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Season3 Episode 16: Homecoming with Jason Cadee
37 Plays6 days ago
NBL1 Headlines of Rd 11
EGG GOTW: Illawarra Hawks vs. Inner West Bulls (M)
Interview with Jason Cadee (Bankstown Bruins and NBL Legend)
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Episode Overview
00:00:35
Speaker
Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of East Got Game, where we give you the X's, the O's and the insights of the NBL One East competition.
00:00:46
Speaker
Thanks for joining us tonight live on YouTube and possibly Instagram, but definitely Facebook. Instagram, again, is not working for us. unfortunately.
00:00:58
Speaker
But remember, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram and Facebook at EastGockGame or you can continue to find us and our episodes on your preferred streaming platforms.
00:01:11
Speaker
On this week's episode, we'll be covering our NBL One East headlines from Round 11, our EastGock game, Game of the Week between the Illawarra Hawks and the Inner West Bulls from the men's competition,
00:01:26
Speaker
And we'll be finishing our episode tonight with a very special interview with one of the absolute staples. Well, i can't say staples, but a true standout of NBL One East, certainly in line with our homecoming theme of the 2025 season.
Weather & Stadium Conditions
00:01:43
Speaker
But let's first do a check Lockie, how are you faring down there? I am doing spectacularly, Squin. It's been strangely warm today, which has been quite nice after a very cold evening at the Shark Tank on Saturday night.
00:01:59
Speaker
Oh, yeah. this Does your stadium tend to be cooler inside than it is actually outside? Oh, yes. Oh, yes. What's with that? Now, I'm no architect, but what's with that? Because Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium at the Crusaders home court is exactly the same.
00:02:17
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. tint Tin sheds don't have a great insulation.
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. That's true. ah And I wonder as well if a lot of stadiums are finding the same issues. Yes, let's just say I'm glad that my game this coming weekend is on the Sunday afternoon at Comets and not the Saturday night.
00:02:40
Speaker
Oh, is Comets a little bit warmer on the inside? Well, no, just the fact it'll be during the day and not at night is all I'm happy for. That's fair enough. That's fair enough.
Triple Overtime Thriller: Maitland vs Manly
00:02:51
Speaker
ah But, yeah, round 11 of NBL1 East has just been done and dusted, and there was another very eventful round in the competition.
00:03:01
Speaker
Take us through the headlines for the men's competition, Lockie. Well, I think, how can you go past a game that went to triple overtime between Maitland and Manly up there at the Federation Center?
00:03:13
Speaker
ah You know, two teams who are right in that mix that we always talk about, you know, right there, right on the cusp of finals, ah both all in that 6-8, 6-7 grouping.
00:03:28
Speaker
And yeah, Manly able to just about pull it out um after Maitland had a chance to win it with the last shot of the game. It was 92 apiece after Zach Kumbel made both of his free throws. And yeah, they are held on to get it to overtime and then ah Overtime one came and went. Billy Parsons got the game-tying basket just at the end of the first overtime.
00:03:59
Speaker
And then young Ollie Hammond hit his free throws down the stretch. in the second overtime before finally the elastic snapped and Manly were able to pull away to a seven point victory.
00:04:11
Speaker
ah 126 to 119. So to anyone who just glanced at the scoreline, they were playing defense. They just had to play for an extra 15 minutes over everyone else.
00:04:24
Speaker
That was my initial um thought when I saw the score line. Huge numbers. And I was like, was everyone just shooting the best day, the best game of their life, or was no one playing defense?
00:04:38
Speaker
It was only until I clicked on the box scores on the NBL One app that I saw it was triple overtime. Surely people were cramping um during this triple overtime.
00:04:50
Speaker
Have to be. I mean, billy Billy Parsons, who we all know came back early from a serious injury and should probably only just be getting back to playing now, played 45 minutes, had 32 points and 17 rebounds.
00:05:04
Speaker
I mean, you have to feel for guys like Mason Bragg, 27, 14, 8, and steals, and then Isaiah Lee putting up a Lee played minutes and seconds of basketball.
00:05:17
Speaker
so thirty pace and you know, like that's just so like backing up from that. But like, you know Billy's played 45 minutes, dropped 32 and 17 and doesn't even get to walk away with the win.
00:05:30
Speaker
Yeah, that is huge. That is huge. That is certainly a hot a highlight and a milestone of the season as well as a whole. And just looking at this logjam that is the men's competition, Manly are now seventh place with a win-loss record of 7-7.
Men's Competition Standings
00:05:47
Speaker
The Norse Bears are above them in six with the same ra win-loss record of 7-7, but ahead on four and against points by 0.10.
00:05:58
Speaker
one zero Ridiculous. It's tight. And I'm pretty sure they play each other this weekend. They sure do. They sure do Just adding to this historic rivalry between Manly and North, it just gets better and better.
00:06:14
Speaker
Well, manly Manly play North, who are they are level with, and Newcastle, who are one spot behind them on the table this weekend. Yeah, Manly play Newcastle first.
00:06:26
Speaker
This could be the weekend that almost puts Manly... in the absolute box seat for a final spot. If they can get both wins in both.
00:06:38
Speaker
Yeah, and they've certainly fought their way to get there as well. um But, yeah, Norse are 7-7 playing Manly next week, as you said. Manly are playing Newcastle first.
00:06:52
Speaker
Newcastle are eighth with a win-loss record of seven and eight So only because really – it's only actually because they've played the extra game and that extra game was a loss because they're win their points percentage – is 100.30. So they had the same record of 7-7, they actually would have been in sixth position.
00:07:13
Speaker
Yep. And ah then ninth is the Central Coast Crusaders. Their win-loss record is 7-8. And, yeah, they still would have been where they are in ninth position with their points percentage. So, yeah, it's chaos between the Norse, Manly, and Newcastle men's teams.
00:07:32
Speaker
And you talk about that Crusaders for and against. They're minus 41 for the season and they lost the game by 46 on the weekend. They'd be in positive differential if they'd won that game.
00:07:45
Speaker
Jeez. Yeah. but yeah yeah had they Had they played the way that they played on Sunday and they played that way on the Saturday, we'd be having a different conversation. We certainly would.
00:07:58
Speaker
What other headlines have you got for us from round 11?
Christina Moore's Standout Performance
00:08:02
Speaker
Well, I think on the women's side, well, aside from Christina Moore dropping 47, which was amazing, ah the Hills Hornets.
00:08:13
Speaker
providing a little bit, if not a lot, of nuisance value because they came into the Shark Tank and they were up 17 with a quarter to play and then Sienna Clark went bang, bang, bang, three threes in the space of 90 seconds to end the game in pretty much there. It was a 26-point game with nine minutes to play.
00:08:33
Speaker
But then they went off and beat Hornsby the very next day. to drop Hornsby to six and eight. And they're now in that logjam in the women's league where Maitland and inner West and Canberra sitting on seven wins and then Bainstown, Comets and Hornsby are now all on six wins.
00:08:53
Speaker
ah Hornsby sitting where they were on the table, six and seven, coming up against a team that's five and nine. I would have, know, been optimistic of a victory, but Hills, great form.
00:09:04
Speaker
I'm not sure at five and 10 that, there's just enough wins left for them to get to get to a final spot. But boy, howdy, are they being quite annoying for some other teams because they, i mean, they sent Sutherland to four and 10 and,
00:09:19
Speaker
and Same deal. do Do Sutherland have enough games left to pick up enough wins to make finals now? So, yes, Hills, great performance, great outing.
00:09:31
Speaker
Loved watching Elizabeth Smith. um They had six players in double figures in both games, which I think is absolutely amazing. I think in the Sutherland game, those scores ranged from 14 to 19. So it really was spread.
00:09:50
Speaker
So... Yeah, great work by the Hills Hornets. Great weekend.
00:09:57
Speaker
And yeah, I mean, they might not make finals, but yeah always good to end your season on a high. So if they maintain this form, something to build on for next year, regardless of how their final standing lands.
00:10:10
Speaker
Well, we do often say here on ESCOT Game that if you're unable to make finals, at least stay competitive and perhaps ruin someone else's finals hopes. Exactly.
00:10:23
Speaker
Exactly. i mean, they they still got to play it. They still play inner West in a couple of weeks. They play Comet. Who else do they play? They play Newcastle. I think Newcastle will probably make finals regardless of that result somehow.
00:10:40
Speaker
um But yeah, they've got they've got a few games there that they can definitely win. And yeah, like you said, maybe ruin someone's season or beat everybody and the log jam remains.
00:10:53
Speaker
Yeah, Newcastle Falcons women back on the top of the table, win-loss record of 13-2 after defeating the Norse Bears on the weekend. They play Manly women as well on the week coming up in round 12.
00:11:07
Speaker
Manly are just... have just successfully reached a 10-game winning streak despite, ah I think, based on the NBL One East social's headlines. You know, Alex Delaney is currently, I think, celebrating her 30th birthday overseas with her family. And, you know, Taylor Wirtz has seen some limited minutes, I think the headline said, or perhaps not shooting as well as she had in previous rounds. But still, Manly able to get 10 wins in a row.
00:11:34
Speaker
Now another big test is coming for them ahead of this weekend against the Falcons. Interestingly though, Manly are third, win-loss record of 12-2 and have the highest points percentage.
00:11:46
Speaker
So that's probably going to be in their favour ah towards the end of the season, I'd say. Definitely. And I mean, they can wrap up splits this weekend against Newcastle and North because they play them both. So not only could this weekend decide a lot on the table, it could decide, know, if there do become tie breaks, who wins those.
00:12:11
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. Especially as you mentioned the game before, Maitland versus Inner West, 6th versus 7th, equal win-loss record. The Stanger's just ahead due to points percentage. Quite quite a healthy points percentage though, 7.20% ahead of Inner West um But, yeah, that that result is going to be really interesting.
00:12:34
Speaker
Obviously, k Christina Moore, all eyes on her after that 47 piece. So we'll have to keep an eye on those results for round 12. Certainly will. It's getting right down to the nitty-gritty.
Players Moving to Summer League
00:12:47
Speaker
That's right. Any other headlines from NBL1 East after round 11, Lockie? yeah. Alex Higgins' teacher, made in the East, no longer an East man, but going to the Summer League with the Golden State Warriors.
00:13:01
Speaker
that's ah That's pretty big. And it was just ah announced as well, just before we started recording tonight or streaming tonight, that Bawali Bales from the Sydney Comets is also headed to the Summer League, suiting up for the New York Knicks.
00:13:17
Speaker
Well, there we go. Huge. Well, that's huge for the Comets playing Sutherland this weekend.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yes. Blessing and a curse is the Summer League and having talented individuals in your team. Because Dave O'Hickey is already headed to Summer League as well. Is that correct?
00:13:40
Speaker
Yes.
00:13:43
Speaker
But look, we love to see our NBL1 East talent going international because wherever they go in their career and in the world, They'll always be representing the East. And those sentiments will actually be echoed in our guest interview later ah later on in the show, which we think you're really, really going to enjoy.
