Hoopsfix Podcast - British Basketball with Sam Neter

With the world locked down during the coronavirus pandemic, two British basketball stars, Luol Deng and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, set up a series of live discussions, hosted on Instagram Live, and with permission from their team we are hosting them on the Hoopsfix Podcast.

In Episode 2, aired on April 3rd 2020, they discussed their transition from the UK to the US, going to their respective high schools and how they adapted.

Hear from Luol and Pops on:

• How Pops attended The Hun School of Princeton in NJ, originally not to play basketball
• Why Luol made the jump to the US at 14 years old to attend Blair Academy
• The mental preparation and mental mind-switch that occurred heading to the US
• The crushing blow Pops suffered to find out he was on the Junior Varsity team 
• Adjusting from state school in London to some of the most prestigious and wealthiest high schools in the US
• Luol had never used a laptop or computer before getting to the States
• How Luol ended up forgetting his basketball shoes when moving to the US 
• Luol's mindset in trying to prove himself and being on a mission to make it 
• Turning negatives into positives
• How Deng tore up his first practice at Blair and was told by Coach Joe Mantegna he had a chance of making the NBA
• The story of what happened when Pops and Luol met in the High Jump while competing in track & field
• How Pops had more interest and offers to compete in High Jump at college than basketball
• Why Pops ended up following the basketball route 
• The impact on Luol of having a coach who cared about him so much
• Luol getting the keys to the gym at Blair for 6am workouts
• Charlie Villanueva joining Luol at Blair Academy, and then their team starting to get a lot of national recognition
• The talk of Luol and Charlie skipping college to go straight to the NBA
• How Pops used Luol's success as motivation to work on his own game
• What motivated both of them to pursue basketball, and trying to change their lives
• How social media has impacted high school basketball now
• The number of kids coming over to the US and getting in the wrong situation
• And much, much, more!

Follow @LuolDeng9 and @PopsMBonsu on Instagram.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide, meanwhile it is also on Spotify here, Overcast, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

Whilst the world is locked down during the coronavirus pandemic, two British basketball stars, Luol Deng and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, set up a series of live discussions, hosted on Instagram Live. We hit their team up to ask if they would be happy for us to record and publish online and we got the green light!

In Episode 1, aired on April 1st 2020, they discussed the early stages of their basketball careers where they both started in England's capital, London, with a lot of legendary stories of Luol at Brixton Topcats with Jimmy Rogers and Pops Mensah-Bonsu in Hackney with Joe White.

Hear from Luol and Pops on:

• What made them decide to start an Instagram live show
• Whereabouts in London they grew up
• Endless banter about their favourite football teams - Luol's Arsenal and Pops' Tottenham
• The impact sport had on their upbringing and trying to fit in
• Why Luol was called Michael Deng growing up
• When Luol switched back from Michael to Luol after getting to Blair Academy in the US
• How and why Pops ended up telling people his name was Dwayne
• The era of London basketball they grew up in and the competition
• Pops first time seeing basketball was the WICB tournament at Crystal Palace
• What drove them as teenagers and their mindsets
• Pops learning the game under Joe White 
• Luol coming up under Jimmy Rogers and the Brixton Topcats community
• The moment Luol Deng realised he had a shot at making it 
• Sneaking into Brixton Rec for workouts
• The mindset shift that happened in Pops Mensah-Bonsu working out with Luol up close
• A message to young basketball players in the UK who are trying to make it
• How great of a junior player Richard Midgley was
• The legendary Rough & Ready tournament held at Brixton Rec to showcase British talent
• The North London vs South London rivalry
• A 55-point loss that Luol Deng's Brixton side had in Brighton as a youngster that was a turning point for him
• The importance of garnering respect from their British peers growing up
• And much, much, more!

Follow @LuolDeng9 and @PopsMBonsu on Instagram.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide, meanwhile it is also on Spotify here, Overcast, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

For Episode 51 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with Ipswich Basketball’s Nick Drane to talk about the stellar work he has done building a local club and developing home grown talent.

Having started playing with Colchester as a junior player, Drane was in his early twenties when he got his first job in basketball development in Suffolk which put him on a path that led to the resurgence of Ipswich basketball club.

Ipswich is now one of the most successful clubs in the country, having experienced success at almost every level both male and female, whilst having sent players to play collegiately in the US, and onward to successful professional careers. Most impressively, Ipswich thrives off locally developed talent, relying on no external recruitment.

