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Season 2 Episode 4: Shawn of the Dread with Shawn Montague
114 Plays7 months ago
Round 2 of NBL1 East is done and dusted. It was a great mix of tight games, big blow-outs and high scores. We saw Manly-Waringah Sea Eagles play their first game of the season, but we still await the CoE.
This episode covers:
* Maitland Mustangs vs. Canberra Nationals (W)
* Newcastle Falcons vs. Canberra Gunners (M)
The first guest of Season 2 returns to NBL1 East for his second consecutive season, but in new colours. He is originally from Yorktown and is a self-reported weapon at FIFA! It's Shawn Montague from Albury-Wodonga Bandits!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to East Got Game Podcast
00:00:11
Speaker
Another episode of East Got Game, an unofficial podcast about the NBL One East competition. My name's Jacinta coming to you live from over the border, but don't hold that against me.
Weekly Recap: Commentary and Games
00:00:24
Speaker
And with me, as always, is Lucky France, who is still currently in the East. How are you, Lucky? I'm great, Squid, and yes, very much in the East, down in the Shire, which for some people is basically over the border as well.
00:00:38
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. There are a lot of sub borders within the East in itself. So I refer him back to that Instagram graphic that you posted, I think last week between Sutherland and Penrith and that journey. That's the whole other kind of border situation as well, I guess. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Bring your passport. And we also have the border bandits in Aubrey Wodonga. We do. How's your week been in the NBL One East?
Highlights: Post-Game Interviews and NBL One North
00:01:05
Speaker
Oh, it's been a pretty good week. I had a week off commentary, so I got to stay home and I listened to the dulse of tones of Caleb Fogarty. Watched Maitland play Canberra.
00:01:19
Speaker
Lovely. And I'm sure Caleb did a really good job. Oh, he always does. I noticed as well that Maitland Mustangs have posted a couple of post-game interviews from the weekend on their Instagram account with Caleb interviewing Sydney Hunter and Will Cranston-Lown. So I love that extra bit of content and love that Caleb's getting that opportunity as well.
00:01:42
Speaker
As for me, I went to my first NBA One North games on the weekend. Friday night went to watch the Northside Wizards play Brisbane Capitals in the both men and the women. The Northside women are looking great. The Northside men also looking great posting some enormous dunks that are
00:02:02
Speaker
It literally took my breath away, so hopefully some more highlights will come out of from that game in the social media.
NBL1 East Round Two Overview
00:02:10
Speaker
But nonetheless, we are here to talk about MBL1 East because it is the conference that raised us, so to speak. And we have just finished off round two, which saw Manly Warringa Seagulls having their first game after having round one off.
00:02:26
Speaker
And it looks like the COE are also still in a buy-around given that I think a lot of the men's team were still coming back from overseas. Would I be right in saying that, Lockie? I think that is correct. Not sure how many players were up at 18's Nationals as well, but definitely what's going on for the kids at the moment.
00:02:46
Speaker
Yeah, that's right. 18th Nationals was also held up here in Brisbane in the last week. And we'll probably talk a little bit more about that in the news and gossip section later in the episode.
Women's Competition Recap
00:02:56
Speaker
But let's get into the round two recap. Lockie, you were in charge of the women's competition this time. What did it look like? Well, there was a mixture of some big blowouts, but also a couple of really tight games this week. So.
00:03:13
Speaker
Yeah, it was a bit of an interesting one. We kicked it all off with Manly, picking up where they left off last season with a 90 to 57 win over Hornsby Corringai up there in Worrywood. I think they had four players in double figures, so great start to the season for the Sea Eagles.
00:03:33
Speaker
and move on to North Took On Hills at the Bear Cave. Got a 72, 48. We in Sarashika pulling down 20 boards in that one. Emily Simon's getting a double-double.
00:03:46
Speaker
Bankstown took on Illawarra and it was Illawarra coming up the road to get a win at Bankstown 73.58. Amelia Garcia Leon finishing with 16 and 12 in that one. Kapi Violet Capre-Morrow had 21 for Bankstown. Maitland versus Canberra. This was one of the absolute bomb burners. It finished 71.68 in favour of Maitland and you will hear more about that one later.
00:04:16
Speaker
Aubrey Woodonga Sutherland. Well, Aubrey really stamping their authority on this one. 103 to 53, the final score of Michaela Pivi triple double and Lauren Jackson 31 and 15 against the still under strength Sutherland Sharks. But even, I'm not sure even Lauren Nicholson and Matty Norris would be a 50 point turnaround for the Sharks. So really dominant win there for Aubrey Woodonga.
00:04:42
Speaker
Inner West took
Men's Competition Review
00:04:43
Speaker
on Newcastle and despite 31 points from Piaf Gabriel, it was Newcastle picking up an 86-66 win courtesy of Nicole Munger's big 28-14 and a double-double for Arian Nichols.
00:04:58
Speaker
Sydney Comets took on Central Coast, and this was another close one. It was Central Coast getting up 78-73, led by Michaela Domkins, another double-double, plus seven assists, and Leilani Mitchell with 25. Davida Dale almost picking up a triple-double, finishing with 22-12-9, and great to see Alex Oliver putting up 20-11, particularly given how few scoring options Comets had in their opener.
00:05:26
Speaker
Moving on, it was Hornsby and Inner West backing up with double header and it was Inner West picking up the victory 60-50 in a low scoring affair at the Brick Pit, despite Ayana Bay's 24-9 for the Hornsby Corringo Spiders.
00:05:44
Speaker
Newcastle took on Canberra in Canberra's second game of their road double and Nicole Munger just continues to be unstoppable following up that big Saturday night performance with 35 points and 10 rebounds and a big 84-52 win over the Nationals. Munger was the female athlete from last year that appeared the most in our All-Star 5, is that right?
00:06:08
Speaker
I'm pretty sure that is 100% correct. Do you know that written down somewhere? I can go find it later. And then the final game of the week, Central Coast, picking up their second win of the weekend, defeating Penrith, 86-57. Another double double for Michaela Domkins.
00:06:26
Speaker
and four players in double figures for the Crusaders whilst Talia took higher, a valiant 23 points again, playing the full 40 minutes. Talia, despite, you know, having had a lot of time off, really getting a lot of playing time. So moving to the latter, we've got five teams undefeated. All we would do is get Newcastle and Central Coast, all with three wins from three.
00:06:52
Speaker
North with 2 from 2 and Manly with 1 from 1 and then a whole swarm of teams chasing at the moment but still very early in the season particularly when you consider that Centre of Excellence still get to play a game and I'm sure they'll be up and around those top spots as well.
00:07:12
Speaker
Yeah, wow.
Season Standings and Predictions
00:07:13
Speaker
So it looks like it, I mean, it is very early days, but it looks like a couple of our long stays from the All-Star Five last year is likely to hang around for our top All-Star Five, you know, contenders and
00:07:27
Speaker
racking up the tally at the end of this season as well. I mean, Munger, double-double-domkins, they're already putting up big numbers like they haven't had a break or maybe had such a good break that they're just refreshed and ready to go. Very interesting.
00:07:43
Speaker
I asked for the double-double and they gave me the double-double-double-double. Yeah, between those two. It's going to be pretty cool actually when Newcastle and Crusaders women's teams play against each other eventually and see who will be the battle of the double-double-double-doubles. Yeah, see if they can like neutralize each other or if they just end up finding a way to get that double-double nonetheless. I think it's the latter.
Game Analysis: Maitland vs. Canberra
00:08:07
Speaker
I think so. I think you can only hope to slow each of them down even if they're facing each other.
00:08:13
Speaker
All right, so I was in charge of the men's competition this week and it also started off with Manly and Hornsby on debut. A brand new looking Manly wearing a Sea Eagles men's team who were without their head coach, Tim Hill, because he was also at the un-18s nationals here in Brisbane. They got the win over Hornsby, Coringa, Spiders, 110 to 79.
00:08:36
Speaker
some big numbers in that game which I'll touch on later. Sydney Comets hosted Central Coast Crusaders and won 89-82. Norse Bears hosted the Hills Hornets and won 72-54. Bankstown Bruins and Illawarra Hawks at the Bruins' lair 76-64 in Bruins' favour. Maitland Mustangs beat the Canberra Gunners 90-69 as
00:09:03
Speaker
that undercurrent of rivalry continues between the two teams. Aubrey Woodonga Bandits, also the men's team having a huge night against the Sutherland Sharks, winning 107 to 73. There was something in the atmosphere down there on the border on Saturday night because both the men's and women's Bandits team seemed to be, you know, very hot on the floor, firing from everywhere. Inner West Bulls men, 85, beat Newcastle Falcons, 65,
00:09:34
Speaker
And then roll around on Sunday, where some teams had double headers, including the Central Coast Crusaders. They beat Penrith Panthers at home in a very high scoring affair of 112 to 95. Hornsby Keringai then had inner West Bulls at home, and they lost that one 87 to 104. Another high scoring game. And finally, it was Newcastle Falcons and Canberra Gunners
00:09:59
Speaker
the Falcons going down 60 to 67 on their home court which looks like a newly renovated home court or maybe I'm just slow on the uptake but nonetheless unfortunately couldn't get it done and they're currently zero and three. Over to the men's ladder now and Maitland Mustangs are just racing ahead of everyone else.
