Basketball Australia U20's & Ivor Burge National Championships live blog - Day 4
Joel Foxwell has powered Victoria to the U20 Nationals decider. Melbourne United teammate Kyle Bowen isn’t surprised, given the lessons from two of the greats. Catch him LIVE at 2pm (AEDT).
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Victoria is the favourite to win U20 National Championships gold when it takes on Queensland in Sunday’s grand final after Melbourne United training player Joel Foxwell lit up Tasmania in the semi final.
The 18-year-old had the mother of all explosions against South Australia, pouring in seven three-pointers on his way to 32 points in just 19 minutes in a 130-70 demolition.
United big man Kyle Bowen is isn’t the least bit surprised at his teammate’s MVP-calibre numbers at the tournament — 16.83 points, 4.83 assists and 2.17 steals — given the slightly-built 186cm guard has “struck gold” with the opportunity to learn from the likes of Boomers bronze medallist and NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova and defensive dynamo Shea Ili.
“He’s still got to keep working on his body and keep being a sponge with Delly and Shili on how he can be a pro and how he can be a better defensive guy but he’s doing all the right things,” Bowen said.
“I’ve been keeping my eye on it (the Nationals) and have watched a few highlights and I’m sure I’ll get the full rundown when he’s back in practice.
“You always appreciate those little guys who have got that, what I call ‘dog’ in them. You know that they’re not going to back down.
“Offensively, he’s super skilled. It’s surprising how many buckets he gets in practice when he’s on the scout team against some of the best rim protection in the NBL, like Jo (Lual-Acuil Jr) and A (Ariel Hukporti),.
“He just seems to kind of wiggle his way in there and get his shot up.
“It’s good to see a fellow teammate doing well outside of our team stuff.”
The WA product who played college ball at St Mary’s in the US before signing with United is no stranger to the country’s elite junior pathway.
He won a silver medal at the 2019 U20 Nationals alongside Illawarra’s Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, Alex Ducas (St Mary’s) and United teammate Luke Travers, who was drafted by Cleveland Cavaliers in 2022.
Bowen led that tournament in rebounds (12.29) and assists (5.86) and finished fourth in scoring (17.43) on his way to the Bob Staunton Medal for tournament MVP.
“The Vics got us,” he recalls.
“They had (Tasmania development player) Sean Macdonald, (Brisbane Bullet) Josh Bannan, Keli Leaupepe (Loyola Marymount) and Tyler Robertson (Portland).”
He’d like to see WA do better this year — the reigning champions have only won one game after the likes of Ben Henshall and Alex Condon moved on to higher honours — but he has fond memories.
He’s among those who believe his good mate is destined for the highest level.
“When LT signed (with United) I was really looking forward to playing with him because we obviously played Nationals together and we’ve grown up with intertwining paths, which has been great for both of our developments,” he said.
“Obviously he’s done great things for himself while I’ve been at college and it’s just awesome linking back together for at least this year. Then, hopefully, he’s gone on to bigger and better things in the NBA, but I’d obviously love it if he continued to play with us in Melbourne.”
QUEENSLAND PHENOM DRAWS COMPARISON TO BRONCOS SUPERSTAR
Former Boomers Olympian Peter Crawford believes remarkable Queensland basketball phenom Roman Siulepa has gifts comparable to freakish Brisbane Broncos star Reece Walsh.
Crawford, who is coaching undefeated Queensland at this year’s U20 National Championships, says his 17-year-old is “one of the best athletes in Australia — in any sport”.
“He’s like Reece Walsh at 6’7”, that’s how dynamic and exciting it is watching him play,” Crawford said.
“It’s a must see stuff.”
Walsh, at 177cm, almost carried the Broncos to last year’s premiership. The 21-year-old is lightning quick, has great vision and is a legit poster boy for his sport.
Crawford believes Siulepa, who is averaging 21.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2 steals at the tournament, is all of that and more — at 201cms and four years Walsh’s junior.
It’s hard to argue with the former Townsville Crocodile, who was the NBL’s Most Improved Player in 2005.
