BasketBall australia annual report 2008

Basketball Australia Annual Report 2008Basketball Australia Annual Report 2008JuniorTeamsPhoto: Milbank PhotographyOur Australian men’s and women’s Under 19 teams, the Emus andGems, enjoyed a successful 2008 with qualification for the FIBA U19World Championship for Men and Women the highlights.EMUSThe Emus’ 2008 campaign began in March atthe Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim,Germany with games against Germany, seniorclub teams USC Heidelberg and TV Langen, Italy,Canada, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Greece and theUnited States. With only one loss to Canada in thepreliminary round, Australia faced Greece for ashot at the Gold Medal match but heartbreakinglyfell short by five points in overtime. That set up aBronze Medal match against the United States thatAustralia won by 20 points. Three months later theEmus contested the 30th William Jones Cup in Taipeiagainst Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei, USA Athletes inAction, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Korea UniversitiesSelect and, when the Emus defeated Qatar in a nailbiter91-90, Australia took home the Bronze Medal.Those games were great preparation for the Emus,who faced New Zealand in the most meaningfulgames of 2008 at the FIBA Oceania Championshipin Adelaide in August. Australia was victorious in allthree games by margins of 27, 15 and 11 points tobook its place at the 2009 FIBA World Championshipfor U19 Men.GEMSThe Gems’ 2008 campaign kicked off in May withtwo matches played against Chinese Taipei at theFriendly Games in Canberra, with Australia victoriousby four and five points in the keenly contestedgames. A tour to France followed where a fivenationstournament was undertaken in Reze andvictories were garnered against Turkey and the CzechRepublic before losses to France and Lithuania. It wasthen on to another French city, Fougeres, for a fournationstournament against Romania, Turkey andLithuania where Australia departed undefeated. Onemonth later the Gems contested the 30th WilliamJones Cup in Taipei against teams from Malaysia,Korea and Chinese Taipei. While wins were enjoyedagainst Malaysia and Korea, the strength of thesenior women’s team from Chinese Taipei proveddifficult to handle, with Australia losing the final tothe hosts by the slimmest of margins, 55-54.All of those games were just training for the mainevent in 2008 however, the FIBA U19 OceaniaChampionship, which were held in Adelaide inAugust,. The preparation clearly worked howeveras Australia easily dispatched New Zealand by 28,29 and 36 points in the three-game series to clincha spot at the 2009 FIBA World Championship forU19 Women.Photo: Milbank PhotographyThe men’s World Championship will be played inAuckland, New Zealand from July 2-12, and thewomen’s World Championship will be played inBangkok, Thailand from 23 July-2 August 2009.Photo: Milbank Photography16 www.basketball.net.auwww.basketball.net.au17