Episodes
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Coach Liam Flynn is an Australian Basketball Coach with an extensive local and international basketball coaching resume. His international experience includes working as a NBA Consultant (to the Phoenix Suns in the lead up to the 2016 NBA draft, providing video analysis on potential draftees for the franchise), and has been an advanced scout for the Australian Senior Men's National Team for the 2016 Rio Olympics.Liam was Head Coach in the German Bunderliga for five years (BBL & 2.BBL with s.Oliver Wuerzburg, Dresden Titans, Walter Tigers Tübingen and Gießen 46ers). He led his team to become ProA Champions, and two play off appearances.Liam was also Head Coach in the New Zealand NZNBL for three years with the Nelson Giants, featuring in two playoff Appearances and one grand final. Liam has six years of Australian NBL Coaching experience, as an Assistant Coach with the Townsville Crocodiles 2010 - 2012 and Adelaide 36ers 2008 - 2010. In his time his teams featured in three playoff appearances.At the state level, Liam has eleven years of State League/ABA Coaching Experience in South Australia (Sturt Sabres) and Queensland (Townsville Heat and Southern Districts Spartans) with eight playoff appearances, and 3 championships.Liam has twelve years coaching experience with Australian Junior State Teams - QLD U/18 Boys, SA Metro U/16 Boys & U/18 Boys; and South Australia U/20 Men. He also has a combined twenty years coaching experience at Junior Representative Level in Queensland and South Australia with Sturt (SA), Southern Districts (QLD) - U/12s through to U/20s.Liam holds a Masters in Sports Coaching (University of Queensland) and a NCAS Level 2 Coaching Accreditation.In this interview, Liam discusses his thoughts on a range of contemporary basketball topics and reflects on his overseas coaching journey and his annual CLF Showcase event.Listeners can follow Liam on Twitter (@coachliamflynn) and also through his website https://www.coachliamflynn.com/
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CJ Bruton is Assistant Coach of the Brisbane Bullets in the NBL, where he had a long career with 516 games. CJ played in the last Bullets championship win in 2007, adding another NBL title to a playing resume that also included two titles with the Sydney Kings and three NBL titles with the New Zealand Breakers (6 NBL titles in total). He is one of the most awarded players in NBL history: Grand Final MVP (2012); 2× All-NBL First Team (2006, 2009); All-NBL Second Team (2008); 2× All-NBL Third Team (2004, 2007); NBL Most Improved Player (1999) and the Gaze Medal (2005).
CJ first played in the NBL at age 18 with the Perth Wildcats, before taking the opportunity to attend college at Indian Hills (1995-97). He was a second round pick in the 1997 NBA draft, picked 52nd overall selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies. His draft rights were later traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in a draft night trade.
CJ played for the Australian Boomers in the mens team from 2006-2008 at both Commonwealth and Olympic games. CJ started his coaching career with the South West Metro Pirates in the Queensland Basketball League (2007), the Brisbane Spartans in SEABL 2015-16, and from 2016, he linked with his former coach at the Breakers and former Boomers Head Coach, Andrej Lemanis, joining the Bullets coaching ranks as they re-entered the NBL competition in 2016/17.
CJ is locally involved in basketball in Brisbane, coaching in the 2020 Qld State League (QSL) with the Southern Districts Spartans, and won the title with his open boys high school team (Church of England Grammar School) to the 2020 Champion Basketball Schools of Qld tournament.
In this interview, CJ discusses the highlights of his playing career, the challenges college hoops presented, and some of the insights into the Bullets review of the 2019-20 season, and preparations for the upcoming 2021 NBL season. You can follow the Brisbane Bullets on their website https://www.brisbanebullets.com.au/ -
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Jarrod Moore is the Coach Development Manager for Basketball New South Wales (NSW). His role encompasses coach education, organising basketball clinics, player development, as well as maintaining an active social media page on Facebook for basketball coaches.
