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Episode 8: Don't call it an Upset
219 Plays2 years ago
Lachy and Squin are back to discuss Round 6 of the NBL1 East 2023 season.
There were plenty of upsets this round (but don't call it an upset), with some tops teams being toppled and other teams getting their first win.
This episode covers the women's games between Manly-Waringah Sea Eagles vs. Penrith Panthers; and Bankstown Bruins vs. Inner West Bulls. For the men's, it's Norths Bears vs. BA CoE; and Newcastle Falcons vs. Hills Hornets.
As always the episode is wrapped up with some news, gossip and the All-Star 5.
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Transcript
Introduction to East Got Game 2023
00:00:13
Speaker
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of East Got Game, an unofficial podcast about the NBA One East competition for 2023. My name is Jacinta Govind, commentator for the Central Coast Crusaders. And with me, as always, is Lachie France, commentator from the Sutherland Sharks. And I say commentator as just one of your many roles at that club, Lachie. Yes, the commentator helped to set up, helped to tear down.
00:00:42
Speaker
helped to do whatever they need me to do on game day really, but Commentator is a good enough job title. Yes, I would say so too.
Developing Commentary Skills
00:00:51
Speaker
It is certainly a privilege to still be commentating this league and at any level. So I think on the plus side, it definitely creates a pathway and more opportunities for us to try and improve our commentary skills as well.
00:01:06
Speaker
Certainly does. I mean, yeah, I was even up at Comets this week. Anyone who caught the manly Comets game on Friday night, it was lovely to have your company. So you're already going to be able to take over a couple of the clubs down there, in Sydney clubs down there, Locky. Soon enough, we'll be hearing a voice everywhere. No, no, no, no. We got plenty of good commentators around the league.
Round 6 Highlights and Surprises
00:01:30
Speaker
Oh, excellent. So we have just finished round six of MBL one East for 2023. Another exciting round, a lot of different and varied and unexpected results from this week. Um, what did you take? What was your main takeaways lucky before we get into the results? Uh, well, I think the, uh, big results, especially on the men's side came with North's beating COE, but then losing to Hills.
00:02:00
Speaker
Really, real turn up for the books. You know, you get that win over someone like COE and you think it sets you on your way, but you're immediately pegged back. Bit of a missed opportunity there with the double header. You just thought it could have gone 2-0. And I think inner West women, big win there. That was a big win over Sutherland. Say that mutedly, but it did happen. I believe that was their first ever home win in the league.
00:02:31
Speaker
Yeah, I think you're right, actually, because the Hindu West Bulls last year not ching up their first win of their, you know, MBL one East career or club history against the Central Coast Crusaders away. So that would be their first home win. I think you're correct. Wow. So yeah, there's actually a lot going on. Um, yeah, real bit of a shakeup of the, uh, a ladder this week. So, uh, yeah, plenty to run through.
00:02:57
Speaker
Yes. So speaking of, I'm going to quickly recap the women's results from round six.
Women's Games Recap
00:03:03
Speaker
So we started on Friday night again, where Bankstown Bruins hosted the inner West Bulls and got another home win 72 to 60. And we went across town to Alexandria where the Sydney Comets played. The Sydney Comets coming into this round in the women's league as well were placed first on the ladder.
00:03:22
Speaker
And they played the then positioned third place, Manly Waringa Sea Eagles. And Manly really turned up this game, thumping the Comets 95 to 73. Now, fair enough, the Comets were out Vanessa Penussis, but they did have some great performances from Jada Crosshaw and Shyla Heel and Manly.
00:03:44
Speaker
Talk about stuff in the stat sheet and giving it around. They had three players on 20 points a piece and two players on 17. And it was Kim Hodge with a double double on 20 and 10 for Manly. So that cemented their position now as first place in the women's competition. Then the next day we head down to Canberra with a center of excellence beat the Aubrey Wodonga Band. It's 81 to 56. Back at home, Manly.
00:04:12
Speaker
With only a two-point win over the Panerith Panthers, 59 to 57, which I'll touch on a little bit more later in the episode. Then into Crowsnest, we saw the North Bears with 96-39 win over the Hills Hornets. Here on the Senate Coast, we had Central Coast Crusaders hosting the Maitland Mustangs and the Mustangs. They were in fine form in this game.
00:04:41
Speaker
uh, which was 49 to 63 in favor of the Mustangs. And I have to give her a special shout out to Shaq Riley for her excellent defense on Cezie Matthews, that game. I think that made a massive difference
Standout Performances
00:04:53
Speaker
for the Mustangs to claim that win. Then the Hornsby were back home. Uh, they had Canberra Nationals on the Saturday as well, and they lost 38 to 84. Much needed win for the Canberra Nationals after a three game losing streak.
00:05:10
Speaker
The inner west bulls were then back at home the next day. So I'm sure there was a lot of ice buckets and icing going on in between the Friday night and the Saturday game. And it must have worked because they came away with a huge 21 point win over the Sutherland Sharks winning 92 to 71, which saw Leilani Mitchell with a 40 piece that game. And then Penrith had to back up as well. They played at home.
00:05:38
Speaker
This time they hosted the Canberra Nationals, who were doing a bit of an unconventional double away trip, Hornsby and Penrith. Not two clubs you would normally do on an away trip, but at least it was on their way home, I guess. So Penrith, though, losing that one, 46 to 61. Newcastle Falcons were at home. They had the Hills Hornets and Newcastle Falcons won that with ease, 74 to 51.
00:06:04
Speaker
The last time these two teams met, Newcastle also won, but they also only won by 10. And then we're still waiting to finish the round with our Anzac Day game tomorrow. Sutherland is going to be hosting Illawarra. The Sutherland Sharks women just coming off that inner West Bulls loss and Illawarra on a five game losing streak. So it's going to be a very tight contest. Both teams are desperate for a win and that will round off
00:06:31
Speaker
Round six for the women.
Women's Ladder Post-Round 6
00:06:33
Speaker
I'm just going to quickly go through the ladder now that there's been a couple of shakeups, um, based on the results from round six. Like I said, manly, we're in the seagulls are now first place with a seven and one record and a five game winning streak center of excellence. A second was six and one comments are next place with also was six and one and.
00:06:58
Speaker
In terms of foreign against points, Center of Excellence have 421 points against.
00:07:04
Speaker
and comets have 436 again. It's a 0.30 percentage that is separating them for that second and third spot, which is, I mean, could you be closer than that? Newcastle Falcons have seen themselves at a healthy fourth place with five and one, North Bears with five and two in fifth place, and rounding off the top six is Aubrey Wodonga Bandits with four and three.
00:07:31
Speaker
their percentage is just under 120%. So yeah, that is the women's ladder thus far. We can see Maitland Mustangs are flirting with that sixth spot now that they're on their three game winning streak. They are at seventh and between them and the bandits is quite a difference in percentage. Like I said, the bandits are just under 120%.
