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Episode 15: Inside the Bear Cave with Angus Bourke
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Round 13 has just wrapped up, and Lachy and Squin sink their teeth into 4 crucial games across the women's and men's competitions. Games include:
* Sutherland Sharks vs. Norths Bears (W)
* Sydney Comets vs. Maitland Mustangs (W)
* Canberra Gunners vs. Illawarra Hawks (M)
* Sydney Comets vs. Maitland Mustangs (M)
As always, the Round review is topped off with the AllStar 5.
This week Lachy and Squin are joined by special guest, Angus Bourke. Angus is the current head coach of the Norths Bears Men's team. He provides insight into working with icons such as Kristen Veal and Brian Goorjian and demonstrates his coaching abilities and smarts that are well beyond his years.
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Transcript
Introduction to 'East Got Game'
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome back everyone to another episode of East Got Game, an unofficial podcast about the MBL One East competition for 2023. My name's Jacinta from the Central Coast Crusaders, and with me is none other than Locky France from the Sutherland Sharks. Hello, Locky. G'day, Squinn. Certainly been a very entertaining week of MBL One East, to say the least.
00:00:36
Speaker
Yeah, you certainly would have had your work cut out there in the shark tank with the huge games between Sutherland Sharks and North Spares. Yeah, two absolute nail biters, but much more fun to call in a blowout, so no complaints here. The fun part is we get to watch and call the game and not have to make any of the decisions when it comes to who's going to win.
MBL One East Standings and Highlights
00:00:59
Speaker
So we have just wrapped up round 13 of 18 in the MBO1 East competition and we've been saying it for quite a few rounds now, Lockie, that things continue to be quite tight on the ladder. Some of the results continue to be exciting, unpredictable and keeping this narrative of the 2023 season very entertaining.
00:01:23
Speaker
You are in charge of covering the women's conference. So let's start by going through the results.
00:01:31
Speaker
Okay, so nine games this week in the women's competition, and I think the same in the men's. We kicked it off at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon with Alex Delaney going close to a triple double in an 85-71 win for Manly over Centre of Excellence. Bianca Dufomaya came off the bench for Canberra and scored 26 points in a 98-53 win over Illawarra. Great to see her back and firing.
00:01:59
Speaker
Newcastle, led by 31 from Kate Kingham, got a big 123-47 win over Hornsby Corringoy. Sutherland stormed back in the third quarter to get a 93-86 win over North after trailing early.
00:02:16
Speaker
Hills were valiant against Bankstown but fell to a 64-80 defeat to Bankstown. Talia Topaya returned for Penrith in an 87-68 win over Inner West but it may be one of her last games as she's in the New Zealand squad and also re-signed over in the New Zealand women's competition as well.
00:02:36
Speaker
Maitland got a 76-75 overtime win in our controversial circumstances against the Sydney Comets side missing Vanessa Penussis. Aubrey Woodonga just edged home in a fourth quarter comeback 83-79 over the Central Coast Crusaders and then on Sunday it was North handing COE their second defeat of the weekend in a vital 92-87
00:03:02
Speaker
win. So some very interesting results and I think it's only made the table even tighter. We've got Manly leading the way on 14 and 2. Newcastle just behind them at 13 and 2. They just keep doing it Newcastle. Norse at 12 and 3.
00:03:18
Speaker
Comets 11 and 3, Sutherland 11 and 5 and now Centre of Excellence have dropped to 6 at 13 and 6. Maitland that win over Comets helped solidify their position in a very tight race for the last two finals positions. They're 9 and 6, Aubrey Woodonga 8 and 7, Canberra 8 and 8,
00:03:39
Speaker
Bankstown 7 and 8, and Central Coast 5 and 11 so close to maybe even working their way into conversation for that final spot but dropping that game to Aubrey.
Thrilling Games and Controversies
00:03:50
Speaker
Then Penrith 4 and 11, Inner Western Illawarra both 3 and 12, Hills 2 and 13, and Hornsby Keringai 1 and 15. So your dead right squint, it is still as tight as ever especially for those last two final spots in the women's comp.
00:04:05
Speaker
But like we said in the last episode too lucky as fans, it still makes it very exciting. Oh, it's so good. I mean, it's so much, so much fun to say. I mean.
00:04:16
Speaker
Maitland getting that win over comments. Yes, they did it against a team without Vanessa Penoosa's, but you can only beat who's put in front of you. And yeah, I think Center of Excellence, I think they'll be more concentrating on the upcoming Under-19's World Cup, but just a couple of games to go for them. We'll see if they can write the ship before they head off to represent their country.
00:04:40
Speaker
Lots of big things ahead. But so I was tasked with the men's competition for around 13 and the results were as follows. So Aubrey Wodonga Bandits beat the Central Coast Crusaders at home 96 to 92 in what was an absolute thriller. Manly Waringer Seagulls hosted the Center of Excellence and they lost 70 to 100.
00:05:04
Speaker
Canberra Gunners had a task ahead of them, playing Illawarra Hawks, both teams in sniff of finals contention. The Canberra Gunners winning that one 91 to 78. And the Canberra Gunners now cementing their spot on the ladder at fifth.
00:05:20
Speaker
And then this was a tight one that lucky you were very lucky to witness firsthand. It was Sutherland Sharks men and North Bears in another heart stopper for around 13 with the Sutherland Sharks losing 76 to 78. And I believe the North Bears were down and lost the third quarter 23 to eight, but managed to claw their way back to win by two. So that would have been a real impressive game to watch in the flesh.
00:05:46
Speaker
Then we had the Newcastle Falcons, they hosted the Hornsby Corringuy Spiders and they won 62-45, which looked like on social media a very appropriate send off for Jacob Doricot, who probably did play his last home game before he heads to South Australia. Some really cool footage of that captured on the Newcastle Falcons social media pages, so go and have a look if you're interested.
00:06:08
Speaker
Then we went to Castle Hill in the Hornet's Nest. Hill's Hornet's 86 beating the Bankstown Brew in 79. Penrith Panthers were at home against the Inner West Bulls and they lost on their home court 86 to 108. Sydney Comets hosted the Maitland Mustangs. Comets loose in that one 67 to 85. And finally the Central Coast Crusaders. What was billed as a home game for the Central Coast Crusaders against the COE because it was a makeup game. They ended up playing in Canberra
00:06:38
Speaker
know, on the way home after their Aubrey road trip. The Crusaders losing 89 to 104. So this listed as a home game lockie. If our Central Coast Crusader social media team didn't post that it was actually going to be played in Canberra on the way home from Aubrey, I would have turned up on Sunday ready to commentate and be none the wiser
00:07:00
Speaker
So thank you to the social media team of Central Coast Crusaders because otherwise I would have looked a little bit silly turning up to commentate a game that wasn't on. Fair play to the crew too. I mean, they could have turned around and said, no, it's our home game. We're playing it at Terrigal. Fair play to them for agreeing to make sure the game got played by playing it in Canberra.
00:07:19
Speaker
You know, I have a sneaking suspicion as well that the boys wouldn't have minded a double road trip if it meant they could spend more time on the bus mucking around with each other. So perhaps the away game turned into a little bit of a favour.
00:07:31
Speaker
A little detour, a couple of extra hours with the boys, never does anyone any harm. I'd be interested to know how many boys are caught in sick to work on Monday so they could go to moose heads on the Sunday night. So the latter after round 13 for the men's competition, COE still sitting pretty in first position with 19-1, inner west ball still at second place with 13-2.
00:07:56
Speaker
Norse bears after that win against southern sharks are still at third place with 12 and 3 and the sharks not too far behind them with 11 and 5.
00:08:06
Speaker
Coming in at fifth, as I mentioned before, is the Canberra Gunners with 10 and six. Maitland Mustangs, after their win, they're sitting six now, with nine and six record. Newcastle Falcons also have a nine and six record, but sitting at seventh, based on for and against percentage. Maitland Mustangs at six, their percentage is 108. Newcastle sitting at seven.
00:08:32
Speaker
is 107.6. And between Gunners and Maitland is 0.2. That real middle tier, fifth to eighth, as we've mentioned in previous episodes, especially for the men's comp, is super tight. And then rounding off the top eight is Hill's Hornets, and they're sitting at also at nine and six, and their percentage is 104.3. So a couple of points away from Newcastle.
00:08:57
Speaker
But then at ninth is Aubrey-Wedonga. They're sitting at eight and eight. Tenth is Illawarra with seven and eight. Sydney Comet sit at 11th with a win-loss of six and nine. Crusaders sitting at 12th with a win-loss of three and 12. Bankstown Bruins also three and 12 at 13th place. And there are 1.7 behind Crusaders in the percentage. 14th place is Panarth Panthers with three and 12.
00:09:27
Speaker
Manly Warringa at 15th with 3 and 13. And finally, we have Hornsby Corringai in 16th place with 0 and 16. Three teams, nine and six. That is correct. And yet absolute fractions separating the Gunners, the Mustangs and the Falcons. To be fair, the Gunners have one game ahead of Maitland and Newcastle, but then in 6th, 7th, 8th, we have Mustangs, Falcons, Hornets, all on the same record.
00:09:54
Speaker
Um, and that's like at the bottom end of the top eight. Uh, so we've still got Aubrey Woodongo, you know, they're still improving with every game, nipping at the, the heels of the Hills Hornets, um, or the stings, I should say of the, of the Hills Hornets. So it is very likely by the time around 18 wraps up that those positions from fifth
00:10:18
Speaker
to eighth or sixth to ninth is going to change dramatically. 100%. And I mean, I don't want to, you know, say it as a Sutherland, you know, fan slash commentator, but they're, they're only one game ahead of Canberra. So they can't afford to slip up and, you know, lose that home final in the first round.
00:10:36
Speaker
Yeah, you know what? That's a really good point because we have talked about the elimination or the final series a lot on this show based on the information that was provided to us at the time. And that
Finals Structure and Team Dynamics
00:10:50
Speaker
was always through other channels other than BNSW and MB01.
00:10:55
Speaker
but we have finally been provided the final structure and this was also sent to all of the teams. So I'm just going to quickly confirm what the finals are going to look like. So it's still going to be a top eight is going to go through to the final series. And then the weekend of the 29th and 30th of July will have a quarter finals series, but it's going to be elimination.
00:11:17
Speaker
So it's going to be one versus eight, two versus seven, three versus six and four versus five. And the winner goes through. And if you're out, you're out. That's the end of the season. Start planning your Mad Monday. Start collecting your fines. You're done.
