Talking Hoops Recap

Talking Hoops Recap  14/11/06

Hosted by Paul Bell and Brett Maher

Bell asked Maher if he is happy with his own form, he said he was happy with the first half against Townsville, he was happy with how he distributed the ball and shot the ball reasonably well in Brisbane, said he copped some wrath on the hoops website, he said he only took 12 shots, and that being the point guard people said he had to distribute the ball, and he expected those comments given the teams form.

They spoke about the Townsville game, he said it showed them the 2 ends of the spectrum on how the team is playing, played exceptionally well for the 1st quarter and a half, and then Townsville took over, and got them back into the game, and then it was a 2 point game before Horvath got tech fouls, he was frustrated as he felt he was getting hacked at one end and called for little fouls at the others. He said Horvath was ok after the game and felt responsible for the loss, Maher said its hard when the game gets taken out of the players hands, being a 2 point game and then 3 tech fouls gives the Crocs a lead. Bell asked Maher about being frustrated on the rebounding, Maher said they needed a fire up and he thought some weren't being aggressive enough going for the boards, and he felt at that stage early in the 2nd half he felt if they could be aggressive they could of put there foot on there neck and won the game.
Asked about no one confronting Abeny on the Hill incident, Maher said he thought maybe some one should of, he said he went straight to the referee asking why it wasn't a flagrant foul, he said the following night the refs called 2 in the Perth game, for things less than what happened to Hill. They said the team is a quiet group, they don't have a real enforcer type player in the group, spoke how Boty mentioned Cattalini, who would of stuck his chest out and bumped him, he said Abney wouldn't of done it deliberately to hurt Hill, and players are taught to hard foul players when they are going for a open lay up.

Brad Hill Interview: Said he was feeling not too bad, said his ulna and radius where completely snapped had to go into surgery, all went fine, and hopefully he will be back to normal next season, said he gets the cast off in about 3 weeks, and hopefully will get into rehabilitation straight after he gets the cast off, said he didn't feel it at all when it happened, a couple minutes after it rose, and after the operation, said it hasn't been hurting as much as some people said it should be, said both bones got cleanly snapped, one bone came through the skin, which he didn't see because he didn't want to look at it. Said he didn't break it in the air, the knock set him off balance and he landed with all the weight on his fore arm, said Larry Abney hasn't been in touch with him. Maher said it was the shooting arm, which may cause the rehab procedure to be extended, Hill said he wasn't sure, he said the best thing was that he gets to work on his skills and strength for a while without any pressure on him. He came to training, said it was good to see the guys and hoped the players aren't feeling bad about anything and thought he would show some support. Said it was probably something that needed to happen to make the NBL and refs take notice of situations like that and protect the players better, especially when they are going for a dunk and trying to provide a highlight. Said he has had lots of support phone calls all weekend, people around the league calling and messages from friends.

Maher and Bell spoke about Hill, with youth on his side and being a gritty competitor, he will be back as soon as possible, they said it was poor that Abney and the Crocodiles haven't contacted Hill to apologize

Dana called in: wanted to ask Maher how the players couldn't lift themselves up in the second half, said she had noticed Phil Smyths body language has been a bit congruent, saying don't worry about the umpires, and his body language not showing it, as in previous seasons he wouldn't jump up at every call and say as much. Maher said when they are not playing well they look for different things, and in previous seasons when they are winning there isn't as much need to say anything. Dana said is it helpful to say that, likened it to the child being on the roof all confident until the parents say don't fall, and said she thinks it could be altering the way they are playing, she said people are man handelling and getting away with it, Maher said they have to adjust and play to it as the league is getting more physical and you have to play that way to succeed, said its not the strength of a lot of the 36ers players as they are mostly creative offensively, and defensively its not there strength to get up and push people around, he said teams get away with it as teams play physical with there bodys and referees let that go, where as some of the 36ers get caught wacking and hacking as they havnt got the physical bodies, which they need to adjust to it. Dana said that's what happened to Horvath. Dana joked they just have to get Goorjian in to coach them.

