Aussie Hoopla Nbl & Nba Podcast

Cam Oliver joins the podcast to discuss his time playing for the Cairns Taipans, how it shaped him as a player and a person, and how it helped him reach the NBA. Since leaving Australia, Cam has played in Spain, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, France and China, and he shares some of the highs and lows from each of these stops. Currently looking for a team to play with in 2024/25, he confirms that he'd love to return to the NBL. During his first NBL season, Oliver averaged 17.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 54 percent from the field. This earned him a spot on the All-NBL Second Team. In his second NBL season, Oliver had to cut his season short due to complications with his wife's pregnancy but averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds across the 24 games he played. Over his two seasons in the NBL, Oliver averaged 17.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 52 NBL games. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Experiences playing in China (2:00) Wher

Harry Froling joins the podcast to give an update on his health after suffering a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain following an alleged assault outside a popular Wollongong nightclub. A year into his recovery he also talks about his brother Sam's chances of making the Boomers Olympic squad, the issues the NBL faces with poor refereeing and the issues that arise from Larry Kestleman owning the league and NBL teams at the same time. Harry Froling won the NBL rookie of the year award in 2019 and went on to play six seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Townsville Crocodiles, Illawarra Hawks, Adelaide 36ers and Brisbane Bullets. He averaged 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in 154 NBL games. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Harry provides an update on his health after receiving a vicious blow to the head in an ugly incident off the court 12 months ago (2:00) The development of Sam Froling and his chances of being a part of the Boomers Olymp

Sam MacKinnon played sixteen seasons across five NBL teams. This included the South East Melbourne Magic, West Sydney Razorbacks, Townsville Crocodiles, Brisbane Bullets and Melbourne Tigers. He averaged 14.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 459 NBL games. Injuries forced him to retire at only 33 years of age but despite that, he still etched out a Hall Of Fame career where he sits in the top 10 all-time for rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. The all-round talent also represented Australia at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. He joins host Dan Boyce to talk about some of the highs and lows of his NBL career and experiences from playing with the Australian Boomers. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Coaching the South East Melbourne Phoenix (2:00) Parallels between the career of Mitch Creek and Sam MacKinnon (5:30) Sam gives his side of the roller-coaster season with Brisbane where Sam acted as a GM, assistant and head coach (7:30) Should head coaches or

Michael Hill played seven seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Canberra Cannons and the Brisbane Bullets. He averaged 9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in 235 NBL games and was a key part of Brisbane’s 2007 championship, where he averaged 20 minutes per game coming off the bench. After winning an NBL championship in 2007 his NBL career was cut short thanks to the ineffective salary cap solution which was the NBL Points System. A system that was initially developed to create parity among the league and protect NBL teams from exiting the league aligned with one of the darkest periods of NBL history. He joins host Dan Boyce to give his first hand account of how the points system forced him to retire at age 29 despite being one of the country's best players off the bench and how it shunted the development of Aussie hoops for a decade. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Memories from Michael’s seven seasons in the NBL (2:00) That time Magic Johnson suited

Demitrius Conger signed with the Illawarra Hawks for the 2017–18 NBL season. In 27 games for the Hawks, he averaged 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals with the Hawks, who narrowly missed out on making the playoffs, finishing in fifth place (12-16). Conger went on to finish second in league MVP voting and earned All-NBL First Team honours. He spent the following season playing in Adelaide, where he saw a drop in his production, but was a vital part of a team who narrowly missed the NBL playoffs. He joins host Dan Boyce to also discuss his 11 year career as a pro, playing in war torn Israel and goal of returning to Australia to play in the NBL1 to finish his career. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Getting the update from Demitrius on where he’s been playing since leaving Australia (2:00) Breaking down different European basketball leagues (5:00) How he found himself playing in Australia back in 2017 (7:00) His first season in the NBL, play

