Our SA Wheelchair basketball team were ultra competitive in their first tournament at the Kevin Coombs Cup in Ballarat, Victoria 2022. Photo by Basketball SA
3-Minute Read
For those who aren’t sure how classification works
Taken from Disability Sports Australia
The classification of wheelchair basketball players has evolved significantly over the past 15 years. Wheelchair basketball classification is based on the players’ functional capacity to complete the skills necessary to play – pushing, pivoting, shooting, rebounding, dribbling, passing and catching.
It is not an assessment of a player’s level of skill, merely their functional capacity to complete the task. Players are assigned points as their classification – 1, 2, 3, and 4 are the recognized classes, with 0.5 classes between for the exceptional cases which do not fit exactly into one class, and the 4.5 category for the player with least or minimal disability.
Classes are defined according to players’ “volume of action”. Each class has a clearly defined maximal volume of action, which the player may exhibit. Players are observed in their competition wheelchairs, complete with all strapping they will use, but in a training situation before the tournament commences. From this initial observation a player is assigned a class with which they will begin the tournament. The player is then observed in an actual competition game, at which time their classification will be confirmed or modified if the classification panel feels it is necessary.
The total number of points allowed on court at any time is 14.0. That is, the total points of all five players actually playing. If a coach allows the team to have over 14.0 points, they will incur a coach technical foul.
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So now you know about what the numbers and classifications means, lets talk about the basketball side of the Kevin Coombs Cup for our SA State Junior Team
Highlights
South Australia’s biggest win of the week was its first ever and came against NSW which they defeated 45-40 in a thrilling game. It took Cooper Spillane (4.0) with 29 points (including the sealing bucket) and 11 rebounds and Annabelle Dennis (4.0) with a double double of 12 points and 11 rebounds to get SA across the line. If it however wasn’t for a standout performance from Fernando Grez Montiel (1.0) with 2 points (crucial in the last quarter), 5 rebounds, 2 steals and assists in terms of the total points allowed on court at the time, they may have not gotten across the line.
SA finished with a record of 1-3 for the week and played Victoria for third place and unfortunately went down 24-77 with Dennis leading the way with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals and Grez Montiel with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Standouts
Cooper Spillane was fantastic all week for SA and finished in the top ten for points, rebounds, assists and steals. They averaged 11.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals . They were also top of the cup for 3 pointers made showing his range.
Another standout was Annabelle Dennis finishing top of the cup for offensive rebounds with an average of 4 per game and in the top ten for rebounds with 9.7. That gave SA numerous second chance opportunities some of which they converted for their 10.5 points per game.
Checkout SA Wheelchair Basketball on their socials for more highlights and news…
https://www.instagram.com/sawheelchairbasketballassoc/
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CROSS OVER DRIBBLE 