Hoopsfix Podcast - British Basketball with Sam Neter

In Episode 123 of the Hoopsfix podcast, we sit down with British basketball legend Bobby Kinzer to explore what he sees as "the golden era" of British basketball during the 1980's.  Bobby shares his journey from Washington, DC to playing in the UK, highlighting the level of competition and the unique challenges faced by American players abroad. Bobby delves into the financial and cultural hurdles...

In this episode of the Hoopsfix podcast, we sit down with GB head coach Marc Steutel about the evolution of the Great Britain basketball program since their last Eurobasket campaign. He discusses the improvements in preparation, team culture, and leadership, as well as the challenges ahead in the upcoming EuroBasket tournament.  Steutel emphasises the importance of player development, team identit...

For Episode 121 of the Hoopsfix podcast we got sit down with San Antonio Spurs' Jeremy Sochan while he was back in London for a week. Having just completed his third year in the NBA, and fresh off a trip to the Philippines, Jeremy shares his experiences and reflections on his journey from being drafted three years ago to becoming a certified NBA professional.  He discusses the challenges of adapti...

For episode 120 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with legends of the game David Last and Terry Doherty, the masterminds behind Crystal Palace basketball club. Crystal Palace, one of the most successful clubs in the UK through the 1970's and 80's, were known for being one of the first programs to have a fully integrated pathway from juniors through to seniors, being responsible for a number of t...

For episode 119 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with Reading Rockets CEO Matt Johnson.  Johnson shares the journey of the Reading Rockets, a basketball club founded in 1997, emphasising the importance of youth engagement and community impact.  He discusses the current scope of the club, its legal structures, and the challenges faced in the British basketball landscape, while highlighting the n...

Emergency pod! With the shock news that the British Basketball Federation (BBF) has granted preferred bidder status to an investment group led by Marshall Glickman , going into an exclusive negotiating period for the professional league operating license, we got BBF Chair Chris Grant on the pod to discuss his and the BBF’s position. It was widely expected that Super League Basketball (SLB) would b...

For episode 117 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Super League Basketball (SLB) interim Chair and Sheffield Sharks and Hatters new owner Vaughn Millette. Vaughn discussed his journey into British basketball, his role as interim chair of the league, and the challenges faced in revitalising the sport after a tumultuous summer.  He shared insights on the business dynamics of the league, the i...

In episode 115 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Pete Taylor (Chair) and Josh Merrington (GM) of the Milton Keynes Breakers basketball club. Over the past seven years, Breakers have gone from 40 kids to over a 1000, while adding a Senior National League side that has got promoted every year and will be in Division 1 next season.  Not only that, but they've built a large fan base - with ove...

For episode 115 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Sevenoaks Suns coach and owner Len Busch. The Suns, one of the most successful WBBL franchises and at the forefront of youth female basketball development pulled out of the top-flight this off-season due to ‘untenable’ costs. In this hour long episode we go in depth with Len on the behind the scenes running of the club, and why financially...

For episode 114 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Caledonia Gladiators owner Steve Timoney. Timoney and his wife Alison – who also own the Gladiators’ WBBL franchise – took over the BBL club just before the start of this season and are self financing the project they consider to be part of their legacy. With a net worth estimated at anywhere between £60 million and £100 million they have l...

For episode 113 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with new Chair of the British Basketball Federation (BBF), Chris Grant. Having been announced in September and officially starting the role in November, Grant joined the organisation following a tumultuous summer for the Great Britain national team programmes, underscored by the men’s disastrous showing at EuroBasket . In this little over an hour...

For episode 112 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with recently named CEO of the BBL, Aaron Radin . Announced last week as the new face and boss of the league, the American joins the league after a 30-year professional career where he has held senior level positions at a multitude of sports, media and tech organisations such as the NBA, The Walt Disney Company, NBCUniversal and most recently, M...

For Episode 111 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Princeton Tiger and unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year , Tosan Evbuomwan. The 21 year old out of Newcastle is fresh off a breakout season with Princeton, and is coming to London next week for the London Basketball Classic to play in front of a home crowd with his college team. The former GB U18 and Hoopsfix All-Star Classic alumnus end...

