Basketball Australia Under-20 and Ivor Burge National Championships live blog - Day 5
Georgia Tomkins has been a quiet achiever for Vic Navy this week at the Nationals, but it is no surprise given her sporting genes. Read more in our daily U20s blog.
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Triple Olympic gold medallist James Tomkins is a household name in Australia thanks to his exploits as part of the Oarsome Foursome.
But, in Ballarat this week for the U20 National Championships, he’s just a basketball dad.
Proud-as-punch Tomkins’ daughter Georgia, 18, is part of the Vic Navy squad competing at the championships, twin sister Holly plays for the Melbourne Tigers and eldest Jess is in the US with Newberry College in South Carolina.
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“Well, they all tried rowing for a year and they were all good at it, but they decided they wanted to do something else and so they’re all into basketball,” Tomkins said, when asked if they’d try to follow in his footsteps.
“There was a good program at their primary school and we’re in the Bayside area so we went to the (Melbourne) Tigers and they started off in Tiny Tigers and have gone from there.
“We’re very much a basketball family, now.”
All three Tomkins girls stand at least 188cm — still short of the 200cm frame that helped dad win medals at four Olympic Games — Barcelona, Atlanta, Athens and Sydney.
Almost as iconic are the Goulburn Valley fruit TV commercials he starred in with his teammates — and they were a big hit in the Tomkins household, even though his girls are only now beginning to grasp the gravity of his achievements.
“The kids played the fruit ads all the time when they were young,” he laughed.
“Instead of Toy Story, they put those on.
“The older one, she said to me recently ‘everything you’ve been saying is right’.”
Late bloomer Jess caught the eye of Melbourne Tigers legend Warrick Giddey and he helped connect her with Recruiting Boost, which placed her at Newberry.
She won the college’s player of the week award this month on the back of a pair of double-doubles — 18 points and 14 rebounds and 13-10. She’s tied for second at the school in points (8.1) and she’s second in boards (5.8) and total blocks (17).
James Tomkins, who will call rowing events in Paris for Nine, has fond memories of his time at the Australian Institute of Sport with some of Australia’s greatest hoopers.
“I used to muck around a bit, I still reckon I can dunk it,” he laughed.
“We’d be up in Canberra at the AIS and you had players like Shane Heal, (Mark) Bradtke, (Luc) Longley, (Shane) Froling, Marty Clark and then all the girls, Nicky Metcalfe, (Opals coach) Sandy Brondello.
“So we had a ball and we’d go and watch the Opals and the Boomers at the Olympics.”
He’s a vocal but respectful watcher of Georgia and her Vic Navy teammates.
“Good work!”
“Go, run hard.”
“Fire up.”
Having experienced the good — and not so — of elite sport, Tomkins is ultra conscious of ensuring he’s a positive influence in the girls’ journey.
“It’s exciting, for us, for Georgia, to make the Vic second team,” he said.
“But, all I tell the girls is ‘I love watching you play sport’.
“You can cheer and barrack but, after the game on the drive home, that’s the first thing you should say.”
Under the radar: How SA coach is certain he has built the best depth
South Australia Red coach Richard Dickel is adamant he has a side capable of taking down tournament favourites Victoria in Sunday’s under-20 women’s gold medal showdown.
In fact, the South Australian mentor said his squad has the deepest talent pool in the tournament.
It is a confident statement that will get put to the ultimate test in the gold medal showdown after the South Australian girls again showed their patience and skill in a semi-final thriller.
For the second time this week, the South Australians were forced to dig deep in extra time to overcome an impressive Queensland side.
While sharpshooters Sienna Grieger and Chelsea Portus struggled to find their mojo, other members of the red and blue army stood up.
Mia Walker-Roberts produced her best game of the tournament off the bench with 21 points and nine rebounds while Paige Padroth played the ultimate stat sheet stuffing game.
Off the bench, Padroth had eight points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“We’ve got an entire team that I think is probably the deepest in the whole competition,” Dickel said.
“We go one through 10. Some other teams might be better one through six. The beauty about this group is it’s a really strong 10 and anyone can step up on any day.
“A couple of girls stepped up today who hadn’t stepped up in other games.”
Unlike previous national championships, South Australia’s best players are on one team – no longer split into metro and country sides.
Now it’s having the ultimate impact.
“I’m just really happy for these girls. This group didn’t have too much success at under-18 level as metro and country teams so I’m glad they can prove they can match it with the best teams in the country,” Dickel said.
“For them to come through and make the grand final, which is going to be the next challenge for us, is a great achievement.”
Sunday’s gold medal game will be played at 12pm.
Victorious Victorians fighting back after online abuse
For the Victorian Ivor Burge Women’s team, the National Championships are so much more than their performance on the court.
While at times it appears they have done it comfortably on the court in Ballarat this week, off the pine it hasn’t been as simple as the side dealt with social media abuse.
The tournament hosts earned a place in Sunday’s Ivor Burge gold medal game against New South Wales – the only team to beat them this week.
On other occasions, the Vics have won by massive margins but that hasn’t been the side’s biggest focus.
Some of the comments online, especially on Basketball Victoria’s own page sharing results, have been shameful.
Social media trolls suggested the Victorian’s performances weren’t in the spirit of the game.
But this team isn’t out there to upset their opposition, they want everyone on the court to have fun.
“Basketball has so many different platforms,” Victorian coach Emily Attard said.
“There is the online platform and then being at the game is another. Seeing the encouragement is all the sport is about.
“All we say to our girls is keep just playing basketball. You pick up the opposition, if someone gets knocked down, you don’t just walk off, you go back and pick them up.”
It’s an attitude you can see in the way the Victorians play.
