Jonno
Years ago
Talking Hoops Recap
Talking Hoops Recap 30/1/07
Hosted by Paul Bell and Nick the producer
Spoke about the 36ers playing in Singapore tomorrow night, said it's a must win game, haven't been in great form, but can still make the finals if they win. Said it would be a tough game up there and Singapore currently are in 8th spot and one of the 4 teams fighting for it. Said they hope they can win it and it will be difficult without Willie Farley.
Andrew Gaze Interview: spoke about West Sydney, he said there result over Sydney shows they are better than there record shows and there are signs they may improve in the future. Said it was amazing how the Kings lose to West Sydney then beat the Tigers. Asked who he liked as title favorites, he said the Bullets are head and shoulders above everyone, he said the Tigers have the horses to compete with them and cant see anyone else with the cattle to match the Bullets, and said it will be interesting to see how they handle it mentally. He thinks there full court pressing style can hold up along as they use there depth, they are 9 deep and every night you see a different person contributing. Said he spoke to Mark Bradtke, who said they have a understanding of anyone is capable of stepping up and are aware of there roles and if that can continue they will be tough to beat. Spoke about the possibility of a Hong Kong team, he has been doing some research exploring the possibilities, not something he is looking to individually start a team, just looking to help further expand the NBL. They joked about Gazes Dancing with the Stars. Asked about Hong Kong whether they will struggle with crows like Singapore. Gaze said they are different markets, basketball and the NBA is very popular and they are intone with it, but a lot of Hong Kong events are usually quick hits not full seasons, he said it does take some time, and he believes it is starting to build up in Singapore and its going to take a while as they are a team of foreigners. Said Hong Kong has a domestic league which is ordinary, and they had a team in the Chinese CBA for a while which never took off. He has had conversations with venues and televisions, said the support is there for a Hong Kong team but not for a team of 8 Australians and 2 Americans, he said if you could incorporate significant proportion of Chinese players it would be well supported. Said it was fantastic to see the Melbourne rivalry, with them all talking it up a little bit with Shane Heal and Chris Anstey getting amongst it. Said the Tigers are going along nicely and the Dragons have now established themselves well. Asked who he thinks will come 8th, he said it will be a tough one, would like to see Adelaide for his old mates Coepland and Timmons and Smyth, he has a suspicion Singapore will sneak into the 8. His tip for the MVP, he said he would of said Mackinnon, but Brisbane have a lot of players who may take votes away, also mentioned Cattalini and Powell, said there is no unbackable favourite this year.
Bell spoke about MVP, he said those 3 Gaze mentioned are the favourites around the league and Mackinnon may lose a lot of votes to team mates including Rychart who won the player of the week award.
Spoke about the fight for 8th, New Zealand playing poorly falling behind then catching up, Wollongong losing to West Sydney and still being in the mix and the South Drgaons who have already qualified in there inaugural season.
Dana called in: Said rumour mill is going over time, mentioned the 5AA rumour about Smyth jumping before he is pushed and mentioned the rumour of Erin Phillips being signed by Canberra on Hoops, she said there has been a rumour like that for a while but its hard to say what is legit, they said that any club would be after Phillips and Carrie Graf is also a coach a lot of players may want to play for. Mentioned the lightning, and cant understand the lack of interest in them since they have done so well and even losing Erin Phillips, who would be like the 36ers losing Maher, and she thinks they will be up against it. Dana said she was frustrated at the 36ers game, said its hard to cheer when they are losing by so much but said she would never up and leave at 3 quarter time, and Bell said he agreed and people should stick it out and true basketball fans will enjoy watching other teams play anyway. They said the 36ers need peoples support now more than ever and that things will change some way or another next year regardless of whether they make the play offs. Dana mentioned the comment of the 36ers being beaten by Brisbanes 2nd team, said its pretty damm good and they have a creative accountant, and Bell mentioned the 2nd team is good and increases the intensity and tempo when they come on and he has never seen Dusty run so hard on defense. Spoke about Dustys dad visiting and having a photo with Brett Maher to be sent back to Dustys grandmother. Dustys dad mentioned to Bell how exciting he found the game, said NBA can be to 1 on 1 orientated and College is good team orientated and thought the NBL was a perfect mix of the 2 styles of basketball. Dana spoke about Brisbane's defense, how they are good at putting there pelvis at everyone and obviously teams like them have that physical defense down to a T, and our guys have to learn the trick of jumping off guys with there chest. Bell spoke of how if everyone on the court is doing the same thing the referees are not going to call it all the time, and its about establishing the tone if you show aggression early, and team defense is setting it so high that the referees or opponents wont be able to break it. Dana said it probably contributed to Mahers tech foul, Bell said it would have been frustrating having to bring the ball down all game against the trapping defense and he had to say something. Dana said it was frustrating to see Dusty steal the ball off Cooper, and the idea of trapping defense is to take the ball out of the main ball carriers hands. Said its not always as easy as passing to the open man. Asked for her tip, Dana said she hopes the 36ers win and tipped them aswell. Bell said they have gone up early to climatise, and they said lets hope they get some foul shots in, Bell said being up there the extra day to adjust hopefully will mean they can come out firing.
