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Season 2 Episode 11: Late night hangs with Isla Juffermans
91 Plays5 months ago
Lachy and Squin are here to review Round 9 of NBL1 East 2024.
The athlete interview this week is with Isla Juffermans - outstanding Australian Junior rep and current Newy Falcon. You'll hear she has some wisdom beyond her years, but is still a kid!
00:00:00-00:10:26 Results and ladder
00:10:27-00:35:25 Game review: Penrith Panthers vs. CoE (W)
00:35:27-00:36:40 News and gossip
00:36:41-00:37:55 Jersey of the Week
00:37:56-00:44:17 All Star 5
00:44:18-01:09:33 Interview with Isla Juffermans
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Host Setup
00:00:11
Speaker
to another episode of East Got Game, an unofficial podcast about the NBL1 East season for 2024. It's just squint with you here for the start of the episode as Lockie is tied up supporting his beloved Matildas. So come
Central Coast vs Aubrey-Wodonga Recap
00:00:26
Speaker
with me as we recap the results of round 9. Starting with the men's competition, it all kicked off with the Central Coast Crusaders and the Aubrey-Wodonga Bandits
00:00:35
Speaker
at Breakers Indoor Sports Stadium. Central Coast Crusaders going down 97-101 in what looked like an absolute thriller. Stand out performers for this game include Will Davo Hickey from the Bandits with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
00:00:55
Speaker
And for the Central Coast Crusaders, Evan Wardlow had 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Ben Stephens chippered in with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Bears and Bankstown Game Highlights
00:01:06
Speaker
Next we headed to the Bear Cave, where they took on the Canberra Gunners and lost 72 to 83.
00:01:14
Speaker
For the Bears, again it was Mandrell Worthy with 25 points and he was supported by Cooper Wilkes with 12. For the Gunners, Will Mayfield had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
00:01:27
Speaker
Over to Bankstown now where they hosted the Sutherland Sharks going down 77-92. The Sharks saw the return of Adrian Cabrera who had 20 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. But the top scorer was Brian Williams also from the Sutherland Sharks with 23 points and added 3 rebounds.
00:01:48
Speaker
Down
Illawarra and Maitland Match Outcomes
00:01:49
Speaker
to Illawarra and we headed into the Snake Pit where the Illawarra Hawks took on the Newcastle Falcons. Illawarra lost 82-95. For the Hawks leading all scorers was Phil DePud with 21 points and 8 rebounds.
00:02:04
Speaker
and Ryan Beasty and Miles Cherry have 25 points each for the Newcastle Falcons meaning between them they scored 50 of the total team score of 95. The Maitland Mustangs were back home at Federation Centre against a team that could also see themselves in the top four come finals time with the manly Waringa Sea Eagles.
00:02:26
Speaker
Maitland with a convincing win at home, 96 points to 73, with Will Cranston-Lau top scoring with 23 points, adding 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals, and he was strongly supported by Matt Gray with 22 points and 7 rebounds. The Panarith Panthers
Other Game Recaps and Standings
00:02:44
Speaker
faced the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence at home and they lost that one 70 points to 96.
00:02:52
Speaker
The COE was led by Kai Savage with 15 points and five rebounds, and he was strongly supported by Oscar Goodman with 14 points and six rebounds, and Jacob Furphy, who also had 14 points and six rebounds. It looked like the inner West Bulls men were certainly happy to be back on home soil after they absolutely annihilated Hornsby Corringy 128 to 87. This included 38 to 12 in the second quarter.
00:03:21
Speaker
Alexander Higgins titcher for inner west bull leading the way with 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Come Sunday of round nine the Central Coast Crusaders stayed at home and this time they faced the Sutherland Sharks. Crusaders lost 72 to 81.
00:03:40
Speaker
For the Sutherland Sharks it was Jeffrey Gerlach who came up big with 23 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. In what looked like an electrifying game at the Hornets nest, the Hills Hornets took on the Panerith Panthers winning 112-109 in a game that went into overtime.
00:04:00
Speaker
For Panrith it was Ben Kierens who had 21 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals against his former side. And last but not least Manly Waringa Seagal's men finished their weekend with a game at home getting over the Aubrey Wodonga Bandits 119-86. The Bandits had 4 players in double figures whereas for Manly it was led by Jonas Harper with 25 points and 2 rebounds
00:04:27
Speaker
and he was strongly supported by Mason Bragg with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 14 assists. Now if we take a look at the ladder for the men's competition, the Canberra Gunners have cemented themselves as first place with a win-loss record of 12-1. Not too far behind them though is the Maitland Mustangs at 11-1. Centre of Excellence are now third with 10-3.
00:04:51
Speaker
Manly Waringa Seagulls are fourth with eight and three. Inner West Bulls are now fifth with nine and five.
Women's Round 9 Recap
00:05:00
Speaker
Aubrey Wodonga Bandits are also at nine and five just behind the Inner West Bulls by 9.9% on the ladder. In seventh place is the Hills Hornets with seven and four.
00:05:12
Speaker
and 8th place it's the North Bears with 7 and 6. They're ahead of the Bankstown Bruins on the ladder in 9th who are in 9th place but with the same win-loss record of 7 and 6 but the North Bears are only ahead by 2.4%. Now taking a look at the women's competition for round 9 we start with the North Bears versus the Canberra Nationals with Norths winning this one at home 92 to 78.
00:05:38
Speaker
For North it was Ariana Harris who had 21 points and 4 rebounds and new addition to Canberra Nationals Amelia Motts had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. The Bankstown Bruins challenged the Sutherland Sharks this weekend, unfortunately going down at home 81 to 93. For Bankstown it was Ji Hyung Park with 32 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.
00:06:08
Speaker
And for the Sutherland Sharks, Eliza Fabro had a very nice 31 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists.
00:06:15
Speaker
Illawarra really challenged the Newcastle Falcons in the snake pit but went down 81-93. Asher Phillips top scored for the Illawarra Hawks with 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. Maitland Mustangs were a little bit understrength missing Sydney Hunter this week as they took on the Manly-Waringa Sea Eagles at home. They lost 64-93. Manly-Waringa Sea Eagles had 6 of their 9 players in double figures.
00:06:43
Speaker
and top scoring for the entire game was Natsumi Kohama from the Maitland months stings with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. The Penrith Panthers took on Basketball Australia Center of Excellence and lost 68 to 78 at home.
00:07:00
Speaker
Talia Tupaya from the Paneras Panthers led all scorers with 24 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. And for COE, Monique Babongi top scored with 22 points and Sienna Hardavy doing a little bit of everything for COE with 21, 12 and 8. The Inner West Bulls women had Hornsby-Karingi spiders at home and they lost 63 to 106.
00:07:26
Speaker
Tyler Mundine top-scored for the inner west bulls with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. And for Hornsby Keringai spiders, Jesse May Hall had 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and nine steals. So almost a quadruple double. Then a seriously under-strengths Central Coast Crusaders took on Aubrey Wodonga Bandits at home, going down 81 to 106.
