Exclusive access: Inside Crocs gold medal half-time talk

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The gold medal was on the line. China was right there at half-time – 34-33 – in the 2025 FIBA Under-16 Boys Asia Cup Final on Sunday, September 7, 2025 in Mongolia.

Crocs head coach Greg Vanderjagt, 41, walked into the Australian change room at the break ready to make the necessary adjustments required to win a record fourth Asia Cup championship. But the wheels were already in motion.

"The most pleasing aspect coming into the locker room at half time was the playing group had identified most of the issues internally before we spoke about it, they’re an intelligent group of players with some really good, young leaders," Vanderjagt told basketball.com.au today.

"(I'm) proud of the way they responded in the second half. The overarching message was just to get back to doing things our way, find pace in the game, expand the floor spacing and let the ball do the work through our movement offensively.

"We got a little bogged down in the first half with their switching and playing against the crowd too much.

"Defensively some minor adjustments in the ball screen and again to dictate the terms of the game our way.

"The players trusted in the plan we put in place and executed what we wanted to do to control the game."

The Crocs destroyed China in the second half, outscoring the them 51-25 – doubling their score in both the third and fourth quarters – to win gold 85-58.

Vanderjagt was bold in assessment of his young playing group including high praise for 16-year-old tournament MVP Luke Paul.

The 1.9m guard put on a show in the gold medal clash, he was just one assist shy of a triple double: 26 points (10-from-14 FGs), 10 rebounds and nine assists in just 27 minutes.

"There are some future Boomers and pros in this group and the more that we can expose them now to the international game the greater impact they will have as senior athletes," Vanderjagt declared.

"Luke had an outstanding week and deserved the recognition as MVP of the tournament.

"The first time I saw LP at the U16 nationals last year there was something about him that was different, he thinks and sees the game at an incredibly high level and his ability to pass the ball is special. He makes other people better around him because he’s selfless, he cares about his teammates, coaches, support staff and he wants to win.

"He was down on himself a little after the India game but I thought he really responded through the finals stages of this tournament.

He’s inquisitive, asks questions, he wants to know everything about the game and how he can impact it.

"He’s a pleasure to coach and he’s got a bright future in this game if he wants it.

"I don’t recall a more impressive performance in an Asian Cup Grand Final that what he gave last night on both sides of the ball, he took control of that game, made everyone else around him better and was just so efficient in how he did his work."

For Vanderjagt is was a culmination of decades of dedication to Australian basketball even though he immediately deflected it as a personal accomplishment.

"It’s a very proud moment for me personally, but it’s not about me," he said.

"I’m incredibly grateful to be empowered by Basketball Australia to lead this group of players and help achieve their goals.

"We are a proud Basketball nation, and we punch well above our weight on the international stage by playing the right way and I think this group did that this week.

"The togetherness and mateship they developed over our time together so far is special and those things make competing together more enjoyable. They all knew their role within the group and when things got hard they had each others backs.

The really cool part is the relationships you build through the journey. Rhys Carter and I played together almost 25 years ago for the AIS and on the U19 squads, Anthony Foy (manager) and Brett Coxsedge (head of delegation) coached me as a junior in NSW and now we all got to compete together for Australia.

"How the game brings people together is special and sharing these experiences with great people is the most satisfying part when you all have a common goal."

Unsurprisingly, Vanderjagt saved the highest praise for the now four-time Asian Cup gold medallists.

"Really proud of them first and foremost," he added.

"They dealt with adversity along the way, distractions, challenges and always found a way. I think there is a real resilience within the group.

"We coached them hard, challenged them and the amount of information and detail we through at them as the tournament progressed I was impressed with their ability to absorb all of that and execute the things we wanted to consistently.

"As the week progressed we keep pushing the expectations higher and they always stepped up to the mark, the growth of the group but also each individual in the program this year has been significant. Across the China tour earlier in the year and now through the Asia Cup we’ve continued to get better.

"We established who we wanted to be in terms of our identity on the China tour, the buy-in from the group has been elite and the consistent commitment to that has put us in the position we are in now as the Champions of Asia."