Canada U21 men defeat Aus

[CanadianSteve]

I went to a game tonight in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, and saw the Canadian U21 men defeat Australia in a very exciting game:

http://www.basketball.ca/en/hm/inside.php?id=604

It was part of a 4 team tournament being played as a leadup to the FIBA U21 championships coming up. The Aussie team was very impressive, and jumped out to a 14-2 lead - I thought it was gonna be a long night for Canada. But Our boys came back to tie at halftime, then took a 16 point lead in the 3rd quarter. Aussie came to within 2 points a couple of times in the 4th, but Canada hung on to win. The Aussie had a few players playing in US colleges (as did Canada), but I thought the best player was Steven Marcivic from the West Sidney Razorbacks. A very tough, muscular point guard.

I just got home from the game, and can't find a media report on iy yet. I will post more info when I find some. Does anyone here know much about the players on the Aussie roster?

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1122241808811&call_pageid=969907729483&col=970081562040

 

[CanadianSteve]

1
2005 CANADIAN YOUNG MEN’S (UNDER 21) NATIONAL TEAM ROSTER
# PLAYER POS. HT WT DOB 2005-2006 UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE YR*** YRS* GP HOMETOWN

U 21 Australian Team Roster
Name Position School / Club Height

Jawai, Nathan Centre Cairns Team (ABA) 6’7”
Gibson, Adam Guard Australian U21 6’1”
Hill, Brad Forward Australian U21 6’5”
Markovic, Steven Guard West Sydney 6’2”
Janev, Blagoj Forward West Sydney Razorbacks 6’7”
Bruce, Aaron Guard - Captain Baylor university (US) 6’2”
Allen, Benjamin Forward / Centre Nike Hoop World Select team 6’8”
Maric, Aleksandar Centre University of Nebraska (US) 6’8”
Harris, Samuel Centre Old Dominion University (US) 7’3”
Newley, Brad Forward Townsville Crocs (NBL) 6’5”
Knight, Matthew Forward Loyola Marymount University (US) 6’6”
Carter, Rhys Guard Knox Team (ABA) 6’2”

Molloy, Guy Head Coach
McGugan, Bob Manager/ Head of Delegation
Mallon, Tim Assistant Coach
Palmer, Bruce Assistant Coach
Sedgman, Craig Athletic Physiotherapist
Sellwood, Kylie Doctor
Theisz, Damien Referee

 

[attamarrap]

what did you think of brad newley?? he is one of our most promising youngsters

 

[CanadianSteve]

Newley hit a couple of 3's from the corner, and also scored inside. He looks like a good all-round player. He plays in the NBL, right? I wonder if he's thought of playing in the US, or had any offers.

Samuel Harris is huge, 7'3, but he didn't start. He looks like he needs a lot of work. A coach from Old Dominion was there watching and talked to Sam after the game. I assume he was a coach as he was wearing an Old Dominion shirt.

It was a great win for the Canadian kids, but to be honest I thought if they played 10 times Aus would win about 7. I hope they both make the final Thursday - I'll go watch it and give another report here.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1122241808811&call_page=TSS_Main&call_pageid=968867503640&call_pagepath=Sports/Index&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email

 

[CanadianSteve]

Here's a report from the Basketball Canada site:

CANADA DEFEATS DEFENDING UNDER 19 WORLD CHAMPIONS FROM AUSTRAILIA

Toronto, ON) In the first match of the 2005 season Canada’s Young Men’s National Team (Under 21) faced the defending Under 19 World Champions from Australia and came away with an 89-81 victory.

After winning the tip off, Canada was held to only two points in the first four minutes, while Australia tallied 12 points. Canada had trouble finding open shots initially and had equal trouble slowing down the Australian offence. As the period progressed, Canada began to pick-up momentum, but where still trailing 24-17 at the end of the quarter.

Canada continued to improve its play in the second quarter, shooting the ball better and erasing their deficit. The teams went to the locker rooms at halftime tied at 42. Canada’s Levon Kendall scored eight of his 13 points in the first half while adding four rebounds. Kendall’s 13 points were second in the half to Australian Brad Newley’s 14 points, including a pair of three-pointers and a dunk.

Carrying forward the momentum of the second quarter, Canada began to build a lead holding a 58-50 advantage at the four-minute mark of the third quarter and a 66-53 lead after three periods of play. Australia began to move to a full-court press in the fourth quarter in an effort to get back in the game but Canada handled the trap well, quickly passing the ball up the floor maintaining lead throughout the stanza.

Kingsley Costain led Canada with 16 points while Levon Kendall (13), Aaron Doornekamp (11), Tristan Blackwood, and Kevin Francis (10) rounded out the double figure scorers. Australia’s Newley added another six points in the second half to become the only player to reach the 20-point plateau.

“This was a great test for the tournament,” said Kendall. “We did some good things, and we did some bad things. I think we did well for our first game of the tournament. We made some mental errors and turnovers, but that is stuff we can improve on quickly.”

Canadian Head Coach Dave Crook added, “This was a great start to the tournament and we will savour the win. Australia will be one of the best teams we face this year so I am very happy with the result. It was nice to get contributions from so many of our players, we had all 12 men score in the first quarter. That is the kind of contribution we will need to be successful.”