In this 1 hour and 45 minute episode, hear from Nick on:

• How he first started playing at school and in the back garden against his older brothers
• His first introduction to national league through the Colchester programme and Mark Lloyd
• Going to Canada on a scholarship and why he left
• His return from Canada and getting a job in basketball development
• The impact Mark Lloyd had on his career
• The personal satisfaction he gets out of coaching basketball
• His early involvement with Ipswich Tomcats (now Ipswich basketball club)
• How important it is to work with local schools to build basketball in an area
• Why the first goal when working with young players is for them to have fun
• Building a basketball club from the bottom up
• What he would do if tasked with developing more elite level talent in the UK
• The importance of personalities of coaches with younger players
• The importance of local role models
• The upside of being from a smaller rural town
• Getting local press coverage
• Raising sponsorship
• The importance of facilities and whether or not the club is limited by a small gym
• Whether Ipswich has BBL and WBBL aspirations
• Reflecting on the women’s successful undefeated 2018 campaign
• The current state of women’s basketball in the UK
• The differences between coaching boys and girls
• Finding big kids and turning them into basketball players
• Programmes holding onto players
• Academies basketball in the UK
• His experiences with the national teams
• Why he’s not cut out to be an assistant coach
• The future of Ipswich Basketball Club
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post Turning a Small Town of 120,000 Into a Hub of Basketball Talent – With Nick Drane – Ep. 51 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

For Episode 50 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we take a trip down memory lane with Greg Tanner the man behind the legendary website Streetball.co.uk.

Streetball.co.uk was the epicentre of British basketball and global streetball culture in the early 2000’s, doing over a million impressions a month whilst putting the UK on the map with a variety of mixtapes and clips of streetball highlights.

Tanner, now living in Dubai working as an executive TV producer, spent his 20s running the site, which was originally set up as a passion project, helping to make household names out of a selection of top British hoopers.

After winding down Streetball.co.uk, he set up Basketball 24/7, and then went into print with MVP Magazine, not to mention working at the London 2012 Olympics as a basketball expert, along with hosting basketball-related events for Nike, the EuroLeague and adidas.

In this 90 minute episode, hear from Greg on:

• How he first got into basketball through a school friend introducing him to NBA Jam on TV presented by Alton Byrd in the early 90s
• His creative background and getting into building websites, for his own personal interest and amusement
• How his job in television as a producer gave him access to editing suites in the days before mass-market home editing software was really available
• How he had zero expectations of Streetball.co.uk growing into anything big and it was just a personal passion project
• The moment he realised Streetball.co.uk had an audience and it was a ‘thing’
• How a shout out from Rough & Ready after Stuart Tanner showed out at their trials first put the site on the map
• The way people would play up to the camera when they would see him with his camera
• How at it’s peak in 2003-04 the website was doing over a million impressions and 100,000 visitors a month from a global audience
• The other streetball websites that were on the scene at the time including VC-backed HoopsTV, the Notic, Streetballaz, streetballzone.tk and Streetball Xtreme
• The influence of streetball culture in that era following Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury getting drafted along with the and1 mixtapes
• How Pontel VHS tapes played a role in Greg and other basketball fans in the UK getting access to video footage
• The potential blowback for promoting highlights/streetball instead of the fundamentals
• Being threatened for posting highlights of the players’ getting victimised
• How big summer basketball was during the early 2000’s compared to now
• The involvement of corporates/brands with basketball in that era
• Why he quit his job to go freelance so he could work between Streetball.co.uk and TV news producing work
• Selecting players to represent Streetball.co.uk and the faces of the website
• Taking travelling teams to tournaments UK wide
• The balance between capturing highlights but also winning
• His personal favourite streetball.co.uk moments
• The Street All-Stars events and what made him do them
• The shammgod move and why Streetball.co.uk could be responsible for bringing it to the world’s attention
• Why he brought Streetball.co.uk to a close
• The transition of Streetball.co.uk into Basketball 24/7 and why that happened
• His life after SBUK and the other basketball related projects he was able to get involved with
• Any regrets he has about the Streetball.co.uk days
• Being a basketball expert for the in-arena experience at the London 2012 Olympics
• His thoughts on the potential for the London 2012 Olympics to help facilitate British basketball’s growth
• Media coverage of basketball in the UK and how it compares now to then
• The importance of mainstream TV coverage to grow interest in basketball in the UK
• The backstory of Fadeaway Magazine which soon evolved into MVP magazine
• The legacy of streetball.co.uk
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post The Story of Streetball.co.uk – With Greg Tanner – Ep. 50 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

For Episode 49 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with one of the greatest shooters to ever come out of England, Sam Stiller.