In this interview, we talk about Jarrod's tertiary background, having completed 2 Bachelor degrees (Secondary Education and Human Movement Studies) and also a Masters degree in Sports Coaching, and how he uses that knowledge in his approach to coaching and educating other coaches.
Jarrod started his basketball journey at Newington College as a high school coach, and then moved into a Community coach role with Norths Bears in Sydney. Jarrod became the basketball Participation Officer at Penrith & Districts Basketball Association, a hands-on role where he ran basketball events, coaching kids from the age of 3-21, ranging from a skill level of beginner to elite and scouting and recruiting for potential future players in the sport.
Prior to his current role, Jarrod was also the Basketball Development Officer at Werribee Basketball Association in Victoria, where he connected with many well know coaches in Australia.
Jarrod explains his own coaching philosophy, highlighting the many positives of productive mentoring relationships and the challenges in delivering coach education in times of online meetings and videoconferences.
To learn more about activities conducted by Basketball NSW, get in touch with Jarrod at [email protected] or visit https://www.bnsw.com.au/ -
David Herbert is a former WNBL Head Coach and is currently Head Coach of the Australian Gems Under 19 womens team. David currently works with the Basketball Victoria high performance network and is Director of Pathways and Development at Basketball Geelong, and has held key development roles in Queensland and Western Australia.
Growing up in country Victoria, Dave moved into coaching in his late teens and was the first Head Coach of the Townsville Fire WNBL team from 2001 to 2007. Dave was the Head Coach of the West Coast Waves women's team in Perth (2010-11) and then Assistant Coach with Head Coach Carrie Graf at the Canberra Capitals (2012-13). Dave was CEO of Cairns Basketball from 2013-14 and moved back to Geelong from 2016 as Head Coach of the SEABL Geelong Lady Supercats.
In this interview, we discuss some of Dave's coaching philosophies and learnings he has had being involved with Australian youth teams at FIBA Asia-Pacific and World Cup events and WNBL teams. Dave has a great Facebook coaches group (Herbie's Coaches Network) and is will be coaching the Gems in the next U19 World Championships. -
Rob Coulter is the Coach Development Officer for Basketball Victoria (BV) and is host of BV's "Talking Split" podcast which has been running since 2017. Check out the Talking Split podcast at: https://audioboom.com/channels/4933327
Rob has a lengthy career in basketball coaching including several years as Assistant Coach and Head Coach for Victoria Metro U18 boys (2013), Under 16 boys (2014 and 2015). Rob was Director of Coaching at Eltham Basketball from 2012-14 and also coached in Diamond Valley Basketball's senior basketball programs.
In this interview, we talk about Rob's previous career with the Victorian Police, the Talking Split podcast and it's evolution over time, and the Victorian state team programs, coaching network and rep team processes for players and coaches.
For more information on Basketball Victoria's coaching programs, check out their website at: http://basketballvictoria.com.au/coaching/ -
Steve Edwards is Director of Coaching and Head Coach of the South West Metro NBL1 North women's team at South West Metro Basketball Association in Brisbane, Queensland. Steve grew up in Philadelphia PA and began his working career with the US Air Force stationed initially in Korea then Japan, and travelled extensively during his service conducting several tours of duty and special operations assignments, and achieving the rank of Sergeant during his tenure.
Steve came to Australia in the late 1990's and was first associated with Club and rep programs in Sydney, and more recently in Brisbane, with both the Southern Districts Spartans and South West Metro Pirates. Steve has been a state level Head Coach and Assistant Coach and has his teams have won silver medals across U14 & U16 age groups. Steve has also been Assistant coach in two SEABL Championships in 2009 and 2014 with the Spartans women's team and in this interview, acknowledges the influence of coaching mentors such as Donna Rinaldi, Joey Wright, Leonard King and Brendan Joyce.