00:07:57
Speaker
and the Mustangs are at 106%. So it's still a bit of a gap between those two. But fifth place, hold on, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth place in the women's competition are all sitting on four wins and three losses. And this is why we love the East Lockie because no matter where you are on the ladder, especially when it gets so muddy in the middle, it just makes it more and more exciting.
00:08:28
Speaker
It certainly does. And I mean, we said earlier in the season or probably in preseason, the teams like Maitland and Bank Sound, once they get their imports, could be real nuisance value. But they're showing they could actually be more than that. They could really give the playoffs a shake and make a run at a final spot where they're sitting at the moment if they can maintain recent form, particularly the Mustangs.
00:08:51
Speaker
I've had, you know, a couple of new players coming in and also to mention they won this week without Rachel Williams. So, you know, doing really well. They sure did. And I think I saw on the Maitland Mustangs WBB Instagram page that they did give their captain, Rachel Williams, a FaceTime call to help celebrate their win with them. But once we get to the news segment of our episode today,
00:09:20
Speaker
Lucky I'll let you reveal where Rachel Williams was and why she wasn't in fact at the game. Yes, I wasn't just watching basketball this weekend. I was watching something else as well, but we'll get to that later. Get to that later. How about you give us a recap of the men's round, Lucky?
Men's Games Recap
00:09:36
Speaker
I would be more than happy to. I can just find the right tab. There we go.
00:09:43
Speaker
Almost the same fixtures as the women's for the men. So on Friday night, I was lucky enough to be up at Alexandria calling an absolute bomb burner of a contest between the Comets and the manly Waringa Seals, Sea Eagles, that saw Comets just edge ahead in the fourth quarter to come away with an 88-76 win.
00:10:04
Speaker
Meanwhile, up at Crows Nest, Norse were defeating Center of Excellence 83-77, but that match was actually a 17 point advantage for Norse with two minutes to play before Center of Excellence came home with a wet sail to make it look a bit closer. Inner West Bulls headed over to Bankstown and picked up a 90 to 76 win on the Friday night.
00:10:29
Speaker
before we move to the Saturday games and Norse fresh off the win over Hills, but without Junior Medut after he came close to dropping 30 against COE actually fell to Hills 81-69. So had a big chance to go 2-0 there for the weekend, but couldn't get it done in the second game in the Life Members Cup there at Crow's Nest.
00:10:51
Speaker
Meanwhile, an absolute thriller between Hornsby and the Canberra Gunners at Hornsby, and it was Canberra just eking out a 61 to 60 win as a Charisse Aepaia once again, keeping Hornsby very competitive in matches as he's done all season, but they couldn't quite get over the line.
00:11:13
Speaker
Meanwhile, Santa of Excellence bounced back from their loss to Norse with a 103-71 win over Aubrey Wodonga, who are now without Shaquille Maharaj. And we'll get to the reasons for that later in the show. Manly, they gave it all they had against Comets and had another game this time at home against Penrith. And it was Penrith coming away with the 90-71 win. And I know, Squeen, you were fairly excited about that result for the Panthers.
00:11:43
Speaker
I believe that was Penrith's first win of the campaign, isn't it? Yeah, that's correct. It's their first win of the campaign. Um, yeah, really, really good for them. I think it was, uh, thanks to the likes of Caleb, Fatui, Formoa, he had 21 and nine and, uh, nay Suckia had 18, four and three.
00:12:06
Speaker
Great win for a very young Penrith team. Well done to them. Certainly was. Meanwhile, Maitland got up over the Central Coast Crusaders 102-78 as Matt Gray dominated.
00:12:20
Speaker
easily earning a spot in the All-Star 5 this week. Meanwhile, Inner West piled on the misery for Sutherland after the women's team lost. They racked up a 100 to 85 win over the Sharks. So for all the close contests these teams have had in the last couple of years, Inner West have now done the double over the Inner West Sutherland men this season already, and it's only round six. They've already faced each other twice.
00:12:46
Speaker
Hills traveled up to Newcastle on Sunday and eked out a 70 to 69 win after trailing 21 to nine after a quarter. As Sean Montague, as Robbie Clayton said last week, once he finds his feet, Sean Montague, watch out and approve true this weekend.
00:13:05
Speaker
And on the final Sunday game, it was the Canberra Gunners bringing the Panthers back down to earth with a big 92-54 win. And of course, it'll be the F6 Derby. It now has an official name, the Freeway Cup getting underway tomorrow for Anzac Day as Sutherland take on Illawarra in a very, very crucial game for Sutherland.
00:13:27
Speaker
Interesting. It's called the Freeway Cup, considering, you know, when you've got the likes of Crusaders to Maitland, like Central Coast to Maitland to Newcastle. That can also, that's also considered like a bit of a down the freeway freeway rivalry as well. So maybe we should call that. So what's the, what's the main road getting from?
00:13:49
Speaker
Sutherland to Illawarra. Did you say F6 or M6 or something? Well, I've always called it the F6. It might be the M6 now, but that's like how the F3 is now the M1. You know, everyone still calls it the F3. Yes, yes, you are correct. It's always been the F6 Derby, but now it's the Freeway Cup. I guess similarly to the Kings and Hawks have the Freeway series in the NBL.
00:14:12
Speaker
Oh, of course, that would make a lot more sense actually, the three way cut. But then again, in the NBL, we can't have like, we don't have a Newcastle team yet. Yeah, we, yeah. Can we, can we have a Newcastle NBL and WNBL team, please? Well, truth be told. I mean, I mean, we're going off tangent here, but who cares? It's just the two of us today. So we can, but I know that the Newcastle as an association had been trying to get an NBL and WNBL team.
00:14:41
Speaker
back in the Hunter for a good part of a decade because even when I was playing state league in 2010, they were already trying to build their women's program to make sure they had a pathway and at least some kind of bench players at Newcastle in preparation for those teams. And as you and I know, and I'm sure a lot of our listeners know, the biggest barrier for the association with going ahead was the venue.
00:15:06
Speaker
And then they found a site for a new venue, but then that site ended up being unavailable for a lot of legal reasons that we won't go into. But I think the biggest struggle is being able to find a new site where Newcastle as an association have been able to build a new stadium. But I think as of like three, four weeks ago, they have a new site and it's been officially announced that they will be building.
00:15:35
Speaker
Watch this space. I'm pretty, pretty confident that Newcastle hopefully in the next five years will have an NBL and WNBL club. Would be great to say because if you think about like a Newcastle WNBL team over the years, they're having local players fill out the bench. I can imagine, you know, if you could have Cass McLean, Laura McSpadden, Hannah Young, Izzy Palmer, Kyra Evans, and
00:16:01
Speaker
Hell, you could have had Katie Ray Ebser running the point for them. And even Susie Bea back in the day. So there's certainly been a lot of WNBL talent that could have filled out a Newcastle roster over the last few years. Yeah, and there's no doubt that Newcastle, as an association and a region, is a big basketball place considering that they're competing with the Newcastle Jets in the A League. And of course, the Newcastle Knights in the NRL, they've probably got the, to my knowledge,
00:16:30
Speaker
They were first or second in the highest number of memberships of a club in New South Wales. They've certainly got the numbers to back them. They just needed the venue. Because the current venue at Broad Meadow used to be an airplane hangar. I can tell you exactly where the dead spots still are on that court one. I think we actually briefly joked around with Nicole Munger in one of our previous episodes about that.