Jesse Wagstaff recently played in his 450th NBL game, becoming one of only 30 people to ever achieve the feat, as well as being only the seventh player to ever do it for one club. He joins the podcast to reflect on the occasion and review many of the 15 seasons he's played with the Wildcats He joins host Dan Boyce to also discuss this season's Wildcat squad and his thoughts on where they sit within the current season. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Looking back at a career that played 450 games (2:00) How does this year’s team compare to the slow-starting 2019 team that went on to win the championship (8:00) Why playing 15 seasons with one club is something important to Wagstaff (10:00) Contemplating retirement (12:00) The most difficult season with the Wildcats (14:00) The clothesline from Josh Childress which still gets spoken about frequently today (15:30) What season does he feel he was playing his best basketball (17:30) Jesse’s nerd like ten

Luc Longley needs no introduction, he's either the Greatest Australian Basketball player of all-time or not far from it depending on how you view things. Three NBA championships, was a key part of the Australian Boomers program from 1988-2000 and is currently part owner of the Sydney Kings. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Luc explains his plans to improve social basketball through a unique partnership with Hahn and a half pub / half basketball court for the summer (2:00) What his interactions with fans have been like since The Last Dance and his ABC Australian Story special (7:00 The biggest highlight of the touring Australia with Scottie Pippen (12:00)   The story behind Scottie Pippen ALMOST coaching the Sydney Kings as well as ALMOST playing for the Perth Wildcats (13:30) His role as part-owner of the Sydney Kings (14:30) Thoughts on the Rocco Zikarsky and his future (21:00) Listen to our previous interviews with the biggest stars in Australian Ba

Martin Cattalini made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 19 years of age and went on to play fifteen seasons in the NBL. He averaged 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists across 453 NBL games. He currently sits among the league's all-time leaders in total points (24th), total games played (28th) and total rebounds (39th). Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... How he became the local kid playing for his hometown Perth Wildcats (2:00) Narrowly losing the championship to Andrew Gaze and the Melbourne Tigers in 1993 (5:00) The Wildcats 1995 championship and facing the Houston Rockets at the McDonalds Championships (10:00) Hitting the gym with the members of the Perth Wall (12:30) Signing with the Adelaide 36ers (19:00) A frustrating period in Adelaide from 1996 to 1997 (22:00) Championships and playing for Phil Smyth (25:00) 1998/99 - the first summer season (29:00) Being one of the first Australian players to take their career over to Europe (3

Tanner Krebs currently plays for Melbourne United and has played 79 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists since entering the league in 2021. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Growing up in Tasmania and why there are so few NBL players who hail from the state (2:00) United’s strong start to the season and stepping up into the starting lineup (7:00) Last season’s coaching rollercoaster at Brisbane and how it impacted him as a player (10:00) Thoughts on the Brisbane Bullets and how they’ve improved since he left the team (11:30) His time at the Basketball Centre of Excellence and coming up, playing with current NBL stars like Dejan Vasiljevic, Will Magnay, Jack White and others… how did that shape him as a player and a person (14:00) College ball at the University of St Mary’s (15:30) What he remembers of his father Dan Krebs, who played for the Hobart Devils, as a basketball player (27:30) The biggest hurdle

Mike Dunlap has won championships as a coach in both the NCAA and NBA but is still more well known down under for the three seasons he spent as head coach with the Adelaide 36ers. An assistant coach to Mike Budenholzer during the Milwaukee Bucks run to the NBA title as well as the first college coach to really build their program utilising Australian talent. Dunlap helped develop a number of NBL talent including Jesse Wagstaff, Mark Worthington, Luke Kendall, Rupert Sapwell and plenty of others and he joins us in this episode to go through his career, learnings and memories of coaching in Australia. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... On his recent stint, being a part of the Perth Wildcats coaching staff (2:00) The technicalities of NBA coaches moving between teams (8:00) How he began his coaching career in Australia (10:00) How Dunlap developed an Aussie pipeline to US colleges well before Randy Bennett and St Mary’s (11:30) The grassroots coaching differen