In this interview, we discuss the journey that led Steve to be in Brisbane as Coaching Director, his coaching philosophy and his non-negotiables as a coach. You can follow the progress of Steve's NBL1 North team through South West Metro's website :https://www.piratesbasketball.net.au/ -
David Patrick is Head Coach of the Division 1 NCAA UC Riverside Highlanders mens basketball team in California, USA. David was born in Bermuda and moved to Australia aged 10 and has a basketball background in Australia, having played with the Melbourne Tigers, and also Victorian Metro State teams and Australian youth national teams.
David arrived in USA in 1994 enrolling at Chapel Trafton High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he was district MVP and First Team All-Parish, while also being selected to play in the Louisiana State High School All-Star Game.
David's college playing career started with Syracuse under Head Coach Jim Boeheim for one season where he was part of the Orange's 1996 NCAA Tournament Final Four team, who lost to Kentucky 67-76. David transferred to play his remaining three years of eligibility at Southwestern Louisiana (later Louisiana-Lafayette).
David then played with the Canberra Cannons in the NBL in 2000-01 was was named Rookie of the Year. In 2001-03 he ventured to England playing with the Chester Jets and earnt second team all-league honours. He then went on to Spain in 2003-05 Spain with Castellion, before injuries brought his playing career to an end.
David began his coaching career in 2005-2006 with Nicholls State as Assistant Coach to Head Coach JP Piper, his Trafton high school coach. From 2006-2010, he was Assistant Coach at St. Mary's (Moraga CA) with Head Coach Randy Bennett and helped recruit Boomers stars Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova. St Marys featured in NCAA tournament appearances in 2008 (1st round loss to Miami) and 2010 (Sweet Sixteen loss to Baylor) during his tenure.
David then worked as a Personnel scout with Houston Rockets, and soon after from 2012-2016 became Assistant Coach at LSU for Head Coach Johnny Jones, recruiting his godson Ben Simmons, who later went on to become 2016 overall number one NBA draft pick. From 2016-2018, David was Assistant Coach at TCU (Texas Christian University Fort Worth) for Head Coach Jamie Dixon, and during that time won the 2017 NIT against Georgia Tech (season stats of 24-15).
In 2018, David was recruited to Head Coach of UC Riverside Highlanders and in the 2019/20 season had won 17 games, setting the school record for the most games won most in school history. Also in 2019, David became Assistant Coach on the coaching staff for Head Coach Andrej Lemanis for the Australian Boomers, for the FIBA World Cup and preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic campaign.
In this interview, we talk about David's playing and coaching journey, his involvement with the Boomers and his strong Aussie connections, and the relationships he has built with others through basketball.
You can follow David's team at: https://gohighlanders.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster -
Damien Anderson is an Australian Basketball Coach living in Louisville Kentucky and is Head Coach at DeSales High School.
Damien is originally from Brisbane, Queensland and had a lengthy basketball career playing in the NBL (Brisbane Bullets), South Eastern Australian Basketball League (SEABL) and Queensland Basketball League (QBL), with the Southern Districts Spartans (Brisbane) and Mount Gambier Pioneers. Damien was co-captain of the Pioneers team which won the 2003 ABA National Championship with Damien being named in the SEABL All-Star starting five that year. Damien set all sorts of records in the early 90's when he had a 75 point game shooting 20/33 from the 3 point line, which at that time was the highest points scored in a professional game in Australia by an Australian player, and remains the 5th highest points scored in a game at that level. Check out the highlight clips at https://youtu.be/jv1SrsAnDbs
Damien took on a graduate assistant coaching role in 2007 with Division 1 college University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he stayed for 3 years before moving to Louisville KY to take up the role of Assistant Coach at St. Xavier High School with Head coach Kevin Klein. Damien then took on a role in 2013 at Bellarmine University in Louisville with Head Coach Scott Davenport during a period where Bellarmine achieved a 77-19 record and appeared in three consecutive NCAA D-II tournaments.
Damien moved on from Bellarmine after the birth of his daughter and then coached again in the 2017-18 season at Aspire Basketball Academy as Associate Head Coach, and then was appointed in 2018 to his current role as Head Coach at DeSales High School.