They read out the results, see NBL.com.au
Bell said Harvey is rumoured to be going to Perth next season.
Brad Hill Interview: Asked if the last 2 weeks have been the clubs 2 biggest, he said he tries to block out the big losses. Said his arm is coming along well and he is back shooting. Asked how the mood has been, he said they have seemed a little more relaxed at the moment, they are passed the point of being frustrated they are trying not to put too much pressure on each other and trying to relax and get some wins. Said every now and then the frustration boils over at training which is going to happen when you are losing games. Asked if there have been any off court techniques to improve things, he said he hadn't really noticed any, said he probably hasn't been around enough to know, maybe on the road. Said they are trying to be relaxed and not looking to blame people and sticking up for each other. Asked if he will be returning to the ABA he said he should be right for the 2nd half of the season. Said it's a shorter season, he said the Mavs should be all right, said they have a new fresh group who want to get better, said he doubts Holmes will be coming back to the Mavs next season.
Bell said its good to see its healing well, after the gruesome incident which was replayed on TV a fair bit.
Paul Bauer, 36ers Operations Manager Interview: Asked him about the media speculation about Phil Smyth, said its not true that he is going to resign, said he listened to Phil on 5AA tonight. Asked about Smyths demeanor, he said hes like everyone and is frustrated and said no one takes it well and wants the team to be successful. Said Hemmering has been un believable, he said he takes it more passionately, Mal takes it in his stride and is very positive with Phil and the team and really gets behind them. Said Mal does look at it through the eyes of a Referee a little bit, had a meeting with the referees boss after the Hill incident. Said Steve and Phil have been very tight nit and would back each other 100% no matter what the situation. Asked if he gets much feedback, he said on there website you can contact the club and he receives the emails and he has had some interesting ones and doesn't blame them and responds in a mature manner and they are trying to work towards getting the 36ers back to being a top 4 team. Asked about Mals demeanour, he said he gets disappointed, he said its different having a private owner, as he wants return for his money and is passionate and will do what it takes to get success. Asked about Sponsors, he said the corporate support is still there with Mal having so many connections and people want to support him and he has plans to make it a new look franchise next season. Said Mal has asked Smyth to put a 5 year plan together and gave it to Mal before he went to Singapore, some areas will be expanded and put more emphasis on and Mal is very intense in making sure they have the right model moving forward. Said the first time they went to Singapore the day before and didn't adjust properly and found themselves very fatigued so Mal has flown them up early at considerable cost, and supports them and is giving them every chance to win the game and make the finals. He said the one thing he has learnt from Mal is putting the money in the right areas, and this situation is different to the past.
