SBL Shootaround

Men's SBL Shootaround - Episode 15

We are up to Episode 15 on Men's SBL Shootaround and we aren't slowing down as we bring you all the latest on the West Coast Classic while talking to one of Australia's greatest ever basketball players.

It's Episode 15 of SBL Shootaround with Chris Pike and Ben Ettridge opening up with a look at three teams putting together some particularly exciting form right now in the West Coast Classic - the Willetton Tigers, Warwick Senators and Goldfields Giants.

We then take a look at the key players across a host of teams and discuss whether we will see any more of them in the West Coast Classic over the next month or not.

It's then time for a full breakdown on the Round 5 action in the West Coast Classic as we take a look at the results, the standout performers and how the finals race is shaping up.

It's then on to our guest for this week and it doesn't get any better than Mark Worthington. We discuss plenty about his glittering playing career that included playing 335 games in the NBL along with winning a championship as he did in Germany and indeed back before his college days with the South West Slammers in the SBL.

He's also a dual Olympian and now has made his move into coaching and is back home in Bunbury and ready to put in the hard work to build up the South West Slammers from a youthful group right now hopefully into the powerhouse they were back in the 1990s.

Wortho shares with us plenty of thoughts about his coaching philosophies along with some fascinating stories reflecting on his playing days including a 60-point SBL game, why it was only Trevor Gleeson that stopped him playing at the Perth Wildcats and so much more as he was tremendously generous with his time for us on SBL Shootaround.

There's also a discussion about why he is so happy with life in Bunbury thanks to his new partner - who just happens to be her own sporting star!

And then we wrap things up on SBL Shootaround with a preview of this weekend's action in the West Coast Classic.

Women's SBL Shootaround - Episode 13

Another exciting episode of SBL Shootaround this week as we provide all the latest on the West Coast Classic, announce the latest Wandering Distillery Player of the Week, update the Bassett-Scarfe Realty Player of the Year and have two very special guests.

Firstly on Episode 13 of Women's SBL Shootaround, Chris Pike and Randy Miegel have a look at the standout performances from Round 5 in the West Coast Classic and announce the winner of the Wandering Distillery Player of the Week.

We then go in depth on all the results and ramifications from the results in Round 5 before turning our attention to this week's guests.

First up is one of the greatest competitors the SBL has ever seen as we speak to 358-game veteran Jodee Sontay. We talk about her career that has seen her play with the Joondalup Wolves, East Perth Eagles, Warwick Senators and now the Cockburn Cougars.

We have a fascinating discussion about her favourite coaches and teammates, how she's been able to compete at such a high level for such a long time, changes in the game over the past 20 years, what she is most proud of in her career and so much more.

We then have a chat with the youngest championship winning coach in SBL history, Keegan Crawford. He took the Rockingham Flames to the 2019 SBL championship so we discuss that as well as his bond with Darcee Garbin and Ryan Petrik, and how he was ready as a 23-year-old to already take over as coach at the Flames.

We talk about what Keegan has already achieved, what he wants to achieve in the future and how much basketball he is currently juggling as a Perth Lynx assistant, Coach Development Manager at Basketball WA, coaching state teams and of course, coaching Rockingham in the West Coast Classic.

We then wrap up this week's show with our previews and tips for Round 6 in the West Coast Classic.

Men's SBL Shootaround - Episode 14

This is another edition of SBL Shootaround you just don't want to miss as we look at the winners and losers in Round 4 of the West Coast Classic, name all of our mid-season award winners and have a chat with one of most loyal and consistent import turned local in the league.

This week's Men's SBL Shootaround gets underway with a look at some of the thrillers of the weekend and the tight contests that the Willetton Tigers, Perth Redbacks and Goldfields Giants have been involved in over the opening four weeks.

Co-hosts Chris Pike and Ben Ettridge then announce their mid-season West Coast Classic award winners including who they believe will win the Championship, MVP, Most Improved, Coach of the Year and be named in the All-Star Five and Next Gen Five teams.

The Personality of the Year predictions might really grab your attention as Ben's selection is the very same supporter that got behind every team his Joondalup Wolves were playing in last year's SBL finals in pretty vocal and out there style.

We then take a look at all the results in Round 4 of the West Coast Classic and give an update on the standings with five rounds remaining.

It's then time for our special guest for this week and that is 289-game SBL veteran Corey Easley. Following his college career at the University of Montana and stints in Europe, he found his way to the Cockburn Cougars thanks to CJ Jackson in 2008. Aside from a year in Queensland and despite requiring a knee reconstruction that first year, he's called Perth virtually ever since.

He has forged a fine professional career with stints at the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, East Perth Eagles, Willetton Tigers, South West Slammers, Perry Lakes Hawks  and then back to East Perth and now Kalamunda, and wherever he's gone he has been a true professional and delivered big time.

He has also made a family for himself down under, still keeps a close eye on American Football from here and has plenty of fascinating stories to share that you just have to tune in to listen to.

We then take a look at Round 5 upcoming in the West Coast Classic and sign off on SBL Shootaround for another week.