00:10:19
Speaker
with a win-loss record of 3-0. Manly will ring her with their first win as sitting at 2nd. Sydney Comets are sitting at 3rd at 2-0 and just below them is the Bankstown Bruins, also 2-0. In 5th position is the Inner West Bulls.
00:10:36
Speaker
with a win-loss record of three and one Central Coast Crusaders in six with two and one then Aubrey Wodonga Bandits are seventh with two and one and Canberra Gunners in eighth also two and one and listen I don't want to curse anything but
00:10:52
Speaker
I don't like this three-way tie here in the sixth, seventh and eighth place. Very small percentages separating them so far, but perhaps I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself. We don't want the five-way tie curse of 2023. You need PTSD, Squint?
00:11:11
Speaker
You know, maybe unnecessarily because it does make it more exciting. So I don't know why I'm getting stressed about it when I, I have nothing to do with it other than to watch in it and enjoy it as a fan. So yeah, it's shaping up to be a really competitive season. A lot of teams who were typically.
00:11:29
Speaker
Um, you know, from eight to 16th last season are already in the mix at the top. But like we said, it is early days. Um, the man, manly were ring guards. Great to see them at the top. They had some big numbers against, um, Hornsby. Yeah. Stangers just going for it, which is, which is what we want. Lucky. Spoiler for choice with what game you were going to review this round in round two. What did you end up choosing? Uh, as I mentioned earlier, screen, I went with Maitland and Canberra. Um,
00:11:58
Speaker
And it was a very good choice in the end because it was, as I mentioned, there were a lot of blowouts and only a couple of close games. I could have gone with Comets Crusaders. That was also a good one. But I actually chose this one in advance. Sat down and watched it live. Caleb and Coach Craig McGregor was the special comments person.
00:12:23
Speaker
from up at Maitland this week and, uh, had some good insights. So it was very enjoyable. Enjoyed it so much. I went back to watch the mini, watch the mini match afterwards. Wow. You went back for a second bite. I did. Yes. It was a game between two teams that live by the three, die by the three to different, uh, different levels because both teams like to shoot a three, but camera.
00:12:50
Speaker
love to shoot a three. Canberra, 70 field goal attempts at the game. 34 of them were three-point attempts. So one shy of a 50-50 split. And in fact, of their 68 points, all bar two, I believe, were either threes in the paint or free throws. So it was layups and threes, no middies. I think they were one of eight
00:13:18
Speaker
from mid-range for the entire game. Everything else was beyond the arc or in the paint. Setting up to get Lizzie Tonks either shooting throughs or going downhill. Lizzie finished with 31 points and 12 rebounds and three steals. She shot 10 of 25 from the field, 4 of 12 from two-point range, most of those driving in, and 6 of 13 from beyond the arc. So
00:13:43
Speaker
Uh, and pretty much as she went, the nationals went, which I think is probably going to be the case for a lot of the season. And I mean.
00:13:54
Speaker
Canberra, they're not the biggest team out there. I think everybody can see that Maddie Penn is their tallest player at 6-1, but Maddie Penn's not a big. She's 6-1, but she's not, she's not a big. And if you compare her to like Sid Hunter, who is actually the same height, maybe a centimetre taller, but Sid, Sid plays big.
00:14:17
Speaker
Maddie Penn doesn't, so a lot of 5-out ball from Canberra as you'd expect. Kelly Bourne actually finished with 7 assists, getting the ball back to Lizzie to let her do her thing because I think of their 17 assists on 24 made field goals.
00:14:34
Speaker
Pretty good at sharing the sugar there, the old nationals. As I mentioned, lit by the three, died by the three. 50% three point percentage in the first quarter, which was a really high scoring first quarter. I think there were 42 points scored in the opening term.
00:14:50
Speaker
of the 139 in the match. So definitely early in the game and late in the game was the scoring in the middle portion, especially the third quarter, it slowed down. But yes, 50% three point, and then it dropped to just 12.5%. So one of eight from three point range in the second quarter, which are shooting so many threes, it's not great. And that was what allowed Maitland to get out to a nine point halftime lead.
00:15:17
Speaker
12 second chance points to six, which I found a little bit surprising. Both teams had a decent share of offensive rebounds. Canberra with 14, Maitland with 11. But when you got Sid Hunter around the rim, I would have thought Maitland would have been getting those putbacks a lot better than Canberra were. But fair do to Canberra. They kept themselves in it and it was so close in the end. Tonks had a three point attempt to tie the game in the final couple of seconds.
00:15:46
Speaker
Maitland turned the ball over in the final minute, which allowed Tonks a three. Stop, lay up, Sid Hunter. So 69-68 till Sid Hunter knocked down two free throws and yeah, Tonks 3.0 didn't go, which would have tied the game and set it to overtime. Never easy going up to Maitland. Valiant effort, tough outing, and I think it showed in their Sunday game against Newcastle as well, where they had that rather heavy loss. But if we move on to the Mustangs, they are, they don't mind a three themselves.
00:16:14
Speaker
7 of 26 from 3 point range, so both teams trying but not knocking down at a great clip, not a clip that is going to win you games if you're going to shoot that many. But in contrast to Canberra's 11 of 16 from the wine, Stanger's 22 of 27 free throws.
00:16:35
Speaker
it got to the line and it wasn't throwing into Sid Hunter and you know let Canberra chop her in a mismatch. Shaq had four attempts, Rachel Williams six attempts, Isabella Jennings great off the bench had 13 points and she got to the line for four attempts. Everyone was getting to the line and at times the commentators were even saying the rest of letting a bit go to get to the line that often is yeah really really interesting and in the end it's really what won them the game in terms of
00:17:03
Speaker
method of scoring because they had six fewer field goal attempts than Canberra. But, you know, you put up, yeah, 11 more attempts and shoot them at a good clip, you get the win. Yeah, Mustangs, they did dare Canberra to shoot at times, which is a decent idea, depending on who it is. I wouldn't be
00:17:24
Speaker
Sagging off two four mile or tonks for example, but uh, you know camber is not not hitting their shots It's it's sort of an in-game adjustment. You can make and speaking of in-game adjustments. Those are made by the coach and It wasn't my waskovich this week. They said he was a bit under the weather. So coach sims brendan sims stepped up and
00:17:44
Speaker
say he's 1-0 this season. As an NBL1 head coach, not sure if he's had any other experience, stepped in before, but Sid Hunter again, playing bigger than she is, 18 points, 14 rebounds, 6 o-boards, which is part of the reason I thought Maitland would have had more second chance points than they did. They didn't, but I mean getting offensive boards even if you don't turn them into points is always a good sign.
00:18:10
Speaker
going forward. Rach Williams, six steals and Maitland, they mentioned as much in the preseason. They were a team that really pride themselves on defense last season and very little has changed. Getting steals, getting out and running when they can.
00:18:26
Speaker
but not really forcing it when they get out and running. If Canberra are getting back on D-trans, so be it, we'll get in, we'll sort something out, we'll try to get Shaq cutting back door or someone else even, run a set and see what we can do. Definitely more half court ball from Maitland than Canberra, but as I mentioned, off the bench, Isabella Jennings, 13 points, two or five from three point range, including a really clutch three laid on in the game, which was the, I think the basket, the put,
00:18:53
Speaker
Maitland up from 66-63 to 69-63. So that was actually the basket that kind of changed the whole fabric of the final minute. Maitland, this is one of those games that, you know, you really got to win because I think these are two teams that are probably going to be in that six to 10 range. You get wins in these games. They're the ones that you can, you know, you beat the teams around you.
00:19:18
Speaker
win the games you should win against the lower teams, hope you can jag a couple against the top and then you're golden. If you reach finals anyway. Yes, so Canberra really got to try and get the split later in the season on the Stangers and at least that will be at home. Yes, yeah, so I mean it's tough enough for Sydney teams to come up and do a Maitland Newcastle double if there are
00:19:42
Speaker
you know, so forced into doing so for teams like Canberra or, or we were donger or Illawarra to do it is I don't drive, but it's a long drive. Yeah. And sometimes just, I mean, you're not doing anything, but you are sitting sedentary in a car. And so sometimes that sitting for too long and being
00:19:59
Speaker
not mentally occupied for too long when you should be getting ready for the game in every aspect of the way you can. It can make a massive difference. Statistically, I'm just looking at the stats now, and statistically it's a game that the numbers don't make sense.