Bell said its good to see management supporting the team, he said Bauer is the man in to hot seat currently negotiating with Maher and others. Nick said its very important to retain Maher, and said he hoped the club would do everything it takes to retain Maher. Bell said they did approach the club to start negotiations last season, they took a while getting back to them as the ownership hadn't been transferred at that stage, which delays a few things, he said they have been negotiating over the past couple of weeks, said it takes time when dealing with Maher, they are confident it will be over by the end of February. Nick said money wouldn't be the only thing to Brett, Bell said he wants to play until 35 and believes he can and Maher knows his body better than anyone, Bell said at the end of the day financial security is important to him, and he commands a high dollar which his performances demand, especially when coming into his last contract, Bell said they are working well with the 36ers. Nick said if he was coach Maher would be the first player he would want to sign, he said Smyth and the club certainly want him. They said Mahers loyalty should be rewarded as he has seen guys like Rogers and Cattalni leave for big dollars. Said Smyth says to management these are the players I want and then its up to management to make it work financially. Asked about outside interest, Bell said there has been interest from quite a few clubs, technically they cant talk to free agents until 2 weeks after the Grand Final, and said look at clubs like the Gold Coast cant wait and have to get runs on the board. Nick said every club would be speaking to Maher, Bell said anytime a guy like Brett come out of contract he is going to attract some interest.
Liam Flynn NBA update: Said they just announced the All star starters, said usually the fans get it right, you look through the favourites such as Arenas, Wade, LeBron, Bosh and Shaq which is a bit of a joke as he has hardly played due to injury said the East is so thin in the Centre spot and Jermaine O'Neal and Okafor are the others who are reasonable, and if you look at the West they have guys like Yao, Duncan and Garnett as big dominant guys. He said he is sure Shaq will play as its not high octane and is good to have a run and stay in shape. Said the West is stacked, Kobe, McGrady, Garnett, Duncan and Yao, said they are massive with 6-7 and 6-9 guards, said there is no real reward for the winners of the All star game, said he would like to see the Baseball system of the winner getting home court in the play offs. Asked about NBA draft, said due to it being a strong domestic draft, said any international would really need to be good, and Newley is still on the radar along with Joe Ingles. Bell mentioned the lakers GM coming in and watching Ingles play, Flynn said they are a shrewed pick of players, mentioned Andrew Bynum , said the lakers have a good record of drafting guys a lot of clubs don't know much about.
Mike McKay, North Adelaide womans coach Interview: Asked what made him start coaching women, he said a lot of people asked him, having coached under 18 girls and being successful thought he would try coaching woman. Asked if its been a interesting transition, he said it's a big difference, women understand the game a bit more and more into the finer details as its not as athletic and quick as a mens game so they have to run there offenses better to get a score. Bell said that mens game can often be based more around 1 on 1. Asked about the team, said its looking good, they have lost Elle to over seas for study, kept there junior players and Jo Hill will be playing when she returns from over seas, they have a good blend of seniors and juniors and as long as they are competitive he will be happy. Said he hasn't coached mens programs if a opportunity presented himself he would look at it he wants to build some experience. Said it is a goal to coach at a high level if he gets the opportunity he will grab them, and if they don't he is happy coaching ABA. Asked if it's a full time position, said they still have to work a full time position, it is pretty busy but he knew what he was getting into. Asked who he modeled himself on, he hopes he is just himself, he is different to the past coaches, new offenses and defenses to put his stamp on it, he is not a ranter and raver as he didn't like that style, but can fire up if they don't listen to him. Asked if he is missing playing, he said he is, its been 5 years since stopped playing professionally so has moved on a bit, but misses the atmosphere of the team going on the road and hoooping.
Bell said he is a NBL legend and is probably in the leagues top 10 all time, he was a Olympian and fantastic player and he thinks the North Adelaide team will benefit a lot from his knowledge.
Round 20 NBL tips, Wildcats v Tigers, tipped Perth, Singapore v 36ers, tipped Singapore, NZ v Dragons, tipped NZ, Wollongong v Slingers, tipped Wollongong, Cairns v Razorbacks, tipped Cairns, Kings v Hawks, tipped Kings, 36ers v Tigers, tipped Tigers, Dragons v Singapore, tipped Dragons, Bullets v NZ, tipped Bullets, Crocs v Razors, tipped Crocs, said the Crocs are a real sleeper this season, Wildcats v Taipans, tipped Wildcats.
Another Great Show, Cant wait til next week!!!
