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Season 2, Episode 2: EASTer Eggs Preview of the Top 8
135 Plays7 months ago
Lachy and Squin have turned their attention to the teams finishing in the Top 8 of the 2023 NBL1 East season - a quick recap of the results that led to our Champions and some discussion about the 2024 rosters.
Who is gonna take the 'chip in 2024?
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Transcript
Introduction and Listener Feedback
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome back everyone to another episode of East Got Game, an unofficial podcast covering the NBL One East competition. My name's Jacinta, formerly of the Central Coast Crusaders, and with me, as always, is Lockie France from the Sutherland Sharks first and foremost. How are you Lockie?
00:00:31
Speaker
I'm great, Squint, and thank you for clarifying. Yes, it's all about sharks, first and foremost. I mean, he just bleeds blue for his Sutherland Sharks, but as we know, as a lot of our listeners would know, that Lockie also has dabbled, commentating for Comets, and has a big love for Northspares as well. So, I mean, it's just basketball winning in the end, isn't it?
00:00:55
Speaker
Support players, not clubs. Definitely a recurring trend in the last 20 years of basketball in general that people tend to be more fans of players than clubs and that's okay.
Team Coverage and Format Change
00:01:07
Speaker
All right, so first and foremost, I want to say thank you to everyone who has listened to the first episode of season two so far. Lockie and I are always really surprised and chuffed when we receive feedback from people saying parts that they liked of the episode. Even the fact that they listened, we're always really, really appreciative. So thanks to everyone that's listened so far and have reached out. Big shout out again to Matt McQuaid and the boys from Two Feet in the paint, James and Garen, who
00:01:37
Speaker
I've sent us a little bit more information about some of the 2024 rosters that Locky has uploaded on our roster tracker on official website now, escotgame.com. So last episode, we did cover the teams that placed from in the bottom eight of the 2023 season. So as you would expect, we're going to cover the teams that were in the top eight
00:02:04
Speaker
of the 2023 season this time. We're going to change the format slightly. So instead of going in lighter position, we're going to talk about the teams based on their finals placings. So basically who entered the elimination finals and their outcomes, who were in the semi-finals, and then we'll finish off with the teams that win the grand finals. To kick us off, we've got to do the men first and let's do Newcastle Falcons.
Newcastle Falcons: Key Players and Challenges
00:02:32
Speaker
They placed 8th overall in the men's competition. Now, I'm just going to preface this first part of the men's competition by saying that the teams that placed 5th to 8th, they were all tied on a win-loss record of 14 and 8th. And what separated them was fractions of a percentage, in some cases, of the points for and points against percentages. So Newcastle Falcons, they did place 8th with the win-loss record of 14 and 8th.
00:03:01
Speaker
And they placed eighth by 0.2%. It doesn't get more frustrating than that, I think, for this team. As you remember, our outstanding seasons from Ryan Beasty and Miles Cherry, who were both regular features in our weekly e-scot game, All-Star Fives. And it looks like that they're back for another season, Lockie.
00:03:25
Speaker
They are and that was probably the most important thing for Newcastle was to get Beasty and Cherry back for another season. I mean, Ryan Beasty, I don't think the man's ever had a bad game. He comes out, makes smart decisions, does a little bit of everything. Ultimate Mr. Reliable and Miles Cherry down low is the dominant big man presence for the Falcons all season. He was absolutely
00:03:55
Speaker
Absolutely brilliant for them and 14 and eight and yeah, you know four teams tied there So yeah, they finished eighth and were you know forced into a buzzsaw playing the first place team in the elimination finals last year But you know one result goes the other way and suddenly they could finish fifth Yeah, all these teams that finished 14 and eight is a you know, all of it, you know fit shrouded in You know that that tiebreaker it doesn't really
00:04:25
Speaker
say how good a season each team had. There's a 14 tiebreaker, someone's got to finish at the bottom of it.
00:04:32
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, that's the really unfortunate thing about it. But I mean, it is competition basketball, so not everyone can just rock up and get a participation certificate. Because otherwise, we'd be talking about a totally different league. But yeah, as you touched on before, Newcastle, placing eighth did make the elimination finals and had to play top seed COE, and they lost 103 to 71 away, which is always going to be a tall order.
00:04:58
Speaker
But as we mentioned as well, Beastie and Cherry, like you said, the key pieces to re-sign in 2024. But Newcastle have also retained Jaden Goodwin and Lewis Mason. But a few exciting additions, Lockie. Yeah, so they picked up Coby Shannon, who had a really good end to the season from Bankstown. And they've got a player over from New Zealand in Francis Wainiramalville Hill, who played for the Wellington Saints.
00:05:26
Speaker
But I think the one that everyone's keeping an eye on is Jai Smith, who has played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA G League. Not to be confused with the Jai Smith that is already on the Newcastle roster. Same spelling, same name.
00:05:44
Speaker
It'd be very fun to commentate the Newcastle, Newcastle men this season. Yeah, he's been very outward in the fact that he wants to use MBL1 East as a springboard to greater things. And I think that's great that players see MBL1 East as a springboard to greater things. Because I think in previous years, back in the old Warrata days, that's definitely not something many overseas players would have said.
Diverse Player Pool Enriches League
00:06:13
Speaker
So with Jai Smith as well, he is a 20 year old 6'7 power forward. As you mentioned, he's got experience in the G league and the summer league. He spent lots of time in the overtime elite basketball league. The connection to Newcastle is really interesting. So Jai Smith is actually managed by Sean Tribe, who's now an agent with the management team, Team U First. And Sean Tribe is
00:06:40
Speaker
Ben Simmons, half-brother, Ben Simmons, descendant of David Simmons, Dave Simmons and the Simmons family having a strong connection to Newcastle. So that's how they have found themselves with Jai
Hills Hornets' Strategy Amid Key Losses
00:06:51
Speaker
Smith. It's a very small world basketball. Have you watched much footage on Jai Smith just yet? I have not, but what I've seen, he is a very very athletic young man.
00:07:04
Speaker
Certainly, certainly fun to watch. Certainly should be a very good addition to the league. Newcastle, I feel like those really explosive players haven't been their thing. By having a player like that, like they've always been a team. I guess their play sometimes reflects what people think of Newcastle, you know, working class, Steel City, get the job done kind of thing. Maybe a little bit of explosive athleticism.
00:07:33
Speaker
might be something, you know, little added extra spice for the Falcons. Yeah, you're right actually, now you mention it. The times I've played against Newcastle in the past always associated with like a really physical team, very strong under the basket, they don't give away a lot very easily. But if you want explosiveness in this team, Lockie, Francis is going to give it to you.
00:07:58
Speaker
He's a 6'4, 24-year-old guard, like you said, from Wellington in New Zealand. There's a couple of clips on him online that I had a look at this morning, and he likes to run. So he's quick. He gets the ball out in the lanes. He likes to run. He loves to pull up Jay in transition. So I think he's going to be a great support for Jayden Goodwin in the back court, especially on the defensive end.
00:08:24
Speaker
I mean, we've seen so many players from Australia head over to the NZMBL in our recent years interested to see that one comes the other way. More options for players in the winter. Yeah, there's quite a few players from New Zealand coming over to MBL One East, especially in the women's, couple in the women's competition as well. So we're getting a nicer mixture. We've got some Japanese players now, some New Zealand players,
00:08:52
Speaker
I think last episode you mentioned a player from Indonesia as well who's going to be an NBA 1E, so the more variety the better, I say. Yeah, you get those Asia-Oceania unrestricted players who may as well use the spots. Absolutely. Moving along now to another
North Bears' Comeback Plan
00:09:12
Speaker
team who obviously plays in the top eight and to the elimination finals was the Hills Hornets.
00:09:18
Speaker
They ended up placing 6 overall win-loss record of 14 and 8 and their percentage in the end was 104.9%. The Hills Hornets with that percentage actually put them above Maitland on the ladder in the end by 4.1%. They played the Canberra Gunners in the elimination finals and lost 90 to 69, a loss that they had to suffer on the road.
00:09:48
Speaker
It looks like they've retained most of their players with a few key exceptions, Locky.
00:09:54
Speaker
Yeah, so three big outs and maybe a couple of others yet to be, you know, discussed, but they're also not on the MBR1 website. So not sure if they're returning, but the three big outs we know about are Ben Kieran's and Josh Carley, who we mentioned last episode, headed back to their home club of Penrith. But also there are, import from last season, Sean Montague, a league favorite is,
00:10:23
Speaker
headed down south to Albury-Wodonga. So three big outs that they will have to replace but it looks like they have replaced them pretty well as well. Yeah, tell me about the big replacements in this Hills roster that's going to add a little bit of flavour to their 2024 season. Well they've recruited Ish Sanders who was an absolute star in Big V last season and
00:10:52
Speaker
The other big one that we all know and love, CB, Chris Bryant, he's making the trip up the M2 from inner west to Hills. They lost a good import in Shawn Montague, but they picked up a couple and everyone knows what CB can do in this league. And for a team that was hovering around the bottom of the league, not right at the bottom, but certainly not great numbers for rebounding, having a,
00:11:23
Speaker
Big man like CB in there to grab those boards. Definitely something that can help the Hills Hornets this season but he's just electric at both ends Chris Bryant.
00:11:36
Speaker
Yeah, I totally agree. He was almost averaging a double-double, I imagine. Like he was pretty consistent with a double-double. He is pretty versatile as well. We know that he can shoot from the outside, but he just has a really great footwork under the basket and inside. And I think that's going to be a really important piece and perhaps something that was missing for this Hills team last season. Paul Brotherson was really good in that way, but it didn't look like he was able to commit to a lot of games
00:12:06
Speaker
throughout the 2023 season, but I notice his name is missing on the 2024 roster. Yeah, so I haven't heard anything and the same goes for Lockie Charlton. His name's not on the roster on the website and also haven't seen him announced by anyone else either. Hopefully he lands somewhere because he could be a very valuable piece for a lot of clubs to be honest, not just at Hills, if he goes back to Penrith or somewhere else.