00:20:18
Speaker
In a weird way, like how you mentioned that you were expecting Maitland to have more second chance points because they had 11 o-boards and they had 13 steals. And then
Canberra Gunners vs. Newcastle Falcons
00:20:29
Speaker
we're also expecting Maitland to probably have more points in the paint, but Canberra ended up winning the points in the paint and they also had more o-boards with 14. And so you're kind of like, well, the shooting percentages are really similar. I think you mentioned that they took a similar amount of shots, 64 to 70.
00:20:47
Speaker
but it did just come down to those free throws. Like you said, 27 free throw attempts in a game is huge. It is. Was it a very, and based on that number of free throws, I mean, 27, like you mentioned for Maitland and 16 attempts for Canberra, was this a very kind of stop, start, stop, start kind of game? Was there a lot of fluidity in the game or was that, did the number of stoppages really interrupt both teams being able to get a flow going?
00:21:15
Speaker
I don't think it was at times, maybe, but as I mentioned, there were times where the rest were letting things go, but maybe that's just more in certain situations.
00:21:29
Speaker
Like players driving in, there were certain players where you'd think, surely someone got bumped there, surely someone got hit there, there's a foul and it didn't come. So maybe it was more situational the way, the times things weren't called, because yeah, I mean, 43, I mean, what was the total fouls? I mean, it was 35. There were a couple, you know, in the final minute, Canberra fouling to stop the clock, but
00:21:55
Speaker
They weren't doing that for minutes on end. It didn't feel too stop-start, but I mean, that's also boring out by the fact that these teams both don't mind to run, so.
00:22:07
Speaker
Yeah, okay, that makes sense. And what's really interesting as well, both teams were at least close to 20 points or reach 20 points each quarter, except for the third quarter. Maitland only scored nine points and Canberra only scored 11. It was looking at the shooting percentages for each of those quarters. They weren't the worst shooting quarters either. So what was the third quarter like?
00:22:29
Speaker
Teams were slow out of the blocks in the third quarter. I can't remember these ass scoring numbers, but they were really low. Yeah, and as you said, it was just teams were not getting shot. So either turnovers or it's hard to imagine a quarter where Canberra shot 40% from two point range and put up 11 points.
00:22:48
Speaker
three of eight, you know, 37.5 sounds all right. But that's probably that's three of eight from two point range in a quarter. So yeah, it was, it was probably the quarter where teams Yeah, was definitely at the start of the third quarter, things were just were, yeah, that was probably bit how you're going to say the least.
00:23:05
Speaker
That's why they call it Championship quarter, a cliche that we all know and love. But yeah, really interesting, very close game. Like I imagined it would have been an exciting game, especially given the final scoreline and how you described the last few possessions of the game as well would have added to the excitement. Well, yeah, sounded like a really, really interesting game. And the next time these two teams meet, yeah, I think you like you said,
00:23:29
Speaker
both teams looking like they're going to fall in that six to 10th position. So I imagine when they, the next time that they meet, I think that Canberra will have to get the split on Maitland to make sure they stay in that mix. Yeah. 100% edge. I mean, Canberra, one and two at the moment, and the losses have been to Maitland and Newcastle. Um, you know, there's no, no shame in those, but you don't want those to be the losses that you regret at the end of the season.
00:23:55
Speaker
Alright, so in the men's competition, I covered the Newcastle Falcons hosting the Canberra Gunners, which was also the KO game of the week this week, held on Sunday, so the second game of the Canberra Gunners double header away, having played Maitland the day before. Also an exciting competition. It was interesting to learn the pre-match chat
00:24:19
Speaker
from the commentary team that Miles Cherry had been out for the first couple of games and they weren't sure if he was going to play this game because he'd been out with shin splints, which is, as a lot of us know, is quite painful. It can generally be an overuse injury.
00:24:33
Speaker
So I'm not too sure if he was going a bit too hard in off-season or what the circumstances were, but coming into a brand new season with an overuse injury would be pretty frustrating, especially when it's one of your main players like Miles Cherry. But nonetheless, he did play. He did play as much as he could. I think he ended up, yeah, he ended up playing 26 minutes.
00:24:53
Speaker
and being as productive as he could. It took a little while to get back into the game, given Adusi's first game back of the whole season. So still trying to find his touch around the basket and being comfortable with being a scorer again. He ended the game with seven points, four rebounds to assist, which aren't the high numbers that we expect. Timing of when he was scoring was really important. And there were a lot of times when he was matched up on Glen Morrison. So that was also really important for the staff. Getting into the first quarter,
00:25:24
Speaker
William Mayfield, he wasn't mucking around this game. He opened the scoring for the whole game with a transition three-pointer in Ryan Beasty's face. Overhand in his face, very confident shot to start everything off. So that's when you knew it was going to be a good contest this entire game.
00:25:43
Speaker
The commentators referred to both Jai Smith as Aussie Jai Smith and Jimmy Jai Smith. So that's how we're telling the difference between the two. Carrying on with the fourth, in the first quarter, Cameron Pender from the Canberra Gunners, he was really aggressive straight away. And I don't know if this guy tires at all. He's one to always be sprinting the floor to be an option on transition. And if he's not doing that, he's finding a way to the rack himself.
00:26:11
Speaker
He only played 18 minutes. I'm not too sure why perhaps it's just because of the particular rotations for this game. Also perhaps because Lachlan Smith was having the game of his life with 22 points and four rebounds. So I think between Cam Pender who started and Lachie Smith just lighting it up, I think considering that Lachie's scoring was obviously working at the time. So coach just let him play. But anytime Pender was on it, honestly felt like he played longer than 18 minutes because he always makes such an impact.
00:26:41
Speaker
He had four points, got to the free throw line six times in 18 minutes, and he's always brings a lot of defensive intensity. So I did really like overall in this game how players like Lachlan Smith and Cam Penda, who we knew was kind of emerging players from the last couple of seasons. And we were hoping that that would have bigger roles and bigger impact this season, given that they've got a bit more experience. And it looks like that that's coming to fruition.
00:27:07
Speaker
Will Mayfield continued with his hot shooting. He had three three-pointers and 11 points in the first quarter so he was really keeping Canberra afloat. Canberra, I shouldn't say afloat because Canberra blitzed this first quarter winning at 8-23. I think the part of the reason why Canberra was so successful was scoring in this opening quarter.
00:27:27
Speaker
Newcastle looked like they weren't communicating very well on defence, particularly in transition. And on the offensive end, it looked like they were still trying to get a little bit organised and a little bit rushed. So a lot of Newcastle shot selections weren't probably the ideal shots they were taking and then coupled with just bad luck. So some shots they were taking were really good looks, but they would just rim out or they'd just miss. And it was just a case of that. They just couldn't make shots.
00:27:55
Speaker
So you really felt for them because at the time they were really doing a lot of things right. So I think in that first quarter, Newcastle only shot 18.18%, which is not an ideal start, and 14% from the three point line. Not a very good start. Definitely had to try and crawl themselves out of a hole, which they obviously did given they only lost by seven points. And rolling around the second quarter, Ryan Beastie started to get really hot. So he hit a three at eight minutes 53 in the second quarter, which kind of broke
00:28:25
Speaker
the scoring drought for both teams. Neither team had scored in the quarter until that point and I think that really kind of started to ignite something in the Falcons.
00:28:35
Speaker
The Gunners surprisingly started to rotate a lot of their other younger players on at once. There wasn't much of a combination between the three of the five starters. And I think that was more just to get the younger players and the bench players to get a taste of the game, just in case they were needed in a stretch. Because I don't think we saw a lot of them after that. And I also noticed that compared to last season, Ryan Beastie is starting to play on the outside a little bit more.
00:29:01
Speaker
And the connection between Beastie and Cherry was really, really good. So they're always looking out for each other, especially when Miles Cherry was in the short corner, then they're able to work it off each other a lot. But like I said before, Miles Cherry is still getting his groove back. It looks like that there are probably a few more plays or scoring opportunities drawn up for those two to work their magic, like the Michael Jordan and the Scotty Pippins of NBA One East.
00:29:30
Speaker
Perhaps. Big call. There's probably a lot of pairings actually in the East competition in men's
Summary of Game Outcomes
00:29:36
Speaker
and women's we could say are the Jordan and the Pippen. I mean, equally on the Gunners, the Jordan and the Pippen at times was Mayfield and Morrison. They looked for each other a lot on the pick and roll. What was really interesting for Newcastle though is that they had Francis Weneira at Mulverhill. You know, we talked about him in one of our preview episodes and lightning quick, really good off the dribble.
00:29:58
Speaker
Considering he's one of their imports and one of their big signings, I was actually really surprised that there weren't a lot more plays drawn up for him. Whether it's a pick and roll with Beastie or Cherry or something where he can create, even if it's like a isolation play off a ball movement or something. He only ended up with nine points and shot four from 13.
00:30:18
Speaker
The looks he was getting were pretty good but I think that he probably could have been a little bit more aggressive. So that second quarter ended up going in Newcastle's favour. I think this is when Ryan Beastie really started to get going. Newcastle won the second quarter 16-14 so they started to make a real proper comeback.
