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BONUS EPISODE: Cluch Radio Crossover!
233 Plays2 years ago
Lachy and Squin had the honour of collaborating with some legends from around the NBL1 for this Nationals Preview.
Expect insights into each competing team and some fun and games were your EGG hosts came up Cluch! Someone also drops an 'F' bomb...can you guess who?
List of Co-costs include:
Todd (Keilor Thunder, NBL1 South and Cluch radio host)
Mal aka Big Dog (Brisbane Capitalls, NBL1 North and Ball Don't Lie podcast)
Eric McF aka 'Hey Pal' (Warwick Senators, NBL1 West and resident comedian)
Tristan aka TP (NBl1 Central, SA Crossover Dribble blog, PicknRoll)
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Star Cast Presentation
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to this special edition of the MBL One South Podcast. It's actually going to be simulcast across a number of podcasts. It's going to be a national podcast, this one, as we cover the road to the MBL One Nationals. And I'm joined by an absolute superstar cast. I am Todd Morris. I will be a host for this podcast. I've drawn the short straw and had to organize everything. It's been absolutely a nightmare. Having said that, though, I am joined by some amazing people. Mel, the big dog Crawford. Mel, welcome.
00:00:32
Speaker
Thanks for having me, mate. Really appreciate it. It should be good. Avengers Assemble pretty much here tonight. It is. And who do you represent, Mel?
00:00:39
Speaker
I represent NBL One North. Specifically, I do the Capitals home games. I've never missed an NBL One North Caps home game. And of course, I do a weekly Ball Don't Lie Australia podcast. Excuse me. Thank you very much, Mel. That's absolutely amazing. And next, someone who absolutely tears the house down for women's sport and just sport in general until when it comes to basketball. And that is none other than Squin Squin. Welcome. And who do you represent?
00:01:06
Speaker
Hello there. Yes. Thanks for having me and organizing this awesome collaboration of a podcast and I'm representing NBL One East. And Tristan TP, my man from Central. How are you going? And welcome to the broadcast.
NBL One West Insights
00:01:20
Speaker
Welcome everyone, so great to be a part of this delight to be with you in the House of Hoops. This House of Hoops this evening, how good is it going to be? I've been with the MBL One Central since 2020, when we were meant to get started, so called the Grand Final in 2020, known as the Adelaide Basketball Challenge.
00:01:37
Speaker
And that's where I've been in the chair since then and obviously done a little bit of work for a couple of different publications and was an MBL reporter this year. So really exciting to be involved and be a part of this. Thank you for inviting me. Absolute superstar. And another joining us as well from the East. He also represents an awesome podcast. I'll let him tell you all about it, but it's not only in Lockie, France, Lockie welcome.
00:02:02
Speaker
Thanks for having me. Thanks for the invite. Yeah, I'm from the east. Uh yeah, do a podcast with Squint called East Got Game. Uh you guys been calling us the eggs. Uh good reason. Uh also represent the mighty Sutherland Sharks. MBL won East Men's Champions 2023 who you'll be seeing over in the west.
Grand Finals Recap
00:02:22
Speaker
And uh last but not least, representing the west. West is best and they'll be hosting the MBL One Nationals. That's Eric
00:02:31
Speaker
Thanks for having me and what a wonderful collection of human beings we've got in this podcast alone and a great cross section of our awesome basketball community that's all descending on to the West and five minutes down the road from my house which is awesome so really no excuses for me. I'm obviously representing the NBA one West I've been involved
00:02:51
Speaker
for the last two years now been very blessed to be the Warwick Senators special comments guy and some play-by-play throughout the league and met some of you lovely people as well last year in the Nationals in Melbourne so excited to be part of it and excited to be part of the Nationals this year as well. Well said indeed now five minutes from the stadium from the Nationals does that mean that some sort of after party will be at your place?
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah, but there's a cover charge because I'm a single bloke with a mortgage. So that doesn't come cheap these days, thanks to the Reserve Bank. So happy to host. But yeah, there was definitely going to be a rope out the front and a cover charge and a big scary bounce. I'll probably get my housemate on those duties.
00:03:31
Speaker
I like it a lot. Entrepreneurial install there. That's fantastic. So everyone that is attending, hit him up. You'll see Eric around. He's got the big moustache that he wears it well. So you'll find him, no doubt, and there's an after party on there. I can't believe I've just put you in that.
00:03:51
Speaker
Now let's go around the leagues and let's break down the grand finals because there's some absolutely fantastic grand finals happening in both women's and men's division. Mal, you're on top. I'm going to kick it off with you. Tell us, how did the grand finals over there go?
00:04:06
Speaker
Uh, look, it was sort of tail of two tapes. Really. We had, uh, we had the women's side with the, uh, with obviously the women's, uh, sorry, the North side wizards coming out on top. Yeah. Over the Rockhampton team, which they were the real Cinderella story, but let's not beat around the bush. They've had to really average seasons coming into this one. Um, they were able to keep mixed pattern and a few of those, uh, real genuine role players that have been with the club for a long time. I also got in, uh, Lauren herd and Bowman.
00:04:36
Speaker
who pretty much almost doubled every game. She was incredible. Unfortunately, they just came up short against that really strong Northside Wizards who ran home. That really solid defense, that help defense is absolutely phenomenal for those guys. And they were able to get it done in two short games with it being fairly unfortunately for the Rockhampton team. They didn't get the Cinderella story they were after.
00:05:06
Speaker
It was over pretty quick. On the other side though, for the first time in MBL1 North history, because we have the best of three series up here and it actually went to three series. Gold Coast came out and
00:05:19
Speaker
Look, they really, uh, knocked over a fairly inconsistent, uh, average looking Ipswich team, uh, in that first game. And then it looked like that was just going to be that rollers, you know, we're going to be back to back champs. Uh, Ipswich force went back, uh, went back overnight and the team really dug deep and look, so be, uh, dang, dang, the Galloway's Jason Ralph. So they generally all came back. They played their part.
00:05:48
Speaker
dug it out and got to that third game and she was pretty much over by halfway through the third quarter in that final game and it was really came down to a few players really stepping back up for Ipswich when they look like they was flat on the canvas and down for the camp they turned it around and Ipswich Forest will be going to the Nationals. Fantastic, fantastic indeed and screen you're over there in the east you're lucky you got on the broadcast for that game the women's grand final how did that one pan out?
00:06:19
Speaker
Yeah, you're right. I was very lucky to be one of the commentators for the women's grand final. It was going into that game. Statistically, it was one of the closest games I think I've ever had to commentate on paper. These two teams, super talented, very deep, very similar style of play, very team orientated on both ends of the court, particularly on the offensive end where any given day, someone from either team could drop
00:06:47
Speaker
20 points regardless of your scout. Both teams obviously have their stars but they're not teams that rely on their stars or a big three per se like we saw with some of the other women's teams in the competition this year like Sydney Comets for example.
00:07:03
Speaker
So, super tough teams to beat. It was North that ended up with the championship over the Manly Warring of Sea Eagles and essentially that just came down to a couple of patches in the game really. I think the resulting score line probably doesn't really reflect how competitive this game was.
00:07:23
Speaker
So there were a couple of patches in this game where North were just able to get a few more scores in a row, whereas Manly probably unfortunately had one of their worst shooting days of the season. And I think that's just sometimes finals time, right? The coin can flip anyway for a team in the grand final series. And North's just managed to get a lead and maintain that lead, which is something that they're actually very good at.
00:07:47
Speaker
And so, unfortunately, Manly, who came into this final as well as minor premiers, they had a, I think, an 18 and, no, a 20 and 2 record for the season. Yeah, unfortunately couldn't go away with a chip, but it was north.
00:08:04
Speaker
who will be going over for NPL1 Nationals. I believe they're on their way right now. Very good team in terms of experience, culture, like I said before, very sound team concepts and committing to the systems under Coach Garleth. And one of the, probably the only team in East, and I expect the only team at Nationals to have an all-female coaching staff as well. So they're going to be representing East very, very well.
00:08:30
Speaker
We liked that. I liked that a lot indeed. And while we're still talking about the East Lockie, how's the men's grand final? Well, the Sutherland boys got up, so it was pretty good. It was actually, it was really a story of revenge because
00:08:46
Speaker
In 2022 Sutherland knocked off Maitland in their last regular season meeting and then Maitland got the win in the semi-final and this year Sutherland went up to Maitland again, got absolutely towed and then got revenge for that and also for last year's semi-final defeat by getting the win 83-80 in the grand final. Maitland
00:09:09
Speaker
Their best option was to, if they could force Sutherland to shoot threes, are a very big chance of getting the win because Sutherland at times couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat from beyond the arc this season. But in the end, Sutherland only had to attempt 10 threes the whole game.