Bell and Maher spoke about the article by Boty Nagy, asked if the players read it, he said there wasn't hardly mention it, they acknowledged it was written, Maher said he expected it to be worse and Boty to go to town abit more on everyone. Maher said it was warranted and they do need to pick it up. Bell said it was a fairly accurate assessment, and players are who they are, and it seems to be more the chemistry of players gelling together rather than individuals, and mentioned they were a little hamstring with recruiting, due to the sales process, Maher said you have to get the best payers available for there salarys, and Smyth had gone on record saying it was the team they want, and offensively they can match it with anyone, need to improve defensively, asked about change in the coaches, Maher said he hadn't noticed too much change, and if everything gets changed it can make things worse, Smyth is a big believer in promoting the positives and they have worked on the little things to get better as well. Maher said there has been 3 or 4 games this season which could of gone either way and if they had won them they would be in such a better position, 8  4 , said there has only been 4 games where they have played really bad and deserved to lose, said now they have to build on the positives and turn it around and play out the four quarters.

Mal Hemmerling interview: Asked how he has found being the owner of the team, he said the process of handing it over has been longer than he would of liked, he is there now at the Dome as of last week, and they can all work together to achieve a positive result. Said there are always a few surprises you find along the way and said the complexity of chaning the previous structure was enourmous. Said he and Groves have looked at the stadium and are looking to give it a fresh new look, and re launch it coming to the new season, doing some work in the off season. Said he has spoken to Smyth about what his expectations were, he said they weren't going to fool around with it as they came in with a coaching staff and team established and it wouldn't be fair to fool around with it, so he is supporting them and doesn't think there is much in it to bring them back into the finals. Asked about the criticism of fans, he said fans are discerning people and have a lot of emotion, he said its important to not make any rash decisions, and there is plenty of talent in the team, and in the past they havnt had a stable backing and not much money and now they have more money and a stable ownership. Asked about the Brad Hill incident, he said what has come out in the NBL website is what he thought should of happened, said it was under called should have been a flagrant foul, he was most concerned in the protection of the player who is in the air, the NBL has looked at it, and said it was under called, and the officials will be given new instructions, mentioned how they went the other way in Perth. He spoke to Pat Tudent, about the refereeing before the game, about how they have gone from the lowest fouling team to being high on the list, the referees coach saw the incident and will speek to the referees and felt that was the way to go. Asked if his plans have been shelved until next year with players and coaches coming out of contract and marketing ideas, he said yes and no, he said its hard to change when things are in flow, but he felt it was important to build a rapport with the team and coaches, and is going to be meeting with them on Thursday, and has same expectations of the marketing and office team. Asked about the salary cap, he said he doesn't think too many pay above it, said the cap was necessary due to the state of the league, having 12 teams possibly expanding and have to keep it viable, said it was looking sick when he became chairman 4 years ago. Asked if it's a goal to bring back SA players, he said South Australians support South Australians, and its not just bringing them back its also developing the current juniors to become future 36ers, which he feels is just as important.

Maher and Bell spoke about Hemmerling, said he has only just taken over the team in the last week or 2 and is out there a lot more now. Spoke about Eddy Groves getting a personal jet which he uses for the Bullets. Maher said the players got some new cars from there new sponsor Subaru.

Read out last weeks results (see NBL website)

Spoke about the Bullets, saying the players are good at stepping back and getting the hot player the ball.

Spoke about the Dragons and there turn around, and said Franklin and Heal have really stepped it up in the wins.

They spoke about the Dragons v Kings game, said the kings do play well at home, and they are missing a good penetrating creative guard which is probably why they have changed there import.

Spoke about the Razorbacks, said they have taken it up to a lot of teams in close games.

Mark Watkins, Razorbacks Coach Interview: said they have lost the 4 games in close games against good opposition and have let them down in some of the one percenters, and said they are getting better. Said they are feeling confident, 36ers are not playing there best basketball, said they pinched the game in Sydney. Asked about the inclusion of Ya Ya Dia, said its taken him time to get back into the Australian style of game after playing in Europe and is getting better and better with every game, said he is happy with how Harvey has come back, he has been a focus offensively, sharing the ball well and has been a good leader, asked about the club off the court, said the leagues club has 1 year left on the deal and hopes they will keep the relationship going, asked about the fans, said people want to come and see winners, Sydney is a hard market, with lots of football codes and teams and with the kings being the number 1 team in the city makes it hard. He said Liam Rush made the change well from Perth, Carter is getting better and Rigby and McGregor has been solid in the big spots, said had a tough off season with injuries and import changes and has taken them a bit longer to gel.

