The Bench Units Podcast

Sometimes you can circle the games that will deliver on their promise. Then sometimes you get a couple more great games thrown in unexpectedly. Never ones to complain about more content-worthy basketball, we break down 4 games from the past weekend. We dive into our first Italian game of the season (Reggio Calabria vs Sassari), catch an offensive showcase (Münsterland vs Trier) before we revisit e...

Ah, basketball games. They take over our weekends and then we spend all week thinking about them. With the season officially underway, we drill down on what we've deemed to be the two most interesting games so far; Lahn-Dill vs Hannover & Amiab vs Bidaideak. We then touch on scores and points of interest from other games around Europe and highlight some games that we're looking forward to this wee...

Well, this has come around fast. Guess that's what happens when you take 4 months off. A lot of player movement has taken place over the summer, and a lot of teams look a lot different as a result. We discuss some teams, at varying levels of competitiveness whose outlook for the new season has us intrigued, excited or confused about their immediate future to the point where we won't miss a chance...

Well, looks like we overslept. Fortunately, one thing almost guaranteed to bring us out of our months-long hibernation is the handing out of Paralympic medals and our inability to fight the sense that people want to hear what we might have to say about it. And so we present our mega return episode. It covers everything important that happened in both the men's and women's wheelchair basketball at...

4 teams. 4 games. 3-peat. This past weekend, we saw European club basketball’s four established powerhouses go at it again. As with the two previous Final Four stages, Amiab Albacete came away with the biggest prize on the continent. We dive into the key moments that saw a worthy challenger emerge and momentarily threaten to take the crown, and what the keys were that were able to once again eleva...

36 games, 24 teams, 9 sets of medals. Too many interwoven storylines to coherently explain. With the dust now settled on the EuroCup 1, 2 & 3 Finals, we take a tour from Valladolid to Sassari to Giulianova as we recap all the action. We talk about the most compelling teams, matchups, subplots and outcomes of the three tournaments, before looking ahead to Champions Cup this coming weekend! Availabl...

Nothing like bringing the podcast back to its roots once in a while. We're very pleased to be joined by a first-time guest and first-season Sheffield Steeler. Abs Taghrest joins Bench Units to talk about a resurgent season for the club where this podcast originated, one that has seen them qualify to the EuroCup 3 Finals and hold the distinction of being the only amateur squad remaining at any leve...

Who needs a guest when we have our own set of boots on the ground! Ahead of James travelling to Giulianova, we look ahead at each inmate on maybe the greatest Murderers’ Row that EuroCup 1 Finals has ever seen. With at least 6 teams that could credibly win the competition in any given year, we try and plot each team's path through the pool stage and beyond. Available now, wherever you get your pod...

We have been accused of, and admitted to, not giving the French League the attention it deserves. Since this season began, Colin Higgins hasn't left us much of a choice but to take notice. The key off-season signing for Les Aigles du Velay last summer, Colin has helped to establish them as the class of the domestic league and be dominant in their EuroCup campaign so far. The Canadian forward turns...

Whether you think the Paralympic wheelchair basketball should have been cut to 8 teams or not, the Repechage tournament to decide the 8 was premium viewing content. After three days of seeding games, we saw Netherlands, Germany, Canada and France qualify for the chance to compete at Paris 2024. We break down the performance of each team, the biggest moments and results of the Repechage tournament,...

A lot can happen between two appearances on Bench Units. Tasked with overseeing one of wheelchair basketball's historic national programs return to prominence, Brad Ness joins us to talk about having already punched a coveted ticket to Paris via the AOZ tournament. From his position as a Roman Emperor watching the gladiators battle it out, Brad helps us to preview the upcoming Repechage Tournament...

This week, James is joined by frequent Bench Units guest Mendel to go through the Italian play-off semi final deciders, as well as trying to figure out what happened down the stretch of a drama-filled Spanish league game. If you like people going so far into wheelchair basketball games they come out the other side, this might be the episode for you. Available wherever you get your podcasts! Get fu...