00:11:33
Speaker
The next weekend on the 5th and 6th of August will be semi-finals. So the highest ranked winners from each week before will host the semi-final. So i.e. the winner of one and eight will play the winner of four and five and the winner of two versus seven will play the winner of three versus six. And so the plus side of this though is that clubs will get finals games at home which is something we haven't seen in a long time
00:12:01
Speaker
even in Warrataale because we've always had the finals weekend.
00:12:05
Speaker
And that's a great opportunity for clubs to make some extra revenue. I know that talking to a loyal listener to the podcast is also an assistant coach of an MBL1 team. He told me that when they used to have finals games at home, they could make a lot of revenue. They could pretty much get out of the red, I should say. So clubs will be able to get out of the red of their budget just by hosting one finals game. So I think it's a really good opportunity having these finals.
00:12:31
Speaker
Then the grand finals will be hosted by BNSW at a central venue which will be announced in the next couple of weeks. That will just be semi-final winner one versus semi-final winner two.
00:12:43
Speaker
So that is going to be the official NBA One East final structure, very different to what we're used to. Lockie, what's your take on this final structure? I love it from a suspense standpoint. I would much prefer the same final series the NRL and AFL use, where one plays four, two plays three, five plays eight, six plays seven, and the losers of the top four games play the winner.
00:13:09
Speaker
of the bottom four games in the second week so the top four get a second chance. But I do love the home finals. It's ironic that in previous seasons the only way to get a home final was to finish outside the top two because then you'd host the qualifying final to get to finals weekend whilst the teams that finish top two wouldn't actually get the revenue boost of a home final.
00:13:31
Speaker
Yeah, no, I totally agree. I do like the atmosphere of a finals weekend because it's all of the leagues. It's Youth League, it's the Wheelchair League, it's what was once known as State League. It's a great atmosphere having a finals weekend. And for us as commentators, it was a really good opportunity to commentate finals games, which is great for our skills and, you know, front row center for the best games of the season. So anyway, tell me about the games that you got to watch this week for Round 13, Locky.
00:14:00
Speaker
I couldn't go past watching Sutherland v. Norse. I was kind of compelled to, but anyone who knows me knows I have been. Before I was a Sutherland fan, I was a Norse fan. This is definitely one of my favorite games of the season. Sutherland got the win, 93-86. They really put it together after halftime with a 30-11 third quarter because
00:14:24
Speaker
their first half, they kind of looked a little bit like a team that had won two blowouts and then had a break. Looked like they were a little, a little slow to get into things. Norse took full advantage. You can't be slow getting into things against Norse because their defense will suffocate you. Sterling and the Peace Sutherland, they kind of occasionally look like they were overplaying their hand or just trying to do
00:14:46
Speaker
do a little bit too much. There was one play where Callie Horvatter tried to put it on the floor after a rebound with three defenders around her. Eliza Fabro went left, right, tried to kick it back basically to the corner when she could have just kicked it before committing the defender and still given the shooter plenty of room.
00:15:09
Speaker
They didn't turn the ball over that much, but they also, especially early, they only had nine turnovers for the game, but especially early in the piece, they didn't get a lot done with the ball and that contributed to them trailing 45, 35 at halftime. And I will say, I still don't think
00:15:30
Speaker
late in the game against Comets, especially after Fabro fouled out. The Sharks struggled against the trap. And I still don't think they like it very much, but having Nicholson and Fabro on court, they were at least able to work their way out of it when facing defensive pressure up court.
00:15:46
Speaker
from the Norse Bears. Lauren Nicholson finished with 35, 35 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals and a block. But she only finished nine of 23 from the field. And I think if I remember correctly, that percentage actually ballooned a little bit late in the piece, but she did shoot 17 of 23 at the free throw line, which tells two stories in that, yes, she got to the line a lot.
00:16:12
Speaker
But 17-23, for most players, that'd be a pretty decent day out. But I think Lauren Nicholson will probably be in there shooting 100 free throws as pennants because she came in as a 90% free throw shooter. But it also really spoke to which players were attacking the basket because Nicholson finished with 17-23 at the line, shooting all by 13 of the Sharks 36 free throws.
00:16:34
Speaker
And the Bears only shot 14 free throws for the game in comparison. And Matty O'Hare, who we know loves to get to the rack, shot 10 of those, finished with 8 of 10 at the line. It was, yes, 13 fouls to 27. So, yeah, definitely the Sharks attacking the rim through Nicholson a lot more.
00:16:52
Speaker
That's a good segue into another point, and that is the play of Jolene Anderson in the first half. She shot six of seven from three. There was one, I don't want to say it's the same level of occasion as a national championship game, but there was one corner off-balance three that was like Enrique Gumbalale in the final. That off-balance falling out of bounds three.
00:17:18
Speaker
I think once that went in, the Sharks realized, okay, if we don't stop her, she is going to hit everything. And in the second half, sorry, in the third quarter, she only actually attempted 1-3 in the entire third quarter. And that was when the Sharks came back and made their big run 30 to 11 quarter, really dried up Jolene Anderson scoring. She came back and attempted I think seven more in the fourth. But by then,
00:17:42
Speaker
North's advantage has completely evaporated. Looking to the fourth quarter and Sharks up. This is actually where Nicholson missed three of six at the line in the last minute. Fortunately, she hit four straight, so she took 10 free throws in the last 90 seconds and not all of them off-bows. Sharks did a good job getting the ball to her on the inbound.
00:18:04
Speaker
There was one play where Liv White, who is a sub 50% free throw shooter, was open for the inbounds. And might have been Matty Norris inbound, he just waited that extra second, Nicholson got open, and Norse were forced to foul her instead. So, whilst there were jitters at the line, certainly on the court, making sure the ball got in the right player's hands, late in the piece to secure the win. Very good work by the Sharks. I think it's just a big win in general for them. Sure, they might finish fifth or sixth,
00:18:34
Speaker
But just knowing because if you think like they lost to they that big big loss to manly a big loss to comets in the Pre Nicholson era, you know, they haven't had a lot of success against top 14 So knowing they can get one over a top four team will be massive for Sutherland I don't think doors are going to harp on this loss because they came out the very next day and beat center of excellence so they
00:19:00
Speaker
certainly right at the wrong quite quickly. John Anderson, those six and seven threes early in the piece, finished with 10 of 15 to finish with 32, 10, 5 and 1. And what I noticed about Norris, apart from everything else that you already noticed, is that they're great on defense. They've got players like Kate Seabomb, Emily Simons, who
00:19:22
Speaker
just can run the show at any time and Simon's can just be plugged into wherever she needs to be. It's just the luxury of having someone like Jess Bygate to spell Sarah Schicker out the five spot. She played at the WMBL, she's played in college, she's played for New Zealand. It's not really her position, you know, she's more of a forward than a center, but she has the size to play the position and it's just such a luxury to be able to bring someone like that off the bench.
00:19:46
Speaker
I think it's going to serve them really well because we've mentioned what having strength and depth in the paint can do for teams in this league. I mean, it's probably been a theme in the last few weeks. Yeah, we're certainly as a league, traditionally, I know even particularly the Crusaders as a club are so guard heavy and it can be any size of guard from one to three.
00:20:09
Speaker
And a lot of the times people who would be a three are having to play a four. So it's hard to find a true center. So, yeah, you're right. When you're a team like Norset already have a great existing history and team chemistry to then be able to have two very strong centers.
00:20:26
Speaker
What a great luxury to have as a coach. 100%. But yeah, Nicholson, that makes a lot of sense with the free throw line. So I know that her shooting percentage didn't look the best. Is it also reflective of how many shots she would have missed when she was being fouled?
00:20:44
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. Yeah, so I don't think a lot, a lot of them weren't and ones. Some of them were in the bonus early in a couple of quarters. So that helped to get to the charity strike, but no one else was. You know, and Lauren Nicholson is going to get to the rack and try some tough shots. And against the Norse defense, even that, you know, turnaround.
00:21:01
Speaker
from close range that she kind of likes to do is that I think my co-commentators said it would be a bailout shot if it was anyone else but she's just that good at it but against the Norse defense that wasn't falling quite as often and she was 0-4 from three point range as well but Sutherland was 6-21 because Sutherland will shoot 55% from three and then 28% the next week.
00:21:23
Speaker
North shot 15 of 29 from three-point range, helped by Anderson's 10 of 15. And then Emily Simon's a perfect 4 of 4 from the on the arc, which definitely helped them. It was actually a 60-point final quarter, 32-28 in the fourth, helped of course by late stage fouling. And a last second basket by Eliza Fabro, but I don't think that's going to have any effect on, it's the only thing I'm the two teams play, so it won't affect head-to-head split.
00:21:51
Speaker
don't know that these teams will end up tied in the final standings. It's quite unusual for a team like Norths who are so strong on the defensive end to be the team that have racked up the most amount of fouls. Like you said, 27 to 13. Like that's quite a big skew. And they had the likes of O'Hare, Pittman, like fouled off.
00:22:13
Speaker
Yeah, that happened reasonably late. They actually subbed Pitman, so O'Hare got her fourth, they subbed Pitman on, got her fourth, O'Hare subbed out, subbed back in, got her fifth, and then Pitman subbed back in and got her fifth really late as well. So yeah, having pretty late in the piece that they both fouled out. But I guess players of that calibre, having them for even a few seconds more can be a
00:22:38
Speaker
You know, especially Maddie O'Hare was really, you know, the one getting to the rack, not making shots, but troubling the defence, causing fouls. You know, all eight of her points were at the charity stripe. Because they really limited their court time to, you know, Carla Pittman playing under 20, O'Hare playing under 20, and then bringing the likes of Caitlin Martin into perhaps make up for those extra minutes as well, given the foul trouble. So she played 16 minutes, but then she was also in foul trouble on four. So
00:23:08
Speaker
Um, lots of heavy rotations in that guard spot for Norse, which probably would have caused a little bit more of a headache to what was already a challenging game. Yeah. It would be nice to have that fails drawn column on the box score to know exactly how many fails Lauren Nicholson actually drew. Yeah. It sounds like a very entertaining and exciting weekend down the shark tank. So, um, yeah, we love to see it in the league, uh, always worth showcasing those games as well. But, uh, there was another.