00:14:02
Speaker
ah But are we ready to get into our East Gough game, Game of the Week,
Game Analysis & Strategy Focus
00:14:06
Speaker
Lockie? We certainly are. And it was an absolute humdinger, Squint. Interesting that you see it as a humdinger.
00:14:14
Speaker
My opinion may differ. Well... Down the stretch, it was exciting. It was. Yeah, it was. It was very exciting. Like yeah my initial, sorry, the the game that we chose to review this week was the Illawarra Hawksmen versus the Inner West Bullsmen at the Snake Pit.
00:14:35
Speaker
Now, realising we have already reviewed a game of the Illawarra Hawksmen, we haven't watched the Inner West Bulls. ah They've had quite an up and down season. They've had a a change in head coach as well halfway through.
00:14:49
Speaker
with Terry Johnson now coming in. I don't think I saw an official announcement, but I certainly recognised him on the sideline. No, I don't. No, because the first time I saw anything about it was ah when I saw his name for two games in a row on the live stats was when it clicked for me.
00:15:08
Speaker
I don't think there was an official announcement from the club either thanking their previous coach a on socials either.
00:15:17
Speaker
There you got So nonetheless, very turbulent season for the Inner West Bulls men. um This one did go down to the wire, like you said.
00:15:28
Speaker
ah Illawarra Hawks with the win, 98 over 95. Looked like a great crowd at the Snake Pit as well, as you can come to expect from the Snake Pit.
00:15:39
Speaker
But this was a type of game in the end for me where – if you were If you wanted to be entertained, it was entertaining. But if you wanted to watch a game as a basketball nerd and get into the nitty-gritty of what defense they're playing, what offense they're playing, and try and analyze it as we do for our weekly reviews, it was probably not the game for you. and I'm glad you you feel that way, Squin, because I...
00:16:09
Speaker
I did have some times watching moments watching this game where I was like, i yeah, what like what what am I noting down here? Yeah, what am I learning? What am I gaining for this? It was it was almost like a reality TV show where it everything has a purpose.
00:16:25
Speaker
Sometimes we just want to sit down after a hard day and watch a reality TV show and not have to think but be entertained. And this is the kind of game this was for me. The more I watched some particular plays that we'll get into,
00:16:39
Speaker
the more frustrated I became. That's fair enough. Yeah. But still, I mean, it it wasn't the worst game that I've watched. It was perhaps I just did have high expectations for this game given the talent that was on the court.
00:16:53
Speaker
ah But it was one where I was like, you know, left i left wanting more. Fair. I mean, yes, it it was very exciting. um Lots happening, but it was all a bit, yeah.
00:17:08
Speaker
It was a lot on the fly. It was a lot on the fly. So tell me some of the notes, some of your notes from the first quarter. Well, I mean, you can't go past the start where the threes just absolutely flew from both sides and they were hitting as well.
00:17:30
Speaker
Um, But, I mean, Ramon Cowell was out there just, I mean, as the Comets commentator, I have nightmares still about this man's ability to shoot the ball sometimes, what he's done to Comets. And a bit to Sutherland.
00:17:45
Speaker
um But I think think once those three started to dry up, it felt it felt like Illawarra kind of settled into the game a bit more, a bit ah bit quicker than Inner West.
00:18:00
Speaker
um Kobe McDowell-White had a couple of really good moves. I'm still not sure how he got that first time where he blew past Max Clark. I'm still not exactly sure how he dribbled the ball because it was... ah it was quite It was very nice to watch, but I'm still not sure how the physics of the ball actually getting through occurred.
00:18:20
Speaker
um was that at the Was that off a handoff around the three-minute mark in the first quarter? Yeah, it was the one where you like, but it was the really shifty one. Yeah.
00:18:32
Speaker
Yeah. And that honestly, there were a couple of times where I was wondering how inner west were going to guard Kobe McDowell-White because he There were times where it looked really easy for him to get to the rack. um aye CJ Moran, and this will be a point probably for every quarter of the game, particularly defensively.
00:19:00
Speaker
he got into the game more offensively later, but just defensively setting screens. ah Obviously, his tips from... if he can't If he can't grab the ball, the man could play in the ruck.
00:19:15
Speaker
because he always gets the tip where it needs to go um i would not when i say from the first possession of the game i mean it because he literally set an off ball to get todd blanchfield open in the very first possession of the game for illawarra's opening basket um but as things moved on bulls definitely finished the first quarter stronger and they They trailed by seven, and Illawarra, I'm sorry, I have to say, you should have led this game by 12 or 14 after a quarter because your final minute of the first quarter was... It was not good.
00:19:55
Speaker
I mean, they had a They had two turnovers to end the quarter. One was pushing for a late basket and turned it over and gave Inner West enough time.
00:20:08
Speaker
um And, yeah, 30-18 became 30-23 like that off those couple of turnovers. And Andrew Swanson um getting a good drive to the rack to finish off. And we'll talk a lot more about Andrew Swanson as the game goes on.
00:20:24
Speaker
But I definitely thought it was Illawarra early and they should have yeah they should have led it by by a lot more.
00:20:34
Speaker
Yeah, for me in the first quarter, yeah, opening this game with I counted... Seven three-pointers in the first quarter between both teams.
00:20:46
Speaker
Dodd Blanchard with two, Ramon Cowell with two, McDowell White with two, and Leslie from Illawarra with one. That's as quick as I could do it. I went back to the shot chart to double-check as well. cut like That set us up for a really entertaining high-octane game.
Inner West Bulls' Offensive Struggles
00:21:01
Speaker
Everyone was ready to shoot.
00:21:02
Speaker
But I think both teams very quickly settled in, settled for those shots. Very quickly, Interwest Bulls stopped it ah penetration like drew any kind of dribble penetration.
00:21:14
Speaker
Not a lot of movement off the ball. It looks like I couldn't tell if they were running any particular sets in the half court. This is honestly just first impressions. Couldn't see that they were running any particular sets in their half court offense, which...
00:21:29
Speaker
meant like which The way I saw it was that they'd try motion for a little bit, it would quickly break down, that that would then rely on someone going one-on-one or shooting a three the end. Yeah. Very, very basic.
00:21:42
Speaker
Yeah. And it looked like for Inner West that that almost had to be Mirko Jarek. Like they were almost deferring to him to be the one to get them out of those situations. Yeah.
00:21:57
Speaker
Well, as the game continued, part of me is like, did it have to be him or did it choose for him to be him? That's fair. Fair enough. Yeah. I mean, because we know they've got plenty of other players, especially like they've got Max out there who can definitely create for himself.
00:22:15
Speaker
I mean, we've seen he he finished with 12 points, but um yeah, I'd I mean, yeah, your point about offball off-ball movement is the one that really sticks out for me is that, yeah, it was like,
00:22:31
Speaker
<unk> it's it's all ah good to, you know, want someone to take the lead, but you've got to actually give him something to work with. Some of the positive signs, though from so from the Bulls, they shot 11 threes in the first quarter and made five from 11.
00:22:48
Speaker
ah Then the of of the remaining 17 shots they took in the first quarter, only three were inside eight feet and they may only made one of those three. Um, but at least 13 of their 23 points from this quarter all came from effort plays. They had seven points from second chance points and fast break points, which I'm guessing were the same.
00:23:13
Speaker
So I didn't count them as 14 points in total. I just thought perhaps their second chance points were all their fast break points. Uh, then they had six points, um, from turnovers.
00:23:25
Speaker
and So they showed a lot of great signs of being able to capitalise on silly turnovers, loose balls, um which I thought kept them in touch and ah gave them a good chance of winning this game straight from the first quarter.
00:23:38
Speaker
ah For Illawarra, I mean, they were on defence, they were switching a lot between the guards, but not so much the bigs. That handoff you spoke of, of Will McDowell-White, of Kobe McDowell-White.
00:23:54
Speaker
I had a good look at that, and this ends up being a continuing theme throughout this game for the Bulls. they don't know what they're doing on a handoff or a pick and roll defensively.
00:24:06
Speaker
A lot of miscommunication and that ended up being a lot of easy points for Illawarra. Like I would be tempted to go back and watch this game and count how many points Illawarra scored from pick and roll situations or handoff situations where there was a miscommunication or the person guarding, like person lack the ah offensive player receiving the ball was doing the wrong thing.
00:24:30
Speaker
it's, 3 minutes 42 for Illawarra. McDowell White gets that handoff and Clark just trails on this handoff. And Brefo ends up guarding Blanchfield.
00:24:43
Speaker
in this situation because Blanchfield gives the handoff. Breffo shows for like half a second and retreats back to Blanchfield, understandably, because like there's a high chance McDowell-White is just going to, you know, pitch it back to Blanchfield off the pop from this handover.
00:25:00
Speaker
But it was such a quick show that Clark is still chasing behind and that's why the seas just parted open for McDowell-White on that situation for the easy layup.
00:25:10
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And trust me, there are going to be more notes on the Bulls in these situations in this breakdown. um It happened again at 2 minutes 34 in the first quarter where McDowell White did a curl cut on a weak side screen. Clark chases again, another easy layup.
00:25:29
Speaker
But yeah, Illawarra also getting up 10 threes in this quarter. Oh, sorry, 11 threes in this quarter as well. And they shot six from 11. So... Yeah, it was ah lot a lot of shots going up in this first quarter. I feel like maybe each team were just trying to get comfortable.
00:25:49
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, that's that's probably, yeah. I mean, I think that's fair enough. I mean, 30 to 23, don't even remember. That's a height still a high-scoring quarter, but a lot of it, as you mentioned, those early threes just absolutely flying
00:26:04
Speaker
ah And come second quarter for me, lots of similar style of play in the offensive end for Illawarra. they They're really good in the sense of you can tell they're always running something and everyone's always running in the same spot.
00:26:17
Speaker
Sometimes the back screens or the picke the screens on the pick and roll aren't always executed as well as they can be. But there's lots of handoff action, whether it's strong side or weak side. So there's always some kind
Halftime Reflections & Adjustments
00:26:31
Speaker
of movement.
00:26:31
Speaker
Yeah. And I think that they probably could have used that a lot more to get some easy scores because as I mentioned, there was so many miscommunications guarding the pick and roll or a handoff from the Bulls.
00:26:45
Speaker
Hawks could have just destroyed them just using that. It's like, ah for example, again, i think it was one minute 15 to play in the second Blanchfield and Dent in a pick and roll.
00:26:59
Speaker
ah Now, correct me if I'm wrong here. Is it Mirko, Derek or oh Jeric? I would say it would be... I thought... well I've heard both, so... And I've heard both from pretty reputable sources as well, so...
00:27:19
Speaker
No, I'll have to find that out when I um call them on the final game of the season. Yes, good point, good point. But it was this big dunk that Blanchfield gave at 1 minute 15, but basically it was a pick-and-roll action between Dent and Blanchfield.
