With a coaching resume of over 30 years, Rob Beveridge has seen the Australian basketball landscape grow into what it is today.
Having coached in the Waratah League (now NBL1 East) in the early 2000s and more recently being an assistant coach for the NBL1 West’s Rockingham Flames – he has first-hand seen the development of the state basketball competitions.
In the lead-up to the Indonesian Basketball League’s Pelita Jaya’s tour of Australia, Beveridge explained how important the NBL1 has been for young athletes.
“It’s a massive part of the pathway for players,” he told NBL Media.
“With the five conferences, across the 141 teams, it just gives so much opportunity for the up-and-coming younger players. To play in a high-level competition with imports and players like that.
“It’s a crucial part of our development pathway, it’s as simple as that. It works. It’s a high-quality league, and the imports are very good.”
With a roster featuring former NBA players and Indonesian national team members, Beveridge’s team had plenty of choices for possible exhibition games. However, he explained that Australia, especially the NBL1 South, would provide his team with just as worthy opponents as anywhere else in the world.
“To be honest, we (Pelita Jaya) could go anywhere in the world, but we thought no no, Australia is one of the top nations in the world,” he said.
“We want to expose our players to some really good competition. It will be good to get our players playing against the South conference teams. To bring them (the Indonesian players) into Australia, it’s going to open their eyes.”
Learn everything you need to know including dates, streaming and which teams are playing within the tour here.