00:07:53
Speaker
Sarah and Matthew's top scored for the Crusaders with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, so almost a triple-double. And for Aubrey Wodonga Bandits, there was top performances from Mikayla Pivock and Eunique Thompson, as one could expect. The Hill's Hornets got back in the winner's circle this week, defeating the Pandreth Panthers at home 91-74. Meg Jefferson for the Hill's Hornets was outstanding with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
00:08:22
Speaker
Whereas for Penrith again, it was Talia Tupiah with 36 points and five rebounds in 40 minutes. She was strongly supported once again by Chloe Williams and Mia Heider. In what also looks like another thriller for round nine, the Manly-Waringa Seagull women hosted the Aubrey-Wadonga Bandits and they lost 70 points to 75 in a big 25 point quarter from the Bandits. Zoe Miller was the shining light for Manly-Waringa this round.
00:08:52
Speaker
with 20 points, four rebounds, seven assists, and two steals, and having played the full 40 minutes. Then the Central Coast Crusaders lost by two points to the Sutherland Sharks at home, going down 67 to 69. Sarah Matthews was big again for the Crusaders, with 17 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and three blocks. And for the Sutherland Sharks, Eliza Fabro had another 30 piece,
00:09:19
Speaker
with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Turning to the women's ladder now and the Aubrey-Wadonga bandits are still in top spot with 14 wins and 0 losses. I think next to the Northside Wizards women's team in NBL1 North they are one of two teams that are undefeated and possibly also the Rockingham Flames in NBL1 West. Coming in second position are the reigning champs the North Bears with a win-loss record of 12-1.
00:09:49
Speaker
In third place is Newcastle Falcons with 11 and 2. Fourth place is Manley-Waringa Sea Eagles at 9 and 2. Fifth place, the Central Coast Crusaders are hanging on with 8 and 5. Centre of Excellence are in sixth place with 7 and 6. Illawarra Hawks are back in the top eight at seventh position with 6 and 7. And the Hills Hornets are eighth with a win-loss record of 5 and 6.
00:10:17
Speaker
The Sutherland Sharks are in
Penrith vs COE Game Analysis
00:10:19
Speaker
9th position with the same win-loss record of 5 and 6, just 2.6% behind the Hills Hornets.
00:10:26
Speaker
This week we are going to be reviewing the Penris Panthers versus the Basketball Australia Center of Excellence women's game, which ended in a 68-78 win to the COE on the road. Probably a closer margin than expected, which is probably what attracted us to watch this game for the episode nonetheless.
00:10:48
Speaker
going through quarter by quarter in the score the first quarter was 20 to 23 in favor of the coe it's probably worth noting as well before we get stuck into this review that the coe only took seven players with them on the road and only six played in this particular game
00:11:05
Speaker
Whereas Penrith had a full roster and they ended up playing everyone except for one. Going into this game, both teams demonstrated some pretty great ball movement. Penrith came out with some really great half court execution, especially when CoE had great D-trans. They were still able to make something in the half court.
00:11:25
Speaker
despite not having any layups. A lot of backscreens, a lot of pick and rolls. Mia Heider is so handy because she catches everything. So she was able to catch passes from Tupaya, Williams, Beaumont, pretty much anyone for the whole game where on that pick and roll or a slip, she's always there rolling in the right spot.
00:11:49
Speaker
Penrith also had some really great help D to try and attempt to suffocate those COE drives because you know COE having the likes of Harvey and Babongi who are really good off the dribble. Penrith did a really really good job of just helping out standing tall but they probably got called up for.
00:12:08
Speaker
a couple of unfortunate fails, so I really kind of felt for them. What I noticed earlier about Penrith, and I found it interesting because as you mentioned of CoE only having six players, is that how often Talia Tupai was off the ball early. And not just off the ball, I'm talking like
00:12:28
Speaker
weak side almost in the corner of the ball. Whereas I thought with only six players for COE, that would have been having her run it pretty much down their throat and get a few players in early foul trouble.
00:12:40
Speaker
I noticed that too actually, and I noticed that continued for a lot of the game. It got to the point where I thought that she was subbed off because there were lots of possessions in the half court where the ball didn't go through her hands really at all. But Talia played the whole 40 minutes, so she did spend a lot of time off the ball, which is a good observation. That was pretty surprising.
00:13:02
Speaker
There was a period though I think going into the second quarter for Penrith where their offense started to get really stagnant and the commentators made a good point that their floor spacing was really suffering and I think that's why their offense became so stagnant. They were catching the ball not necessarily in the wrong spots but they were catching it like
00:13:20
Speaker
one or two steps inside the three-point line, which makes it very easy for COE to guard. I think when the ball wasn't so much in Talia's hands, it was probably in Chloe Williams' hands, and she was capable of running things. Sometimes it was even in Tatiana Beaumont's hands. There were a couple of times when she was playing point guard, and I wonder if that was to exploit some mismatches or perhaps to give Talia a bit of a rest there hanging out on the wing.
00:13:47
Speaker
Anything else that you kind of saw offensively for Penrith in the first or second quarter? Actually, you took the words right out of my mouth saying it became a bit stagnant and I think it was hidden quite well because there are a couple of positions where nothing was happening and Chloe Williams just buried her straight.
00:14:05
Speaker
And it kind of looked all right, but she was kind of shooting because no one was giving her anything. Talia was off on the other side and it was, yeah, not a lot of options. She put up a throw and yeah, she hit a couple, but it didn't really, yeah, it kind of masked what was going on a bit at times.
00:14:21
Speaker
I thought there were a couple of occasions, you mentioned how good Panthers were on the pick and roll. I thought there were a couple of occasions where Opal Bird was really good defending it though. Quick enough and long enough to just recover and just get in that passing lane, which I thought was really good because that six player lineup for COE, not a whole lot of real height or length about it apart from Jade Crook. Kind of guard heavy, so great to see Opal making an impact there. Just staying on Panerith for
00:14:51
Speaker
Uh, another minute before we get stuck into all the good stuff from COE. But yeah, Penrose, to be honest, really surprised me with their really good ball movement. I liked how everyone was playing their roles with it really well. Um, but defensively they came out in a man to man. And the first quarter, as we mentioned was 20 to 23. And then we went into the second quarter and it was 17 to 20 in favor of COE. So still the same three point margin.
00:15:19
Speaker
But what I noticed is that COE in the second quarter had to work a lot harder for the shots because Penrose switched to a 2-3 zone. What did you think of that zone? Yeah, I thought it was really good and I actually wrote down that there were a few occasions, I think it was before, they took a time out about midway through the quarter and before then there were occasions where players would just drive in.
00:15:43
Speaker
and it almost looked like the kick out because they weren't going to get to the basket. And it almost looked like the kick out was telegraphed by the Penderth defense at times. They just, they recognized that, okay, Harvey's going to drive in, she's going to have nowhere to go but to kick it either to the opposite wing or the top of the arc. And there was always a Penderth player, if not getting it, at least being right there in with a shot. Until that time out, CCI, they were really struggling to get things going, especially going into the paint, which is,
00:16:12
Speaker
Something that, as you mentioned, Harvey and Bobongi, especially Harvey, I felt like for the first few minutes, all she wanted to do was put it on the floor and attack.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, she really got it going in the third. So having said that, we'll switch quickly to COE for their first half performance. So as you would expect from COE, again, very good ball movement. Probably a lot of nice handoffs as well and using the high post quite nicely. Like Jade Crook is really, really good from the high post. And Opal Bird was in the high post a little bit as well sometimes.