00:23:38
Speaker
absolute heart stopper of a game you covered in the women's competition locky. Tell us about that. Well, it's a game that I would say more than a few people are talking about. It is, of course, the Sydney Comets minus Vanessa Penoosa's taking on the Maitland Mustangs, in which I believe looking at her Insta story, Mila Voskovic's last game before she goes to college.
00:24:01
Speaker
look like that's what she was posting. I won't read too much into it, but if it was, then she went out with a win. And it went to overtime and ended in mildly controversial circumstances. We'll get to that in the end. But I'm not sure Maitland took full advantage of Vanessa Penusis' absence, but they did enough to get the win. Unsurprisingly, saw a few players in foul trouble in this game. I think as
00:24:29
Speaker
You know, you look at the lineups, you probably expect the battles between Maddie Washington, Sydney Hunter, Drew Tolley of Foer, and Jada Croucher to be pretty physical. No quarter asks, none given from any of those players, and it turned out as much because Croucher fouled out late in the fourth, Shkira Riley fouled out right at the end of overtime, Maddie Washington without a minute left in overtime. Still,
00:24:56
Speaker
played big minutes, all of them. And he said, of course, I only played 27. But Maddie Washington still played 29. Shakira Riley almost played 40 of the 45 minutes. But that battle throughout just really, really fun to watch those players go at each other all night. But
00:25:18
Speaker
I think if I draw your attention to the points column of the box score. Shyla Hill, 36, which is an absolutely mammoth total alongside 5, 3,000, 7 assists. But then next was Alexandra K. Ruz with 12 and Croucher with 11. And then we scroll down to Maitland, who really did it by committee. Four of their five starters had 15 points or more.
00:25:45
Speaker
So Riley finished with 15, Sid Hunter 16, Miller Woskovich 17, and Maddie Washington 18. So really doing it by committee. Neither team really, they weren't getting much scoring from the bench, but that's partly because the players who played the big minutes off the bench aren't your noted scorers. Hannah Fox played 25 minutes off the bench for Maitland. No one else played more than eight. She finished with six rebounds. That's her job. Go out there and get boards.
00:26:14
Speaker
Alex Oliver played 28 minutes off the bench. Her job is to play defence and rebound and she got three assists, three steals and four rebounds. She can be good in the pick and roll. I noticed that a lot when I've been commentating comments games. I just got the one point on this occasion.
00:26:35
Speaker
Michaela Mincho ended up playing 18 minutes for just three points, but yeah, just four bench points to two. Speaking of bench, Hannah Griffin just can't seem to get minutes. I don't know. I can't comment on why, because I don't actually get to see her play. And it's really interesting that even without Panusas, still not there. Still not getting a call up off the bench.
00:26:57
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I am not too sure what's going on in the Comets camp for Hannah Griffin not to get any time, like not even, like even just to go on for two minutes a quarter, two to two and a half minutes a quarter, just to give the likes of maybe Karu's a spell, Anderson a bit of a spell, whatever.
00:27:18
Speaker
like just just to get get them some legs so they can continue to perform at their best when it comes to the crunch because this game obviously did. Yeah, I'm not too sure why Hannah can't even get those couple of minutes. So it's really I mean, we know that she's been putting in a lot of hard work in the last 12 months since she was training a little bit with the flames last season. And that's kind of what helped prompt her move to Sydney to further develop her game. So it's a bit disappointing to see that she's
00:27:47
Speaker
not provided the opportunity to translate that on court. But I was going to ask you about Madison Washington for Maitland. Interesting that you mentioned that she fouled out late. Was it in the fourth or an OT? I noticed that she only played 29 minutes and she was having 18 and four. Was there a more opportunity in that game for her to play more minutes to be just as efficient?
00:28:09
Speaker
It's tough when you play with foul trouble against opposition players that can be, that want to be physical as well. Like, Croucho wants to go at you, especially on offense. Final foul came just at the end of the fourth quarter. So, a minute to play in the fourth quarter.
00:28:29
Speaker
I guess that's where you get Hannah Fox there and they're coming in to grab rebounds. It's like they do have a decent option to spell players if necessary to help get some rebounding. Yeah, it would have been nice to have seen her a bit more, but it would be harsh to argue the toss with the coach's decision on this occasion. I guess what everyone wants to talk about is overtime. Big moments.
00:28:53
Speaker
You know, over time Shyla Hill knocked down a three early, Maitland came back. Comets actually didn't score for the final 1.49 seconds of overtime whilst Maitland missed four consecutive free throws in the final minute. Shyla got called for, I think it was a hook, got called for an offensive foul, going from the left corner, driving in.
00:29:18
Speaker
I think the ball went, I think it went down, I think it would have been a basket, but yeah, she was called for the offensive foul. Shaq went up straight up the other end, got called for an offensive foul of her own, and fouled out in the process. And then, final possession, Rachel Williams puts up a layup, misses, Sid Hunter tips it in, and Squint, have you seen the photo?
00:29:38
Speaker
I have seen the photo. Now I thought that was actually a Shakira Riley layout. So when I reported about this game on the MB01 show today, I have made a big boo-boo. So I thought that was Shaq going up for the last shot, but it was Rachel Williams. So apologies to both of them for getting that wrong. But I did see the photo of the tip-in in terms of the clock in relation to when Sydney Hunter tipped the ball and
00:30:06
Speaker
It is reminiscent of a game that happened in NBL1 North earlier this season with the Spartans and how it was literally a photo finish with the clock in the background. So look, this is why we don't take those positions where we make those decisions. I'm lucky because I wouldn't want to be caught up in this controversy.
Coaching Philosophy and Team Culture
00:30:31
Speaker
No, and look, the photo, it looks like the ball's still in Hunter's hand and the clock is zero. But I do feel like in just about every instance I've seen a shot clock violation, a buzzer beater, anything like this, the referees always seem to err on the side of the shooter. I feel like if it's close, it feels like it goes the shooter's way.
00:30:56
Speaker
And I don't think, I mean, it's going to be a problem because we're now playing in a league that has high quality streaming where you can get screen captures like that, but we still don't have video review.
00:31:09
Speaker
And there's probably 20 things on the least priority list above getting video review, and rightfully so. Video review is probably a fairly expensive, you know, for the cost of what it probably would be. So yes, I think the comments have every right to feel hard done by, but I also think that if it was up the other end, they would have got the same call if they were the ones putting it in, in that last second.
00:31:35
Speaker
I think what really stands out to me, you mentioned an upgrade for the league to have access to instant replay like we see in the NBL. But what I think that one big change that could happen across all of the NBL One Clubs in East especially is an upgrade in the scoreboard equipment.
00:31:56
Speaker
because I feel like this has happened here in Comets. It's certainly happened at NBL1 North, but I feel like it's also happened when I've commentated some Crusaders games where there were times where the siren for the game clock wasn't loud enough for the referees to hear it over the crowd and over the general atmosphere of game day.
00:32:20
Speaker
And I think there needs to be a better investment in that first, because then that will very much make the referee's job a lot easier. Especially in a situation like that where the crowd is going off. I mean, at Sutherland in the men's game.
00:32:33
Speaker
there was a call for a timeout, the siren went off and I think they tripled the ball. They were three quarters of the way up court. They were almost in their half court set before the people finally heard the referee's whistle for about the sixth time and play actually stopped and we realized there actually was a timeout because people just couldn't hear the siren. I know that that's all expensive in terms of the installation and the maintenance, but I think they're really important upgrades that should be a standard across the whole league. If we want to truly make NBL one,
00:33:01
Speaker
the true semi-professional league, we have to be able to provide a level of professionalism that goes as far as the type of equipment we're using. But the other thing with instant replay is that
00:33:14
Speaker
It means that obviously the cost and the installation of putting that in as well. And then we'll get to train more staff of how to use it. But I think that's also a good pathway of being able to retain people in the basketball community. So if there's people that are really interested in that kind of producing and audio visual stuff, that's a great pathway to them in the same way that MB01 has provided a pathway for aspiring commentators. So it's another way just to keep people in the game, I think.
00:33:44
Speaker
Oh, definitely. I mean, down at Sutherland, you know, we have a four camera setup, so we have two manned cameras.
00:33:51
Speaker
And, you know, we've got kids, well, kids, you know, year 12 students going into uni or just at uni. And they, you know, they're getting experience. One of our camera people just doing uni open days because they want to go into audio visual production. And they've now got two years under their belt helping work a four camera system. Because otherwise that could be really hard to get that experience as well anywhere else. So if we can provide that through sport, I mean, why not?
00:34:19
Speaker
But it did finish 76.75 in Maitland's favour. So that sees Maitland moved to 9 and 6.
00:34:30
Speaker
and looking far healthier for a final spot but they're not there yet by any stretch whilst comets drop below north to 11 and three after north's win on the sunday but they do have a game in hand and those two games against coe and aubrey wodonga to reschedule which i will keep bringing up until the games happen
00:34:52
Speaker
Fair enough too, because there's a lot of pressure on those games, and the Maitland women have the Crusaders at home next round, which could also be another 50-50 type game, given how well the Crusaders women have performed the last two rounds. So their final hopes for the Mustangs are certainly still alive, but I think it's up to them to keep it ignited. Yeah, they cannot afford to drop any, yeah. They don't want to get stuck having to win every game that's a toss-up.
00:35:22
Speaker
Correct. So moving right along, I watched two of the men's games. The first game that I watched was the Canberra Gunners and the Illawarra Hawks, which was I think technically the game of the week. But I'm going to be honest with you, I'm really struggling to keep up with what the actual game of the week is in the East anymore. So I just turn up on the round and figure it out. But the reason why I chose this game was pretty much based on some of the conversation we had in our last episode about the finals forecast where
00:35:52
Speaker
Canberra we've said have a bit of a slower start to the season but are certainly still in the mix for making the top eight whereas Illawarra was the team that I picked in our very first episode to take it all who were actually sitting quite low on the ladder now I think at 10th. So this was the game was really interesting I was hoping that this would be a game where Illawarra would start to turn it around and and get a win over Canberra but
00:36:17
Speaker
It went in Canberra's favour. They won 91-78, outscoring the Hawks in the fourth quarter 23-16, so just getting that pinched. And this was a fairly entertaining game. Pretty much wrote a list of pros and cons for each team for this game. So what I really liked about the Gunners is that they have a lot of hustle. They hustled nearly every play, every possession at both ends of the court.