Inner West Bulls: Transition and Camaraderie
00:12:32
Speaker
Do you feel like they'll be able to be as successful as last season with these changes? I mean, I still think they can certainly give top eight another run. As we say, they've finished in that four-way tie. So they were percentage or win-loss record or whatever tiebreaker it came down to away from fifth spot. And they've retained plenty of the same players.
00:12:59
Speaker
The replacements for what they've lost are pretty solid. They've got young kids who are another year older. Certainly, certainly a red hot chance at making the top eight again. I am anticipating that the men's competition is probably going to have
00:13:17
Speaker
similar outcome where there will be teams fighting for those eight spots and I wouldn't be surprised if we're gonna see another three-way tie. And bring it on, just makes the league more exciting. You don't want to get to the final day of the season and have eight teams locked in. That's boring.
00:13:31
Speaker
Yeah, even though that's what happens in the women's competition, but that's still exciting. So the next team that were featured in the top eight but eliminated in those elimination finals is the North Bears who ended the 2023 season as fourth on the ladder with a win-loss record of 15 and seven and a points for and against percentage of 107.5.
00:13:56
Speaker
So they entered the elimination final, coming in fourth, having to play fifth, who was Sutherland, and the Sutherland Sharks turned up in this elimination final and just ate them alive. I'm sorry, I know that probably sounds really insensitive to North's fans and members of the team and, you know, our good friend of the podcast, Angus Burke, but we were both at that game lucky, and I was just floored with how sharp the Sharks were that game.
00:14:23
Speaker
Oh, that was like, turning up to that game, you just don't expect to be the lower place team and go into the Bear Cave and pull out a win like the Sharks did. It was the way they won it that was so, you know, so surprising. And I guess it set the tone for the rest of the final series for the Sharks. But we're here to talk about the Bears. We are here to talk about that. And they will be absolutely stinging from that loss.
00:14:48
Speaker
It'll be like, I don't know if you've seen the documentary about the San Antonio Spurs 2014 championship, the year after they lost to The Heat with the Ray Allen in Game 6 shot. Greg Popovich made them rewatch the 2013, either the Game 6 or the Game 7, just to fuel their motivation. And they went through and picked that game apart before they did anything in pre-season.
00:15:17
Speaker
And I feel like the Bears will have the same feeling about that boss to Sutherland and that will make them just want to elevate another level this year, especially bringing back so many of the same players. But the majority of that team is just so ready to put that behind them and just get out there and make amends for that, I'm sure.
00:15:37
Speaker
And in the context of that elimination final as well, North's had a lot of injury woes last season. They lost Brendan Reimer, Junior Madut had a lot of health issues as well during the season so he was coming in and out.
00:15:53
Speaker
players by this point of the season were really relying on a lot of their young bench players like the Morgan Brothers to step up and play big roles. So to be fair, it was a turbulent season for them. They still maintain fourth position and to go out to a very, very impressive Sharks outfit who ended up being the champions in the elimination final wasn't such a bad thing overall.
Canberra Gunners' Roster Strengthening
00:16:17
Speaker
But some pretty cool additions. They've got Pietro Badalasi from the Canberra Gunners joining the North Bears.
00:16:24
Speaker
I've been told that Pietro and Lewis Holley are quite good friends and wanted to play a season together. So Pietro made the journey to Sydney. And I'm imagining they're going to be the NBA One East version of the Bash Brothers, like from the Mighty Ducks, because between them, they're very tough defenders, very tough rebounders. And I reckon they're just going to have the best time doing that. It is going to be so fun. You know, Lewis Holley, you know,
00:16:54
Speaker
Never seen a rebound he wouldn't go for. And Pietro Badalazzi, the Duke of Double Doubles, that tells you all you need to know about his intent to grab a rebound.
00:17:06
Speaker
So watch out for the Norse boys on the boards this year. They also have added Mandrel Worthy, who last played for Diamond Valley in MBL1 South. He's a 6'2 guard. He's played at Montana State and Azusa Pacific. But the latter, he did redshirt for three years, unfortunately, than had a COVID year. What do you know about Worthy?
00:17:28
Speaker
I know, yeah, as you said, he's been around the traps, played at Diamond Valley last season, you know, averaged 11 points and three rebounds, shot almost 50% from the field as well and 82% free throws. So definitely a reliable player, but his name's not on the website yet. So hopefully that gets added quite soon. Definitely be a big, big in for the North Bears.
00:17:58
Speaker
Um, and not just, uh, Inns, but his Lycan Inn is Brennan Reimer. He was out for so much of last season. If they have Brennan and Junior Medut all season, they definitely finish higher than fourth, but even just with Brennan alone being there, more games than he was before he, um,
00:18:20
Speaker
Miss Lee at back end of the season with injury. I still think they finish higher than fourth. I have to ask, even though we don't know a lot about Mandrel Worthy just yet, do you think he is worthy of an MVP nomination? Oh, oh, I mean, he was, he was solid in South. Perhaps we don't, who knows what could happen by the end of the year. East, East is on the up though.
COE's Youth Focus and Roster Changes
00:18:43
Speaker
So, you know, it's not, not like back in the day where you could, you know, float in from Victoria and, and dominate. Um,
00:18:50
Speaker
I'm honestly only asking because I just wanted to use the pun. That's fine. You've created a discussion point. The more players in MVP conversation, the better. Yes, you're right. You're right. I think that we'll have to bring that up in one of our later episodes as well because that's something we've been working on with some of our peers in the league. But being 6'2",
00:19:14
Speaker
I mean, he could easily play a point guard, but when you've got Mikey Yong and you still got Robbie Moore, I'm not too sure where, if he is plant is where he's going to be the shooting guard or the point guard. I'm guessing it's probably more going to be a shooting guard because I think that's a piece that is missing from that North side. I think so. Yeah. Um, yeah, that got ball handlers, uh, galore do the, um, do the bears, but yeah, a little bit more shooting would certainly, uh,
00:19:44
Speaker
not go astray. They are, you know, they shot 28% as a team from three point range last season, which is definitely a stat they would like to improve. And you think the top of the league or COE with 37 shot 37% to top the league, and then a few more teams around the 33% range. So it definitely one area there are, they need to improve upon.
00:20:08
Speaker
Do you think coach Burke is going to include more shooting at team sessions this season to compensate or will he still leave that the responsibility of his players to do in their own time? I think he's going to leave it as their responsibility but he might be drumming it into them a bit more to take on that responsibility and make sure you get your shots on, which I'm sure the noise boys are all doing.
Maitland Mustangs' Championship Aspirations
00:20:28
Speaker
I thought I'd bring that up from our episode from last season because it was a talking point in our, in our MBL1Niece community. But this team also sees the return of Nathaniel Musters, which is great. He's back at Norse. Cooper Wilkes is on the roster for Norse, who has the connection with Mikey Golding with the 3x3 stuff. And the outs are the Morgan Brothers, Junior Madute and Jensen as well. Yes, they are.
00:20:55
Speaker
Morgan boys off at college. Family trend, Morgan's going to college. Certainly seems like it. Is that with Izzy setting the trend? Yes. Yes. At Davidson. Final team that made the top eight, but was eliminated in those elimination finals was, look, I'm still stinging about this a little bit. And it has, I had nothing to do with it. The inner West Bulls.
00:21:20
Speaker
Yeah, see, that's the reaction you get. You still feel for him. They placed second on the ladder. They had a win-loss record of 18-4 for the regular season. So yeah, Inner West Bulls faced Maitland in the elimination final and Maitland winning that one 81-92 on the road. So Inner West's almost fairy tale season ended prematurely. Still stinging from it, Lockie.
00:21:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, so many players who are so fun to watch on that team are Blake Morrow, CB, Alex Higgins Tisha, Tony Tolivi, so many players just really fun to watch, but just finals happened and Maitland find another gear. It was a great regular season for them. They got plenty to be proud of and finishing second overall with that team. Really,
00:22:19
Speaker
you know, went out and found some really good imports. But now it's up to Jake Omar and Zach Hudson to replace Blake and Chris Bryant this season. So two new imports. We've got a big job to do. Yeah, big shoes to fill certainly. And what can you tell me about these new imports? Oh, Zach Hudson.
00:22:45
Speaker
As far as I can tell, last played in Azerbaijan, which is an interesting place to have played. I know other
Sutherland Sharks: Champions' Strategy for 2024
00:22:55
Speaker
players have been over to that part of the world, not Azerbaijan specifically, but Taj David Spencer, who played, was a Waratart import, went over to Georgia, which is a country bordering Azerbaijan. So it's definitely been a place where good players have gone, but
00:23:12
Speaker
Yeah, he racked up 17 points per game there, grabbed plenty of rebounds as well. He's 6-8, just a forward, so probably play that CV role for them. And then I think Jake Omar, who went to Georgetown College, not the one in DC where Patrick Ewing went.