00:16:45
Speaker
um they just looked very well organized i like that they're all very confident shooters as you can expect yeah i think the the zone really slowed them down and i think that opposition coaches will hopefully see this game and know that oh we're not going to have the legs to keep up with these talented teenagers we've got to try and slow it down make it hard for them force them to shoot a lot more three-pointers probably more than they're comfortable with because the commentators said that coming into this game the coe
00:17:14
Speaker
weren't ranked very highly in MBL1 East for 3.0%. So you would probably want to use that in your favour and stick a zone. So I imagine that they're going to meet a lot more zone as the season continues. I mean, yeah, they shot 36 threes and 15 of 36 overall. Babongi shooting
00:17:36
Speaker
Six of eight, that certainly helps. Oval bird, five of 11. What's that? 11 of 19 between them. So the rest of the team only shooting four of 17. More power to Penrith than I think, yeah, it'll probably be a bit of AR. A bit of a blueprint for teams, especially those that can run a zone well to try and slow down the COE. Especially if they're going to be short-handed. They can't exactly throw a different lineup out there.
00:18:03
Speaker
No, that's right. That's right. Um, and like you said, a team of guards and Jade Crook. So they really had to live and die by the three, but hold on to that thought about the three pointers until we get to the very end. Cause I think that ends up playing an important part in this game. Defensively though, for the COE, uh, I was really impressed with how quickly the likes of, um, Daikic and Russell were locking down on
00:18:29
Speaker
the ball carrier in defensive transition. Yeah, Amelia Daiki, she's very, very good at that. She is immediately on the ball, especially if she has a defensive assignment. And it was usually herself and Russell that had to guard Tupiah or Williams, and they were switching it up a little bit.
00:18:50
Speaker
They stuck to man-to-man for most of the game, as you would expect from the COE. It was a very good man-to-man in the sense that they definitely pushed Penrith off the three-point line, sometimes in half-court. High intensity, lots of hand pressure and ball pressure.
00:19:08
Speaker
definitely not a slack kind of man-to-man defense at all. Probably getting out of position a little bit sometimes when they had to guard the post, especially when there was a couple of defensive rotations and they'd get pinned by Heider. Yeah, sometimes just getting out of position or not kind of fronting the post. I could see the COE's assistant coach on the bench just kind of saying,
00:19:31
Speaker
you know, you need to front it because then they end up fouling when they get stuck behind. Um, but yeah, I just was really impressed with the way that they could dog the ball so early. The great thing is her hands are in such great position all the time. And you know, she's not fouling because those hands are moving quickly. She's never going to get called for a cheap foul for having two hands on the, uh, on the player because they are out and guarding. She's, uh, and she moves really well as well. I mean, not going to,
00:20:00
Speaker
big grudger player for getting beaten once or twice by Tallyu Tupiah of all people. She was just outstanding. Oh, yeah. And they even mentioned in the commentary a lot of veteran moves where she knows that she's gotten someone out of position and she can
00:20:18
Speaker
use her body to draw a foul very well. I'm always really impressed by players who could do that because it just to me takes that extra level of thinking of where you are and your body is in space outside the traditional kind of jab steps, pump fakes kind of thing knowing that a defender is going to jump on you and you can use your body that way. But you know when it's like in those catch and shoot situations and you're stuck and you've really got nowhere else to go but you've just got your footwork just to be able to manipulate
00:20:47
Speaker
your body to draw fouls. Always impressive. Speaking of footwork though, Mia Heider, full package. She's got the height and the length. She's got nice footwork. She can handle the ball. She's got a nice touch under the basket. And like I said earlier, she could catch everything. So I don't know who's doing the recruiting at Penrose, but they need a bonus at the end of the season because she's a really, really sound recruit.
00:21:10
Speaker
She had an absolutely massive weekend. She had 19 and 18 in this game and five assists as well. Where her and Crook were battling was, was really fun to watch. Yeah. Yeah. That was a really nice matchup actually. She didn't have a best day in terms of shooting percentage. She was nine from 22.
00:21:30
Speaker
But a lot of those shots just kind of popped out. There were a couple, yeah, that just popped out. A couple little floaters early on didn't hit. She had that one, must have been about a 13 footer that just absolutely flew gun barrel straight, which was beautiful to watch. I don't know if you remember that. It looked like it barely got above rim height. It just went straight in. I was like, wow.
00:21:53
Speaker
Yeah, it's like she was there throwing darts. It was dead straight. That's right. It was a very, very interesting make, but two points is two points. Me and Haida, yes. You know, especially after losing someone like Meg Jefferson from last year's team and Chloe Bloom.
00:22:09
Speaker
That's a lot of height that you're missing, especially local players as well, both Penrith Juniors. So to go out and get an import that has such an impact in the front court. And we said it before, you can't just go and get a great import. It's got to be the great import that you need.
00:22:24
Speaker
Yeah, and she is definitely complimenting the skill sets of Chloe Williams and most importantly, Talia Topaya. So I'm pretty sure that Talia was very grateful to have Mia in the team. But rolling into the third quarter, the COE kind of changing of the guards a little bit for the COE I found from the third quarter where Sienna Harvey just started to take over a little bit more. She came out and she started to put the ball on the floor a lot more, try to change the pace of the game to get
00:22:54
Speaker
COE to run to try and combat this zone that Penrose stayed in, I would say 95% of the game, which is fair enough because if it's working, it's working. So yeah, she really just kind of took over and I think there was a period in the third quarter where she had scored all the points for COE. The team scores in the third quarter were 17 apiece.
00:23:16
Speaker
but it felt like a slog in the third quarter for both teams. Yeah, by the five minute mark of the third quarter, the score was still seven to 10 in favor of COE. So that 17 points was a slog. Yeah. And I think, um, part of it came about because Babongi and Crook both got in foul trouble a little bit in that third, especially Babongi. I think she had her fourth midway through the quarter. Um,
00:23:40
Speaker
And that was just after they'd subbed Crook out with her third. So Crook had to sub back in with three fouls because Pabongi got her fourth. And about two minutes later then, of course, Crook got her fourth as well. The woes of only having six healthy players for a game do not get in foul trouble. The lucky Monique Pabongi only fouled out with 20 seconds to go in the game. So they hung in there.
00:24:07
Speaker
They certainly did, yes. I feel sorry for Jade Crook on her fourth BR because there were a couple of offensive rebounds and she was like, I can't go for it, I can't go for it, I can't go for it. And then this opportunity to come up with a big block from behind came up and she just like, tried to swing and just got the, I was just like, ah Jade.