00:36:42
Speaker
Their half-court man-to-man defense was really impressive and I think they certainly made life quite difficult for the likes of Tim Conrad and William Hickey because not a lot of things on the offensive end came easy for the Illawarra Hawks with Tim Conrad only having seven shots for the whole game. Hickey had himself 17 shots and he shot eight from 17 so he ended up with
00:37:06
Speaker
24 points, but he didn't have his best day at the free throw line with only 7 from 12. But what I also like about the Gunners is that their half-court offense looks a lot more organized and are better executed compared to what we saw at the start of the season.
00:37:22
Speaker
So Tui and Morrison have a really great chemistry and there were a couple of occasions, especially in the first half, where their two-man game was just outstanding. But for me, I think what the real big turning point on offense for the Canberra Gunners was Cameron Pender. Cameron Pender has been playing a lot more minutes and stepping up into the starting lineup. This game he played 35 minutes and ended with 22 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and shot 8 from 13.
00:37:51
Speaker
And what was really smart by Cam Pender is that he exploited the very, I'm going to say limited defensive transition of the Illawarra Hawks this game. He just ran layups. He had so many layups and you know what? Illawarra Hawks let in too many of those transition lamps the whole game and they didn't adjust or improve the defensive transition at all. Which I found a little bit disappointing given their personnel.
00:38:16
Speaker
So penned up, he was he was basically going to the world to the well ran dry. And if he wasn't making layups, he got to the free throw line nine times and made six from nine. So he was really, really impressive. Just kept his game super simple, super smart. And I think he was the X factor for Canberra on this occasion.
00:38:33
Speaker
Everything in the half court though goes via Morrison. So if Morrison's not having his best games and you would think Canberra would kind of struggle, but in this situation, Morrison probably was a bit shaky at the start. He was missing quite a few of his bunnies that he'd normally make. He wised up to it quite quickly and started to focus more on being a facilitator and a screener. And then he was able to get a little bit more open on some pick and roll with James Toohey.
00:38:59
Speaker
But I think the downside for the Gunners, I think they could have won by a lot more, but they missed so many layups. Whether it was open court layups, whether it was in their half court offense, there were times where even the likes of Badalasi was missing some layups. He was one from six. And they were all on target. They just kept rimming out. I don't know if it was a bit of tension, that intensity in the atmosphere of the crowd, but
00:39:25
Speaker
It was their layup, so I expect coach Herrick to go back and have the Gunners be practicing their layups under pressure because they could easily won by a lot more. But looking at the Illawarra Hawks, you know, not all bad news, other than their D-trans didn't improve the whole game. I feel like their defense as a whole can turn up the intensity a lot more. The times where they put a lot more pressure on the ball and a lot more pressure in the passing lanes in the half court in particular,
00:39:54
Speaker
They were making the Canberra Gunners panic and were starting to cough up a few turnovers. But it was a little bit too late, yeah way too late in the piece for the Illawarra Hawks to turn that up. They only did it in the last few minutes of the game and I felt like if they'd come out the fourth quarter
00:40:11
Speaker
with that level of defensive intensity, the game could have had a much different result. But they certainly miss a true inside presence that can handle like the skill and the muscle of Glen Morrison. So there were definitely times where Tim Conrad had to guard Morrison in the post. No discredit to Tim Conrad at all, but I mean, he's playing out of position and that is Morrison's bread and butter. So Tim Conrad had quite a task ahead of him and Noah Pagotto,
00:40:38
Speaker
To be fair, he's a fantastic player. He ended the game with 18 and 10. But in terms of his skill set and his size, he's probably not a fair matchup for Morrison either. He's probably more of a stretch four than he is a five. But I have to say this kid has got such nice touch under the basket.
00:40:55
Speaker
He was always in the right spot at the right time for the likes of Hickey and Freddie Webb as well for some really nice dishes. Freddie Webb ended up with six assists. That's because the likes of Pagotto and Harry Morris. They're just in the right spot at the right time for these guys.
00:41:11
Speaker
And so Pagotto's touch really, really good, especially in the second half. The Hawks ended up having 10 points from turnovers. I wonder if the, if the stat men on their coaching staff were wised up to that during the game, because I feel like that was something that they could have exploited. Like I said earlier, if they had upped the defensive intensity in terms of ball pressure and lane pressure.
00:41:33
Speaker
that 10 points of turnovers could have been a lot more. But yeah, really interesting game certainly came down to the wire. Full credit to Gunners for holding it together when it came down to the crunch. And I think it was the shot Dr. James Toohey who he had two, he had four from five from the three point line this game.
00:41:53
Speaker
His fourth one was at a really crucial point in the fourth where it was still kind of going anyone's way, but by the time James Tooey hit this open three, you could just tell Canberra was going to win it, even though there was still a minute and a half to go. Look, not a bad game. Lots of things for the Hawks to go back and work on. What was really interesting and take this as you will, the times when the ball wasn't always in Hickey's hands.
00:42:19
Speaker
the Illawarra Hawks offense looked really, really good. Half court execution was much better. There was much more flow. People were able to play their roles. Whereas the times when the ball was in Hickey's hands too long, it meant that everyone was stopping and waiting to see what he was going to do and play off that. So I think it meant there was too much dysfunction in the half court, depending on how much ball time Hickey wanted. Really interesting game. I'm glad that I picked that one. Lots of young,
00:42:47
Speaker
talents like Cameron Pender and Noah Pagotto, really enjoyable to watch and really keen to see where their careers go. But yeah, that was essentially the Gunners and Hawks game. It's funny you talk about the ball being out of Davo Hickey's hands because it wasn't very long ago we were talking about how many assists Freddie Webb was racking up for Illawarra and whether putting the ball in his hands to run the offense might be a better idea for them.
00:43:14
Speaker
Yeah, totally. He reads to me as a point guard who definitely has the ability to score, but he seems like a more traditional point guard where he's focused on running the plays, running the troops, getting the ball to the right spot versus how many shots can I take or when is it my turn to shoot.
00:43:34
Speaker
Yeah, I just thought that was really, really interesting, quite apparent in this game. But yeah, so that was that game. And the second game I watched was actually also the Comets Mustangs game. And I picked this game for a similar reason as why I picked the Canberra and Hawkes game, being that this was a must win for both teams. And if I remember correctly, Lockie, you probably have a better memory than me.
00:43:57
Speaker
But in our finals forecast episode, I feel like I had the balls enough. Well, I won't say the balls, but I had the guts enough to say that whoever wins this game between Comets and Mustangs will end up like on an upward trajectory. And I felt like that if Comets lost this game, like that was it for them for the season. They won't be coming back.
00:44:18
Speaker
I do remember you saying something like that and just looking at the table and the distance between Comets and Hills now, you may have made a fairly prescient argument. This game as a whole compared to the, because I watched the Gunners Hawks game and the Comets Mustangs game back to back. And for the sake of entertainment value, I wish I watched it in the other way around because the Comets Mustangs game, I'm not too sure if it was the influence of the commentary.
00:44:47
Speaker
But it just read as a game that was played in a lower gear compared to the Gunners Hawks game. It lacked the same kind of intensity and sense of urgency that I got from the Gunners Hawks game.
00:44:58
Speaker
Covert's roster is huge. In their starting five, they had Matty Wachar, Wany Swaka Le Bullock, Indiana Faithful, Archer Woodhill, and Johnny Sinogorak. That is a potent starting five. For the likes of Johnny Sinogorak, he's only getting, he's what, seven foot. He's getting five shots a game. Sorry, but that's too little. Woodhill, he only had four shots a game, but my word, someone had a vex out on Woodhill this game. The poor guy.
00:45:28
Speaker
He came out and had three fouls in the first quarter and then he started the second quarter, picked up his fourth. So he had to come back in only late in the game and then very soon picked up his fifth. So like, I don't know, the universe was not on Archie's side this game. So the poor guy and he played 11 minutes. What was really interesting, Wani Swaka ended up with 17, six and two. But apparently, according to the commentary team was overheard by the coaching staff that he needs to stop hogging the ball.
00:45:57
Speaker
So from that point on, Wani wasn't firing the trigger as often as he probably would have liked. But this game started with a huge Wani Swaka three-pointer and I thought, like this was massive, this was a car park three, and I thought that was going to set the tone for the game. High intensity, big shots, but it didn't kind of live up to that.
00:46:18
Speaker
that kind of excitement. The comments are continuing with their very quick subs. It was really hard to tell what offense they were running or if they were planning to run a particular half court offense at all. So I'm not too sure if their coaching staff just have enough faith
00:46:35
Speaker
in their personnel based on experience and IQ of just to run a really solid motion. It did look like they were out of sync a lot of time and it looks like there were often periods of play where it was just a one pass shot or a one pass penetration and that was their entire offense. So I don't know what they're running in the half. It's really hard to say. It didn't look very organized at all and it was certainly to their detriment.
00:46:57
Speaker
But then on the other end, it looked like they were playing very reactive, very passive D. So the Mustangs were able to kind of have their way with the comments kind of early on, but at the same time, it looks like the Mustangs were holding back.
00:47:11
Speaker
Uh, the Mustangs only won the first quarter 23 to 21, and then they lost the second quarter 23 to 20. It was a case that I think we've mentioned about this Mustang's team before, depending on how they want to play on the day and how they often fall into the trap of playing to the level of their opposition rather than going out and playing to their standard and executing their own game plan. Yet neither team really being assertive or taking control in the first half at all.
00:47:39
Speaker
The Comets did up the ante a little bit, especially in the second half, thanks to the likes of Indiana Faithful. They started to get some really good penetration and dishing happening and that really kept them in touch of Maitland. So Indiana was the main playmaker. He ended up with five assists.
00:47:59
Speaker
And the comments saw the return of Thomas James, who's been out with injury. He only had nine points, but I feel like the times when he scored, he was in the right spot, right receiver spot at the right time. And that came at a really pinnacle point of the game. Talking about Maitland, uh, you know, it was a very, like I said before, uh, a bit of a passive kind of, it wasn't the high intensity game I was expecting, but thankfully the Mustangs have Jack Edwards back.
00:48:26
Speaker
And the note that I wrote here was big bench energy from Jack Edwards, because he certainly brought up the intensity of the game at both ends of the court.
00:48:34
Speaker
which forced everyone else to have to catch up with him. Interestingly, Grey and Hunter were off at the same time. I thought that was a bit odd. James Hunter not having his best game. He had three from 13. But even then, I feel like he could probably have a few more touches on the inside and not necessarily to score, but to help suck in the defence and get it out to some shooters.
