Anthony’s call is basketball

By Paul Pickering
ANTHONY Drmic is only 16, but he can’t remember life before basketball.
When he was born, his brother Frank was already a 15-year-old giant of Victoria’s junior basketball scene.
Anthony was just four years old when Frank played in an NBL championship with the South East Melbourne Magic and six when he made his Australian Boomers debut.
Now Drmic junior is beginning to step out of that imposing shadow to forge a reputation of his own.
The 193cm Dandenong Rangers swingman burst onto the international arena as part of the Australian under-18 team this month, winning a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney.
He returned home to Endeavour Hills last week, before jetting out for Canberra on Sunday to begin his first year of a basketball scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
Drmic was still buzzing from Australia’s rousing victory over China in the gold medal game, where the Aussies came from 12 points down to win 98-82.
He said a healthy dose of green-and-gold pride and the support of a standing-room-only crowd at Sydney Uni Sports and Aquatic Centre was the catalyst for the second-half rally.
“It was just that true Aussie spirit I think – we came out and fought together and that’s what got us over the line in the end,” he beamed.
Drmic had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists in the decider, rounding off an outstanding all-round tournament in which he started every game.
It began with a stunning return of 19 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals in just 26 minutes on court in Australia’s first-up win over New Zealand.
“I did what I could to help the team get over the line, so I was pretty pleased,” the humble teen reflected on his tournament.
If Drmic has been affected by the constant comparisons to his brother, it doesn’t show.
He acknowledges Frank as a role model of sorts, but he’s clearly comfortable with his own standing in the sport.
“He’s been a big influence on me, because I’ve seen him play my entire life,” he said.
“And ever since I was a kid, all I wanted to do was play basketball. I was basically born with a basketball in my hand.”
Dandenong’s elite programs manager Mark Hewish has seen both of the Drmic boys emerge through the Rangers system.
He is reluctant to compare the two, explaining that they share little more than a surname.
“They’re totally different players,” Hewish said.
“Obviously they’re quite a few years apart and Frank was a bigger-bodied player.
“Anthony is probably a two guard (shooting guard), but he can fill the small forward role because he’s a very good athlete and can rebound.”
Drmic can’t wait to begin his stint at the AIS, where he will be among only three bottom-aged scholarship holders in the 17-player men’s roster.
Drmic joins fellow Dandenong juniors Liz Cambage, Stephanie Cumming and Rachael Jarry at the finishing school of Australian basketball in 2009.