Hoops

2014 FIBA U17 World Championships for Women

sorry but your wrong, if you look at the next un19, SHERF WALLACE FROLINGS plus a few more will all BE 19 when worlds are on in 2015 as they are all 18 already, its taken from the qualifier date which for this group will be November 2014, so for the next un17 worlds their qualifier date will be late 2015, so of they don't turn 17 till 2016 even if its jan 1st 2016 they are eligible for un17 worlds in 2016.

Re 98 kids for 17s in 2016 the answer is yes tbey can the same as those born in 96 who will turn 19 in 2015,so 98 born turning 18 that year would still be eligible as they qualify the yr before.

They can but they don't usually

They can but they don't usually

481871 who else do you think is not up to world standards, most if not all on the list have represented Australia or been at an Aus camp?

yes agree re Fareo possibly, but it will be interesting to see how college effects this group, as they wont be able to get back for camps or tours, not even the qualifiers this November, so perhaps a couple more of the un17s would be looking to fill some spots, but still wouldn't be many especially in the guards position, but if Frolings aren't able to participate then some of those bigger MORE SOLID players who can play the 4 spot the likes of Hellesey,Bibby,and even Mc Kay, might be looking at this age group. Wasn't their another huge tall that played with Rangers had a funny last name, what's happened to her, she's as big as Sherf.

481849.....so what do you think team will look like


Yes agree 5th is a good result considering how badly they played in a few quarters of some games.such a shame the couldnt have had a crack at medals think they may have got it together to string 4 good qtrs together by then. But they should be proud mighty effort

Recap of the playoff for 5th place win is now up on PnR:

Sapphires defeat Canada, earn 5th place

14yr old will be too young and I'd say they have enough talent in all positions not to require a 15yr old at an un19 worlds.
Burton and Seaton were part of the team that went to Oceania Pacific champs last yr. Both extremely athletic and fast Burton 6ft f/g plays for Ballarat in seabl and vycw. Seaton plays for Albury she'd be the only ? But they would be my prefered 2 but I'm not the coach haha

PG/SG 5'7 Mikayla Pirini
SG 5'9 Montana Farah Seaton
PG/SG 5’9 Rachel Antoniadou
PG/SG 5’10 Kristy Wallace
SG/SF 6’0 Alexandra Sharp
SF 6’1 Anneli Maley
SF 6’2 Keely Froling
PF 6’3 Alicia Froling
PF/C 6’3 Alliyah Fareo
PF/C 6’3 Alanna Smith
PF/G 6' KASEY BURTON
C 6’5 Lauren Scherf

probably this line up though quite a few bigs to choose from for the 3/4 spot. only problem will be 4 of them(WALLACE,FROLING SISTERS,FAREO) will be in USA college system next month so not sure how that works, they wont be around for qualifiers in Nov.

yes you can, as the qualifiers are this year so they have to be UN19 for then and that's when they class your age, so players born 96 are the age group for 2015.

have to agree with Real One on this, though think they ran better this game without having Tupaea on the crt as much too their offence ran quicker. but good effort just the same 5th overall. I did think the standard was not very high in most games of the other teams especially for worlds, but great coverage by FIBA, nice to be able to watch the games. Hope they all learnt a lot and had a great time, its an amazing experience Im sure for all these young players.

Big 69-39 win by Sapphires vs Canada to finish 5th.

Maley with 10p, 10r & 3s & Rocci with 10p, 7r & 4a.

Aussie girls look like a different team from their first three games...

Hustle, purpose and intent all evident.

nice lay-in on the half time buzzer sees Australia leading 31-17.

Sharp and Maley for mine have been the most impressive in this game so far.

Sharp has 8p, 3r & 2b
Maley has 7p, 8r & 3s

Game underway for 5th place.

Great start by Sapphires - leading Canada 10-3. Defensively the girls not letting Canada get into their sets.

Bibby wont grow any more, but not everyone has to be 6ft5 to get to the upper levels in basketball, she'd be a good strong forward if she keeps developing her outside game

Australia won 65-48 to now earn a spot to play off for 5th.

