to be a 2/3 man, and he is never going to be a PG
-Way too short to be a 5 man
Where do you play him? Marty Clarke had the same dilemma with him for the 36ers. If I had to choose between him and Drmic, Id say Drmic easy..Drmic can play 2,3 or 4..He can shoot the ball, play on the perimeter and inside..Can create his own shot..Uses his length superbly on defence to block shots and get steals.

My starting lineup:

Aldridge
Drmic
Greenwood
Thomas/Trist
Dumovic

Anon, question: Where do you play Creek then?

There were alot of players of similar size and position with Wroe, Hussey, Norton, Spehr, McCarron and Aldridge.

Sad to see Wroe been left out, but they had no choice really..He was battling against Norton for the backup PG role. And Norton has showed he is more than worthy --Great Under 20s campaign for QLD and was very good on the AIS tour.

Id imagine they will use Hussey as a combo guard because he is an attacking player with a quick first step and a scorers mentality..whereas Wroe cannot be utilised at the 2 spot in the same manner.

Good to see Dumovic in the team, even if he is young.
Something that held the team back at the AST was their lack of a center with size. Trist was playing the 5 spot and yet he is only 6"6/6"6.5 maybe 6"7.
Correct me if im wrong but Dumovic is 6"9.5-6"10.

Interesting to see whether Cotter will persist with playing Creek at the 4 spot. He played there at the AST and was able to exploit mis-matches..going to be diffcult this time around, especially on the defensive end.
My starting 5 would look like:

Aldridge
Igor
Drmic/Creek
Greenwood
Dumovic

I believe they can utilise Drmic or Greenwood at the 4 spot because of their size (6"6)..especially given that they have Dumovic (a legit center) in the paint.

Anon, How could you call anyone that attends the AIS lazy?
Drmic trains 2/3 times a day..every session is high-intensity, gruelling and painful.

Probably the worst call ive heard on the forum for a while..

Agree wholeheartedley...

Who does everyone think is the best young player in the Emu's squad?

I would say Anthony Drmic