Hoops

Sandy Brondello to be new Opals coach?

Bahahaha "Hoggy Time". I hope that guy comes back, what an imbo

No idea.
Could it be Laura Hodges?
Or perhaps Hoggy Time?

Who is "Hoggy" that someone said should be assistant coach??

I love Sandy and think she'd be a solid choice as Opals coach, but her coaching accomplishments seem to get overstated a little IMO.
eg. last WNBA season she took the talent-laden title favourites, barely scraped into 8th place, and got swept out of the semi finals 3-0.
UMMC (which Olaf is actually the head coach of) is similarly stacked, so it's hard to know how much of their achievements to attribute to great coaching.

I'm not surprised to read talk of a juggle struggle for her time. I'm pretty sure that both of her pro gigs would be lucrative, the Opals job would not be, and it would be impossible for her to do a proper job with the Opals while keeping her current gigs. I'm interested to see just how far BA will bend on that one. Surely there's a point where it's better to have a slightly less qualified coach who can fully commit, compared to a slightly better one who will never be around.

The thought of Sandy Brodello as coach of the Opals is exciting. A proven coach in both USA & Europe. plus one of our smartest guards ever.
Surprised that Lavey is nominated for another hit in the Opals. She has so far not produced any evidence that proves she is up to it.
Love Penny Taylor but suggest Chris Master as Assist. to Opals (smart old head) backed up by Shannon Seabon. Shannon incidentally refused an offer to coach the Flames this season after the deal removed him from player selection. Much like Masters last time in Adelaide.
Please don't exclude the amazing talent currently playing in USA Colleges.

I agree. When the olympics end in disappointment, I don't think the best response is to intentionally send an even weaker team. There will be plenty of opportunities in between the olympics and worlds to give the best of the up-and-comers a taste of Opals ball.
We still should be aiming for medals.

Players are either in the best 12 or they are not.

Blooding young players for development purposes isn't what major international tournaments are for.

Job has only just been advertised yesterday on Sportspeople. You can either assume Sandy said NO or you have all been jumping the gun.

Who's the next gen?

^^ hear hear

Opals imo... with all available.

Mansfield
Lavey
Clydesdale
Whitcomb
Allen
Talbot
Blicavs
George
Mijovic
Tolo
Cambage

1 spot open for...

Cumming
Seekamp
Cole
Garrick
Madgen
Wallace
Jarry
Kunek

I just read this, who posted this? Wow, what a mediocre list. At least half are not good enough, better to bring through the next generation in my opinion.

And also, this WNBL season (once again, in my opinion) has reinforced Molloy should never ever be considered to coach the Opals.

Getting deals done isn't a strong point at BA headquarters.

I am hearing that Sandy is in discussions with BA, but she is not sure if she can manage the juggle or not.

Still nothing on this yet officially ?

That would be a great start to the coaching team

You can bet Penny will be an assistant

Wallace is definitely a SG, I agree.

Opals imo... with all available.

Mansfield
Lavey
Clydesdale
Whitcomb
Allen
Talbot
Blicavs
George
Mijovic
Tolo
Cambage

1 spot open for...

Cumming
Seekamp
Cole
Garrick
Madgen
Wallace
Jarry
Kunek

Watched the Baylor V Texas game today, Wallace looked way off Opals material

Blicavs, Smith and Wallace all future Opals if not WNBA players

Seebottom does not have enough experience , as for players, I'm sure if Brondello is in fact coach their will be a huge change in style.

Those college names are way off yet, and some will never be on the mark lol

Big if true

Great news if true.

Appears this is true, great news if so.

"That would be a good choice, but then anything would be good after Joyce really lol."

Shane Heal disagrees.

Seebohm would have been a good choice also.

And the players?

With no WNBA players available, it'll be a vastly different squad come July.

Maybe...
Mansfield/Clydesdale/Lavey
Cumming/Garrick
Blicavs/Jarry/Kunek
Tolo/Mijovic
Cambage/Scherf

Maybe some college players or others who are overseas?
Seekamp, Bunton, Wallace, Brewster, Sharp, Froling, Smith etc

isnt she Mercury head coach?

How can she coach if the Asian cup is in July?

That would be a good choice, but then anything would be good after Joyce really lol.

then we need to get " hoggy " as her assistant.

I really hope this is true.

The draw for the 2011 U19 World Championships for Men was held overnight in Riga, Latvia.

Australia drew the home nation and Argentina in their preliminary group. The draw looks like this:

Group A: Tunisia, Russia, Brazil, Poland
Group B: Argentina, Taiwan, Australia, Latvia
Group C: Croatia, South Korea, Canada, Lithuania
Group D: USA, Egypt, Serbia and China.

The 10th Edition of the tournament will be held in Latvia from 30 June through 10 July 2011.

The best three teams from each group will advance into the next round and will make up two groups with six teams in each. Best four teams from the groups of the second stage will qualify into the quarterfinals. The USA team are the reigning champions as they defeated Greece in 2009 tournament Final.

How do we think the Aussie youngsters will go? Who will make up our team?