Men's Ladder Analysis
00:17:01
Speaker
Newcastle for a club of their size and the way that they dominate, especially the juniors in New South Wales, surely they need a new stadium by now.
00:17:12
Speaker
I think you're a hundred percent right, but back to the subject at hand. We'll take a look at the men's ladder and it, we now have two teams atop the table at seven and one with a center of excellence in inner West Bulls, both seven and one comets just behind at six and one and Illawarra five and one before we get to teams with multiple losses, Norse slotting in at six and two in fifth. So just like the women's team, two losses. And then Canberra running out the top six at five and three.
00:17:42
Speaker
Maitland and Sutherland both four and three, but if Sutherland can snag a win on home court against a highly rated Illawarra side, they would join Canberra at five and three. But I think what we're seeing in both competitions is we've got a few teams down the bottom and they haven't all played each other yet, some of the lower teams.
00:18:05
Speaker
So you look at those teams we've got like three wins down to two wins and one win, you know They might be able to pick up some wins against some of the lower rated teams and at least give them to it's a little bump up the ladder Yeah, at least make it a little bit more interesting and exciting for them as well when they get to start to play each other it seems like current as the current ladder sits from the men's it seems like they're already starting to be a
00:18:30
Speaker
quite, some quite divisive separations and who's going to be top and bottom. Like I think that's going to start to be relatively clear, whereas the women is still too hard to pick in my opinion. Definitely. Yeah. In the men's, there's an established top four, an established bottom four, and then the middle eight are pretty much fighting for the final, final spots. Yeah. Very interesting.
00:18:54
Speaker
And so we didn't really establish what games we wanted to cover this episode after last episode. In my mind, after last week, I felt so organized in terms of like, you know, doing podcastings and life in general. And then pretty much as soon as I logged off after recording last Monday, I think everything just fell out of my brain. And it got to the end of the week where I'm like, oh my gosh, I have to do this, this, this, this, and this. And it's been an overwhelming few days, but here we are. We made it.
00:19:24
Speaker
And so the two games that I decided to try and cover a little bit for round six was the Manly Penris game, where it was very, very close and also the Bankstown in a West game as well. So I'll just start off with the Manly and Penris game. So this was played on the Saturday after Manly just thumped the comments and Manly was playing back at home.
00:19:53
Speaker
So the interesting things that stood out to me is that Manly dropped their shooting percentage to 24%. And that included 12 out of 25, I should say as well as 12 out of 25 free throws. So certainly not their best shooting performance given the guns that they have on their team. Penrith was still without Talia, Tupaya, given, I think we've featured in a previous episode, she has a calf injury. And Manly was still without Zoe Miller,
00:20:24
Speaker
But I think you'll have some more insight into that a bit later, Lockie. So what was really interesting about this game is that it all kind of happened in the fourth quarter.
Critical Game Moments
00:20:34
Speaker
So going into three quarter time, Penrith were actually up by three, despite losing by two. Penrith came out in a zone, they were probably in a zone for a good chunk of the game, and they were especially stuck in a zone for all the fourth quarter. And Manly definitely struggled against that.
00:20:53
Speaker
Um, so obviously you go to the well into the well-run strife zone is working for you, then you stick to it. And that was certainly to pain rest strengths. They did a really, really good job of staying in that zone and being able to limit, um, manly to one shot per possession for most of the time too. But, uh, when we head into the fourth quarter, no one scored until the six minute 47 mark. So it was still lots of up and back.
00:21:20
Speaker
Lots of missed shots, lots of turnovers as well when it came to the crunch. And then Penrith ended up picking up a lot of fouls. So that kind of gave mainly the advantage to go to the free throw line very early in the game. I think it was even before the last five minutes had ticked over for the fourth quarter, Penrith had already met their team fouls. But interestingly, Kim Hodge was absent for a good chunk of the back end of that game.
00:21:47
Speaker
So I'm not too sure if she ended up being injured or if coach Kerlman was just happy with that five that he had on. So in the dying seconds, it was all tied up. Meg Jefferson from Penrose Panthers had a two point bucket. So she made a great post play with 12 seconds left and then manly called a timeout. They advanced the ball and passed it in from the sideline. And just after a sideline catch,
00:22:15
Speaker
Antonia Henderson was fouled. She hits, of all the free throws for Manly to make, she hits two clutch free throws with 12 seconds left to play. Panerits were forced to throw up her three-point prayer, and that's how Manly ended up securing the win. It's funny you mention Kim Hodge spending a fair bit of time in the back end of the game, not on court, because
00:22:42
Speaker
The night before at Manly Comets, uh, Alex Delaney picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter and they spent most of the third quarter with not only Alex off with four fouls, but with Kim off at the same time. Kim wasn't in foul trouble. Yeah. No, that's, that's a, that's really interesting that it happened two nights in a row then because
00:23:09
Speaker
Um, Kim also wasn't in foul trouble against Penner. She only had two fouls. Um, she was one from eight from the free throw line, but given it's Kim Hodge, do you really bench her for that? She only played, she didn't even play 20 minutes in this game against Penner. So I'm not too sure if it was something, um, maybe coach Cohen just didn't, was just looking for a different combination. Maybe he went for.
00:23:35
Speaker
I honestly, I actually don't know. I'm not even going to try and make up an answer because everything I can think of, Kim Hodge in my mind is capable of doing, especially in when Penrose were playing a zone for so long. Kim Hodge from the high post can be really deadly and especially on the offensive rebounds. I mean, people can generally, people can get quite lazy when they're playing a zone with boxing out. So you put Kim in that situation. I imagine she'd be chasing down a lot of boards.
00:24:04
Speaker
Yeah, you do. You mentioned that. Is this stat correct that Josie Bullman had nine offensive rebounds in 21 minutes? Yeah, yeah, no, I reckon that is right. Yeah, because she was able, especially in that fourth quarter, she was able to come up with some really sound o-boards.
00:24:25
Speaker
And I mean, o-boards are always great at the best of times, but the timing of her o-boards as well, especially in that fourth when the clock was winding down was super tight. Yeah, no, she did a really, really great job of getting on the o-boards.
00:24:39
Speaker
I mean, having watched as much Youth League as I have throughout the years, watching her come up through the ranks, just yet another player on the manly pipeline and they all just play team ball really, really well. Anyone who comes through that manly program seems to be
00:24:57
Speaker
just fit straight into the system. I know that some manly fans on Twitter, not so happy that they don't get a lot of love from the NBA one socials, but that's what happens when everyone's playing well and you don't have a really true standout.
