Hoops

VYCM five best players in each position???

Kyle Adnam got the MVP, and now playing in the NBL with the Adelaide 36ers behind boomer Adam Gibson and ex NBA Gary Ervin. hes a true class above most if not all kids his age and experience. He has potenital to be a national guard if he gets his body right. Most exciting young player to watch hands down

Anon you are seriously kidding "Dejan is G.O.A.T. for the generation"? Will White clearly is. Check the FIBA Stats of last year and remember he is a bottom ager.

Alpha, my apologies anon did mention nations. I took it as being an abbreviation for nationals.

Agree with your comments on Will White (he is pure class) and Wilson, jury is still out for me on Clarke. He would seem to freeze on the bigger stage. I hear he didn't do so well in China or Nations. Goes well when he is the main player and has a coach running plays for him, same as Dejan does.

Agree with Anon, Dejan's a shooter not a PG, more interested in scoring than dishing.

However, congrats to Dejan for winning rookie of the year. Well done, very good performance.

Didn't need to see him in the U16 nationals. As you said, stats are there on line and can be misleading. But I did notice that during the first 6 rounds & the semi final Dejan was 7/35 from beyond the arc, as you say against weaker opposition? Had a lucky game in the final and dropped 5 from 8. Have it on good authority that Queensland South did their scouting and weren't concerned about his 3 point shooting as he hardly set the world on fire in the previous 7 games, so they left him open. Queensland South were more concerned about shutting down others in the final. Obviously they made a mistake.

Stand by my comments though. Why is he given the licence, when clearly others are better shooters? And I'd suggest, deep down you know that and know the reasons why.

You were at the U18 Nationals, so presumably you are either in the Vic coaching squad or close to it or to him. That would explain your bias.

I have seen a video of the U18 Nationals Final and whilst Dejan did well to score as he did he almost cost Vic Metro the Final with his turnovers, especially in the closing minutes and his unspectacular 3 point shooting 1/5. Again, hardly setting the world on fire in a big game. Big game player, I don't think so, not yet anyway. U16 VC Final, I'm told he played nearly the whole game, came off injured in the last 2 or 3 minutes, how many points, 4 I think. U18 VC Final, I'm told it was not one of his better games. Big game player? Please, think again.

Anon & Alpha not sure where some of you get your stats from? There is no doubt Dejan has ability, but is it overstated?

Presumably you are talking about this year's U18 Nationals? Stats are available on line, but Dejan did not throw up 19 shots in any of the games. Closest he got was 15 shots in the S/F for 5/15 FG 33.3%, 3/4 2's 75%, 2/11 3's 18.2%.

Stats for the whole U18 Vic Metro team for the Champs:

Name FG 3's
Dejan Vasiljevic28/79 35.4% 10/40 25%
Joel Smith 23/65 35.4% 5/18 27.8%
Geremy Mckay 28/56 50% 1/1 100%
Marek Toman 29/61 47.5% 0/0 0%
Thomas Wilson 23/61 37.7% 4/13 30.8%
Abi Akintola 22/34 64.7% 0/0 0%
Michael Wearne 11/22 50% 4/11 36.4%
Jock Perry 16/37 43.2% 0/0 0%
Fraser Pearce 10/39 25.6% 5/25 20%
Lachlan Anthony 9/37 24.3% 4/16 25%

As for the shooting % of 2's, this can be misleading as to where/how are they scored, Lay-up, Fast break, Power Lay-up, put back, tip in, etc as opposed to mid range, shot of the dribble, shot just inside the arc, etc. However the 3's are a different story. But my observation of the stats above would be that Dejan likes to shoot it and is allowed to shoot it. Problem is it looks like there are at least 3 kids in that team that were better 3 point shooters & 6 of them had better FG%. So why is Dejan allowed (dare I say encouraged) to put up so many shots compared to the others? That is the question.

The stats from the U16 nationals 2012 show a similar theme:

Name FG 3's
Abi Akintola 32/57 56.1% 0/0 0%
Anthony Karabatsos 20/36 55.6% 1/8 12.5%
Blake Allison 25/42 59.5% 0/1 0%
Dejan Vasiljevic 30/78 38.5% 7/35 20%
Harley Balic 25/50 50% 2/5 40%
Jacob Elordi 14/32 43.8% 0/0 0%
Jock Perry 22/51 43.1% 0/2 0%
Matthew Owies 29/63 46% 1/8 12.5%
Sebastiano Lamonato 20/46 43.5% 0/0 0%
Thomas Wilson 30/67 44.8% 2/6 33.3%

Looks like Dejan liked to shoot it and was allowed to shoot it then as well. Again, there were kids with better 3 Point % and the WHOLE team had a better FG%?

Looks like this is the case in VYCM?

Kind of raises some questions, doesn't it?

@Alpha, Lemke played at Centre, rotating with Landale and Hedlam for the most part...

Dont think so Beth, else Ben Simmons would be in a whole lot of trouble!