00:27:36
Speaker
They were being guarded let's say, Jarek and Breffo. Breffo switched and Derek didn't switch hard enough to take Blanchfield on the roll and that just opened everything up.
00:27:48
Speaker
Yeah, was... was pretty It was pretty much the the theme, a lot of the most successful plays throughout the game. um And I just felt like it come this second quarter, offensively the Inner West Bulls were just relying on too much outside shooting.
00:28:06
Speaker
Jerick looked like the only person really penetrating in the half-court offense to get something going. And their defense tended to be quite reactive, sometimes closing out too far.
00:28:18
Speaker
not chasing, not rotating. um But they they that that kind of relaxed approach on ah offense meant that they were able to break Illawarra's 1-2-2 press by pretty much walking the ball up the court and then throwing two passes and getting an N1 plane underneath.
00:28:36
Speaker
Because the the first time Illawarra ran that, they got a steal.
00:28:43
Speaker
And then they tried it again and Illawarra's just... pe bro just this like See you guys. um oh I really would have liked to see in the second quarter Ramon Cow be as aggressive as he was in the first and as he was in the fourth.
00:28:59
Speaker
was like what what worked well for him in the first and the fourth. He took guys on occasionally, and I really would And he did a little bit early in the second, but as the game wore on, yeah, it kind of fell away until really late in the piece.
00:29:14
Speaker
And it just would have been something to add to InterWest's offense. But InterWest on the defensive end, I also noticed like they... They were often, maybe not often, but occasionally slow to pick up matchups getting back in transition, um which just, you know, left Illawarra step ahead on multiple occasions. There was one just ah just under six minutes to play, left Lockie Dent open for a corner three.
00:29:44
Speaker
ah And yeah, there was just one player, like, you know, maybe, you know, maybe the player of ahead of them didn't, you know, do what was expected. So then they were forced to, you know, go somewhere else and not recognize until, until it was too late.
00:30:01
Speaker
um But I mean, it just goes with the theme of, you know, inner West not having, you know, correct reads or correct communication on a lot of defensive assignments. Yeah.
00:30:13
Speaker
Or no communication. All of those things can be fixed with communication. Who are you guarding in defensive transition? Who are you going to cover? Are you switching? Are you staying?
00:30:23
Speaker
um And then being able to, like this was especially the two-on-two situations, um whether to switch or stay in pick-and-roll or handoffs.
00:30:34
Speaker
That didn't improve at all. like So I'm not sure if they weren't
Third Quarter Highlights
00:30:40
Speaker
paying enough attention to it, if they just weren't talking about it, if people were confused about what the rules are because i also imagine that people the rules for guarding a pick and roll will change depending who's in that pick and roll. So if Brefo looks like he was guarding Blanchfield a lot of the game, if he's in two-on-two situation where he has to guard Blanchfield, the rules in the pick and guarding the pick and roll in that situation will be different, say, if it's like Denton-Moran.
00:31:09
Speaker
But there was there was just no communication at all. and It's interesting you bring up Moran in the pick and roll because then if you look later in the game... the He started getting getting opportunities in that situation.
00:31:24
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah. I actually put, ah yeah, a 54 in the second. There's a pick and roll with Denton Moran. ah What ends up happening is Both of the defenders for the Bulls stay on dent and Moran just slips way easily like down the middle like down the split line. And that's where I wrote, what are the rules on these pick and rolls and handles because there's no communication from the Bulls.
00:31:52
Speaker
Yeah. ah They continued to shoot from the R quite a lot in the second quarter, of the Bulls. They had 11 threes and were five from 11. Three shots in the paint for made one.
00:32:06
Speaker
That's actually my note from the first quarter, so let's ignore that. i was like, that sounds familiar. But, yeah, they still relied a lot on the outside shot in the second quarter.
00:32:19
Speaker
ah so But the the fun the thing is, though, the halftime score was 44 to 45 in favour of the Bulls, despite us picking apart their defence in the same way that a Hawks pick and roll did.
00:32:33
Speaker
What do you think the Hawks needed to improve on in that second quarter ah to have the lead by halftime? i mean, the Hawks shot, what, 2 of 11 from 3. in the second quarter, which doesn doesn't help things, um particularly as all we've done for the last five minutes is completely picked completely destroy, you know, less pick and roll defense. And yet Illawarra have gone out and shot two of 11 from three point range when the pick and roll is clearly, ah you know, it's clearly going to work for them.
00:33:08
Speaker
So probably just, yeah. Just go to the well boys. We we watched it work. um
00:33:19
Speaker
It would have been nice to see after going to that press once and getting a steal. It felt like when, yeah, when inner west ripped straight through it, it felt like Illawarra weren't fully committed to it almost. It was like, we're going to throw a couple of guys up court and we'll see if it, if it comes off again.
00:33:37
Speaker
And it, um, it didn't. And honestly, my, my final note of my second quarter conclusion is, um, inner west need to, need to be better on D with reads and communication.
00:33:49
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean,
00:33:57
Speaker
Moko Derrick can make this team tick, but he needs other people to take full advantage of it. Yeah. he's goingnna He's going to attract people.
00:34:10
Speaker
And going back to your point about Ramon Cowell, he was great in the first quarter. i I would like to go back and watch... especially parts of the second quarter, because I don't feel like he got as many touches in the second quarter as the first quarter.
Final Quarter & Game Outcome
00:34:25
Speaker
feel like Mirko was always trying to create something. um Oftentimes he had to try and create something for himself because their offense was so stagnant.
00:34:36
Speaker
And i mean, credit to the inner West Bulls, a lot of their shots were all were under pressure. Yeah. From the arc. They weren't, They weren't open threes like the Hawks were getting at the other end. They were all under pressure in the cylinder with a hand in their face.
00:34:53
Speaker
um It was just really lucky that a lot of them were going in. Yeah, I think ah you if you put the the game film, gave someone the game film and then the shooting percentages and said, you know, which two which team which team is which, you probably wouldn't pick it pick it that way.
00:35:12
Speaker
definitely not. ah So, yeah, 44, 45 at halftime in favour of the Bulls. The Hawks, I think, in that second quarter just resting too much on their laurels from the arc. Probably always believing that despite being down by one point. And, yeah, like you said, they could have been up by 12. They could have just kept going pick and roll and...
00:35:33
Speaker
kicked the door wide open to to seal it ah ah a big lead by halftime. They just didn't. They were probably still quietly confident they were able to come back. But that's not going to work for them in the back end of the season.
00:35:47
Speaker
They're going to come up against teams that are going to be hungry to beat them in a final situation. And if the Hawks are going to play with complacency throughout the regular season, it's going to bite them come finals time.
00:36:01
Speaker
Oh, 100%. mean, i mean I inner west are four wins for the season, but we know they've got more talent there than a four-win team. and But the teams they're coming up against, especially if you get to you know week two, week three of the finals, they are going to be, yeah there's not going to be, oh we're playing you know the team that finished eight that we've knocked off twice this season. You're going to be playing some real tough teams.
00:36:27
Speaker
Yeah, I completely agree. And I would hate to see them fall in the finals time because they've been kind of underpreparing during the regular season. ah Because come the third quarter, i could see that complacency coming now on defence for the Hawks where a couple of times...
00:36:48
Speaker
Some of the Hawks players, including even the likes of Blanchfield, was caught out overplaying on D, a couple like especially in the same spot, having to close out on the wing. There's times where he's gambling for steals or he's he's overplaying a closeout for a three, and in the West we're able to capitalise on those opportunities.
00:37:07
Speaker
ah But then defensive woes continued for the Bulls. I clocked at 7 minutes 56. Some lazy transition D from the Bulls. are Easy end one play for Moran. Again, just no communication whatsoever.
00:37:24
Speaker
was that and That was off the was that was off the the slow roller from Ballinger in transition that just barely got to him and he picked it up. I think so, yes. yeah Yes, yes, yes. it was And it was a really deep catch. No, actually, I think this was actually Lockie Dent pass from ah just over the halfway line. Yes. And they ran deep, deep catch under the basket. And it probably was a bit of a soft foul because they were playing, the defender was playing catch up.
00:37:54
Speaker
But I mean, come on, guys. Like, that's a long-ass pass. Yeah. and Why are you playing catch up in the first place? Yeah, exactly, exactly. That's very reactive style of defense and and no communication.
00:38:08
Speaker
Because I had one where Ballinger had this pass and it it kind of just got to him and he he ran onto it almost and just skipped past the defender who was, you know, a step late, which meant he couldn't quite get into position to, you know,
Player Statistics & Game Review
00:38:25
Speaker
basically stand Moran up and he got another and one off that.
00:38:30
Speaker
Yeah, so, um yeah, that's right. There were a couple of those opportunities. And the InterWest Bulls do get their own back in the fourth quarter, which we'll get into. ah But there was a really nice play from the Bulls that I clocked at six minutes and six seconds in the third, where Moran loses sight of Swanson in the corner, does this lovely back cut and gets an N1 play, and which we start to see a little bit in the fourth too from from the Hawks.
00:38:57
Speaker
And that was actually their first points of the third quarter. At 6.06 by Swanson. Yes. So but they they scored 18 points for the quarter and it took them the best part of four minutes to even get on the board in the third quarter.
00:39:15
Speaker
Yeah, you're right. It really took them a lot of time to get going. um And then letting Illawarra score 24 that. Third quarter.
00:39:25
Speaker
ah But I noted that there were a couple of situations early in that early, probably early mid-range of the third quarter where Illawarra got some points where, to be fair, they they probably shouldn't.
00:39:37
Speaker
There was the Lockie Dent, and the commentators mentioned this as well, Lockie Dent throwing the long pass to Kobe McDowell-White, who was fouled on the three-point attempt. But Lockie Dent was more open and should have shot it in the first place.
00:39:51
Speaker
And then only a couple of plays later, Moran and Mims got all crossed up right on the top of the arc. And Mims ended up just shooting it because nothing was happening because of how they got their wires crossed.
00:40:04
Speaker
And that was only six points out of plays where, you know, in a way they were kind of lucky to get a shot on either of them. But sometimes you just make things happen and it goes your way.
00:40:17
Speaker
The other thing I will say about the Hawks is that while they – kind of gave the impression that they were settling a lot for the three ball this game, which fair enough, if that's what your coach tell you tells you to do, go for it.
00:40:31
Speaker
But you've got to start crashing the boards. Moran was like the only person on, I would say, the majority of outside shots taken that was actually crashing the boards and contesting any offensive rebounds.
00:40:44
Speaker
And again, come finals time, that's not going to fly. That's exactly what I wrote down. Illawarra, you have CJ Moran and the opposition of putting up better offensive rebound numbers than you are.
00:40:58
Speaker
Make it make sense. effort.
Upcoming Games & Standings
00:41:00
Speaker
It's effort. It's all just effort. Like if we take a look at the box score, the Inner West Bulls actually win the rebound count 46 to 42. Of that 46, 18 offensive rebounds.
