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Every week, ESPN's Olgun Uluc runs through what's catching his eye across the NBL, and takes you inside the conversations trickling around the Australian basketball ecosystem. This week, he looks at the NBL teams zoning in on young talent, a shoutout to an unheralded Next Star, and some not-so-flattering stats on the league's officiating this season. 
NBL teams are headed to BallaratThis is an important week for NBL teams. Sure, everyone is still in the midst of a wildly-close season where, with just three rounds to go, the play-in race remains wide open. That's, of course, where the bulk of the attention lies. There is, however, a good amount of focus on Ballarat right now. That's because the Australian U20 National Championships are underway, with multiple eventual NBL players on show. The talent level at this tournament is high, and almost every NBL team will have a presence at Selkirk Stadium this week. Sydney Kings CEO, Chris Pongrass, was in the building on Tuesday to check out the action, and that's just the beginning of the NBL presence in Ballarat. Scott Ninnis, the Adelaide 36ers' interim head coach, will be in town to see Wednesday's action, flanked by assistant coach Graham Kubank.  Sam Mackinnon and Luke Brennan -- both South East Melbourne assistant coaches -- will also arrive on Wednesday to check out the action. Josh Cheney and Luke Cann will be in town on behalf of the Brisbane Bullets, while Melbourne United will be sending John Lowe. The Tasmania JackJumpers confirmed to ESPN that they'll also have a presence at the tournament; likely newly-appointed General Manager of Basketball Ops, Mika Vukona. The Perth Wildcats have General Manager of Basketball Ops, Danny Mills, in the house, following his time evaluating at Basketball Australia's National Performance Camp last week to see a lot of the same prospects. As of now, the New Zealand Breakers, Illawarra Hawks, and Cairns Taipans aren't expected to have any representatives in Ballarat for the tournament. Now, when it comes to the prospects they're there to watch, the list isn't short. Victoria is, as usual, stacked with talent. Luke Fennell, a 6'5 guard, is at the top of the list for NBL teams, while Ned Renfree is also a high-level competitor worth keeping a close eye on. The Victorian team has a duo of current NBL development players in Austin Rapp (Phoenix) and Fraser Roxburgh (36ers), and Joel Foxwell, who's a training player for United. Out of the NBA Global Academy, Julius Halaifonua -- a seven-foot big out of New Zealand -- is among the headliners, along with Australian guard Indy Cotton, who's one of the younger players in the tournament. Tasmania has a trio of high-level players in Jacob Furphy, Kye Savage, and Lachlan Brewer, while there's still a lot of intrigue around Queensland's Roman Siulepa. Some stats on the NBL's officiating this seasonA lot has been said about the league's officiating this season: by coaches, players, media people -- including me -- owners, and more. Obviously referees are an easy target, but the criticism isn't blind or unfounded; there have been pretty clear issues. Ask around the league, and there's concern in the lack of consistency with different calls from game to game, and seemingly no trust that NBL referees have the capacity to officiate bigger, more physical, and more athletic players. Freedom of movement seems largely out the window, and there are some numbers to illustrate that point. Teams are averaging 20.3 fouls per game, which is the third most since the NBL went to 40 minutes. Naturally, teams are getting to the line a lot more, too. Teams are averaging 23.1 free throw attempts per game this season, which is the most in the 40-minute era. A shoutout to MantasMantas Rubštavičius was probably the lowest profile Next Star heading into this season. Fast forward toward the end of this season, and there's a really good argument that he's been the most reliable. The Lithuanian wing had some injuries to start the season, so his production was volatile, but his efficiency gave us a glimpse of what he could be when given an extended run. That's exactly what we've seen in the latter half of this season. Ever since becoming a starter for the Breakers, Rubštavičius has been one of the most effective players in the entire league.  In the 10 games he's started, the 21-year-old is averaging 12.9 points per game, with a 68% True Shooting Percentage. Rubštavičius is shooting the three-ball at an extremely high level, and that's leading to success; the Breakers are 6-4 over their last 10 games. The readiness of Rubštavičius isn't entirely unsurprising. He joined the Breakers with five seasons of professional basketball - not all the highest level, but he still existed within a pro environment - under his belt, so his floor was always going to be higher than other Next Stars. The efficiency is what stands out and, if the Breakers are able to sneak into the play-in, Rubštavičius projects as being a significant part of their post-season run. Behind the curtain on free agency reporting... and how it can go wrongLet's take you inside how a scoop is formed. And how it can be screwed up. In this instance, I had a source tell me over the weekend that Sam Waardenburg -- one of the Cairns Taipans' key local players -- had signed an extension with the team. The revelation was unsurprising; I'd been told late last year that there was mutual interest between the two parties so it made sense that a deal was agreed to. I checked the intel with a second source, who confirmed it and that it was a three-year deal. At the time, it felt like a long extension, but that wasn't enough of a red flag to make me hold the news. I had two sources on the intel so, naturally, I ran with it. Five minutes after breaking the story on this website, I got a text from a third source: "you're wrong." Oh dear. I made a call. I spoke with a fourth source. I then made another call. I discovered the issue. Some miscommunication toward the start of this process made me think it was a new three-year deal, but what it actually was, was an extra year on top of the original two-year deal Waardenburg signed when he first joined the Taipans. That's a rookie error from me. I proceeded to own up to the mistake, and make the necessary corrections. Unfortunately, I went with the news on NBL Overtime earlier in the day, so it was too late to remove it from the show. While not a ginormous or irredeemable error, the hope is always that no real damage was done because of the erroneous reporting. It's safe to say more diligence is in order, from here on out. Lesson learned. My favourite plays of the weekWill McDowell-White has been playing with a really cool flow lately. Here, he attacks one-on-one, and uses the impressive footwork to get a good look at the rim. Lachy Olbrich's nose for the ball is elite. The benefit of the Phoenix's unfortunate injuries is seeing some of their young players get extended minutes. Kody Stattmann has been shooting the ball well in this recent stretch, but this on-ball stuff was cool to see. Alex Sarr's defensive versatility was on show in this possession against the Phoenix. Another heads up play from McDowell-White. Love the footwork from Shaun Bruce here.
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