00:30:36
Speaker
So by half time, the scores were 24 to 37, which is a very low scoring game. And I think that is just reflective of there were quite a few loose balls, a lot of back and forth, and a lot of just bad luck from both teams. The shooting woes for the Falcons continued in that second quarter. They did improve to 33.3% overall, but it still wasn't their best shooting quarter.
00:30:59
Speaker
But having said that, they were able to limit the Canberra Gunners to also shooting at 33.33% in the second quarter. So a little bit more of an even playing field. And then going into the third quarter, it was like roles were reversed.
00:31:12
Speaker
I don't know if it was a case of the one end that both teams were shooting at, which is the end closest to the stadium entrance, was the bad luck end. Because anytime both teams were shooting at that end, that's when the balls were just rimming out, or just missing, or things weren't clicking for that team.
00:31:31
Speaker
So then Newcastle ended up winning the third quarter 20-10, so holding Canberra to 10 was exceptional. But again, it was just a matter of bad luck, decent options, sometimes not so good options for Canberra and it was just like roles were reversed. But in the third quarter for the Falcons, they started the third quarter quite strong and started to move the ball a lot more.
00:31:52
Speaker
than they were getting much better shot and I think that is perhaps also why they won that third quarter by 10 points and Beastie by a three quarter time he had 22 points but interestingly enough by the game finishing he only scored an extra two points or three points in in the fourth quarter so they Gunners did a really really good job of shutting him down in the fourth
00:32:15
Speaker
Um, I have to give a shout out to point guard from Newcastle Falcons, Jayden Goodwin, because his defense was really good. This, this game, he put his body on the line quite a few times. He drew two charges and the third, it looks like he drew a charge, but it was called a block when Locky Smith was going for a layup in transition. Um, but either way, he was consistently putting his body on the line for Newcastle. And sometimes that was just the spark that they needed. Yeah. And that third quarter.
00:32:45
Speaker
Like I said, total roll reversals, that ended up being the Canberra Gunners worst shooting quarter of the game. They only shot 16.67%, which was lower than Newcastle's dismal. So rolling into the fourth, it was really still anyone's game. I don't feel like either team had consistently
00:33:09
Speaker
shown any kind of dominance or control over the game, even going into this fourth quarter. It was still very frenetic, lots of loose balls, both teams trying to play with pace. But the thing that I think won Canberra this game, which we saw definitely last season from Canberra as well,
00:33:31
Speaker
They really locked down in defense. Their defense in the fourth quarter was really good. Everyone's onboard defense was a lot better. Their rotations and their communication when they had to swap players or switch or something was a lot better. And it looks like that they were trying to extend their defense just that extra half step so they were really pushing the Falcons off the three-point line. But yeah, they did a really good job of
00:33:58
Speaker
shutting down Ryan Beasty. He got very minimal touches. He only got a, actually he got a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. So he ended the game with 25 points and 11 rebounds. But this three-pointer he got in the fourth quarter was tough. It was off a ball reversal. It was in the far corner. It was in dying seconds of the shot clock and it was fading away over a Glen Morrison hand.
00:34:22
Speaker
So super impressive that he made it, but that just shows how hard he had to work just to get any points in this fourth quarter. So really good defense from the Gunners in the fourth quarter. And, you know, the Gunners just know how to like hang on in the fourth. They're really, really good at finishing games off. And I think that's pretty much what won at this game. Pretty funny. Locky Smith getting really fired up when he had a couple of free throws and a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. He was motioning to the crowd to be quiet, give him a little jush.
00:34:54
Speaker
So I'm guessing that perhaps he was copying some spray from the crowd and he was retaliating by telling them to shush. That was pretty funny. I'd really like to know what Coach Herrick thought of that. If he was kind of like, look, do what you need to do if it means you keep scoring or whatnot. But the real hero of the fourth quarter, I'm sure you're going to be able to guess who it is. Take a stab.
00:35:22
Speaker
Don't look at the stats, just instinct. Will Mayfield. Close. Glen Morrison. Glen Morrison. Oh my gosh. This guy was on everything. He ended the game eight points, not his best scoring outfit, but 22 rebounds.
00:35:42
Speaker
I don't know if I can find a way to see how many rebounds he got in the fourth quarter alone, but he played with such desperation. He was on every loose ball, every rebound. If he wasn't securing a rebound, he at least got a touch to it. A guy of like his size.
00:35:58
Speaker
his ability to, like he's super agile, quick on his feet, but his vertical jump, I'm pretty sure he's always had a great vertical jump. And I don't know if it's just in the context of this game that he's playing with such urgency to get the win that it gives him superpowers to jump higher.
00:36:16
Speaker
But also he's got good reach, but he was he was on everything. And I think being the captain and leading by example goes a long way. But Canberra, the rest of the team obviously feed off that energy as well. So
00:36:30
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was outstanding. I wouldn't be surprised if he slept all the way home in the car after that because he would have been knackered. Summarizing highlights, I would have to say the third quarter, like I said, you know, Newcastle winning that one 20 points to 10.
00:36:48
Speaker
the highest shooting percentage all game as well with 37.5. Essentially the team that won this game had, the team with the best ball movement won this game. And I think the Gunners really good at running their sets, probably more consistently had better ball movement, but then pair that with their lockdown defense in the fourth and Glen Morrison getting on absolutely everything. That got them over the line with a seven point win. I have to give a shout out to Kobe Shannon.
00:37:16
Speaker
He's playing really, really well and fitting in quite easily with this Newcastle team. Probably just needs to keep working on his decision making, even though he's only young though. So he's got lots of time to get experience under his belt.
00:37:30
Speaker
He played a good 30 minutes. And if people go back, hopefully this is in the highlight package, but go back to around 42 seconds in the fourth quarter. And he does this amazing step back three. That was so good that I obviously had to write a note about it.
Upcoming Round Three Preview
00:37:45
Speaker
That was more impressed. Some final stats though from this game. Ryan Beastie ended up with 25 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 53% overall, which included 50% from the three point line.
00:37:59
Speaker
Lachlan Smith from the Gunners had 22 points in 28 minutes and Will Mayfield had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in and he was shooting 50% from the three-point line. But overall it was a pretty entertaining game. Like I said, going into that fourth quarter you really weren't too sure who was going to win but Canberra were able to hold on with their strong defence and winning the fourth quarter 16-20.
00:38:28
Speaker
and having Glen Morrison do everything. The Brindabella bacon, shiny brightest. Another outstanding statistic actually was that Canberra had 21 free throw attempts and Newcastle only had six. I think that is quite reflective of how much of their game style, like Newcastle was certainly settling for a lot of outside shots, particularly in the first half, not really getting to the rack or
00:38:55
Speaker
not and to score obviously but not also getting to the rack to make any other secondary scoring opportunities for their teammates so new cast with they each had 15 assists i guess i did notice that where did um camera end up in the bonus a fair bit because uh
00:39:13
Speaker
But the field goal attempts is a stark difference. It's 15 different and the team, the team that won has 15 fewer shot attempts than the team that lost. It's not like they're getting shooting fouls. Yeah. Yeah. So it must've been some, there must've been in the bonus. Yeah. I can't quite remember actually.
00:39:32
Speaker
Another interesting thing I picked up on, Newcastle only had 10 turnovers and Canberra had 16 turnovers. Canberra were able to score six points off turnovers. So six points off 10 turnovers is pretty good. Whereas Newcastle forced Canberra to commit 16 turnovers, but they had no points from those turnovers. So I wonder if that may be a point of emphasis in some of the future games. It's really great that you're able to
00:40:00
Speaker
Cause a team like Canberra to cough up 16 turnovers. Um, six coming from Glen Morrison, but you've got to be able to capitalize on that. And I guess it's also a function of what kind of turnovers they are as well. If you're not forcing by four turnovers where you can get out in transition on the break, perhaps all you may have the turnovers you're forcing aren't the kind that always get you an easy opportunity.
00:40:28
Speaker
If you're, you know, if they're throwing it out of bounds, you know, you drawing a charge, they can get back in their half court defense and set up. Points from turnovers are not all alike, I guess is the, is the point I'm trying to make. Yeah. Yeah. That's fair enough. And a similar point that we made when you were reviewing the women's games and not all points in the paint are necessarily back to the basket post moves and dunks.
00:40:51
Speaker
We need more stats. We need more stats. I think we might have to use one of our sneaky sources of stats for the next couple episodes. So Locky, take me into a quick round three preview. Round three preview. So being back on men's duty. Well, I'm actually pulling double shift as a commentator. So I'm, uh,
00:41:16
Speaker
not going to have too many opportunities to watch anything else. Uh, I've got, uh, I've got Comets Inner West on Friday night and then I've got the grand final rematch, Sutherland Maitland on, uh, on Saturday. So I am, I am spoiled, but I got to say that Friday night, 8 p.m. down at the goat pen or the hideout. I'm sorry, Aubrey Widongo Bandits. It's the hideout. I'm sorry. I forgot that.
