Hoops Heaven’s Basketball Hustle – #NBL24 Episode 17

#NBL24 is heating up and we dissect it all on Hoops Heaven Basketball Hustle with Cody Ellis trying to crystal ball the NBL top six, why Bryce Cotton is unbackable as MVP, why South East Melbourne Phoenix might be done and it's make or break time for Sydney Kings.

We also get Cody Ellis thoughts on what's making Perth Wildcats click beyond Bryce Cotton, if we'll see Alex Sarr again in NBL and a look at Brisbane Bullets with Casey Prather, Rocco Zikarsky's rim protection and Nathan Sobey likely in career best form in #NBL24.

We continue with Tom Vodanovich joining Tasmania JackJumpers, why Scott Ninnis is doing encouraging things with Adelaide 36ers and we preview Round 15 in #NBL24 thanks to TABtouch with every game having top six implications.

For all the ways to listen click here: https://linktr.ee/basketballhustle

We start off this week's show looking back on the contributions of co-host Simon Mitchell last week and discuss why he would be a perfect fit for any future NBL coaching jobs that might pop up.

Cody Ellis then casts his eye over the NBL and why expects Melbourne United and Perth Wildcats to remain top two, he thinks Tasmania JackJumpers should finish third and if he had to guess, he'd have the Illawarra Hawks, Sydney Kings and either the Brisbane Bullets or New Zealand Breakers rounding out the top six.

The South East Melbourne Phoenix were missing all three imports, Alan Williams, Gary Browne and Abdel Nader, and couldn’t compete as a result as any team wouldn’t be able to. But it's an on-going issue with the Phoenix and Cody Ellis questions why it's happening and why it might be too late for them to save this season, but Mike Kelly can't be the one blamed.

Cody Ellis takes a look at his former Sydney Kings team after losses to Melbourne United and Brisbane Bullets. He discusses how they are playing like a group of individuals, why coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah doesn't seem to be clicking and why their rotations remain somewhat baffling.

The MVP discussion for NBL24 is no longer a discussion with the remarkable form of Perth Wildcats superstar Bryce Cotton. Cody Ellis knows all about how hard he is to stop and continues to marvel at the stunning level he's playing at, why it's so hard to avoid fouling him and why $1.40 on TABtouch might not be low enough.

It's more than just Cotton who is lifting the Wildcats into championship calculations, though, and we look at how an oddly constructed roster is coming together tremendously with the roles of Keanu Pinder, Kristian Doolittle, Tai Webster, Hyrum Harris and captain Jesse Wagstaff but we might have seen the last of likely No. 1 NBA Draft pick Alex Sarr.

Next up we look at the Brisbane Bullets and what the introduction of Casey Prather provides them on top of the rim protection from 17-year-old Next Star Rocco Zikarsky and the career best form of Olympian Nathan Sobey who Cody Ellis describes as being in a zone right now.

We also discuss a surprising late season roster move at the Tasmania JackJumpers as they cut loose guard Junior Madut and bring in championship winning enforcer Tom Vodanovich for the rest of #NBL24.

Before moving on from what we saw in Round 14, we talk about the Adelaide 36ers and their spirit lifting win over Melbourne United where the big three of DJ Vasiljevic, Isaac Humphries and Trey Kell III starred but role players stepped up led by Jason Cadee to celebrate the 25-year championship anniversary.

We then wrap up this week's show with a preview of Round 15 in the NBL where every game has ramifications for the fight for playoff positions starting with Brisbane Bullets v Tasmania JackJumpers on Wednesday and finishing with a Grand Final rematch between Sydney Kings and New Zealand Breakers.

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