00:09:29
Speaker
guys like Adrian Cabrera, Jordan Mitchell, Lachie Hutcheson just going to the rack. Mark L. Beasley finishing some ridiculously difficult shots around the basket. Jeff Gerlach, the Nicola Jokic of the East, playing that big white man lumbering center role with all the basketball IQ in the world. I said before the game, I said before and after the game that
00:09:57
Speaker
Will Cranston land the Mainland Point Guard 1 MVP, and that will have lit a fire under Lachie Hutchison, the Sutherland Point Guard, one of the best in the league. And he brought it home. But Sutherland almost threw it away. It was 80 to 72 with a minute to play. And in the end, a Matt Gray prayer from about half court just caught back iron and didn't go, which would have sent it to overtime.
00:10:22
Speaker
So yeah, the Sutherland boys got up. I think that's their first championship since they had a three-peat in the mid 2000s when BJ Carter was on the team. So it's been a long time coming for the Sharkies and that was actually a matchup of fifth versus seventh. So two teams coming from the bottom half of the top eight to reach the grand final and Sutherland getting the win. So yeah, heading over to the west and they will represent the east very, very well.
00:10:51
Speaker
Fantastic, fantastic stuff. And now we head over to Central and TP. How was it for you in the Central in both grand finals? Two terrific grand finals, everyone. Like, seriously, obviously the Sturt Sabres came into the grand final undefeated. They were looking to replicate Joe Hill's Rockets of 2018, but
Game Segment: 'Who Am I'
00:11:13
Speaker
they ran into a Nord Flames team that has Ali Wilson. And as we all know from watching WMBL and 3x3 this year,
00:11:19
Speaker
you cannot underestimate any team that has Allie Wilson in it and that proved to be the case. So Sturt actually got out to a quick start and it was Michaela Williams, the Hall's medalist who went back to back in halls as well. She had 10 points in the opening quarter but the Flames actually were shooting the ball exceptionally well. They were shooting at about 41% in the first quarter and it was then in the second quarter that they got a couple of cameos from a couple of different players so
00:11:46
Speaker
There was a youngster in the Kaitlyn Schillebier who had five points going into the second quarter, and then they got a little bit out of Aleka Kuehn, who's one of their centres, and then Georgia Smith was the one who really lit it up with eight points in the second quarter, hit a half-time buzzer beater, notably pointed out by a couple of technical officials to me after the game.
00:12:08
Speaker
A really well laid screen by Jada Rice to give her that space. If you go back and watch the replay, technically it was a really well run last four seconds for the Norwood Flames. So they went into halftime leading 49 to 36 and then
00:12:24
Speaker
It just continued on in the second half in the third quarter like Norwood locked down defensively which is something they haven't done a lot this year and we talk about a story like they were mid table they were coachless at the start of the year they were missing star players they had players leave just before the season started and they went on an eight and three run after losing to the bottom side in central in
00:12:49
Speaker
2023. So to go all the way to the grand final the way they did and to put in the performance they did with Jada Rice pulling up a couple
Regional Rivalry Pitches
00:12:56
Speaker
of big blocks on the Sabres and they tried to get back through like Jasmine Ragoni in the last quarter but in the end Sturt just lacked an X factor in this one and they they even I even spoke to Caleb Matthews after the game and it was on the MBL website as an article
00:13:13
Speaker
She said that they just didn't go to work defensively hard enough in that second half to keep with the flame so they ended up winning the grand finals 65 to 80 Norwood and shooting the ball at 46% by the finish 35% from the three-point line with 11 of 31 and 18 assists so all the recipe that you need.
00:13:32
Speaker
to win a grand final on the women's side of things, the men's side of things. So West Adelaide came in losing the qualifying final to the Forestville Eagles by two points. They didn't do a huge amount wrong. They were just a little bit ungelled and defensively they were just a little bit off, but they came back and smacked the Sturt Sabres the previous week.
00:13:50
Speaker
So going to the grand final, you knew a team with Mitch McCarran, Anthony Dremick, Joel Spear, who was a rookie years ago with the Adelaide 36ers, and Lockie Albrick, who of course is one that everyone should be keeping their eye on Albrick. He's going to be a terrific superstar. And I mean, they're playing a team of Forestville Eagles with Malik Machar, United development player.
00:14:11
Speaker
Jake Rios who actually played in the last time they met in the grand final in 2013 and he had 13 points in the opening quarter and the Eagles actually got the fast start so it's very similar to the women's game where Forestville got the fast start then West Adelaide came back and it was through Lucky Albrecht that did a fair bit of work in that area and then the second quarter was just
00:14:33
Speaker
West Adelaide to a tee this season, locked down their opposition defensively and put a bucket load of points on them. 41 points in the second quarter led by Fraser Roxburgh dunking the ball from the baseline. Albrick throwing one down as well. Joel Spear had nine points for the quarter. Mitch McCarren was just doing stuff that you know Mitch McCarren does spinning left right and center and
00:14:56
Speaker
In the end, they managed to set themselves up in the third corner. Anthony Drimmick, who actually played in the game, had 3,000 in the opening quarter and didn't have much impact in the first half. But he finished the game with 15 points and still had an impact in the game, including the third quarter. And then again, West Adelaide got some great cameos at the end of their game through Hamish Stoudie. We got a massive and one against Owen Hullen. And if you know the size difference between Hamish Stoudie
00:15:22
Speaker
And Owen Hullen, it's quite significant. It's a bit like Doyle versus Victor Wenmanyama in terms of size, I would say. And then you've got the celebration started to ensure for the West Adelaide Bearcats. Anthony Spadaverkiya playing his 350th game in a grand final, been a veteran that's been with the club for a long, long time, got on court with 31 seconds to go.
00:15:45
Speaker
They won by 11, and not only that, I predicted the Bearcats to win by 11, so it was a good night for many, many people. And as the Bearcats shot 57% from the field, and even if they take who they take to Nationals, they're still gonna be a massive threat, I feel. I like it, I like it a lot. You crystal ball was working well. Eric McFarland over there in the West, how's your grand finals?
00:16:08
Speaker
Yeah, two really exciting games and they had similar undertones on some parts in terms of how it structured and how it came back and whatnot. So really exciting, great atmosphere as well and the bandat and the fans of all four sides across the grand finals really showed out in four. So it was great to see. So first of all in the women's, it was the Coburn Cougars who finished the season first with an 18-2 in record.
00:16:33
Speaker
Taking on Willington, who finished second, they had a 17-3 record. So it always seemed as though it was going to be these two teams, even though there was some really quality sides underneath them. During the game, it was a nervy start for both. The experienced Tiger side, they've been in the last three MBL1 West Grand Finals, but they actually looked a little less composed than Coburn earlier on. And Coburn had this sort of determination. They were looking to make history, get their first championship.
00:16:58
Speaker
They started with a flurry but couldn't really capitalise on that momentum that they had going. So the MVP, Alex Sharp, just led the fight back for Willerton, seized the advantage and they took a one-point lead into quarter-time Willerton. So the Tigers kept on going. They were really looking dominant and they were outscoring the Cougars in that second quarter, 23-15.
00:17:20
Speaker
which took a nine point lead to the major break. Again, Alex Sharp, she had 16 at the half. So they really had to focus on that Coburn to see what they were going to do to try and shut down Willerton because they just looked like they were playing with more grand final experience and composure. Case in point being the Danish International Sarah Mortensen,
00:17:40
Speaker
usually collects buckets for fun but was only on two points at half time so really was struggling to get going initially and really kept in it by you know the likes of Jesse Edwards and Jule Williams as well was doing their level best with six points and five assists to the half so really controlling the offense there not a ton of support so throughout the third it looked as though Willerton were going to go and continue to
00:18:04
Speaker
keep powering away the challenge of Coburn. And then Ty Thwaites, coach of Coburn, he called a timeout late in the third stands and they were still 10 points down. And I'm always loathe, even though I said at the top of our show here today, I'm always loathe to say that somebody's one of the best people in the league because it makes you think that everyone else is just not. But this basketball community is pretty amazing and some great humans. But coach Thwaites, he's one of those like top tier, really good human beings, always friendly, approachable.
