Building Better Basketball

You might know him better as one of the voices of the Talking Split podcast but at Basketball Australia he is our u17 Crocs coach as well as the preacher of the Master skill, the consumer of any and all Basketball content and one of the best chats for coaching in the Business. Enjoy this conversation with Neil and we look forward to seeing you at the National Coaches Conference or you jumping onli...

Join Lauren Jackson as she goes one on one with only the second female coach in NBA History and WNBA Championship winning Coach Becky Hammon. For more from the She Hoops Series make sure you are following their feed She Hoops on Apple Podcasts

Mike Thibault coached the Connecticut Sun and the Washington Mystics in the WNBA. In 2013, he became the WNBA's most successful all time coach with 212 victories. Lauren Jackson caught up with this ICON of the game to chat about his career, coaching philosophies and the sport he has dedicated his life to.   For more from the She Hoops Series make sure you are following their feed She Hoops on Appl...

Thie week Neil is joined by Jacqui Dover who brings with her a celebrated career and wealth of knowledge and experience in the referee space. Beginning at the grassroots level with Gold Coast Basketball she’s gone on to referee in the NBL1 (formerly QBL), WNBL and is currently the only on court female referee in the NBL. Jacqui’s career has taken her around the world, notably spending 18 months in...

Usually, we would write a blurb here introducing Crystal Kaua. Crystal might be known to some of you as a coach that Codey Royle worked with in his Second Set of eyes book. She is a kiwi rugby coach but in this episode she covers so much that has nothing to do with rugby. Crystal has a very powerful coaching philosophy, a very strong sense of self as a female coach in a predominantly male sport an...

Neil is joined by someone who fills a vital role in sport which is uncommon in Basketball currently but on the rise. A 3 time WNCL winning support staff member, a soon to be one time Sheffield Shield winning staff member hopefully, Emma Doherty is the player Development Manager for Cricket Tasmania and she is going to share with us some insight about her role and hopefully give you some ideas abou...

His twin brother has been on the pod before he left our BA team for the Apple Isle and the Jackjumpers and he was someone I have been trying to get for a while! Now he is full time with BA as our Executive GM - High Performance & National Teams I finally managed to get 3 x NBl champion, 2005 NBL MVP, 2 time Olympian and former Boomers captain Jason Smith on the podcast. Jason is someone who is...

Today is a bit of a special episode, Neil is joined by the 2023 Ford Aussie Hoops Coach of the year, Mackenzie Stewart from the Cockburn Cougars in Western Australia. I’m just going to include the section from the nomination form that got Mackenzie the award, and then you will hear my chat with her and hopefully you are as impressed as I am by a young lady with a very bright future in coaching bas...

Neil is joined by Jarrod Moore, the Coach Development Manager from Basketball NSW. The discussion covers nurturing confidence, balancing development levels and the age old debate is there a difference between teaching and coaching!

In today's episode, we are thrilled to delve into the inspiring journey and expertise of Opal Sami Whitcomb, a dynamic force in the world of basketball. With an impressive career spanning both domestic and international arenas, Sami's unique insights, skillset, and dedication to the game make her a standout figure in the basketball community. Join us as we explore her experiences, insights, and th...

Welcome back to season 4 of Building Better Basketball. Neil Gray Game Development Manager at Basketball Australia is joined by Tyrone Thwaites from the Cockburn Basketball Association in Western Australia. Cockburn are an association with 336 teams, the largest Aussie Hoops program in Australia for 2 years running and home to a Womens NBL1 Championship side and an NBL 1 Coach of the year who also...

Our first return guest on Building Better Basketball and he is back to talk about one of the biggest issue that coaches face, PARENTS! He has a fantastic new book out called the Sports Parent Solution and in this episode he dives into the questions, the solutions and the experiences in that book across the vast spectrum of parent involvement in the game.   A must listen for any coach working with...

