The Bench Units Podcast

This week, we get a peek at what the world of wheelchair basketball would look like if the Americas didn't exist.Malaga take down Murcia, Munich squeak past Münsterland, other teams beginning with M are also available.Out now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

It's not every day we get our hands on someone who's coming off the best game of their season, in a result that “wasn't on the bingo card”.Rose Hollermann joins us from Santiago Chile to talk about basketball in Germany. We break down a surprising result in the biggest game of the German calendar so far, and what it might mean going forward.We then turn our attention to the ParaPan Am Games, which will determine which teams from the Americas qualify for Paris 2024.All that covered, Rose does us the honour of awarding (herself) The Belt. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Some teams love giving us content to chew over, other teams love to leave us without any stones to turn.Note that this episode doesn't contain any coverage of Lahn-Dill/Thuringia, as that will be covered in an upcoming guest episode!Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

What with having at least 5 minutes of extra basketball tacked onto the end of basically every game, it's a wonder we finished watching video in time to record an episode at all.With Friday being headlined by a clash of the Spanish titans, Saturday was free to deliver all the high-stakes extra basketball that Spain, Germany and France (!) could offer. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

We get back to rounding up the action, just in time to see a team shoot 64% for an entire game, a one-man wrecking crew give a 45-point performance, and a game-winning shot in an unexpectedly close affair. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

She's back!A lot has happened since the last time Kady Dandeneau joined us. In the last 14 months she has:Moved to an islandBeen awarded the All-Star 5 in a Champions Cup quarter-final roundCompeted at a wild World ChampionshipsMoved to another islandBeen awarded the Bench Units BeltAll of this is discussed in great detail, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

How do you evaluate a team based on two games?They lost to a team better than them one week, and beat a team worse than them the next, but are those teams actually better or worse, or is that based on their own two games that are impossible to parse?Truth is, nobody knows at this point. Unless the team in question is the undefeated Burgos.Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Spain is back!Ilunion complete the comeback on Bilbao for the second time in 7 days. Burgos start out undefeated. Amiab rely on having more good players than their opponent. Malaga look potentially dangerous.Germany is back!Münsterland are here for the fight. Wiesbaden have got plenty of pieces. Thuringia seemed to be short of pieces, but able to manage just fine. Trier have Dirk Passiwan. Munich have a cool venue.All these insights, and probably some even less insightful ones, wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Our second belated review podcast of the summer!We talk all things Euros. GB men and Netherlands women extend their dominance on the respective sides of the competitions, we see some early tickets punched to Paris 2024, and the stage is set for a slobber knocker of a repechage tournament.Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Recovered from the 2023 edition of the 2022 World Championships yet?Well now’s no time to relax! There are Paralympic spots on the line and many a team keen to either build on this summer’s earlier success or wash a bad taste out of their mouth.James and Mark break down tournament that will see the Dutch look to retain two gold medals, Italy try to claim a belated Bronze, and Spain and Turkey reassert themselves as forces on the European level.Those things covered, we listen to your takes on the tournament! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

We know we're late to the party, but you can do whatever you want when you win the silver.After a bit of a summer break, James has had chance to clear his head and top lip, and we're ready to talk Worlds.The guys give their analysis for both the Men's and Women's World Championships competitions, covering the final standings, surprise results and storylines, and key moments of the tournament.Get in touch with your thoughts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

It must be November last year, because it's officially World Championships time!Absent his usual co-host, who is getting ready to partake in basketball rather than fake some in-depth analysis, Mark does what precisely nobody asked for and talks to himself for almost an hour solidly. And if that seems crazy, he then writes this episode description in the third person for no obvious reason.Everything you need to get studied up on the 2022 World Championships is in this episode somewhere, and stay tuned for regular updates as the tournament goes on! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Regular listeners will know that we do our best to stay in our lane at all times we're on the record.Despite our best efforts, we (Mark) occasionally get off the chain and have to face the consequences of the things we said and ultimately still stand by. To that end, we are joined by Jack Perry of London Titans.After demanding the opportunity to come on the podcast and defend his team's honour, Perry mostly talks about how he got started, his career in the BWB Premier League, and how he has managed to balance basketball alongside his academic and work commitments.Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