00:48:56
Speaker
The Mustangs threw in a couple of presses on any baseline or backcourt inbounds, but at times then they're guarding the dribble penetration fell by the wayside. But in their favour, they had a lot of offensive rebounds, which I think kind of gave them the most possession for the game.
00:49:15
Speaker
comparatively to the comments so you always got a sense that Maitland were going to win in the end just based on how much they dominated that possession. They ended up winning the rebound count 49 to 38 so that was quite a lot. I think the Maitland Mustangs in the fourth quarter just decided to put this game to bed
00:49:33
Speaker
and won the fourth quarter 23-8 and it was lights out from there so quite kind of a weird game like i said not as high intensity as i was expected especially from a must win for both teams uh maitland now six on the ladder
00:49:48
Speaker
and Comet's now at 11th. Both teams have so much more potential to be performing a lot better. In summary, Sydney need to get organised on the offensive end and Maitland need to start playing their own game and not those of their opposition. That's actually, I was just looking at the minutes played and like, Will Kranz de Leon, 24 minutes played, that's massively low for him. Were there times when Maitland was sort of shuffling their subs to react to Comet's doing the same?
00:50:15
Speaker
Yeah, you know what? That's a really great question, actually. I didn't notice anything that clearly as that, but perhaps that was in the back of their mind. But the subbing was just really interesting. Like, you know, having Hunter and Grey off at the same time, that's not something I would expect. I would always expect at least one of them to be on. But then also having Will Cranston-Lown and Jack Edwards on at the same time. That was a really interesting dynamic because they're both very good point guards, but they both play very differently.
00:50:45
Speaker
And I'm not too sure if either of them know how to play the two man role very well. So when one was taking the point guard role, the other was very quiet when they had to play two men. So I think some balance between them or maybe just some kind of.
00:51:01
Speaker
confirmation of what roles are, what are expected of them when they do play the two spot. Because yeah, it was a really weird dynamic. It was sometimes where Cranston Lamb will have the ball in his hands playing the point and you'd forget Jack was on the court until he caught it. Maybe they used that game, maybe they were just confident they were going to win that game and were using that game to test out
00:51:19
Speaker
uh some rotations that they might need to go to and later in the season but um you know what who i really like from this team is billy parson he's been outstanding in youth league man for the last couple seasons he won play of the year he did that's right he did win play of the year so yeah he's he's great he played 18 minutes off the bench he ended up with 16
00:51:39
Speaker
Seven and four are shooting six from nine, which is solid minutes from an emerging talent and a youth league player. But again, really great touch under the basket, finishing some really tough shots. Yeah, Billy Parsons was really good. Similarly, as Cameron Pender was the X Factor.
00:51:58
Speaker
For Gunners, I think Billy Parsons was the next factor for Maitland's game, so another really exciting young talent to see. But yeah, that more or less wraps up the game reviews for me. I think it's that favourite time of the episode for the All-Star 5 lock-in, but before we get into that, do you have any news or gossip about the NBA 1 East?
00:52:19
Speaker
It's tangentially related to MBL1 East because it's an MBL1 East player, but St Mary's Women's Basketball posting that Emily Foy has officially signed with them, continuing the long list of Australians to play in MBL for St Mary's, a couple of current MBL1 East players.
00:52:40
Speaker
played for St. Mary's, Jaz Forcadore, Lauren Nicholson, of course. And yeah, just that Mila Wojcovic looks like she's posted on Insta that she's off to the States. So yeah, not too much news from me this week, just a couple of things. And you know who else played for St. Mary's? Lucas Waxing Walker.
00:53:00
Speaker
Ah, Lucas Waxy Walker. And for the Illawarra Hawks, he sure did. And if I dig any deeper, we'll be here all night, so. But for me, you know, from the day of recording today's Monday the 19th, it is one week until the Asia Cup. I'm pretty confident you'll see the likes of Shyla Hill and Loz Nicholson.
00:53:19
Speaker
are suiting up for the Opals. If you can, jump online, get some tickets through Ticketek. The semi-final will be Saturday the 29th and the grand final will be Sunday the 1st of July. It's all going to be held at the Key Centre and you'll also be able to see some local WMBL talent for New Zealand as well, the likes of Penny and Ed Davidson. So it's certainly worthwhile getting down there.
00:53:42
Speaker
But yes, plenty of, yes, Colfern's named squad. Yes, Talia is in the squad. Yes, Pineda Davidson, Stella Beck. That's another St. Mary's player. Charlize Ledger Walker, and of course Townsville Fire's Crystal Ledger Walker. So yeah, a bit of WBL talent there. How could I forget Crystal Ledger Walker? She's fantastic. Yeah. She's definitely worth seeing playing in the flesh.
00:54:07
Speaker
In terms of news and gossip, there are some injury updates for the Norse men's team, which you will hear very soon when we interviewed Angus Burke, which is going to be featured after this wrap-up. So sucked in, you'll have to keep listening to hear that. I say that with love. But we're expecting Jada Croucho also to go to college soon, hopefully we think.
00:54:30
Speaker
But actually, there's one more bit of news. That is Taryn Marnie from the Hills Hornets. It looks like she has signed with the Southwest Pirates in the NBL One North competition for the rest of the season. Thanks to the power of social media for breaking that news. So we do wish Taryn the best of luck.
00:54:49
Speaker
But otherwise, I don't think there is any other news and gossip that we know of. No. Well, I think we're getting to the stage of the season where everybody's locked in and hopefully everything's settling down and we can just have the run into finals. So without further ado, give me your All-Star five for the women's competition for round 13, Lockie. All right. Well, it was definitely tough.
00:55:15
Speaker
all while one player scored at least 29. I even had to leave out Kate Kingham's 30-point game just because one of her teammates put up other numbers in other categories. It was also great to see Bianca do for Maya drop 26 for the Canberra Nationals. She was also unlucky to miss out as were a number of other players. But we'll start with a couple of players. A few players I've already mentioned tonight.
00:55:41
Speaker
First up, Jolene Anderson had 32 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, hit 10 of 15 from deep against Sutherland and a narrow 93-86 loss, but she definitely gave them a very good shot at the win. She followed that up with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals in the 92-87 win over COE.
00:56:03
Speaker
And then Shyla Heel did everything for Comets but get the W in a 36.5 rebound 7 assist outing for the Comets in that narrow loss to the Mustangs. And then Lauren Nicholson, I think Jeremy Jones said the plan for the second half was a whole lot of Lauren Nicholson.
00:56:25
Speaker
when the sharks were trailing, and it came to pass as she finished with 35 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and a block as the sharks got a crucial win. The Newcastle player I mentioned earlier is Emily Foy, so not only is she going off to college, she's getting a mention in the All-Star Five. 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and three steals in a big 123-47 win over Hornsby Keringai.
00:56:50
Speaker
And then finally in what is totally not a bias selection, although people will argue it is because of who it is, Michaela Pivock, 29 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal, helping Aubrey Wodonga get that narrow win with a fourth quarter comeback 83-79.
00:57:09
Speaker
Yeah, she really put a team on the back to make sure that she, they got the win against the Crusaders in what was a very, looked like a very good contest. So who did you ask, Gwen? Yeah, so the men was equally as difficult to choose this week. A lot of big numbers again. And to be honest, I didn't go by positions and I probably could have gone by win-loss, but I chose not to. So at the top though, we've got Lachlan Cummings from Aubrey Wodonga Bandits.
00:57:38
Speaker
in also a crucial win against the Central Coast Crusaders. He had 36 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. He was strongly supported by Jameer Coleman as well.
00:57:52
Speaker
And to be fair, Jimmy was also in contention for the All-Star Five with these numbers. He also ended the game with 28 points and 16 rebounds, a really solid double-double, and he shot at 63%. So really unfortunate that someone with such a great stat line didn't make the All-Star Five this week. Then we've got Blake Morrow,
00:58:20
Speaker
from Inner West. He had 33 points, three rebounds, six assists and four steals in 28 minutes against the Penrose Panthers. And then his partner in crime CB Chris Bryant had 30 points and nine rebounds. So the two Inner West Bulls taking two spots in the All-Star Five this week. Then I had Sean Montague versus the Bankstown Bruins. He had 25 points and nine rebounds. And then I topped it off with AJ Lawton
00:58:50
Speaker
the Central Coast Crusaders in that same game against Aubrey Wodonga. She had 28 points, three rebounds, six assists and four steals in 31 minutes, 31 and a half minutes say, but he still shot really well as well. He shot 11 from 20, including five from 11 from the three-point line. So
00:59:12
Speaker
In the couple of years that AJ hasn't been a crusader, his three point game has certainly improved. So we love having him back. I think he had the same amount of assists in both games for crew. Yeah, he probably did actually. Yeah. Taking some pressure off Luke Cassidy, who's also known for his high level of assists at times and also high level of steals. So RIP, anyone that gets guarded by them.
00:59:39
Speaker
But yeah, that rounds out our review of round 13 for NBL One East 2023 and our All-Star Five. We now have a very special interview with Angus Burke, who is currently the head coach of the Norse men's team. He's able to give us some very interesting insights into some of the iconic coaches that he has been assisting in the last couple of years as well. So stay tuned and enjoy that. Otherwise, we'll be back for round 14.
01:00:06
Speaker
And our very special guest after an entertaining round 13 of NBL One East is...
01:00:13
Speaker
a very accomplished coach. Certainly a lot of experience beyond his years and a lot of basketball IQ beyond his years. He's someone that you've probably seen at a junior and a senior level for North Bears. And if you haven't seen him there, you may have seen him representing New South Wales, Illawarra Hawks at an NBL level, or even the UC Caps at the WMBL level.
01:00:38
Speaker
So surely that's enough clues for you now to know that our very special guest is Angus Burke. Hi, Angus. How are you? Square and Locky. What's going on? I've been such a massive fan for so long. It's awesome to see you guys. And yeah, pumped to be here. Talk some who. That's really nice of you to say. Thank you kindly. We're glad that people are enjoying our ramblings every week of MBL One East because you know what? If me and Locky aren't doing it, then who else will?
01:01:08
Speaker
Not me. So yeah, you guys are killing it. What we're going to do today, Angus, we're going to go through the pinnacle parts of your career and then we're going to get into some of the nitty gritty about the North spares this season because you are the head coach of the men's team. And we are getting into crunch time of the seasons, but let's wind it back to the very beginning and tell us a little bit about how your coaching journey began and why it was that you chose coaching.
