Basketball Australia U20's & Ivor Burge National Championships 2024 day one live blog
This South Australian young gun is carving his own path of destruction on the national stage, but it was the years of sitting on the sidelines that has fuelled his rise. Read more in our U20 Nationals live blog.
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It’s an “underdog mentality” that fuels SA scoring machine Patrick D’Arcy.
The 17-year-old has made the National Championships leap from the U18s to the U20s and has immediately become a key piece in coach Will Smith’s squad.
It hasn’t always been the case.
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“Growing up, I’ve always been cut from state teams, I didn’t make 16s but I’ve slowly worked my way up and I’m here now,” D’Arcy told Kommunity TV.
“You get cut and then it’s pretty brutal but that’s my main fuel or motivation.
“Going back to trials after being cut gives you an underdog mentality, you’re always thinking you’ve got something to prove.”
Proving it, the Sturt Sabres product is. Ranked at No.17 in Kommunity TV’s top-20 males at the tournament, the long-range bomber’s long and lithe frame helps him glide around the court with the grace of a ballet dancer.
“Patrick’s ability to knock down shots from the perimeter just spaces the court and makes it so tough for the defence to make a decision,” Smith said.
“Do they go at him and then he drives? Do they leave him and then he shoots? Then, once he makes a couple, other guys get open because the defence is so worried about where he is and what he’s doing.”
A member of the Adelaide 36ers Academy development pathway, the Concordia College product is often in early morning for training, before changing into his school uniform and heading off - a commitment borne out of a desire to take his basketball as far as he can, with the NBL in his sights.
D’Arcy lauded his teammates after he poured in 22 points to go with 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals in a tournament-opening - the majority in the first half as he sat for most of the second - 107-67 win over ACT.
“We’ve got a really strong leadership group, it’s all team-based,” he said.
“But they all give me the confidence to do what I do, It’s just a great group of guys.”
Smith was pleased they got the job done against ACT, executed and stuck to team rules, but knows the tournament only gets tougher.
“As we go on, scouts and detail are going to be super important in trying to curtail good players and teams and how we give ourselves the best chance of doing that,” Smith said.
“This morning we had six guys in double figures, so the really good team basketball and ball movement was good to see.”
The South Australian’s will be determined to get back to their winning ways on Wednesday after coming up short against Queensland in the final game of the opening day.
Top-shelf trio driving Tassie’s title tilt
As far as junior basketball talent in Tassie goes, Kye Savage, Jacob Furphy and Lachlan Brewer are just about household names.
The trio has grown together through the junior ranks, Savage and Furphy now at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence high performance program and Brewer learning the ropes as a training player with the JackJumpers in the NBL, before he heads to the US to join Sacramento State.
The high-profile trio combined for 80 of Tasmania’s 90 points in a thrilling one-point tournament-opening win over NSW - an early contender for match of the week.
But this squad is so much more than its three-headed monster. The team’s coaching staff are understandably conscious of sharing the plaudits across the playing group, but they need not be - the three boys are acutely aware of how important their teammates are.
“We’ve got huge buy-in from the whole team - we can’t do it without them,” Brewer said.
“Every player, from top to bottom, plays their role.”
Case in point Josh Vimpany, the Launceston spark plug who dug in for five boards and a steal, his team a +12 in his 13 minutes on the floor.
“They just work their a**es off, play D, get stops, hit bodies, rebound, run the floor, just do everything they can to help the team win,” Furphy, the most-talkative one of the trio, said.
Savage has attracted interest from his home state JackJumpers and Brisbane Bullets and flirted with US college.
But he’s settled on a professional career and, given his trajectory, an elite NBL scorer looks like his floor.
“I realised college isn’t for me anymore, so I’m focused on my ultimate goal of trying to get to the professional level,” Savage said.
Efforts like Tuesday’s seven points in 49 seconds, including the game-winning three that buried NSW, will make more NBL clubs take notice.
“He lights it up, doesn’t he,” Furphy laughs, when asked about the Devenport scoring machine.
Down 12 against the Blues, the 17-year-old Smithton product - nicknamed ‘Jaffa’ after he joined the CoE and ‘Furph’ was taken by emerging Kansas Jayhawks wing Johnny Furphy - said he always felt confident his team could come back.
“We always knew that our offence was going to be good enough, so we just stuck to our stuff and trusted that it would get us back in it,” he said.
The blossoming elite-level talent who can do just about everything. He scored the rock against NSW (21 points) but the playmaking (11 assists) is what will get scouts even more excited.
“A game like that is always good, especially at the start of the week,” he said.
Brewer’s game has also grown under Scott Roth at the JackJumpers.
“It’s definitely tough going up against a lot of big physical guys, so it’s really helped me along and most of the JackJumpers boys have all been to the nationals, so they just said to me “come out, have fun, it’s your last one so make the most of it,” Brewer said.
Tassie has fired a warning shot but Furphy says the squad won’t be resting on its laurels - and they haven’t allowed the thought of a fairytale gold medal creep in.