00:41:46
Speaker
Oh, the hardware is actually pretty cool. That's a pretty
League News and Gossip
00:41:49
Speaker
cool name. COO getting things started against the high-flying Aubrey Wodonga Bandits on Friday night at 8pm in the men's. So, that should be a pretty good watch. I think, apart from the two games I'm calling, that one should be pretty good. Actually, in Aubrey have Norths as well. There's plenty to watch. I would highly recommend watching COO both against Aubrey Wodonga and then against Bankstown as well.
00:42:16
Speaker
It's round three, everyone else has had a couple of rounds to bet in. So coming in late starters, we'll see if they can hit the ground running. Wonderful. Equally in the women's competition, which I'll be covering for next episode. Yeah, that Aubrey Wodonga Bandits Norse Bears game is probably going to be pretty good watching. The other game I'm interested to see actually is Sydney Comets and Newcastle Falcons.
00:42:44
Speaker
because Sydney Comets were able to hang around with Crusaders. And I didn't watch that women's game, but from what I have heard, the Crusaders kind of just fell into the playing style of the Comets. And that's how Comets were able to stick so closely to the Crusaders, being able to just control the game in that way. And it'll be interesting to see if they're able to do the same to Newcastle.
00:43:10
Speaker
And I think if that happens, Newcastle will be really up for a test. And the matchup between Dale and Munger, that's going to be pretty interesting in that game as well. I'm keen to see that matchup. Also, I'm hoping that Isla Juffamans comes back to the competition pretty soon. I've been told that she's likely to come back.
00:43:31
Speaker
within the month, so it might be a little bit greedy of me to think that she'll be back next round, but we'll keep an eye out. So I would say that Aubrey Wodonga North game, this and the Comets Newcastle game, I'm probably most interested in seeing how that unfolds. Yeah. And if Juffamans is still a few weeks away, or a couple of weeks away, just more playing time for Hannah Chicken as she gets scary good.
00:43:57
Speaker
rolling into any news and gossip from around the league. You're going to have better eyes and ears on the news and gossip this time, Blocky. Well, I mean, last week I had some sad news about Jeff Gerlach retiring the shark fin. I've got far happier news about Jeff Gerlach because he and his partner Ash have welcomed their second child. Congratulations to the Gerlachs. Yes.
00:44:27
Speaker
Yeah, so very, very happy news. Lillian May, family of four now. So Jeff, uh, yeah. So that's why I assume Jeff wasn't in Aubrey Woodonga on Saturday night because he was otherwise occupied. So he can, uh, spend plenty of time showing his, uh, new daughter his favorite movie, according to the MBL one website, which is the 2023 MBL one East brand final replay.
00:44:56
Speaker
Oh my gosh, it's hilarious. You were up, you weren't just watching NBL One North. You were watching some other basketball this week. You're right. I had a quite a basketball filled weekend actually. I watched NBL One North for Friday night and the Saturday I made the trip to, I think it's called South Pine. I mean, the stadium was called South Pine. So it's about, I think it's about 25, 30 minutes north of me. I'm still figuring out
00:45:22
Speaker
the lay of the land here. So, you know, can't miss them slack. But yeah, I went up to Strathpine, the under 18 Nationals was on. On Saturday, the New South Wales Metro women were in the semi final against Victoria country. And
00:45:41
Speaker
despite the New South Wales Metro women being super talented, it wasn't a game that they could still take lightly because Vic Country had some serious shooters on their team. So yeah, got to see them in action, got to meet some lovely people face to face for the first time that I'd only known online. So that was added to the really great experience. But yeah, New South Wales Metro
00:46:02
Speaker
with a convincing win over Vic Country in that semi-final and then the next day they rocked up to play who sounds like their long-standing rivals in Queensland South and won the gold medal. So massive congratulations to Tim Hill who is the manly Waringa Seagal's MBL1 men's coach for this season was also the coach of this
00:46:26
Speaker
under 18 Metro women's team. So congratulations to him. Also congratulations to Jesse May Hall, who's playing for Hornsby Keringai Spiders. She was also in that team.
00:46:38
Speaker
There are a lot of really, like this team was really talented. Like I was fangirling from this team. They are so talented. Their ability of read and react was really impressive. Their shooting percentage was very impressive. The way that they share the ball with each other. So another outstanding player from this team is Ruby Perkins, who we briefly mentioned in an earlier episode. She's from North. She and Jessie Mae Hall,
00:47:07
Speaker
I think there's a quote online with community TV from Tim Hill saying that they're the best backcourt of their age group in the country. And he's not exaggerating. They are both super skilled at both ends of the court. Like I said, read and react is really, really great. Great basketball IQ. They look for each other. They're passing ability. They're finishing ability. Yeah, it was really, really impressive. So I'm glad that I got to watch them play.
00:47:33
Speaker
And there was lots of talent from Manly and North as well in that team. And essentially a lot of players from this New South Wales Metro team and the other team, the team that they beat in the grand final being Queensland South, most of, a lot of players from both of those teams are in the current Australian squad that are in contention to making the roster for the under 17 World Cup later this year. So really, really great basketball. Definitely some future Opals.
00:48:04
Speaker
at that tournament. I was, I'm really glad I went. So yes, New South Wales Metro getting the gold medal in the women with a New South Wales country finished sixth.
00:48:16
Speaker
New South Wales Metro women getting the gold in New South Wales Country finishing 6th whilst men's Metro and Country each finished 5th in their pool, so missing out on the knockout rounds. New South Wales Metro actually finished in a tie for 4th with SA Country and lost the head-to-head 76-74.
00:48:41
Speaker
So three points away from making the knockout rounds, unfortunately. But yes, huge congratulations to all involved in the New South Wales Metroid team. Jessie May racking up a lazy 17, five, five, and five. So points, rebounds, assists, steals. She just does everything and she's everywhere. She is. Like, she's just so outstanding to watch.
00:49:11
Speaker
But the only other news that I have is that the Inner West Bulls women's team have their second import has arrived. Their name is Maggie Robinson. So she made her NBA one East debut this round against Newcastle.
00:49:28
Speaker
If you want to find her on Instagram, her handle is theyoungdirk, but it says young is spelt with two G's. Hey, if someone's taking your handle, you got to find another way. You got to find ways around it. Yeah, that's right. All right. So we are going to take a break and we'll be returning with our very first guest for season two of East Got Game, which we're very excited about. And while we have our guest on air, we'll also be revealing the All Star Five for round two.
00:49:56
Speaker
stick around and we'll be right back. So we are back from our break here at East got game and it is time for our very first interview of season two. And it is someone that was on our wish list from last year, but we just unfortunately couldn't get around to it.
Interview: Sean Montague's Journey
00:50:12
Speaker
So we are very lucky that he's now back in nbl one East for 2024. We would like to welcome Sean Montague. Hello, Sean. Hi, guys. Thanks for having me on the podcast.
00:50:23
Speaker
Of course, I'm glad that we were able to get here eventually. We were just talking offline and you gave a really good answer, so I didn't want to replicate it. But you were just coming off a big win on Saturday. I said dismantling the Sutherland Sharks. Much to lock his dismay, getting the win 107-73, so that must be a good feeling. Yes.
00:50:48
Speaker
As I said before, it was a good win. We beat a really good settlement team. We just played together as a team, made the plays when it mattered and able to get a win in front of the home fans. There's a lot of people at our games, considering it's our first home game. But yeah, it was really good. It was a really good weekend for us. Definitely some pros and cons to it. Take some things away from it, but good to be on the winning side. Quite different from your debut season last year with the Hills Hornets. How have you been adjusting
00:51:17
Speaker
to Aubrey on and off the court so far. Yeah, good. I like Aubrey. I like it a lot. You know, it's different from Sydney, you know, playing in Sydney, you know, and of travel and stuff like that. But, you know, it's really, it's a really nice town here. We're nice people here. And they're very welcoming and very friendly. So I really don't have any complaints about playing here or living here in general. And from a team standpoint, you know,
00:51:40
Speaker
I'm surrounded by great teammates and great coaches, and I'm in a good situation now. And I really have no complaints about how the year has been so far and my time been here. I think we asked this to just about everyone. And I guess for American players, it's slightly different because basketball is so ingrained in the culture. But how did your basketball journey start? It actually started pretty late. I actually started playing basketball about 14, 15 years old. I was actually a baseball player for the longest time.
00:52:09
Speaker
Yeah, I love baseball. It's probably my second favorite sport. Yeah, but I started when I was about 14, 15 years old playing travel basketball with the local team that I had. And then I started really playing freshman year of high school. My father plays really inspired me a lot to be more like him. That's why I really wanted to take basketball more serious. And yeah, that's how my basketball journey started.