01:01:35
Speaker
really flattering to say it's a career. I'm just happy to be here, to be honest. I'm still coaching at my local club, but honestly, I thought I was going to be a basketball player, as some of us would do. And actually, my school coach was Sean Rogers. So he is the current assistant coach at Illawarra. And coach is a youth league team. He basically sat me down and said, mate, it's probably not for you. But
01:01:59
Speaker
you know, I would love to have you around. So at the time he was assisting Robbie McKinlay at North's and basically said, Hey man, next year I'm going to be the head coach. Do you want to come and assist? And I was like, all right, well, if I can't play, give coaching a crack. And basically got really, really lucky. Like I just spent a lot of time my first year out of school at North's at BNSW, just kind of getting as much info as I could. And then, yeah, I've just kind of been in the right place, right time, met Jacob.
01:02:26
Speaker
Pretty soon after I got into coaching, worked with him at Knox, then the Hawks. And then all the guys at Norse, like Tom just came out of nowhere from Norse. He's probably been the guy I've worked with the longest. So yeah, really, really lucky, but good people around me. I'm just happy to still be doing it, to be honest. And you say you worked with Tom for the longest. When we met, you were one of Tom's assistants for an under 20 women's state squad.
01:02:51
Speaker
Yes, we are also just off topic. Squin makes a hell of a breakfast spread. So the first time I met Squin, we were at Central Coast for Twenties Camp with Tom. Squin kindly put us up in some accommodation and killed it with the brekkie spread. But now I've known Tom probably like seven years now, seven, eight years.
01:03:14
Speaker
his two assistants in that first year with Waratah just didn't hang around. And so I was a keen guy that just wanted something to do. And he was like, all right, sweet, jump on. And then I kind of assisted him for the next five years, really. So he was kind of the guy that set me off on the state teams, seniors, but I've known him a fairly long time for me, at least.
01:03:38
Speaker
You've been part of U20s, you've been part of NBL with the caps at WNBL level. What are some of the differences between coaching at say junior rep level and then stepping it up to U20 Nationals? So it probably, in terms of reflection, the basketball is always going to be the same at every level you go to.
01:03:57
Speaker
And I think with the juniors, which I was doing a lot, under 12s, under 14s, and then straight into 20s and seniors, there's always things to work on. So even though you go to a 20s and so the best players in the state, there's always something that maybe you can exploit. All right, they don't have a left hand, they can't shoot very well. You can always look to get better at things. So, and even at the level that we're at now, it's like, all right, guys still can't use their left hand. All right, guys still refuse to shoot the ball.
01:04:24
Speaker
from that perspective and a coaching perspective is like, all right, well, we still need to work on fundamentals. We still need to work on decision-making because it's present in every level. So for me, it was cool. Like it was pretty similar, just better players, better coaches at tournaments. Like I thought I was pretty cool in under 12s, like, you know, running sets, yelling at kids. I mean, not like as I do now, but yeah, really, really similar in terms of style play, but just better talent, better coaching.
01:04:54
Speaker
Give us some insight into your role at the Hawk. So you mentioned just there between coaching from whatever level that the game relatively stays the same, but there's always something you can improve on. But what is it like coaching at an MBL level and give us some insight into what it's like working under someone as legendary as Brian Gorgian?
01:05:14
Speaker
He, as well as Jacob, are just incredible at what they do. So whether it's Gorge, and everyone knows him about the people person, he's a great leader of men. He's also on top of the basketball stuff. Everyone that sees Jacob that's animated, he knows his stuff better than anyone does.
01:05:35
Speaker
For me, it was, all right, I think I know a little bit. I actually don't know 1% compared to some of these guys. And I'm sure those guys will say the same. Like, we're constantly, constantly learning. The thing with Gorge is the ability to win. I've never seen anything like it. So we were down. I think we started the game at home, massive game. We were playing Southeast. We started the game at 15-0. And I'm on the laptop. I'm just coding the game. Oh, my God. I look at Gorge no time out. And I was like, what the frick are you doing?
01:06:06
Speaker
We get it back, we go on a 15-0 run, we win the game in overtime. It was just ridiculous. So I had to ask him the week after. I get pretty nervous asking, I used to get pretty nervous asking questions. I was like, man, why didn't you call a timeout? And he goes, well, what would that have done? Would it have helped the winning? No, probably not. All right, then we don't do it. So the biggest thing from Gorge, and we talk about in the MBL1 team currently, it's like, well,
01:06:28
Speaker
Is this going to help us win? Yes. All right. Let's do it. If not, no, no worries. So him and Jacob, unbelievable winners. Um, the other thing about gorge and probably speaks to him as a person, he remembers everything. So you'll be sitting at practice.
01:06:47
Speaker
waiting for practice to start, he'll be rebounding, he'll make a comment, say, hey, how you going? And then three weeks later, he'll bring up something that you thought was a passing comment and just have a conversation. So for me, that's something I'm trying to get better at. He's an unbelievable people person, and they're on top of their stuff always. That attention to detail, not only in his coaching, but also off court being a people person, as you say, do you feel like that is a big part of his success as a coach, how he invests in people
01:07:16
Speaker
the people behind the athletes. Yeah, I can't talk from his previous experience, but just even with me, he was talking about stuff that I spoke to him about my family, about what was going on. He remembered every single detail. He speaks to everyone that comes into the stadium every morning before practice, interns, players, visitors. He's having conversation. And it actually, whether he does or doesn't, and I probably think he does care about everyone he speaks to,
01:07:44
Speaker
It really feels that way. So you come into the building and it's all right. Gorge cares about me. I'll do anything for that guy. So when anything was asked for us as an intern or whatever, we would want to do it for him because of the investment and the care that he had for us. So yeah, he's a hell of a competitor. He gets fired up like everyone does. But at the end of the day, he cares more than anyone I've seen.
01:08:05
Speaker
that I'm working with. So yeah, I try to emulate some of that. I can't get it like he does. But that's definitely one of the building blocks, at least for me. It's like the relationship and how you use that to perform. You talked, you mentioned that you were sitting sideline coding a game. I'm sure that was only one of your many duties when you were part of the, is it the intern program? I think it was called down there. What did you get experience with and what did you learn? It was awesome. And I know they've got applications out now. So anyone interested in
01:08:34
Speaker
in going, they really should. So I first came in just by chance because I knew Jacob and Sean at the end of the lockout season. I don't know if you can call it that, the hub season. And basically that first year I just sat and watched. There was no official program. They got me to do a little bit of video and then the next year when it became official, Pat Williamson, Declan McLean, they came in and they just kind of said, all right, here are your tasks. If you have anything that's going to make us better, let's see it.
01:09:03
Speaker
So for a lot of it, for me, it was the game day coding, like you spoke about. All right. I had this thing for Jacob. I think it can help. Let me show you. Yep. Sweet. Let's do it. So even though he was considered an intern, you never really felt that way. You were always in doing stuff at practice. You were valued at the games. I felt I had the best seat in the house. I got to review all the clips. Um, there was one time where gorge got a tech for yelling at me and the referee thought it was for him.
01:09:30
Speaker
But that was hilarious. I thought that was the best thing ever, even though they got to shoot a free go. But yeah, it was great for me. The level of basketball, they gave us so much responsibility, probably more than we deserved or needed, especially guys that have never done it before. So yeah, the video was a massive part.
01:09:50
Speaker
helping out a practice and then yeah, if we were able to influence decisions or how they do things, that was just an added bonus. But I'm not here without that program. I'm not here without Gorge, Jacob or Sean. So you take the knowledge, but you take the experience and you also have those relationships moving forward, which has been awesome for me. Bit of an ignorant question here. What is game day coding and what does it look like?
01:10:14
Speaker
So you'll probably see, if you watch any of the horse games, like I think last year it was a Cranny, Declan and Pat all sat in the side with some computers. So what happens on the court gets done live. So you can basically get a feed on your computer. We chop it up. So for example, what I was doing is every possession can get its own little video. Every pick and roll, for example, gets its own video, every transition, whatever you wanted to do. So Jacob really likes pick and roll transition.
01:10:43
Speaker
What sets we ran and so at any time you could look over and go what happened on this last one? Or how are we scoring on this one? So it's a really advanced way and I think a lot of MBL teams do it now where you can get data it's it's good to get quarter time reports or half-time and
01:11:02
Speaker
but video becomes important. So that's what live coding is in a nutshell. It's just another resource for the coaching staff. Wow. So you're essentially creating in real time your own instant replay from the current game that you can still go back and implement and change in that same current game.
01:11:19
Speaker
Yeah, so I think like the pick and roll, so they'd say, all right, this is what's happening. They're doubling. Let's see the double pick and roll. Where's the advantage? So maybe it's a cutter coming out of the corner, short rolls, whatever it is. They want to see that. And then the other part of the coding is the review, which is the most stressful part of the coding, because you literally have two seconds. So I think we were pretty good in that last year. There was one stressing moment, but for the most part, I think we had a routine down pat.
01:11:48
Speaker
Yeah, anything the coaches needed on game day or practice week, we'd have it ready for him. I mean, my first game I did for gorge was, let's say a very nice lesson in saying yes or no to his responses instead of I don't know. So yeah, wow, that's a grab quite quick. So it did gorge get a tech because someone on you for yelling at you for not reviewing a
01:12:10
Speaker
uh, coach's decision quick enough without giving away too much. Basically, I got really good at the saying yes and no. And there was one game where we just, I think we were getting Hammond a little bit and he keeps looking at me. He has this look is yes or no. We reviewing, we reviewing and four times in a row. I said, no, I got really good at yes or no. So the fifth time I got got gorge. No, first time I've used his name turns around, says some words to me, but the referee was right there thought it was the referee.
01:12:40
Speaker
Got a tech, gorgeous saying, pleading with him. I was talking to my guy, I was talking to the, straight after the game, he apologized. I shouldn't do that. And then I don't think you got a tech for the rest of the year, actually, after that. So that was definitely one of the more intense moments on the coding, but you get into a routine. But yes and no got stuck in my vocab for a while.
01:13:00
Speaker
But more recently you were down in Canberra with the Capitals. So how did that differ between what you did with the Hawks? So probably the biggest difference is the resourcing. So we had three interns, two assistant coaches, Gorge.
01:13:19
Speaker
performance physio, Joe, who helped us out around the traps. And that was every day we'd have access to those guys of the Hawks at the caps. It was a full-time head coach, a full-time assistant coach, two in and out assistant coaches, and then a guy that would help us and be there day to day.