00:23:31
Speaker
Georgetown College in Kentucky, the NAIA school, was where he last played, so I guess he'll be the replacement for Blake Morrow. He did start his career at Western Kentucky, which is a
00:23:45
Speaker
a very, very well-known D1 school, regular participants in the NCAA tournament. Didn't get as much playing time there, but certainly made the most of his time playing in Georgetown College. So he's a 6'1 guard. As I said, yeah, he'll be coming in trying to
00:24:02
Speaker
Yeah, fill the shoes if that's possible of Blake Morrow. They've also added Ville for Ketty who has been playing in MBL1 North the last three seasons, including the Mackay meteors who won the inaugural MBL1 North competition. Described as a premier defender, I'm guessing perhaps a little bit more backcourt defense and relying on Higgins' teacher for the front court defense, perhaps. So it sounds like that they
00:24:29
Speaker
that the Inner West Bulls coaching staff has tried to replace the good bits that they had last season but add a little bit more on the defensive end for this season. Billy's no stranger to New South Wales basketball, played for for Penrith for a long time back in the day before making the move up to north and you know he's just really gone from strength to strength up there it's been a
00:24:52
Speaker
You know, great to see. In the West, yeah, the regular season, they were really, really good. They had a net rating of plus 13.7. Their defense was good,
Women's League: Team Strategies for 2024
00:25:03
Speaker
but if they can take that up another notch and maintain the offensive firepower they had, I don't think another elimination final loss will be in the offing this season. The two imports can fire and these, you know, returning pieces, a couple of new pieces, I think they're going to be very much a contender again.
00:25:21
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. And, uh, Higgins teacher, you know, we forget that he's still so young and has, uh, still early in his semi-professional to professional career, uh, in the off season, he had some experience playing in the, the BAL in Africa basketball, basketball, Africa league under coach Lee's mill. So he's gone over and developed his game even further. Um, so I imagine that he'll be able to showcase some, some more skills in his skillset, but they just have a good camaraderie about them as well.
00:25:51
Speaker
I think that that also goes a long way when you're chasing a title. Yeah, they certainly do. They've got a lot of guys there who, you know, they know their role. They're willing to play their role. People aren't getting above their station kind of thing. You know, you see a guy like Johnny May Edwards or Kaitlyn Bayer come off the bench. They just get in there, play their role. There's nobody really trying to, you know, take over. Fit in, don't fit out, as I think LeBron James once said.
00:26:19
Speaker
And now on to the four teams who were successful in those elimination finals. We're going to start with the Canberra Gunners. They are placed third on the ladder overall with a win-loss record of 15 and 7 and a percentage of 110.8%.
00:26:35
Speaker
They beat hills in the elimination final as previously mentioned But then they lost to Maitland in the semi-final which was a grand final rematch from the previous year Gunners losing that semi-final 75 to 88. Yes Maitland exacting revenge in a very similar way to what Canberra did to them in the grand final because Maitland stormed home in that semi-final it was tied heading into the fourth quarter and
00:27:04
Speaker
Maitland ended up winning by 13. So white North's in their elimination final, the Gunners will be equally as stinging from the way they went out in the finals. But they do have one massive piece back who spent last season playing for Mount Gambry in MBO 1 South. Who is it, Squinn?
00:27:26
Speaker
It's Will Mayfield lucky. Yeah, so he spent a season over in Mount Gambia, trying his hand in MBL1 South, but he's back to help the Gunners back to the Promised Land. And, you know, with a couple of outs, Nikhil Peters off to our Southwest Metro in MBL1 North and Pietro Battleasi heading up to North, as we just mentioned, to play with his mate Louis Holley. Will is an absolutely
00:27:52
Speaker
stand out. It's not recruit but return. But of course Glenn Morrison aka the Brindabella Beacon is returning. They've also got a couple of new recruits. I tried to get some intel on them. One looks like a Canberra local returning and the other looks like a Queenslander. Do you know much about them?
00:28:11
Speaker
Derek Emily from Canberra, but he's been over playing D2 college for Walsh University. I only played a few games, didn't get a massive run, so he's back with the local team and getting a run in MBL1.
00:28:31
Speaker
Lucas Schmidt, he is fairly young as well. He's only just turning 22 in a couple of months, in maybe about six weeks, but he's a big. Didn't get much of a run for Rockhampton. He stands 213 centimetres.
00:28:49
Speaker
According to EuroBasket.com. So a full seven foot. Yeah. When you said he's a big man, I was like, surely he's going to get to the point where to mention that he's actually seven foot. Like he's the biggest of the men. He is. He's the biggest of the men. We don't have very many players at all.
00:29:08
Speaker
Australia, let alone NBL1 East that are touching that kind of height. That's a point of difference that he has even before you take into account his abilities. Yeah, and even if he just comes down here, he'll be in a team and a club with a very good culture. He'll be under a very good reliable coach that obviously has a great reputation given how many players
00:29:33
Speaker
have come back for consecutive seasons under coach Peter Herrick. So I imagine it's going to be pretty good for Lucas's development. And he was actually a COE graduate in 2020. Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah. It says he's born in California. I don't know if he actually is or if that's someone messing something up. But yeah, a COE played in Oceania for
00:29:57
Speaker
for Australia at youth level. So yeah, he's definitely showing a bit of promise. Kids who are that tall, it takes a while for them to grow into their, you know, grow into their body, especially as they get older, you know, growing into like being an adult kind of thing.
00:30:12
Speaker
sign's looking good, it can only, you know, only go up from here, metaphorically, because I don't think he's going up physically anymore. I was going to say, it sounds like he's already on the up and up at seven foot. I'm excited for this team to see Cam Penda have a bigger role because he played really well last season and I'm excited for him to step up to a bigger role and be a more of a key piece for the Canberra Gunners in 2024.
00:30:38
Speaker
Yeah, they did have some young guys in camp. I think Cam Pender was probably the standout amongst the players, I think, who showed plenty of upside last season. Yeah, I think he's someone who can really, really elevate into a more extended role this season. One name we haven't heard anything about is Dahl Feig.
00:31:00
Speaker
I was going to bring that up as well. I am wondering what is happening there. Maybe he's just having a rest given he had some injury woes last season or what do you think? I'd love to see him back, but you know, if he wasn't playing for Canberra, which I hope he is, I thought we would have heard about him from somewhere else, but fingers crossed when we get to next Saturday or two Saturdays from now, because then he was recording on a Friday, hopefully he'll be winding up for someone.
00:31:29
Speaker
Yeah, and if anyone out there is listening and knows how Dahl Feig is and what his plans are, well, you're welcome to message us on the Eastcott Game Instagram and give us some intel, because we'd love to know. Okay, after Canberra, we've got the COE. So they finished top of the table. They had a win-loss record with 20 wins and two losses.
00:31:53
Speaker
They entered the elimination final and beat Newcastle, as we mentioned previously in the episode. They came across the Sutherland Sharks in the semi-final and the Sharkies came away with another big win, winning that one 82-89 on the road. So, COE eliminated in the semis.
00:32:12
Speaker
As people know by now, the COE being a scholarship program and age restrictions and things like that, we're always going to see a lot of new scholarship holders, a lot of rotations in the roster and a lot of disruptions because this year is the Under-17 World Cup.
00:32:31
Speaker
The men's tournament is going to be held in Turkey so we're expecting that to probably have some disruption to this squad and to the season as well. But it looks like they've got a pretty healthy looking roster. Locky?
00:32:46
Speaker
They do, and it's always important to remember that all these returning players are a year older. They're all kids, so a year's development can be absolutely massive. Yes, they're down, Alex Toohey, Ben Henshaw, Bowen Beatty, Johnny Furphy, Akira Jacobs, but
00:33:05
Speaker
They would dance some of those guys for that game against Sutherland that they only lost by seven. So I don't want to say that losing those five guys isn't, they aren't massive outs because they are. I think as we've seen with COE teams in the past, they always lose really good players.
00:33:23
Speaker
But then the younger guys step up, they have another year of training under their belt. Kai Savage came in mid-year last year and just absolutely went off. It was like his second game, one of his first games, we had him in the All-Star Five because he went off to 30. We know there's plenty of young guys on that team who have had some time under their belt. It's always good. It's always fun to watch COE and it's great having him in LA.
00:33:47
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I'm really grateful they're in our league because I really enjoy watching some of the young Australian talent, particularly at this age group and watch them develop as juniors. And then you get to track their careers as they go on to other
00:34:03
Speaker
MBL, WMBL, rosters, college, et cetera. I just really like that feeling that you got to see kind of where it's all started. But some of the big returning names from last season's squad is gonna be Luke Fennell, Jacob Fervy and Kai Savage. So he's back for 2024. I think that's probably gonna be three of their key pieces given that they consistently played in 2023.
00:34:29
Speaker
I'm excited to see Josh Dent in a full season for the COE at this level. I mean, it wasn't the first name I looked at, but he's definitely one to definitely one to look at. Yeah. Coming out of Illawarra, as you would expect with the surname, Dent. Um, definitely a family that's, uh, delivered a lot of successful players in the past. And, um, yeah, looking forward to seeing what Josh can produce.
00:34:56
Speaker
Would've been great to see him in a hockey jersey, to be honest, but, uh, that might have to wait. Cause I think he was even included in a Boomers squad quite recently when they played either some friendlies or some very early qualifying tournament, uh, qualifying Olympic games. Yeah. Was it, um, recently they played, uh, Korea, was it? Being a fever, fever game. That's, that's an official, official cap. So yeah, good on him.
00:35:21
Speaker
And so that was the name that stuck out to me on the list, but it sounds like a couple of other names stuck out to you. Who were they? I was looking at Emmett Adair, who's been a Norse player. So definitely see a bit on the old Insta every time he's doing stuff for New South Wales Metro 18s, or I think it was at New South Wales 20s. He was a very, very big part.
00:35:48
Speaker
part of their team. So yeah, just really looking forward to seeing him have a full season under his belt. But of course, I don't think he can go past probably Kai Savage. Came in so young and already looks so good. I think he can be the focal point for them.
00:36:03
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Kai Savage was pretty consistent given it was his debut season as well. You're right, though, about Emmett Adair. He's the one consistent name. If anyone else pays attention to the New South Wales juniors announcements of SPP state teams who's making all Australia camps,
00:36:24
Speaker
Emmett's name is consistently on those lists for the last however many years. So he's becoming already a household name in the New South Wales basketball circles. Yeah, I mean, six foot eight can shoot the three, you know, and the New South Wales, you know, program has been pretty solid lately. This isn't, you know, this isn't a downtime for New South Wales basketball. He's a top player in and we're producing players as well.