Jack McVeigh recently notched up his 150th NBL game and spent a season playing in Europe, but while doing that, fans may have noticed he's taken a different approach to social media and what he communicates to fans and he joins Dan Boyce on the podcast to take us through WHY. McVeigh currently plays for the Tasmania JackJumpers and has played 152 games in his NBL career. He has averaged 9.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists since entering the league in 2018. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... The JackJumper's hot start to the season and Jack’s career best season (2:00) The psychology of social media, and how Jack is using it to help aspiring basketballers (5:30) The major hurdles he faced which formed his current view on life (10:00) How Jack’s approach to life and basketball helped his brother Lloyd get a DI college opportunity (17:00) Jack’s approach to improvement, strategies he uses and how his JackJumpers teammates view him for it (25:00) Listen to our pre

Brian Goorjian coached and selected the Australian Boomers team which participated in the FIBA World Cup. With the team finishing in tenth place, a lot of narratives have been presented in the media, whether that be questioning the players selected, or if Brian should even remain the coach for the upcoming Olympics. Goorj joins Aussie Hoopla host Dan Boyce to break down the Boomers campaign, going through each game in great detail in terms of what he and the coaching staff were thinking and planning to do. It's a privileged peak behind the curtain with one of the country's greatest coaches and potentially the only coach to provide a deep dive to this level on the coaching decisions made in a major FIBA tournament. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Looking back at the World Cup result and how it sits with him now it's a couple of weeks in the rear view mirror (2:00) How the selection process was made in the lead up to the World Cup (7:30) His response to those who f

Adam Forde joins Dan Boyce on the podcast to talk about how he went about recruiting players for the 2023/24 season, what he looks for in players and how you can best go about getting a spot in the NBL as a developmental player. He also touches on the upcoming NBLxNBA games where Cairns will be facing the Washington Wizards and Toronto Raptors and what he hopes the Snakes can take away from those games. All of that and a lot more Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Reflecting on how the Taipans ended the 2023 season (2:00) How does Adam Forde approach an off-season and what is his process (4:30) The Taipans off-season and how Fordey has set-up the roster for success in NBL24 (7:30) Adam Forde’s method of pitching the opportunity of playing in Cairns for less money to NBL players (10:00) Using the NBLxNBA games to recruit players to the Taipans (15:00) Why he chose to re-sign Bul Kuol, but not Majok Deng, Mirko Djeric and Ben Ayre (17:00) The Cairns Taipan’s blueprint

Terry Johnson played nine seasons across five NBL teams. This included the North Melbourne Giants, Newcastle Falcons, Illawarra Hawks, Cairns Taipans and Sydney Kings. He averaged 11.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 200 NBL games. He joins the podcast to chat with Dan Boyce about his career highs and lows, his approach to coaching, and growing up playing basketball in the Illawarra region. We also touch on his time and role with the very first Cairns Taipans team that entered the league in 1999. All of that and a lot more Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Terry explains what he’s been doing since playing in the NBL  (2:00) Growing up with his brother (and future NBL star) Rod Johnson (5:00) Why the Illawarra region is able to develop so many NBL players (7:00) His rookie NBL season with North Melbourne (9:00) Returning home to play with the Hawks (12:00) What he saw in a young Glen Saville (18:00) A second season in Wollongong (20:00) His coaching style a

After completing his first season in the NBL as a head coach, Jacob Jackomas joins the podcast to chat with Dan Boyce about the Hawk's new look roster and plans for next season. They discuss the emotions that you encounter, going through a 3-25 season and how he handled the ups and downs. On top of all that Jacob also touches on some of the Hawk's new faces including Haejung Lee, the Korean sharpshooter that will be the only Asian born player in the NBL this season. All of that and a lot more Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Finalising the Hawks roster for NBL24 (2:00) Recruiting vs Coaching (3:30) What is different about this Hawks roster compared to last season (6:00) Signing Haejung Lee and the benefits of the NBL’s special restricted player rule / asian player rule (13:00) Jacob’s take on how the Hawks faired last season and if he felt his job was ever ‘on the chopping block’ (20:00) The toughest moments from last season (25:00) What was the most

