Hoops Heaven’s Basketball Hustle – #NBL24 Episode 3

One round into #NBL24 and we're full of talking points on Hoops Heaven #BasketballHustle thanks to TABtouch with Melbourne United impressive, Adelaide 36ers not so, young guns shining and others not so much, and we try to cover it all.

Co-hosts Chris Pike and Cody Ellis talk about the differences in Jordan Usher home and away for Perth Wildcats, why Alex Sarr needs to expect to keep being challenged and how impressive Ben Henshall, Ariel Hukporti, Sam Mennenga and Jaylin Galloway were as young players.

We named Parker Jackson-Cartwright winner of the #TheGalen thanks to Simon Mitchell while Cody Ellis makes some statements – Melbourne United look well ahead of the rest while concerned for everything at Adelaide 36ers, wants AJ Johnson and Trentyn Flowers to prove him wrong, and wonders where Gary Clark fits at Illawarra Hawks.

Our discussion after the opening round of the NBL season begins by looking at the contrasting form home and away for new Perth Wildcats star Jordan Usher, and also the fascinating contest at and above the rim of Tyler Cook and Alex Sarr, and why Sarr can expect to be challenged plenty more.

We take a look at the young players who stood out in the opening round with Ben Henshall the only Wildcat to look comfortable on Sunday, Ariel Hukporti looking unbelievable, Alex Toohey showing good signs, Sam Mennenga a shining spot for Cairns and Jaylin Galloway looking awesome.

On the other side of things, Trentyn Flowers at the Adelaide 36ers doesn't quite look ready for the NBL, it was a surprise AJ Johnson didn’t hit the floor for the Illawarra Hawks and it's possible those two aren’t suited to the NBL, but they have the chance to prove us wrong.

As for the new imports, Will Cummings looked totally different across the two games for South East Melbourne Phoenix, Denzel Valentine was very solid for Sydney Kings, Parker Jackson-Cartwright starred for New Zealand Breakers without Will McDowell-White, Jordon Crawford was aggressive for Tasmania JackJumpers and Chris Smith is going to be awesome for Brisbane Bullets. How Gary Clark fits at Illawarra Hawks is going to be a work in progress.

We then take a look at how impressive Melbourne United were considering they didn’t shoot the ball well, but were emphatic in wins over South East Melbourne Phoenix and Adelaide 36ers. Cody Ellis talks about how far ahead of everyone else they look and how Ian Clark will slot back in moving forward.

It's then time for the unfortunate discussion about the Adelaide 36ers and how hard it is to imagine them not being 0-4 ahead of their NBA trip. Cody Ellis feels everything is a concern with them and how they do have missing pieces everywhere while trying to decide on what sort of import they need.

We announce the winner of The Galen award for Round 1 too thanks to former South East Melbourne Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell. He selected Parker Jackson-Cartwright from the NZ Breakers on the back of his brilliant performance in the win against the Cairns Taipans.

It's then time for our Round 2 NBL Preview thanks to TABtouch where we hope to help find you a winner in this week's action.

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