00:36:52
Speaker
The runners up of the MBL1E's 2023 season in the men's competition was the Maitland Mustangs.
00:37:00
Speaker
They ended the season seventh on the ladder with a win-loss record of 14 and eight. They ended up with 109% on the forward against points. Yeah, which was that smidge in between Newcastle and Hills Hornets. So as we already mentioned, they had to play inner West Bulls in the elimination finals and absolutely slayed the game away, winning 81 to 92.
00:37:26
Speaker
And then they found themselves in the semifinal against the Gunners, as we mentioned, and got that win on the road at 75 to 88 and matched up against the Sutherland Sharks in the grand final. I have that result burned into my brain. It was it was 83 80 Sutherland got the win as a last chance three quarter court shot
00:37:53
Speaker
just rimmed out, which would have taken it to overtime.
00:37:58
Speaker
That is exactly what happened. You are correct. Now that you mention it, I remember being there at the Sydney, Sydney, UD sports and aquatic center, watching that game from the sidelines and every, no one was sitting down. Everyone was standing up because we were so tense about how this game was going to end. So given that Maitland had such a dream run from the elimination finals to get that close to getting a championship and to redeem themselves from the inaugural season.
00:38:27
Speaker
That was a true heartbreaker. It was for the Maitland Mustangs. And I guess the question now is...
00:38:35
Speaker
Third time in the shot? Surely, surely. Like Coach Luke Ball is back in the head coach's position. I'm sure he is going to be the most focused that he has been on his life to get in this championship. Based on the roster information we have so far, it looks pretty healthy. They've got most of the roster retained from last season. Importantly, they've re-signed
00:38:59
Speaker
the MBO1 East MVP from last year, Will Cranston-Lown. They've got a new import named Christian Little and he looked a little bit familiar when we started to do some research on him. Did you find the connection between Christian and Maitland? Yeah, his name is Will Cranston-Lown and they went to college together. Correct. So yeah, Will Cranston-Lown
00:39:26
Speaker
Spent some time at Regis University in Colorado, which is a D2 school. And he was teammates with Christian Little, who spent all four years at Regis University, was dominant by his senior year. Averaged 17.1 points per game. Shot 50% from the field, 38% from three. Grabbed four and a half rebounds per game.
00:39:55
Speaker
through in almost three assists. Twice all-conference first team, all-conference second team, conference freshman of the year, twice all-tournament team for the conference. Well, school rankings is actually the all-time leader in steals and games played at Regis. Yes. Guess the line plenty because he's second for the school all-time in free throws made and attempted. Oh, well there you go.
00:40:22
Speaker
he sounds like the perfect backup then for Will Cranston-Lown. So obviously, you know, Will will still be on his point guard duties, because why would you ever want to change that? Christian Little being a 6'2 guard and looking like he has that kind of scoring ability and steals ability. I imagine that he's going to be the starting shooting guard for Maitland. But there's actually a video with Christian Little on I think the MBL one
00:40:48
Speaker
social media pages that I watched this morning. And Christian's on the record saying that he wants to focus on his defence. So, given that he leads his all-time leader at Regis for steals, he's going to be a menace in the backcourt. Yeah, if he wants to focus on his defence and he's already grabbing steals like that, make sure your handle is tight and your passes are crisp. Or just don't dribble unless you have to.
00:41:18
Speaker
Passing is much more effective, just don't dribble unless you have to. I wanted to see what he was up to since he finished college, but I couldn't find very much information, so it would be interesting to learn a little bit more about how he bridged the gap between finishing college and coming to Maitland. Like, what have you been up to in the meantime, Christian? Maybe you can come on the podcast one day and tell us.
00:41:40
Speaker
But look, given that they're really gunning for the championship, same coach, same squad, extra edition with Christian Little, like this is it for them. This is it. Then you think like Will Mortimer is a year older, been in and around New South Wales country in New South Wales under 20s. You know, he's a really good, good young player. Once again, they were in that four way tie. They were one result away from finishing.
00:42:05
Speaker
A tie for third, basically. That's the thing. We're talking about this four-way tie for fifth. Well, third and fourth were only one win ahead of them. It really was close, third to eighth. And so we had a grand final between fifth and seventh. Apart from COE being 20 and two and then losing all those players and in the West being eight and four, it really was that close. So a couple of spots up the table, not have to play three, two road games in a neutral side game to win a championship. There are definitely, definitely amongst the contenders.
00:42:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think this is it for them. I'm really excited to see how they go. Last season, they were a team for me when we were doing some of our round reviews that always looked really good and then
00:42:47
Speaker
which is kind of fall back into the playing style of their opposition instead of sticking to their own game plan. Sometimes a little bit like a stalling car, sometimes a little bit too relaxed on some occasions, but when it all clicked for them come finals time, I was like, this is what I was waiting to see all season. So hopefully they can just bring that from the start and be super consistent and run away with the championship. So I think on the plus side too, if they end up making, well, I guess on the plus side for most NBA One East clubs, if they end up making nationals, you can guarantee that
00:43:18
Speaker
Yes, yes, definitely. Yeah, that's the thing. They've done very well in getting a lot of very or at least having a lot of very good players who aren't quite reaching
00:43:33
Speaker
aren't going to be dragged away by MBL1 clubs. But if they go to Nationals, they could all get dragged away by other clubs in other MBL1 conferences next year. Oh yeah, that's a good point. Let's hope that their loyalties will continue to lie with the Stangers. And then last but certainly not least was our 2023 MBL1 East Men's Champions, the Sutherland Sharks. Now I'm only going to say a little bit,
00:43:59
Speaker
And then I'm going to let Lucky loose, because obviously he's the number one expert for the Sharkies. So they had the win-loss record of 14 and eight as well, placing fifth with their 105.9% win-fouring against points. They played north in the elimination final, burnt a hole in the net, winning that one 66 to 85. Then they went on to beat the COE on the road 82 to 89.
00:44:25
Speaker
Absolutely huge roster. Um, that's all I'm going to say. And I'm going to leave the rest up to you. Thanks, Squint. No pressure. Um, who else would know this team better than you? Uh, other than the outside, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, outside the team, outside the team. Um, well, I mean, the Shahis, yes. Uh, finish fifth in that tie. Um,
00:44:52
Speaker
You know, it was the talk around the Shark Tank of, you know, we were one bad result from, you know, eighth or out of the finals and one good result away from third or fourth or wherever. Last season when the Sharks were at their best, they were always good enough to win a championship. It just didn't happen as often in the regular season as they would have wanted it to. And it's a very tight league. Those things happen. You don't have to be very off.
00:45:21
Speaker
to lose a game in and be able to win anything against the top tier team. They return a lot of the local pieces, but it's change at the import spots. So, haven't heard anything about Jordan Mitchell or Mark L. Beasley. They have announced Brian Williams, who, as far as you can tell, last played in Indonesia, had some time playing in the G League with the Wisconsin herd, the feeder club or affiliate club of the
00:45:51
Speaker
Milwaukee Bucks. It's interesting because the Sharky Zone, Jordan Mitchell was around pre-COVID and then came back. Certainly had him for a long time. But Brian Williams out of Louisiana, sorry, University of Louisiana, from the state of Louisiana, played three seasons at Oklahoma State and then transferred to Louisiana.
00:46:14
Speaker
where he averaged 10 points in his senior season and four rebounds. Stan 6'5", 95 kilos, so solid, solid guard. So I'm guessing he's going to probably play that Jordan Mitchell role just with a little bit more height. Jamie Stewart, 6'1", 6'2". So fingers crossed he can come in and play that role because baby Bron Jordan Mitchell,
00:46:40
Speaker
love taking it straight through people whenever he got the chance. Baby Braun, that's not my nickname. It's actually embroidered on his college backpack that he used to bring to all the games. So that's been his nickname for a long time. Interesting signings is, we'll get to the three from Camry Gunner's Academy. So that's interesting is that the Sharkies have brought up
00:47:01
Speaker
Mamadou Fall, Jordan Hilda and Spencer Musgrove all from the Gunners Academy. So those three boys, it's tough roster to get into in Canberra. They're traveling up the highway to have a shot with the Sharkies. Aside from that, the recent signing is Sydney King's young gun, Claris Amir. He was a four star prospect. He's still only 18. Four star prospect had some really good D1 offers.
00:47:29
Speaker
Instead signed a three-year deal with the Kings. Definitely a very high-level player, spent some time
00:47:37
Speaker
at high school in the States. But that is a massive late addition that, I mean, I wasn't expecting. So he's a six foot seven guard, which is almost unheard of in MBL one East. I mean, if you're six, seven, you are a three, probably a four. He spent this season and we'll spend next season as a development player and then we'll be on the roster officially for the Kings.
00:48:05
Speaker
But yeah Sutherland with a massive, massive sign in getting him. But aside from that, we turn most of the same pieces. Lockie Hutchison's back, Jeff Gerlach, Adrian Cabrera, Angus Lake, Carolyn Norris, Aaron Wuban. The only one, the cold hero Nick Feng is off to comets though. That's one fan favourite we won't have back, but Nick did a good solid job.
00:48:28
Speaker
for the Sharks won a championship and all the best swimmer comments, I think it'll be a really good piece for them as well. When you win a championship, it's hard to, you know, pick faults because you won the championship. But I just really hope the Sharkies can get that three point shooting together because it's the one thing that can get them from being a fourth, fifth team that has to make a championship run against the odds to being top one, top two.
