Hoops Heaven’s Basketball Hustle – #NBL25 Episode 22

NBL must find a way to fix block/goaltend calls, Chris Goulding MVP of stunning Melbourne United-Perth Wildcats series, why John Rillie had to sit Keanu Pinder, excitement for Illawarra Hawks from player in their last Championship Series in 2017.

We open up this week's show with Cody Ellis talking about how proud he is of the Illawarra Hawks for what they have achieved so far in NBL, the way the community has got behind them and his reflections on being part of their last Championship Series in 2017.

We then turn our attention to the two Playoff Series where the Hawks dominated the South East Melbourne Phoenix in Game 3 after two tight games while Melbourne United and Perth Wildcats played out an all-time classic over three matches.

While Melbourne and Perth had a standout series, it wasn’t without drama and a lot of that surrounded some controversial calls late in the game including an unacceptable missed goaltend that was counted as a block from Marcus Lee on Ben Henshall with scores tied and 2:30 left.

That wasn’t the only call the Wildcats deserved to feel hard done by about and we look at them all including what appeared a flop from Lee on Jesse Wagstaff, a clear travel from Ian Clark and that was all in the last 2:30 of Game 3.

Away from the controversial, we look at Chris Goulding being the MVP of the series on the back of making 22 three-pointers while Ian Clark made the difference in Game 3 with 38 points and Jack White had a torrid time at the foul line.

From a Wildcats point of view, John Rillie deserves enormous credit for the changes he made from late in the third quarter of Game 2 onwards to give his team a chance and that included benching Keanu Pinder, but Cody Ellis talks about why he was left with no choice.

Then as for the other series, Trey Kell III and Tyler Harvey starred in the Game 1 and 3 wins for the Hawks while Todd Blanchfield came up huge and Derrick Walton Jr didn't quite return for the South East Melbourne Phoenix how he hoped and Matt Hurt's form wildly fluctuated from Wollongong to Melbourne.

With those Playoff Series out of the way, we look ahead to the Hawks-United Championship Series where there is all sorts of match ups to look forward to but might well be veterans Todd Blanchfield and Ian Clark who hold the key for their respective teams.

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