00:25:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's really hard to pick. I think I only really gave Kim Hodge that shout out when they played against Comets because she was, you know, like I said, three plays in 20 points and she had a double double. So that's what stood out to me for that game. But I agree there. Their offense has improved each. They've always had offensive weapons for the last, you know, five years of this senior women's program.
00:25:39
Speaker
But it now looks like the coach Cohen is putting it to good use. I feel like they're really coming into their own this season. I feel like they probably underperformed the last couple of seasons given their personnel. But certainly their ball rotation and their decision making on offense has definitely improved this season.
00:25:59
Speaker
You know, I'm not going to say a blessing in disguise, but taking a positive out of Zoe Miller being out for a couple of weeks is getting Fliss Henderson the ball in her hands more. And she just looks like she's matured three years in three weeks, just getting the opportunity to play more, watching her against Comets. And it looks like she had a pretty, pretty decent game against Penrith as well. Yeah, totally. 10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals.
00:26:25
Speaker
She's also someone that's been flirting with a triple double this season. There was also one game where I think she was maybe three assists and two rebounds off a triple double or something like that. I think she had a 12-9-12 game a couple of weeks ago. Yes, that was a 12-9-12. Good memory. She's really been flirting with that triple double too. I'm really excited for her.
00:26:51
Speaker
I know that she's signed up to go to Columbia for college, so she's going to join her sister Kitty over there. I know that speaking with Maitland Mustang on the weekend with Emila Wojkowicz, she's going in June, so I'm guessing Phyllis will probably go around the same time.
00:27:12
Speaker
Yeah, a few players headed over to college. Jada Croyshaw is going to Long Beach State as well. And these are players that are not just young players going to college. These are starting players, star players in this league heading to college. Unfortunately, we're not going to be able to see play in our league for four years, but it's great to be able to say that, you know, playing the East, you can head over and play at big colleges.
00:27:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a really good point. Like you said, yeah, these aren't just young benchies who are just backfilling a
Impact of Star Players Leaving
00:27:42
Speaker
roster. These are starting fives. These are people who are putting up big numbers in the East and now going to college. And given the tight ladder as it is already, come June with the finals being in August, I think taking out all of those really star plays is going to have a massive impact on the overall results.
00:28:01
Speaker
Oh, certainly. I mean, you know, Mila's starting. She had 18 and six against crew and, uh, yeah, that's going to be a big hole to fill. Crosshore is, Crosshore was making people look silly in the paint at times on Friday night. And Fliss was, you know, just as good.
00:28:19
Speaker
Yeah, Croshaw with four blocks as well against Manly. That is insane. And they're not like just a tap. They're like a volleyball spike. Like she's thrown it back down into the opposite space. There was one where I got as up for it on the call as I had for a Mark L. Beasley dunk. It was that good. Equivalent of that, you know, it's pretty good, right?
00:28:45
Speaker
So the other game that I tried to cover this week was Bankstown Bruins when they hosted the Inner West Bulls on that Friday night. Like we said, the Bankstown Bruins winning 72 to 60. But the Bulls made a really late run for it. They ended up outscoring the Bruins 17 to seven in the fourth quarter. And they were down by as much as 22, 23 points. So to get it back to 12 is not about a result. But this game, to be fair,
00:29:15
Speaker
Yeah, it was, um, I think, I don't know how else to more diplomatically describe it. Locky, but off air. I mentioned it was a bit of an immature game in a sense that it was just lots of up and back, everyone playing man, everyone playing what looked like motion. Um, and to be fair, I could only watch like chunks of the game. I couldn't watch the full game because of time constraints. But from what I saw, it was just really like, it was a basketball game.
00:29:44
Speaker
And it wasn't a lot of variation in offensive sets. There wasn't a lot of variation in tempo. It wasn't even a lot of variation in defensive stuff either. I think if Bankstown do a really good job of getting Brittany and Violet Morrow, sorry, Brittany Wright and Violet Morrow in better scoring positions, like, yeah, Bankstown are going to be really, really
00:30:09
Speaker
hard to beat. And Rachel Dunlop has stepped up quite a lot in the last few games too, so she's a bit of a dark horse. But yeah, it was just really an arm wrestle, a back and forth. He wasn't memorable, I'm sorry. I'll be memorable enough for Bankstown, getting the win up. Absolutely, yes, I will give credit to them. It was certainly a great win for them. Do remember, there's a couple of players who have suited up for Bankstown on the West Roster.
00:30:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, that's true. That is true. And yeah, interestingly, Bianca Small didn't play that game against Inner West. I'm not too sure if she was absent or if she was injured, but might have to try and find out. Interesting. We saw Dompkins and O'Flynn playing the full 40 minutes and Leilani nearly did the same. So definitely leaning on the starters Inner West.
00:31:07
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And Duncan's that game, 16 points, 24 rebounds. 24 rebounds. Yeah, 25 last week as well, didn't you? I know. The girl just keeps going and going and going. Five assists, three steals, one block. So really doing a little bit of everything.
00:31:27
Speaker
I think she was two from seven from Three Point Land, which I'm sure that she would be okay with, but knows that she could probably improve understandably. And Leilani was on 21, three, and two. For Bankstown, Violet Morrow had 26, 12, three, and three, so also doing a little bit of everything. She made some really tough shots too, especially from the outside, contested with a hand. And Rachel Dunlop with 15, eight,
00:31:57
Speaker
three, two, and two. So she's also doing a lot of everything in 28 minutes. So just as a reminder, it's 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks, just in case you don't memorize the order of stats sheet quite like we do. You read enough. Yeah. What games did you decide to cover in the men's league this round, Rocky? Well,
00:32:24
Speaker
I, despite the fact I, um, commentated on Manly Comets, which was a blockbuster, I decided, uh, I'd go first up with Norse versus, uh, center of excellence, seeing as, uh, Norse did get the, uh, win.
Norse's Strategic Plays
00:32:37
Speaker
And we've been talking and saying, if and when Brendan Reimer comes back, Norse are going to be dangerous. Yeah. Well, he scored 27 points, didn't he?
00:32:49
Speaker
So he finished four of nine from three scoring. Yeah, I think he scored 27. Yes, he scored 27. He shot nine to 21 from the field, but he also chucked in three assists. And Junior Muldoor, 28 points, four rebounds, seven assists. So those two players combining for 55 points, the stars really standing up for Norse on that occasion. And
00:33:16
Speaker
To be honest, I watched it in chunks like you did with the Bankstown game, but it didn't really seem as close as the final scoreline suggested. And that's a bore out in the fact that COE actually finished the game on an 11-0 run. But with two minutes to play, it was 83-66.