00:24:26
Speaker
Tough break. Penrith actually started the third, I should say, in a man-to-man, but that's when Harvey really started to put on the accelerator. So when they changed back to the zone soon after, they started to pick off a couple more steals that you touched on when we were covering the first half. And Penrith ended up with seven steals for the game, which isn't too bad. But it all happened in the fourth quarter. Didn't adjust. So up until this point, it was a pretty standard game of basketball, both teams adopting really great team principles and having
00:24:56
Speaker
the breadth of the bench, whether it be a full 12 or a full six players or playing a role, but it all happened in the fourth. So with six minutes, 24 to go in the fourth quarter, it was 61 to 63. The Panthers making a really nice comeback, just chipping away with getting some steals and some scores. So COE then had to call a timeout at this point. And then the game really
00:25:23
Speaker
shifted and I think the game was really sealed after two daggers from Opal Bird and Monique Bobongi. They both hit three pointers at the three to four minute mark, which put the COE up 63 to 71. And I don't think Panos could really come back from there. I mean, Talia Tupai hit a car park three with two minutes 15 to go.
00:25:47
Speaker
but other than that, it was pretty slow going for Penrith. Yeah, I thought, you know, with that foul trouble, they got it back to 63, 61 and I thought, I thought Penrith were going to go on with it. I thought, Babonki and Crook both with four fouls, COE, not really, you know, doing a lot on Mia Heide because, you know, they didn't have a lot of players out there that could afford the fouls kind of thing. And I thought, yeah, I thought Penrith would just,
00:26:15
Speaker
Not run over the top of them, but I figure they might at least crack a lead. Hey, that was the time to capitalize. But I don't think there was a period as well in the last minute or two minutes of the game, or I clocked it at a minute 13, when Panrith were playing zone the whole time and it was working for them. And all of a sudden Tupiah called for them to go back to a man to man.
00:26:39
Speaker
So she knew she wanted to play man-to-man and maybe one other person, but the rest of her teammates, I don't think knew. So in the miscommunication when they were switching from zone to man, Babongi was wide open and hit a three with a minute 13. And that really sealed the deal, I think. Make that kind of call on the fly.
00:27:00
Speaker
You've got to, you know, make sure that call gets out, gets around. You might see something, you make the call. She's definitely the floor general, but on such, you know, small things do games sometimes go.
00:27:14
Speaker
So, and that was more or less the game. I feel like the last time I reviewed a women's game was a Hills Hornets versus the Canberra Nationals. And I feel like I've said some really similar points where it was a pretty textbook game of basketball. This one, like both teams, um, they matched in strategy, especially on offense where both were moving the ball very well. Lots of handoffs, lots of pick and rolls, lots of, uh,
00:27:40
Speaker
second phases of the half court offense working in each of their favours. Talia Tupiah and Sienna Harvey were the nucleus of their respective teams. I think they just took control of the game, especially in the second half for COE. As we mentioned, the zone really slowed down COE, so I think that they can expect to see some more zone as the season continues. And it was a game that was just really punch to punch, but
00:28:07
Speaker
And now I'm having a callback to what I said before when we're talking about the first half. For me, it just came down to those three pointers.
00:28:16
Speaker
Because if you look at the stats, we're going to the stats quickly in a second, not shooting the best from the three point line, as we said, this game 15 from 36, Penrith was six from 16, which was only 37.5% overall. So I think stat for stat, it was the three pointers that ultimately got them the win and especially the timing of the fourth quarter when they hit the three point pointers, I think gave them the edge.
00:28:42
Speaker
If I just take a
Game Turning Points and News
00:28:43
Speaker
look at the analysis that four of seven in the first quarter from three point range, and 33%, so one of every three in the fourth quarter for COE, I have a feeling that will have been very low at the start of the fourth and ramped up in the back end of the fourth, that three point shooting percentage for that quarter.
00:29:04
Speaker
And I think what else also worked in COE's favor, or I should say, what worked against Penrith in this game is fatigue. The commentators made a good remark when they noticed that the end of the second quarter, going into halftime, I should say,
00:29:23
Speaker
Both teams were looking pretty fatigued and you can understand COE, but Paneras, I'm not too sure that was still rotating their plays, you know, reasonably well, still having their main three, taking up the main minutes of the court and supplementing accordingly. But yeah, they looked really fatigued. And I think that they looked even more fatigued in the third.
00:29:44
Speaker
So, perhaps they just kind of ran out of legs and the COE, I can imagine, are a little bit more conditioned to be able to shoot when they're tired. Or should I say, they're more conditioned to be able to score when they're tired versus the Paneras Panthers. Yeah, I mean, you're getting those.
00:30:02
Speaker
Long, long, intense sessions down at COE. You're probably, you're probably getting a lot more chance to train. You're probably training in more specialized situations. I can only take a guess, but a hundred percent they'd be at the end of the session. Okay. We're going to a certain way under fatigue to train you for the situation kind of thing.
00:30:20
Speaker
And, uh, as you mentioned earlier as well, Talia Tupiah playing a lot more off the ball. You would think that in these situations where it's getting close in the fourth quarter, typically she would want the ball in her hands, tuck it under her wing. Cause if she is not creating a great shot for herself, she's getting to the free throw line a lot of the times in those, in those games. Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, she had 36 in Kendra's other game against Hills on
00:30:47
Speaker
Well, today, we're recording on a Sunday for once. Yeah, so in this game we had 44 points and 9 rebounds. And she was well supported by Mia Heider with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. I mean, 30 point gauge. And also Chloe Williams stepped up. Pretty regulation. She had 14 points and 4 assists. This season in the NBA one. Sienna Harvey, she had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, so just 4 shy off a triple double.
00:31:13
Speaker
Monique Babongi had 22 points and Naya rebounds, but as I mentioned, she fouled with the last 20 seconds to go. And Opal Bird was big off the bench with 17 points and 6 rebounds. Statistically, we're looking at the team stats. From the two-point range, Penrose shot 39%, whereas COE shot 31%, which I thought was interesting. From the three-point range, Penrose shot at 37.5%,
00:31:41
Speaker
whereas COE shot at 41.67. Rebound count was interesting. COE ended up winning the rebound count by 10, 53 to 43, which considering they were pretty low on numbers in their four and five spot, I thought was impressive. But you may have noticed a similar thing, especially in the third quarter, maybe a little bit in the fourth that the likes of Sienna Harvey started to
00:32:08
Speaker
get on the offensive glass a little bit more, which is probably what gave them the edge in the rebounding count. Yeah, it was interesting that both Heide and Crook had both had big offensive rebounding numbers. So you figure if it was 20 to nine on the offensive rebound count that Crook might have won that battle massively, but Heide actually had six of those nine for Penrith. They didn't really cancel each other out. They just ended up doing
00:32:38
Speaker
just as good as work as each other. Assist count, Pandreth had 12, CoE had 17. I wonder if Mia Heider kind of made some more buckets from those 22 shot attempts. I imagine that assist count would have gone higher because a lot of her, I think a lot of her shots really came from a pick and roll or kind of like the second
00:32:58
Speaker
phase of their offense where she's rolling down into the post and things like that. So that would have probably would have been up. COE when we had 17 assists. Turnovers was very interesting. Penrith only had nine and COE only had seven. Expect or would hope the COE would have a low number but uh yeah Penrith keeping it very low as well.