00:52:32
Speaker
So did you, you were a baseball player, did you play baseball through high school as well? Did you have a chance to take that any further or did you just go all in? It started, I played from year first grade to eighth grade. I think you guys call it like year eight, year nine. And then I just focused on basketball after that. So I can just put all of my all in basketball and become better every single year. So yeah.
00:52:58
Speaker
Did you miss baseball once you made the switch? Yeah, yeah, it was tough. It was tough because back home, the seasons from, the basketball seasons from October to March or February, late February, but then you have travel basketball. So it's high school basketball and then there's travel basketball. So travel basketball, we're conflicted with baseball, so I had to make a choice. So I gave baseball up and I do miss it, but, you know, it was for the better and it paid off in the end.
00:53:27
Speaker
Yeah, I imagine you wouldn't have as, oh, maybe I'm wrong, but would you have as many opportunities to play in different leagues overseas in baseball as you would with basketball? No, unfortunately, baseball is pretty American dominant. Unlike basketball, you can play in Europe, Australia, Asia, and stuff like that. So there's definitely more pathways to play basketball. I'm glad I made the basketball choice instead.
00:53:50
Speaker
And you're a long way from your native New York. It is listed online that you're from Yorktown Heights, is that right? Yes, Yorktown Heights, Westchester County. Now, I'm going to take a stab. Is this the same Yorktown that's referenced in the famous musical Hamilton? No, I don't think so. I think that's probably Yorktown, Virginia, maybe, because I know there's two Yorktowns. But no, Yorktown Heights is just a small
00:54:19
Speaker
small town, just maybe 45 minutes to an hour north of New York City. So I don't live in the city, I just like live on the outskirts of it. But I've been there all the time. Yeah, my geography isn't the best with the niche areas of the US, but I had to ask the question. I knew, I'm glad that you knew the reference because I was also going to follow up by saying, how many musical theater people have asked you the same question?
00:54:48
Speaker
Yeah, a lot. And so how did you find your way all the way down to MBL1E? I actually had an agent because previously I played in Malta professionally, then I went to Luxembourg briefly. And then by the time I was home, the MBL1 season was starting up last year before I played for Hillhornet. And my agent at the time, I just got back from Luxembourg because I was home looking for anything.
00:55:15
Speaker
the MBL1 season was starting up and there was opportunity to play for those Hornets. And that's where I got my first crack at MBL1 East last year, thanks to my agent that I was working with then. And it was a good, we also organized an organization to give me a chance. So you mentioned playing in Malta and Luxembourg. How does playing in MBL1 differ to those countries?
00:55:41
Speaker
I just like how freely you can play down here in Australia. Just like the pace of the game, you know, just playing in transition. I think Europe is more like structured, more half-court based. You know, for me, my type of style or play is like playing, running fast, running the lane, getting the rebound and going. Of course, there's probably a few clubs like that down here, but for the most part, man, I just like how freely you can play and just play your game down here and showcase your skill set.
00:56:09
Speaker
Yeah, the European style of play is kind of has that reputation of being very structured and very fixed in running a lot of sets. Absolutely. Were there still some good points in having to learn to play that way or did you find it took away the ability to read and react? There's definitely some good points. It works on your half-court offense, half-court skill. But for me, you know, I just prefer playing fast, playing transition, you know,
00:56:37
Speaker
running the line creating for others and stuff like that. So definitely everything has something to take away from, but you know, I just really enjoy playing down here. And luckily I always get the opportunity to do some of all of these for my second year. I really enjoy it down here and I want to be here for a long time playing in this league. So yeah. We heard you had offers from all around. I mean, you obviously changed class, but what helped you decide to stay in the East?
00:57:07
Speaker
Um, it's just competition. I'm pretty used to, um, giving that I played the Hills hornets last year. So I kind of know what I'm getting into. And, um, you know, I feel like an NBA one East has taken a jump in talent, uh, just by who like other teams has brought into and say, I just simply wanted to be a part of it. You know, um, just teams around the league, just bring in guys from all over into this league. Um, uh, and given, you know, it's the East, it's not,
00:57:37
Speaker
you know, maybe as strong as south or north or west. But you know, I think we give it a good chance this year with the talent that teams have brought in. I just wanted to be a part of the competition for sure. And luckily Aubrey has reached out and we got something done. I'm grateful to be here. I just think it's great that imports want to come back to east after performing well. I think, as you mentioned, this the talent
00:58:03
Speaker
you know, the talent is growing and players don't automatically look for that jump to south or north. I think that can only be a good thing that players want to stick around. I think it's a good thing for sure. Given that I was given the opportunity to be in Oakbridge just to stick around, I just felt like I was comfortable here last year and I just knew I was getting into, you know, playing familiar teams. So, yeah, it's a privilege to be here for a second year.
00:58:31
Speaker
You mentioned that you've also recognized the caliber of talent in the East has gone up in auction 2024. Is there anyone in the opposing teams that you've really got your eye on?
00:58:42
Speaker
And there's plenty, but there's a new big for the inner West named Zach Hudson. Um, who I think is, is we actually were Malta teammates in Malta actually. And it's funny cause, um, now we're playing against each other. Probably against each other. We don't play each other until June, but we're still in the same competition. Um, but I feel like that was a really good addition for inner West, you know, given that they already have, um,
00:59:05
Speaker
Alex and a bunch of guys over there from last year. So, yeah, Zach Hudson is, he's my friend, but he's also really talented and he's a, he's a stretch floor and you can really put the ball on the ground, shoot and make plays for other teammates, but that's a score. So, that's just one of the many pieces that the league has brought around into this league. And I'm really excited to play against him back when it comes in June. It's really cool to see how small the basketball world is. It's for you guys who are teammates in Malta,
00:59:35
Speaker
Come out and play against each other and then be on one east. I was going to make the same comment, Locky. Like we often say that it's a big basketball world with lots of different competitions and opportunities, but we all tend to find our way back to each other one way or another. So all the places in the world you and Zach could have played a Malta, which is a very unique experience. And now you're in the same conference. So that's really, really cool. Was he a good teammate in Malta?
01:00:02
Speaker
Yeah, he was a great teammate. He actually made my time there much more enjoyable than it was without him. And I'm really excited for him. It's his first Kraken and BL1, and BL1, he's two. And we don't play them to our second to last home game, but it's definitely axed on the calendar for sure. We'll be friends after the game, but I'm trying to win that game for sure.
01:00:28
Speaker
Have you started to G each other up a little bit over social media or the text line, you know, leading into that game, even though it is so far away? Yeah. Once I signed work, you signed before me. So once I signed work, oh, we were already talking, talking smack, all the way back in, what is this, probably February. Yeah. So before the schedule even came out, we were already talking smack to each other. So it's really, it's going to, it's going to be exciting game for both of us.
01:00:58
Speaker
So we saw you play last year with Hills, um, had a fair, a pretty good season. I mean, really you had some, some injury troubles at time, but what is your role now with Aubrey Widonga and how does it differ to what you do with Hills? Is there any difference? Um, yeah, there's a difference. Um, uh, my role here is to basically just be that kind of like, like I could certainly score, but also trying to take pride in defense and just try to be, um,
01:01:27
Speaker
you know, we can't play offense without defense. So I want to really take pride in playing my defense this year. But on the offensive year, probably just score, put the ball in the ground, attack the rim and stuff like that. That would be my rule. And also shoot when I first drive and then shoot. But personally, just do anything to, you know, make my teammates better and put them in positions as well. And I would say it's different because, you know, playing alongside, like, Kevin, I played a long day, but, like, you're lucky. I'm Jacob St. Gerago, all my teammates, man.
01:01:56
Speaker
I say my role is not the same as Hill's, but it's also just probably just as important to this team. And I think I can, what I bring to this team is very valuable just like the rest of my teammates. But yeah, I would say my role is to probably score and then have a defensive presence on the defensive side for sure.
01:02:17
Speaker
And for someone who said that they like to play with pace and in transition, it must be a treat to play then with those players that you just mentioned in Blalock, Cummings, and obviously Hickey. Because especially Hickey, he's going to make you run. Yeah, David was really good at what he does, man. Just his ability to just get the rebound and just go and just push.
01:02:47
Speaker
He does a really good job pushing the tempo. Everything inside me has the ball. And then me, KV, and Lucky always do a good job of running the floor and just getting into positions and just trying to make our jobs easier for each other. So yeah, it's a privilege playing with these guys that I have this year and I'm very excited for what's to come for this team.