00:18:33
Speaker
says hi to everybody doesn't matter uh you know what your status or position is and whatever communication skills he has just with uh us common folks so to speak uh well it certainly translates into his coaching because after that time out they came out of different mob coburn they were house and fuego they romped in an eight and oh run um to finish out the quarter they only ended up trailing by two at the final break so all of a sudden it was game on once and again
00:19:00
Speaker
So they maintained the momentum and the run continued. They had initial resistance, but it almost felt as though that was it. That was the moment they were looking for. They stretched away to a seven point win in the end. And whilst the plaudits will go to the likes of the grand final MVP, Steph Gorman, she got 19 points. Jesse Edwards got 17 rebounds. So it was glass cleaning performance to make Ajax spray and wipe jealous. The fact that Coburn absorbed this pressure
00:19:28
Speaker
and halted that runaway train early in the first half and even deeper than the third. They only held Willerton to 24 points in that last half. So everyone's going to look at the offense and go, oh my goodness, they got clicking, but they just locked down and made themselves extremely worthy champions to make that history for their club.
00:19:46
Speaker
In the men's game, Geraldton finished second in the regular season at 17-5 and they took on Junelup who finished the regular season 6th even with a 14-8 record. So another one of those teams like the other conferences that came from the bottom half of the 8th and really won the hard way into the grand final. This is actually a rematch of the 2019 decider and
00:20:11
Speaker
That Duneal Up program is a quality one. They've made five of the previous seven grand finals prior to this one, but the stat that they won't like is that, unfortunately, they missed out on four of those. So, you know, there's a lot of ability and talent to get to that point. But unfortunately, you know, you get to a point like, oh, gosh, it hurts just getting there and getting so close over and over and over. It's like the Buffalo Bills in the 90s in the NFL. So
00:20:36
Speaker
For Geraldton though, they were looking for redemption. Last year they lost the grand finals at Rockam and they wanted to make a club legend in Aaron Ralph, a premiership captain, also getting the earlier flag for them. So it was the willing affair and there's a lot of tensions on it, as you can expect from a big game. Geraldton made the running early. They had the five-point lead to quarter time.
00:20:56
Speaker
Johnny Narkel, he's fictionally known by the Geraldton fans as sparkle. He certainly lived up to that. I was impressed as well in that first quarter by Fletcher Clastorny. He came off the bench, three handy boards and a block straight away. So we're going to see that throughout the Nationals as well in terms of teams
Final Remarks and Wrap-up
00:21:13
Speaker
who have good squad depth, because you're playing a lot of back-to-back basketball.
00:21:17
Speaker
So you need to have those role players who can come in and make meaningful contributions and meaningful minutes coming off, especially when you try and manage that fatigue. In the second though, Geraldton would continue to look the goods and all of a sudden it just started to click. Junilapa brought a bit more intensity, it started bubbling, started boiling over.
00:21:33
Speaker
and before you know it, Junelup out of nowhere got a 16-0 run and he kind of had to like do the cartoon thing where you rub your eyes and go, wait is this still the same game? What's happening? They put the cooler on Zach Katorna, they put the cooler on Johnny Nark shooting and Quinton Dove was the real star for Junelup. He took 24 points for the half and boom recruit for them as well. Brian Michaels, he had eight boards, three dimes and a block to half time and took nine point advantage for Junelup into the second half. So
00:22:01
Speaker
Geraldton hung around, but it just seemed like any time they thought they had the answer, Junelub would go ahead and change the question, and they kept chipping away and chipping away, but when Aaron Ralph scored on the stroke a three-quarter time, there was hope, but they were still eight points down, so there wasn't, you know,
00:22:20
Speaker
wasn't a huge belief but it was just so that little glimmer and the fact is last year Geraldson they were on they had the shoes on the other foot in terms of Rockingham looked like they were completely out of it and all of a sudden the flames came with a huge flurry in the last court and sort of snatched a defeat uh statue victory from the jaws of defeat so
00:22:38
Speaker
With that, they managed to clamp. Geraldton really lifted in that last quarter. And before you knew it, Liam Hunt, this is a guy who, you know, three years ago was told he's probably not going to play basketball ever again. Had a really bad leg injury and that could have been career ending. He just goes bang. He scores 11 points in the last quarter, including a couple of crucial three pointers, a three point play. They wrestle away the lead.
00:23:00
Speaker
Juneau fought valiantly, but the basketball DTS were shining on Geraldton. They worked hard. They got themselves to the chip. Liam Hunt finished with 19 points overall. And Johnny Markle, despite that second quarter being a little bit quieter, he was a crowd favourite. They were chanting sparkle. He was the grand final MVP as the Bucks found redemption and saluted with their third championship. My man sparkle, I haven't seen him play, but he's already my favourite player. I can see why the fans love him.
00:23:27
Speaker
Yeah well he's back to back in the league for six man of the year and it was interesting he actually started the grand finals so a lot of talent, a lot of explosiveness and to see him do it for the majority of the game was, it's a joy to watch and hopefully he continues to go on that trajectory for the finals when the whole country is watching him.
00:23:43
Speaker
Love that, love that indeed. Now, for me in the South, it was absolutely fantastic. I was lucky enough, I was MC at a youth event for the women where we actually had a grand final between Kilo and Bendigo. So I didn't get to watch these games, but I have soon checked into the replay, which was great. The women's game was an absolute spectacular, and it was the Bendigo Braves completing a perfect season, going the whole way through undefeated.
00:24:10
Speaker
which is unbelievable. I was lucky enough to speak to coach Mark Alabakov the week before this game and just having a chat to him and he's got such a record and he's done it at all levels. He's such a great coach and he's really coached that women's side of that club to some really good success. Their women's youth program also won on the same night so they had two wins and he oversees that as well.
00:24:34
Speaker
It was stars on every line for this game and it started off with a brilliant first half where Waverly, who have got their fair share of stars, actually had the lead. It was Matty UT, the former West Adelaide Bearcat, starring in the first half with 17 points. And Amy Atwell went bananas in the first half as well, untouchable from downtown, was shooting threes in everybody's face. She had 25 in the first half. And then so all of a sudden it was a really tough task to see how they could stop Atwell.
00:25:04
Speaker
but then later in the game she actually got in foul trouble and fouled out early with about a handful of minutes to go and this game they were just trading baskets towards the end which was going to be quite an interesting contest but in the end Cassidy McLean stood up for 17 points, Amy Outwell with 36, Kelly Wilson with 13 and Meika McKay only had the nine
00:25:24
Speaker
and only played 22 minutes. Madeline Sexton from the bench did a job, played 26 minutes. There was only a grand total of 28 minutes coming off the bench for Bendigo. They really relied heavily on their starters to get over the Waverly team. And the Waverly team played absolutely brilliant. I mentioned that Maddie UT, she played the whole 40 minutes, scored 31.6 rebounds in four assists. She was absolutely on fire. It was her night. The basket was twice the size for her than anybody else on the floor.
00:25:53
Speaker
She just drained points. Unfortunately, they couldn't get over the line. Beck Cole had 14, three rebounds and three assists. Carly Ernst also chipped in with her 12 points, three rebounds and five assists. And Renee Mocking did a great job. Not a known scorer. She ended up getting a double-double, 10 points and 13 rebounds. She was absolutely brilliant. And the point guard Amelia Todd Hunter had 11 points and 10 rebounds. So two double-doubles there for Waverly, which is awesome. They put up a great fight, but Bendigo were just too strong.
00:26:21
Speaker
They had such a great season in an MBL One South competition that's absolutely stacked, which we'll talk about that a little bit later when we talk about why we think those teams are going to win nationals. Now, in terms of the men's game, this was set to be one of the all-time greats.
00:26:38
Speaker
I wish that this game unlike some of the other conferences had a series because I reckon if you played this game three or five times we would have had a different result each game and it could have went either way but on the night it was the team in the Knox Raiders getting up they played absolutely fantastic and it was great to see the sixth man getting the MVP Bailey Nunn coming off the bench
00:27:01
Speaker
with 25 points, two rebounds and two assists. He's just been brilliant this final series and if you've seen the knocks go around, you see him come on the court and no offence to him. He looks like he's about 15 years of age. He's quite a small unit, very small point guard, but he comes on and bang, he can dribble, he can pass, he can shoot, he can do it all. And he ended up being the MVP for the night with 25 points. Fegen as well chipped in with 26 and Wayne Schill Jr. had 16.
00:27:30
Speaker
But for Sandringham, a sunshine bird, he got his 16. Ben Eyre was brilliant in that game. He had 21. Camo Blogg had the 28. But Knox were just too strong on their home floor in the end. And State Basketball Centre is such a fantastic place for basketball. And it was great to see just a packed arena. And the MB1 South just absolutely thriving in that environment.
