Hoops Heaven's Basketball Hustle – #NBL25 Episode 8

NZ Breakers and South East Melbourne Phoenix demand respect, Parker Jackson-Cartwright is the NBL's best, coaches must be put back in their box, Jaylen Adams' impact at Sydney Kings, TABtouch #NBL25 Preview and Mitch Norton's 350th milestone.

We begin this week's show with Cody Ellis reflecting on one of his great opponents from his NBL career, Jesse Wagstaff, who has now overtaken Ricky Grace to be the games record holder at the club his dad is such a legend at, the Perth Wildcats.

The votes are then in from Damian Martin in the Best Defensive Player and from Simon Mitchell in the Sports Card World Player of the Year, and both couldn't go past performances from NZ Breakers and South East Melbourne Phoenix players.

We then get stuck into talking about just how impressive it is what the New Zealand Breakers are doing right now and how it all starts with the man who is the best player in the NBL, Parker Jackson-Cartwright.

We also discuss why Sam Mennenga is the Kiwi local to build around and why it's super impressive what the Breakers are doing despite having all the excuses in the world they could fall back on.

The South East Melbourne Phoenix have spectacularly turned their season around firstly under Sam Mackinnon and now Josh King, and it's all coming from the defensive end and if they keep it up, there's no reason they can't be a contender.

The Tasmania JackJumpers are still struggling to score and with so much pressure for Milton Doyle and Jordon Crawford to carry the scoring load, Cody Ellis feels it's time they get them some help before it's too late.

The Sydney Kings had a better weekend and it's no coincidence it went hand in hand with the return of Jaylen Adams even if he's still well short of 100 per cent while Melbourne United had a shocker at home to the Breakers, and it was a wildly contrasting round for the Perth Wildcats.

It was more like the Sunshine Slog in Cairns but the Taipans showed heart despite being so shorthanded while the Brisbane Bullets won a game they needed to ahead of captain Mitch Norton now celebrating his 350th NBL game with a former teammate paying tribute to him.

We then preview Round 8 thanks to TABtouch highlighted by the Adelaide 36ers-Illawarra Hawks Sunday match up before we discuss why it's time the referees put the NBL coaches back in their box, and why celebrating a dunk when your team is down 30 is a bad idea.

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