Bell and Maher spoke about the West Sydney situation, said it must be challenging given the ownership situation and the crowds not being that big. Said it should be a good game tomorrow night, and West Sydney wont leave anything on the floor and they have a big work ethic and try to out work you for the win.

Scott Fisher Interview: Who will coach the Aussie All Stars, said he is happy with the team, and when they apply themselves they play pretty good defense and if they apply themselves for most of the game they will be in with a chance at the end, they have wona few close games. Said Redhage is doing great, moved him from the 4 to the 3, he is quicker than last season, in the best shape of his life, moving well, done a lot of work on his ball handling, basically leads the team in scoring, rebounding and assits. Said he has been happy with Crawford of late, said he is now getting over his injuries, and they have got him slowing down mentally, and he had a great game the other day. Said it was sweet to have Brooks hit the shot and take it to over time, said Harvey celebrated a little bit too early, said they out played West Sydney for majority of the game anyway. Said he is happy with the Aussie All stars team, said there are 4 teams who pay November 24th, 4 of his guys players play on the 24th, said it wont matter as he is going to play the Tigers guys 48 minutes. Said in recent years he has been a little disappointed in the effort and wanting to win the game, said some of his best games where the early 90's all star games, mentioned the 1989 game, said if they can get back on D' they will be good and go from there. Said a lot of the Aussies know each other well which gives them a connection, and the World team battles it out to act the coolest, said he can give Ingles and Newley 48 minutes and wants to give 8 guys 48 minutes. Asked about the format of the All star game, doesn't mind the format,, if he was convinced of the serious effort of the world team, he thinks they should work out a state of origin type games, instead of the blitz they could have a state of origin tournament, and thinks that would have greater effort and intensity, said the intensity of the Rugby State of origin is what sells it. Maher said there is good rilvary from the states. Fisher said all the teams would be good, WA CJ, Cat, Harvey, Brown, Robbins, Caporn, Majstrovich, everyone could field a good team and through New Zealand in aswell, asked about Connor Henry, said he has been all over the world and played at the highest level, and has been coaching a small American college the last 5 years, he has bought a sense of passion and caring to make the players the best they can be, said they all sacrifice something, left his family at home. Asked if he trains, said he has trained 2 or 3 teams and been to the physio 3 or 4 times, said they do there best not to get out there, said its still fun, but the next day is bad, Maher said you could get a good shoot out with the coaches. Fisher said in the shootout in 1989 Dave Lindstrom won the first round as a coach, said there are still many coaches who could shoot.

Kristen Rasmussen Interview: Said she has found Adelaide great, very laid back, she is from Michigan, went to college at Michigan State. Was drafted in the WNBA and has played 7 seasons, said she has found the team is wonderful, the players just want to win and work hard to win, she only knew Erin Phillips because of her WNBA before she came her, said the WNBL is a really good league, said it is a great off season for players coming from other countrys to come and play and see Australia. Said she was visiting her husbands parents in Australia, then her agent asked her to go to Adelaide for a look and that's all it took, she said the owner is a great man, and likes Chris Lucas cares about the players needs individually and have started the season well. Said Australians in the WNBA are known as hard workers good shooters and help the team win. Said she remembered in college going to the NCAA and winning there conference, and starting 6 out of the 7 seasons in the WNBA, said its different in the WNBA draft compared to the NBA, women are not allowed to finish college early, and salary is different a good solid WNBA player gets around 70-80k, but each team has a cap.

Maher and Bell said you are not going to get a much better recruit than that. Said they are playing really well, penetrating well and shooting well and winning

Tips 36ers v razors, tipped 36ers, Breakers v Kings, bell tipped Breakers, Maher tipped Kings, Razors v Wildcats, tipped Wildcats, Kings v Dragons, tipped Dragons, Maher also now thinks Breakers will get the kings, Cairns v Tigers, tipped Tigers, Bullets v Wildcats, tipped Bullets, Crocs v Hawks,Maher tipped the Hawks, Bell tipped the Crocs.

Another Great show look forward to next week!!

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