00:33:20
Speaker
Do you think that's reflective of just really great offensive execution and people knowing their roles or a case of the defense probably not being up to standard? Not up to standard. I think both teams took pretty good care of the rock throughout the game, COE usually do. And like you said, Mia Heider goes and catches everything. So she reels in some passes that may otherwise be.
00:33:48
Speaker
Maybe not so much not up to standard, maybe just not gambling as much, maybe not just not going for as many steals. And I mean, are they not gambling because they don't want to, you know, give someone a wide open opportunity or they're not gambling because there's nothing to gamble on? Yeah, I think it was just really good ball security on both teams.
00:34:09
Speaker
Just, I, not so much the game, but seeing as we're talking about loving Chloe Williams growth this season, I sort of been thrown in to playing 35, 40 minutes. It's great that they see her as someone who, you know, they need out there on court all the time, but I think it's having a great effect. Cause Penrith, there hasn't been a club that have had a lot of good players, especially on the women's side over the years, go to college.
00:34:39
Speaker
And not all of them have come back and either played for Penrith or stayed at Penrith. So, good they got Tatiana Beaumont back. They had Meg Jefferson for a little bit, but she didn't, now she's gone to Hills. Chloe Bloom came back for a little bit, now she's not playing.
00:34:53
Speaker
Natalia Beaumont, I think, had to medically retire from college. Ella Tofeono has, of course, gone and played NBL1 elsewhere and got a spot with the Townsville Fire. You know, she was dominating NBL1 South for a time. So, you know, the more players Penrith can keep locked down at home, stay with the team, the better. Because I don't begrudge at any player for going and seeking arena pastures.
00:35:21
Speaker
Well, no, they can get paid enough in MBL1 not to. Usually we follow up our game review with news and gossip, but neither of us have any really good news or gossip,
Interview with Isla Juffamans
00:35:31
Speaker
do we, Locky? No, not really. The only news I have is my game got cancelled on the weekend. Because I was meant to commentate comments in heels. I think that is news, to be honest. Yeah, so if people weren't aware, comments in heels did get cancelled because it got rained out. And how often do you say that about a basketball game?
00:35:50
Speaker
Yes, it was, I was actually there. So there were meant to be games at 1pm on court one and court two. The court two game got canceled before it even started. The game on court one, Youth League Women happened, but the 3pm Youth League D1 men's game did not. And obviously the NBA one didn't either. And the only thing we'll mention quickly as well is that we've got Loz Nicholson and Lauren Jackson playing with the Opals right now in China that wraps up tomorrow and
00:36:19
Speaker
The games aren't being broadcast in Australia, but there's some Chinese app that people were able to access some of the games. And there are some, someone's put it on YouTube. So go watch it before it gets taken down. And now let's roll into the next segment, which is Jersey of the Week. And Locky, you said before we started recording that you've got something very special this week. Tell me all about it. I do. And I really want people to get involved with this one because this is, I'm not sure you can tell what it is.
00:36:49
Speaker
It is a basketball New South Wales 2015 state champs souvenir jersey. That is so niche. So it's not a club jersey. It's they sold jerseys at 2015 state champs. I was living in Enmore at the time. I trekked out to my former stomping ground at Hawkesbury indoor stadium. I remember
00:37:15
Speaker
Cass McLean and Laura McSpadden were playing for Newcastle. Yeah, it was just after, they'd just been picked for either an Australian, maybe an Australian squad or Australian camp. Um, so yeah, so that's my 2015 state champs jersey. If you played in 2015 state champs, make sure you comment on the picture of this that'll come up. We might shout some people out if they had, had a good run at 2015 state champs.
00:37:43
Speaker
Yeah, awesome. And just going back to news and gossip as well, if you have any news and gossip that you would like us to share, please send us a DM on our Instagram page at Eastcottgame. And the final segment of our regular programming is the All-Star 5. Lockie, you had women this time.
00:38:02
Speaker
I certainly did. And one canceled game made it a little bit smaller list of people. And there were actually only 10 games played this round, which is a lot smaller than usual. So I had a bit of a list. Had to almost split it by wins and losses because we mentioned Tully Tupier and Mia Heide. Earlier, both had outstanding weekends, but suffered two losses. Unfortunately, Cessie Matthews for Central Coast dropped that heartbreaker to Sutherland after falling to
00:38:32
Speaker
Um, over with Donga earlier and Jihoon Park from banks town, left it all out there with 32 and 13 and seven assists and four steals, but fell to a loss to Sutherland. Well, started off with a player who really had to step up this week because her running mate in the back court, Vanessa Penousas is off sunning herself in Greece, I think at the moment. So starting with from the Sutherland sharks, Eliza Fabro.
00:39:00
Speaker
31 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal in a 93-81 win over Bankstown. And then followed that up with 30 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal in a clutch 69-67 win over Central Coast. Two absolutely massive wins for the Sharks. Gets them back in top eight contention. And then she was so close to a triple double with steals.
00:39:25
Speaker
Jesse May Hall from Hornsby Corringuy in a 106-63 win over Inner West. 27 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and those 9 steals. They even threw her back on, laid in the face to try and get her that 10th, but not quite able to, but still another outstanding performance.
00:39:43
Speaker
A bit of a bit of a charge lately on the back of Jesse May. And then some of the usual suspects, Michaela Pimmick from Albury-Wodonga, last week's guest, 27 points, 11 rebounds, 12 assists, triple-double, and two steals in a 106-81 win over Central Coast. And then in a game that early on, the Albury-Wodonga bandits looked dead and buried.
00:40:09
Speaker
But I came back and it was Pivok grabbing 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and a block in a 75-70 win over the Sea Eagles. Teammate, Unique Thompson, 32 points, 13 rebounds, and two steals in that win over Central Coast. And then a big 27 points, 19 rebounds, an assist, and a block in the win over Manly Warringa. And then, of course, because of the All-Star Five. And she's always in the All-Star Five. Nicole Munger.
00:40:38
Speaker
35 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals in a 93-81 win over a valiant Illawarra. Two games this week finished with 93-81 scorelines. Three winning teams scored 93 and two winning teams scored 106, I'm pretty sure. That's a very, that's a spooky stat line.
00:41:00
Speaker
And the thing is the two, I think the two 81-93 games happened, they were next to each other on the scoreboard, on the ladder. So yeah, 81-93, 81-93 for Sutherland, Bates, Town and Newcastle, Laura, and then manly scored 93 against Maitland. I was in charge of the men's All-Star five this week and some familiar names back into the All-Star five. So I'm going to start at the top with CB, Chris Bryant.
00:41:26
Speaker
who versus Penrith had 28 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and four steals in what looks like an overtime thriller at the Hornets Nest. From the same game, we've also got Ish Sanders, who had 39 points, five rebounds, and seven assists, and he shot eight from 17 from the three-point line. Eight three-pointers is pretty outstanding. I can't imagine myself overshooting 17 in a game, though. That's a lot. But that's me. That's not my role. That's not my role.
00:41:55
Speaker
Would you shoot 17 in a season? Oh, good question. Depending what era I was playing in. Then we also had Miles Cherry from the Newcastle Falcons and in their game against the Illawarra Hawks, he had 25 points, 16 rebounds and shot at a very nice 72% overall. And then we had Adrian Cabrera is back. He's back in the East. He's making an immediate impact because in their double header this weekend for the Sutherland Sharks,
00:42:25
Speaker
He had 20 points, three rebounds, four assists, and three steals, shooting at 64% overall against the Bankstown Bruins. And then against the Central Coast Crusaders, he had 19 points, four rebounds, six assists, and two steals, shooting at 67% overall. So I thought A, he's got to be in there because he's making an immediate impact, and B, that is some very consistent numbers, Adrian Cabrera. The AC is turned up to the max.
00:42:53
Speaker
Welcome to the All-Star Five. And last but not least, he's back again. We haven't had the Brindabella Beacon in the All-Star Five for a little while, I don't think, but it's Glenn Morrison who had 31 points, 15 rebounds and three assists shooting at 78% overall versus the North Spares. Yes, that was my All-Star Five for round 10 of 14. Can you believe it?
00:43:19
Speaker
Well, next week, do you want to do Centre of Excellence versus Canberra or Canberra versus Centre of Excellence? That's a great question. Uh, you didn't miss hear that, uh, to our audience. The Centre of Excellence are hosting the Gunners on the Thursday and then the Gunners are hosting the COE on the Friday. Do you reckon, do you reckon it's going to be one and one? One and one in the men's?
00:43:46
Speaker
In the women's, even if they have some players back in the COE, they'll only be just back. So I reckon splits all around. And another game that I'm going to look out for is the Aubrey Wodonga Bandits versus the Newcastle Falcons, because the Bandits are now coming off to challenging round nine. They eventually got the win over Crew, but then they lost to Manly on the road. So I think they really need to clinch this win against Newcastle.
00:44:15
Speaker
for the sake of their confidence. Our special guest this week is a rising star from New South Wales country who has already made her mark on the Australian junior level and home soil at WNBL and now in MBL 1 East. And she's due to have her debut or I should say freshman season with Louisville very soon. It's Isla Juffamans. Hey Isla, how are you going?
00:44:40
Speaker
Hi, I'm good. How are you guys? Pretty good. Thank you for jumping on and being a guest on the podcast. That's okay. Um, so I have, welcome to East Got Game. Uh, question we start with everybody is how and where did your basketball journey start?
00:45:00
Speaker
So my basketball journey started in Coffs Harbour, God's Land, some might call it. Nice part of the world. I was always really tall growing up and my mum used to play and she played state league at the time for Coffs and my granny was a rep coach. She's like obsessed with basketball.
00:45:24
Speaker
And because my height wasn't really going to much use, they'll just play basketball. Granny's already obsessed with it. So I hated it at the start. My mum had to hold my hand on the court just to make me play. And I just cried the whole time and had my hands in my pants, they told me. I remember hating it so much. How old were you when you started?
00:45:49
Speaker
I was seven. I wasn't very confident back then in myself. I wasn't that good of a child either, honestly.
00:45:57
Speaker
I was a bit nutty. Eventually, I started getting good at it, obviously, because I'm taller than everyone. I've got more of an advantage. I feel like once you get good at something, you really start to like it and realising, wow, I really am a lot more than what I think I am. I started getting a lot better and I made my first under 12 rep team for class as a bottom major and my granny was my coach.
00:46:24
Speaker
So my granny has coached me. She coached my team when I was growing up. So since I was seven and she's coached me ever since. So whenever I go home, my granny still coaches me. So she's like my best friend. She's my kind of person. Like some people say, oh, you've got like a, you're a mommy's boy, you're a daddy's girl, but I was a granny's girl.
00:46:46
Speaker
That's a really sweet story actually. So you said you started at seven but you didn't really like it at first and then what age did you start to realise that you were good at it and you started to like it? I think after two years I started to like it maybe. Maybe a year, I don't really remember. I remember hating at the start but once I started to like it it was pretty upward and all my friends started playing from school and we had this core school team that we played with in primary school so that was pretty cool.
00:47:14
Speaker
This is starting to get to be a theme of our interviews. People hating basketball when they start playing it. Yeah, I hated it. I don't even know why. I think you're the third or fourth person we've had on who hated basketball and ended up being an NBA one player. I think I just wanted to play. I just wanted to do everything opposite to what my mum wanted me to do. So I don't want to play basketball as my mum's forced to me and play basketball, but I'll forever be grateful she forced me. Love her for that.
00:47:44
Speaker
Unfortunately, mothers do know best sometimes, don't they? My mum does know best 99% of the time. I can admit that to her now. I'm sure she's proud of you for it too. It probably took a journey, but you got there. Yeah, we still fight a lot, but not as much as what we used to. We're very much the same. That's probably where it comes from, I guess. Oh yeah, I'm literally the exact same as her.
00:48:09
Speaker
Well, I've seen her at lots of your Flames games, so she's obviously still a big fan and big support. Yeah, she is. She's amazing. So prior to this season, you were actually at the COE. How did that experience help shape you as a player? I don't think I'd be anywhere like I am today without the COE, honestly. So really was the coach back then, and she first recruited me.
00:48:34
Speaker
and she said she remembered seeing me at my under-14 club champs. I still remember it because it was when we actually beat Victoria. Not my club champs, it was, I think it was ACJ we said the country championship and we beat Victoria country. And I scored 36 points or something and she said that's where she first saw me. And then I went to boarding school in year 10 and then so in
00:49:01
Speaker
After a term, they said, oh, you've been offered a scholarship at the COE. And it's like, when you get an offer at the COE, it's something you don't turn down ever, in my opinion. I love the place. You either really like it or some people just don't. And I was one of the people that just loved it, like everything about it, like the atmosphere.
00:49:25
Speaker
The school, just the lifestyle really, like train, just like basketball's life. And then you can still have a social life because you're so close with all the girls. They're like your sisters there. It's like a big family. And Bailey and Sarah are like our moms looking after us. They were the best. And then I got Herbie halfway through and he was the same. He was really good. He was the one that taught me how to shoot. I don't shoot as much. I can shoot, but I just don't. I want to.
00:49:56
Speaker
I do write in shooting sessions in trainings, but yeah, he really improves my shot and I won't have that part either without him. Is that something you wanted to focus on when you went to COE, was improving your shooting? No. I just wanted to be the best. I don't really care about the shooting at that point because I wasn't any good at it.
00:50:22
Speaker
So it was something that Herbie made me realise, like, you need to be good at this if you want to be the best. Because if you want to be a big nowadays, you have to be versatile. It's a good thing to have. And I'm grateful that he gave me that. He walked into when we played COE. I was shooting around by myself because it was my first game back. And he walks and goes, Ayla, you need to... I hadn't seen him yet. And he goes, you need to fix your shoulders. I'm like, you're so right.
00:50:50
Speaker
And they start going in again. When you say you don't like shooting though, we're talking about outside the key, right? You've been putting some serious numbers on the board in NBL1 East. Oh, I love shooting inside the key. Before the NBL1 East season finishes, we want to see at least one three-point attempt. Well, actually, you know at my nationals, I had the highest three-point percentage. I was one from one in the buzzer.