In this interview, we talk about Damien's playing days, his introduction to college basketball as a coach, and his thoughts on developing a new basketball program. -
Jeremy Kendle is a professional basketball player based in Brisbane, Australia, having played in 3 seasons in the NBL, 1 with the Sydney Kings and 2 with the Brisbane Bullets. Jeremy attended Bellarmine University (D2) in Louisville, Kentucky and was an integral part of the 2010-11 NCAA Division 2 Championship team under Head Coach Scott Davenport, and in that season, he was named GLVC Player of the Year, 1st team All-American, and a member of the D2 all-tournament team.
Jeremy played professionally in Switzerland and Morocco before coming to Australia in 2015 with the Toowoomba Mountaineers to play in the Queensland Basketball League (QBL). Jeremy helped the team reach the semi finals and won the MVP Award and highest points scoring awards for the League that year, averaging 30.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Jeremy then went on to play for the Bendigo Braves in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). The Braves finished first on the ladder with a 21-3 record, while Jeremy earned the league's scoring title with an average of 27.7 points per game and was named MVP of the league. He was fortunate enough to go on to win a championship with the Braves, the club's first championship since 2005. He scored 34 points in the SEABL national grand final and was awarded the Hugh McMenamin Medal.
Jeremy then went on to a season with the Canterbury Rams in the NZBL, and appeared in all 19 games for the Rams in 2017, averaging 20.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game and was named Import Player of the Year and 1st team All NZNBL. After the NZNBL season, JK was picked for an NBL All-Australian team that travelled to China to play the Chinese national team in a three-game series. In an 89-75 win in Game 3, Jeremy scored a game-high 20 points.
He finished the 2017 QBL season with the Southwest Metro Pirates under Head Coach Mick Downer. His next contract had him back in the NBL but this time he was playing for the Sydney Kings. This was an injury replacement gig, eventually replaced by Jerome Randle who was the league's MVP the previous season for the Adelaide 36er's.
His next move was back to Bendigo where he knew he could have a big impact on and off the court. He appeared in all 22 games for the Braves in 2018, averaging 23.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. Despite having a successful season as a player, he was more proud of the impact he was able to have off the court as a trainer.
Jeremy moved back to Brisbane and immediately began training players and being involved in the basketball community in as many ways as he could. For about 3 months he was building his resume as a trainer as well as training full time with the Brisbane Bullets as a player. Bullets head coach Andrej Lemanis and his staff were generous enough to allow Jeremy to help out at training even though he was not contracted with the club. Their consideration of his situation led to him being able to stay in shape which ultimately led to him signing with the club on December 5th 2018 because a spot opened up on the roster. He was fortunate enough to help the club making the playoffs for the first time since they were reinstated in the league in 2016.
Jeremy was appointed as Head Coach/Player Captain with the South West Metro Pirates for the 2020 NBL1 North season, which was cut short in the pre-season due to the COVID19 situation.
In this interview, we talk about his college career, professional career and the impact of the current pandemic on players and how Jeremy uses his faith and discipline to stay focused.
You can contact Jeremy (or JK as he is known locally) through his website: <a href="https://www.jeremykendlebasketball.com/... -
Karina Aguis is in her first season as Head Coach of the Toowoomba Mountaineers NBL1 North women's team. Karina previously coached the Mountaineers SBL women and also coached at North Gold Coast Seahawks at the junior level.
Karina had a playing career in Victoria at Sunbury then Bulleen and was a Vic Metro junior rep player, and played under Head Coach Ray Tomlinson. In this interview, we discuss her basketball journey and the areas she is focusing on in recruiting players and player development leading into the 2020 NBL1 North season.
Note: due to mobile phone signal issues, some sections of the interview dropped out hence listeners may hear sections of static.
Footnote: this interview was recorded on 15 March 2020, 2 weeks prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NBL1 North season. -
Darren Browne is a Sunshine Coast local who will be in his first year as Head Coach of the Sunshine Coast Phoenix NBL1 North womens team. Darren played State League with both Brisbane and Maroochydore in his younger days and has been an active junior representative basketball coach on the Sunshine Coast for several years.
