Aussie Hoopla NBL & NBA Podcast

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 regio...

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 sharp...

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...

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 ju...

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 Bra...

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...

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 p...

Craig Moller   grew up playing both basketball and football in Sydney, signing a scholarship with the Fremantle Dockers at 14 years of age. In December 2012, he was officially drafted by Fremantle in the 2013 rookie draft and spent two years in the AFL system before being delisted and returned to playing state league basketball, a pathway that led him to the NBL. Moller entered the league with the...

Dwayne McClain played 105 career NBL games, averaged 25.4 points per game, finished third in MVP voting in 1993 and was a part of the All-NBL Teams in 1991-1993. He was the first NBL player to be sponsored by an international brand (Coca-Cola) and, along with Andrew Gaze, was the first NBL player to have his own signature shoe (with Reebok). The 'D-Train' joins host Dan Boyce on the show to discus...

Tyler Harvey entered the NBL by storm, taking the Illawarra Hawks to the semi-finals and finishing runner-up in MVP voting after a season where the team finished dead last. Since that time, he's consistently been among the league's highest scorers, and he's, without a doubt, one of the greatest shooters the league's ever seen. Tyler enters his fourth season with the Hawks and has averaged 18.1 poi...

Very few have accomplished more than NBL legend Mark Dalton by age 20. In that time, he had played for the Australian Boomers at the 1984 Olympics and averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds as a starter in the Canberra Cannon's second NBL championship. Dalton played seventeen seasons across five NBL teams. This included the Canberra Cannons, Geelong Cats, Sydney Kings, Brisbane Bullets and Wollongong...

Chris Harriman played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Sydney Kings and the Hunter Pirates (runner-up in the 2004 rookie of the year award) before taking up an opportunity to coach college basketball. Since then, he's coached at some of the top college basketball programs, including Saint Louis, Nebraska, New Mexico and the University of Cal (Berkley), where he is an assistant coach to...

This week saw Illawarra Hawks stalwart  Tim Coenraad retire after 14 seasons in the NBL. He steps away from the Hawks as the third-highest in games played capped Hawks player of all time has announced his retirement. One of the finest three-point shooters in the league, particularly when playing at home in the WIN Entertainment Centre in front of a crowd invariably full of #22 Coenraad jerseys, he...

Cairns Taipans forward Ron Dorsey nailed an incredible three-point fade away to send game two of the 2011 NBL Grand Final series into double overtime, the first time this had occurred in NBL history. He joins this episode of the podcast to talk about his time in Cairns, how close the team came to winning it all, and, of course, gives us a play-by-play of the aforementioned shot. He also tells up a...

In this episode, host Dan Boyce asks the question, 'Should we have an NBL Pride Round' and, together with Sydney Kings superfan and proud member of the LGBTQ+ community Olivia Evans discuss the positives and negatives of the Pride Round, Cairns Decision not to participate in it and the reaction of fans on social media to devoting an entire round to the  LGBTQ+ community.   Topics covered include…...

Five months ago, Cam Bairstow retired from basketball at the age  of 31. Cam joins the podcast to talk with host Dan Boyce about fighting through the pain of those injuries during his time in the NBL and what he plans to do for a second career. The talented forward played a total of 74 games for Brisbane, Illawarra and most recently, the Adelaide 36ers, but perhaps his greatest achievement though...

The Melbourne Tigers left possibly the biggest imprint in Australian basketball history, winning four NBL championships in fifteen years (1993 to 2008) and being home to basketball royalty like Andrew Gaze , Lanard Copeland , Mark Bradtke and Chris Anstey . Al Westover , who was born in California and originally left the states to join the Tigers as a player during the 1970s, re-joined the team as...

With the release of the NBL salary cap figures and player salaries via a number of News Corp articles, it has become very clear that there are many nuances within the economics of the NBL, so our host Dan Boyce reached out to Sydney Kings CEO Chris Pongrass to help explain how the cap works, soft cap vs hard cap numbers, the myriad of player exemptions and how NBL teams utilise them to benefit fro...

Jacob Wiley joined the Adelaide 36ers as a replacement for Mitch Creek in 2018.  His 'one and done' season saw him finish the year as one of the premier forwards in the league and fill the highlight reels with multiple posterizing dunks. Wiley averaged 12.3 points and 5 rebounds playing for then coach Joey Wright, who he credits with helping to shape his basketball career. After initially re-signi...

Tim Soares  joins the Sydney Kings as one of their newest imports, and he's focused on being the best centre in the league and leading the team to back-to-back championships. He's a player who has taken an unusual journey to reach the NBL. With his mother and father, both professional basketball players who met while in Brazil, he developed his early game in Brazil (he is only the second NBL playe...

General Manager of Basketball Operations for the Perth Wildcats Danny Mills joins the podcast to provide some insights into the hirings and firings made by the Perth Wildcats this season. The team added Corey Webster and imports Brady Manek and TaShawn Thomas while saying goodbye to Vic Law and Michael Frazier. Danny provides clarity on what motivated the Wildcats to make each roster change and ho...

Off the back of winning a silver medal as part of Australia's 3x3 team at the Commonwealth Games Daniel Johnson joins the podcast to discuss the Adelaide 36ers re-look roster and what he's hoping to achieve in his fifteenth season in the NBL. Johnson, who has scored more points in the NBL than any other player since 2008, is a seven-time All-NBL Team member, including three All-NBL First Team reco...

Jordan Hunter exploded in his second year in the NBL, his production jumping from averaging 0.9 points and 1 rebounds in 63 total minutes to 9.0 points and 6.4 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. Then, prior to the 2021/22 season an unfortunate fracture to both his finger and his foot then saw him miss the entire 2021/22 season. Hunter joins the podcast to take host Dan Boyce through his rehab, the m...

CJ Bruton is currently building his first NBL roster as an NBL head coach, and he joins Dan Boyce on the Aussie Hoopla podcast to talk through his process and how he's managed to land some big names like Robert Franks and Antonious Cleveland.  Bruton took over as the team's head coach just prior to last season's tip-off, with the roster having already been finalized by former 36ers GM Jeff Van Gro...

Aaron Fearne was head coach of the Taipans for nine seasons and led the team to three postseason berths. Fearne was named the NBL Coach of the Year in 2015. Prior to the 2018/19 season, the Taipans announced that Fearne would not return as head coach and shortly after he moved to the US to take up a role as an assistant coach at the University of Charlotte. Aussie Hoopla's Dan Boyce spoke with 'Fe...