00:51:15
Speaker
And people are so confused because they see three point percentage and I'm at the top of it. One from one, that's all it takes, 100%. Yeah, no stat qualifies, just 100%. Yeah, I talked that. Couple seasons at COE, now heading to University of Louisville, which is a massive program. How did you decide that college was the path for you?
00:51:39
Speaker
Honestly, I think growing up, I had a vision board growing up and college basketball was always on it. I don't know. There's something about it. You just, you go there and it's like the facilities you've never seen before. Like the COE doesn't have the facilities they have. No WMEA team does. The amount of money that is in women's basketball as well at the moment is insane and the amount of
00:52:01
Speaker
media coverage and the people, the crowds you get at the game is just huge and it's something that I want to experience and it's like I could go to college and hate it and I still have the chance to come back and play WNBA. I did play as like a DP but you can't
00:52:19
Speaker
choose to be paid in the WML and then go I don't like it and go to college that's some option. So I think having that opportunity you got to take it and also I want to degree I want to do something after basketball and I want to have that up my sleeve. So if you have the chance to get a free degree like I don't come from a household where my mum is who's a single mum can pay for me to get a degree. So yeah it's just so many more opportunities over there
00:52:47
Speaker
than right now in Australia and I think it's going to get bigger in Australia but it's just not that where college basketball is right now. So what are you looking to major in over in college? Psychology. I really like to talk to people and I really like listening to people talk. Like I love hearing people's stories and I love asking questions. I care for people so much.
00:53:13
Speaker
I think that's one of my biggest qualities and I just want to help people. It's so important to have someone to talk to. Which other schools were interested in you that you talked to that you were actually like in your final three or five or 10 or however many you picked?
00:53:28
Speaker
After my under 17 World Cup and Asian Cup, I got a lot of offers. When I was in office, a lot of schools started talking to me. There was interest from UCLA at the start, but then obviously they saw more in bets and stuff. I had TCU, which was one of the schools that I visited in Louisville.
00:53:46
Speaker
I had Michigan State interests, Indiana for a while, but then one of their assistant coaches changed. I had interests from Nebraska, Michigan, Clemson, Colorado offered me, but I decided not to go on a visit there in Louisville, I think was the end ones. A lot of big schools and a lot that have had Aussies before as well, and especially Aussie bigs.
00:54:14
Speaker
Yeah, Louisville hasn't had an Aussie yet. And it's cool because they have it in the men's or women's program. And so they've got me now and then they've got Rayne Smith joining the men's program. And they've also got another Australian assistant coach at the men's program. So it's cool to have more Australians around it, I guess. But I'm going to count you as the first official Aussie to sign with Louisville for a scholarship. The Rayne Smith's like, great, but that's a transfer whereas yours is a proper
00:54:44
Speaker
Yeah, I signed first. Yeah, take that rain Smith. That's really cool. That's really cool to be the first Aussie to break through to their program. Like that's a massive compliment. When you, especially when you think of how many Aussies Jeff Waltz would have watched being part of the US seven, was it US 19s program head coach or 17s program head coach? Uh, 19s. Yeah, 19s.
00:55:10
Speaker
He was 19's when we took them to overtime, with the antsy Shyla team. Yeah, he only won it. I've watched that game so many times. Once was enough for me. Yeah, it is quite hard. It's hard to watch at the end. He got lucky. Epic rosters from both the US and Australia in that game. It was like, it's too much. One of the biggest rosters for US. So he got Hailey Van Liff for Louisville as well.
00:55:38
Speaker
Lots of big names. So why Louisville over all the others? Well I was talking to Louisville right from after my under 17 so I really got to know like Steph who's the associate head coach. I went on a visit there and it was like nothing you've ever seen before. So Coach Walls has a slide going down from his coaches office to the courts that we had to slide down because he wants to make training fun.
00:56:03
Speaker
and it was just like it was just like really genuine in the way that he brought us into his home we met his wife and kids and stuff like he was being real with me like he didn't tell me what i wanted to hear he said if you want court time you have to work hard for the court time is not a given thing you can't expect like to come in here and just get it and i think that's a really important thing like college is being real like at the end of the day it is a business
00:56:28
Speaker
But they also, Louisville also really cares for the athletes and you can tell by the way all the girls interacted with the coaches that they love him.
00:56:36
Speaker
and have so much respect for him. So I think that was such a big thing for me. He's also a really good coach. Like obviously you coach that USA team and then he's like known for making pros. A lot of his girls have been drafted. Yeah. And then the stadium is just insane that we play at the KFC Yum Center and the home and like everyone's obsessed with the girls. Like they get so many people at the games and in my recruiting class now. So I think I was just,
00:57:04
Speaker
I might have been the second or third one to sign and now we have, I think it's eight new ones coming in. So it's really cool because then you can develop as a group and in a couple of years you'll have this really good senior class. So I think that's really exciting as well. Yeah, that sounds awesome. Yeah, to be able to develop together and hopefully all eight of you will be able to stick around for all four years. Yeah, that's the interlink part about the transfer portal now.
00:57:35
Speaker
Yeah, the transfer portal is like become its own kind of free agency. Oh, it literally is. It's crazy. Makes it interesting for us as fans though.
00:57:45
Speaker
You said you mentioned you spent a season, as we know, as DP with the Flames, but it sounds like absolutely zero second thoughts, even after spending a season with the Flames, of sticking around in Australia. Yeah, zero second thoughts. I really did like my time at the Flames, but college is definitely something that I need to experience. Especially after watching the Final Four this year, you see the whole Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Rees stuff, and it's like, this is getting so much coverage.
00:58:13
Speaker
Like, everyone knows who these girls are. Like, the amount of people at their games, it's like, how can you not just try and get to where that is? Like, and you want to be a part of it. Like, it's so attractive and it's so mega. Like, women's basketball, I reckon, is having its second renaissance right now, and you jump on it at the right time. Completely. Like, what happened to them too is, like,
00:58:39
Speaker
that's happening to women's basketball in America. It's so cool to watch from Australia. And on court, you've been a leader for just about every team you've played on. So how has that helped you develop as a player and as a person? Um, I wouldn't say I was like a leader. I would say I'm, I am a leader in the way that I kinda, I don't know if that makes sense. I wasn't like a given leader.
00:59:04
Speaker
but in the way that I was respected by all my teammates probably. I find it so important to get to know every single one of your teammates because then they have so much respect for you. You can't just have your little group of friends and then not talk to them because then you can't tell them what you want on the court. Like you can't speak to someone properly on the court if they don't have any respect for you because they're just probably
00:59:26
Speaker
not going to like it either way and it's just you don't feel comfortable telling them but I found like when I was at the COE like it was so important that when the new girls came in even though I was going to be with them for a couple months like so important to make sure they were okay before I left and they still talk to me now every day like obviously you can play really well but
00:59:45
Speaker
The girls, especially as a big, you want the gods to pass it to you. The gods are the girls, the gods have to like you, the gods have to respect you. I don't think about that when I'm talking to them and the way I talk to them because I think naturally I am a caring person. Like I do care about them. I think that's such a big part of being a leader just in life in general kind of thing.