00:33:39
Speaker
Angus, I mean, to COE's credit, Angus still did feel compelled to call a timeout with 45 seconds to play because they were charging hard with COE. But yeah, so it was in the third quarter where they really opened it up with a 23.15 third quarter after it was a four point lead at halftime.
00:34:02
Speaker
Was it a little bit a case of a little bit, a little too late for? Yeah. It was one of those timeouts where it's like, I think it was like, let's, let's just bank the a hundred percent sure of this. Slow it down. Back within eight points in 45 seconds is it's unlikely, but not unheard of kind of thing. So I just, yeah. So yeah. Call the time out, put a stop to it. Let's reset. And essentially they did that and, uh, yeah. And finished it off.
00:34:33
Speaker
Interesting that Ben Henschel is still on the COE list after, you know, it's now announced that he's signed for the Perth Wildcats. And we know that the COE graduation is looming. So when do you perhaps expect for the likes of Henschel and Alex Toohey to say goodbye? I'm not at all. I think
00:34:54
Speaker
I'm not entirely sure. I would probably say they'll be there until they graduate. If they're going to stay with COE, they're going to play. There's no point in going to Gonzaga now kind of thing. So if he goes, it won't be until start of school kind of thing. Or whenever graduation is, it will probably play until then.
00:35:22
Speaker
But as we've heard from other people, it doesn't matter. I think you reset it when he was on that, even when they graduate, there's going to be plenty of good talent coming through, coming through to replace them. It's more just a matter that they're younger, you know, maybe a little less polished and Henshaw and Tui are certainly the standouts of the class. And no Rocco suiting up this game, but an Alex Condon playing less than 10 minutes.
00:35:51
Speaker
Yeah. Well, that might be bore out on the fact that I did have the, uh, I have the, uh, double header this week. So yeah, wait, I can't remember who they playing in the other day.
00:36:01
Speaker
Yeah, they played Albury in their other games, so they did have two games this week, and you don't want to smash the kids too hard. Even though Alex Condon only played 16 minutes in their second game as well, and no Rocco in the second game either. So yeah, minutes really down for Condon there.
00:36:22
Speaker
Yeah, so perhaps some load management going on, especially when, you know, Rocco Zukaski is playing some games and not other games. And he's just come back from Aiden's Nationals too. So maybe he just needs a bit of a rest because he dominated at Nationals. He certainly did. I mean, that's the thing that you get at COE is you're going to have your, you know, performances, you know, analyzed down to the second played. It's like a pitch count in baseball. You know, you reach the magic number and they say, that'll do you.
00:36:51
Speaker
have a few days, have a rest, bring you back. But interestingly, considering we talk about COE and the fundamentals and how well drilled they are, Norse actually won the turnover battle 19 to 12 and picked up 15 o-boards to nine and shot 21 more field goal attempts than COE. So that certainly gave Norse a significant advantage and it wasn't
00:37:17
Speaker
always the most polished performance from a team that does get that kind of thing drilled into them for COE. Like just letting like those long transition outlet passes straight to the man kind of thing. And I'm sure that would rank all the coaches at COE who'd be, you know, drumming into the players. You know, you've got to get back on D, D trans, that kind of thing. Isn't the sign up at the AIS training hall that says Australian players are good defenders.
00:37:48
Speaker
So the Opals, you know, one of the seven pillars of being an Australian Opal is that you have to be like, take pride in your defense, like defense is key. Yeah.
00:38:00
Speaker
So, um, and if we look at that game compared to the, uh, the COE game against Aubrey, they only committed six turnovers against Aubrey, uh, compared to the 19 they can had against Norse and they conceded 13 fast break points against Norse and cleaned that up and then they gave up four against Aubrey. So I wouldn't be surprised if, uh, you know, coach, I think Robbie McKinlay might've, uh,
00:38:29
Speaker
had a few words to his charges between the two games about things like that. It sounds like North took a really good opportunity. You know, those things you're describing from COE in terms of giving up too many O-boards, not getting back on D-trans. I mean, obviously not shutting down the likes of Reimer and I mean, but Reimer,
00:38:54
Speaker
with the 27 points all sound like fatigue based things, but then if they were able to turn around and get a win against Aubrey the next day, perhaps it was just one of those days where brain and body weren't as well connected as you would want it to be. Points in the paint was really interesting actually. So North had 48 points in the paint, including 14 points in the paint for quarter one, three, and four.
00:39:21
Speaker
Yeah, I did notice that, and I mean that probably bears out in Rocco not playing, probably helps a little bit there. And the biggest lead being 17, so... Yeah, so that was right at the end of the game where they pushed it out before COE reeled it back in a little bit at the end there.
00:39:41
Speaker
And you made a really good, great observation about the differences in offensive rebounds. So that's huge for North with 19 o-boards and North winning by six, the difference in second chance points for each teams was six points when North had 11 and COE had five. So really splitting hairs here at the end statistically for these teams to try and get a win. But what do you think North did really, really well this game?
00:40:11
Speaker
Oh, well, I think, well, they took that, their opportunities when they had them, um, you know, when, uh, when COE, when they had the defensive breakdowns or when they saw players were available, they gave up. They, they were very good. Uh, I noticed at making that extra pass when you're really in close quarters, you know, if you get some help defense right there in the paint and there's that, just that man, even if he's just on the other side of the basket, um, finding that extra pass, they did that really well.
00:40:41
Speaker
I mean, Medut ended up with seven assists to go with these 28 points. They really did that well, and yeah, just taking what the defense gave them and really eyeing off the opportunities. Medut scored. He only hit two of nine. He threw down a monster dunk. That was very fun to see.
00:41:01
Speaker
Yeah, just, you know, as you've said, he's going to keep scoring in a variety of ways. And I think just having Reimer there on court again, just gave them so many more or just another option, you know, he can distribute, he can score. And it just, it's just a play. He's not, I don't want to say irreplaceable, but certainly
00:41:25
Speaker
you know, add so much to the team. And if they can keep him on call for more than two games at a time, it's going to be very, very fun going forward. Cause I mean, I'm not going to, you know, chalk off a good performance for shooting nine of 21 from the field, especially with these first game back. And that's probably going to only improve.
00:41:44
Speaker
shooting fire, you know, still 40% over 40% from both two and three point range. So probably really getting picky, trying to point out something negative about his performance. He only had one turnover as well. Look, sometimes people just
00:41:59
Speaker
I mean, he had four fouls. I think that's the worst thing we could say, really. I think, but so did Mike Golding and Nate Musters, so, and Longoo fouled out for COE. So, I mean, if North can say one thing, they probably don't want to commit 22 fouls if
00:42:17
Speaker
six players are going to play the majority of the minutes kind of thing. You know, of the, you know, they had their five starters and then Bose played 29 minutes and then Coco 16 and then Jock Jensen, Robert Moore, just token minutes really. So, yeah, probably don't want to be getting in that kind of foul trouble if you're running a short rotation. Yeah, that's true. And only getting to the foul line
00:42:41
Speaker
10 times, whereas COE got to the foul line 28 times. And look at those free throw numbers for Norse. It's all Medut and Reimer. Yeah. Nobody else got to the line. No. Well, they've got quite, Norse have a task ahead of them next week when they play against the Hawks. Intel tells me that Pagotto still won't be there for the Hawks and Lucas, Waxy Walker also won't be available for Hawks.