3 days. 3 EuroCup Levels. 7 Groups. 33 Teams. 62 Games. This amount of hoops output can't be broken down in any reasonable fashion, so we've reverted to a Bench Units favourite and chosen to cherry-pick the topics that interest us, so long as they can be phrased like an awards category or meaningless cliché. We cover players we've never seen before, teams who are both a level above and below their...

He's back, again! Coming off a pair of wins to secure the German Cup this past weekend, Tommy Böhme stops by to catch us up on the season so far and look ahead to this weekends Champions Cup Quarter Finals. RSV Lahn-Dill currently sit at 24-0 across all competitions within the season, and may be about to take on their toughest test as they face off against Albacete and Bilbao. Available now, where...

DISCLAIMER: This episode was recorded prior to the news that the Ilunion-Amiab game, scheduled for the 2nd of March, had been postponed due to illness. Copa del Rey champion, MVP and now Bench Units Most Accommodating Player. What a week for Pincho Ortega. Poncho stops by to take us through Ilunion’s signature win of the season so far, and how it sets up rematches with Amiab both in the league and...

Almost as excited as last time, and one appearance away from being forced to intro the podcast, Arinn Young is back! Juice talks about the recent stretch of the season for Wiesbaden, which has seen them rise to third in the standings in Germany and qualify for the EuroCup 1 Finals. They also break down the past weekend's game against Hannover, the Rhinos' official rival. Available now, wherever yo...

In this episode: Albacete are able to hold off a feisty Malaga team, including playing a quarter that felt like a choreographed movie fight scene. Lahn-Dill make it 2-0 against their nemesis, Thuringia Bulls, in what mostly felt like a brawl. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Aaaaand breathe. 5 preliminary rounds, 23 teams, 44 games, all in about 36 hours. Anyone who has been there knows that the true currency of any EuroCup weekend is hours spent in the venue, between your own games, taking a crash-course in a bunch of teams you probably wouldn't watch otherwise. Of course, all of that is worth nothing if you can't show off your newfound expertise to anyone who will l...

With EuroCup set to begin later this week, we were going to let last weekend slip by without a round-up, but an expansive slate of games left us no choice. In the first ever Bench Units Tasting Menu, we selectively nibble at the best and most meaningful games from 6 (!) leagues across the continent (UK, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Germany). Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full...

If you haven't heard about Oscar Knight yet, you probably don't consume any Bench Units content and therefore won't be reading this. The important thing is that WE have heard of Oscar Knight, and that means that both us and you get to hear from him. This out-of-nowhere rookie sensation, from a competitive AMFIV Vigo squad, joins us to talk about the unconventional path that has lead him from the s...

As we officially begin the ramp-up to the business end of the season, basketball is taking place on many fronts. As usual, we start out with a few league games that piqued our interest. We then move on to the placement games of the AOZ qualifiers, which has left both the Men’s and Women’s sides of Paris 2024 with 4 teams cemented and 8 teams vying for last-chance qualification via the Repechage To...

Happy 2024! We kick off our resolution of making the podcast better, first by musing on the feedback from our listeners and secondly from only talking about the games worth talking about. That taken care of, we take a look at the AOZ qualifiers and what we've learned about Austria, Iran & Japan from a highly competitive group stage. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to...

For the last weekend round-up of 2023, we cover an 11-game schedule across Spain and Germany. There's enough lukewarm musings in this episode to patch you through until the new year, so gather your all-time best and worst teammates, set your back castors on the three-point line and dive in. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/sub...

This week, in Mark’s absence, James is joined by Lahn Dill and Dutch national team player, and Bench Units regular, Mendel Op Den Orth. In what was meant to be an off week for the Spanish league, join the guys as they go through 9 games between Spain and Germany, and then answer a few listener questions, before handing out the belt. Listen in to our latest attempt at recording a podcast that Mende...

In a week stuffed with 30-attempt games, lopsided quarters and wild +/- numbers, we saw everything from tier-clarifying blowouts to further-mystifying upsets. 5 games in Spain, 5 in Germany, some more in places we don't have time for. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe