Farewell Kevin Braswell, Taran Armstrong to Golden State Warriors, Justin Schueller transitioned out of Brisbane Bullets, full TABtouch NBL Playoffs preview with Melbourne United v Perth Wildcats, Illawarra Hawks v South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Before getting stuck into the NBL Playoffs, we talk about the sad passing of 2011 NZ Breakers championship winning guard and former head coach Kevin Braswell.

We then also look at how frustrating it is to have this FIBA break before the Playoffs and talk about Taran Armstrong gong from the Cairns Taipans to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, and why Justin Schueller appears hard done by to be let go by the Brisbane Bullets.

We then get stuck into previews of the two Playoff series starting with Melbourne United against the Perth Wildcats. History is with Melbourne and so is home court advantage, but there's so much to watch out for including if United's veterans or the Wildcats youth shine.

Then can Bryce Cotton finally break the shackles of Shea Ili, do Melbourne have an answer for the explosive Keanu Pinder and who prevailed in the battle of the two fastest paced teams in the NBL.

Then there's the Illawarra Hawks trying to shake off a three-week break when they take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix in the other series.

The Hawks look to have all the weapons with Tyler Harvey and Trey Kell III in the back court, and Sam Froling, Lachlan Olbrich and Mason Peatling up front, but the Phoenix have a big threat with Matt Hurt and also welcome back Derrick Walton Jr.

Josh King is also yet to lose to Justin Tatum and the Hawks since taking over as coach at the Phoenix while whether or not South East Melbourne can force Illawarra into turning the ball over 10-plus times will be a crucial factor.

To then wrap up this week's show we take a look at the coaching vacancies at the Cairns Taipans and Brisbane Bullets with Cody pinpointing Kerry Williams as the likely appointment at the Snakes and potentially Chase Buford returning to the NBL at the Bullets.

The Adelaide 36ers became the most fascinating story to watch in #NBL25 too and we look back on what they did and why if they can bring back the majority of that eight-man rotation that worked late in the piece they will be tough to deal with next season.

All made possible thanks to the support of Hoops Heaven (www.hoopsheaven.com.au) and TABtouch (www.tabtouch.com.au).

Hoops Heaven's Basketball Hustle – #NBL25 Episode 21

This week, Pro picks the surging Lakers as his Team of the Week, while Bogues rides with the red-hot Cavs. The Suns remain a mess, and Memphis is fading. Joel Embiid’s season is over—could the 76ers medically retire him? Plus, Pacers fans sue Pat Bev, Knicks vs. Raptors dispute, and wild free-throw stats. Josh Giddey dominates as Aussie of the Week, and we debate if Jayson Tatum is undervalued. In the NBL, key re-signings and playoff battles heat up.

00:00:17

Intro

00:01:28

Team of the Week

00:09:32

Week team of the Week

00:25:08:11
 Latest NBA News

00:45:55:03

Useful or Useless

00:50:37
 Aussie of the Week

00:51:46:00

Fact or Fake News

01:05:54

Latest NBL News

© 2025 AMB Media

The Basketball Podcast Episode 157 – NBA Surges, Suns Struggles & Embiid’s Future w/ Mike Procopio

NBL must find a way to fix block/goaltend calls, Chris Goulding MVP of stunning Melbourne United-Perth Wildcats series, why John Rillie had to sit Keanu Pinder, excitement for Illawarra Hawks from player in their last Championship Series in 2017.

We open up this week's show with Cody Ellis talking about how proud he is of the Illawarra Hawks for what they have achieved so far in NBL, the way the community has got behind them and his reflections on being part of their last Championship Series in 2017.

We then turn our attention to the two Playoff Series where the Hawks dominated the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Game 3 after two tight games while Melbourne United and Perth Wildcats played out an all-time classic over three matches.

While Melbourne and Perth had a standout series, it wasn’t without drama and a lot of that surrounded some controversial calls late in the game including an unacceptable missed goaltend that was counted as a block from Marcus Lee on Ben Henshall with scores tied and 2:30 left.

That wasn’t the only call the Wildcats deserved to feel hard done by about and we look at them all including what appeared a flop from Lee on Jesse Wagstaff, a clear travel from Ian Clark and that was all in the last 2:30 of Game 3.