00:41:09
Speaker
of that forty six eighteen well offensive rebounds Yeah, and Illawarra's 10 offensive rebounds, six were Christian Morant. Yeah, he's just dominating and chasing everything.
00:41:25
Speaker
Seven different players had offensive rebounds for Inner West. Yeah, is it's just effort. But the interesting thing is like it's effort on chasing O-boards.
00:41:39
Speaker
So why can't they use that same level of effort on defense? Yeah. Fair, very fair call. Effort is effort. You know what I mean? It's not like some players are going to be better shooters than they are on-ball defenders.
00:41:53
Speaker
That's, you know, that's skill and athleticism and a whole bunch of different skills going into that. Effort is no skill. It's just an internal motivation that can be transferred into any skill.
00:42:05
Speaker
Yes, yes, 100%. Like, just that math is mathing in my head. that's your ah That's your elite athlete insight for the evening from Squin.
00:42:17
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. Effort. I can't coach effort, okay?
00:42:22
Speaker
I'm pretty sure I've said that in my short coaching career as well a lot of times. ah You can't coach effort. Effort has to come from within. Hmm. I don't have many other notes for the third, but having a look at some of the stats, ah Illawarra Hawks won the third quarter 24 to 18.
00:42:42
Speaker
So getting their lead back going into the final quarter. um But can't we can't ah talk about the third quarter without talking about Max Clark's three-quarter court shot.
00:42:55
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Take me through that. The... ah final Final play of the quarter, um Max Clark gets the ball and dribbles it up.
00:43:07
Speaker
had Had to get out of a bit of traffic and collect collect
Interview with Jason Caddy: Basketball Journey
00:43:10
Speaker
possession. um And yeah, threw it up from, well, I think the commentator initially said this will be a half quarter. And by the time he actually got yeah got the ball properly, he could only get it off from three quarter court and swish.
00:43:23
Speaker
so So 68-63, that's another end of course. So with those four points that they got right at the end of the first, plus Matt Clark's three, that's seven points right at the end of the quarter that are Inner West got that yeah Illawarra couldn't couldn't come back against in that quarter.
00:43:49
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Timing is everything sometimes. but you You take off those seven points and it's a very, very different game. But they're kind of the moments as well that made the game like entertaining rather than you were going to get your nerdy basketball fix.
00:44:10
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
00:44:13
Speaker
ah So going into the fourth quarter, we started to see some real glimpses of greatness from the Illawarra Hawks. They upped the intensity on defense. They were more switched on on offense.
00:44:25
Speaker
ah They started to exploit the pick and roll and the handoffs a lot more to get some really, some very early, very easy points, which set up CJ Moran to have 10 points in this. So it's just 10 points in the paint for this fourth quarter.
00:44:43
Speaker
um And this is where i was like, this is what I want from Illawarra. yeah want this high level of professionalism. I want up-tempo. I want organisation. And if that means you're going to beat teams by 20, 30, 40 points, then so be it.
00:44:57
Speaker
Do it. Just do it. Do it. This is what I want. This is this is the high calibre that I want from this Illawarra team. ah But for the Inner West Bulls, this fourth quarter belonged to...
00:45:11
Speaker
andrews Andrew Swanson. Andrew Swanson. 100%. Oh, God. but I was watching, like, i knew, I looked at the box score before the game. I knew what he finished on.
00:45:23
Speaker
And um through the first three quarters, like, he's got a basket. He gets a basket. Where are the rest of his baskets? Well, here they are. He was everywhere, everywhere.
00:45:37
Speaker
He wasn't just making baskets. I think that I counted he had 10 of his 18 points in the fourth and a lot of them included at least two three-pointers. um But he was everywhere. He was scoring the points.
00:45:50
Speaker
He was setting up plays. He was hustling on rebounds. Like he owned this fourth quarter. And I'd be really interested to see where the Bulls would have ended up in this game had Andrew Swanson not taken over in that fourth quarter.
00:46:04
Speaker
Definitely. I mean, and he just like, especially with those threes, he just looked like, you know, I belong here. I'm doing this. If I need to be the man that gets us within Cooey of winning this game, I'm going to be that man, which for a youngster with, you know, an import out there, an NBL player, an NBL veteran out there as well on your team.
00:46:27
Speaker
um It's big. It's big to do you know, have that mentality when you have those players around you as a young player yeah and he inspired me to have this thought from hamilton the musical that i'm going to share right now bright young man yo who the f is this yeah
00:46:53
Speaker
because Pardon the ignorance, but I hadn't watched Andrew Swanson before. i hadn't of I hadn't heard of him just yet until it was announced that he was going to sign ah for this NBL1 season, that he was an elevated elevated to the NBL1 men's roster from Youth League.
00:47:10
Speaker
And goodness me, he belongs in the NBL1. Oh, yeah. i so yeah Yeah, so he's played for New South Wales under-20s a few years ago.
00:47:24
Speaker
um But, yeah, as you said, like elevated to the NBL 1 roster. So, yeah, definitely not not an experienced player at this level by any stretch.
00:47:35
Speaker
let to be honest yeah effort yeah To be honest, I only knew of him as his New South Wales under-20s exploits. And just more just being a name on a roster, not even ah um what he actually does.
00:47:50
Speaker
So, yeah, it was really good to watch. Yeah, lots of effort, just ah getting two feet two feet in the paint, like contesting rebounds.
00:48:01
Speaker
um trying to make something happen in the fourth quarter, dribble penetration. i mean, he had the two assists. He had 18 points, nine rebounds. He was 58.33 from the field overall.
00:48:13
Speaker
um two Two of his nine rebounds were offensive. Makes one-on-one free throw. That's already a tick but in my box. 100% free throw shooter.
00:48:25
Speaker
100% free throw shooter, one from one. Yeah, just really, really impressed with him. So I'm go i'm keen to keep my eye on Andrew Swanson's career and be all one because he has a lot of potential. I think he's only 22.
00:48:39
Speaker
Yeah. yeah So hold on to him the West Bulls. Yeah, definitely. ah But the one play for me that stood out, especially in the fourth quarter, also involves Swanson at 3 minutes 48. He got a lovely seal inside. So what ended up happening, Swanson and Breffo just did a casual exchange on the weak side when they were playing some half-court offense.
00:49:04
Speaker
McDowell, White and Dent just lose sight of both of these players because they were ball-watching. So in the meantime, Breffo just sneaks behind McDowell, White while he's ball-watching, gets a catch inside the key.
00:49:16
Speaker
While he's catching the ball, Swanson goes and steals Dent on the baseline side. Breffo dumps it in and one play. Beautiful.
00:49:27
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, and yeah, you kind of, You kind of wonder where that kind of thing has been for the majority of the game. But, I mean, yeah the fact they did it, I mean, it's something to ah something to take with you. um You know, good play recognition or defensive recognition from two young players. And, right so you that's what you said. There's some good young players on this inner West team that they need to hold on to.
00:49:54
Speaker
And Swanson, two of them, and Josh Morgan as well, who's just come over from Neal's. Yeah, Josh Morgan is actually a Central Coast kid who's been grinding for a long time, since he was a junior.
00:50:08
Speaker
ah Did spend some time at Hills after he was at the Central Coast. But Brefo as well, I remember when he was playing for Hornsby, he's now moved over to the Bulls. I was really glad to see him even getting a starting spot.
00:50:20
Speaker
So this young talent in this Bulls roster is kind of reminding me of the young talent we did see at Hornsby over the last couple of years that Coach Hudson has been able to harness and play ah style of basketball, really catering to their strengths and seeing a lot of success this year. So I'm hoping that the Bulls will be able to do the same thing with their men's program. 100%.
00:50:43
Speaker
hundred percent
00:50:45
Speaker
ah But overall for me, ah yeah, basically for me, fourth quarter, both teams showed a lot more great, like, signs of greatness in this fourth quarter, which is also why I was, like, wanting a little bit more at the end of this game.
00:51:01
Speaker
Hawks showing their high level of IQ and professionalism. Inner West showing how much grit they have when they put in a little bit more effort and a little bit more smarts and getting the ball through some hands a little bit more in the half court.
00:51:14
Speaker
More of that. almost felt like what I saw in the fourth, I wanted to see more of and asking to play a fifth quarter just so I could see that a little bit longer. Well, you had enough extra periods of basketball in the Maitland-Manly game.
00:51:29
Speaker
Although this one wasn't this one was not far away. No, it definitely could have been ah an overtime kind of a game, but I don't think the likes of the hawk Hawks in you know Dent, McDowell, White, Blanchford were going to let that happen. They were just going to seal the game, whatever it took, even if it was in the last 90 seconds, so they could go home on time. Although it was, I mean, considering it was a nine-point game with 90 seconds to play, and i mean, Mirko Derek, he put the team on his back in those last couple of minutes, and
00:52:02
Speaker
They had a shot to ah to tie it. They had a shot to tie it, not to win it, but to tie it to inner west. That last play, do you think Mirko was open in the corner? Oh, I'd have to go back and have another look.
00:52:17
Speaker
I think he probably was. Yeah. Yeah, what how did you see it? I think he might have been. um I think Clark got it up, hit the rim, but I think Mirko...
00:52:31
Speaker
like I trust him to to at least get the shot off over the defender. um Yeah. But, well sir I mean, the players out there on the court, it might have not even been a pass Max could have made at the time.
00:52:48
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. That's true. That may also have been an issue. And it's easy for us to see it from from the screen. But when you're in that moment, it's a lot more difficult. You literally have...
00:53:00
Speaker
the fractions of time to make decisions. That's right. and so Also, one thing I just want to mention is because we literally talked about it during the Sutherland Hills game when it was very close and both teams were on three fouls with five minutes to play.
00:53:16
Speaker
And we said, well, at least if it gets really close at the end, you won't have to foul a bunch of times just to get the other team to the free throw line. And that is exactly what happened to InterWest in this game.
00:53:27
Speaker
They only had one team foul with 20 seconds to play in the game and just had to keep fouling and fouling and fouling and wiped, I think, 12 or 13 seconds off the clock by the time they actually got someone to the free throw line.
00:53:42
Speaker
It's kind of tough, though. You don't want to foul, but then when you're in that situation at the end, you kind of wish you kind of wish you had fouled a couple more times. Yeah, yeah. I guess it still seemed like a pretty physical game, even from the first quarter where Pallinger just um unnecessarily barged Swanson and in um defensive transition. That was, ah yeah, that probably didn't need to happen. Was that when CJ pushed Swanson away afterwards?
00:54:13
Speaker
It was like, let's just chill. Yeah, so what happened was basically Swanson comes down and gets this massive defensive rebound over Ballinger, outlets the pass, goes to jog down the other end, and Ballinger comes behind him and just barges him and knocks him over, which, come on, guys, it's a little bit silly. Yeah, it's a little bit silly.
00:54:31
Speaker
Boys. ah But, yeah, come on, boys. But at least there wasn't anything that escalated past that throughout the whole game. So the foul count was pretty reasonable, but there were lots of times where both teams got caught out on defense.