Stiller had a pro career that spanned over two decades both domestically and in Israel, whilst also representing England and Great Britain internationally.

After retiring from playing eventually got into coaching, where he helped take NASSA from Division 4 to Division 1 from 2010-2013, whilst picking up three consecutive Coach of the Year Awards, and then picking up another one in 2016-17 with London Westside.

Stiller has since moved to Israel, where he has resided for the past two or so years to be closer to his kids and is currently eyeing a return back to the UK. A ‘gym rat’, Stiller can still be found in gyms working on his game!

Note: there is part of the podcast (at around the 1 hour mark) where Sam discusses dropping 52 at Rough & Ready. After seeking clarification since the recording, it turns out it was actually at the Hosana Pro-Am, not Rough & Ready.

In this hour and a half episode, hear from Sam Stiller on:

• Why he currently lives in Israel and is planning on returning to live in the UK
• How he would describe his game
• Being a gym rat and where he got his work ethic from
• Trying to make the transition to full time coaching
• How the Harlem Globetrotters first inspired him into playing ball
• His early start at Quintin Kynaston school
• The importance of the YMCA gym in Tottenham Court road
• His first England call up at 15 years old, playing for the U19s at the famous Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim
• Playing against a young side featuring Arvydas Sabonis and losing by 69
• Playing with Pete Scantlebury
• The flash to his game and show-boating
• Turning pro around 18 years old and playing with the men
• Not going to the US on scholarship for college but the role playing in the States in the summer had on his game
• Summer scrimmages in LA with Norm Nixon, Reggie Miller, and Clyde Drexler
• Cross-court shooting competitions with Kiki Vandeweghe
• The current state of the BBL and how it compares to his day
• His favourite players growing up and how he would follow the NBA before the internet
• The lay of the land of Division 1 in the early 80s
• Competing in Europe with the famed Kingston side in the early 90s
• His memories of playing for the legendary coach Kevin Cadle
• How he got offers in Israel off the back of Kingston’s European campaign and made the switch to abroad
• Why he believes he could still drop points in the BBL to this day
• Playing in the Maccabiah Games for GB and beating USA
• Legendary games at North London College
• Playing with Alton Byrd
• Players he would put in a British basketball Hall of Fame
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post Becoming One of the Greatest British Shooters of All Time – With Sam Stiller – Ep. 49 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

In Episode 48 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with Roger Hosannah, co-founder of the legendary Rough & Ready tournament and British sportswear brand Hosana.

Rough and Ready is up there amongst the most prominent basketball tournaments to ever take place in the UK. Running from 1996-2003 in Brixton, it featured two age categories, Under-19 and Under-25, pitting East, West, North and South against each other in a showcase of young British talent.

It became one of the hottest basketball properties in Europe, with the likes of adidas and Nike bidding to be major sponsors, and has become iconic in the history of basketball in England.

Meanwhile, Hosana Sportswear was *the* UK basketball brand through the late 90’s and early 00’s built off the back of an extensive portfolio of events and what would now be known as ‘influencer marketing’.

Building to a peak of almost half a million pounds a year in turnover, whilst being stocked in the likes of Foot Locker and worn by all of the top British stars of the era, Hosana impacted British basketball culture like no clothing brand ever had, or has done since.

In this episode hear from Roger on:

• His playing background growing up
• Why he left a well paid job as a buyer for the Burton group to set up his own thing
• How the death of his best friend proved to be a key inflection point in his life
• Teaming up with Matthew Ryder for the inception of Rough and Ready in 1996
• How Rough and Ready became one of the hottest basketball events in Europe
• His highlights from the Rough and Ready tournament
• How big Rough and Ready became, leading to a bidding war between Nike and adidas
• Balancing keeping the authenticity of the event whilst dealing with an influx of corporate money
• Leaving Rough and Ready and why he chose to step away
• Setting up the Hosana brand, coming up with the name and identity
• How he used product placement and events to grow the brand
• Why getting hold of the licensing rights to US colleges and MLB was key in the growth of the business
• His events portfolio; Baller Evenings, Ballers in Brighton, Battle of the Boards, and HoopFest
• How his retail background helped him source quality gear and focus on premium
• Whether he thinks there is a market for a bespoke British basketball brand now
• Being anti-establishment and facing issues with the administration
• Why he wound down operations
• His new company, Sixtysix8, and his plans for it
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post Building British Basketball Brand Hosana – With Roger Hosannah – Ep. 48 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

In Episode 47 of the Hoopsfix Podcast we sit down with British basketball legend Joel Moore, one of the greatest guards to ever come out of the UK.