00:43:09
Speaker
This might be a prime opportunity for North to clinch a win against Illawarra. Certainly will be. I mean, it's still going to be tough, but I mean, I'd rather face Illawarra without Waxy and Noah than I would facing them if they were there. But this is also our first opportunity to see Junior Madut and Davo Hickey against each other.
00:43:32
Speaker
Yes, that should be absolutely electric. So is that the 4pm tip off? So that's one of the earlier games on Saturday. So before we get into the absolute, you know, prime time game. So should be able to catch that one. Yeah. Very exciting to watch. Totally. Yeah. And it'll be at Crows Nest. So
00:43:57
Speaker
It would be a great atmosphere there. I wonder if we have to buy a ticket ahead of time. It might be a sold out affair. I think every game involving Devo Hickey should be a sold out affair, especially with Madrid on the other side. I totally agree. And the other game you chose to recap was Newcastle versus Hills. I'm really glad that you chose to recap this one because it shook up some of the latter standings as a result.
00:44:21
Speaker
It certainly did.
Turnover Troubles
00:44:22
Speaker
So very, very interesting game. Newcastle jumping out to a 21-9 lead after a quarter of play. They were shooting 64% from two-point range with 12 points in the paint. You know, they've got the big fundamentals, Ryan Beasty, Miles Cherry and Tommy Dawson. Tommy Dawson didn't have a big scoring game, but they've got those big boys in there who just know how to get things done. But
00:44:51
Speaker
As I say that, they just had a couple of turnovers early in the second quarter in quick succession and they sort of just set hills on their way and hills slowly started bringing it back to our
00:45:06
Speaker
actually take, sorry, trail by six. So they halved the deficit by half time. And what was really good to see, we had Robbie Clayton on last episode and he was mentioning that Sean Montague, he had an injury, he'd been a bit crook, but once he gets his feet under him, starts really doing, you know, what, what he can, what, what they've seen in the, on the training, on the training track.
00:45:31
Speaker
Watch out and it came to pass because he had 15 points 13 rebounds for assists and a steal for good measure to Really put the league on notice whilst our Liam Moss 27 and 5 for him and But
00:45:51
Speaker
For, um, for this game, I don't want to, I don't want to harp on negatives, but I do have to make mention of it is being a team with so many veteran presences. I mentioned, you know, the big boys for Newcastle, Beastie, Dawson, Cherry. Uh, we've got some other guys who have been there around for the while for a while. And then, uh, guys like Ben Kieran for Penrith actually, uh, teams combined for 37 turnovers, which I think if you have such veterans on the team, you'd probably want, um,
00:46:22
Speaker
Probably want numbers slightly lower than that. 37. Combined. So 20 for Hill, 24 Hills and 17 for Newcastle. It's still not hugely bad numbers, but I still think both teams would probably want their numbers to be slightly lower than that, especially for Hills where it was four different players had three turnovers and Montague had six.
00:46:49
Speaker
It was kind of a theme for a lot of players throughout the night for Hills, but they did manage to get the win. And I know it finished 70 to 69, but Hills actually led 68-60 with a minute to play. Jayden Goodwin buried a three, then Gaines, who finished with 21 points. He buried a three. They couldn't quite get the tying score and Moss sealed it at the line with four seconds away, knocking down two free throws.
00:47:17
Speaker
to cap his game. He actually finished four of four at the line. And Hills, are we going to mention free throws again? Hills, 20 of 27 from the free throw line. Newcastle, 11 of 21. Ah, see, we only mentioned it though, because it's important. And so many games come down to that and you think 10 free throws, that hurts so much when you lose a game, especially by one point. Certainly. Three points.
00:47:47
Speaker
Yeah, well, and it was one point game, but Materma Lock had a three-quarter court, or maybe not quite three-quarter court, but a very long three-pointer as this time expired to get it back from 7066 to 7069. But still, incredibly close game, and shooting 52% at the charity stripe will not go down particularly well.
00:48:12
Speaker
So, finished Ryan Bestie, double, double, 10 and 14. Gaines, as I said, had 21 points. He also had six rebounds. Miles Cherry, 10 points and nine rebounds. So, players having decent nights. Mathur Malak had 10 points. So, some guys having decent scoring nights for Newcastle, but apart from Gaines, no one really having
00:48:33
Speaker
a big night. Whilst for Hills, I mentioned Moss and Montague and Josh Cowley. 10 points in 21 minutes off the bench. So as you said, shaking up the ladder, these teams now both on both playing 500 ball, Hills four and four and Newcastle played two fewer games and they're sitting at three and three. So definitely a big game because that would have had put basically two, two wins between the teams.
00:49:04
Speaker
or close enough to with the games in hand, but yeah, instead they're all, they're all tied up. They're right in mid table, just, just behind the final spots. And he'll get in that win without Paul Brotherson as well. Yeah. So huge getting, yeah, no, no, Paul. And we, we know he's a big, big presence for them. I think he played over in Europe, a long, long distinguished career.
00:49:27
Speaker
playing for Hills as well. And he did play in their other game this weekend, it's Norse, which they also won. So Hills enjoying quite a good weekend to beat Newcastle on the road and Norse who had just knocked off COE. Yeah, yeah, this is why the East is exciting because it's so unpredictable every game. But Brotherson, yeah, great, great job for Hills to get that win over Newcastle without Brotherson. And then obviously the second one, as you mentioned, but Brotherson, you know, he's
00:49:54
Speaker
Uh, apart from being one of their big players, he's also, um, averaging a double double. So, you know, his stats certainly would have been missed, uh, essentially, but I thought it was really interesting that, um, heels only took 17, three pointers, uh, Newcastle's 30. And they just looking at the stats from the game against North, they took 25 in the game against North.
00:50:22
Speaker
Did Hills. So yeah, definitely down on three point attempts on that occasion. But I mean, they weren't really hitting. So, you know, four of 17. So maybe put the cue in the rack and let Liam Moss go to work and Sean Montague from a bit closer to the basket.
00:50:41
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, and shout out to Sean Montague too. Cause when we called the game at Crusaders versus Hills, we were making comments about his shoes and he very kindly sent me a message on Instagram showing me what shoes he actually wears. And you know what? That's the, you can stay as long as you want Sean Montague come back again next season. Cause we like having the nice people around our MPO1 East league. And that was very nice of you. So thank you for reaching out. Um, but, uh,
00:51:10
Speaker
news and gossip lucky. I think we've got a little bit more to talk about this week compared to other weeks. We certainly do. And the big news in terms of the league in general is coming out of the banks of the Murray because Shaquille Maharaj has been released to head over to China to play in their 3x3 league. So that's a big out for Aubrey Wodonga going forward. Yeah, especially considering the men's side in particular.