00:54:46
Speaker
And instead of, like, trying to make the play a little bit more difficult for the offensive player, you know, putting their body on the line, trying to chase them down or something, they just let them go. Yeah.
00:54:58
Speaker
There were a couple of times where a Hawks player would come down the middle of the key and then there'd be four inner West Bulls defenders, under two under the rim and two a little bit above, and just see them go past and go, oh, well.
00:55:12
Speaker
Like, just make it hard for them. Just put some pressure on them. Even if you just run at them and don't make contact, you can still put that mental doubt in their mind. like Yeah. Yeah. yeah Ah, anyway, let's let's end on the positives before I get too frustrated with this. Like, great games from Swanson, great signs from Breffo. Like, I'm chuffed for him getting a spot in the starting position and having the assignment of guarding Blanchfield.
00:55:38
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Great like kind of glimpses of professionalism that I want to see from the Hawks, but love CJ Moran. Love how he is a textbook role player in that five spot.
00:55:51
Speaker
Probably my favourite centre at the moment in the men's competition next to the Brindabella beacon. Oh, that's lovely words. i'm sure I'm sure he'll be very happy to hear that.
00:56:03
Speaker
High praise, that is. High praise. That is high praise. What are your final thoughts from this game, Lockie? ah My first... Something I didn't mention at the start. ah Can we are fix the live stream scoreboard so it doesn't say no for the first six minutes? Oh, my god Six minutes with no score.
00:56:26
Speaker
And I just realized there's no shot clock either on the guy and on on the lives on the live graphics. Yeah. it was um It was not good.
00:56:36
Speaker
um But, I mean...
00:56:40
Speaker
For inner West, I mean, getting that close to Illawarra and knowing you have so many things to work on. And probably if you go into practice and, you know, know that these are the things you can work on and you can get better at them.
00:56:54
Speaker
And they're not things that, they're not things that need a whole off season to improve on. You can just go in and do them. um That has to, I mean, they'll they'll be,
00:57:08
Speaker
spewing that they lost such a close game to a team so high on the table um when they, you got it back so close. But, you know, Interwest, plenty of things to learn off from such a close game.
00:57:23
Speaker
um And, yeah, look, they're probably not going to make finals. But like I mentioned with Hills Women earlier, take some posit you know ah Take this game as um um as positive and use it to go out there and completely ruin someone else's season in the last few weeks.
00:57:41
Speaker
And for Illawarra, I mean, yeah, you came away with the win. um and And I think they've got they've got they've got the basketball iq out there to... um
00:57:57
Speaker
to make the slight improvements and probably play recognition and use what works more continuous, more more consistently going forward. So...
00:58:09
Speaker
I mean, as we mentioned earlier, Illawarra aren't going to be able to have this game, a game like this, in the finals. But I don't think a team with Todd Blanchfield with the C next to his name or a team that has Patrick Lancaster not having the C next to his name because you've got another leader in it is going to have a game like that in the finals. And Paddy Lancaster, every time he came on, he was an absolute pest.
00:58:40
Speaker
So good on defense. Yeah, he was really, really good. I'm glad that you brought him up. He was great on defense. And i would love it if he could have a little a few more minutes purely purely for defensive assignments because, yeah, he was great. he was He was really, really good.
00:58:57
Speaker
Three steals in 13 minutes. Yeah. and just And just his on-ball defense in general i and the steals. Because he's a unit as well. Like, he'd be really hard to get around if hes if you're a point guard or shooting guard and you've got Lancaster on you. He's going to be really hard to get around and because he's physically broader and he's really quick.
00:59:22
Speaker
yeah Yeah. He is an S&C coach, and I think he is the S&C coach for the team. So... ah But some some statistics from this game, ah top scoring for the Illawarra Hawks was CJ Moran with 24 points, 13 rebounds and an assist, shooting at 11 from 15 overall, which is 73.33% and from the free line.
00:59:52
Speaker
so an excellent outing for c j moran ah Kobe McDowell-White ended up with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals, shooting at 63.64 overall.
01:00:05
Speaker
And next in line was Lockie Dent with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals, shooting at 40%. But they were able to have... Five players in double figures, the others being Todd Blanchfield and Matthew Mims, who also provided some very handy minutes um from the bench for Illawarra.
01:00:27
Speaker
He had 16 points in just under 22 minutes and shot four from five from the three-point line. Mm-hmm. That's what he said to do. That's what he said to do.
01:00:38
Speaker
To be fair, Inner West also had five players in double figures. Top scoring for them was Ramon Cowell with 21.7 rebounds and two assists. and We also had Mirko Derek at 20.7 rebounds and six assists, so just slyly flirting with a double-double, but only shooting at 37.5%, so not his best day today.
01:01:02
Speaker
But still sits dishing out six dimes. And we also had Andrew Swanson in 24 minutes and 31 seconds. He had 18 points and nine rebounds, shooting at 58.33% overall.
01:01:17
Speaker
to In the West Bulls only committing 14 turnovers. Illawarra only committing 11, which was a pretty nice ah stat. And Illawarra shot the ball overall as a team at 48.65% and from the three-point line. I think a lot of those threes from the Hawkeys probably didn't need to be taken.
01:01:41
Speaker
ah And for Inner West, they shot overall 41.5%. for 6% overall from the floor. And from the three-point line, they shot at 37.78%. So was 82.3.
01:01:56
Speaker
think the commentators mentioned that previous game had total in awa shot forty five three yeah it was ah ah yeah more than half three i think the commentator hass mentioned that ah previous game had a total I think they shot 45 Illawarra in a game.
01:02:17
Speaker
So definitely getting them up. Well, that's more than more than half of Inner West's shots in this game were threes.
01:02:29
Speaker
That's a lot. That's a lot in a league where we do seem to have a lot of teams that like to shoot threes. That is a lot even by NBL1 standards. And only 26 of their total 95 points for the Bulls were in the paint.
01:02:45
Speaker
Yeah, can see that. Yeah, well. Yeah. Yeah. Very interesting. So, but still lots of positives from both. I'm hoping that Interwest are able to retain their really great young players and develop them over time and perhaps have them as their marquee players per se.
01:03:02
Speaker
But if we look... um If we go ahead and look at the ladder at the moment for the men's competition, Illawarra are still in second with a win-loss record of 11-3 behind the Sydney Comets with 1.6 points points percentage separating them. I don't think that math is right, sorry.
01:03:24
Speaker
but no that is 100% correct. Okay, that's good. fuel ah So very, very, very, very tight race. Illawarra Hawks are due to play the game Canberra Gunners as well next round. So that's going to be a test. That won't be easy at all.
01:03:39
Speaker
And the Inwest Bulls are currently in 14th place with a win-loss record of 4-10, and they play Maitland next round. Well, that's a game where they can ah play spoiler, definitely.
01:03:54
Speaker
Because Maitland are riding a four-game losing streak now. So that's not a position they want to be in. I mean, so in a West. but And both teams fresh off very close losses.
01:04:08
Speaker
o
01:04:11
Speaker
All right. So that was our East Scott game of the week for Round 11. It is now time for our very, very special interview interview. I kind of wish that I read the intro before getting this person into the on-screen studio, something I debated when we recorded this yesterday, but nonetheless, you probably would have guessed who the guest is anyway from the intro.
01:04:32
Speaker
Very few plays in the NBL One East have such a fantastic playing history. So ah yeah, otherwise, here it is, our interview with this week's guest, Jason Caddy from the Bankstown Bruins.
01:04:47
Speaker
Our guest today was born into basketball royalty with their parents already pillars of Australian basketball in their own right. They have played across Australia, donned the green and gold as a junior and a senior, and has earned multiple accolades throughout their career, including Sixth Man of the Year, ah Commonwealth Games gold medal, and a FIBA Asia Cup gold medal, only to name a few.
01:05:15
Speaker
from humble beginnings as a towel boy for the west sydney razorbacks our guests overcame a very serious injury to go on to play 15 seasons and 422 games in the nbl before retiring at the tender age of 34. they're now back home playing for their junior club the bankstown bruins so our guest is none other than jason caddy hello how are you Thanks for having me. Quite the intro. One of the better ones I've heard, actually.
01:05:49
Speaker
Oh, good. I'm glad to hear it. We do try and pump up our guests as much as possible as as they deserve to. But what do you want us to call you? Jace, Jason, Caddy? Because to be honest, when we're having a chat, us basketball nuffies, we just refer to you as Caddy.
01:06:06
Speaker
No, I get everything you just said. So I guess a lot of my friendship group just call me Jace. um And then people from, I guess, around the game often just call me KD. So I get a mix. For me, it doesn't really matter. They're all correct anyway.
01:06:23
Speaker
okay that sounds good we'll see how many we can throw in during our uh discussion today ah but yeah thanks heaps for joining us on escot game um and also thanks for coming back to the nbl1 east we'll we'll get into that a little bit into uh later into our interview uh but if you don't know about escot game in our interviews we like to bookend our athlete interviews or coach interviews with the same question to start and to finish.
01:06:52
Speaker
And we always ask our guests at the start ah where and how your basketball began.
01:07:00
Speaker
um it began what seems like a long time ago now but it began at bankstown basketball stadium i um my my mom and dad had uh previously been at the stadium whether it be coaching or working at the stadium and um my dad played masters when um back in the day and they used to train on saturday morning so i'd be down there running around And then as you do, some of my friends and and the dads were playing Masters too. We'd all run around together. And one day someone asked me to join that join their team. It was called ACES, the club team. And I said, yes, after apparently hating learn to play and crying and walking away from learn to play, they came out to find me playing in an under 10s game once. And the rest is history, I guess.
01:07:46
Speaker
So, I mean, i imagined it was, you know, straight into it, loved it from the outset, considering, you know, your family's name is synonymous with basketball. No, well, I mean, it pretty much was. I guess there's a few hiccups early on. But I think as a child, i was a very, I guess, outgoing kid except in new settings. And so I think the new setting of the Aussie hoops, learn to play, whatever it was called back then.
01:08:12
Speaker
um Maybe I didn't like all the teaching. I just wanted to play because it turns out as soon as someone asked me to play it was with all my friends, I was all good and and good to go. But, um yeah, no, very much ah probably took a little bit for me to get used to it.
01:08:29
Speaker
ah Did you try any other sports growing up? Did bits of everything. So um through just around the stadium, really like obviously in that Bankstown area, I did little athletics, played soccer, bit of AFL, even though AFL back then wasn't really a thing like it is now, especially for younger kids, but kind of a mix of everything. Like um I remember those mornings, especially over those kind of warmer months, little athletics was on Saturday mornings too. So I'd go from there to basketball, back to little A's or something like that. so a bit of everything and obviously through school as well but basketball definitely took over kind of as i got through those school years and and was more my all-year-round sport than all those other ones what were your best events at little a's i'm gonna guess uh sprinting and possibly discus the way that you can throw a dime in a basketball game
01:09:21
Speaker
It actually was a discus, although I'm pretty sure from memory I won the discus in year six one time. ah but But no, I was actually, I was a decent sprinter. i was actually better at those kind of middle distance, those half sprinting half because I could run cross country too. so So the 200, the 400 and the 800 were kind of what I excelled at because the 400 you could sprint and it was about being able to that weird mix of sprinting and actually having some stamina as well.