On day two of Tournament action ,Tuesday, July 26th , Australia will face China at 6 p.m., while Canada will face Greece at 8 p.m.

and the boxscore:

OFFICIAL BASKETBALL BOX SCORE -- G A M E T O T A L S

Australia vs Canada

07/25/05 8pm at Hershey Center

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VISITORS: Australia

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

05 Adam Gibson * 2-4 0-1 3-3 0 2 2 3 7 2 3 0 0 28

07 Marco Steven * 6-11 2-4 5-6 0 0 0 1 19 3 6 0 4 34

10 Benjamin Allen * 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 3 2 1 1 0 1 27

11 Aleksander Maric * 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 5 2 0 1 1 0 16

13 Brad Newley * 8-12 2-3 2-2 0 2 2 3 20 1 6 0 2 40

04 Nathan Jawai 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 14

06 Brad Hill 3-5 0-0 8-8 1 4 5 0 14 3 0 0 0 12

08 Blagoj Janev 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 1 2 8

09 Aaron Bruce 1-6 1-4 2-2 0 2 2 2 5 1 2 0 0 12

12 Samuel Harris 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 7

15 Rhys Carter 1-6 0-3 2-2 0 2 2 0 4 0 2 0 2 1

TEAM ........................................ 0 0 0

TOTALS 27-58 5-15 22-23 3 22 25 21 81 11 21 3 11 199

TOT-FG 1stH: 15-27 55.6% 2ndH: 12-31 38.7% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 46.6% Deadbl

3pt-FG 1stH: 3-7 42.9% 2ndH: 2-8 25.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 33.3% Rebs

FThrow 1stH: 9-10 90.0% 2ndH: 13-13 100.% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 95.7% 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOME TEAM: Canada

TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS

No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN

04 Kingsley Costain * 6-12 4-6 0-0 2 0 2 2 16 1 5 0 2 26

06 P Cespedes * 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 2 0 5 0 1 20

07 Garry Galimore * 0-3 0-1 2-2 1 4 5 3 2 3 2 0 2 19

14 Levon Kendall * 5-16 2-3 1-2 3 3 6 4 13 3 0 0 2 19

15 Vlad Kuljanin * 3-6 0-0 2-2 1 3 4 1 8 0 2 0 0 15

05 Tristan Blackwood 3-8 2-6 3-3 0 2 2 2 11 6 2 0 1 18

08 Majak Kou 1-5 1-4 2-2 1 1 2 0 5 1 0 2 1 10

09 Kevin Francis 3-6 1-2 3-3 0 4 4 3 10 1 1 0 1 20

10 Andy Rautins 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 3 1 0 0 2 8

11 Aaron Doornekamp 3-5 1-3 4-6 4 1 5 2 11 4 4 0 3 26

12 Neil MacDonald 1-3 0-0 1-2 0 2 2 0 3 0 0 1 0 14

13 Willy Galick 0-1 0-0 5-6 1 1 2 1 5 0 0 0 0 6

TEAM ........................................ 0 0 0 1

TOTALS 27-70 12-28 23-28 14 23 37 23 89 20 22 3 15 201

TOT-FG 1stH: 12-34 35.3% 2ndH: 15-36 41.7% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 38.6% Deadbl

3pt-FG 1stH: 5-15 33.3% 2ndH: 7-13 53.8% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 42.9% Rebs

FThrow 1stH: 13-16 81.3% 2ndH: 10-12 83.3% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 82.1% 13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICIALS:

TECHNICAL FOULS:

Australia - Blagoj Janev(1) Brad Newley(1)

Canada - none

ATTENDANCE:

SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT1 OT2 TOTAL

Australia 24 18 11 28 81

Canada 17 25 24 23 89

​

http://www.basketball.ca/en/hm/inside.php?sid=1&id=643

​

 

[attamarrap]

Newley hit a couple of 3's from the corner, and also scored inside. He looks like a good all-round player. He plays in the NBL, right? I wonder if he's thought of playing in the US, or had any offers.

Samuel Harris is huge, 7'3, but he didn't start. He looks like he needs a lot of work. A coach from Old Dominion was there watching and talked to Sam after the game. I assume he was a coach as he was wearing an Old Dominion shirt.

It was a great win for the Canadian kids, but to be honest I thought if they played 10 times Aus would win about 7. I hope they both make the final Thursday - I'll go watch it and give another report here.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1122241808811&call_page=TSS_Main&call_pageid=968867503640&call_pagepath=Sports/Index&pubid=968163964505&StarSource=email

yeah i belive newley has had a bit of interest from nba teams and is interested to go there maybe next season

 

[CanadianSteve]

Here's an interview with Newley from a Canadian basketball magazine site. You have to scroll down the page. He scored 32 against China in the 2nd game.

http://www.ballerzmagazine.com/interviewsjd.php

 

[Big Bunny]

Only just noticed the thread, but a lot of the kids in the Aussie team are in for big careers. The only player I'm not really familiar with is Nathan Jawai. Aaron Bruce, Brad Newley and Aleksander Maric are all potential NBA players with Bruce and Newley both being very likely. Bruce was a freshman All-American in his rookie season. Markovic and Janev are both dark horses. One player I'm a little unsure of at the moment is Daniel Kickert, as he's not currently with either this or the senior team and has NBA written all over him. Perhaps an injury. Sam Harris did very little in his rookie year, playing back up to Alex Loughton and filling in at centre, I expect him to be overshadowed as the best Aussie centre in the NCAA by Luke Nevill next season at Utah.