01:03:08
Speaker
And it is, um, talking about defense, is defense something that really is, you know, drilled in by the coaches? Cause Squint, Squint and I both being from the country, we know that, um, you know, country coaches, they love to, uh, hard nose defense is, uh, one of the hallmarks of country basketball. Yeah. Um, yeah. Defense, you can't, you can't play offense without, you can't win in general without playing defense. So we do, after our first, uh, loss against comments, we really tried to,
01:03:38
Speaker
emphasize on playing defense and stuff and me personally as well. But I feel like, you know, with the length that we have, me, KB Davo, and then Jacob, lucky if we all buy into playing defense, I think we can do a really good job. Like we did on Saturday, we held a really good settlement team to 73 points. I feel like we can just build off that and, you know, just try to be better than we was last week. And then try to be better on Friday against the COE.
01:04:05
Speaker
Yeah and definitely based on the stats from round 2 in that game against Sutherland, you yourself had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, shooting at 46% overall. So 7 of those rebounds were in defence. You also had 2 blocks as well.
01:04:24
Speaker
So that's some of your defensive presence coming in there. But a highlight that isn't on the stat sheet is that absolute post-dunk that was circulating on social media. Also, I'm not too sure who the photographer was. I can probably find it a bit later and maybe give him a shout out online. But A, excellent photo. But B, that was a huge dunk.
01:04:52
Speaker
When you like, I mean, I've not, I've never dunked. I'm not ever going to dunk. Um, but when you're up in that moment and you can feel someone under you, do you know at the time, how big it's going to be or can you just make sure it goes in? You know, I just, in the heat of the moment, you know, you just want to make sure it goes in. And I was kind of like, I was in a dunker spot. Uh, Davos did a really good job of getting past the initial defender. And then I was just ready to catch the pass and just drop down and dunk it.
01:05:19
Speaker
But in the heat of the moment, I just want to, you know, make sure it goes in. And, um, I guess I did it emphatically and super high. I don't know how it wasn't a foul. Uh, I went on the floor. Um, but you know, as long as it went in, I'm, I'm, I'm fine. Two points, two points. And yeah, it was pretty cool. Statement of authority on your shock. He's lucky. Are you a science fan? Lucky. Uh,
01:05:47
Speaker
I'm the shark's commentator. Oh really? Yeah. Oh wow. Yeah. Yeah, well someone's been pretty good at thinking, you know, they're obviously missing Girl Act. So no, I think they're a really good team and we, I will see you in June actually, cause we play you guys again. So you handled that quite well, Locky, well done and you were very diplomatic.
01:06:12
Speaker
You could have taken that opportunity to roast him, but you were a very polite guest. I could have become the second sub of one person he's dunked on recently. Yeah. And the chemistry between the players you also mentioned as well was pretty evident in this game too. Blalock having 21, 6 and 4. Sinkarak having 13. Five assist, four steals. Hickey having 21, 14 and 11. Outrageous.
01:06:40
Speaker
classic Dave O'Hickey triple double statistically all looking really, really good. And the team had 28 assists. Yes, that was probably the most satisfying stat to see, you know, just to see the ball going around and just everyone getting a touch and everyone getting an opportunity to make a play. And it just showed 103 points, you know, 28 assists.
01:07:04
Speaker
And, uh, every game's going to be like that. Well, that's our goal to every game for it to be like that. So it was good to see that on Saturday night. He even had the youngster Samuel Webb playing 21 minutes, 25 seconds, and he put up 13 points and 12 rebounds, uh, shooting six from seven overall. Um, yeah. Must be pretty exciting to have a youngster, um, competing with some of those stats too. Yeah. Yep. Webby's, Webby's like.
01:07:31
Speaker
I think he's great. He's only 18 years old, putting up those type of numbers. He's a really solid piece for us coming off the bench, giving us that little spark that we need sometimes, along with Liam Brady, another young, young Gonda from Walgreens here. Yeah, it's good to see them get out there and do well. You want to see them do well, especially from the home crowd, all their family and friends, you know, from Walgreens. So, yeah, Webby is doing good for us so far. I really hope he keeps it going.
01:07:57
Speaker
Mentioned that crowd in Albury, it has to be one of the best in the league to play in front of, isn't it? Absolutely, absolutely. It feels really amazing to see firsthand, you know, because I was on the, I've seen it before, but I was on the other side last year. And it's good to know that this year I'll be on the bandit side, you know, the home crowd room for you.
01:08:18
Speaker
It was great to see both sides of the gym packed out, people on their boxes and stuff. Kids enjoying every single moment that they're there. It was really great, and if we have a crowd like that, it would be hard to lose.
01:08:31
Speaker
for the women's side and the men's side. So that was really great to see. And also online, seeing some photos that you've reposted on your Instagram account with a couple of young fans that are obviously local kids coming to watch as well. As part of your season with the bandits, have they got you doing anything in the community to help promote the game and help promote the team?
01:08:54
Speaker
Yes, I believe we have some holiday camps come up, so some of them are Bandits players, including myself, and I'll participate in that. We actually have a Southern Bay home, what do you call it, like a house show on Saturday morning that us Bandits players will be attending. So I just feel like that's the start of what trying to get the Bandits in the community, the camps and then the home showing on Saturday.
01:09:17
Speaker
It's really exciting here in Aubrey and I'm really excited for the year. Comparing your first season in MBL 1 East to the current one, you spoke about before how part of your role in the bandits is to be more of a defensive presence and obviously get some scores out in transition, in some pace, in the way that you like to play. Are there any parts of your game that you personally would like to improve on? Definitely my aspect I want to work on is my shooting, especially my free throw shooting. If I can improve those numbers, I really
01:09:48
Speaker
It's not like my numbers would be much better if I can improve my shooting. I feel like I already had the intangibles, athleticism, ball handling, and stuff like that, and quickness. So if I can improve my shooting personally, yeah, that would be...
01:10:00
Speaker
It's definitely one of my goals this year and it was last year. So I just want to improve every single year I play my aspect of shooting for sure. Just a bit of a throwaway kind of silly question though, Sean. I noticed that throughout your career, the longer your basketball career has gone on, the longer your hair gets. Now is that a coincidence or is that intentional? I've been growing my hair out since the pandemic. So 2020, I used to have a head full of hair.
01:10:29
Speaker
But then I decided to dread it. And it was really small to begin with in 2020. You just got to trust the process because, you know, you're just like, oh, it doesn't look good. It's so short. As the years going on, 21, 22, 23, I just kept getting along. And I think it's like midway to my back.
01:10:46
Speaker
So, um, it's pretty long. Um, my mom likes it. So I, I like it better. Yeah. Can't relate. It's all good, man. Who have you got looking after your dreadlocks down there? Do we need Violet Capri Moro to come down and sort it out? I haven't really found anybody yet, but I will. Um, actually don't, I need to retwist not soon, but I need to find somebody that can help my hair.
01:11:16
Speaker
The best case is probably going to Melbourne for a weekend and get my hair done. I haven't found a person in Albury or Redonka yet. Hopefully, I do. I don't have to go three hours to Melbourne. If there's any listeners out there, whether they're in East or in Melbourne, if we happen to have any Victorian listeners that know someone that can help Sean maintain his dreadlocks, please do. Yes, please. Thank you.
01:11:46
Speaker
Question we always finish with, who is Sean Montague when he's not on the court? When I'm not on the court, like what I like to do or like why am I different? Who are you? What do you like to do? We get so many different answers to this question. So run with it how you wish. When I'm not playing basketball, I enjoy music. I love music. I love different genres of music, rock, hip hop.
01:12:10
Speaker
jazz, little five beats. I love listening to music. I like to play video games. I play Fortnite, FIFA, Madden, usually competitive video games. I play FIFA with some of the youth leakers guys here and I'm the best FIFA player they know.
01:12:28
Speaker
I'm really good at FIFA, man. If anyone wants to challenge me at FIFA, do at your own risk. I'm really good. And I like to write. I like going outside for walks and times. But yeah, I just keep it easy going. But mostly I like to listen to music, you know, and just chill. Let's watch movies and stuff like that. So I also like to live, too. I like doing, I like lifting weights. But yeah, if it's not basketball, then I'm probably doing those things most likely.
01:12:55
Speaker
Oh, it's interesting you say that because MB01 East just posted their get-to-know for Sutherland Sharks and Claris Amir says his secret talent is he's really good at FIFA. Oh, yeah. He's gonna, if he wants to, man, he can have me on PlayStation if he has it or EA Sports. You know, I'm pretty good. You know, I don't can use, I use Real Madrid or FC Marin or
01:13:21
Speaker
or manual. So that's my three go-to teams. Have we just started at NBL One East FIFA Conference? If you did, I want first dibs. I'm sure we could probably
All-Star Five Announcements
01:13:33
Speaker
do that up. There would be heaps of gamers in NBL One East and women's competition. Josh, he says he's good at Fortnite as well, so. I'm pretty good at FIFA. I mean, I have Fortnite. I prefer FIFA, though. Yeah, I love FIFA. And the games are nice and quick too. It's like 15 minutes, maybe 10.