 

Women's SBL Shootaround - Episode 12

We continue our momentum this week here on SBL Shootaround with all the latest in the West Coast Classic, we name another Wandering Distillery Player of the Week and are joined by a very special championship winning player and coach as our special guest.

Co-hosts Chris Pike and Randy Miegel open up Episode 12 of Women's SBL Shootaround by taking a look at all the latest in the 2020 SBL replacement West Coast Classic.

We then name our Wandering Distillery Player of the Week with the candidates including Tayah Burrows (Rockingham Flames), Maddie Allen (Perth Redbacks) and Jessie Edwards (Kalamunda Eastern Suns) - all members of the Perth Lynx squad for the upcoming WNBL squad.

We then run through all the results in Round 4 of the West Coast Classic and give an update on the standings.

It's then time for our special guest, Deanna 'Doccy' Black. With a glittering career that saw her win championships wherever she played whether it be the WNBL, in Europe or across the country in state leagues, for a 20-year stretch she was one of the finest basketballers in the country.

She has now gone on to begin forging her coaching career as a championship winner in 2017 in the SBL with the Perry Lakes Hawks and she has now been appointed an assistant coach at the Perth Lynx.

She also runs the basketball program at Willetton Senior High School, she is married to another former great Stephen Black and is currently pregnant with the couple's first child.

We discuss all of that on this week's SBL Shootaround before then looking ahead to Round 5 in the West Coast Classic.

Men's SBL Shootaround - Episode 13

Episode 13 of Men's SBL Shootaround is another jam packed show as we bring you all the latest from the West Coast Classic and we speak to another very special guest, this time a 422-game NBL championship winning star.

SBL Shootaround co-hosts Chris Pike and Ben Ettridge dissect all the action in Round 3 of the West Coast Classic from the weekend that saw some buzzer-beaters decide some cracking contests while we are no longer left with any undefeated sides after losses for the Joondalup Wolves, Rockingham Flames and Lakeside Lightning nor do we have any winless teams after victories for the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Cockburn Cougars.

It's then time for our special guest this week and it's former 422-game NBL star Aaron Trahair. We reflect on his outstanding career that started off winning a championship with the Perth Wildcats before stints at the Sydney Kings, Cairns Taipans, West Sydney Razorbacks, Hunter Pirates, Singapore Slingers and ultimately the Wollongong Hawks.

He discusses some of the highs of his career but also the one great disappointment along with the coaches he got the most out of especially Brett Brown and Gordie McLeod.

Trahair is also currently coaching the Mandurah Magic and is in his fourth year in charge there so we discuss his coaching in the SBL and ambitions for the future, his experience with the likes of Mark Utley and Ben Ettridge, life as a father and so much more in what is a tremendous discussion.

Also on SBL Shootaround, we want our listeners to come back to us for next week's show with their mid-season predictions from the West Coast Classic on their champions, MVP, Most Improved Player, Coach of the Year, All-Star Five and Next Gen Five.

We then do a full preview with predictions of Round 4 in the West Coast Classic and sign off for another week.

Women's SBL Shootaround - Episode 11

This is an episode of Women's SBL Shootaround you really don't want to miss as not only do we dissect everything related to the West Coast Classic, but we are joined for the entire show by a remarkable father-daughter SBL Championship winning combo.

Regular co-hosts Chris Pike and Randy Miegel are back for another SBL Shootaround but this time it's a four-person panel to host the show and it's hard to get better than the pair we are honoured to be joined by.

Desiree Kelley is the current captain of the Willetton Tigers, is an SBL championship winner from 2016 and last year's All-Star Game MVP, but she also just happens to be the daughter of a legend.

Vince Kelley won a national championship while attending Inglewood High School in California, he spent four years at the University of Colorado and then made a remarkable start to his professional career in the NBL averaging almost 30 points over three seasons in Sydney.

He then spent two years in Portugal before arriving in Perth, Western Australia, where he has remained ever since. Over remarkable 351 game career in the SBL, he was named 1992 MVP, was championship winning player-coach in 1993 and went on to be the league's all-time leading scorer.

As you can imagine, there is so much to talk to both about their individual lives in basketball, but also about their father-daughter relationship and so much more as they join us for the entire show.

We also announce the Wandering Distillery Player of the Week, provide a full breakdown of all the West Coast Classic Round 3 action and preview Round 4 of the competition in a show we hope you enjoy listening to as much as we did recording it.

Men's SBL Shootaround - Episode 12

Now this is the episode of SBL Shootaround that is 12 weeks in the making as co-host Ben Ettridge gets to speak with his dream guest as we also dissect everything happening in the West Coast Classic two rounds in.

From the very start of SBL Shootaround, former 200-plus SBL game player and dual championship winning coach Ben Ettridge has made it clear that four-time MVP winner Jeff Anderson was his dream guest, and this week it all comes true.

We speak with the Willetton Tigers legend about his life in basketball that saw him grow up in Greensboro, North Carolina around the same time as James Worthy and Michael Jordan before coming out to Australia, loving it so much he left college early to return, then met the woman that would become his wife and nearly 40 years later, and the rest is history.