11 months after he joined us to announce his move to Albacete, Phil Pratt is back to give us the breakdown on closing out his first season there as a Champions Cup winner.Phil talks through the season up to this point, a crucial two weeks between Copa del Rey and Final Four, and emerging victorious in the two biggest games of the season. He also picks up The Belt on his way.Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

They literally don't get much bigger than this.With his rookie season in the books, we welcome Tommy McHugh of the newly crowned EuroCup 3 champions, Hannover United!Tommy talks us through his early days of following a path trodden by some Rollers legends, his jump to Europe under the watchful eye of Shaun Norris, and what Hannover have to do to continue building on a successful season. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

So. Many. Games.We applaud newly-crowned Champs on three levels, critique some All-Star selections, shout out the underdogs who make tournament basketball the mayhem that it is, and look ahead to Europe's four superpowers fighting it out next weekend.We also do our best to reduce 3 concurrent competitions of basketball down to one Belt holder. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

This week, are joined by back-to-back Copa del Rey winner and not back-to-back All-Star 5 member, James MacSorley.We salute Amicacci Giulianova as they travel the Scudetto trophy home in admirably brash fashion.We applaud Thuringia Bulls as avenge last year's playoff result, reclaiming the German Championship, on their home floor, against their nemesis.Finally, we self-congratulate on Bilbao's borderline-unfathomable route to the Copa del Rey trophy, and award The Belt. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

In a weekend defined by sign-me-up-for-next-season standout performances, we see the final games of the Spanish league play out and an anticlimactic beat down in Game 1 of the German title series. We also get to award The Belt to a season-long Bench Units favourite.Stay tuned for a big weekend coming up, as we will see a German champion crowned and the entirety of Spain's season-defining Copa del Rey tournament! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

As we get our episode schedule back on track for the stretch run of the season, we fall back on the tried-and-tested formula of roping in one of James’ teammates.Lukas talks to us about his first professional season, the jump to Spain, Germany's youth movement and how it has all lead to his first-time selection to his Senior National Squad.Lukas also lets us in on what it's like to have James as an in-game translator, who his favourite roommate is and the weirdest thing he's ever seen on a basketball court! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

We take a break from club basketball to analyse our first taste of international competition, with respective national beginning to ramp up for the 2023 World Championships and Europeans.We break down the six teams that appeared in Belgium's Easter Tournament, while also touching on two of the first nations to announce their final 12-man squads after using the past week for selection camps. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

In the penultimate week of the División de Honor, we see a game-winning bucket, game-deciding 24-9 run, and a league-deciding 13-0 start to a game.In the second leg of the German Playoffs, we say a teary “until next season” to a couple of Bench Units favourites, but delightedly saddle up for at least 2 more games between the league's resident powerhouses.We also see some Belt-based bribery, which BU policy states is fine by us. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

With a shorter slate of games this week, we get in-depth on some of the results of consequence!We see the previously undefeated Amiab take their first loss of the season, in a game that would of officially clinched them the league title. Consider the inevitable delayed on this one.We also see Rhine River Rhinos put a brief scare into a heavily-favoured Thuringia team, and Hannover push Lahn-Dill close to open their respective series. The inevitable hasn't been delayed yet, but it's given us reason to think it might get delayed next week.All worthy candidates considered, we award The Belt! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

A weekend this packed needed a round-up episode, even if it is late!We see Amicacci Giulianova punch their ticket to the Italian League Finals, Amiab Albacete nail down the top spot in the Spanish standings, and the German League Playoffs take form.All that covered, we give The Belt to one of the most indisputable stat lines of the season. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