A two times Commonwealth Gold medallist, Moore had a professional career that spanned from 1982 where he began with Crystal Palace as a junior – and suited up for the England men at 17 years old – and ended in 1995, having played predominantly in the National League and BBL for the likes of the aforementioned Crystal Palace, Portsmouth, Kingston, Glasgow, Hemel, and London Towers, along with one season in Germany’s Bundesliga with Stuttgart in 1992-93.

He finished with 71 caps for his country, 43 for England and 28 for GB, and is regularly brought up in conversations when people talk about the top British guards of all time.

In this 1 hour and 40 minute conversation, hear from Joel on:

• Being an under-appreciated and under-recognised legend of the domestic game
• How he first started playing basketball at around 6 years old
• His training regime as a youngster and playing outdoors a lot
• Joining the legendary Crystal Palace programme
• Getting to play against Alton Byrd and his memories of practice
• Constantly failing to making the England Junior National teams
• Being cut from the Under-19 England team only to be picked up by the Seniors and go to his first Commonwealth games
• Winning two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games
• Averaging 50 a game for his school, including a 92 point game in which he fouled out of
• Battles with Sam Stiller, being the top two guards from London at that time
• How playing against Seniors aided his development as a junior
• Being a two-way player, being a standout defensively and offensively
• His competitive mindset and love for the game
• Going to the States on scholarship before leaving early to return to England
• His biggest regret from his playing days
• Playing against Drazen Petrovic
• The money he could earn playing in the BBL and why it was a more attractive option than Europe
• His £15,000 cash sponsorship deal with Adidas
• Averaging 24 a game in the BBL, and why he could have averaged more if scoring was all he wanted to do
• England being finishing sixth in Europe in the late ’80s after the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament
• Teaming up with Steve Bucknall in Germany to become what were thought to be the first English teammates playing overseas together; playing as imports, taking American spots
• Whether or not he could have played in the NBA
• Some other legends of the British game he would like to see in a Hall of Fame
• The important of basketball IQ and why he thinks it is missing from the British game
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post Winning Two Commonwealth Games Gold Medals – With Joel Moore – Ep. 47 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

In the latest episode of the Hoopsfix podcast we sit down with British basketball commentator Dan Routledge, one of the foremost experts on the domestic game.

Routledge has been a commentator for over two decades, covering the BBL, GB and other international basketball for Sky Sports, Eurosport, ITV, Channel 4, ESPN, NBA TV, and many more.

He has closely covered the entire evolution of the British Basketball League, and is arguably the most knowledgable person around the domestic pro league.

A stats man, he has a spreadsheet tracking system which gives him unique insight into player and team milestones and statistical nuggets that he regularly shares on his Twitter, @dan_routledge.

In this 1 hour and 40 minute episode, hear from Dan on:

• How he first ended up as a PA announcer as a teenager
• His first broadcast gig on radio
• Making the transition into TV
• The prep that goes into commentating a game
• The worst game he’s ever had to cover
• Doing the play by play versus doing the color
• The keys to being good at play-by-play
• Whether or not BBL franchises have taken seriously enough the hiring of their commentators
• The importance of reviewing his performances
• His favourite call of his career
• The funding debate and how basketball/sport is funded in the UK
• the drop out rate of players when they finish school at 18
• The importance of facilities to help basketball grow
• How difficult it is to sell game tickets in the British basketball market
• Whether he thinks domestic league success is more important than National Team success for the growth of basketball
• The challenge non-traditional british sports have in cutting through the media
• The missed opportunity of the London 2012 Olympics
• Why he thinks it’s good for British basketball that a lot of our top talent plays abroad
• The impact having British stars in the league this season has had
• What BBL teams need to do to become more commercially viable
• How he covers the BBL so closely
• Whether he thinks basketball in the UK can ever reach its mystical potential
• The political in-fighting of the sport
• His spreadsheets and stat-tracking, and how the backend works
• His favourite ever BBL player
• The best player to ever play in the BBL
• The one game he would show to a potential fan to sell them on the BBL
• And much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post Becoming the Top British Basketball Commentator – With Dan Routledge – Ep. 46 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

For Episode 45 of the Hoopsfix Podcast, we sit down with British basketball researcher Jeff Skinner who has recently completed his masters dissertation on basketball funding in England and its impact on the sport’s development.