00:48:57
Speaker
and getting that home finals all the way through. They shot 26% from three-point range last season in Sutherland. The only team below them was Penrith. So there are teams that finish right at the bottom of the table like, you know, Hornsby, Manly finished
00:49:17
Speaker
shooting better three-point percentage than Sutherland. If guys like Angus Lake and Callum Norris can hit their straps, start knocking down threes, it gets dangerous and opens up opportunities for guys like Cabrera and Hutchison getting the paint. I mean, they're pretty good at it anyway, but if defenders suddenly can't just sag off our three-point shooters,
00:49:40
Speaker
It certainly opens things up for our guys like Hutchison and Cabrera to get in there. Den Gack also lost from last season. He's gone over to Williton in MBL1 West after spending the back half of last season with the shark. He's winning the championship and he's moved over to the West. Any final thoughts on the men's competition before we head into the women's?
00:50:05
Speaker
I think it's going to be incredibly close again. We talked in the last episode about teams looking to break into the eight. Uh, the top eight, if they haven't improved, they've at least returned everyone and what they've lost, they've, they've recruited pretty well to fill. So it's.
00:50:30
Speaker
But it is, it's going to be really tight. A team good enough to finish fifth could finish ninth. You're going to have to be on your game every night because you don't want to be dropping tiebreakers to teams. You don't want to be letting teams that you're competing with get ahead of you. And you especially don't want to be losing those games. You know you should win against lower teams. So you're just going to have to bring it every night. There's going to be no margin for error.
00:50:58
Speaker
And the caliber of talent for the 2024 season is certainly elevated compared to 2023. Not that 2023 was bad. It's just that we've gone even better than what we've had. So I'm also expecting it to be a very competitive and tight season. And it looks like a little bit more focus on recruiting power forwards and centers so far in the men's comp, which we also love. And we'll see the same in the women's comp when we get into it a bit later.
00:51:25
Speaker
That point about recruiting forwards and centres is you start with nobody or very few teams having a really out and out centre and then you see how well I guess Inner West went with CB, how good Canberra are with Glen Morrison. Suddenly all these teams are like, we've just got to compete inside, we've got to do it, we don't have a choice.
00:51:47
Speaker
And maybe you're not developing a place, so you've got to go get one. These guys don't just grow on trees. So you've got to go recruit them and then everyone has to have one if they want to compete for a title. Then you just get more well-rounded teams.
00:51:59
Speaker
And I think as well as a basketball fan, when you can watch teams that have a more complete roster of the traditional point guard, the traditional center, and gives those teams those opportunities to exercise the full capacity of having a true one to five.
00:52:17
Speaker
That's kind of like a more, I don't know, textbook version of the game that we enjoy watching. Not saying that when people play small ball or have to adapt to what they have. That's also exciting because then we get to see the creativity of coaches. But from a fan's perspective, it is pretty fun to see the full breadth of a true one to five lineup. And styles make fights. You know, the more options you have,
00:52:45
Speaker
the more you can, you know, throw something different at the opposition. And as a fan, it's always great to watch, you know, coaches try to, you know, nut out on the fly, the best way to get a win. And that's why we love the game. There's so many variables, like the nerds that we are. All right, we're going to take a break before we get into the women's competition. Okay, now we turn our attention to the women's competition as per
00:53:12
Speaker
the men's competition will be discussed in the teams based on their final placings and not specifically on their latter placings. Starting off is Aubrey Wodonga Bandits who finished 8th in the 2023 competition with a win-loss record of 12 and 10. They made the elimination final and lost to Manly 80 to 72.
00:53:33
Speaker
Uh, standout of the season, Michaela Pivich came late into the season, but certainly inspired a late run to the elimination finals and finals placing. One of the last round games was actually a makeup game that Aubrey had against Comets.
00:53:48
Speaker
And that game went into overtime. So that was showing, that was a good sign of how much Aubrey was really sprinting towards the finals finish line. But this team is looking pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good for 2024, Locky. Yeah, it is looking pretty, pretty, pretty. You got enough pretties in there? I'm not sure you did. That's how good it is. I aim for four because of the Curb Your Enthusiasm reference.
00:54:13
Speaker
So yes, if you haven't heard because your internet's been down for the last several months, Lauren Jackson is back for the Aubrey Woodonga Bandits. So they will have Lauren Jackson and Ash Hannon in the front court, just a pair of WMBL Grand finalists. They also return
00:54:37
Speaker
Michaela Purvick. So we've got a player who played for half a season and still got postseason honors. Plus Lauren Jackson, plus Ash Hannan, they've recruited Aotear Leach from the Northern Kahu in New Zealand to run things at point guard. So starting five is looking very, very healthy for the Old River Donka Bandits.
00:54:59
Speaker
Probably one of the strongest starting fives in the women's competition, I think we could very easily say. And a big shout out as well to new head coach, Sammy Mack. He's been assistant in the women's program for a little while. Yeah, has stepped up into the head coach's position, so we're very excited for him. He's done a pretty good job with recruiting, I would say, Lockie.
00:55:23
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, pretty, pretty good job indeed. You know, getting PIVIC back was obviously a big signing because we don't very often see imports particularly of her caliber going back-to-back seasons in a comp like NBA One East. Given that Lauren Jackson had already signed, I think that was a really strong drawing card that Michaela now has the opportunity to play with one of the, well, with the greatest.
00:55:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, they even posted as much on social media that Michaela was basically devastated. She didn't get the chance to play with LJ last season. So, you know, almost a no brainer to come back and
00:56:03
Speaker
Mick even mentioned this is the first time she's actually returned to an overseas club. And you feel like she's played in some, you know, pretty fantastic places where you spend time over in Spain. A little old Aubrey, you know, the club that she wanted to come back to for a second season is, you know, it just says so much about them. And I will clarify that I say little old Aubrey, despite the fact it's 10 times the size of my hometown, so. Certainly aren't wasting any time.
00:56:32
Speaker
going for another championship. Ooh, if they get it, it'll be the second in three years. It certainly will. And well, they had to retool massively because they know LJ, you need Thompson or I am harder. I mean, that was
00:56:47
Speaker
you know that was their big three then they've had a season without a big three really um not for the whole season anyway and now they come back and do have three really really big big names um i mean they've lost um emma mahade who's going to be assistant coaching while she's out injured so um
00:57:06
Speaker
you know getting a replacement for her just a quality player into the roster was paramount and they've gone ahead and done that. And Jade Crook has gone to Centre of Excellence which we'll get in a little bit later. Sarah Mellington and Molly Rice who were two of the you know the real the backbone
00:57:26
Speaker
of the Aubrey Oudonga Banders longtime players in that squad, they're coming back. But still a question mark around Brodie Page Theodore and Casey Ardern, who were, you know, notorious menaces in the backcourt. So I'm hoping that they are returning and just haven't been announced. That would be very, very good, because I don't know a fair share of relaxing lyrical about Brodie Page Theodore on this.
00:57:52
Speaker
on this podcast and I said I said it to her after the game which the grand final which we called that Casey Ardern didn't win MVP in that grand final I think five or six players got MVP votes she didn't win MVP but they don't win that grand final if she doesn't shoot like she did no way no way I'm pretty sure that she got our MVP votes
00:58:13
Speaker
She hit four threes and was at a pretty good clip as well. It was really good. It was like four from six or something. Yeah, she'd be a great piece to have at Brady Page State or veteran presence, defensive menace, get the ball up court, just someone you want on your team. And also Elizabeth Murphy is coming back who also had that breakout game in 2023 who, what was it? Eight threes in a game or something like that? Yeah. Eight threes, 27 points. Absolutely huge performance.
00:58:42
Speaker
And, uh, a real workhorse from what we hear from the all real donger, uh, bandits camp. So, uh, just as you mentioned with some of the young COE players, um, throughout this episode, locky, another young person where a whole year under their belt in this league is going to be in their favor and they're going to be a whole year older. And so, uh, big things from Elizabeth mercy this season. Oh, yes. Yes. If you can, uh,
00:59:09
Speaker
Yeah, knock down eight threes in a game and come back another year later with, you know, same teammates, you know, everything's set up for him to just keep rising, you know, just come straight back in, straight back into the flow. After Aubrey, we have the Maitland Mustangs. They ended the season six on the ladder with a win-loss record of 14 and eight. They ended up playing north in the elimination final and lost 81 to 57 on the road.
00:59:37
Speaker
So it looks like they have a very extensive roster again this season. They've re-signed their key players in Shakira Riley and Sydney Hunter. And of course local legends like Rachel Williams. A couple of outs though. How do you think the outs are going to affect their 2024 chances? Well, I think
01:00:00
Speaker
Well first we'll get into who they are. It's Mila Washkovich from who's gone to the University of San Diego and then Dayla Walker has headed home to the ones becoming guy spiders. Obviously Mila, that's a starting player you have to fill the role of and that's a tough player to fill because she is like Maitland through and through.
01:00:22
Speaker
You know, it's not like they had to go get her from another club. She is in the first place. So that's it. That's always the toughest player to replace is someone, you know, someone who's from your club. They've gone out and got a couple of players. They've got, um, Summer Feliafa from New Zealand who, who's a wing. And then Natsu Kahama, who's one of the Japanese players that you mentioned have come into this league. And there's social media posts, Maitland, when they announced this signing was that whilst they
01:00:51
Speaker
uh, have pride in being, you know, grinded out defensive team, you know, defense first. They needed a little bit more offensive firepower, a little bit more explosiveness. And that's what they want to get from Natsuka Hama. It's going to be tough to replace Mila, but if these players are as good as advertised, and I know at the blitz, people were talking up Valley Alpha, especially, I think the boys are two feet into paint.