00:51:39
Speaker
You know, aren't, as competitive, probably aren't having their ideal season so far. So to lose one of their best plays as well, yeah, that's certainly a big blow.
00:51:53
Speaker
What about, uh, what about Jack Edwards? What do you mean? What have you got for us about young Jack Edwards? Young Jack Edwards, my guy. So yes, if you are wondering where Rachel Williams was for the Maitland game this weekend, she was up watching Jack play for Australia in the trans Tasman, uh, touch football test series, which was up in Queensland and
00:52:16
Speaker
So he's playing for Australia. In Australia, they got up on day one, three test series against New Zealand. They got up on day one and then in day two, both sides butchered tries in the last couple of minutes and it went to overtime and, or extra time, I think they call it in touch footy.
00:52:40
Speaker
And after five minutes of extra time, it goes from six on six down to three on three. So you've got a full-size touch footy field and it's three players for each team. And who scored the series winning try in extra time, but Maitland Mustang's Jack Edwards. How good in his debut series for Australia. I mean, are we going to lose him to touch footy now? Do you think? I mean, he's, he's, he's, uh,
00:53:09
Speaker
scored such great success already with his short career playing for Australia. Are we going to lose him? I think touch footy is a sport that you can juggle with other sports. So hopefully we can, we might lose him for a few games here or there, but hopefully we see him back with the Stangers because I know they'd love to have him back and we'd love to have him back.
00:53:36
Speaker
Yeah, certainly such an athlete. So yeah, that was the absence of Jack Edwards and Rachel Williams, but Jack obviously putting on the green and gold. So best of luck to him actually. So yeah, the series finished, so New Zealand did get the win in the third game. So it finished 2-1 in the end, but yeah, Jack and the Australian team, I think they won all three series, men's, women's and mixed. So scoop the pool up there in Queensland in the touch footy.
00:54:05
Speaker
Beautiful, good stuff. In terms of just some injury updates based on from what we know, it looks like Zoe Miller for Manly is still out. Talia Tupier for Penrith unfortunately still out. Still no Loz Nicholson to return to MBO1 East just yet and Junior Medut
00:54:26
Speaker
Didn't play the second game of the round. Query suspected injury, but we'll hopefully be back next round against the Hawks. And it was also a week of regional academy games. So the Crusaders were missing at least two players.
00:54:44
Speaker
from the men's side, and there was also a weekend of what looked like weddings, baby showers, hands parties, et cetera. So there were quite a few absences from this round. Nomadi Penn, I think Dana Caro for Crusaders was at Aussie Rules. Vanessa Penussis wasn't there. Who else? Brotherson wasn't there for a game. There were quite a few absences this round. It certainly were.
00:55:12
Speaker
It was funny, people were saying after the Manly Comets game, is Vanessa Penusa's worth 22 points? Is Vanessa Penusa's in a game where Zoe Miller plays still worth 22 points? It was really people trying to figure out, well, how much can we glean from this Manly Comets game where Manly got a 20 odd point win?
00:55:32
Speaker
with both those players out and it was probably closer than the final scoreline suggested that Manly Comets game but we might hopefully see Zoe Miller back this week if not next. Seems to be the word around the camp but we shall see. I've been told that Manly versus Sutherland is my favorite game of the season. News to me, I am an equal opportunity
00:55:57
Speaker
commentator, podcaster, whatever. Opportunist. Sutherland versus everyone is my favorite game. Um, and, uh, I mean, no surprises there to be fair. Um, and speaking of how much you love Sutherland, you really had your work cut out for you because you were covering comments games. You were also covering the Sutherland games. Uh, you had.
00:56:22
Speaker
Some extra work ahead of you as well because you've got you had the sharks play Indonesia So you got to commentate that and then you've also got the Anzac around tomorrow between sharks and Illawarra So now you need to ask for a pay raise
00:56:38
Speaker
I think I do.
International Connections with Indonesia
00:56:39
Speaker
And I just want to make mention of the two Indonesia games because they were both very close. Ella Warren needed a 45 point game from Davo Hickey to get past Indonesia 89, 81. And then Sutherland Indonesia came down to literally the final, I think they put 0.7 of a second back on the clock.
00:57:01
Speaker
Uh, for the final play and, um, before, uh, some Southern free throws to ice it. So that finished 93 89 with, uh, Callum Norris finishing with 23 points and had 20 of those in the first half to copy what his sister did in an NBL one East game against, uh, in a West a few weeks ago. But you talk about, um, we want the nice people coming back.
00:57:25
Speaker
Come back anytime Indonesia. Absolutely loved having you. Plenty of Indonesian fans in the crowd. I think at Illawarra, definitely at Sutherland. Player stopping for photos after the game. Indonesia's big man Lester Prosper was kind enough to even sign my commentary notes for my international debut as a commentator.
00:57:46
Speaker
Absolutely wonderful having Indonesia come to our shores and come to NBL1 East after we missed out last year. They only visited Victoria and Queensland. Beautiful. Yeah, it was great to have them and shake up the round a little bit, but you say your international debut, you've, you've commentated for FIBA before, haven't you? I have not yet commentated for FIBA. Oh, I see. Yeah, that's your domain. Oh, I mean, only on the late call up when they get really desperate, but
00:58:16
Speaker
There you go. Well done for making your international debut. That's excellent, Locky. Thanks.
Renaming Defensive Player Award
00:58:21
Speaker
And I just want to make mention if we, um, just a bit of a, there's a bit of dissent in the ranks around our rename it campaign. Oh, okay. Um, just give me, give us a quick recap of what the rename campaign is just for those that don't know.
00:58:38
Speaker
It's not carrying as much steam as it used to, but in the Volourital League days, Kate Seabomb won, so I think four or five Defensive Player of the Year Awards in a row. And Norris started a campaign, I think they brought signs to, was it the 2020 finals week? Saying rename it, rename the Defensive Player of the Year after Kate Seabomb. Manly of throwing their own name into the hat with Antonia Henderson.
00:59:07
Speaker
Okay, okay. I understand this. I certainly understand where they're coming from. I'm not sure they want it renamed after Annie Henderson, but they're certainly throwing her name into the ring as a candidate for defensive player of the year.
00:59:21
Speaker
No, that's understandable because Antonia was always consistently the best defender in the Youth League competition for years. So I'm happy for her to be her name to be thrown in the mix for defensive player in the year. However, to go as far as to say to rename it and have her in consideration of renaming it.
00:59:40
Speaker
I'm not sure they want it renamed. I think they just want the, they want, they want her to be credited. And to be fair, I mean, we've got to shout out Shyla heel for dropping 30 against manly, um, on Friday night in a losing effort, but without Annie, it probably could have been 50.
00:59:58
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. That's awesome.