“Just lock in, game-by-game, is how we’re approaching it,” he said.
“On Wednesday, lock in with NT, try to get a dub, and then try back it up against WA.”
How WA have gone from reigning champs to underdog contenders
Reigning U20 Men’s National Champions WA will wear the underdog tag in this year’s tournament but new head coach Trent Criddle has promised his men have “a few surprises” up their sleeves.
With 2023 tournament MVP Ben Henshall wearing a Perth Wildcats uniform, highly-rated prospects Alex Condon (Florida Gators) and Alex Kovatchev (Sacramento State Hornets) in division one college programs and playmaker Ethan Elliott (Warwick Senators) tearing up NBL1 West, this year’s list takes on a very fresh look.
But, underrate his boys at your peril, warns coach Criddle, who was an assistant coach on the 2023 team that broke a 22-year gold medal drought.
“It’s difficult to make the comparison with last year’s team with three CoE athletes that went 7-0 to this year’s group, which is quite fresh playing together,” Criddle told Kommunity TV.
“But we have a really interesting group and there are still talents in there. Josh Ibukunoluwa (No. 7 on Kommunity TV’s top-20 male athletes at the tournament) is just coming back from prep school in Canada, Charlie Dimmock (No. 19) and Roman Lutton are returning from camps at the CoE.
“The special thing about WA coming through is now we combine our metro and country programs and we’ve got a number of high-level country athletes in the squad, and then we’ve got guys who have never been to a national competition before.”
Country trio Bob Griechen, Harry Evans and Pharrell Keats have flown under the radar but are set to have a big say in just how far this squad goes.
Griechen was a standout at last year’s U18 Nationals, averaging 16 points and 9 rebounds, including a 22-point, 13-rebound double-double up against a WA Metro side featuring new teammates Dimmock and Lutton.
“Bob’s just an unbelievable athlete who is so aggressive, with a great ability to attack the rim without fear,” Criddle said.
“Harry Evans is a point guard who has got great court vision and he’ll get his teammates involved.
“Pharrell Keats plays lights-out basketball. He’s just pure athleticism, he can get to the rim and he makes any gap look huge, it’s just ridiculous how he can find space.”
Austin Crowe-St Jack, last year, had a solid Australian Schools tournament with Willetton, while Thomas Snelgrove and Riley Leach will be handed responsibilities. Aiden Fitzgerald gets the opportunity to seize his chance after he was, last year, named as a reserve, while feisty Blake Fido is back for the gold medal defence – along with his signature mullet.
Raw seven-footer Ryan Hunt is a big unit who provides genuine size behind Dimmock and the intriguing Ibukunoluwa.
If they gave a Sixth Man of the U20 tournament, Big Ibu would have been a walk up winner as he provided a huge punch supporting Henshall and company — and a stunning highlight reel of big blocks and even bigger dunks.
The 18-year-old will be leant on heavily but he has the level-head, skill and physical gifts to shoulder the load — and give Criddle the chance to roll out a myriad of funky line-ups.
“Josh has always been one of the guys that has been a go-to within the WA program for the past six years,” Criddle said of the 209cm phenom, who covers the court like a leopard.
“His skillset continues to improve, year-by-year, and he has the ability to handle the ball coming up the court.
“He’s so versatile inside and out, so it creates opportunities for us where we can have him play off the wing and other guys inside.
“It means that we don’t necessarily have to go to a small-ball line-up.
“We can move Josh out to the wing and stretch the bigs out or he can attack smaller players on mismatches.”
Criddle’s under no illusion at the challenge at hand but he and his charges are relishing it.
“We’ve got a tough pool ahead of us, obviously you’ve got a very talented Vic team, particularly when they’ve got nearly every single player who has either represented Australia or in the CoE,” he said.
“Tasmania have got a team that have been glued together for six years, and then we’ve made enemies in the NSW team by knocking them out in the gold-medal game last year.
“So there’s definitely points to prove across the board when it comes to WA but I think we’ve got a few surprises up our sleeve.”
We won’t have to wait long to see what’s in store for the men from the West – Victoria awaits at 5pm on day one of the tournament.
AUSTIN RAPPED BY NBL EXPOSURE AHEAD OF NATIONALS
Austin Rapp spent the past few days facing off against talents including likely NBA No. 1 draft pick Alex Sarr and former NBL MVP Jaylin Adams.
This week, the 18-year-old South East Melbourne development player hits the U20 National Championships to represent Victoria, buoyed by playing a role in one of the NBL’s great upsets against Sydney, followed by a career-high 12 minutes in the clash with Perth.
Rapp, ranked No. 10 in Kommunity TV’s list of the top-20 talents at this year’s tournament, was called into action as the Phoenix faced an unprecedented injury crisis with six main roster players unable to take the court.
“It was unreal, it was crazy, I got my name called first off the bench (against Sydney) and I was like ‘wow, didn’t expect it’, but I’m not complaining,” Rapp told Kommunity TV.