01:01:21
Speaker
posted a couple of videos off her. So tough, tough player to replace, but they've done what they can to go out and try and fill that spot. What about Maddie Washington? Have we heard any news if she's returning? I haven't heard any news about her as far as she, whether she's returning. It's both Maddie and Sydney Hunter are playing in the women's professional league in the UK at the moment. So I think they're going to come straight from there. Yeah. So that's the thing with so many of these leagues in Europe,
01:01:51
Speaker
past the start date of MBL1. So, you know, some players will probably not resign or sign their next deal until that season's finished. You know, some will, they said Hunter signed while she was still over in Great Britain. Like, there's a lot of players there who haven't signed yet, but there's three options. Either they aren't resigning, or they aren't coming back. They're putting the decision on the back burner until the European season ends, or they've signed and the club's just not going to announce it until the European season ends and they actually can be here.
01:02:21
Speaker
rather than announcing a player in March, everyone gets hyped for them and then they don't turn up till June. Yeah, I think that was a similar situation with Maddie last season, right? They announced her quite early, but it was like, oh, but she'll be here later.
01:02:34
Speaker
That's always a possibility that, yeah, players just don't get announced until they're actually turning up. So you think this Maitland team have what it takes to maintain a top eight position in 2024? They're probably as good as last year if everything falls into place. Um, maybe, I mean, getting Matty Washington in will make them that good or if they can get another import piece equal to that level. There's a few teams on the come up though. Um, like we mentioned, Central Coast,
01:03:01
Speaker
have gone really hard and I think you have to, you probably have to sort of pencil them in as a top eight team as it stands. Maitland are more than the sum of their parts. Yes, they're more than the sum of their parts, but they also have such belief in themselves. Like they were rank outsiders in that game against North, that finals game.
01:03:25
Speaker
Their reaction after the game, how devastated they were to have lost that game, showed me how much they believe in their abilities to go far, because they thought that game was... I mean, you always think of games winnable, but they had real belief that they could go deep. And belief is a very strong thing. The human condition, people always like, oh, you come out your hardest every game. It's like, that just doesn't happen.
01:03:53
Speaker
It is harder to get up for a game where you feel like you're not a chance or you're going to win for sure. It just happens. But I feel like Maitland always feel like they're really in with a shot. And that is a massive benefit to them.
01:04:11
Speaker
Yeah, and they've got such a good team culture around them. It's no wonder that Sydney Hunter is coming and is coming back. Yeah, so power to them. They're always, they're great to watch. They're a team you want to see do well.
01:04:25
Speaker
I feel like they're a very likeable bunch. Moving right along, this time to your beloved Sutherland Sharks. They finished fifth on the ladder with a win-loss record of 15-7. They played the COE in the elimination final and lost
01:04:43
Speaker
93 to 88 in what was a bit of a heartbreaker because that was definitely one of the best games of the season. They also had Laura Nicholson consistently for the season apart from when she had Opal's duties at the Asia Cup. Thoughts and reflections from 2023 Lockie? How did we blow a lead in the fourth quarter against CoE?
01:05:06
Speaker
Yeah, that is a big stinger, big stinger because the lead was a substantive lead as well. Yeah, so the final quarter was 25 to 12 and COE won it by five. So Sutherland were up by 10 going to the fourth quarter. But moving right along, Sutherland have returned
01:05:26
Speaker
Just about everyone except Lauren Calva, sort of. Because, well, Lauren Nicholson is currently overhanging out with Marianna Tolo and Gerona. Correct. And we'll be there until June. I think she misses the first 10 games of the season. She's going to be away June? I thought it was a lot.
01:05:47
Speaker
No, so they've all announcements suggest that once by the time she's back, there'll be 10 games remaining. But also, Maddie Norris won't be available until the round after Anzac Day.
01:06:01
Speaker
So that's five games missed for Matty Norris. So those are two massive outs. They returned just about everyone else, Eliza Favreau, Kelly Hovada, Jordy Dewhurst, Liv White, Manny Pilovich, Emily Garland. All the big pieces are back. The recent signing, it's a real piece they needed with two big players out is
01:06:23
Speaker
Vanessa Penussis is back in Sharks colours. After helping lead the Sharks to a grand final in season one of MBL1 East and playing for her hometown Comets last season, she is back in the blue and black of the Sutherland Sharks.
01:06:38
Speaker
I'm going to burst your bubble now though. What's that? She's only back for four games. I figured that would be the case because then we get start getting players back. Yeah. So she is back, which is really, really exciting. So she is going to be able to feel that void and steer the ship while Woz Nicholson and Matty Norris are away, but it will be short and sweet.
01:07:01
Speaker
There are a few games that are potential banana skins at the start of the season if they don't have that full roster. So it might just be the thing they need to pick up those wins and maintain a solid platform from which to launch into once Maddie and Lauren are back.
01:07:17
Speaker
But I've also picked up Taya Webb from Launceston in NBR1 South, so she was part of the Tasmanian Under 20s team, competed last season, went toe-to-toe with Isla Jufferman, bit like Matty Norris in a way. Doesn't mind shooting a three, but got plenty of height, so really interested to see how she goes, having come up. For the second year in a row, Sutherland have managed to pick up a player from Interstate, got Eliza Fabro down here with her
01:07:45
Speaker
friend Lauren Nicholson last season and now with her partner Locky Hutcheson this season as well so she's got double the reason to be down here and now we picked up Taya Webb who comes up here with that Lauren Nicholson connection as well but we just might put what was Nicholson in charge of recruiting from now on. Also back after a bit of an absence is Mel Andre Eunice former per WMBL player back in the day
01:08:09
Speaker
Played a few seasons ago. Made a comeback. Retired. Was back again. I saw her out shooting at South Little Basketball Stadium the other day. So it's very good form, so very happy to have her back. And also have a Cook Islands International in Darwin Pilatati. So she played in New Zealand and she's played up in, I think it was still the QBL back then, playing for Gladstone back up there. Certainly a long roster, but
01:08:37
Speaker
We'll see how new coach Adam Marjoram can finagle everything and give everybody the minutes they want. Yeah, and it sounds like he'll have, you know, speaking of options in one of the, when we're talking about one of the previous teams, it sounds like he'll also have plenty of options and a lot of players who are going to compliment the already existing local talent that has been a part of the squad for a long time.
01:09:03
Speaker
So yeah, I'm excited for Sutherland. They're definitely going to be top eight contenders for sure. Perhaps they'll, I reckon they might even crack top four this time. Well, last season we lost, we didn't have was Nicholson for Opal's Juba. We also didn't have her at the start of the season because she was, you know, resting after WNBL. So yeah, we might only have it for 10 games this season, but we didn't have it for a whole lot of the season last year either. Yeah, that's right. But it seems like there's a few buffers in there that can
01:09:33
Speaker
certainly do the job in the meantime. 100%. I mean, Emily Garland dropped twin 30 point games at the start of last season. You know, someone will step up and do something.
01:09:43
Speaker
Very good, so excited for the Sharkies and we're going to go up north this time to the Newcastle Falcons. They ended the season second on the ladder with a win-loss record of 19-3, but unfortunately lost the elimination final to the Sydney Comets on their home court with a score of 76-85.
01:10:05
Speaker
A little bit quiet on announcing a lot of the women's roster. They very quickly re-signed Nicole Munger, which was a great decision. Especially given that there's always talk if Munger is going to go back to Newcastle or stay in Canberra.
01:10:22
Speaker
under the caps umbrella, you know, playing for Nationals and now that Veerley is going to be the coach of the Nationals as well. But she is back with Newcastle, as is Kate Kingham of the last season's squad. That's the only two re-signings that has been officially announced. But a couple of big, you know, new signings. When you say big signings, that's physically and metaphorically because one of them is Isla Juffamans.
01:10:50
Speaker
the Coffs Harbour legend making her way down to Newcastle to play MBL1 before she leaves for the University of Louisville. That will be a big, big inclusion for the Falcons because, I mean, we saw how dominant she was last season playing for COE. She's now a year older. She's got a year under her belt, you know, training with Flames. You know, you go up against someone like Kayla George every day in practice.
01:11:19
Speaker
It's not going to make you worse at basketball doing that. Instantly, I mean, she already was, but she's going to be one of the best big players in the league. And then their second import, I think, is a really smart signing. It's Ariane Nichols from San Jose State University, described as a really good defensive player.
01:11:41
Speaker
which is, I think, what brought them undone in their matchup against Comets. You need a lockdown defender to face a team that has Shrila Hill and Vanessa Penussis on it. That's what Aaron Nichols is supposed to bring is some lockdown defense. So I don't think, you know, that's what they've seen. They got burnt by players who could absolutely, you know.
01:12:02
Speaker
Cook defenders and now they've got a defender who can at least lock down one player on the opposition every night So I think that's a really smart recruiting move to actually go out and get Not just a good import but you've eyeballed exactly what you needed and went out and got the import that matches that Because I think teams sometimes not all the time, but sometimes They want to get that player that import who's gonna go off for 30 a night regularly But you don't always need that
01:12:31
Speaker
No, you really don't. And I think, I think particularly with a style of women's basketball in the NBA one where it is very team orientated where anyone can score, anyone can shoot on any given night, someone is going to have their turn of having 20 points, finding a really
01:12:48
Speaker
consistent lockdown defender like you mentioned is probably a little bit more important sometimes. Based on what I could find on some Instagram kind of posts as well, this team looks like they had a young team at the Blitz.
01:13:04
Speaker
I'm not entirely sure if Isla played, given that she had hurt her knee at the Under 20s Nationals not too long ago, unfortunately. But it looks like Hannah Chikin is playing, because I think I saw her in the background. I didn't see Jess Relf in the background. I saw some other younger players that I've seen around the traps with the junior programs. And a shout out to Josie Chick, who is originally from Tamworth.
01:13:31
Speaker
She played Rebels for one season, she played New South Wales Country Tour, she's been a grown-up at uni and now she's graduated, she's come back to basketball eventually and she's playing MBL once so it's good to see her in the fold. But Newcastle will unfortunately lose Emily Foy because she's away at college and Abby Curtin has signed with the Darwin Salties. I'm salty about that.