Sam Froling joins the podcast to chat with Dan Boyce about making the Boomers World Cup extended squad, plans for next season and more. Froling will enter his fifth season, after a breakout season which saw him named captain of the Illawarra Hawks and win the Club's Most Valuable Player Award.  On the back of representing the Boomers in several FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, getting the chance to play for Australia in the World Cup is a career highlight for Froling. We discuss this as well as what it was like playing in Japan, what he's been working on developing during his off-season and what his family had to say when they got the news of his selection. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Playing in Japan (2:00) Being selected to the Boomers extended squad for the FIBA World Cup (7:30) His take on the Hawks 2022/23 season (11:00) Thoughts on the Hawks roster for NBL24 (13:30) What he’s been working on to improve his game during the off-season (15:00) What ma

A sliding door moment refers to inconsequential moments that nonetheless alter the trajectory of future events. Aussie Hoopla host Dan Boyce and NBL Legend Mark Dalton discuss the biggest 'sliding door moments in the NBL's 45 seasons. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... The NBL Points System (2:00) Larry Kestelman (11:00) NBL Expansion (13:00) The NBL judicial system (22:00) New Zealand Players in the NBL (28:00) The move to summer (40:00) The Next Stars program (50:00) Free To Air TV Coverage (59:00) Listen to our previous interviews with the biggest stars in Australian Basketball. Head to Aussie Hoopla to check out previous podcasts featuring; Australian Basketball Legends - Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, Leroy Loggins, David Andersen, Andrew Vlahov, Phil Smyth, CJ Bruton, Chris Anstey, Brett Maher, John Rillie, Tony Ronaldson, Damian Martin, Brad Newley Current NBL Stars - Bryce Cotton, Chris Goulding, Tyler Harvey, Dejan Vasi

Fresh from an impressive college career at Purdue University and a couple of seasons in the NBA with Indiana and Milwaukee, Everette Stephens came out to Australia to play for the Newcastle Falcons in 1992 and lit up the league with his rim-rocking dunks and ability to fill the box score in every column. After two seasons he made the move to Geelong where he played alongside Cecil Exum, Adrian Branch, Daren Rowe and Simon Kerle where his son Kendall was born and much later followed his father's footsteps playing in the NBL. Across Stephens' three seasons in the NBL, he averaged 21.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 2.1 steals (34th all-time) in 77 NBL games. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... An update on what Everette has been up to since playing in the NBL (2:00) Making the choice to play college basketball at Purdue University (6:00) Appearing in the Benji Wilson 30 for 30 documentary (8:00) Memories of college hoops (11:00) Being drafted by the Ph

In his first NBL season, DJ Mitchell was a surprise addition to the Bullet's roster, earning a spot within the team's starting line-up through his ability to score against any opposition. Mitchell, who is the son of former NBL import Mike Mitchell who played for Gold Coast, Brisbane and North Melbourne in the 1990s, takes us through what it's been like playing in Australia and the impact his dad still has on the Queensland basketball scene. During his rookie season, he delivered a breakout game for the Bullets, early in the season against the defending champion Sydney Kings, finishing with a 20 point and 10 rebound double-double.  Although the Bullets season was marred by continuous coaching changes, which Mitchell gives his thought on, his play continued to grow as the season progressed. DJ also chats with host Dan Boyce about his time in college, playing overseas and the importance of patience. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. Topics include... Preparing for the Polish National C

NBL legend Mark Dalton returns to the Aussie Hoopa podcast to share his list of true 'Hard Men' of the NBL's early days. Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms. With a career spanning 1984 to 2000 'Tang' (as he is affectionately known) went head to head against some of the greats of NBL history, including Andrew Vlahov, Mark Davis, Scott Fisher, and many more, giving him the perfect vantage point, and experience, to know who was a true 'Hard Man' and who was just a thug. He takes us through what he feels a true 'Hard Man' is and shares his top 10 'Hard Men' of NBL history, sharing stories of the times he faced them on the court. Elbows, ejections and dirty plays are littered through this episode, as Dalton runs through his list with the host of Aussie Hoopla, Dan Boyce. Topics include... How Mark got the nickname “Tang” (2:00) The criteria Mark used to determine his all-time “Hard Men” of the NBL (4:00) What venues were the hardest to play in during the 1980s and 1990s (7:00) Mark shares