Anderson is the only man to be an SBL MVP winner and win a Coach of the Year award while he started working at Willetton Basketball Stadium back in the late 1980s and has been there ever since, seeing the eventual transformation into the new stadium now and seeing so many stars coming through of who he rates Adelaide 36ers superstar Daniel Johnson the pick of the bunch.

The four-time MVP winner shares so many basketball and life stories in what is a truly fascinating discussion that you don't want to miss including the night he put up 46 points on the road in Geraldton but his opponent still scored 36 more than him before hitting the NBA!

Jeff Anderson is the star of the show, but there's plenty more on this week's SBL Shootaround as we discuss everything happening in the West Coast Classic including the horror injury to Liam Hunt, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns going 0-3 and Ben Ettridge's return this Friday night to Joondalup.

Also we look at the results of the West Coast Classic, all the standout performers and give our predictions for Round 3 this weekend.

Women's SBL Shootaround - Episode 10

We are up to Episode 10 on SBL Shootaround and to celebrate getting to double-figures, this could very well be the most excited we have been to release a show - and we hope you feel the same listening to it!

First up co-hosts Chris Pike and Randy Miegel take a look at Round 2 in the SBL replacement West Coast Classic, and announce the winner of the Wandering Distiller Player of Round 2. The winner receives a voucher to The Shoe Bar.

It's then time to have a detailed look at the results and starring performances from Round 2 in the West Coast Classic before turning attention to our remarkably special guest.

We were honoured on Women's SBL Shootaround to be joined by the legendary Tully Bevilaqua live from her home in Indiana. The triple SBL championship winner, triple WNBL title winner and WNBA championship winner with the Seattle Storm joined us for a fascinating discussion about life, basketball and everything in between.

Of course we discussed her basketball career where she played 150 games in the SBL, almost 500 in the WNBA and almost 300 in the WNBL while racking up the championships and defensive awards, but that only just scratched the surface.

We talked about life growing up in Merredin, her move to Perth and ultimately playing basketball around the world and then now settling in Indiana with her wife Lindsay and their two children. We discussed being the wife of a police officer in the current environment, her life as a mother and TV commentator for the Indiana Fever, and so much more. You just have to listen for everything we discussed!

We are then back to preview Round 3 of the West Coast Classic and announce our two special guests who will join us in the studio next week!

Men's SBL Shootaround - Episode 11

Well here we are, the West Coast Classic is underway and we review and preview all of the action on SBL Shootaround on top of concluding our conversation with the legendary Andrew Vlahov.

 

But to begin Episode 11 of Men's SBL Shootaround, co-hosts Chris Pike and Ben Ettridge go back to our NCAA Tournament to crown the Ultimate SBL Championship team. The winner was announced back in Episode 10, but this week thanks to Brad French and SBL Online, we were able to simulate a three-game series between the Perth Redbacks and Swan City Mustangs which we discuss here.

 

We then dissect all the action in Round 1 of the West Coast Classic and talk about the big winners and losers, the standout performers and what we learned from the first weekend of the SBL replacement competition.

 

It's then time to finish our tremendous interview with three-time Perth Wildcats championship winning, 349-game NBL legend Andrew Vlahov who also represented Australia at four Olympic Games, is a Hall of Famer and has now been tremendously successful beyond basketball too.

 

We talk with the legendary figure about why the Perth Wildcats mean so much to him, who should have their singlet next hung in the rafters, the toughest opponents he come up against, seeing his son Ethan now playing under CJ Jackson in the SBL at the Perth Redbacks, and then his life outside of basketball and the successful life he has had, and continues to have.

 

Coming off that remarkable high, we take a look at all the matches to come in Round 2 of the West Coast Classic and we hope you all enjoy another massive episode of SBL Shootaround that we are tremendously proud to bring you.

Women's SBL Shootaround - Episode 9

What an exciting episode of SBL Shootaround we have to bring you to coincide with the opening round action of the West Coast Classic as the replacement for the SBL season in 2020 here in Western Australia.

 

It has taken until Episode 9 of Women's SBL Shootaround but co-hosts Chris Pike and Randy Miegel now have some real basketball to dissect and review following Round 1 of the West Coast Classic.

 

Not only that, but we are delighted to announce the first winner of the Wandering Distillary Player of the Round. The inaugural winner is Stacey Barr of the Warwick Senators and she receives a voucher to The Shoe Bar as a reward.

 

It's then time for our very special guest of this week and it doesn't get much much better than Tanya Fisher. In 141 games in the WNBL, she was a championship winner and Grand Final MVP for the Perth Breakers while also playing 222 games in the SBL including being named MVP when at the Perth Redbacks in 1995.

 

She now has daughters Eryn and Bree following in her footsteps, she was recently coach of the East Perth Eagles the last two years and still remains heavily involved in basketball today, and is never afraid to express her thoughts on a whole lot of topics on how basketball in WA can still improve.

 

And if that's not enough for this week's show, we then provide a full preview of Round 2 in the West Coast Classic and then announce our guest for Episode 10, which just happens to be SBL, WNBL, WNBA and Australian Opals legend Tully Bevilaqua.

 

All made possible thanks to Bassett-Scarfe Realty (www.bassettscarfe.com.au) and Wandering Distillery (www.wanderingdistillery.com.au).