01:13:57
Speaker
We have to get that in there. Perhaps a younger teen, bigger responsibility for Kingham. You know, same level, if not a tiny bit more for Munger now that she doesn't have Abby Curtin there to kind of back her up a little bit. Will they still make the top eight in 2024?
01:14:13
Speaker
We've only got those four to go on and that seems like a pretty good start I mean, I don't see if you're filling it out with young players from there You're probably not seeing top two bottom end of the top four is still a possibility Yeah, they've only if you've only announced four players I find it very hard to her nail down a prediction and you can never ever count a Newcastle team out So that's right. That's that's country teams for you
01:14:35
Speaker
Now we're cracking into those that made the top the semi-finals of the 2023 season starting off with the Sydney Comets who actually placed seventh overall by the end of the regular season with a win-loss record of 13 and 9. They went on to beat Newcastle in the elimination final 76 to 85 and lost to North in the semi-final 87 to 67. So their season in 2023 started with a real hot streak I think they were like
01:15:06
Speaker
seven and oh or maybe not that many but they were on a hot streak to start the season they had penuses from the start they had cross shore from the start um charlie hill in and out with different commitments including uh asia cup and opals and things like that as well quite a different looking comet squad for 2024 yes so you know you just mentioned all the big names that they had last season well
01:15:35
Speaker
as it stands, they don't have any of them because, I mean, Shyla Heel was over in France at the moment, replacing Marine Fotoupe. Jada Croucher was at college at Long Beach State, and as we just mentioned, Penucis is on a short-term deal at Sutherland. So the big three is gone, but that just means all change, including a new import guard, Davida Dale, who's made the move down from Mackay and then be all one North. So that's a really good pickup.
01:16:02
Speaker
Yeah, and they've also added Eleanor Pinkerton, Gabrielle Neal, who's from Ipswich. She's come down from NBL One North. And Sarika Shillingsworth is back. She's super talented, super athletic, just such has such a natural ability for basketball. So I'm really glad to see her back. She was playing
01:16:21
Speaker
some American football over in the States for a little while. But yeah, Davida Dale, 5'11 guard, like you said, played for Mackay in MBL1 North, has also played in Sweden, and to me just reads like someone that has a lot of length and versatility, and has a pretty good passing game as well. Yeah, and wrapped up the points for Mackay last year, average is the best part of 20 a game for
01:16:45
Speaker
for the meteorites. If they're looking to replace the scoring of someone like Heal or Penooses, I think Dale's probably a very good option for them. With the length of Cross Shore that they're going to miss too. Definitely. That will be the big player they need to replace. In Cross Shore, she's quick for her size, she gets on the boards, scores tough baskets, develop these young players, and then they decide college is the best option.
01:17:15
Speaker
a lot of them it is and then you're without them for four years. I tell you when you get them back four years later oh boy are they good. Yeah so Comet's new look uh Shelly Gorman back in the head coach's position I think they've put together some really good pieces I think they're a little bit stronger and a bit deeper compared to last season as well so
01:17:38
Speaker
I could see them in the top eight again for sure, especially if Shillingsworth gets back to her original form, like as she was before she went to America. Certainly not a player to take lightly. Oh, definitely. And they've also brought in Abbio Flynn, so there's someone to annoy literally every backcourt player.
01:17:56
Speaker
in the league. Great on defence. Loves to pick off a pass along the top of the arc. Loves to steal and I mean, Alexandra K. Roos, Piper Anderson, Alex Oliver, Dylan Alexander will be full time with the team now. You know, they're all a year old and Michaela Minschel as well. So, I mean, I think they were, last year they were better than a top seven finish.
01:18:22
Speaker
And this year they might not be as, you know, they don't have Penusa's heel and crawl short of carry them a long way. But yeah, I still think the team is a chance if they can put it all together. Definitely still a very competitive outfit. Uh, and then we've got the center of excellence. They finished fourth overall with a win-loss record of 16 and six. They played the Sutherland Sharks in the elimination final and won 93 to 88.
01:18:51
Speaker
And then they played manly in the semi-final and lost 81 to 74, which was quite a pretty intense game as well from memory. That was a very entertaining game. A lot of the graduates from the COE program for last year, as we expected, have gone on to some pretty great things. We've had Jada Clark go on to have a debut season in the WNBL with the UC Canberra Capitals, Safran Shields, similar situation with Townsville Fire.
01:19:21
Speaker
Isla Jafferman with the Sydney Flames. We had Summer Hanson go over to college and have an absolute breakout year as a freshman. She's recently announced her transfer to UC Irvine. And Lara Sonfai, she still could have qualified for another one or two, at least one year, maybe two years with the COE, but she's decided to go to America and she's playing with IMG Academy.
01:19:47
Speaker
And just Peter who went to the University of Nebraska who just featured in March Madness. So that's a pretty impressive resume of your 2023 players. It certainly is. And same with the men's team, the graduates, it's a real collection of elite level talent. Like sometimes, not to be cruel, but sometimes you see players graduate and you think, oh,
01:20:13
Speaker
Maybe they might go next level, but all of these players are already. If they're not in the WMBL, they're at high level colleges or in Somphi's case, pretty much on track too. And Hanson, yeah, she's just transferred, but the level she went to for college was perfect for her. So they're losing a lot of very, very good players. It's not like any of these graduates didn't get any playing time last season.
01:20:35
Speaker
No, that's right. Like Somfire came in late-ish and she made such a great impact on MBL1 East and to her COE squad so quickly. So it is a shame that we won't get to see her again, but she decided to go to IMG Academy, which is still high school equivalent. She's already had really big Div1 colleges, you know, keeping their eyes on her. I think she has narrowed it down to five choices, including I think it's Yukon, Duke,
01:21:04
Speaker
Stanford, and there's two others. Tennessee and Virginia Tech. Although Virginia Tech's head coach Kenny Brooks, who recruited, you know, Georgia Amor, he just left for Kentucky. But let's talk about the 2024 squad because they are equally as talented, a little bit younger, but also have huge potential.
01:21:27
Speaker
We've got our Opal Bird returning, Manik Babongi returning, Bonnie Dees, Ruby Gray, Sienna Harvey, Sienna Lehman, Sarah Portlock all returning and some really good additions. Any names on that list really stand out for you? Well, I think anyone who watched Under 20's Nationals this year or even had a passing interest in it is going to think that this is Bonnie Dees year.
01:21:55
Speaker
because she was absolutely lights out at 20s this year. Scoring, rebounding, she just looked next level. If you're worried about who's going to replace all these graduating great players, well, Bonnie's the one who's primed to step up for COE this year. Yeah, I'm very excited to see her. And I think from memory, Sienna Harvey had a good 20s nationals as well for Victoria.
01:22:24
Speaker
And a couple of new additions in Satea Fagan, I've heard good things about her. I can't quite remember the age groups of a lot of these plays, but I think the likes of Jade Crook are currently in the squad for the Under-17 World Cup, which will be later in this year. Can you remember anyone else on this list who's still technically Under-17?
01:22:45
Speaker
Well, if we look at last year's U16's Asian Championship, many of the players will be eligible from that. From that U16 Women's Asian Championship team, the COE players are Jake Crook, Satea Fagan, Sienna Layman, Zara Russell, and Sophie Taylor. So five in that U16 Asian Championship team from last season. So they will be knee deep in a fight for our World Championship spots.
01:23:15
Speaker
And including them, some fire still qualifies for that team. Jessie May Hall from Hornsby, Coringa, Spiders, she's in that squad as well. And Ruby Perkins from North, even though she's not playing NBA One East, but she's a flat out baller. Yes.
01:23:32
Speaker
Ridiculous. Zoe Jackson was in there as well. And Zoe Jackson. Also from North. Also from North, yes. Also in that squad. If we include COE, a lot of East represents. So that may, you know, there'll be some things taken into account while some of those athletes are over there. But very strong squad. I'm really looking forward to seeing some of these new scholarship holders adapt to the MBO1 level.
01:23:58
Speaker
I'm also looking forward to seeing what a healthy Sarah Portlock can do all season because she was in and out of it in 2023. You know, she stands six foot eight. It'd be interesting to see if she can get a full clip under her belt. Yeah, I wasn't too sure because there was, you know, very limited appearances in 2023. So I wasn't sure if that was due to injury or experience or whatnot. So yeah, I hope she gets some more consistent minutes this season.
01:24:28
Speaker
All right, two teams to go. The absolute battle that was the 2023 MBO1E women's final. Talk about tension. Going into that final statistically, these two teams were so close. The depth of each bench was so close. The experience and expertise of this coaching staff.
01:24:49
Speaker
You couldn't, you couldn't split them either. So going into that final last season, you couldn't pick it. You had to flip, flip a coin or it was literally the case of the cliche of the best team that turned up on the day. And the runners runner up for 2023 in the women's competition was the manly Waringa Sea Eagles.
01:25:08
Speaker
Who were the minor premiers for 2023? They finished the season with a win-loss record of 20-2. They won their elimination final against Albury. They beat COE in the semi-final and lost to Norse in the grand final 71-56.
01:25:25
Speaker
When we were talking about earlier about Maitland Mustang's men's team, about how they've retained a whole bunch of their regular roster, their locals, they've put in a few pieces and they're really gunning for the championship, that is manly women for 2024.
01:25:43
Speaker
I mean, it's easy to recruit players when they refuse to leave the peninsula. You don't really need to recruit. It's just like, just retain, retain what we have in this particular area and we're good. It's flat out hypocritical of me to say that as a Southern Shire resident, but oh well.
01:26:02
Speaker
They will take it in good humour, I'm sure. I'm sure. I mean, you're 100% right, especially about the Grand Final. The only thing that split Norse and Manly that day was the Spit Bridge. Alice Delaney. I mean, they've only announced three players so far, but they only really need to because everyone knows who's coming back. Alice Delaney, Kimberly Hodge, or as she is now Kimberly Dickinson. Congratulations on your recent nuptials, Honey Badger. Whoo!