01:13:36
Speaker
So resourcing was probably the biggest thing, but the basketball was at such a high level. There's no complaints. In terms of the basketball between the MBL and the WMBL, the talent is both there. The level of coaching is both there. And it's amazing what the league and teams have done.
01:13:54
Speaker
Um, with that in mind. So for anyone that's followed our season, it was probably less than desirable, but as a coach, like we got so many things out of it, like stuff that I can immediately put into the team right now. Like we.
01:14:08
Speaker
I think we, someone put a number up. We had 13 different starting lineups in the WMBLs. It's like, it's never happened. So then we come into the NBL one sees it's lessons learned or, you know, a play goes to J goes down. We have to change how we play completely. So now it's like, well, I have the confidence that if we need to do something totally different, we can with enough understanding with enough, whatever it is. So the basketball is at a really high level. Uh, it's probably just the resourcing was the only difference.
01:14:35
Speaker
Did you find like, like you mentioned, 13 different starting fives is unprecedented. But coming into this MBL one season, I can I know for a fact, there's probably a couple of women's teams who have had to do the same. One being my beloved Central Coast Crusaders women's team who have had to have a lot of different
01:14:54
Speaker
Starting five lineup changes, but I guess um because something in basketball is the most unpredictable Highly variable sport there is but it sounds like something like being able to adapt or learning to adapt to Having to change your starting lineups in the long run is going to be more beneficial for a team 100% and a coach like you can't just
01:15:18
Speaker
For me, I was a drill drive guy for the longest time. I can't do that anymore because whether I don't have the personnel, I don't know who I want. So you have to be able to change how you got defensively using your personnel. But the caps definitely showed me that anything's possible that way. I mean, we jigged a few wins and we played totally different. We surprised a bunch of people. We elevated players that maybe had played small roles.
01:15:43
Speaker
And the thing that Gorge always used to say, I'm bringing him up again. He always used to say, I've seen crazier things. That was the stuff he spent. So when we talk about the fifth inning and I run, or we talk about teams coming back or whatever, I've seen crazier things. And so that's kind of where I'm at right now. It's like, well, I've seen crazier things happen than a team with no players winning games. So yeah, adapting is really important, using your personnel and sticking with who you got. Cause you went from, you know, being under Gorge icon.
01:16:13
Speaker
Being under another icon, Kristen Veal, was there anything you were able to take directly from your time at the Hawks and make a positive change when you got to the Caps? Vealie is an absolute weapon. Everyone thinks about the player and obviously the COE, but as a high performance coach, she's one of the best.
01:16:32
Speaker
she thinks about the game, the way she can implement what she wants, super high level. So for me, if I'm taking the two thing or one thing from age, it's gorge was an unbelievable relationship person. So whether it's holding accountable, whether it's making people felt like they were a part of it, they were cared for, that's what I wanted to take most from gorge. And then from really, it was like the attention to detail. How do you teach? What do you like? How do you implement it with your group? So
01:16:59
Speaker
both leaders in their field, both exceptional coaches, I was just super lucky to kind of be a fly on the wall with those to be lessons everywhere with those guys.
01:17:08
Speaker
And then the last thing I'll quickly ask as a side note before I let Lockie jump back in is, you know, you mentioned that you see caps season on paper, wasn't the best season, but to be fair, very brand new group, new roster, completely rebuild phase. But for me, the biggest win of that season for that group was how much they were able to start to cultivate a brand new positive culture for the caps.
01:17:35
Speaker
which historically the Caps Club is kind of known for. So can you give us any insight into what went into developing that good team culture? To be honest, I can't take any credit for that because it's all on the players. If I know you guys came to a game towards the back end, it was funny. Usually when you lose games and the Hawks were talking about that a little bit, it was not going their way, the crowds tend to dip.
01:18:02
Speaker
But then in Canberra, something about that group, whether it's the way they play, the enjoyment, the crowds actually went up every game. We were getting sellouts at the back end of the season where games didn't really matter. So I can't really give you the answer, but I think if I was to give something close, it's the people. They were unbelievable people. They never made excuses when players went down or scheduled, whatever, or yellow uniforms. No one ever made an excuse. We just kept going. People appreciate that. People can relate to that. So if I had to guess, it'd be that.
01:18:32
Speaker
Well, people see coaches on game day, but for six days of the week, they, a lot of people outside, you know, outsiders don't really know what goes on the life of a coach. So give us some insight. What are some things people don't know about coaching? It's really, really fun. I'm sure everyone knows that. Probably like for me, if you watch me coach, it probably looks like I'm not having fun. I'm yelling a lot. I'm a bit stretched.
01:18:56
Speaker
That's just the way I communicate and I'm just lucky that these players have responded to it. Just the way I am, just the way I was built, like the people I've had in my life, they're ultra competitors and that's how I feel like it's going to get it done. Especially with a team right now where on demand, I have to be the guy that
01:19:16
Speaker
maybe tells the truth a little bit too often or has it go when it needs to be. But yeah, the coaching lifestyle is great. More full-time jobs would be awesome, but the balance I've currently got is like, can't complain. We get to rock up. It's even two practices a week. They're the best practices. We train freaking hard. Everyone gets into fights, not all the time, up and down. I'm sure you can guess which people are getting in the fights and getting upset at each other, but that's okay.
01:19:45
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I listen to NBL one stuff all the time doing video. I really can't complain. It's awesome. The plays are great. It's gotten to a point now where everyone wants to hang out with each other. Um, I know that bash bros hung out to like two in the morning on Saturday night watching the game replay. So that's cute. Um, but yeah, sorry, who are the bash bros?
01:20:07
Speaker
They're affectionately known as the Bash Bros. It's Lewis Holley and Mike Golding. I know the reference, but I didn't know who it was in your team. I mean, they're great guys. I don't know why they've been called the Bash Bros. But yeah, so I have no complaints. I have had a really, really easy run with it. So they've been awesome.
01:20:23
Speaker
that you said you were animated, but I did notice after that one non-call in the shot clock violation, you just gave the little shrug. But it was a big win and you did it without Brennan Reimer. Just how crucial is that win in terms of, you know, staying in the hunt for top two and also keeping Sutherland off your back. Basically the last four weeks or whenever Junior went down, we've been underdogs. So they remind each other that all the time.
01:20:51
Speaker
So for us, they were hot on our tail. We were right there with them. It was a massive win. I feel like we let them back in the game, but they're a really good team. Super talented. So for us to get it done, and I'm not going to say roll guys, because they're just another teammates. They're just players. They're not roll guys, they're players. It was awesome for us. So we just keep going. I know Lewis spoke about it during the week.
01:21:17
Speaker
The Norse bears got the Norse bears to this point. It doesn't matter if we lose a player, drop a, whatever it is, the Norse bears got us here. And so that's kind of what we're doing from this point forward. Yeah. And I mean, I almost had hand cramp writing DNP next to players in my notes on Saturday night. Like you said, the Norse bears got the Norse bears here and you keep winning despite dropping, you know, having players out. And what do you do as coach to ensure that the team's level is maintained? Sorry to use another analogy.
01:21:46
Speaker
but you know how they talk about if you want to be a bodybuilder, you got to eat like a dog. Have you ever heard about, have you, you just got to eat the same thing over and over again. That's where I'm at right now. Like we just keep doing us. So the practice format doesn't really change the way our coach doesn't really change. Obviously there's adjustments, but we have to be consistent. So I try to be consistent with who I am. I try to be consistent with the athletes. Um, and I think it's been working okay.
01:22:14
Speaker
Like it got a bit crazy during the week because we couldn't throw it to Brennan and make something happen. So that was an adjustment for sure. But when we get into the game, we have five guys in the starting line that can defend the talk, that have a crack. So yeah, we just got to stay consistent no matter who we have.
01:22:33
Speaker
Maybe just a point on that analogy, you could probably change it to you got to eat like a bear because bears also eat pretty similar things every day.
Strategies and Challenges in Practice
01:22:43
Speaker
And you are the Norse bears. Eat like a bear. That's good. Put that on the bulletin board. What do we have on the bulletin board? We actually have a picture of bears in a rowing boat as our
01:22:58
Speaker
as our mantra. I'm sure you can ask someone else, but yeah, that's what we have in our train room. It's like four bears in an Olympic rowing boat. So just a little insight. Or pulling towards the same goal, I guess. Maybe, maybe. You have to ask someone else. But you mentioned earlier that you get two practices a week. How do you ensure that though, you know, because you don't have the quantity of practice time, that it's all quality practice time? We're really, really lucky with Norse backing us, whether it's facilities,
01:23:26
Speaker
programs, you know, working people. So we train at Shaw, which is an unbelievable venue in Sydney. So we utilize their venue as much as we can. Like, I know they won't like me saying this. We use the TV for video, keep that in the DL. You know, we practice. Guys come in early. It's a massive facility.
01:23:48
Speaker
and also kindly provided us with Fast Scout, which is like a scouting and review tool. So we distribute that to players before practice. So by the time they get there, they're on top of it. We don't have to waste any practice time. And probably the other thing that I've never done before, we've cut out team shooting.
01:24:05
Speaker
Now any other coaches listening are probably like, what are you talking about? And the point I made and Lewis was furious because he wants to get shots up. He's like, well, if you want to do team shooting, something else has to take a hit. So we've decided as a group, if you want to get shots, I'd be doing your own time.
01:24:20
Speaker
That's how we maximize our two sessions and we go like there's no come to a practice because we just go like people watch us at the end of the game. You watch the end of the solo game last two minutes. We're not tired because we run because we rebound. We don't stop until we think it's good enough. And that's driven by the players, not by me. So that's how we maximize it. They go and do their own things. We have a partnership with also hoops and they provide all physio, all gym, all extra shots for us. So.
01:24:49
Speaker
kind of up to the players if they want to maximize it and it feels like they have, so no complaints.
01:24:54
Speaker
Yeah, you mentioned encouraging players to get shots up over your own time and not spending as much in the team sessions. Is that something you implemented at the start or the season? Or did you implement it partway through and noticed an improvement come game day? I mean, we're still not shooting great. I don't know. I just felt like I needed a value, defensive rotations. I needed a value, how he rebounded the ball. So that's what was important to me.
01:25:20
Speaker
And if it's important to them, they'll shoot in their own time. Like I know a lot of them shoot on game days now. So yeah, we've had it in from day one. We do the first 30 minutes of practice. Every practice is the same. There's no team shooting in there. So we're just being consistent. We play a lot, not a whole lot of team shooting, but that's just kind of our mindset from the start.