The towering stretch four, who is on his way to US college Portland, has an aesthetically pleasing jump shot and uses his king-sized frame to compete on the glass — on show in NBL1 where he averaged a near double-double in helping Knox to last season’s National Championship.
The young gun, on Thursday night, even had his ‘welcome to the NBL’ moment — after just failing to pull off a highlight-reel play of his own.
A flat tyre on a missed dunk over Sydney big man Jordi Hunter — where he hit the deck hard — was followed moments later when Kings athletic freak Jaylin Galloway put him on a poster — not that he’s been deterred.
“I caught the ball and I got all excited — It’s the first time I’ve probably played real minutes in a proper game — and I was just running so fast, jumped off the wrong leg, jumped too early, it all went wrong,” he said.
“I went to hang on the ring and then come back so I could land easily but I slipped at the top, so I jarred both my wrists.
“Then I go down a minute later and get dunked on by Jaylin Galloway.
“Welcome to the NBL, right?”
VICS IN IT TO WIN IT
Rapp’s keen to test what he’s learned and how he has improved in the NBL system against his age-group peers in Ballarat and is stern in the belief his Victorian team are the gold-medal fancies — given how close he’s been last year and in 2022 at the U18s.
“We play for each other, our team,” Rapp said.
“Obviously, guys are going to have really big games, individually, throughout the tournament, but it’s all about winning.
“If I average 2 points and 5 rebounds and we win a gold medal, that’s all I care about.
“The main thing is for all of us boys, we haven’t won a gold medal together. We came second to Queensland and (giant Brisbane Bullets Next Star) Rocco (Zikarsky) and all those boys in the 18s and then we lost to WA in the semis in overtime last year.
“This year we’ve got a great team with great camaraderie and I think we’re the team to beat.”
He hasn’t won a nationals title — but he does wear junior-level Aussie gold for the Crocs at the 2022 U16 FIBA Asian Championships and he’s represented the country at the U17 FIBA World Cup.
He says NSW, Queensland and Tasmania pose huge challenges.
“NSW with Jimbo (James O’Donnell) and Josh Dent and those boys and Queensland with Roman and Tassie with the big three, (Jacob) Furphy, Sav (Kye Savage) and (Lachlan) Brewer will be tough but I think we have a lot of depth that will help give guys rest and keep us fresh throughout the tournament,” he said.
HIGH PRAISE AND ELITE GUIDANCE
Those states will also have their eyes on Rapp and the Vics, given the squad of elite players and coaches in his corner — even when he was juggling Year 12 with training commitments.
“Mike’s always encouraged me to do things like college visits, the 20s and, he was always like, ‘get out, go to school’,” Rapp said.
“Multiple times I’d have my school uniform on and I’ve come in and got changed real quick and I’m into training.
“I can’t thank Mike and the Phoenix enough for what they’ve done for me this year.
Phoenix veterans are never short of advice for their young prodigy.
“Mitch Creek’s one of the best players in our league and he’s been really good to me,” Rapp said.
“He’s a four and I kind of play similar to what he does, he’s a little bit smaller and he gets on the rim more than I do, but he’s really helped me.
“Big Sauce (Alan Williams) is a big one, Rhys Vague, Benny Ayre, they’re always speaking to me and giving me tips on how to be a better pro.”
Ayre was in awe at the teenager’s composure when he was called on early against Sydney.
“Austin Rapp playing first quarter minutes, who’s not even a freshman in college yet,” Ayre said.
“I couldn’t even imagine playing an NBL game before I went to college.
“Just playing hard and bringing some young energy to our group. It’s cool to see those guys (Rapp and other young teammates) out there and just hooping and playing free.”
Kelly’s also a big believer in him.
“He’s been really good for us in practice all year, and I’m excited to watch him play in the U20s,” Kelly said.
“His attitude has stayed really good. He just gets along with the guys and he comes in and he’s like a goldfish — he’ll miss a shot and forget that he had missed it and he’s ready to shoot again. That’s a great quality in a shooter.”
GETTING SERIOUS
Rapp is long, strong and rapidly developing muscle to go with his size.
He admits that wasn’t always the case but he’s spent the past three years transforming his body with the help of trainer Chris Povey.
“Last year I could barely dunk and, obviously I missed that one against Sydney, but I can dunk pretty easily now,” Rapp said
“I had a practice game for the 20s the other day and I threw it down on someone. A year ago, if someone said I would have dunked on someone, everyone would have laughed.
“I’ve grown, which helps but, yeah, I’ve just been getting in the gym, watching what I’m eating and training a lot.
“Being in the pro system, you’re training every day and eating the right stuff.”
TALENTED FAMILY AND THE FUTURE
Rapp’s headed to Portland in August, where he will join brother Ryan (Hawaii) and sister Hannah (St Mary’s) in the college system.
American-born dad Tim played against South East Melbourne coach Mike Kelly back in the day in the old SEABL, which built a familiarity when Austin joined the Phoenix.
The plan, right now, is four years in college, get a business degree and do a masters but: “who knows, maybe I ball out in my first couple of years and get an opportunity to go play pro overseas or in Australia.
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