01:00:07
Speaker
That was a very profound thing to say from such a young person about being able to invest in people around you properly on and off the court. And just how you spoke about if you can't communicate with them socially, how are you going to communicate on the court? That's, yeah, blew my mind a little bit. It is such a big thing. And I think once you've gone through certain things, you kind of realize like, I really have to care about people like you don't want
01:00:37
Speaker
bad stuff to happen again. Oh, and because now you've got your sister at the COE as well. She's not at the COE. She was just called up. But hopefully I'm trying to get her to get her a scholarship. Oh, because that makes sense as to like why we saw her on the roster for a couple of games. We're like, oh, Kira's gone to COE. And then I don't think I've seen her on the roster again. And she did well against my team, I think. And she didn't know any of the plays or anything. She was just guessing.
01:01:06
Speaker
Just go stand where someone else isn't. Yeah, that's literally what I told her. And he was like, Herbie was like to me before the game, I do want to teach him the plays. Like, come on, teach her the plays. And I was like, Herbie, you shouldn't, you shouldn't tell me to teach my sister the plays. She's playing us. She played against your team because after, you know, being on a contending team at COE, you're now on a contending team at Newcastle.
01:01:34
Speaker
But I imagine it's pretty different, you know, a group of youngsters compared to a team that's got some veteran stars like Oni and Nicole Munger. What's the difference in, you know, playing for COE compared to playing for Newcastle? I think you're treated a lot differently, honestly. When you're at the COE, they're still trying to raise you as a person. Like, you're still a kid.
01:02:02
Speaker
Even though I was 18, 16, 17, that you're still a kid. So they're still trying to make you a good person. And so you kind of get more disciplined kind of thing. And at the COE, it's more of a development squad, more than a, we need to win a championship. While at Newcastle, you play with someone like Nicole Munger, and she's so wise.
01:02:29
Speaker
Like I had coffee with her yesterday and we just like talked for ages because you can go to her about anything and she'll just give you her honest advice. And it's very valuable advice, I think. She really does care about every single one of us and she is a big part of Newcastle. Everyone here loves her, which is really cool to see because she has so much respect for everyone around her. Oni, Oni our point guard, I love Oni. She is so cool.
01:02:59
Speaker
I love to be around her on and off the court. Really cool to get amongst that. Yeah, Newcastle, also the lifestyle. You have a lot more freedom. Well, obviously I don't go to school anymore, so that's a lot different. There's no more study halls at night anymore that I have to go to. Yes, thank goodness. Cole Munger was actually our first guest on e-scot game ever. Was he? I knew that.
01:03:27
Speaker
Yeah. It's our very, very first guess. We thought, look, we're just going to shoot our shot and get the one person that we really want right now. And she was like, yeah, I'm on board. Let's do it. And she, yeah, she's one of the best humans. And we also recently interviewed Michaela Pivik from Aubrey Wodonga. And now I reckon imagine those two in a room. So much wisdom. I reckon like literally the same. Speaking of Oni, you need to let her know that I have this.
01:03:56
Speaker
San Jose? Yeah. I will let her know. I visited there last year. She just got lots of gear from there actually. Yeah. I mean, while we're on the topic of Newcastle flying high at I think 11 and two at the moment, is it? And I mean, one of the losses was in overtime. So how are things feeling up up in Newcastle at the moment?
01:04:21
Speaker
I think we definitely have a shot at the championship. We have a lot we need to fix before finals if we want to. And us as a team know that. Our next game is going to be pretty hard. We play Aubrey in the COE, so we're going to have to regroup for a while.
01:04:39
Speaker
Well, we have a bit of time to regroup now. So yeah, the atmosphere here is pretty good. I love playing here, you know. Everyone knows at the stadium knows who you are. I also work at the stadium. So it's like, I see everyone every day. So it's cool for all of them to come and support us girls. I imagine it's a lot like, I mean, we hear it from pretty much every country player. We'll play every place for a country and be all one team about just how good the atmosphere is at the regional teams.
01:05:10
Speaker
Oh, completely. Like at Maitland as well, Illawarra, Aubrey. I know Aubrey will have a big atmosphere next week for the McAllen game. I'm pretty sure that's next week, which always gets pretty, a lot of viewers and people there. It's a very different atmosphere to the city. Like, yeah, there's just nothing like the country. Ayla, the question that we like to end all of our athlete interviews with is,
01:05:38
Speaker
Who is Isla Jafferman's off the court? I say once you get to know me, I'm very, I say what's on my mind, a lot of people would say. I say it. I'm very caring, as I said before. I really care about my friends and my family and the way in which they are treated and I love to listen to people talk and I love to talk to people. I'm very social.
01:06:02
Speaker
can talk to anyone, I think. It's a strength and it's also can get me in trouble, you know. Stop talking. I am quite funny. I think some people would say, I don't know. It's such a hard question. How do you like to spend your downtime? On my phone. I used to get called an iPad kid at the AIS. Yeah, I love watching TikTok and I am really good at binge watching shows. Like I'm so good at finishing stuff.
01:06:31
Speaker
And I love to be around my friends, like me and Oni were at one of our teammates, May's, May Ling's house last night till like 11. Just annoying her. Because like what else do we have to do? Yeah, I definitely like to be around people. I'm more of a person that I have a very large social battery. Hang out at someone's house until all hours just because you can. You're already ready for college life.
01:06:57
Speaker
Oh, exactly. Like, that's why I chose college. Like, that is literally my lifestyle college. I'm not ready to leave that yet. Not ready for the big world. I don't want to pay rent. Trust me, you do not. I'd rather just take it when I can, still somewhat being a kid. Got any hot tips of what TV shows we need to be binge watching? Well, I've literally watched, like, everything right now that I've wanted to watch. Like, I finished watching Game of Thrones a couple months ago, and that was really good.
01:07:25
Speaker
And I was watching Bridgerton, but obviously still waiting for that to come out. My favourite show ever is Glee. So funny. And so out of pocket. And I love Euphoria. Always go back to watching Euphoria and Glee, which are polar opposites of shows. Did you grow up watching Glee when you were a kid or did you find it through TikTok? I was watching it before 2019, I know that.
01:07:53
Speaker
So, like, I didn't find it on TikTok. My dad told me and my sister that we needed to watch it, which is really random. And me and my sister have been obsessed with it ever since. Yeah, wow. All right. Well, we'll know that if someone ever throws a slurpee on you, it's a Glee reference and not an insult.
01:08:10
Speaker
And do you know what's so funny as well? I was talking about Glee on a road trip somewhere at the AIS and like when Veely was there and she goes, Oh, I love Glee. It's my favorite show. And I was like, excuse me? There's no way you watch Glee. She's like, yep. I was like, oh my God, we should watch together. If you gave me a thousand guesses for Veely's favorite TV show, I wouldn't, Glee would not be one of them.
01:08:37
Speaker
I just remember saying how much she loved it because no one else wanted to watch it with me at the AIS. Well, Isla, we'll let you go. Thank you so much for being a great guest on East Got Game and we're wishing you and the Newcastle Falcons women's team the best of luck for the rest of the season. Now that we've well and truly over the halfway point, hopefully we can see you in finals.
01:09:00
Speaker
Thanks so much guys. Appreciate it. Love talking to you both.