00:27:53
Speaker
All right, guys. Well, that was all the grand final wrap up. Now let's get into a little bit of fun on the podcast. Let's make it a little bit competitive. We're going to have a series of questions where we do some who am I's where I've picked out a couple of players across the league to from each conference. And if you get them right, you will then be awarded a point, a bonus point if you can get it right. If once I reveal their birth date, which is almost impossible.
00:28:20
Speaker
If you do the rules of the game, if you do have a guess, and it is wrong, after you're out, after the next clue is read out. So I'll read out one clue, and then if you're then back in after that clue, to then be able to guess again. In order to come in, just use your conference as a buzzer. TP, I believe you wanted to change your central being two syllables, is that right?
00:28:48
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like it's an unfair disadvantage to get central out. So what would you like? Which is our South Australian moniker when we go play cardables. Oh, I saw. All right. Well, lucky I'm not in and yelling out see us. So we won't get those confused. Let's try our buzzers. Let's kick it off in the North. Your buzzer North and our eggs or a screw your buzzers.
00:29:18
Speaker
Are we both East? Yeah, you're both East. Just yell out East. Cool. And down there, Eric, what have you got, mate? West. And Tristan, hit me with yours. I like it. Let's get this one underway.
00:29:42
Speaker
I like it, I like it a lot. All right, let's start with the first. Who am I? So, who am I? I was born in 1991 in Greenacre, Sydney. I attended Westfield Sports School where I earned Hall of Fame status for my efforts in basketball. My junior club was the Bankstown Bruins. Oh, nine. Yep, who was it?
00:30:10
Speaker
Alex Higgins teacher. Incorrect. Oh no. So you're out after the next clue. Oh, nine and 10. I attended the AIS. I made my NBL. You're back in now. I made my NBL debut for the Gold Coast Blaze. Go ahead. East Jason Kadee.
00:30:29
Speaker
Correct. So Jason Kadee, he represents the Gold Coast Rollers from the MBL1 North. Fantastic effort. Great guessing there. So we'll go over to the scoreboard and the East will now move ahead to one point. So the East are now leading by one. Up the eggs.
00:30:51
Speaker
Go to the eggs. I just realized how stupid my guess is because Alice Heaton's teacher is definitely not born in 1991. He was, was he the up to youth player of the year in East East East East? He was. Correct. He was. He was. Oh well, that's all right. He just has a really good skincare routine. Two things can be true.
00:31:14
Speaker
I like it a lot. Now, I was born 22nd of July, 1996 in Melbourne, Victoria. I attended Peninsula College in Mount Eliza. I played college hoops for the Buffalo Bulls. Go ahead.
00:31:33
Speaker
Oh, this man is on fire. Let him cook. You can't ask me a Buffalo Bulls college player question and not expect me to get it. He hears the answer every time. There you go, there you go. I didn't know you had a pecan for the Buffalo Bulls. Well done. Just that era.
00:31:51
Speaker
And both of those, the Up Sisters from Illawarra, yeah, that kind of era. Yep. And both, both of those plays represented the MBL one North. All right. Um, just, I just want to say, I know it's early days, but this is looking very much the first half of the Monstars versus the Tune score right now. And I'm all out of special stuff, unfortunately.
00:32:18
Speaker
I like it. I like it a lot. All right. I was born in November, 1992. I attended the University of Idaho after a stint in the Seaball playing for the Geelong Supercats following college. I also... West. Go ahead. Stacey Barr. Correct!
00:32:41
Speaker
That's cool, yes. Let it go, Eric. Nice work, Eric, go to the pub. My employers would be mad if I didn't get the senator's question right, so. Yeah. Well, yeah, I kind of thought of that. I'll put the senator in there. And obviously, Stacey Barr had an interesting one next, where we talk about her AFLW career. I'm sorry. Sorry for running. Pretend I said nothing. Yeah, exactly, where she was drafted for Fremantle and so forth. All right, Finn. Oh, I would have got it up to the Fremantle one, I reckon. Fantastic stuff. All right.
00:33:12
Speaker
I was born in June 15th, 1985 in Richland, Washington. I attended Kennewick High School in Washington. I also played college for two teams, Idaho and then Utah. East. Go ahead, East. Leilani Mitchell. Correct. Leilani Mitchell.
00:33:35
Speaker
The East are all over it. They lead at the moment with a score of three, and the West on one, North and Central are yet to score. Let's just test your buzzers there, North and Central. Tristan? No. Fantastic. No chill. Fantastic, Evan. All right. Next one. I was born March 1997 in Juba, South Sudan.
00:34:04
Speaker
I grew up in Bankstown, New South Wales and attended Wyndham College. I then went to the DME Academy in Daytona, Florida. I attended, I played for two colleges, Eastern Florida, then I played for Hawaii. Yes.
00:34:21
Speaker
Correct, East just on fire at the moment. So the players, we've read out two from the North, two from the East and one from the West. So we're going to load up on some Centrals and another West player. Here they come. I was born 18th of December, 1989 in Adelaide, South Australia. I attended Midland and Iowa State College.
00:34:48
Speaker
I made my WNBA debut. Damn it. Go ahead. Lauren Mansfield. This man is cooking. Move ahead to five. I think everyone had inhaled ready to buzz in at that moment. I like it a lot. So the next one, I was born in 1989 in February in Miami, Florida.
00:35:17
Speaker
I attended Palm Beach State College and Bethune Cookman. I made my way to Australia to play Australian rules football for the Sydney Swans. Go ahead. Alex Starling. Correct. And Central's gets their first point. So scoreboard recap, five to the East, one for the Central's and one to the West. This is a fun game.
00:35:47
Speaker
Don't worry, golf scoring, you're winning. Exactly. The game is made up and the points don't matter. So we're all good. And this will be the last of the WhoamIs. I was born July 11th, 1992 in Texas. I attended Oklahoma State and Texas A&M.
00:36:09
Speaker
I've played all over the world, including Italy and France. I moved to Australia to play for the Perth Wildcats in the 17th, 18th season, but I fractured my left foot. I came back to Australia in 2020, signing for the Southeast Melbourne Phoenix. I missed the NBL One Nationals last year because I signed with the... Saar was in there first.
00:36:36
Speaker
Devondric Walker. Correct. Central's etches ahead and takes second position with two points. I had him on my mind and I just didn't have the guts to speak up.
00:36:49
Speaker
There we go. So congratulations at the moment. East have five points, Central's have two, and West has one. But this is where it gets really interesting, guys, because now we get rated by our peers. So East, I'm afraid you have a target on your back being in the lead. So you're gonna have to come up with some real convincing sort of material here on why your teams will win the national tournament. Now, how this will work is I've got 24 seconds on the clock. So a 24 second shot clock.
00:37:18
Speaker
one for the women's team and one for the men's team. You have to give us your most compelling argument. At the end of that, you will hear a buzzer and it will go off and then we will vote. So we'll go around the room and vote. The votes will be rated out of 10 on how compelling you thought that argument will be.
00:37:38
Speaker
Then we will select our order via our spinning wheel on who will go first. So let's just before we start, I'd like to go double or nothing middle peak behind the curtain. We were asked to prepare for two minutes. I'd like to I'd like to double down and get 48 seconds and just try and say why my conference will win any objections for me to go double or nothing.
00:38:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, sure. Look, uh, sure that we can do that. So we can, we can, we can, we can dubs up. Triple then if we just, I got told that everything was made up and the points don't matter. Exactly right. We're doing this. We're doing this on the fly, but of all the 20, the 24 seconds does go pretty quickly. So we'll extend it out to 48. All right. Um, but at the halfway mark, then at the 24 second mark, you will hear this sound.
00:38:37
Speaker
and that will give you a warning that we're at the halfway point, and then I'll bring the sound back in the last five seconds, just to make it a little bit interesting, right? Bit of defense chant, everybody loves it. So here we go, who's up first? For those listening, and obviously this is only a listener's podcast, it looks like it's gonna be enthrall.
00:39:04
Speaker
So TP, you're up. Let me clear this clock. So is this just for women's then for men? Oh, sorry. Yeah, the double down is for the 48 seconds. He's going to do two at once. TP, do you want to do two at once or do you want to do one for men's and one for women's?
00:39:20
Speaker
I'll do one for men's and one for women's. So I'll start with women's. All right, so you'll get the 24 seconds in and then at the 12 second mark, I will play the tone to create a little bit of excitement around it all. So I'll count you off. Five, four, three, two, one.