The dissertation, which you can read in full here, is 94 pages of pure gold for anyone interested in basketball’s history in England, especially around funding, both from public and private sources.

A former accountant, Skinner now helps run his own local league club, the Aztecs, in Berkshire and helps out with Bracknell Cobras, and has spent the past year of his life going above and beyond to go in-depth the topic, putting together one of the best pieces of British basketball related research I’ve read.

In this 1 hour and 20 minute episode, hear from Jeff on:

• His background and local club, the Aztecs in Berkshire
• How the opportunity to do a masters in the history of sport came about
• Why he chose to focus on basketball and how he came upon the final topic of funding’s impact on the sport’s development
• How shocked he was to find out just how many people play basketball in England
• The most interesting things he discovered whilst doing his research
• What has helped and restricted basketball’s growth over the years
• How basketball compares to other sports with regards to funding
• Why basketball has struggled to be able to get public funding
• The administration’s governance failures over the years
• The attraction of basketball to commercial sponsors back in the day
• The Outdoor Basketball Initiative that tipped off in 1995 and impact it had
• Why being able to more accurately measure participation helps basketball’s cause
• Not having people in high ranking leadership/government positions hurting the sport
• Why increasing Basketball England’s membership fee might be one of the easiest ways to raise more money
• The importance of television
• The inception of the BBL as a breakaway league from the NBL
• The NTL TV deal for the BBL and its potential to change the game before going bust
• Why the sport needs to sort out its political in-fighting
• Why he believes being represented as Great Britain is the correct choice moving forward and how important National Team success is
• Why more money needs to be put into participation as opposed to elite sport/potential medal success, along with changing the definition of success
• The organisations that were helpful with his research, and the ones who weren’t
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post How Funding Has Influenced the Development of Basketball in England – With Jeff Skinner – Ep. 45 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.

For episode 44 of the Hoopsfix podcast, we sit down with London City Royals’ Ashley Hamilton, who has signed in the BBL this season for the first time after spending his career overseas in Europe.

It completes a full circle for Hamilton, growing up in South London and starting his career with the London Towers as an Under-16 at Crystal Palace. Now, fifteen years later, he suits up on the same floor as a professional with the league’s newest franchise.

The 6’7″ Great Britain Senior cap left the UK for High School as a Sophomore, before heading to Spain with Canarias Basketball Academy. Ultimately, he signed with NCAA Division 1 school Loyola Marymount University, before turning pro and having played in Italy, Greece, Ukraine, Spain and now the UK.

In this 1 hour 50 minute episode, hear from Ashley on:

• What made him decide to sign with London City Royals this season
• How it feels to be playing back home in the BBL
• Whether or not he feels the Royals overhyped their entrance into the league
• How his rehab is going from his wrist surgery and how it feels
• What he thinks of the level of the BBL and the league as a whole so far
• Why he first got into basketball, making the switch from football
• His memories of the London Towers programme as an Under-16
• Playing England Under-18s as a younger player
• The most talented English players he has played against and seen
• Making the switch from the UK to the US to Lawrence Academy for his Sophomore year
• Returning to Europe from the US to go to Spain with Gran Canaria and ultimately Canarias Basketball Academy
• His memories of Spain, with both Ryan Richards and Joel Freeland
• Being recruited by US colleges, and why he signed with LMU
• The impact streetball.co.uk had on his early years
• Why he was convinced Dallas were going to draft him
• The NBA Summer League experience in Las Vegas
• Turning pro and his first professional contract where he chose Italy over Poland
• What he has learned playing in Europe
• Advice he has for younger players that want to turn pro
• And much, much more!

As always, I’d love to get your feedback, come back after you’ve listened and lets get some discussion going in the comments.

The show has been approved on iTunes – find it here and please subscribe to automatically receive new episodes straight to your phone/computer/tablet – if you could give us a review/rating it would be much appreciated to help the podcast spread far and wide!

The post Returning Home to the BBL – With Ashley Hamilton – Ep. 44 appeared first on Hoopsfix.com.