01:25:41
Speaker
And if you can't shoot, then it's a good thing that you'll be able to play defense and rebound. So, yeah, I was like, man, I don't know how, cause you know, junior average is 30 game, Brennan average is 24. I don't know how we're going to get 55 points. But if you can defend, you have a chance. If you defend and you have a crack, you have a chance. And.
01:26:00
Speaker
Yeah, we have guys that can do that. It's funny you mentioned that you don't, at the end of the game, you don't look tired because just in the fourth quarter, the last two minutes, just when both teams went back and forth, and I think there were three consecutive possessions, guys hit threes. Two for you guys and one for Sutherland. Everyone just looks so fresh, but the difference was Sutherland were able to rotate 10 players all night.
01:26:21
Speaker
you guys were running seven, maybe eight. I remember one practice in the preseason because I was driving out from Canberra twice a week to do practice like in the preseason. So I was never going to cancel a practice last year for whatever reason, like players, they canceled practice. I think they canceled like 15 practices.
01:26:41
Speaker
And I was just like, that's net. I, I don't know what I'm doing, but I definitely know I'm not going to cancel practice. So we would go three on three in the full court for two hours if we had to. So like, that's just what they know. Um, just going. Yeah. Like Tassie was unbelievable. If we could have got other players in, we would have, but they look good. They were fresh. Lewis just told me to stop asking if they were okay. Cause the answer is always going to be yes. So.
01:27:07
Speaker
Yeah, we're just going to keep going. We'll see what happens. And you will have to keep going because you do have a pretty tricky run home and you've got two massive games against Inner West still to come. How do you approach the final part of the regular season, particularly with straight elimination finals?
01:27:26
Speaker
This is such a good comp this year. The locals are really impressive. The imports, especially in the West, I think they've just hit the mark with their balance on their input. They've combined locals, their imports. Then you look at teams like Newcastle who just backed their local. It's awesome. But yes, very, very challenging for us. So like I said before, we're going to just try to do the same thing. The scouts will change how we play.
01:27:52
Speaker
will change, but we're going to be consistent with us like the bears got us here. I'm going to say it again, but yeah, you know, where it's a really tough Aubrey probably don't have the rep, but they have two legit, legit imports. Penrith applying way better. Comments have loaded up. They've got indie and one in it.
01:28:09
Speaker
We don't have it easy, but we wouldn't want it any other way. So like, if we, if we have to play hard games going into hopefully finals, we'll take it. I mean, Canberra starting this week, they're, they're hooping right now. Pete's killing it. They're all playing really, really well. Shows why they were champions and yeah, it starts this week and we're going to take it one game at a time. Don't let Lewis know that I'm talking about two weeks away because he'll, you know, say something, but yeah, we're taking it one game at a time and yeah, we'll see what happens.
01:28:36
Speaker
It sounds like Lewis Holley is quite vocal in the players group and with voicing his feedback to Coach Burke.
01:28:44
Speaker
And he was the first person, outside of the guys that played it, he was the first person I recruited because, I don't know, I think he's had 12 surgeries. He's a young dude. He's like 27. He had 12 major surgeries. I heard he was back in Sydney and I knew him. I was the water boy of the Waratah team when I was probably 13 or 14 years old at Norse. And he would have been, yeah, 18. So that's when I met Lewis. Didn't see him for seven years. All I knew that he could rebound.
01:29:09
Speaker
So he was the first person I recruited. Yeah. The first practice he comes in, there's a fight between him and someone else. I was like, all right, great. Um, this is awesome. But the best thing about Lewis is that I have to be on top of my stuff all the time because he's very, whatever you say, I'm going to hold you to that. So for me, it's been awesome having someone like him around because I, well, a drill wasn't explained probably. All right. You made a mistake. What, what are you going to do about it? All right. This play didn't work. You can see it in the skit. When we stuff up a scout, the first person that will look at me will be Lewis.
01:29:39
Speaker
Not because of anything else, but he goes, man, you told us this. We're doing what you told or whatever it is. So he keeps me on point. He also keeps his teammates on point. He's, he's an unbelievable recruit. I think at one point he was leading the country in rebounds and he's like six, four, something ridiculous.
01:29:56
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I love it. It's great. It makes practices fun. And it's his first time, I think, playing with this group because I think what's for both our North teams, men and women, I think to their advantage, both groups have such a great playing history with each other and a winning culture with each other. They've both the both programs have been consistently successful for a long time. But Lewis Holy coming into this group and
01:30:22
Speaker
Sounds like he's someone who likes to hold people accountable. And what was that like bringing him into an already existing dynamic? I had spent some time with the Waratah women, with Tom and a little bit of Renee. And the biggest thing was they had unbelievable people in their program. So you look at the winning, you look at the banners, but they were super consistent with how they treated people at the club.
01:30:44
Speaker
how they treated each other. So for me, I can't emulate what Tom and Renee have done for that program, but I can try come close with the people we're recruiting. So the second part of me getting that job is I wanted to get Norse people back in the club. So made sure Robbie, Mikey, Mike Golding, I already said Robbie, Josh, when he was here, all these guys are back.
01:31:09
Speaker
And then it was about, all right, if we can't get Norse people, so I've reached out to all these NBL guys, who are the people that are going to be good for the club? So you look at someone like Nate Musters. No way is he a Norse guy. He lives in Canterbury, but he is an unbelievable people person that has done unbelievable things for our club. And, you know, and Brendan Reimer, same thing. Everyone looks at him and go, oh man, he's, you know, he's a bit erratic. You know, he ripped his jersey on the second, you know, whatever. We had to get him a new jersey because he ripped it, but he,
01:31:37
Speaker
goes to under 12 rep games, sits on the bench and supports them. They all go to practice. Anatoly Bose, everyone was telling me he was going to be a headache. He's been the best one. Like seriously. And everyone was like, man, you got to get rid of him. People at Norse didn't want him. I was concerned if I was like, I don't really know this guy. But then
01:31:58
Speaker
He's just passionate. And it's the same with me. So like, and Lewis, if you want to win and that's all you're about, we're never going to have any issues.
Balancing Coaching with Career Aspirations
01:32:05
Speaker
Yeah, it gets heated or practice. Yeah. People hold each other accountable. I do the same thing, but at the end of the day, we all have a gold wing. So there's never any issues that have arise. Not yet. Not that I know of. Um, maybe there's some hiding in the background I'll have to deal with at some point, but so far, so good.
01:32:21
Speaker
or you're coaching, you talked about how it's not quite a career yet. What do you do on the side? Are you involved in basketball when you're outside of coaching? What does Angus Burke do for a job when he's not coaching?
01:32:39
Speaker
I said, boring. If you've guessed accounting, you probably guessed right. So I'm just, I'm going to count it. Um, so as soon as I got back from Canberra, I moved back into full-time work because I've got to pay the bills. But yeah, I do that. Still, obviously the aspiration is to one day coach in the NBA, in the WNBA international team. So that's always there. I mean, I'm dog sitting right now. That's pretty exciting. So he's cool. Nothing really crazy. I love an almond croissant and a coffee and coaching basketball. That's, that's probably where I'm at right now.
01:33:07
Speaker
I love a dare ice coffee and commentating on basketball. So there you go. But you're even more interesting than me because you have an ice coffee. I just have black, long black. It's boring. Shout out to Sean, Roger. He's the arm of croissant connoisseur. I mean for four years with Sean and you never taught me that.
01:33:25
Speaker
Hey, you learn things later in life, though, to be fair. Sure. So you mentioned your aspirations. Go as far as coaching in the NBA, WNBA national teams. Are you someone who likes to set, you know, a five year goal type of thing of where you'd like to be? Are you happy to ride the wave of opportunity as they come to you? So I think for me, long term would be the best league in the world.
01:33:50
Speaker
which I think is the WNBA, NBA at some point and win at that level in a capacity. And then the national team thing saying, but that I don't have a date on that. I'm just trying to get better right now. So that's like,
01:34:03
Speaker
back of mind. But yeah, I'm just trying to do the best I can for North. It's all I got going now, coaching wise. So putting all my time to that and seeing what happens and just staying ready for what's ever next and put my hand up to do stuff, hopefully go to some practices. And yeah, I'm just loving basketball right now. Are you allowed to give us any kind of hints about where you might be coaching after the MBL one season, e.g. another MBL or WMBL club?
01:34:31
Speaker
Hey, if anyone has any jobs, I'm right here. No, there's nothing official just yet, just asking around, seeing what's going on. But yeah, I think for me, it's like, I spoke to Brett, the CEO, and I was like, I have to do a good job in this league because now everyone's watching NBA 1E. So if I can just make sure I'm dealing with my staff, I'm not getting texts, we're playing okay. The players think, you know, we're doing a good job. That's all I can do. I can't do anything else than that.
01:35:00
Speaker
So yeah, just staying ready, loving the MBL1, loving Norse and just trying to double down on that at the moment. If you're comfortable Angus to give us a quick rundown on injury updates for your Norse men's team. Nash.
01:35:14
Speaker
ACL, Josh, stress fracture, Brennan, ACL, uh, Tully, old. And Junior's got my solstice, which is like a rare form of internal bleeding. So yeah, that's kind of where our roster's at. So yeah, we just keep going. We'll have the same team. Hopefully Junior and Tully, um, get cleared for this week, but we're preparing with whoever turns up to practice.
01:35:37
Speaker
Angus, thank you very much for joining us for an episode of eScott Game. Thank you for everything that you've provided today, very insightful in your already stellar coaching career and I'm sure you've got a lot more ahead of you and hopefully this episode gets to the right people and people start contacting you for some coaching jobs for the upcoming NBL and WMBL season.
01:36:01
Speaker
I'm sure lots of doors will open and just remember us when you get in that green and gold and you're on the Boomers or Opals coaching stuff. Just remember us, okay? Seriously, I'm still just the North's rep coach. I'm happy to be that. So much for having me on. This has been awesome. Obviously, I spoke to you guys previously. Everyone listens to this podcast because NBA Least is booming right now and so we don't get that. The coaches don't get it. The players don't get it without you.
01:36:31
Speaker
Keep going, hopefully this episode you don't have to cut too much, but yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks again for joining us for another episode of East Got Game, an unofficial podcast covering the NBL One East competition for 2023. Join us again next week as we cover round 14 of the competition and we'll be back with another very special guest. See you then, and in the meantime, don't sleep on the East.