00:39:39
Speaker
Let me tell you a story about a club that just couldn't do what anyone thought it could do. It lost Brooke Basham just before the season. It lost a player to maternity leave. It had no coach. It was eight and three mid-season. It continued a fairytale run across the second half of the season. It's got Allie Wilson. It's got Shauna Thompson, Georgia Smith, they can shoot the lights out. Their defense has gone up big time. Why not? Why not? The Norwood Flames. Oh, I like it. I like it. Not bad. Not bad at all.
00:40:07
Speaker
Please, how do I stop that? Okay, okay, good. That went for a little longer than what I expected, the little buzzer at the end. Not too bad, not too bad. Now, let's go to the votes team. Let's kick it off. I am going to give that a seven. Over in the north, what will you give that out of 10? I'll give him LeBron James, Bill Russell six.
00:40:32
Speaker
Just six, I like it, I like it. Over in the east, now you have to do this via committee. What do you guys agree on? Yeah. Yeah, we'll just go average. What did you say, Lock? I'll give you a seven. Oh, I was going to say six. I got six and a half from the east. Six point five. Let's make this nice and simple. I like it. And from the west, what do you give that?
00:40:55
Speaker
Oh, I think my colleagues are hard taskmasters. I'm gonna give that an eight. You took me on a journey, told a story. I'm really invested and we'll see you in Hollywood. I like it so I'm gonna get my...
00:41:06
Speaker
I'm going to get my Casio calculator watch out and we'll calculate that. Six plus seven plus the six and a half. And then the eight from the West. I like it. Is he building an ally? He may be. So we're going to go here for the Centrals. You're currently now sitting on 27 and a half points in the vote tally. This feels like the the points in the Duff beer competition where the last game makes up 98% of the score making the rest of the rounds completed.
00:41:34
Speaker
Exactly right, so it's all made up and the points don't matter, right? That's the whole part of it, so fantastic there. Having said that, you have taken the first victory there east well and truly in the quiz, so that can stand for something. Maybe we have a final question at the end for the tiebreaker, something like that.
00:41:55
Speaker
We'll get to that when it matters. All right, TP, you're back on the clock. Let me clear that and we'll restart again. So now your compelling reason for the men's. And then obviously when you do the combined one, the 48 second there, what we'll do is we'll do the score out of 20. So everybody else will give a score out of 20.
00:42:14
Speaker
I think that makes the most sense. So let's kick it off starting now. AirCats have a really incredible history when it comes to big time games, no matter what lineup they take over. They have coach Dean Nyberg, who's an absolute superstar at pulling together star lineups.
00:42:33
Speaker
And while they may not have their full team over there, they still have some very, very good players that have helped them throughout the season. And they'll be hungry for some extra court time. And that's why they're a dangerous team. The West Adelaide Bearcats.
00:42:48
Speaker
I like it. I like it indeed. Not bad. I like how you finish off with the club name as well. It just puts a nice little spin on there at the end. So the West Adelaide Bearcats, how convincing was that their team? I'm going to kick that off. I'm also going to give you a seven there, TP. North, what do we score that? I think
00:43:12
Speaker
I haven't heard his name for a while. Sorry. I put down the wrong lever on my Roadcaster. I didn't hear that score. So say that again, North. Camp through number seven. Number seven. Fantastic. 14 and East. I'm giving him a six on that one. Oh, I like that one more. I was going to give him an eight. Oh, so seven.
00:43:37
Speaker
From the east, are you happy with the seven east? Yes, yes, definitely a seven. All right, 21, and then the Westies? Well, I was less convinced with that one, especially when you said, oh, they might not have all their plays. So I'm giving that a Mike Ellis number six. There you go. So 27, and we add those two together and we get 54.5. So congratulations there. And well done for going first there, there, TP. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely nailed it.
00:44:06
Speaker
Absolutely nailed it. So let's go back to our random wheel of death. Well, that was a bit hectic. Let's take a spin. 24 seconds in this context is much shorter than when you're playing an offensive possession, I have to say. It feels like it, doesn't it?
00:44:28
Speaker
Yes. Oh no. I think I'd rather talk than have an offensive possession. I think I've got more chance with the talking part. Yeah, so you can take breaks on offense though. Like you can kind of just stand in the corner and blood for a bit in the 24th. So I think I'd take that. I can chuck it from, chuck it at the hoop from anywhere. So I'm good.
00:44:51
Speaker
I like this a lot. All right, so South it was, I am on the clock. So I'm gonna start off with our women in the South. And I think this one's a no brainer. Hopefully you guys give me a good score, but give me one sec. Let me just bring up my little stats here on the other screen. All right, give me a countdown guys. Five, four, three, two, one.
00:45:21
Speaker
Well, this one's an easy one. They went undefeated all season in an absolute stacked competition. This competition is filled with so many good teams, and all you guys know them. I know you're from different competitions, but Mount Gambier, Geelong United, Waverly Falcons, Frankston Blues, Sandigram Samuels, Ringwood Hawks, they all couldn't beat them. And all those teams are stacked. We've got absolutely a huge amount of players in this competition. They're stacked as well. They're going to go over. They're going to continue their undefeated run and win the whole Nationals.
00:45:50
Speaker
That's being the Bendigo Braves, of course. Correct, yes. Oh, maybe deduct a few points. He's technique. Yeah, maybe deduct a few. He's totally had a deduction on that. I was actually not quite happy with that myself, and I made up this game, so terrible. Go give me your scores there, team. Lay it on me. Let's start with the North.
00:46:14
Speaker
Give me a Josh Giddy 3. Just remember I've got to score you. Just remember I've got to score you. Let's go to the east by committee. I like it a lot north.
00:46:30
Speaker
Well, I was going to give you a nine. I'm docking you a point for not mentioning the team name. Okay, fair. And I'm docking you a point for not mentioning Cassidy McLean by name. Fair, fair, fair. Seven. Too many superstars to mention. Like Eric said earlier, don't want to mention one because then it just lets the others down. So seven and then Squin, what do we got?
00:46:50
Speaker
I was gonna say six, so you're getting a 6.5. Oh, Jesus is bad. Everyone's just hitting the host. I'm gonna be so savage next time. Call me Red Simons. Central, what have we got?
00:47:02
Speaker
Well, it's one of those things where it's easy to sort of pump up the team that's been unbeaten all season. So I'm going to give you a from his signature at the Adelaide 36's Arena, Brett Marth 5. Oh, geez. This is low. Come on, Eric. Can we get an ally? Can we make allies here, Eric? It's something we can do. Well, I like the confidence.
00:47:27
Speaker
But with that confidence came not a lot of substance to back it up. So for every undefeated team, for every undertaker there is a Brock Lesnar, I'm going to give you a six. Geez, 20 and a half points. This is going to be huge. I'm going to need a big score. Well, well, yeah, I'm going to always have to go perfect here to get out of trouble here. I've got the creative scores though. That's great, everyone.
00:47:50
Speaker
I have to get basketball referenced up and get like list of uniform numbers. I'm too busy keeping all the players colleges in my head to learn Jersey numbers. Geez, I'm going to have to just take a quick little breath here. I'm going to like stall deliberately while I think of something creative to say about Knox here. Geez. They get Knox down.
00:48:16
Speaker
Yeah, well, I've been knocked down big time. The way to a man's heart. Ah, yes. Well, where's my clock? Here we go. That's clear. Let's get back to the restart. Give me a countdown, guys. Five, four, three, two, one. Kill him.
00:48:39
Speaker
All right, the Knox Raiders, they had a season of 18 and 4 losses for the season. They're absolutely a fantastic team. They've got a massive lineup. Maduka Keck, Feegan, Akuth, Stewart and Pete Ling and Bailey Nunn coming off the bench, the six man of the year for me. He's going to absolutely smash it at Nationals. I think they've got a really well-rounded lineup. They protect the paint really well. They can score from inside. They can score from outside. They can do it all. I really think they can go all the way. Knox Raiders.
00:49:08
Speaker
I thought that was a big improvement, right? And I had the easy one too, the first one, the Bendigo, I should have put a really compelling case. All right, now let's go to the scores starting off in the North.
00:49:24
Speaker
Uh, look, that was much better. Give me a, uh, let's go. Oh, Patty Mills eight. I didn't mind that was much better. Patty Mills. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. North. You're now back in my good books on my Christmas card list. Uh, over to the East by committee. I got a seven for that one. What are you about? You lucky.