Women's All-Star Five Selection
01:00:00
Speaker
Having said that, I'm going to start rolling off my All-Star five for round six as well. I am always responsible for the women's All-Star five this week. And honorable mention does go to Shyla Hill. You had 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists in that said manly game. Shout out also to Jada Crosshore for the same game who had 24 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
01:00:27
Speaker
and also shout out to Shakira Riley 26 points and 6 rebounds shooting at 56% against the Central Coast Crusaders but extra points because she really shut down Sarah Matthews very good at limiting Sarah's touches making her quite uncomfortable and
01:00:46
Speaker
The Mustangs as a whole held Central Coast Crusaders to 49 points that game. So really, really well deserved win from the Stangers. So they were my three honourable mentions. This was really a really tough decision. It really came down to
01:01:03
Speaker
really fine details like shooting percentages to decide who made the top five. So at the top we have Leilani Mitchell of course dropping 40 points and nine assists versus the Sutherland Sharks in a 21 point win for the Inner West Bulls and also versus Bankstown she had 21 points and four assists so she came away averaging 30.5 points and 6.5 assists so very much in that top five. We also had Nicole Munger again
01:01:32
Speaker
26 points and 20 rebounds and four assists versus heels. And now, I mean, when you're averaging a double double is one thing, but when you're double double is 20 points and 20 rebounds, that's ridiculous. No wonder she's leading the NBA One East women in rebounds so far this season. And number three, we've got Violet Morrow again from Bankstown. She had 26 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals against the inner West Bulls on the Friday night.
01:02:03
Speaker
And number four, Mikayla Dompkins from Inner West Bulls purely because she averaged on the weekend 20 rebounds. So, you know, everyone once in a while in their career will have a 20 rebound game or a 15 rebound game. But to go away from a double header weekend with still averaging 20 rebounds is pretty outstanding. So she had 16 and 24 and five assists against Bankstown and then 17 points and 14 rebounds against the Sharks.
01:02:30
Speaker
And then finally, we have Emily Simons from North, who did have similar stat lines to the likes of our honorable mentions in Jada Cross Shore, Shyla Hill, Shakira Riley. But the difference being Emily Simons dropping 23 points, six rebounds and five steals, and she shot 90%. So that's what got Emily into my top five, and that included five three-pointers. So you're shooting 90%, I mean,
01:02:59
Speaker
You've got to be in the top five, right? Yeah, I think that's probably fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. And how about your All-Star five for the men's this week, Lockie?
Men's All-Star Five Selection
01:03:12
Speaker
Well, yeah, it was interesting. I've like, uh, pre-easted a lot of players, um, with the double headers. So putting up two good performances, um, a couple of honorable mentions, um, Caleb Fettui-Fahamai, um, had 21 and nine against Manly and then 14 and three against Canberra. Guys like Tony Tolleve and his one good game, 27 points, Liam Moss, 27 of his own.
01:03:35
Speaker
Uh, Blake Morrow, 23 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block against Bankstown. But, um, apart from one player, uh, just let me just check. I think I missed one. I might want to, why don't I make a light change here actually? Oh, we have a light change. Maybe, or he might be, I actually do have a, yeah, I'm going to,
01:04:07
Speaker
I think I might, I actually this week, there are a couple of players that I have above honorable mention and are just in the dead set unlucky category. Just because there was so many front core players doing well that I sort of couldn't put them all in. I need to show a few more guards some love.
01:04:33
Speaker
So in the Dead Set Unlucky category, I had Sean Montague from Hills with his two double doubles. He's 22 and 10 with five blocks against Norse and then 15 and 13 against Newcastle. And then only because his team lost both games, Matthew Eldridge from Manly Waringa
01:04:50
Speaker
just absolutely put the team monies back against Comets with 23 points and 12 rebounds. And then 15 and 15 with two assists, two steals and three blocks against Penrith. And I think if Manly get a win or two, I probably put Eldridge in my All-Star Five.
01:05:13
Speaker
But going to start, we'll start with our Blake Morrow from Inner West. So he had 23 points, five rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block in a win over Bankstown. And then 22 points, four rebounds and an assist in the 100 to 85 win over Sutherland.
01:05:32
Speaker
Also in the backcourt, Brennan Reimer, you know, come back after a month out to put up 27 points, two rebounds, three assists and lead your team to a win over COE. And then follow it up the next day with another 13, three and three. That fills out, really fills out my backcourt. And then I know the name you're waiting to hear Squint, Matt Gray.
01:05:55
Speaker
from Maitland. 44 points, 10 rebounds and even found time to chip in and assist two steals and a block in Maitland's big 102.78 win over Central Coast.
01:06:10
Speaker
Alex Tui, two 20-point outings, so fell to north 77, 83, but put up 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. And then the next day went one better with 26 points, five rebounds and the same three assists, two steals and a block. So very, very consistent by Alex Tui. And then
01:06:33
Speaker
One of our favorites, Christopher Bryant from Inner West, 23 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, three steals, two blocks in the win over Banks down, and then helping them to the 2-0 weekend with 18 points, seven rebounds, an assist, four steals, and a block over Sutherland, the 100 to 85 win. So yes, plenty of big men or, you know, Fords and post players, you know,
01:07:00
Speaker
doing really well. Of course, if Junior Medut suits up after dropping 28 in the first game, who knows what he could have done and he probably would have easily snatched a spot if he'd been able to suit up for a second game. Yeah, that is quite a standout All-Star 5 and interesting you mentioned that they're all forwards or centres.
01:07:20
Speaker
Uh, I did give Matt Gray a big shout out on the NBL one show when we recorded today. Um, cause he typically is known as a four, five, I mean the guy six, eight, but he's certainly starting to show, uh, some guard skills. He is shooting the ball from outside a lot better. And he, um, is starting to guard the ball a little bit better as well. So yeah, really.
01:07:46
Speaker
giving himself a bit more variety and versatility, I should say. So, look, listen, if you're an MBL scout, give this guy a DP spot. Give him a chance. He's ready. Please do. Another boy from out from the central west of New South Wales, just like his teammate, Will Cranston-Lown. Exactly. And I think, you know, rumor has it that they ideally want to be DPs together at a club. They don't really want to be separated. They got a bit of a
01:08:13
Speaker
mutual respect and bromance going on there, which we love. But look, if there is a club out there that needs some two quality DPs, these guys are ready. They definitely are. I know we would love to love to see it. We love to see the New South Wales country boys and girls doing well.
01:08:33
Speaker
Absolutely. Not that we're biased, but, uh, that wraps up another episode of eScott
Closing and Next Episode Teaser
01:08:38
Speaker
game. Uh, we'll be back again next week and we will have a very special guest. Someone that you just mentioned, Locky is very keen and eager to jump on the pod. So we're looking forward to that. And, uh, otherwise thank you for joining me, Locky. And thanks for everyone listening and, uh, yeah, let's go east. Peace.