 

[CanadianSteve]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...le&cid=1122587412676&call_pageid=968867503640

Well Canada won again, 100-80. I sat right behind the Aussie bech for the second half. They got close a few times but never more than 6 points. The coach called one timeout, which I could listen in on, where he mainly yelled at them to play harder, and singled out Newley, saying something about you're supposed to be a leader, but your body language is terrible. Later when the game was definitely lost, Newley was replaced and he kicked the bench before sitting down, splashing a bit of water on me as a result - that was ok, I coach basketball and I liked his intensity. Overall I'd say the boys represent your country very well.

I still am very impressed by the Aussie talent and style of play. You can tell there is a strong development system there.

I talked to the Aussie coach, Guy Molloy, after the game, and told him I admired his team despite the tough loss. He said he thought they were tired from travelling, having played in Europe before coming to Canada for 4 straight games. He said they'll have to regroup for the tournament in Argentina - they leave Sunday. Tomorrow, Friday, he said they're going to go see Niagara Falls, then back to TO for the Steve Nash charity all-star game at the ACC.

I asked him if he coached in the pro league back home - he laughed and said he did but was fired after last season. I don't know what teams he was with. He's a young guy, looks about 35, I'm sure he'll get another job. The main assistant was an American. I didn't get his name, but Molloy said he played in the NBL and has stayed in the country to coach ever since.

 

[Big Bunny]

Nice overview Steve, interesting to get the thoughts from someone who was there.


Champ's bid
Dean Lawson
Friday, 29 July 2005

HORSHAM champion basketball export Aaron Bruce will spend next week preparing for under-21 world championships after a `cat and mouse' European and North American schedule.

Bruce and other members of the Australian Crocs line-up will fly to Cordoba, Argentina early next week where international basketball insiders have tipped them to win a medal.

Bruce, the captain of the Crocs team, has played only bit parts in tournaments in Greece, Slovenia and Canada and has missed the last couple of games in a Jack Donahue International Classic in Toronto with an injured foot.

But Aaron's father Steve revealed yesterday that Australian team leaders, carefully planning for the world tilt, had been `playing their cards close to their chests'.

"Aaron has played no more than a quarter of any game during the lead-up tournaments. They have been playing against teams they will meet in the world championships and have been playing a bit dead," Steve Bruce said.

"They're doing a lot of things in games they wouldn't normally do."

He said Aaron had injured his foot in the first game of Canada's Jack Donahue tournament and had a cortisone injection which kept him out of any action.

"There's a physiotherapist and a doctor with them and he's getting two treatments a day. They expect him to be right by the time they get to Argentina," he said.

Aaron Bruce is also in an Australian Boomers squad but because of the world championships will miss an opportunity to join the national open team for Oceania titles in New Zealand.

After the Argentinian campaign he will fly back to Australia on August 19 and then jet off to the United States on August 20 to resume his scholarship with Baylor University.

Bruce would need to repeat his outstanding inaugural year with Baylor and for circumstances to be favourable to have any chance of making an Australian Commonwealth Games team next year.

"That's probably a bit of pie-in-the-sky stuff at the moment. The chances of getting a call-up in that situation are pretty slim," his father said.

Aaron Bruce has been part of an Australian under-19 world champion team and has reunited with eight members of the former Emus line-up for the Argentinian campaign. The under-21 world championships are from August 5 to 14.

 

[CanadianSteve]

That's true, Bruce didn't play in the final. The coach mentioned to me that they were missing a good guard - I did see him play in game 1 and he is very good. I think he's the captain of the Baylor NCAA team as well.

The Aussies may have been playing the game close to the vest, but they were definitely upset to be losing when I sat behind them. They really project that Aussie confidence - you can tell they expect to win.

That's an amazing amount of travelling young Bruce is doing - Europe, Canada, Argentina, home to Aus for a day then right back to Texas for school.

BTW, I like how they have a team name for every team: if I have it right, the Men's team are the Boomers, U21's are the Crocs (one of the trainers, a female, had a Crocs jacket on), and the U19's are the Emus. Do the other sports have different names for their different age group teams?

 

[Big Bunny]

I don't think Bruce is Baylor's captain but he is their best player by far. Last season I followed his progress by radio only, but his scoring ability is very strong as is his defense. During the U19 World Championships I had an idea then that Bogut might go to the NBA in time, but the other name that stood out was Bruce, who to me had the better tournament, with Bogut shining more in the final.

On the team names, the only other place where I can remember the age groups being named differently is still in basketball. The Women's team is the Opals and the U19 girls are the Gems.