It’s why he is on the radar of the NBL and likely every college in the US.
You need only watch a warm-up to get a taste of Siulepa’s remarkable gifts, which he uses in games to physically and athletically overpower his opponents.
“He’s the leader of the pack,” Crawford said.
“All the guys feed off him and when he’s up and about they feel good.
“That’s what good leaders do.”
Siulepa, in his short but impressive junior career, has led by action, more than anything, but has noticeably begun using his voice more in Ballarat.
“The way I was brought up, I guess it (leadership) just becomes part of you,” Siulepa said.
“These boys, they listen and they hold me accountable, too.
“When I tell somebody something, it’s back on me — if I’m doing something wrong, they let me know and I’ll let them know.
“We’ve got a bunch of dogs. Energy-wise, they’ll go out, they’ll get up and into it.
“We rely on each other.”
The swingman dominated WA to book Queensland’s spot in the semi-finals, falling one rebound short of a triple-double with 24 points, 10 assists and 9 boards in a 113-85 demolition.
Crawford was a late call-up to the head coaching role after Joel Khalu secured a role on the Illawarra Hawks’ coaching staff.
“I came in, put a plan in place and they’ve bitten on it,” he said.
“I explained to them that we don’t have a lot of lead-in time and it’s basically like a Boomers lead up we’re you’ve got training camp, six-eight sessions, two-three training games, and then you’re into the tournament, so you have to pick it up quickly or you’ll get left behind.”
His squad clearly got the message, winning all four of their group games — by an average of 36.75 points.
But Crawford’s also conscious there may be a little bit of fool’s gold in the results.
Powerhouses Victoria, NSW and Tasmania are on the other side of the draw, with today’s quarter-final against WA set to be a tougher test.
U20S DOMINANT FORCE DETERMINED TO BE ‘BORING’ IN FINALS
They’ve been the best, most dominant team at the U20 National Championships but the boys from Victoria just want to be “boring”.
That might sound odd, given this squad is stacked from top to bottom with NBL development players, US college-bound guns and Centre of Excellence scholarship holders who are right at the pointy end of Australia’s junior talent pool.
But swingman Luke Fennell says this team has put ego aside, hellbent on forming a ruthless, ultra-efficient machine that just gets the job done.
U20 + IB NATIONALS HUB: Daily links, full schedule and everything you need to know
“Just be great at being boring and just win games,” Fennell said.
“Playing together, no flashy stuff, so really just doing whatever it takes to get a win, no matter what.”
As they’ve ploughed through the group stage in Ballarat with an average winning margin of 42.5 points, the Vics have been anything but boring — at least not to the neutral — with Fennell playing a key role in their success.
At 17, the bottom-age stud has vowed to send his senior teammates out with a gold medal, something that has eluded them after they were pipped in overtime by WA in last year’s semi final, which followed defeat in the championship game at the 2022 U18s tournament.
“We’ve all known each other since U14s so we’ve all been playing together for so long and we’re all best mates so we glued together straight away,” Fennell said.
“Most of the boys here haven’t won the gold medal so, for us bottom-age boys, that’s our goal, to send the top agers out in a good way.”
To do so, the 197cm wing said they’re leaning on three key principles instilled by coach Brayden Cotter.
“We have the three PS — perseverance, professionalism and pride,” he said.
“It’s around the way you carry yourself, be a pro, have pride in how we play and always persevere through any challenge that we have.”
The NBL Next Stars prospect has been handed more ball-handling responsibility in the tournament and he’s flourished in tandem with Melbourne United development player Joel Foxwell, ensuring all his gun teammates’ mouths are fed.
“Joel and I have just been working together to do whatever it takes just to be the best team we can and if that’s what it has to be then he and I have worked it out together,” Fennell said.
There’s no shortage of interest in where the Berwick teen’s talents might take him but he’s in no rush to make a call on his future.
“I still haven’t made my decision but I’m open to anything,” he said.
“At the moment, I’m just trying to get better and see what happens for me.”
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