Todays guest is Mark Alabakov, the NBL1 Championship winning coach with the Bendigo Braves. Mark has also had significant involvement at the WNBL level with the Bendigo Spirit, Melbourne Boomers, Townsville Fire and the Sydney Uni Flames as they then were as well as an understanding of Basketball at the community level with Diamond Valley Basketball Association. On this episode, we'll talk about t...

Todays guest is David Herbert, the Centre of Excellence Women’s Program Head Coach. David has over 25 years of experience within the Basketball Australia pathways having coached in the NBL1, WNBL, National Junior Championships and as a national team's Head Coach. David is the current head coach of the Ballarat Miners NBL1 women’s team. David has received numerous coaching accolades including WNBL...

Todays guest is Nick Cox, the Director of Academy at Manchester United. Nick Cox is renowned for his commitment to developing a holistic approach to youth development, focusing not just on technical skills, but also on character, education, and personal growth. His dedication to building a strong foundation for the future of Manchester United has earned him the respect and admiration of football e...

Georgia Koopmans is a current NBL1 Player, a 3 time Vic Country representative and two time captain, the new Helping Hoops Charity Shootout Champion and one of the most passionate Junior Coaches you will hear! Neil and Georgia talk about her comeback from a significant knee injury, her history with Helping Hoops and her amazing record breaking performance and her coaching philosophy working with y...

Neil is joined by the founder of Canberra’s only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander focused Basketball Club the Winnunga Warriors. The club organises the NAIDOC Basketball Tournament as a way to create an awareness of NAIDOC week within the ACT Community and to also demonstrate how their club is committed to the motto of reconciliation in action. The 2023 Tournament will be held from 7 - 9 July...

This weeks guest will be no stranger to you if you went and did the @asc Reflection Course last week. Lauren Robinson is coaching with @knoxbasketball at multiple levels including @nbl1 , @basketball_vic within the Wheelchair program and is leaving on Sunday in her role as manager with the @ausgliders  . On top of that for a young coach she has an incredible amount of knowledge from her own studie...

We are recording this weeks podcast bang in the middle of National Volunteer Week (NVW) Australia’s largest annual celebration of volunteers. The theme for National Volunteer Week 2023 is The Change Makers, representing a celebration of our power to drive change and ensure volunteering is inclusive of all members of the Australian community and celebrate, thank and recognise the significant contri...

Lisa Alexander AM  coached the Australia national netball team from 2011 to 2020. Alexander coached the Diamonds for 102 test matches, becoming the most capped Australian coach of all time. She oversaw gold medal successes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 Netball World Cup. As Australian coach Alexander won 83 of her 102 test matches, an impressive 81% winning record. In this episode just s...

Ben was a determined but mediocre youth athlete and later a bench-warmer on his high school basketball and volleyball teams. But life got better when Ben gave up competitive sports. Most recently, he worked as co-chairman of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney ABC Television. Before that, he was president of ABC News and executive producer of Good Morning America. A bestselling author of...

Just a special solo quick shot with Neil to run through the amazing schedule for the Upcoming National Coaches Conference which you can read about and sign up for here Schedule Announced for National Coaches Conference | Basketball Australia Coaching Resource . Neil also teases a big announcement for Community Coaches next Tuesday at midday, keep your eyes peeled!

Todays guest has more stamps in her passport than anyone we have ever had on the podcast before as Basketball has taken her all over the world! Priyanka Karunakaran is the Head of Operations for the Rollers, Gliders, Spinners, Devils and all National 3x3 teams! If that wasn’t enough in a normal year she is also working with a focus to the Paris Comm Games in 2024! There are so many different ways...

Second to their players, Coaches probably have the most communication with referees on game days, rightly or wrongly! So we thought it was important to get an insight into how that communication works from a referee's perspective, the challenges they have on the floor, how they review and improve and the age old art of communication. Neil is joined by Caitlin Grove, Technical Officials Development...

If there was one mental skill set you would want a basketball player to have young or old, Resilience would be high up there.  Neil is joined by Martin Heppell from the world famous Resilience Project to talk about all his learnings working with young people about resilience, his experience both as a professional athlete, a parent and now someone working in the mental health space and finally perh...