Basketball On The Internet.

IT used to be so easy once, selecting the coach for the Opals, our internationally acclaimed national women's basketball team.

The succession plan may not have been set in concrete, but it was always fairly obvious.

Let's go back to Brendan Flynn at the helm in Los Angeles, circa 1984. Fifth was deemed pretty good at the Games, Flynn backing up after running 11th at the previous Worlds in Brazil.

(Of course, only six women's teams competed in LA, so maybe that fifth-placed finish was inflated, especially when Yugoslavia did a "no-show" for the actual playoff for fifth.)

Robbie Cadee succeeded Flynny and had a respectable ninth at the 1986 Worlds.

Then came the triumphant Seoul Olympics when Australia made it to the medal rounds, courtesy of a magnificent 60-48 round-robin victory over the Soviet Union.

Unfortunately in the semis, Australia had a possession and a 56-55 lead over Yugoslavia with about four seconds left on the second-to-last shot-clock. Cadee took time-out, the Opals came back on and ended with a rushed hope shot.

It missed, the Yugos had possession and a shot to win. It missed also but a blown box-out allowed a Yugoslav player to sneak in, grab the O-board to score and close it at 57-56.

Heart-broken at missing the Gold Medal game in such circumstances, the Aussies were a shadow of themselves in the Bronze Medal playoff and duly whacked by the salivating Soviets.

At that point in time, Basketball Australia did NOT endorse a policy of automatically reappointing women's coaches for a second four-year cycle - even though it became the norm for the men - so I wrote it was time for Tom Maher, the best women's coach in Australian basketball at the time, to be given his shot at the national job.

Cadee found that article unforgiveable - "You just bagged me!" - and after chewing me out over it, decided I was now invisible to him.

Not a bad effort, it's now 25 years and counting - a quarter of a century! That's what I call holding a grudge!! If only he'd had the same commitment to running a good four-second play. (Too soon?)

Fortunately Robbie's son Jason appears much more easy-going, and understands criticism is the reverse of the praise card and comes with the territory. Clearly takes after mum Deb!

That said, Robbie is still responsible for the best (and most important) assist in NBL history, the ripper he threaded to a cutting Peter Vitols for the match-winning shot in St Kilda's 94-93 Grand Final win in 1979.

And he was kept on regardless as Opals coach, Maher with seven WNBL titles at the time, the Opals coach with zero. Sorry. Those are just the facts.

Australia was sixth at the 1990 Worlds, then failed to qualify for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

With Cadee's run done, Maher stood out as the obvious incumbent.

Maher took Australia straight to the medal rounds in 1994, Bronze at Atlanta in 1996, Bronze at the 1998 Worlds, Silver at Sydney 2000.

He was given the two four-year cycles and then the question became who would be his successor?

Just as Maher was obvious after Cadee, Jan Stirling or Carrie Graf were obvious options after Maher.

So no-one was surprised when Stirling won the Opals job, or that she continued Australia's trips to the medal podium throughout her two four-year cycles.

When she bade farewell after a World Championship Gold in 2006 and Silver at Beijing 2008, it was obvious Graf would succeed her.

And she did.

Unfortunately, Graffy made a bit of a meal of the 2010 Worlds, finishing out of the medal round, but picked it back up for Bronze in London.

That was when she dropped the bombshell and decided not to go for the second four-year term as Opals coach.

What???

Panic stations. BA was caught with its pants down. And why?

Because there was no obvious successor.

For the first time in more than 20 years, BA did not have an obvious place to look. Phil Jones isn't ready. Peter Buckle isn't ready. Chris Lucas wasn't obvious. Suddenly there was a void.

Personally, I would have head-hunted Maher immediately but BA dawdled instead - how unusual! - and China snapped him up for a second stint.

So here we have it. The iiNet NBL Championship concludes and we finally have a Boomers coaching announcement with Andrej Lemanis officially the man.

But the days roll on and still no official Opals revelation, beyond Jones interviewing and longshots such as Seattle Storm WNBA coach Brian Agler and Wollongong Hawks NBL championship coach Brendan Joyce being right there in the running.

Sad, isn't it, that there's not a single WNBL coach that Basketball Australia thought worth considering?

Chocco coaching the gals? Well, he has been tweeting a lot re the U-18 nationals...

Fingers crossed it won't take BA much longer to let us in on its last secret of any value.

Even if it is no longer obvious who it should be.

PS

It is Men's toilet protocol to stare straight ahead at the urinal if you are not alone while relieving yourself.

So I confess I told an accidental fib earlier. I did make Robbie Cadee speak to me once during the past quarter-century when I noticed him next to me at a urinal in an Adelaide stadium.

I knew he didn't know it was me - the stare-ahead principle in place - so I said "G'day Robbie." 

He is a well-mannered gent and automatically said "G'day" back, as I zipped up, grinned and went to wash my hands.