01:26:28
Speaker
Josie Bormans back, Maya Jelena, Sari Mowbray, Zoe Miller. Thanks to the boys at Two Feet Into Paint for that information. I'm almost certain every player that we've got written down here who doesn't have a club next to them.
01:26:41
Speaker
is just about going to be back like Annie Henderson, Brie Delaney. The only player who won't be back is Fliss Henderson because she's offered Columbia University having just played her first March Madness game. Someone very close to her as well, her biggest sister Kitty Henderson in the same team. There you go. Other additions to this team?
01:27:02
Speaker
There is one so far. It is Brooke Flowers out of St. Louis University in the Atlantic 10, where she held a one-woman block party. As a senior, she was Conference Defensive Player of the Year, all-conference third team, finished the season ranked second all-time for the school in rebounds and blocks, had
01:27:26
Speaker
88 blocks as a senior in 35 games Sorry, that was a senior at her grad grad season. She had 133 blocks in 35 games So that is nearly four blocks per game
01:27:40
Speaker
That's outrageous numbers. Yes. Stand six foot five. So that's probably the one thing manly really needed. It means they can shift Kim Dickinson to the four spot and she doesn't have to play. I mean, she did an admirable job at the five, but, um, you know, she can play as a proper four. Flowers can play as a five in a league where you're going to have to go through the buzzsaw that is Hannah Jackson to win a pro championship. You're not going to get much better than that to go up against them, to be honest.
01:28:09
Speaker
No, and this is exactly the piece that Manly needed because they had everything else in 2023. Even the things that you can't account for on the stat sheet, they had the playing history together, the good team culture, you know, there's such a tight bond of women off the court, which you can't put on a stat sheet, right? That goes a long way.
01:28:29
Speaker
And on the court, they had everything. Like you, you kind of indicated, Kim had to really play a little bit out of position to fill that five spot, regardless that she's arguably probably the best four in MBL one East, or at least one of the one week spot that this family team had was not having a true center and
01:28:48
Speaker
Nate Kerwin, got it done. Brooke Flowers is exactly what they need. So they're going to be, I'm scared for their opposition. Yeah, when they finished 20-2 last season, made the grand final, no reason they shouldn't be top four again. Absolutely not. They are going to be out, it's a redemption season, they're going to be out. What's the old chess night? You've got to lose one to win one.
01:29:14
Speaker
And losing that one obviously really hurts. Especially with who they lost it to. Oh yeah. Yeah. That's perhaps a whole other episode. Recapping that historical tension between Norse and Manly. We could probably go out and get some expert interviews to provide their insight and historical recaps about how it started and why it started and why it's still going.
01:29:40
Speaker
But yeah, I'm really excited for this team. I wouldn't be surprised if they have a similar win-loss record of 20-2, to be honest. Like 20-2 is a really tough mark to reach again, but it's definitely within the realms of possibility. And then last but not least, it is our NBL 1-E's 2023 Women's Champions, the North Bears. They placed third on the ladder at the end of the regular season with a win-loss record of 18-4. They won their elimination final against Maitland,
01:30:10
Speaker
They won their semifinal against Comets and the grand final against Manly. Then they went all the way to the grand final of MBL One Nationals and lost to the Bendigo Braves, who are essentially a WMBL team, let's be real, 114 to 87. And if you go back and look at the statistics of that grand final,
01:30:30
Speaker
The only thing that really separated these teams was the third quarter where Bendigo just like had a massive third quarter and I think they held north to like single digits in points and that was that was it really. Big expectations for 2024 you think?
01:30:46
Speaker
Oh, definitely. I mean, Norse, Norse grand final is pretty much always, you know, minimum expectation at Norse. They expect success. Generally, I'm pretty good at it. You know, getting there, you know, they, they regularly make semi finals and grand finals. It took them so long to get over the hump. But when they did finally win that first Warata League,
01:31:08
Speaker
Championship in Zwone against Sutherland. Maintain that trajectory. No, they haven't won it every year, but they've always been in it amongst the contenders and they have picked up a couple more championships.
01:31:18
Speaker
Was that 2018 or 2019 that Grand Final you're reflecting on? I think it was 2018. I think my instinct said 2018 too, because I have a feeling that's when I started commentating. That was the Grand Final where Muffy Loader just played out of her skin. Yes, yes, yes. So, 2018, then 2020, and then last year. Sorry to bring up 2022.
01:31:43
Speaker
Haha, that's fine. I've dealt with it now. North, as expected, some of their regular anchors have been retained in Emily Simon, Sarah Schicker, Maddie O'Hare is back, Carla Pittman as well. Unfortunately, Kate Seabomb has departed and is living the life in Townsville. And that is more metaphorically, big issues to fill. Oh, geez.
01:32:12
Speaker
Yes, I mean, one of the top defensive players in the league. You know, when it takes Lauren Nicholson coming back to stop your streak of defensive player of the year awards, that's a pretty good defensive player, that is elite. But she's not just a defender, she's also did steer the Norse team around the court with such aplomb for so long. And yes, it's going to be a massive hole to fill for the Bears, but they've recruited a former manly player to try to fill that gap.
01:32:41
Speaker
Yeah, I was really interested by this, the announcement of Meg Jeffs is going to be playing for North because I was like, I thought she was always a manly player. And given what happened in the grand final last year, Meg's played in Sydney for a really long time and played with a lot of the rosters from both manly and North. So I can't I imagine that the decision of who to play for would have been difficult. Now North have got that spot to fill. I don't think
01:33:08
Speaker
manly are really recruiting anybody at the moment. And I think it's a really good piece for Norse, you know? Meg's a good defender as well. They need someone who can step up. You have to play defense if you want to play for Norse. It doesn't matter how good your offense is, they won't let you get away with not playing defense. And I think that accountability in all areas is really what has helped them throughout the last few years. They've just got a really good team culture combined with a lot of very good players.
01:33:35
Speaker
Yeah, so Meg Jeff's able to feel a little bit of that gap left by Kate Seabomb. Caitlin Martin just coming off a season with the Sydney Flames as a development player, as is Carla Pittman. So Caitlin Martin, she really shone at NBL One Nationals. She had some really great moments, and that was before the season with the Flames. So I imagine she's going to be able to feel that gap of Kate Seabomb. They're two very different players, even though they're both point guards. Caitlin likes to play with a bit more
01:34:05
Speaker
tempo. And hopefully she can continue to develop her decision making skills in that role as well. I mean, she's only young, what, 19, 20. So I'm sure she will continue to learn that type of skill as well from Jeff's. Just by gate, I was hoping was going to come back because she was someone who used to start
01:34:23
Speaker
on the bench, but as the season progressed last year, she ended up taking more of a starting role and that ended up helping North a lot in the long run. I wonder, well, I was going to say, I wonder if they're going to fill her spot, but it looks like they have with Sydney Cooks. Yes, Sydney Cooks. Yes, that is yet another in the we need a big to compete.
01:34:44
Speaker
And they've gone out and got a very, very good one. Sydney Cooks played her college ball at Seton Hall University, which is in the Big East. So that's really high level basketball. Yeah, we mentioned it with Manley going out and getting Brooke Flowers, but North have done a solid job there getting Sydney Cooks as well.
01:35:06
Speaker
really looking forward to what she can provide because not only did Sydney Cooks play at Seton Hall, she played at Mississippi State and Michigan State and the reason she left Mississippi State which was, you know, an elite program at the time is just because she went to law school. She can certainly hold court.
01:35:28
Speaker
She's a baller on the basketball court and a baller in the court of law. We love a smart, independent woman. And at the moment she's actually playing in Taiwan. I'm guessing she's playing in the same league that Kayla George is playing in at the moment. From what Sydney has indicated, I think she'll only be joining the season sometime in April.
01:35:48
Speaker
Yeah, so I think actually Sydney and Kayla are playing for the same team, not just the same league. They're playing for Cathay Life. Maybe they can get along and play together so well that Sydney can just be like, oh Kayla, why don't you just like pop on back to Sydney? Um, I'm sure my friend Renee can... I'm sure your assistant coach from WMBL would be happy to have you. So yeah, Sydney Cooks, 6'4", Power Forward, just what, slash centre, just what North's needed as well.
Anticipation for 2024 Season and Upcoming Content
01:36:16
Speaker
So we asked last season, Lockie, for the universe to provide our NBL One East league with some more true centers and bigs and the universe has provided in 2024. Certainly has. I am great. And for that, I am very, very grateful. Looking forward to a very, very good season and a former elite big. I'm sure you're very happy to watch the bigs go around.
01:36:43
Speaker
I don't know if I was elite, but I definitely enjoyed it, so I will take the compliment. But otherwise, lucky, any final words? Well, the men's comp is going to be ridiculously tight. There will be a team from outside the top eight in the women's comp from last year make the top eight this year, maybe two.
01:37:00
Speaker
I'm almost guaranteeing that. It's just too tight for someone not to slip. You don't even have to slip far. It's going to be very tight. It's going to be very fun. Looking forward to these battles of the bigs. Long may it continue. See you at the Shark Tank. So that wraps up our episode of the top eight of the 2023 season and the rosters for 2024. Next episode, we're going to have short interviews with the championship winning coaches from 2023 in Pat Williamson and Renee Garlep.
01:37:29
Speaker
And we've also reached out to some of our peers in MBL1 East and asked for some of their predictions and things they're looking forward to in the 2024 season, so we'll be able to bring that next episode as well. But as always, thank you for listening and following us online. Remember to check out our official website, esgottgame.com, where you'll still find the roster tracker for the 2024 season.
01:37:55
Speaker
and follow us on Instagram, at East Got Game. And most of all, don't sleep on the East.