01:09:51
Speaker
Wow, already doing the cross training to become a professional basketball player, although ah even at little A's. I would say it was more just trying to beat people, but when you look back, you probably played a part.
01:10:06
Speaker
So um did you i be you make make your first rep team under 12s all the way through? yeah so 12 is bottom age so yeah basically from bottom age under 12s um at bankstown all the way through to top age under 18 so that was basically my whole journey was at bankstown and then from bottom age through
01:10:32
Speaker
And I guess, was there, did you get a lot of, as you progress through, you know, you get older and people start, you know, hearing the surname. Was there a lot of yeah outside pressure from people just based on who you are? ah Yeah, at times. I mean, it's probably one of those things that goes in flows. Like, I think I've probably seen a lot of it once you start getting around state teams and things like that. And I actually, I didn't make 16th bottom age. So I got cut from that originally, the bottom age sixteen And then I think it was kind of around eighteen s I started to sometimes hear ah different things like, oh, Kadeed, that's why he's last name, that's why he's there and things like that.
01:11:13
Speaker
um and And I mean, this is honestly, as I can say, I think at some point though, that only could go so far because I think how I was playing as a junior kind of eliminated some of those conversations as well. So it was one of those things. I never looked into it too much.
01:11:29
Speaker
um I just more just focused on what I could do. And ah the better I played, the less those kinds of conversations could go on. um But for the most part, ah there wasn't really many of those conversations. It was always just, you know, what it's like, uh, other associations and there's that rivalry within. And, and then from my point of view of just having that last name, I probably didn't really, understand it or probably recognize it as much as until I got older.
01:11:57
Speaker
Um, I guess what I was trying to live up to and, um, Basically, I got to the point where as long as people think I'm a good person, like I think my parents and family is that was how I wanted to live it. It wasn't necessarily through basketball accolades or anything like that.
01:12:16
Speaker
So you mentioned before that at Little A's, you were more of a middle distance and perhaps endurance athlete. And you know what? You certainly had the, uh, endurance in your NBL career clocking 422 NBL games, which I personally just can't get my head around doing something.
01:12:37
Speaker
i mean, I'm sure I've done lots of things in life already 422 times, but probably unconsciously, but I'm really interested to learn a little bit more about what it takes in your opinion.
01:12:48
Speaker
to be able to play 422 games over 15 seasons, mentally, physically, like, did you ever get sick of it and wanna walk away from it?
01:13:00
Speaker
I wouldn't say got sick of it and walk away from it. There were times I was very frustrated with it and thought certain things were a waste of my time or things like that. It was, when you look back on it, it's like everyone says it it went so fast that it feels like it wasn't 15 years. But then when I think back to when I started and the landscape and and who was around at that time and and all those different things, like it does feel like a long time ago.
01:13:28
Speaker
Like, for example, when I went into the COE to play there earlier in the NBL 1E season, I don't think I've really been back there for about 10 years. So just even being back there brought back... very strong memories from being down there as a kid.
01:13:42
Speaker
um But look, it's it's not an easy journey. I think everyone loves the idea of being a professional athlete. Very few get to live it and then very few survive in it because it is it's it's a dog-eat-dog world and every year there's someone trying to take your spot from within, from outside.
01:14:02
Speaker
You've got to play through things injuries, injuries, ah sickness or I played through so many different things that maybe some wouldn't but I always found a way to to overcome certain little things like that and make sure I was there on game nights and um it's a journey that I'll forever look back on it and enjoy the stories with the teammates or friends and family and it's just one of those things that that I'm very appreciative of now that I've come out the other side that I got to live that dream of of being a professional basketball player.
01:14:35
Speaker
And did do you have a flu game story? You know, a night where you you came in feeling absolutely rotten and had a massive one? I've got a few of them.
01:14:46
Speaker
There wasn't just one. and And the kind of sicknesses are probably ones that we don't need to talk about. I've played through and gastro, through the flu, through colds, through spewing, all kinds of stuff. So um there was honestly some games where, like, I remember...
01:15:04
Speaker
ah One game to distinct, like there was one game in Adelaide where we got on the road and I was so crooked. i was in Townsville and had the chills. So that tells you where I was at physically. ah was like, is it cold in here? And Pete is like, it's 40 degrees.
01:15:18
Speaker
um And I remember like basically that whole day laying in bed trying to get myself to eat like crackers essentially to try and get up and play no one thought i was playing i rolled up to the game dead set 30 minutes before because it was just a walk across from the casino and played so there there was so many times where i thought there's no way i could play but somehow i would just find that hour and a half two hours to just get through it and then go back to being dead on the couch or in bed or whatever it may be
01:15:50
Speaker
And what were some of the ways you were able to overcome those frustrations during your career? um think heavily on who I had around me. i I'd say I was lucky.
01:16:05
Speaker
um Probably some of it just managed to form over time that I was able to have a really strong friendship group. Obviously I had my family, which which was very fortunate in the world that I lived in, that some of the fought phone calls I could make to family were some of the best phone calls and best advice I could receive.
01:16:23
Speaker
But i just I think being able to to voice what I was feeling at times and and get honest feedback, not just what you want to hear. i think what you want to hear can sometimes be a trap and doesn't actually help you where fortunately my my friendship group that i built up over time was like i said some of those guys are still my friends from aces when i started playing through some of my school friends at westwood sports i were basketballers as well so a lot of them have actually come around the basketball network so they I wasn't leaving a game, for example, of my mates being, oh, that was great, and it was a piece of crap.
01:16:57
Speaker
hi I was getting honest feedback, ah whether it was good or bad, from friends and family. So a lot of those frustrations when I voiced them, I was getting feedback sometimes from the outside. They knew a bit of what was going on the inside. but I was getting getting honest feedback, which I think allowed me to process things and put things into perspective at times that was needed. And I think that was a big part of my journey and what allowed me to to get through certain things that that maybe bring a halt to people's careers or whatever it does. It definitely helped me
01:17:33
Speaker
And then mentioning you know friendships built up over your career and Squinn mentioned all your apples some of your accolades. But I mean, what what are some of your favorite moments from your career on or off the court?
01:17:50
Speaker
Oh, there's a lot. um Like there's there's so many things like like just having an NBL career. Like i think... Like I grew up, like as I said, my dad was the CEO of the West Indy Razorbacks from, I think I was about seven years old.
01:18:07
Speaker
So like my, I came through the era where I knew what the and NBA was, but I loved the NBL and I just wanted to be in the NBL. um And so for me to then go and play in that, like the only thing I really didn't get to do in my NBL journey was play for the Razorbacks because they weren't around.
01:18:23
Speaker
um So just that journey alone, being able to represent Australia in multiple different competitions or tournaments, um that was a thing. And then and then things like like winning for Bankstown in 2016, like something like that was um such a great feeling because it was a journey, not just for me, it was like there's so many people who had been around the club who had never won at that level and had played and all kinds of things. So like things like that sit really high up as well. Like there's so many things like that, which I put up there with playing for Australia and doing stuff because it was, it it brought happiness to people around me and people that love the club, for example, and it was a place I grew up. So, so many different little pieces. It's hard to separate one, but,
01:19:09
Speaker
if i had to if i had to pick one it would just be being able to be a professional for 15 years and and live that dream that i had when i was a kid ah of of living that life and playing in the nbl in front of people and and yeah and was your early love for the nbl and being around the nbl environment from such a young age is that did that help you decide like to go straight into the nbl after the ais rather than say go to college Yeah, I mean, like I just said, and like kind of question said, it was all I knew, it was all I wanted to be in. So it was kind of like when the whole college thing came up, it was like, convince me why I shouldn't just try and go do this.
01:19:52
Speaker
um So then when I started getting offers to be an NBL player, it was like, now, why would I go and do that? um I never looked back on that like, oh, I should have gone to college.
01:20:02
Speaker
I made the decision that was right for me at the time and and it shaped so much of who I am now. So um would I have loved the experience of college? Sure. But I still wouldn't change the decision I made. and And as I said, it was just always what I wanted to do and wanted to be a part of. So I got that chance as an 18 year old to to go and do that. And that's what I did. what what kind of ah What kind of teams were offering you in terms of college teams?
01:20:28
Speaker
So when i um when I kind of made the decision, I was still at the AIS. So I'd been to the Nike Hoop Summit not long before that, which kind of enhanced the whole college thing. And then um Marty Clark was the head coach of the AIS at the time. And so Marty had a massive impact on me in that kind of 12 to 15 months that I was there with the junior Australian team and and all that.
01:20:49
Speaker
So he had just accepted a job to go to Adelaide and Marty had said, I want you to come with me. And then at that same time when I was kind of trying to figure out my process and Marty would have really good because he had also pushed me to go to college as well. And I'd kind of voiced it wasn't for me.
01:21:06
Speaker
And then around that exact same time, like Sydney, Sydney, where I think they'd just recently come back into the league from that little break they had, the Kings. And so they wanted me to go to Sydney and then also Gold Coast.
01:21:18
Speaker
I actually didn't know anyone from the Gold Coast other than on the Australian team. I'd played alongside Gibbo and James Harvey and some of those guys that i'd actually were around when I was a kid with the Razorbacks and knew my family. But they had seen me work out and play.
01:21:33
Speaker
When I used to travel to the Gold Coast for Christmas holidays or a family holidays, I think Joey Wright had seen me work out once and... um they they came really hard to try and get me. And funnily enough, it was the one I didn't know as much about compared to the rest because I knew Marty really well.
01:21:50
Speaker
Sydney was home, um but Gold Coast was just if different. I didn't know Joey at all. It just seemed like a great situation. and that was That was where I chose.
01:22:01
Speaker
And what's the jump from? AIS and junior Australian programs into a fully professional training and working environment like the NBL quite a big jump or did you feel like you were totally ready for it?
01:22:16
Speaker
Well, this is the hard one. It was for me because I came off a car accident. So not long after making that decision, that's when I had the car accident. So if you had have asked me pre-accident, like I'd been up to work out with the guys and scrimmage with them, um it would have been a jump. Yes, I'm not being arrogant about it. It would have been a jump in it and definitely an adjustment period.
01:22:36
Speaker
But I felt I was really ready. Like I just, I'd been in the Boomers program. I'd been away with the Boomers. I felt like I was already experiencing men's basketball. so So me jumping into the NBL environment, it was going to have its challenges. it was going have its ups and downs. But I felt like I was really ready for that experience. And then even having been up to the Gold Coast and scrimmaging with the guys are are around and and doing things like that, like I was just, I was so ready for it. And then the accident obviously changed that whole landscape for a period of time. So it kind of shook up.