Away from the controversial, we look at Chris Goulding being the MVP of the series on the back of making 22 three-pointers while Ian Clark made the difference in Game 3 with 38 points and Jack White had a torrid time at the foul line.

From a Wildcats point of view, John Rillie deserves enormous credit for the changes he made from late in the third quarter of Game 2 onwards to give his team a chance and that included benching Keanu Pinder, but Cody Ellis talks about why he was left with no choice.

Then as for the other series, Trey Kell III and Tyler Harvey starred in the Game 1 and 3 wins for the Hawks while Todd Blanchfield came up huge and Derrick Walton Jr didn't quite return for the South East Melbourne Phoenix how he hoped and Matt Hurt's form wildly fluctuated from Wollongong to Melbourne.

With those Playoff Series out of the way, we look ahead to the Hawks-United Championship Series where there is all sorts of match ups to look forward to but might well be veterans Todd Blanchfield and Ian Clark who hold the key for their respective teams.

All made possible thanks to the support of Hoops Heaven (www.hoopsheaven.com.au) and TABtouch (www.tabtouch.com.au).

Hoops Heaven's Basketball Hustle – #NBL25 Episode 22

Breaking down Illawarra Hawks-Melbourne United NBL Championship Series, fingers crossed for Shea Ili, not good enough from Jack White, Adam Caporn perfect Boomers choice, Andrew Bogut's first step to coaching Sydney Kings, New Orleans Pelicans on the way.

Plenty of other things to discuss along with the Championship Series beginning with Adam Caporn being appointed the Australian Boomers coach and Cody sees him as the perfect choice for the role moving forward.

We then also discuss if Keanu Pinder's social media posting was a farewell to the Perth Wildcats, if Josh Bannan is now the hottest free agent commodity and if Andrew Bogut being a Sydney Kings assistant coach might be his first step towards being head coach.

We also look at the New Orleans Pelicans coming to Melbourne in October with Zion Williamson to play a couple of NBA pre-season games against Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix.

We then break down Game 1 of the Championship Series in what was the perfect example of a game of two halves with the Hawks having things on their terms in the first half before United turned things on its head for the win.

Melbourne's experience and physicality came to the fore in that second half with Marcus Lee playing a huge role while the back court of Shea Ili and Matthew Dellavedova helped ensure that Trey Kell III and Tyler Harvey had tough starts to the series.

We then turn our focus to Game 2 in Melbourne and the Hawks were in control of a lot of it but there was a lot to dissect in the last 10 seconds with Ian Clark's go ahead foul shots, Tyler Harvey's massive three and then Chris Goulding's three rattling out.

Also in Game 2, the Hawks won the physical battle and going big with Lachlan Olbrich and Sam Froling worked while Harvey and Trey Kell III fired with Jack White not good enough for Melbourne United but Tanner Krebs showed his value.

After wrapping up the first two games, we take a look at the TABtouch odds for Game 3 and then the rest of the series, and Cody is going with the Hawks to win Game 3 and to take the series 3-2 from here.

The WNBL championship has been decided with the Bendigo Spirit led by Sami Whitcomb winning and while the league has a strong on-court product, it needs a big boost in promotion to boost the profile which should begin happening under the NBL banner.

We then rapidly run through some free agents with Cody giving his thoughts on the future of players in the NBL including Bryce Cotton, Keanu Pinder, Kendric Davis, Montrezl Harrell, Tacko Fall, Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Jaylen Adams, Derrick Walton Jr, Milton Doyle and Jordon Crawford.

All made possible thanks to the support of Hoops Heaven (www.hoopsheaven.com.au) and TABtouch (www.tabtouch.com.au).

Hoops Heaven's Basketball Hustle – #NBL25 Episode 23

Coach Bogues is officially an assistant with the Sydney Kings! He breaks down the decision and the controversy surrounding it. Pro goes on an AI rant, while the Warriors surge and the Heat struggle. Stephen A. Smith vs. LeBron, Mavs facing potential forfeits, and a looming WNBA lockout. Plus, Jokic’s historic 30-20-20 game, Josh Giddey’s hot streak, and NBL Finals updates. Adam Caporn takes over as Boomers Head Coach, and NBA games are coming to Melbourne.

