VICTORIAN officials admit NSW has raised the bar in Australian junior basketball ranks.
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But those south of the Border say there’s nothing to worry about down south.
The Vics were bundled out of both semi-finals in the under-18 boys yesterday by NSW teams.
Bushrangers coach Dave Naylor conceded Victoria needed to lift another level to compete in future.
“I think they’re the cream of the crop at this tournament and I think that’s probably been shown the last few years,” Naylor said.
“I don’t know what they’re doing, but I’d like to know.”
But Naylor isn’t panicking.
Basketball Victoria recently hired developer Justin Schueller as its high performance coach in the country and Naylor is expecting big things from him.
“He’ll run our high development program and he knows what he’s doing,” Naylor said.
“Long-term, sustainable success is what we’re trying to achieve and the track he’s putting us on will pay off in two, three, four years.”
Naylor said basketball in regional Victoria was always going to face challenges.
“Talent between age groups is always hit and miss, particularly in the country, competing with footy amongst other things,” he said.
“We just try and make this week here as fun as we can so they keep wanting to come back.”