For Episode 110 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with GB all-time great Dan Clark, who announces his retirement from playing professional basketball. The London 2012 Olympian, whose final season has ended up being his only one playing domestically - with the Manchester Giants in the BBL - is fresh off becoming GB men’s all-time caps leader during their recent EuroBasket campaign last month, ad...

For episode 109 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we do a special with British basketball legend Jo Leedham-Warner, who has announced her retirement from playing professional basketball. An 11-year career that reads like a fairytale, Leedham-Warner is coming off an undefeated season in the WBBL where she was named MVP after returning to play following giving birth. A London 2012 Olympian, EuroCup champion,...

With less than 2 weeks until the NBA draft, we sit down with projected lottery pick Jeremy Sochan to discuss how his preparation is going and ask him questions submitted from the fans via our Instagram page. Sochan is set to become the first Brit drafted since Ryan Richards in 2010, and only the second to go in the lottery, following on from Luol Deng.  The former MK Trojan and Solent Kestrel left...

For episode 107 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Lenz Balan, Vice President of 777 Partners and new owners of the BBL and London Lions. Following on from the announcement that 777 have invested £7million into the BBL for a 45% stake (though their ownership of the Lions takes it to 50%), we thought it was necessary to get a look into who is behind the scenes at 777, find out their reasons...

For Episode 106 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with Jon May and Tom Bennett from the Malvern Hoops campaign, who have recently transformed their local basketball courts. The five year campaign came to an end in August, after the brand new courts at Victoria Park, in Malvern, Worcestershire, were officially opened. Not purely aesthetic, the courts have been resurfaced with new hoops installed,...

For episode 105 of the Hoopsfix podcast, we sit down with England international and nine year pro, Joe Ikhinmwin. In this two hour bumper episode, the former London Lions captain exclusively reveals he is retiring from basketball, with a smooth transition to The Cyber Nerds, the business he set up with three friends to review movies, comics and games which has become a huge success. Starting his b...

For episode 104 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with Jay Marriott, CEO of Gloucester Sport, responsible for new WBBL franchise Gloucester Queens and potential BBL franchise Gloucester Kings. A former pro player and Head Coach of the Plymouth Raiders, Marriott was brought in by long-term friend Alex Petheram - 100% owner of the new Gloucester operation - to oversee and manage the basketball sid...

For episode 103 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with former England senior international and BBL pro, Jason Swaine. Swaine, known to be one of the great all-time shooters, picked up 24 caps for England, is a three-time BBL title winner and 12-time National League Division 1 title champion. Starting his professional career with the Sheffield Sharks, he led the BBL in 3-point percentage in his...

For episode 102 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Warwick Cann, the former Performance Pathways Co-ordinator and National Teams Director for GB and Basketball England. Warwick, an Australian, was hired in 2009, and had a number of different roles through to 2016 focused around performance pathways and the national teams, as he sat between both the BBF and BE. In this little over an hour co...

For episode 101 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with British coaching trailblazer Tim Lewis. Lewis, who most recently was an advanced scout for the Toronto Raptors, left the UK in 2006 to pursue his coaching dream, starting at CBA in Spain, before returning to set up Essex Pirates in the BBL as a pathway for young British talent. A former junior and senior national team player who went on D1 s...

For Episode 100 of the Hoopsfix podcast, we do a deep dive into the London 2012 Olympic legacy, interviewing 8 different people who were in and around the British basketball programme. We wanted to do something a little bit different for hitting the century mark and after a suggestion on Twitter from @auld_jethart to look at the Olympic legacy, we jumped on it. There were plans to interview a lot...

For Episode 99 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with British coaching legend John Collins. Collins, awarded an MBE in 2009 for his services to basketball, has been coaching for over six decades and done it at every level. He was at the helm of Sutton for the first ever National League game, and again when they became the first ever English team to win a game in Europe, coached both the England...