00:00:19

Intro

00:10:57	

Team of the Week

00:17:11

Week team of the Week

00:25:31
 Latest NBA News

00:51:56

Useful or Useless

00:53:18
 Aussie of the Week

00:55:25

Fact or Fake News

01:00:30

Latest NBL News

© 2025 AMB Media

The Basketball Podcast Episode 158 –  Coach Bogues is Official! w/ Mike Procopio

In this weeks episode, Pro struggles with the Zoom, but his Team of the Week is the Pacers, while Bogues picks the surging Rockets. The Knicks and Cavs are struggling. Kyrie’s livestream rant, Celtics sell for $6.1B, and Joe Ingles gets a special start. NBA All-Star 1v1? Beasley vs. Stephenson for $100K. Giddey & Dyson win Aussie of the Week. Plus, NBL Finals wrap-up—Illawarra are champions, Delly hands MVP to Davo, and NZ Breakers sold. Is a hostile NBL takeover brewing? Fact or Fake News: Is Dyson Daniels the NBA’s most improved player?

00:00:42

Intro

00:02:00

Team of the Week

00:08:51

Week team of the Week

00:14:00
 Latest NBA News

00:34:03

Useful or Useless

00:37:16
 Aussie of the Week

00:38:21

Fact or Fake News

00:52:58

Latest NBL News

© 2025 AMB Media

The Basketball Podcast Episode 159 – NBA Surprises, Kyrie’s Rant & NBL Chaos! w/ Mike Procopio

Cody Ellis on watching Illawarra Hawks triumph, brutal loss again for Melbourne United, frustrating MVP situation for both Davo Hickey/Matthew Dellavedova, NBL Championship Series breakdown and former Saint Louis Billikens captain talks NCAA March Madness.

From the perspective of a former Illawarra Hawks player who went to their last Grand Final appearance, Cody Ellis couldn’t be happier or more proud for the entire Wollongong community to now be celebrating a championship.

We also look at what a mixed week it was for the Froling family with Harry's heartwarming return after a horror two years while it was a heartbreaking achilles injury for Hawks co-captain Sam.

It wasn’t a series without controversies either highlighted by the horribly unfortunate situation of the MVP voting where Matthew Dellavedova won the Larry Sengstock Trophy but surrendered it to Davo Hickey.

It was a horrible situation for both players to be put in but Cody sees an easy solution to make sure it never happens again and that's simply for the votes to be cast at the end of the series and not after each game.

Not only that, but Justin Tatum continued to voice his opinions and the Illawarra Hawks coach was again fined by the NBL while there was an ill-timed leaking of the club owners potentially looking to assume ownership from Larry Kestelman.

All season long the depth has been key to the Hawks success and that was again on show the longer the Championship Series went while their rebounding and hustle became key while Davo Hickey led the charge in all areas to be the hero of the triumph across the series.

There were plenty more heroes for the Illawarra Hawks including Lachlan Olbrich stepping up against the experienced bigs of Melbourne and then his former Warwick Senators teammate Wani Swaka Lo Buluk playing a key role in becoming a four-time NBL champion.

Melbourne United has now lost two straight Championship Series after leading 2-1 and this time it's rebounding that Cody saw as their great weakness, and as demoralising as it must be to lose again, he credits their consistency while acknowledging they might need to now retool.

To wrap up this week's episode, we talk some NCAA March Madness as we enter the Sweet 16 stage with Cody making his predictions on who will make the Elite Eight while also reflecting on his own experiences including a Conference Championship as captain with the Saint Louis Billikens.

All made possible thanks to the support of Hoops Heaven (www.hoopsheaven.com.au) and TABtouch (www.tabtouch.com.au).

Hoops Heaven's Basketball Hustle – #NBL25 Episode 24

One shock, one brilliant Brisbane Bullets signing, Bryce Cotton looks set for Japan as Perth Wildcats scramble to replace great, March Madness Final Four, NBL team by team free agency breakdown, Warwick Senators NBL1 West preview from Cody Ellis.

Cody never thought coaching might be for him but he's now starting to change his view and it could be something he fully throws himself into at some point, and he's already helped the Warwick Senators U14s team to the National Championships.

The Brisbane Bullets coaching appointment was always likely to surprise and the announcement of Stu Lash certainly provided that, and Cody was somewhat shocked at the news, but he feels their appointment of Professor Stephen Reid as High-Performance Director is brilliant.

