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Former Wollongong Hawks and Cairns Taipans back up big man Matt Smith (who also has 150 games of NBL experience) preview each NBL team to kick off the 2017-18 NBL season.

Matt's NBL career lasted a decade (1999-2009) and he gives insight into what happened to the NBL big man, playing for community basketball programs and getting his butt kicked by centres like Mark Bradtke, Chris Anstey and Nathan Jawai his entire career.

 

Topics on the show include;

• What to expect in the NBL's 40th season (2:30)
• ABC will broadcast NBL games this season and what the TV broadcast looks like in 2017-18 (11:30)

Adelaide 36ers

• How will Adelaide fare without Jerome Randle (23:00)
• Will we see breakout stars Nathan Sobey and Matt Hodgson struggle after a season of being scouted properly?(25:00)
• Do the 36ers have the highest potential for growth (27:30)

Brisbane Bullets

• Are people sleeping on the Bullets? (29:00)
• Andrej Lemanis's Flow offence and it's mark on Australian basketball (32:00)
• At age 34, Is Daniel Kickert prepared to have his best season (36:00)

Cairns Taipans

• Can Aaron Fearne's system overachieve once again this season (39:00)
• Why does Aaron Fearne recruit the same player types every year? (45:00)

Illawarra Hawks

• AJ Ogilvy and what impact he will have this season (48:00)
• Rotnei Clarke the leagues best bench player? or does he start this season? (52:00)

Melbourne United

• Will a great off-season recruiting effort to translate into an NBL championship (54:00)
• With all that talent, what players will find themselves taking a back seat in Melbourne (57:00)
• Does Melbourne's lack of back up guards create an Achilles heel for United (100:30)

New Zealand Breakers

• Are new the Breakers an ageing squad or a developing young team? (105:30)
• Edgar Sosa and the Breakers point guard spot, how important is it to Breakers success (108:30)

Perth Wildcats 

• JP Tokoto, not only the most fun name to say in the NBL but perhaps an upgrade on Casey Prather (110:30)
• Do Brisbane or Perth have the leagues best guard rotation (112:00)

Sydney Kings

• Why have Sydney recruited the way they have (1:14:00)
• Isaac Humphries, is he ready to the be Sydney Kings primary big man (1:19:30)
• Have Sydney made the wrong decision by singing an import point guard (1:22:30)

 

All of this and a whole lot more....

Listen to our previous interviews with the biggest stars in Australian Basketball, head to Aussiehoopla.com. Check out previous podcasts featuring;

Current NBL Stars - Kevin Lisch, AJ Ogilvy, Damian Martin, Daniel Kickert, Thomas Abercrombie, Torrey Craig, Jason Cadee, Ronald Roberts, Stephen Holt

NBA Stars Past & Present - Matthew Dellavedova, Stephen Jackson, Randy Livingston, Acie Earl, Josh Childress, Reggie Smith, Todd Lichti

Aussie Basketballers Abroad - Ryan Broekhoff, Brock Motum, Jack White, Ben Madgen, Cling Stiendl, Ater Majok, Rhys Carter, Daryl Corletto

Australian Boomers Legends - Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, Andrew Vlahov, CJ Bruton, Chris Anstey, Brett Maher, John Rillie, Tony Ronaldson, Brad Newley

The NBL's Greatest Imports - Darryl McDonald, Ricky Grace, Derek Rucker, Leon Trimmingham, Scott Fisher, Lanard Copeland, Mike Mitchell, Terry Dozier, Isaac Burton, Shawn Redhage, Willie Farley, Al Green, Corey "Homicide" Williams

Our Finest Coaching Minds - Brian Goorjian, Joey Wright, Adrian Hurley, Aaron Fearne, Rob Beveridge, Phil Smyth, Ian Stacker, Shawn Dennis, Dean Vickerman, Trevor Gleeson, Lindsey Gaze

And the men who run things - Larry Kestelman, Vince Crivelli, Jeremy Loeliger, Chuck Harmison, Jeff Van Groningen

All that and much more. Follow @AussieHoopla on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and email at [email protected]