In this interview, we talk about building a team roster as a new coach, the challenges of finding the right import players to complement local players, and the work Darren has done on the Caloundra Basketball Association and Maroochydore Basketball Association committees in gaining support and funding for expanded basketball/sports facilities on the Sunshine Coast at Caloundra and Maroochydore.
Footnote: this interview was recorded on 15 March 2020, two weeks before the cancellation of the NBL1 North 2020 season. -
Cassie Dover was the 2019 QBL Coach of the Year, coaching in her first QBL season for the Gold Coast Rollers womens team. The team made the finals playing through some tough opponents but going down to a talented Southern Districts team. Cassie grew up on the Gold Coast, and represented Queensland in her junior playing days, and toured in 2004 with the Qld Academy of Sport team, and was a member of the gold medal winning 2006 Qld Under 20 womens team at the National titles.
Casiie started her WNBL career with the Dandenong Rangers in 2008/09, and was a development player under Head Coach Dale Waters. She was a member of the Townsville Flames QBL championship team that won the QBL and went on to win the ABA National title in 2007 and 2008. She played for the Townsville Fire in the WNBL in 2009/10 under Head Coach Peter Buckle, with that team losing in the semi-fnal that year against Canberra.
In this interview, Cassie talks about her playing career in the WNBL, her approach to coaching and the many elements that helped the team make it into the 2019 Grand Finals series. Cassie is an active junior coach on the Gold Coast, and talks about her approach to coaching juniors and the emphasis on competing and putting in their best effort. You can follow Cassie's team through the Gold Coast Basketball Association website: https://goldcoastbasketball.com.au/
Footnote: This interview was recorded 15/03/2020, two weeks prior to the cancellation of the 2020 NBL1 North season, due to COVID-19. -
Aja Parham-Ammar is in her first season in 2020 as Head Coach of the Southern Districts Womens NBL1 North team, following a very successful playing career. Aja is hoping to take the team she was most recently played in to a 4-peat, with the Spartans women's team winning the title 3 years in a row from 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Aja is from New York and played her college career at Division 1 team Boston College, being co-captain in her last 2 seasons. and played in some of the big-game experience including beating UConn to win the Big East Championship. Her professional career has taken her to several European leagues, including playing in Germany, Portugal, Spain, Australia and France. Aja debuted in the WNBA in 2008 with the Seattle Storm (with Australian legend Lauren Jackson) and since being in Australia, played WNBL with the SEQ Stars under Head Coach Shane Heal.
While playing, Aja founded and is the lead trainer for SportsMindset, a fitness and training company based in Australia. SportsMindset takes a completely-rounded approach to developing its athletes. It targets both a combination of mental and physical aspects to maximize potential. It involves physical fitness, but it goes beyond that to assist athletes with awareness and confidence. It's an evolution and revolution formed from her personal experiences. Aja worked with the Brisbane Bullets during the 18/19 and 19/20 seasons in the strength and conditioning/high performance areas.
In this interview, we recap Aja's stellar playing career from NCAA Division 1, to playing in Europe, the WNBA, and the WNBL and QBL in Australia. In her QBL career from 2017, she averaged 14ppg and 5 assists per game, and we talked about how she plans to bring her competitive approach from playing across to coaching. Aja talks about the work her business SportsMindset does and the work she does with her athletes. You can get in touch with Aja through SportsMindset at https://www.sportsmindset.com.au/ or by email [email protected] You can follow Aja via the Southern Districts Basketball website at: https://sdbal.com.au/
Footnote: This interview was recorded on 15/3/2020, a few weeks before the NBL1 North season was cancelled. -
Jamie O'Loughlin is in his third season as Head Coach of the Cairns Marlins NBL1 North mens team in 2020, and is also Assistant Coach of the Cairns Taipans NBL team. The Taipans just finished off their 19/20 season, going down 2-1 in the semi-finals to eventual NBL champions, the Perth Wildcats.