01:23:09
Speaker
a bit of that confidence that I had and where I felt that I was because I had to reshape everything. Basically, had to start to learn to walk and run again and and those things took a bit of time. So it was definitely a big jump in the end and it was, um yeah, it was a lot to process.
01:23:25
Speaker
Yeah, but still a remarkable comeback from that serious accident, especially I think I read that your debut, and NBL debut game, you played against the Townsville Crocs and you still came out with 11 points, you know, relatively short time after
Recovery & Return to Basketball
01:23:41
Speaker
that accident too. So very remarkable comeback, especially at such a young age.
01:23:46
Speaker
Yeah, the the progress, I was, I mean, probably fortunate if it was to ever happen, it happened at that kind of age because you just kind of, I treated it like an ankle injury or anything else like that. Now, it was far from that, but I got back probably four, three, four months earlier than what they expected a little bit was just that drive to play basketball. It's kind of like,
01:24:06
Speaker
It's funny how naive you can be to situations, but I was more concerned about would I play basketball again than would I walk or run again? um Now, I'd probably be asking different questions had I been in that situation now. But, but um yeah, I managed. I had a great crew around me signing with the Gold Coast kind of justify everything I did and how they treated me with that situation.
01:24:28
Speaker
um the support they put around me as as as a kid. And then when I got there, the the weights coach, Will Markwick, from the this the physios, everything that I had around me kind of allowed me to rebuild myself. And it took longer than that me playing that first game because there came some challenges after I got back playing with just how I felt on certain days. But um I was very fortunate to have great people around me once again when I was there.
01:24:55
Speaker
and one last uh oh sorry you go lock oh yeah yours will be more relevant to Oh, was just going to say just one last off scripted question based on what you were telling us about your early MBL career.
01:25:08
Speaker
You mentioned Marty Clark and I saw on social media recently someone kind of proposing ah the two men's coaches that have have had the biggest impact to that men's program and the COE and one being Marty Clark.
01:25:23
Speaker
You were there for his he' reign as head coach of the program. Would you agree with a comment like that? ah hundred percent I think Marty's one of the more brilliant basketball minds I've been around. Like what I learned from him then at that kind of period just stuck with me my whole journey.
01:25:42
Speaker
um And not what he does. Like, everyone realizes what he does for you on the court, but it's probably also what he does for you off the court. Like, he was a hard ass, there's no doubt, but but it wasn't for no reason. It was only when it was needed to be, and it was to shape people to be better men and better human beings. and And so what he did around me on and off the floor at that time, and and then even when I got to play with him in Adelaide, I ended up signing with him. It was his last year there, and and they'd had a rough couple of years. So when I got there,
01:26:11
Speaker
it things weren't great around the club. And I truly wish that my year there was his second year because I truly believe that if it was his third year, we would have got everything right. um And then Joey came in and and we made the grand final that following year. Now, not to say that Joey's presence didn't help that, but I just, I think Marty's such a great coach and I don't think he got a true,
01:26:35
Speaker
I guess, um a proper go at being a head coach in the NBL because I think he's someone that that should be talked about it as as being a proper head coach and and ah and a pros head coach because he's he's such a brilliant person on and off the floor.
01:26:51
Speaker
And when when you signed with Adelaide, that was when everything was kind of wrapping up at the Gold Coast with the debts and yeah the administration. Were you you already booking to move to Adelaide or were you kind of forced was no so for No, so I was basically like that was going on in the background, but as that was going in the background, I'd already started the process of seeing what else was out there.
01:27:17
Speaker
Um, just basically, and it was probably only cause I knew Marty, to be honest, just that I'd had a connection with him that had kind of been brought up and it was just something that I was going to explore.
01:27:28
Speaker
Um, timing on everything with the Gold Coast. It just all happened at kind of one time. So in a way, it worked out well that I was kind of exploring that option.
01:27:41
Speaker
And now bringing it back full circle, ah you know ahead of this 2025 season in NBL One East, Lachie and I have certainly noticed a lot of people returning to their home clubs. And we have dubbed this season as the homecoming, essentially.
01:27:57
Speaker
ah The likes of yourself, Isaiah Lee back at Manly, Susie Wormsley back at Newcastle. ah But tell us a little bit more about what you would inspired you to come back home to Bankstown.
01:28:10
Speaker
um It was probably more just situational based when When I kind of made the decision to retire, which ah probably wasn't until It probably well it wasn't really until really late in the season. So it probably wasn't until that kind of late Jan, February period. gri Now, I'd been ongoing for a little while, but when I'd finally made the decision, I obviously have known Curtis, the head coach of the Bankstown, since we were kids, because Soul Sports, his dad's company, were the suppliers for the Razorbacks. So that that relationship goes back a long way. and And Curtis, when he got the job last year, reached out to me.
01:28:49
Speaker
And I said, mate, there's no chance I'm coming back. off I'm going back to the Gold Coast. And just circumstances this year with me retiring, um when I took that job to work for Step 1, Greg Taylor, who's the CEO and founder, he he was really big on me being in Sydney for it. and And so just perfect storm once again, just just me coming back to Sydney.
01:29:10
Speaker
I kind of wasn't exploring where where to play. I didn't really try and, oh, I'm coming back to Sydney. Who's around? and Who wants me to come play? It was more like I'm coming back to Sydney. It means I'll play Bankstown. um I just, even though I retired from being a professional, I still wanted to be around in that setting while my body and the timing allowed.
01:29:29
Speaker
I didn't know what that time was going to look like, which was hard. I just, I'll be, I'm away here and there for my job. So it was kind of an unknown, but I just said to Curtis, I'll be back.
01:29:40
Speaker
I don't know if I'll play five games or 20 games, whatever it may be, we'll find out. And he was over the moon. So it worked out well.
01:29:51
Speaker
I still remember the Soul Sports logo on the Razorback singlet, just as a side note. As soon as you said that and that was with Razorbacks, I'm like, I know exactly what you're talking about. That is almost like a branded image in my mind from that era of the NBL and of basketball. It was the same every year.
01:30:10
Speaker
Well, now it changes sometimes year to year where that that never changed. it was the same the whole time.
01:30:17
Speaker
So it sounds like as well now, based on your stories you shared already about MBL and now coming back to Bankstown, there are some very universal pools and timing that help your decisions, you know?
01:30:30
Speaker
And we spoke before as well about playing 422 games, which I still think is remarkable and doing something for that long for your 15 seasons.
Retirement Decisions & Community Impact
01:30:41
Speaker
How did you know it was time to stop? um I probably didn't. ah It was probably more, I just got to a point where a decision kind of had to be made in terms of I'd been doing some stuff off the court for for about 12 months at that point. And it was probably moving at a quicker rate than I thought it would move.
01:31:03
Speaker
And it got to a point where just basically, It was kind of this could be something I could move into after basketball. um I'd been around long enough that I'd seen people come and go. i'd seen people start and have two years. i'd seen people have 10 years.
01:31:19
Speaker
And you always heard around people's journey outside of sport or out of the sport was hard. And where did they land? Did they land on their feet? Were they struggling? And so once this kind of all just started to develop, i was it was kind of one of those decisions. It was like, could I play another year or two? Sure.
01:31:40
Speaker
But I've already know what this world looks like. I've already got to experience it. Maybe this is actually my path out and maybe I actually have to be the one to make decision rather than, as I've seen many others, they get to this time of the year and no one's called them to come play next year. And it's kind of like, oh, I guess I'm done.
01:31:57
Speaker
um And so for me, it was, yeah, it just got to the point where I was kind of like, I could play another year. I don't know what that looks like. Would this job still be there if I play another year? Probably not.
01:32:08
Speaker
And i basically said, would I be more disappointed if that wasn't there and I didn't have a chance to explore this other world or I got to play another year or two and I just decided that I'd be more disappointed if I didn't go explore this other world. And especially having a young family, being able to transition out is pretty important.
01:32:26
Speaker
So thankfully that meant back to Bankstown where it all began. and as we mentioned, it is we have dubbed the 2025 season as the homecoming. How important do you think it is for the league in general and individual clubs to have those hometown heroes return to their home club for NBL1 after having ah professional careers?
01:32:50
Speaker
I think it's awesome. I just, I've always thought anyone who can play for their junior club, it just... The NBL one, as we call it now, has become a bit more business-like and there's a bit more movement. And and I've always tried to make sure wherever I played, I treated it like it was me playing for Bankstown because I understand kind of what the progression is through those junior... Playing at Bankstown my whole junior career, like I followed the ABA as much as I followed the NBL.
01:33:18
Speaker
And I used to love going down on Saturdays and watching those guys play and running around with my friends. Like that was a big period of my life. And so... um when i played uh in adelaide for the west adelaide bearcats and i played in brisbane for those capitals and gold coast like i treated them all like they were my banks down um and it was really about um it is a true it's like what basketball is supposed to be like before business and money really got involved like those little close-knit stadiums where people can dead set reach out and touch you and
01:33:51
Speaker
you can hear the person in the first row as you can in the 10th row and you can kind of really be like your game finishes and everyone's on the court like there were my memories growing up i love the bigger picture stuff but like that's like where real memories are happen and and so for me being able to beat all those clubs i just think now when you actually come back to it and you are there and people you know since you're a kid and and your Isaias and people like that who play for clubs they've grown up at no matter what their journey, it carries a lot of weight and and and it's pretty special for the individual, but also for the people that have been around and been part of their journey. Because that's the one thing you forget is, um to your Marty Clark question before, there's so many people at that stadium that probably felt like they were with me for 15 years playing in the NBL, watching all my games, all because of where I grew up.
01:34:39
Speaker
And so I think that's one thing you forget when you go on these journeys of being a ah basketball player. And i think I think it's also important for the youngsters at the club to see the players that have become big names come back and see them in the flesh and recognize that they're more than just someone they see on TV running around you know every weekend and get a real tangible idea of what they can be.
01:35:05
Speaker
And you probably forget at times, like I don't see myself in that kind of light, um but but it's probably the truth. Like just me being around the stadium, having gone from being one of them, like the thing is,
01:35:18
Speaker
People can't say at that stadium I wasn't once one of those kids um because I was. I was once exactly one of those kids training on a Tuesday, Thursday night, whether it be another 12, 14. I was once one of those kids and I'd been on this journey and here I am back with the club because that's what the club meant to me growing up. It helped shape me as a basketball player. So,
01:35:37
Speaker
I think that's where the relevance really is high because when you can walk into a stadium and be like, yeah, I was once here as a kid and I did all of the things you were doing just in a different time, it carries some real weight, that's for sure.
01:35:53
Speaker
And, I mean, wait we love seeing this Bruins team kind of, you know, develop an identity and a culture. They bring bring you back a lot of players each year, including, you bringing you back Andre Walford as the import and Hayden Blankley, who's originally
Life After Basketball: New Roles & Challenges
01:36:08
Speaker
from Blacktown. You know, they've really become big parts of the club. So just tell us about this team and what your you feel your role is with the Bruins this season.