There was no surprise that Bryce Cotton decided to leave the Perth Wildcats but it's still significant news and Cody believes where he will end up next will be signing a lucrative deal in Japan, and there's no chance of him landing at a rival NBL club.

The changes under new ownership look to be ecxiting at the NZ Breakers and it all starts by trying to recreate what was once a winning culture where they had a great connection with New Zealand, and it no longer appears management will be hindering the team's chances of having success.

With NBL free agency now underway, we take a look at the outlook of all 10 clubs including a big off-season for the Adelaide 36ers with a lot of work to do under coach Mike Wells.

The Brisbane Bullets have a lot of pieces locked in but top-level import help for Casey Prather is the focus while the Cairns Taipans have done well to re-sign key talent including Sam Waardenburg but their import signings are also key.

The Illawarra Hawks have most of their championship team locked away and Cody does expect coach Justin Tatum to return while the team they beat, Melbourne United, look set to be undergoing some significant change to their personnel.

The NZ Breakers are changing a lot but the majority of their local personnel are locked while Flynn Cameron looks a key target and they'll be replacing all three imports likely including Tacko Fall.

The Perth Wildcats have big decisions to make on how to replace Bryce Cotton and Keanu Pinder with Kendric Davis and Josh Bannan the leading candidates while re-signing Matt Hurt has to be the focus for the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The Sydney Kings need to be going with three imports and they'll all be new faces in NBL26 while there could also be significant change afoot at the Tasmania JackJumpers but brining back Milton Doyle should be a priority.

March Madness has got to the Final Four stage and there are all the No. 1 seeds that have made it with Cody predicting an upset with Houston beating Duke while he's sticking with Florida to join them in the NCAA Championship Game with a possible 70,000 crowd at the Alamodome.

We then wrap things up by talking about the NBL1 West season ahead for Cody Ellis at the Warwick Senators with Todd Withers back alongside him along with new signings Elijah Pepper and Mitch Clarke.

Cody also casts his eye across the rest of the competition including Terrico White, Emmett Naar and Isaac White among the arrivals while he is blown away with the talent on the women's side that could have it the strongest conference in Australia.

All made possible thanks to the support of Hoops Heaven (www.hoopsheaven.com.au) and TABtouch (www.tabtouch.com.au).

Hoops Heaven's Basketball Hustle – #NBL25 Episode 25

In this episode of Rogue Bogues, the NBL Free Agency is heating up while the NBA nears the end of the regular season with the Playoffs in sight. The Chicago Bulls earn Team of the Week honors, and Josh Giddey continues to shine. What’s going on in Memphis as coaching changes raise eyebrows? Dwight Howard and Carmelo Anthony head to the Hall of Fame. Jokic racks up a wild defensive stat, and we reveal the Aussie of the Year. Plus, a great Fact or Fake News stat from Naismith, and Dellavedova is heading to the Sydney Kings! Tune in!

00:00:17

Intro

00:08:51

Team of the Week

00:13:41

Week team of the Week

00:30:29
 Latest NBA News

00:52:04	

Useful or Useless

00:59:26
 Aussie of the Year

01:00:10

Fact or Fake News

01:02:33

Latest NBL News

© 2025 AMB Media

The Basketball Podcast Episode 160 – Giddey’s Greatness, Bulls Rising & Delly Joins the Kings w/ Mike Procopio

Pro and Bogues wrap up the NBA regular season with their Teams of the Year — Bogues picks the Pistons, Pro goes with the Rockets. The Suns and Heat headline the Weak Team picks after disappointing seasons. They break down the surprise firing of Mike Malone and Calvin Booth, the Embiid injury update, and tension in New Orleans. Play-In predictions are in for both East and West. In the NBL, Free Agency continues to heat up with big moves across multiple teams. Plus, the boys tackle “Useful or Useless” and some spicy Fact or Fake News debates.

00:00:15

Intro

00:01:12

Team of the Year

00:08:39

Weak team of the Year

00:30:31
 Latest NBA News

00:45:21:15

Play-in Previews

00:48:19:13

Useful or Useless

00:52:09

Fact or Fake News

01:01:52

Latest NBL News

© 2025 AMB Media

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