Jamie coached junior basketball in his first 10 years of coaching in Geelong and in Victorian junior rep teams, before transitioning over as Assistant Coach with the senior mens program with the Geelong Supercats in the 2006 SEABL team that also won the National title (ABA). Jamie became Head Coach of the Supercats and won the SEABL title again in 2010, winning 3 SEABL championships in his time with the Supercats.
Between 2006 to 2014, Jamie had a great deal of involvement with Australian youth teams including the Australian Junior Mens team as Assistant Coach (U16 and U17 teams with 2 x silver medals and 1 x gold), the Australian Youth Olympics team in 2008 (Champions), FIBA Oceania Champions in 2011, and also working as an Australian U17 Team Camp coach from 2009-2011.
Jamie moved into the NBL in 2014 as Perth Wildcats Assistant Coach under Head Coach Trevor Gleeson, with the Wildcats winning 2 NBL titles in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Jamie was involved as Assistant Coach with the 2017-2019 Emerging Boomers, and attended the Summer Universiade with Head Coach Rob Beveridge where the team won the bronze medal.
Since 2017 to the present, Jamie has been Assistant Coach of the Cairns Taipans, initially under Head Coach Aaron Fearne and now working with 2019-20 NBL Coach of the Year Head Coach Mike Kelly.
In this interview, we talk about the strong connection and player development opportunities that the Cairns Marlins and Cairns Taipans players have, the 19-20 NBL season and the semi-finals series, and the outlook for Cairns in the NBL1 North 2020 season and the style of play Jamie hoped to adopt. You can follow the Cairns Taipans at their website: https://www.taipans.com/ and the Cairns Marlins website (Cairns Basketball) at: http://www.cairnsbasketball.com/
Footnote: This interview was recorded on 13/3/2020, a few weeks before the NBL1 North season was cancelled. -
Luke Cann is the State Performance Manager at Basketball Queensland (BQ) and also was the Regional Services Manager prior to his current appointment. Luke is in his third year as Head Coach of the Logan Thunder NBL1 men's team, after making the quarter-finals in 2019. Luke has held many junior representative coaching roles, notably taking the Qld South team to silver at the Australian National Championships in 2018.
Luke has been involved in basketball all his life and talks in this interview about the role models he has had including his parents, experienced coaches such as current Canberra Capitals WNBL championship winning coach Paul Gorris, Bruce Palmer and others. Luke has performed various basketball roles including as an administrator (with Logan Basketball as Basketball Operations Manager); player through the Queensland state pathways and now as lead Coach at the junior representative and QBL/NBL1 level.
As the State Performance Manager, Luke has oversight over all BQ state and emerging teams and high performance programs and gives an in-depth view of the 3 key elements needed by Queensland high performance athletes to succeed as State team players. We talk about the various online resources now available to athletes and coaches and the importance of talking about mental health and ensuring players, coaches and the community are coping in challenging times. Luke can be contacted through Basketball Queensland at their website https://basketballqld.com.au/ -
Brad George is in his 10th year in 2020 as Head Coach of the Ipswich Force NBL1 North women's team, notably coaching his team to the post season in every year of those previous seasons. Brad has also previously been Assistant Coach of the 2015 SEQ Stars WNBL team with Head Coach Shane Heal, and has been an Under 20 Queensland team Head Coach.
In this interview, Brad talks about his basketball career and coaching journey, his approach to recruiting, and the importance of leadership within the playing group. Brad also discusses the approach used for youth players coming through the junior pathway from junior basketball into QSL (formerly the SBL) and then NBL1.
You can follow Brad's team through the Ipswich Basketball Association website https://ipswichbasketball.com.au/?fbclid=IwAR1BXzlg9TsGCSv6jA6_ddCTtqnKNgBzjj7tzSwo4us2cR56K-zGSaqRiLU -
Ben Greany enters his first year in 2020 as Head Coach of the CQ University Rockhampton Cyclones NBL1 North womens team, after serving as Assistant Coach for the past 2 seasons under Head Coach Chris Muggeridge. Ben has been heavily involved with Rockhampton's junior girl's representative teams over the past 5 years, and is also a lead coach at their Under 15 and Under 23 Academies, which were recently created.