Maley with 10p & 6r.
Bibby had 14p & 4r.
Tupaea with 4r, & 3s

yes I agree they have way more people to choose from, BUT they do not go play national teams on a weekly basis, they play interclub teams, not unlike VJBL, NSWBL, BIGV SEABL WNBL, all these same opportunities, do you think America when they play china take their national team, no they dont they take a mix of highschool kids.Agree more funding and support is needed especially in the womens area for the juniors, you only have to look on this forum to see how one sided basketball is in Australia, its like the females are the ALSO RANS.....but dont see Boomers coming up with any great results unlike the OPALS... food for thought for all those who only ever focus on mens basketball

^^think you will find most teams are much the same as ours, they don't play a weekly comp,and have camps every weekend. Our lot have had several camps over the last two years, two lots of oceania, plus china and the preworlds. USA held tryouts for their teanm less than a year ago, I know they have a huge pool to choose from but our girls have had as much chance as the rest really.

but shouldn't this team have been stacked with talent also, they are supposed to be the best we have. I think its also how you relate to that age group to be able to get the best out of them and from watching these games he doesn't really seem to have much interaction with them accept for tupea who's always talking to him on the side line.
think both are great coaches, and can see where they would think experience would be the better option, but sometimes you have to factor in 'will these kids want to play for a coach. Plus a few questionable things like Sharp and Malley getting limited time in a very important game when they had been stand-out the rest of the week, the omission of two bigs in Hellesy ( a crack shooter and shot blocker) and Mc Kay whose a monster on the boards, which left Australia small, then saying they went for athleticism over height yet leaving the two most athletic players on the bench. If that's the mind of experience I think perhaps BA made a mistake. Just my thoughts

think Chris Lucas is a good coach, though perhaps not for juniors, were as Paul Flynn the UN18 Vic coach has a very good proven record with this age group, not just at AJC , look at his Rangers team he had for the two yrs previously, they took out the whole thing Aus Day, Classic AND VJBL Champs, hes had the un17s at Oceania the year before they creamed everyone, then bam Chris Lucas who had not been coaching this age group ever gets the gig. So think Flynn may have been better option and I am sure their would have been a few roster changes too. Lets hope the girls can pull out the win for 5th, but going to be a hard win if its France they play, that team beat USA in the pre tournament tour.

well next year its 19s, so hopefully with the likes of Sherf,Frolings x2 , Wallace and Antoniadou they may get some grit back , they all fight for it. Though In the 17s defence they seemed to lack some motivation from the sidelines, you could hear the chech team shouting and cheering and their coach was really animated in time outs, that last quarter I didn't here a thing from the Aussie bench and in a crucial time out Lucas handed it over to his assistant Lori Chizick he sad at the end not even looking at them, think that says a lot.If your coaches don't have the look of belief at least , then players can get their heads down, and these are after all still young girls

First tough competition they have had. 5 games in and they still dribble way too much looked totally unorganised and every guard they had just wanted to do their own thing. Foccadilla pifs up shots the second she gets ball tupeua Foccadilla and rocci dribble waaaaaay to much with going anywhere or making a decision.
mallie and Sharp definate standouts for future prospects.

The recap is now up on PnR:

Sapphires defeat Mali, advance to quarterfinals

The Sapphires put forward a smothering defensive effort to remain undefeated in the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women, defeating Mali 72-34. The Australian U17 Women’s squad, nicknamed the Sapphires, held Mali to just 24% from the field, allowing only 34 points in 40 minutes of action.

Aussies looking much better again in their game against Mali so far. Leading 30-15 at half time.

the other pools will be way harder they struggled in this weak pool, lets hope they can start to improve now that they have blown the nerves out

Recap from the Sapphires win over Mexico:

Sapphires defeat Mexico; go 3-0 in Group Phase

The Australian U17 women’s team has completed the group phase of the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women with a 64-42 win over Mexico, finishing with an impressive 3-0 record and remain one of the only unbeaten teams in the tournament.

the boys haven't even started yet this is about the girls

these girls will struggle against the better teams, considering they have had plenty of time together before this as apart from Bibby , the rest have been as a group since before nationals in Feb and had the 9 games on the china trip, they just don't play like a cohesive team. Way too much dribble from all guards and their shooting is terrible. they cant say it is the rings because all teams are new to them.

