Hoops

VJBL 18s - top four tips?

I haven't seen Melbourne play much before but last night they only had 5 players against Hawthorn, and then lost one of their bigs early in the fourth due to being fouled out, team appeared to be riddled with injuries as well, thus they finished the last 8 minutes or so with only four players... They seemed a little undermanned

I wish them well, either way anon good luck to them. Happy to be proven wrong and see them win through to the finals.

Only my opinion.

Let's see how it goes shall we.

Anon^ I can only give an opinion on when they played Geelong and how I observed them that night, compared with the other teams we have played in VC to date and what I know they can bring to the court.

The Geelong team has been hit hard with injury and player loss, unfortunately they also have to have a good look at themselves in how they play and how they are responding to the coaching in their losses.

No need to feel bad or sorry for the Supercats, they don't deserve VC this season, so they will go back and have a good crack at reserve I think...

Great to see Oakleigh get into VC, they deserve it, also I believe I have not seen them play with their entire team, so maybe they can cover losses better than a team like Geelong and maybe they will be able to contain teams in VC for longer with their full roster.

From what I know, their games v Melbourne and Dandenong resulted in Oakleigh's favour (not a win but a decent result) partially due to key players being out for both the Tigers and the Rangers.

No excuses, just an observation as I think Oakleigh will win games if they are fully fit and firing, otherwise they may struggle.

That said, it remains to be seen how Oakleigh will go in VC, as I have observed, they are a great group with lots of intensity, but to stay at the level they need to for 4 quarters will be the challenge before them.

Mind you, we can say that about almost all the teams in VC and VC Reserve, it is still a tough competition, at both levels and good teams punish you for your mistakes and weaknesses.

I see Keilor and Sandringham had a 55-55 draw. I wonder how that will impact the pool and the top 5 in that pool? Very interesting...

I happened to see Oakleigh play a couple of weeks ago. They were well drilled and had plenty of spark early in the game, but I believe they were missing one or two key payers and couldn't keep up the intensity for 4 quarters.

They are a decent VC reserve team in my opinion, but will struggle to win a game if they make VC. They will have done well to make VC if they get there, but it will be at the lower end of the competition.

The stronger teams in VC are just able to sustain their intensity for longer and have weapons Oakleigh lack, but good on them, they are a great bunch of kids that try hard all game.

Bulleen lost 2 guards last week, one with an ACL and the other with a broken leg in the same game. Not saying this would have changed the Oakleigh outcome but it doesn't help.

Anon^, I would love to be wrong with some of those predictions, it is just my thoughts at the moment, but take your point that it is early in the season cheers...

In pool 1 Dandenong, Eltham, Melbourne and Diamond Valley seem to be powerful teams that will hold a mortgage on the top 4 positions. It will be a dogfight to see who can make it into VC after 9 rounds in that pool.

In pool 2 it may already be decided, I can't see Werribee, Hawthorn, Knox, Waverley or Keilor dropping down out of the top 5 this season.

Men's 18 VC divisions of course...