Hoops

Makur Maker ranks No 2 by top247

The dificulty may be in that our mentors are not capable of recognising talent earlier - rather than the kids not being ready.

I hear that in the States they recruit kids from 12 / 13yrs of age. Of course, not to actually compete in top level sports but to identify, intangibles as well as skills (????), which leads to path-ways etc. And as for Europe. They DO throw them (kids) in at the top!

In QLD, and no doubt, throughout Oz, the AFL send scouts to our juniour rep games. Had one come and ask me several q's about one of our under 16 lads during finals (I directing the scout to the lad's mum).

Not entirely in favour of starting 'em off as early as...., let kids be kids, but it is another way of looking at it.

Heard a radio podcast days ago. A swimmer who was id'ed by a coach when she was 12. Talked to her, to mum and dad, and she went into training. Knew nothing else for next several years, did well at swimming, but apparently nothing else, including happiness. She was saying this herself (she's adult now, in her 30's. And, sorry for use of "she". I just don't know her name.)

Any way, there's 2 ways of looking at early recruitment.

I think you know a kids potential by the time they reach u18s. I agree though that it's a bit to early to hype up those that are just entering u16 ajc level.

Can always wait another month for the Under 16 championships and get carried away listing every half decent kid with potential FFS.

Giddey has even more potential imo. Kid will be a 6'8 CG.

DJ, king has much better potential than McDowell white

Who's stone?

If Johnny and Timmy are also playing Auskick they might already be on AFL radar :)

An all black Aussie team that will give the USA a run for its money in the 2023 world cup

Simmons
exum
green
Makur
Thon

Stone
King
Adel
Matur
Bolden
Wigness
Mills

I think 2023 is a bit early to suggest that would be the core, but I'm totally on board with the excitement of the talent pipeline coming through.

Makur and Green are getting oodles of warranted hype right now, and I'm excited for their futures, but as we've seen with so many of our prospects, nothing's a given, you can't count your chickens before they hatch. I want to continue to see these guys develop, get drafted, and turn in to notable NBA players before we start penciling them in as anything for the N.T.

Exum's injuries have been pretty devastating, he really looked primed for a breakout, and I truly believe if he can stay healthy he's going to live up to his contract and then some. We've had guys that have been hyped up and then underwhelmed - Dante is not one of them. Has development to do but showed elite tools at the NBA level.

Thon's going to need to step up. For all of his struggles at the NBA level, he is damn tall/long, a serious rim protector/rim runner, and can stretch the floor some. But our front-line talent is only going to continue to get stronger, and he's going to have to keep improving to hold his spot. Who knows, maybe Matur steals his spot in an Olympics time if he's still at this level.

Stone's an interesting one. I've only seen some videos and read up on him, and my take is that as a 6'3 SG, is that he could do with a few more inches of size. His shot looks good, and he looks like a good athlete, but at 6'3 I think you need some combination of top notch off the dribble creation, elite athleticism or length, and a degree of play-making, and not sure I've seen that from him to this point.

I like Mojave King's physical tools a bit more from what I've seen, he really stands out as an NBA type, explosive athlete. Again, could stand to grew even a few inches, but he's still 16, so fingers crossed. I'm pretty high on this kid, looked great in those couple of NBL1 games, getting some NBA hype, and is said to be a smart IQ player.

I wouldn't write off Wigness either, again, he's really young, and if he can even get to 6'1/6'2, he's really going to be able to translate his elite ball-handling/creation/vision and active defense in to something special. Obviously at 5'11 or so it's going to severely limit his upside, though.

Great, can't wait for the inevitable "He's really 25" thread.

Doesn't do much for Australia's international integrity or reputation:
"We'll only accept you as a refugee if your kids are really athletic, and you agree to sign over custody. Otherwise its off to Manus Island."

Plenty of talented kids listed by Dave but let's be realistic only a handful will make 2023 team.

Don't forget Creek, Adel, Mills, Dellavedova, Landale, Cooks, Noi, Humphries, Motum, McDowellWhite etc will still be around.
Old man Ingles will be 35/36 then and could also still be in the mix.

The Tigers just don't have the fire-power or size to match most of the other teams, based on the game against Adelaide. If it wasn't for Seth Scott, the margin would have been much more embarassing.

However, would the poor roster and the fact that he's a club golden boy be enough to keep Chris Anstey in the job to the end of the season? I don't think so.

Opinions?