Strong second half against Mexico, the girls are pulling away from them, nice to see.

Some nice work between Bibby and Tupeau around the key, they are very strong on the ball.

if both Japan and Slovakia beat Mexico easily, then that certainly is no guarantee the Aussies will put Mexico to bed without much trouble, both games played we were very lucky to come away with the win,and Mexico will not want to go through win less lets hope they don't go in thinking its a guaranteed win, that's a sure fire way to loose.

Yes, 2-0, but on track to be 3-0 as we next play the winless Mexico.

A full recap from the Sapphires win over the Slovak Republic is now up on PnR:

Sapphires nab win with Anneli Maley’s huge effort

Anneli Maley had 12 points and pulled down a staggering 20 rebounds as the Sapphires started the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women with a 2-0 record, defeating Slovak Republic 58-51 in a nail-biter.

Not this age group , and only couple in the un19, funny isn't it all the hype for basketball is always about the bigs, let's develop the bigs, we need bigs, but they forget that without your guardsPG in particular and smart poised ones at that the bigs don't get the ball. There are always lots of guards because the average height of the population girls in particular is not your 6ft plus size, but good ones who have had the bonus of experience plus time put into their development both by themselves and coaches are rare it seems

Australia probably could have used hellesey , she's a good strong big, or the big from WA can't remember her name as dedicated centre, but Bibby is strong and plays better against the bigger bodies so she may step up. It's not all about height you need good guards to be able to 1 control the tempo, 2 get the ball up the floor,3 set up the play. This is a bigger issue than lacking height in my books.

21 turnovers for Australia with 10 coming from steals from Slovakia , so 11 unforced errors, need to look after the ball way more than that, but yes definitely looked better in some places, now they need to string 4 qtrs. together, very very lucky to come up with 2 wins so far. Don't think they are actually that small , just lacking the extra tall player that some teams have, but it's not all about size. Do agree though a dedicated centre and a good solid PG could help. But a wins a win keep it up girls.

A lot better game by the Sapphires to account for the Slovak Republic 58-51.

Maley had 12p & 20r with 2a! She is a monster in the paint.

Forcadilla had 17p (3/6 3PT), 6r & 1a.

Tupaea had 11p (3/11 FG), 3r, 5a & 3s.

Pineau had 10p (5/12 FG) & 6r.

Girls were clearly not as nervous and far more composed. Turnovers still hurting though - have up 21 tonight. Outrebounded opponents 50-29, and outscored them 28-12 in the paint.

Dreadful first game, one of the problem they have is not having a PG that's capable of organising them, Tupaea is not a PG, but probably the best they have in this group as they couldn't get it over half way without her on CRT, the others not enough experience to handle pressure, but it is only first game so hopefully they will improve, though they have been playing together for the previous week plus china tour and Oceania and all their camps so should be gelled by now. Think the offence they run is not productive and Tupaea tries to do too much. Pineau had awesome first game.
Fingers crossed tonight is better but even tougher opponent it seeems

Recap now up on PnR for Aussies win over Japan.

Pineau powers Australia to win over Japan in opener

In what was otherwise a poor shooting night for the Australian U17 Women’s squad – nicknamed the Sapphires – Victoria’s Georgia Pineau provided the spark with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks while shooting 83% from the field as Australia defeated Japan 54-46 in the tournament opener.

54-46 win after Japan stole the lead with around 6min remaining.

Pineau the star with 23p, 12r, 1a, 2s & 3b.

Maley had 4p & 16r.

23 turnovers nearly killed Australia. Rebounding kept them in the game, winning the boards 49-36.

Hopefully they have blown the nerves out with this win. Tupaea over-handled the ball IMO and needs to help direct the offense better.

Early days in the tournament - nerves likely to be playing a part.

Japan take the lead with 6:15 to play. Australia is moving the ball a little better, but not scoring. Japan has started hitting the three-ball.

TO's killing Australia. Rebounding keeping them ahead so far. Pineau almost playing a lone hand offensively.

Better 2ns qtr that's for sure after an untidy first. Tupaea forcing too many shots so far - she is 1/9 on shooting.

Pineau has been good, and Maley dominating the glass.