00:49:47
Speaker
Oh, I really like that one. I'm going to give you a Caitlin Ford 9. Oh, lovely. So that's an 8. I'll move ahead to 16. Over to the Centrals. Yeah, no, much, much better compelling case. Nice use of the different areas of the court, defence and offence referrals. So I'm going to give you a mid Adelaide 36's struggling season para winner Tana 8.
00:50:15
Speaker
around here. I'll move ahead to twenty-four and then over in the west. Uh well, what you've shown to any perspective scouts out there that you're coachable. Um you've taken on the feedback from the first one and and included the name this time around. So, for that one, I'm giving you a seven and a half. Seven point five. Lovely. That gives me a thirty-one and a half plus my twenty and a half moves me along to fifty-two. So, I'm trailing
00:50:43
Speaker
uh 2.5 so Central's currently lead on 54.5 and my MBL one south on 52. Let's go back to our random generator where we have the west north and east left and we shall spin the wheel and it is the easties the eggs
00:51:09
Speaker
So, who would like to go first out of the East? I presume that one's doing the men's or one's doing the women's? Yeah, I'm doing the men. Yeah, I'll do the women's. Who would like to go first? Lockie, how are you feeling?
00:51:24
Speaker
Oh, yeah, I'll go first. Oh, that's okay. Okay, if you're ready, if you're able, off you go, mate. All right, I'm talking about my sharkies all day. We're talking 24 hours, somewhere about 24 seconds. Do we get a little shark, little fin on the head, the little... No, you will, because I'm going to be talking about Jeff Gerlach, and that's his thing. Oh, I like it. I like it a lot. All right, well, I can't wait. Let's kick it off in five, four, three, two, one.
00:51:51
Speaker
Go ahead. Sutherland Sharks, they did it the hard way, but their coaches are Brian Gause and Protege. They got Lachie Hutchison, DP, games record holder for the Kings. They've got the Nicola Jokic of the East in Jeff Gerlach. You know, they did it the hard way coming from the bottom for half of the eight. They'll take it through the paint at you all day and their beer sponsors from WA and what's a better motivation than free beer, the Sutherland Sharks.
00:52:17
Speaker
Not bad, not bad. I like it. I like it. Let's go now to our scoreboard. I am going to give this one. I thought it was okay. I'm going to give this one a six for me. Over to the north. Give it my junior playing number or five? Five. I like it. It moves along to 11. Centrals. I had nice jingles to it, so I'm going to give it a seven. Seven. I like it. Eighteen. And now in the west.
00:52:47
Speaker
Well, I thought it started out really, really good. I was invested and I thought there was no way anyone was going to beat Southern. It kind of lost its way a little bit. Started out like Jaws, ended up like Jaws 4. I'm giving it 6.5. Nice score. It's a solid score of 24.5.
00:53:04
Speaker
Now remember guys, on the voting committee, this team won the other challenge really well by five, five to two, the closest competitors. So we've got to really give them a little bit of a ribbing here. Let's head off to Squin and why will the East representative in the women's conference win it all? Let's kick it off five, four, three, two, one.
00:53:32
Speaker
Well the Norse Bears women led every significant statistic in this season including overall rating and that was thanks to the depth of their bench, their consistency, their discipline but most of all their culture and their experience. This team runs deep with winning culture and that is all led thanks to the coaching staff of Renee Garlett and an all-female coaching team.
00:53:54
Speaker
uh on any given day like oh it's watching i'm sorry that's okay squid is known as one of the classiest people in the basketball community you'd never do that you'd never do that on a live call with your squid
00:54:11
Speaker
I wouldn't say never lucky. Sometimes it's required. Sometimes it's required for me. I thought that was absolutely fantastic. You included statistics players rating as well. But then that last little bit just lost its way. I was actually going to write that quite highly. I was actually going to give it a nine, but I'm going to scale that back to a seven.
00:54:35
Speaker
Look, I'll take that. I mean, I dropped an F bomb. It was like a... That air bomb's after the buzzer. That doesn't count. Ooh, technically. We need the IRS to determine whether it was after the buzzer or before the buzzer. I like it a lot. North, how do you rate that one?
00:54:55
Speaker
Uh, look, she had me with the, uh, the F-bomb that, that really brought it back. Um, but unfortunately East is just too far ahead. So I'm going to have to, uh, let's, uh, let's go Patty meals. It was pretty good.
00:55:12
Speaker
Freddie Mills 8, good work. 15, now Centrals. Now, Centrals, just to give you a bit of context here, they're obviously 30 behind you. So they're currently on 15. So I might give you a couple of maths to work with between this and the West score.
00:55:29
Speaker
Oh, with great power comes great responsibility, as they say. Look, I agree with a lot of you that Jacinda, you produced a really nice case there, Squin, but also got to look after our Central's crew as well. But I'm going to give you a fair score, and someone who had a nice fade top back in the 90s and was the coach that took their team to Nationals last year. I'll give you a Scotland in a number six.
00:55:59
Speaker
whoa 21 so west well spin i like the fact that you brought numbers into it i love the fact that you brought science into it i'm something of a scientist myself so i'd like to go with a considered and well respectable seven and a half
00:56:14
Speaker
7.5 makes it 28 and a half plus the 24 and a half there makes it a 53 so they move into second position with Central's leading with 54.5 53 to the east and my south the trailing on 52 but uh it only matters what they do on the court and they'll win it all anyway so uh let's move along we'll go evidently Central's winning it they got the most compelling case so far yeah correct correct
00:56:44
Speaker
Let's go ahead to North and West. We'll go back to the wheel and decide who will be up next. For those who can't see this, there's two options, and this will be the worst game at Wheel of Fortune ever. Yeah, it's not looking great from where I'm sitting. And the North, Mel, the big dog, you are up, and I wonder who will win the next one.
00:57:07
Speaker
Now, Mel, you also were a fan of the merger to give it a 48 second clock. How are you feeling about that? Do you want to cram both in and we give you a score out of 20? Or would you like to do one-on-one? Give me one-on-one. Let me butcher these individually. Let's not ruin them both. Dead the wasteful butcher. I like it a lot. All right, so you've been a bit of magic there, Mel, given you're talking about the Wizards.
00:57:37
Speaker
Let's go. Let me do the jat jacks, mate. Let me do the jat jacks. My time to shine. In five, four, three, two, one.
00:57:48
Speaker
Oh, Northside Wizards will be the national champs. They've got a nationals experience. Coach Hicks, Lil Dart, Dean Payne, Beckhane, AJ Johnson is absolute monster on D. These guys will just defensively choke the ball out of other teams. Offensively, they take the ball inside, stretch it out. And these Northside Wizards, they're absolutely magic. They will get the job done. No doubt about it. Northside Wizards.
00:58:17
Speaker
I can stretch that out to get to the 24 seconds. 24 seconds is a long time for some people. Okay. I found myself, you know, I needed to use the time wisely and I thought, what could I do? I could drop an F-bomb at night.
00:58:34
Speaker
That's taken. Exactly. So I had to come up with something else. 24 seconds brevity is key and you definitely did that. So for me, even though you absolutely trashed me on one of my scores, I'm going to give you an eight. Um, so I liked it. There's some good statistics in there and, uh, yeah, you kept it nice and simple and you're very sure of yourself too. With the language you said, they're definitely going to win. And, uh, and you mentioned the team name as well. It was all, it was brilliant. That was really well done. Um, let's go along to the East.
00:59:06
Speaker
Yeah. I really liked how you said the defense is going to choke their opposition. I've really felt that viscerally. So I'm giving you a seven and a half. And Locky? I was going to give it an eight, but then we got to go to a 7.75 average. And do we really want that? No, boost it to an eight. Boost it to an eight. So you used to happy to submit an eight? Yes. So now the North move ahead to 16. Centrals, your score?
00:59:35
Speaker
A very compelling case for the Northside Wizards. A lot of magic, quite a few spells in their cast there by now. Big Dog Crawford. So that was quite magic and remind me of Willy Folly Dunk. So I'm going to give it a nine. Oh, massive. They move ahead now to 25 and with a vote to come, let's go over to the West.
00:59:58
Speaker
Well, we started it really nicely, said a lot of names and places, made me think I was listening to We Didn't Start the Fire, but yes, we brought the strategy into it. I loved it. I'm giving it an eight and a half. Oh, eight point five. Lovely. The north is now shining with thirty three point five. So fantastic start there when they got one more to come. So
01:00:17
Speaker
Great work there, Mel, the big dog. Let's now get into your next one. 24 seconds goes back onto the clock and we'll kick it off in five, four, three, two, one.