01:13:50
Speaker
By the end of the season, Squint is going to be playing FIFA. She was just mauling people with the Central Coast Mariners. Do you have a gaming system? I do not. And my life is on its last leg. So I don't think I have much hope, but that would be pretty cool though if I got good at FIFA and I could be the Mariners, the Central Coast represent. But if there was a gaming console that I would save up for, I really want to get
01:14:17
Speaker
one of those re-released versions of a Nintendo 64 or a Super Nintendo that's loaded with all of the old games in like one cartridge. That's more my era and I'm not sure I'm showing my age but I read a book last year that made reference to Donkey Kong and ever since then I've been weirdly really wanting to play
01:14:40
Speaker
Donkey Kong on 64 because that game was like near perfect and going back to your interest in music Have you seen any good gigs while you've been in Australia either last year or this year or in the last month? No, I have not defined boy last year, but I can't remember because it's Sydney I usually just wait for him to come released on Spotify or something close and everything, you know, whatever I'm doing that day
01:15:08
Speaker
You know, I got a pretty wide range of what I listen to. So if I lose my Spotify account, I hope I'm really upset because that's where all my stuff is. Are you in charge of the locker room playlist? No, I'm not. I don't think anybody is, but I think David played music last Saturday, but no one's really in charge of it. But I guess, I don't know. I always have my AirPods and stuff. What's your current go-to song to get ready for a game at the moment?
01:15:37
Speaker
At the moment When I listen to one Saturday, I listen to sweet emotion by Aerosmith I love that song just the rift of the drums and the guitar, you know, it just gets me going Also, I also listen to I think it was probably sweet emotion like twice maybe three times just to get myself going Yeah, but it varies man. It varies. I can't think on top of having just drawing a blank
01:16:01
Speaker
But whenever I'm feeling that day, whenever they get me going, I just pop in by either my beats. So just before we finish up, would you like to stick around and hear who made our All Star Five in the men's and women's competition for round two? Yes. Excellent. Lucky, would you like to kick us off with your women's All Star Five for round two? I certainly will. And I think Sean's going to like the women's one because we've got a couple of Aubrey Widonga representatives. But well,
01:16:31
Speaker
start with one player that is almost a fixture in the women's All-Star five and that's Nicole Munger from Newcastle, who had 28 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block in a win over Inner West and 35 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and four steals in an 84-52 win over Canberra.
01:16:53
Speaker
Second up is someone who features almost as often as Nicole, that's Michaela Donkins with 18 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal in a 78-73 win over Comet and 24 points, 16 rebounds and 5 assists in an 86-57 win over
01:17:12
Speaker
Penrith. Now the third player who edged out so many, I mean Lizzie Tonks was close, Leilani Mitchell was close, they both had two big games, Sid Hunter with a double-double, David Dale was close with a triple, almost had a triple-double.
01:17:28
Speaker
But I'm going to give one spot to Piaf Gabriel from Inner West, who had 31.7 rebounds and an assist in a valiant effort in the 86-66 loss to Newcastle. But then in a low scoring affair against Hornsby, helped Inner West their first win of the season with 16 points, eight rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Which leads us to the Border Bandits pair.
01:17:55
Speaker
First up, Lauren Jackson, 31 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, a steal and two blocks in a 103-53 win over the Sharks. And then Michaela Pivik, 19 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, three steals.
01:18:12
Speaker
a triple double and I'm sure that is going to become a regular occurrence. Is the Michaela giving triple double in NBI1 East this season? Absolutely, yeah. John, have you had any opportunity to have any one-on-one sessions with LJ yet?
01:18:28
Speaker
No, I have not. I've actually not had formerly met her yet. But I would like to. Because I've actually lived with Lauren Jackson before, you know, I came down here, you know, because she played in WBA. So I watched her. What's it like when you, you know, stay in contact with your family and friends back home and you say to them, Hey, Lauren Jackson's in our women's team. I mean, I was I was kind of shocked myself because I knew she was
01:18:57
Speaker
from Aubrey last year, but I didn't think she was gonna play this year, but then she said she was coming back, so I thought that was really cool, and hopefully I get to get the chance to follow me here one day. I think my dad was pretty psyched out, too. I think that's gives me more incentive to come visit me with Aubrey, so hopefully he can come down here one day and open the air, so.
01:19:22
Speaker
So I was in charge of the All Star Five for the men's competition as per. This was also really tricky to pick as it is most weeks because there are a lot of people with some other outstanding stats and a lot of double doubles. And it was great to see actually a couple of new names popping up. So give an honorable mention to Riley Abercrombie from Illawarra. He had 24 points and 11 rebounds at 59% shooting overall against the Bankstown Bruins.
01:19:52
Speaker
Also a shout out to Obie Che from Sydney Comets who had 23 and 15 at 53% overall against the Crusaders. And I gave a shout out as well to your boy Blalock with 21, 6 and 4 at 67% overall against the Sharks. Now if he's pulling up those stats and not making the all-star five,
01:20:17
Speaker
Uh, you can believe that the All-Star Five is, um, had some pretty, pretty high numbers. Yeah, absolutely. I can already tell. So at the top, I had Robbie Heath from the Central Coast Crusaders. I guess the Sydney Comets, he had 38 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Um, he did shoot 17 threes.
01:20:41
Speaker
which is a lot and 35 shots overall. And I thought that's a lot of shots. Um, hence why he probably got the 38 points, but he did back up the next day at home against Penrith and had 36 points for rebounds and for assists with 53 overall. So if you were going to average 37 points in a weekend, I think it's, you should be in the all-star five, right?
01:21:04
Speaker
So had someone that you briefly mentioned before Sean Alexander Higgins titcher from the inner West Bulls He also played a double header this weekend and against Newcastle He had 25 points five rebounds four assists three steals and two blocks and shooting at 61% overall so actually doing everything
01:21:29
Speaker
Then he backed up and played against Hornsby on the Sunday where he had 20 points and 10 rebounds, shooting at 80% overall, which included three or four three-pointers. And in that game as well, he only committed, in the first game actually against Newcastle, he only then committed one turnover and one foul. So that's a pretty outstanding game from Higgins teacher. I also had, so this is where it was a little bit tricky, but I've actually got two guys from the same team.
01:21:57
Speaker
I've got Jonas Harper from Manly Waringa and I've also got Mason Bragg because they also put up some pretty impressive numbers. I actually know Jonas Harper. He's actually my friend. He's from, I think he's from the New England area, but he just came from Boston University. I've known him for a few years now. That's another guy I'm looking forward to playing against. He's a really good one. Good hooker from Manly. That's cool. So did you ever play against him or do you just know him from like the scene?
01:22:27
Speaker
I think I played this a few times, I think from the scene, a few camps and stuff like that. I actually knew.
01:22:34
Speaker
him and his friend, uh, multiplied to play basketball as well at Boston year. But yeah, I met, he actually, we actually messaged each other, um, before he got to a manly and just manly having him and Eldridge, um, together it's going to be good. Um, yeah, manly is going to be a pretty good solid team this year. So what other Intel can you give us about Jonas's game? You mentioned he's a point guard. Is he a shoot first or pass first kind of a point guard?
01:23:00
Speaker
I actually haven't seen him play him in a couple years, but I think it's just going point guard for sure. Just by the stats he played up this week, this weekend. I think he's pretty good at getting a glimpse of what he can really do. So yeah, definitely a good pick up from Manly. Very exciting. So you're already keeping an eye on these stats, which is interesting. Keep a tab on your friends in the league, which is pretty cool. He shot 10 from 15 overall, which included six from 10 three-pointers.
01:23:30
Speaker
which is pretty massive. And in the same game, Mason Bragg, he had 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He shot seven from eight from the two point range, one out of two from the three point range and eight from nine free throws. So just an absolute clinic between those two, which is why they made the all-star five.
01:23:56
Speaker
And we've got one spot remaining in this All-Star Five, and I'm pretty confident you can guess who it is, Sean. Yeah, probably Davo Hickey or Triple Double. Sure is, Davo Hickey or Triple Double, the Davo Hickey Special. He had 21 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Sutherland Sharks in that massive win, and he shot at 50% overall as well, so Davo with the final spot.
01:24:23
Speaker
So that is wraps up our all-star fight and episode four of season two of eScott game.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:24:29
Speaker
John, once again, thank you so much for being our first guest of season two. And it was lovely to finally have a catch up with you. We're very excited for your season with a new team and very excited for your team in the breadth of the competition as well.
01:24:46
Speaker
Yes, thank you. Pleasure. Thank you guys for having me. It was a lot of fun talking to you guys. That wraps up our episode and keep an eye out. Final word from me is don't sleep on the east. Because the east got game. Thank you for listening to another episode of East Got Game.
01:25:04
Speaker
Remember to share this podcast with your friends and fellow fans of MBL One East and go ahead and hit that subscribe button. And while you're there, feel free to leave a review if you feel so inclined. We here at Eastcott Game are also looking for some sponsorship for this podcast. So if you or someone you know that may be interested, please message us on our Instagram page. But in the meantime, don't sleep.