They pass the ball around trying to get everyone involved, including Rebecca Koch one of the newest team members.
On the bench, Taila Upton has brought an unmatched sense of energy. Missing the competition through injury, she stands and applauds every Victorian act.
“We’ve got two new girls and the way the girls are actually getting around each other and being so supportive is amazing,” Attard said.
“They’re encouraging each other to do everything they can, it’s what basketball is all about.”
While there has been a strong focus on enjoyment throughout the week, the Vics will be keen to end with gold medals around their neck.
They’ll start the finals day on Sunday at 8am.
NSW won the previous meeting between the two sides in an overtime thriller earlier this week.
“Considering we haven’t played five-on-five for almost two-and-a-half years this is a big achievement for the girls and they’re really starting to come together,” Attard said.
“We only had one practice game before the tournament and about 10 training sessions in the lead up.
“There’s always a big rivalry between Victoria and NSW especially in the Ivor Burge.
“The girls are really determined to come back and give it a red hot crack to fight for gold.”
The Ivor Burge tournament is for basketballers living with a mental disability.
How Slammin’ Sam turned U20s glory into glittering career
Sam Mackinnon was already a household name when he dominated the 1995 U20 National Championships and claimed tournament MVP as he led Victoria to gold.
In 1994, the freak athlete set the NBL alight, winning the league’s Rookie of the Year and earning the nickname Slammin’ Sam for his high-flying exploits with the now-defunct South East Melbourne Magic — all as a 17-year-old finishing Year 12 at Montmorency High.
Fast forward three decades through a glittering career featuring NBL titles, MVPs and Boomers representation and Mackinnon, now an assistant coach at South East Melbourne Phoenix, still gets a good vibe watching the young guns of the future.
The 47-year-old was in Ballarat this week to take in the 2024 incarnation of the U20s and admitted it brought back memories.
“In ‘94, that was in Mill Park (Vic) and I was coming from school to games. (Boomers great) Chris Anstey, Mat Campbell and Glen Saville (both Illawarra legends) were on that team,” Mackinnon, one of the greatest players in Brisbane Bullets’ history, recalls.
“We lost to Queensland in the crossover stages, I’d just had an exam and a mate of mine (former Brisbane Bullet) Ryan Stolberg tells me about it every time I see him.
“He reckons he had 20 on me. I can’t even remember it. Had a bit going on in 1994.”
The following year, Mackinnon’s game had blossomed and he unleashed in Brisbane, collecting his fifth junior pathway gold.
“That was at Auchenflower, it was packed and it was stinking hot, there was no air conditioning,” he said.
“The reason I remember it so vividly is because, in the final against NSW, we were down five in the last minute.
“Matt Shanahan hit two threes and we won it by a point.
“We should have beat them by more, but we had a few boys in the NBL and we probably got ahead of ourselves, and maybe enjoyed the nightlife a bit too much while playing basketball.”
Shanahan would go on to hit many, many more from deep, winning three NBL championships, and was among a host of luminaries of Mackinnon’s nationals generation to carve out notable pro careers.
Sharpshooter Aaron Trahair lit it up for WA — and finished runner-up to Mackinnon in the 1994 Rookie of the Year race. Former Perth Wildcat Phil Doherty won the 1994 Nationals MVP. Scott McGregor was on the NSW team Mackinnon’s Vics knocked off — he would go on to win the 1996 NBL Rookie of the Year.
These days, rather than going against the best players in Australia in the NBL, most of the top-tier athletes at the U20s are either in the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence junior pathway or seeking college opportunities.
There are a few exceptions.
Among those, South East Melbourne development player Austin Rapp, who is among the favourites to follow in Mackinnon’s footsteps and claim the tournament MVP.
It would be fitting, given Mackinnon has worked closely with Portland College-bound Rapp this year as part of the Phoenix’s development program.
The long-limbed 18-year-old who was called into action last week, amid the Phoenix’s horror injury crisis, is coming off facing the likes of projected NBA No.1 draft pick Alex Sarr against Perth and Sydney Kings man mountains Jordi Hunter and Jonah Bolden.
That’s translated to a dominance for the undefeated Vics as he leads the tournament in rebounding (13 per game) to go with 20.4 points (fourth).
Mackinnon is not surprised.
“Playing and training against men in the NBL should transfer well against your peers, you feel pretty confident,” Mackinnon said.
“For Aussie, he knows he can’t take his foot off the gas.
“He has to think that every guy defending him is Mitch Creek and vice versa.
“Learning going against Mitch Creek every day, he’s got to be really strong with the ball, respect your opponent and show how much you’ve improved.
“He’s got that challenge to keep it up for the (finals) and not just worrying about getting 20 and 10.
“He can do that easily, but being a leader, being elite in multiple facets, and doing those things that help the team win.”
Mackinnon’s been impressed by Tassie’s star trio Jacob Furphy, Kye Savage and Lachlan Brewer in Ballarat and delights in the efforts of uniquely gifted Queenslander Roman Siulepa, who he noticed when the 17-year-old was entering high school.
“I’ve watched quite a few of these kids at U18 level, so it’s good just to see how they’ve progressed, who’s making the jump, who’s improved?” Mackinnon said.
“Just to see where they’re at and then trying to find the roughies, the kids who might not be on radars.
“Everyone matures at different rates. Just because you’re not dominating at U16s or U18s, doesn’t mean you don’t get to the 20s and have had rapid growth, whether that’s physically or in maturity.
“Andrew Bogut’s the biggest example of that.
“We’re trying to find the next Andrew Bogut, but isn’t everyone?”
Originally published as Basketball Australia Under-20 and Ivor Burge National Championships live blog - Day 5
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