01:00:32
Speaker
Ipswich Force, first time winners at this level. They will take it on to the Nationals. Don't worry about that. They've got Dang Dang, Jason Ralph, Cam Goldfinch, Tim and Tim will be stepping up. Michael Fleming, I'm sure will make a difference. And of course you got the Galaways. Excuse me. May not be Sobe, but we'll just have to wait and see on that one. Ipswich Force, the force will be with you. Not bad, not bad, not bad, but I
01:01:01
Speaker
I felt, you know, first time winners, I felt it was a little bit low on confidence in terms of that one, but the force will be with you really bringing home in the end. I'm gonna give that one a solid seven. And heading over to the east, how do you guys score that one by committee? The cough in the middle, you know, wasn't a fan of that, but he brought it home well with the force will be with them. So I'm gonna give it a six and a half.
01:01:30
Speaker
Yeah, I concur with Locky's score cause I, it just, it sounded, it wasn't hopeful, but the Star Wars reference got you over the line. So six and a half. Yep. And we go to the centrals now.
01:01:47
Speaker
Well, it felt a bit like the Star Wars trilogy, didn't it? Like, you know, there was a bit of hope at the start, and then there was a little bit of empire striking back in the Ipswich side of things, and then, yeah, the Force thing brought it home, but I think it has to be Revenge of the Fifth, so I think it'll be a five for me on this one. That was absolutely huge. That was Poultry in Motion, that one. And we go to the west.
01:02:12
Speaker
Well, you said the force will be with them. Well, this was not the pitch you were looking for. Unfortunately, I did not have as much belief in his, which as you did in your earlier pitch. So I'm going to give you a six for this one.
01:02:25
Speaker
6 now that's a 24 and a half and we add the 33 and a half together That does skyrocket the North into the lead with a massive 58 Congratulations North you are now in the lead with only the West to come that can knock you off So we'll recap the scores for everybody listening the North are on 58 Central's on 54.5 the East on 53 and The MBL one South on a salty 52 I'm getting real salty about it now the more we get deeper into this competition
01:02:56
Speaker
You've got me covered. I don't know. I don't know. You've got some good allies. So we're going to have to adjust the clock here. I'm going to have to clear that and we're going to put a heads up as well. I'm cramming four teams into this. So just, I want that considered in the marking. Thank you very much. Correct.
01:03:12
Speaker
I agree with this. Yep. Correct. Noted and ignored. Yep. So we have extended the clock as you'd like to merge everything into one and we will remember guys have to give this a rating out of 20. So at the 24 second mark, you will hear the defense chance. So we're going to have to have 24 seconds of a defense chant, which is great. I can't wait for that. Let's kick this off in 5 4 3 2.
01:03:42
Speaker
One. Normally, if your conference enters the national finals, you've got a two out of 12 or one out of six chance of winning it all. But we've got some basketball freaks out West with full of superstars. So you've got 10% at best chance of beating the West. Then you add the star standard defending champions of Warwick Senators, Clinchoy, Cardbar, Forza, the Rockingham Flames, Devondrick, Nelson, Godfrey.
01:04:02
Speaker
Two more teams than all the other conferences in the mix. So your chances of winning go drastically go down So you've got maybe a 17 and 1 3rd percent chance of winning and we've got an 83 and 2 3rd percent chance of winning so then the other conference you take your 17 and 1 3rd chance minus 25% because we've got Coburn Cougars who only lost twice and we've then got the Gerald's and Buccaneers who came down from 29 15 walloping in the second quarter. They got Johnny Narco, Malik Mounier, Ledge Stars with and without the rock so we add another 66 to 2 3rd percents and
01:04:30
Speaker
Embryo 1 West got 149, 2.3% chance of winning. The numbers don't lie and they spell disaster for the rest of the conferences.
01:04:40
Speaker
I had to block my ears once the siren went off, so I didn't hear everything after it. I'm going to pretend. However, the statistics were absolutely brilliant. I liked it. That was an element that nobody else had. And your modesty coming in, actually, you got me on site. That was a good tactic. I liked it. It worked really well. I'm actually going to give this a decent score here, and I'm actually going to give this an 18.
01:05:05
Speaker
I liked it a lot. You can't, the numbers don't lie. I liked it. You really tickled my statistics there. I like it a lot. Let's go to the North. Look, there was a bit too much maths to start with. It took me back to high school where maths and me didn't get on too well. There was a lot of good bits, ran a little bit long, but I'm going to give it a Derek Rose in New York for.
01:05:32
Speaker
So an 8 total or 4 out of 20? You put the boots in knowing, not knowing, but that I'm a Chicago Bulls fan and Derek Rose is still a sore subject. You put the boots in like that, thought we were cool, man. So just to confirm now, does it? Like I thought it was out of 10, so let's double it and call it an 8. Okay, that's what I wanted to do. So you're on 8 now, so that moves ahead to 26. Now the East, remember it is out of 20. We'll just give scores out of 10 each and out of them, I guess.
01:06:02
Speaker
Oh yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. Squint, Squint, you're up. Uh, look, I love your effort, Eric, but I also got a bit too lost in the maths. Uh, it started me off on a good trail and then I kind of just got a bit lost. So six for me, six out of 10. Okay. Yeah. Um, my issue is that one sixth isn't 17 and a third. It's actually 16 and two thirds.
01:06:27
Speaker
fact-checked. Got him. I do appreciate the mathematical effort though so I'm still going to give it a five and a half so that's 11 and a half out of 20 for the east. So it moves the west along to 37.5 and central
01:06:46
Speaker
You'll vote. Unfortunately, the West, even if they get a perfect 20 here, they cannot win. If it would be the perfect 20, they'll lose by 0.5. So there we go. So just give me the 20. That's all good, TP. Thanks, man. Go ahead, TP.
01:07:02
Speaker
You were very generous to me, but gotta take it on face value, my friend. Like, you know, I love the statistics. Yes, you know, I'm a bit of a statistics buff, love the numbers and that, so. But you're almost banked at home, but very, very close. I'm going to give you Rupert Sapwell off the backboard for a 3.14.
01:07:23
Speaker
14 will move all that's that's cruel because that gives him a total of 51.5 With the West coming in last my salty 52 just become a lot better So but the West however did score one point in the other competition now I had no plan at this point into judge a winner so at the end of the day North you won the convincing argument test of 58
01:07:53
Speaker
and then the East were just too good with five on the Who Am I questions. But at the end of the day, nobody's a winner. The winner of this is basketball and it's going to be a fantastic, the fantastic MBL One tournament. Guys, we'll go around the room and just get a quick last comment before the Nationals starting off with the North.
01:08:15
Speaker
Uh, the force will be with us and like, generally can't wait. It's going to be a great weekend of basketball. Um, it's, it's going to be magical. Just like the wizards and Mel, where can we find you? You've got the podcast running. Um, give that a shout out and a plug.
01:08:29
Speaker
Yep, Ball that Lie Australia, pretty much weekly. We cover basically everything from the NBA down, cover all Australians and all that kind of stuff down to the NBA One North. Obviously we're going to take a break from that for a little bit, but we're on Insta. Yeah, jump on Insta and you'll see our links across Spotify, iTunes, everywhere you can find good podcasts, you'll find us for sure. Perfect. Thank you very much. And Squint, final comments.
01:08:59
Speaker
Yeah, I just really think this women's competition for Nationals Kicking Off Tomorrow is going to be very competitive and what I also like is some of the underlying storylines going into Nationals this season with Coburn Cougars having won the first women's championship in their club history. T.P. has done a great job of telling Norwood Flames tumultuous store of the year to come out as champions.
01:09:22
Speaker
you know the north fairs winning culture and experience they've had in their excellent women's program and now going over with the only coaching staff to have all females in the lineup and then south also coming in with undefeated record internationals and the north side wizards i think is that their first nbl one championship as well big dog
01:09:43
Speaker
Uh, no, not at that level. Oh, okay. Well, you know, it is to me. So that counts. But, uh, I just think there's so many great storylines and it's going to be really competitive, uh, in the women's competition. So, uh, certainly don't count them out. So I'm very much looking forward to that. And I know that North and Sutherland, but I would just speak for the women's comp. I know that North are going to really represent MBL, MBL one East really well. So I wish them the best of luck.