In this interview, Ben talks about taking over the coaching role following a successful period for the Cyclones, having won the QBL state championship titles in 2015 & 2016. Ben is working with strength and conditioning staff from the Central Qld University and is using that data to track player performance in the pre-season with a view to using it to maximise player contributions during the season. Ben talks about some of the Cyclones recruiting to date, and the culture he will be creating with the team and the experienced players in the group and the way the team can show leadership during the season.
Listeners can follow the CQ University Rockhampton Cyclones on Rockhampton Basketball's website: https://rockhampton.basketballqld.com.au/ -
Brayden Heslehurst is Head Coach of the Logan Thunder womens NBL1 North team, coming into his second season in 2020 with this group after reaching the quarter finals in 2019. Brayden coached the QBL mens team at the Sunshine Coast Phoenix from 2017-18 and was Coaching Director or the Sunshine Coast Basketball Association at Maroochydore.
Brayden grew up around basketball and was involved in his youth with the Southern Districts Association in Brisbane, as a player in the SEABL team then later as an Assistant Coach with Head Coach CJ Bruton in 2015 and 2016. He successfully coached the Southern Districts Spartans mens SBL team to a championship in 2015.
Brayden is a well known sports journalist, and provides great insight in this interview into the branding of the league into NBL1 North, and provides his thoughts on building the culture in his team and the importance of good leadership within the playing group. You can follow Brayden's team through the Logan Basketball Association website at: https://www.loganbasketball.com/ -
Vern Robateau is in his second season in 2020 in the NBL1 North competition as Head Coach of the Sunshine Coast Phoenix, located at Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
Vern was All-State basketball player at Chugiak High School (Alaska) in 1984 and a four-year standout at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He is the UAA all-time leader in games played (124) and games won (90). Vern went to college at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, and then went on to a 7 year career as a professional basketball player in Germany, Belgium, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia. Vern played with the Club he is now coaching during his playing career in 1995.
Vern was a Player Development Coach with the Brisbane Bullets under Head Coach Joey Wright in the mid 2000's, was Assistant Coach with the Suncoast Clippers who won the ABA Championship in 2006, and also in 2008 was an Assistant Coach with the Newberry Wolves Division 2 womens team in South Carolina before deciding to come back to the beaches of the Sunshine Coast.
In this interview, Vern talks about his early basketball career, his trip to the final four as a college player, his coaching and team goals for 2020 and the way in which he is bringing back local Sunshine Coast players to lead the Club on the floor this year. You can follow Vern's team through the Sunshine Coast Phoenix web page at: https://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=0-10741-0-510226-0 -
Neal Tweedy is Head Coach of the Rockhampton Rockets NBL1 North mens team and enters his 22nd season leading the Rockets in 2020. Neal has coached the Rockets to 7 straight finals appearances between 2008 and 2014, winning 4 QBL Championships during this time (2008, 2010, 2013 and 2014). Neal coached the Rockets team that won the last National Club Championship in 2008, defeating southern teams such as Sandringham, Frankston and Hobart along the way.
Neal talks about his early coaching influences as a young Rockets player, including Don Shephard, Dave Claxton, and current Melbourne United Head Coach Dean Vickerman, and the different aspects of the game that he picked up from playing for and working with those coaches. Neal is considered one of the league's best recruiters, and talks about his recruitment process, and the challenge of finding the right "fit" for import players who will be based in a small town and will experience a huge travel schedule throughout the season.
Neal gives some great insights into the recruitment of Australian born players, and his thoughts on the draw going into the 2020 NBL1 North season. You can follow Neal's team through the Rockhampton Rockets website at: https://rockhampton.basketballqld.com.au/ - Show more