01:36:18
Speaker
i Well, it was kind of a difficult one, too, because a lot of... um I guess, whilst I, normally I come into this environment and it's my off season and I just treat it to get better and I enjoy those environments.
01:36:32
Speaker
And I've always, whenever I say treat my off season, it just means I'm ticking over for NBL season, but I'm still getting ready for that whilst playing basketball. And I used to use it as a real driver in my off season, where now I'm trying to figure out this whole other world while still playing. So that my priorities have shifted a little bit more than normal.
01:36:50
Speaker
So for me, it was I probably underestimated the impact having this life of business and learning this whole world that I've got to learn now, the impact that would have on playing basketball, where basketball has been the priority since I was about eight years old to now being third or fourth on the list.
01:37:09
Speaker
um So when I was coming back, I just wanted to be a real stable piece if that could help. I wanted to help on wherever, where's Andre Wolford trying to go? Where's the the young Jesse Edwards or the Charlie McBeth? Where are they trying to end up?
01:37:24
Speaker
um How can I help your journey? That's essentially what I was thinking and it why I help your journey. Hopefully we can win some basketball games. um Obviously what they did last year, uh they brought bankstown back to having some substance and relevance about it i'd say for a number of years there bankstown for such a big club wasn't a big club in the seniors it just kind of died away for years there and so what they were able to do last year was actually bring back some okay bank stands in the finals which is which is a big thing and then
01:37:55
Speaker
I think what this year has happened is we took another jump up in terms of we had some players, we had some names, I guess, to add to the list, which brings on expectation. And now when you have expectation, it's a whole different world of whole different world of things. When you're playing and no one really, um I guess, treats you like...
01:38:14
Speaker
equal level or whatever you want to call it or they they are i guess underestimate you you can really snag some wins because you just get in and play hard and things stick over where i think with the names we kind of have added especially with myself in jail and jaylen it adds a target and that that's a whole different that's a whole different ball game and if you haven't experienced that before it can it can chew you up pretty quick so i think we've been finding our ways throughout this year and it hasn't always looked great um we're still trying to find our way which which is probably why our results are where they are.
01:38:44
Speaker
But I'm just hoping that some of the things we try to put in place will help us just kickstart a little run in this back end as we lead into finals and hopefully we can get in there and make some noise.
01:38:59
Speaker
All right. sir um as I mentioned earlier, we like to bookend our interviews with the same question at the start and at the end. And we like to end our interviews with asking Who is Jason Caddy off the basketball court?
01:39:18
Speaker
um a pretty relaxed person honestly like i feel like i i am what you see most of the time like i'm just i'm always looking for someone to talk to and and talk a bit of crap with uh i often just get around now obviously spend a lot of time with my family but anytime i can spend time with family or friends or that that's kind of where i'm i ah feel like i'm at my best when i can just do that and then normally with a bit of sport in the background so i'm pretty relaxed i'm pretty easy going and um that's what I've been basically my whole life that's never changed.
01:39:51
Speaker
So those friends you spoke of earlier that you grew up with in the Bankstown Bruins Club and Association, do they still come and watch you play NBL one now? Some of them do, yes.
01:40:02
Speaker
ah Some of them obviously have their own lives going on where it's not as easy. But, you know, a lot of them, like, as I said, like, grew up and played through my whole juniors with them. um So, no, they, if they're not there at the game, they're definitely watching it online. So, no, it's still one of those things. I'm sure they'll be happy the day I retire. They don't feel like they've to keep up with how I play or where I play.
01:40:25
Speaker
but
01:40:27
Speaker
And because ah when you announced your retirement earlier in the year, you were quoted on mbl.com to say, you can now look to the next chapter of your professional life. And it's an exciting time for my family and I. Are you able to tell us a little bit more about what that professional life means? Because you mentioned earlier, you've got a job with step one.
01:40:48
Speaker
Yeah, so basically I met the founder of it about four years ago and it just became like, it was more of a friendship to be honest. Like I just, it all started through the product. I'd received it, liked it, wanted more of it essentially.
01:41:02
Speaker
ah Me and him kind of just became somewhat friends and would always talk about sport and different things. And then, as I said, it just it turned into something else, which turned into him saying, hey, can we do this? And then it just kept steamrolling. And so um taking on that job was one of the scariest things I've probably decided to do because I was leaving, I guess, something I've loved, something I do love, basketball.
01:41:25
Speaker
I was stepping outside my comfort zone, which is scary for anyone, but but ah it was something I felt was necessary and in a way – um how can it not feel so right when I end up back in Sydney and back at Bankstown, which if I'm being honest, I wasn't probably going to end up back here after my career. it probably would have been back on the Gold Coast.
01:41:44
Speaker
So just somehow me taking this job and stepping into this world where I'm handling athletes and partnerships and a bit of product development with such a great company and such a big company as it as it expands overseas,
01:41:57
Speaker
And it's also led to me being back at Bankstown, which is a pretty cool pretty cool thing for me. So no, no, it's it's exciting times. um It's a lot. it's it's It's hard work, obviously, when you step into a different world trying to learn everything, but I'm really enjoying the process so far.
01:42:15
Speaker
Well, the good thing is that you're still involved with basketball and athletes around you. So I guess your supply of potential ah athlete endorsements or poster boys or something is is never going to dry up.
01:42:29
Speaker
It definitely helps. It definitely helps. At least when you talk to people, I can talk from a person who was an athlete somewhat, so I have an understanding of what they're going through and how busy they can be at times.
01:42:40
Speaker
But also learning the business side and seeing how busy some other people are. Athletes really aren't that busy.
01:42:49
Speaker
Yes, well, you heard it here first, straight from someone who's had a longstanding professional career. Athletes aren't that busy. I love that quote. I just, I think you forget because if's you're always getting ready for something. So that's the part where you think you're busy, but you're just getting ready for games, for trainings, you're recovering, you're rehabbing. So that's all the, it never stops being a basketball player. But when you're sitting at home and and get to play PlayStation or hang on the couch for hours, that that kind of relaxation time, getting ready for a game, it's it's pretty good.
01:43:23
Speaker
Yeah. That's true. That's a good point, actually. I think people can underestimate the around game time stuff. Like you said, getting ready to go to training, doing your prehab and then your sessions two hours and then doing your recovery, your nutrition, trying to find some kind of leisure in between.
01:43:42
Speaker
There is a lot of stuff like around the actual practice, the lifting and the game. it's its I said to someone, I think it was Julian Kazoo earlier in my career, he goes, you're just always on a countdown. And it's true, like you're on a countdown to pre-season. Then from pre-season, you're on a countdown to games. Then you're countdown to the season. Then trainings, like you're just counting down all the time between games and trainings. and And so your life is just constantly ticking over.
01:44:08
Speaker
And um and as as I said, like sometimes you can be busy, but there's also days where you genuinely need to sit on the couch because you're so sore from everything going on and things like that. So... It's a lot, but but it's a lot in its own right.
01:44:20
Speaker
um Everyone has different challenges as they go through their life as well.
01:44:26
Speaker
Didn't have those fancy recovery boots back when you first started your career either. So you couldn't be in those recovery boots playing. What do you play on PlayStation actually? Because we've had quite a few guests in the past who are also gamers. So we like to suss out what everyone's playing at the moment.
01:44:43
Speaker
Bits of everything. um I still play bit of Fortnite and Call of Duty and then often just dabble around in the sports games, just playing different things and that. I always find myself in the sports games. just I like playing the manager mode where you go through and make trades and do different things and build up your own rosters, whether it be on FIFA or or NBA. I always get lost in those games too.
01:45:05
Speaker
I think Lockie has a bit more experience with A, gaming and B, the manager side of gaming. Yeah, I have not installed Football Manager on this computer because I will lose so much of my life to it if I get back into it.
01:45:21
Speaker
No, they're addictive. And it's like it you just want to build up and do different things. No, I fully and i fully get it. I get lost in it so quick.
01:45:31
Speaker
I just did a WNBL fantasy draft for a friend's podcast. And even that, it took me probably like two and a half days to understand the rules while everyone's already started their drafting.
01:45:43
Speaker
It just goes over my head. can't do those. I did an NBA one once and that was it because all I cared about was someone's stats. And it was driving me crazy. I was getting so annoyed at someone's stats that i was like, I can't do this anymore.
01:45:55
Speaker
I was like, it's actually annoying me how people were playing because I was like, nah, I can't do this. This is ridiculous.
Future Possibilities in Basketball
01:46:02
Speaker
I think I gave up on fantasy NFL when i my opponent had the third string quarterback and he went off of four touchdowns in a game. And I was I'm out. Yeah, that see that would drive me nuts too.
01:46:13
Speaker
Any chance that you'd be interested in broadcast or commentary when you're ready ah to stay in basketball but not play? Yeah, no, I've been asked a million questions might like that, coaching, commentating. um I don't know. ah i'm I'm open to anything. um Obviously not coaching at the moment in terms of NBL or anything like being an assistant. Just part of my decision was to almost almost take myself away from basketball for a little while and experience this whole world of business and learn.
01:46:47
Speaker
think sometimes getting away can also help you when if you ever do come back. and And most likely at some point in my life i will come back to basketball in a bigger regard but but um yeah i don't know we'll see obviously timing right now for me just having time to to focus on this new job and also just be around my family is my first first priority and then as things start to unfold in the back end of the year we'll see but um yeah commentary could be a good way to stay involved but uh but yeah we'll we'll see what happens
01:47:18
Speaker
Well, Jason, it's been an absolute pleasure to chat to you on East Got Game. Thanks for making time for us to be our guest this week. And especially a big thanks for coming back and playing in NBL 1 East for your hometown, Bankstown.
01:47:32
Speaker
Currently sitting in 11th position with a win-loss record of six and eight, but we have faith that the Bruins can finish out the season strong and crack that top six. No, thank you. Thanks for having me. And I think one thing to notice, especially about the East is, and someone said it the other day, i don't know, people like yourselves and love of the game and and all these people around the East that are making content and and producing highlights and weekly shows, like I think it actually translates and it helps people. Like it's a real thing. It helps people come and want to play in certain leagues because it helps them get noticed somewhere else. And
01:48:07
Speaker
I think it's been pretty impressive because I don't know a lot of leagues actually get the magnitude of what this one is doing with with people like yourself. so keep up the good work. Awesome. Thank you, Kylie. We definitely, yeah, we definitely will now.
01:48:20
Speaker
Thanks so much. No problem. Thanks for having me.
01:48:28
Speaker
Well, there you have it, East Scott Game fans. That was our interview with Jason Caddy that we recorded last night. Obviously, lots of teams have team training on Tuesdays and Thursdays and can't always make our live feed.
01:48:43
Speaker
But thanks for joining us again for another episode. And while Jason very kindly shared so much of his wisdom, we forgot to tell him the most important thing about being back in NBL One East, and that is don't sleep on the East.