01:10:11
Speaker
And, uh, where can we find your screen doing some of your best work? You're on a few different things, a couple of different podcasts and on socials. Yeah, too many things. I would argue, Todd, to be honest. Um, yeah, so I also co-host another podcast called shooting the breeze that focuses on women's hoops, particularly Australian women's hoops. You can find us on Twitter at the breeze pod and on Instagram at shooting the breeze.
01:10:36
Speaker
You can find myself on Twitter at s underscore squin, or you can find me on Instagram as Jacinta underscore governed because you know, I'm a bit silly and started to put my whole full name and my nicknames on the internet. I didn't really think that one through. And, uh, obviously Lockie and I host Eastcott game, but I'll let Lockie give Eastcott game a bit of a sprook.
01:10:57
Speaker
I like it. And for those listening out there, shooting the breeze is actually one of my favorites. I listened to that one, especially doing a little bit of work with the WMBL gives me really good insight. So a lot of my homework is done listening to your pod. So give that one a shout out, guys, make sure you get around that one and TP final words from you, mate.
01:11:17
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm going to be really interested to see how, like, with the teams, like, everyone always sort of, you know, underestimates Centrals, no matter where we go around the country, South Australia.
01:11:33
Speaker
The junior basketball programs, I don't know if you noted, but we're starting to win quite a few of the state championships and that's starting to flow into the MBL One Central. So be careful around us South Australians because otherwise you'll go mental for Central. I like it a lot. And I believe you're launching a new podcast in the MBL and WMBL season, is that right?
01:11:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. We're going to launch the SA Shot Clock. It's been a bit of a brand project of mine for quite some time, but now's the time to really get into the MBL and the WMBL season for the South Australian teams, the Adelaide 36ers and the Adelaide Lightning.
01:12:13
Speaker
I'm going to be co-hosting it with Bevin Jones through the season. We're both going to be on clutch radio calling Adelaide 36ers games as well as Adelaide Lightning games this year in the WMBL which will be fantastic and what I'm really looking forward to is bringing quite a few female special comments people into the WMBL broadcast which is a great pathway for especially our MBL1 players in their off-season
01:12:37
Speaker
and some of our experienced coaches that maybe aren't doing a little bit of commentary to the side on that. But you can also find me on the sacrossoverdribble.com for all the South Australian basketball news. We're actually asking for a few, we are asking for a few donations at the moment, $24 or $14 a year will help us just get things done. So I like how, Todd, that you went with the 24 and the 14 second shot clocks, because that was the same idea we had, like, you know, do your shot
Writing and Commentary in Basketball
01:13:05
Speaker
clock sub.
01:13:05
Speaker
for the SA crossover dribble. And of course, I'm still writing for the pick and roll Australia, so you'll be able to read a little bit about national finals coming up in the coming days. And of course, yeah, there's plenty of other things to be involved with on the South Australian side of basketball. So it's going to be a really interesting season for the Lightning and 36s. Don't think it's going to be as straightforward as everyone thinks it's going to be. So we'll see what happens with our two national teams.
01:13:35
Speaker
Really liked that a lot and anytime I see anything to do with South Australia, I always try and find T.P.'s writing is quite in-depth, he's always good, so always gives good insight as well. Now, Locky, over to you mates, your final comments for the Nationals? Yeah, really looking forward to our National Finals. I really think Sutherland are going to put in a really good shift.
01:14:01
Speaker
came from fifth you know they've had to are on the road at north they're on the road at coe this you know coe that everybody thought were going to tell the east even with when henshaw and furphy and tui left so you know um so much for that see east teams we can beat coe um you know and then they got over maitland got revenge on maitland they're just you know
01:14:24
Speaker
tunnel vision. I think they're going to put up a really good shift. Really looking forward to seeing guys like Lockie Hutchison get in the shop window. Can't wait to see a Jeff Gerlach shark fin. And on the women's side, Squin might be able to drop an F-bomb, but North, they got the C-bomb, Kate C-bomb. Gonna lock down everyone on defense.
01:14:49
Speaker
If you had have included that. We planned this the whole time that I was going to drop an F-form so I could set up Lockie exactly for that pun. See, perfect mate. This is why I do a podcast with you Lockie. I feel as though that 10 seconds is like the end of every Mission Impossible movie. It was like, ah, it was a plan all along. That's how it got there. That's an alley-oop if I've ever seen one. Where can we find your Lockie? Where can we find your Lockie? You do plenty of stuff as well.
01:15:18
Speaker
Uh, at the moment, um, you can find me commentating Sutherland games and you can find me doing eScott game with Squin. Um, and if you're a soccer fan, I'm also doing college Matildas as well, which it kicks off in six hours. So I bet it gets bad pretty soon.
01:15:35
Speaker
Like, he absolutely loved your stuff, especially with the World Cup. It was great following along on your socials and getting all the updates of the Matilda's games was absolutely brilliant. And France, of course, and all the other teams that you followed along. How many games did you get to in the end? I've been to 12 and I got a ticket to the final as well, so it'll be 13. Love that. Love that. Love that. Now, heading along to the west, Eric, your final words, mate.
01:16:02
Speaker
Yeah, really excited for the Nationals, as I mentioned before, five minutes down the road from the house. So it was, you know, luck's a fortune there. Really excited to see the, you know, the bicycle community descend on our part of the, I was going to say the country, but for a couple of years there, it would seem like we were another country altogether. So really excited for everyone to come in and experience that. And I think that
01:16:26
Speaker
uh the west will still have a few um you know proverbial bullets left in the chamber i don't think you can ride us out then we've got a few more cracks other than the others which also goes in our favor and the home court advantage always helps and where can we find you eric uh yeah i don't have any podcasts unfortunately um i tried that and it wasn't for me um or maybe it wasn't for my audience and that would imply that i had an audience um but
01:16:52
Speaker
Well, yes, that's true. That's true. We had a very, very short-lived Friends vs. Seinfeld one, and I got trounced every week as a Friends fan. But yes, I'm very fortunate enough to be commentating the Nationals this week, starting tomorrow night with the Senators taking on Norwood. So I'll be part of it during the weekend, during the regular season, occasional play-by-play across the West, and also special comments at the Senate for the Warwick Senators side. And if you like,
01:17:22
Speaker
pop cultural references thinly bowed as analysis and constant yelling at the lack of game plan at the Western Bulldogs. So follow me on Twitter or Instagram. Sorry, say that again. Just cut out there. You're at Colonel Bod. Love that. For my hardcore fitness regime and chicken-loving habits. Hell, you did not have an audience surprises me because you were quite entertaining. I was ganged up. I was ganged up. It was two on one.
01:17:50
Speaker
Can you get a podcast back? Quick, quick sticks. We'll have you on Clutch Radio anytime, I think. We might have to get you on, maybe do a cross something, Perth Wildcats or something. But guys, I just want to thank everybody for joining this MBL One Nationals podcast. It was absolutely a hoot. It was a great laugh. We had a lot of fun with it. When it comes to the MBL One Nationals, last year was absolutely so much fun. I did it for Clutch Radio. I wasn't privileged enough to get on the TV broadcast, but it was absolutely great.
01:18:20
Speaker
The buzz around the stadium is huge. It's just great going from court to court, seeing all the results and piling in on that last game that is generally played on the fixtures. Everybody ends up on the last court. It's just such an environment. I really do believe that basketball is a winner and it's great to see that basketball in this country is absolutely thriving and this competition being such a great one.
01:18:41
Speaker
In terms of the MBL One South teams, Knox and Bendigo, I really do think they're going to give it a great shake. They're full of a huge amount of talent. Hopefully all that talent, it gets to go across and represent their clubs. And I think they're going to do those clubs really proud. In terms of where you can find me coming up, I'll be on the Clutch Radio broadcast on Melbourne Boomers Games, Southside Flyers. I'll do a sprinkle of MBL stuff with the
01:19:08
Speaker
Southeast Melbourne and a Sprinkle with United. We've obviously got a stack team down here with Michael Thompson, Chris. We've got Tom Hertz. It's hard to get a gig on the mic in this state. There's so much telling around, but you can see me there. I'm really excited about the WMBL season, particularly, especially my Melbourne boomers. I think they're going to do great.
01:19:33
Speaker
a completely new team. We've taken the Southside Flies and put them in purple basically. That's going to be awesome to see and you can find me on all socials. Look up Todd on the mic where I have absolutely dodgy takes on Twitter and my Instagram is generally photos of me doing some sort of commentary somewhere but
01:19:57
Speaker
Once again, thank you everybody for joining. It was an absolute blast. I had so much fun and that's good night for me.