In the busiest weekend in Weekend Roundup history, we try and cover off 9 qualifying rounds across the various levels of EuroCup basketball.We discuss some imbalanced groups, some outlandish performances, some promising and deep final rounds to come, at least one sleeping giant at the club level, and what we've learned about some teams from seeing them play unfamiliar opponents.All that covered, we discuss how to fix the competition structure, ready for the day to come that EuroCup is brought to you by Bench Units. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

You (repeatedly) asked, we (eventually) delivered.The best 1.0 to ever shoot a basketball finally joins the show to take us through everything, from his unorthodox origin story in the game, to his never-ending world tour of clubs, to an international career that shows no signs of slowing down.Abdi tries to list all the teams he has played for, talks about prep for an intense summer of competition, gives his take on the up-and-comer that excites him the most, and reveals that the great secret of it all is a blend of hard work and to “just chill out, man.” Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

This week we start in Italy, where one team has officially punched their ticket to the Italian League Finals.In Spain, we have a reported sighting of the mythical Third Digit. We also had reports of a 31-0 quarter that has since been disproven.Germany saw a verified 32-0 quarter, as well as a 20-point win in what looks to be a league-defining game between the country's resident titans.Remember to subscribe to our Substack so as to keep on top of EuroCup this weekend! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we see some return fixtures that illustrate how various teams' luck has sustained or changed since the first half of the season.We see games that may be the nail in the coffin for third place in the respective leagues, as well as a pair of fifth-place teams do enough to keep their final four chances alive.As a bonus, we cover the two opening games of the Italian league playoff semifinals! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Another guest spot, another Warburton appearance on Bench Units.With arguably the most impressive upset of the season in the books, we are pleased to be joined by the architect of one of the best offensive performances we've seen all year.Lucas stops in to discuss his journey through wheelchair basketball, rising into a legitimate head coach and the unexpected opportunity to take the reins of an up-and-coming Wiesbaden team that's intent on making a splash.With all that covered and the secrets to their win made public, Lucas takes your questions. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Another chock-full weekend of games sees us existentially grappling with what the results might all mean in the big picture.Not only did we see multiple huge offensive performances across Spain and Germany, but we saw outcomes that both clarified and confused what we believe to be the tiers of the league standings.We also award The Belt to preview Thursday's episode, where we will be joined by a guest from the scene of the crime.Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

We're appreciative of all our listeners and supporters.We're especially appreciative of the ones who carve an hour out of their day for us at a minute's notice, even when we've been forced to admit they weren't necessarily our first choice.Not too proud to come through for us, CD Ilunion's Gregg Warburton stops in to discuss their EuroCup game against RSV Lahn-Dill, the jewel of the qualifying round.Gregg talks about how to process the significance of the result while approaching it as just another game, and also what a successful weekend means for an Ilunion squad that has been ramping up since Christmas. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

EuroCup never disappoints.Fresh off finishing top of Group A, a somewhat worse-for-wear James is joined by parallel-game-viewing champion Mark to cover all the action.The guys talk through how the final standings for Groups A, B & C shook out, what this means for the next stage of the tournament and some very worthy All-Star 5 selections! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

In the last weekend of domestic league games before the beginning of EuroCup 2023, we saw some teams winding up for a potentially season-defining weekend and some teams winding down for a weekend off.We blitz through some of the less impactful games of the week, publicly shame a couple that didn’t make their stats or live stream available, and get into the five most substantial games of the week.All that covered, we award The Belt! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Those of you who listen regularly will know that one problem we have, when we invite in guests who are taking part in a competition, is that everybody throws out any and all logic and backs themselves.To avoid this happening again, we've roped in somebody who has earned the privilege of not even having to partake in the Champions Cup qualifying round next weekend…Lee Manning stops by to lend his perspective as a reigning champion, give his takes on how the groups will shake out, and discuss who Albacete will be keeping a close eye on for some down-the-road encounters. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

We see matchups between two of the quickest players in the world, two of the slowest teams in the world, the first and third place teams in each league, and one offensive player against two defenders at all times.With 11 games of action, we dole out our critiques and award The Belt! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

It’s mediocre to be back.The first full weekend of games did not disappoint. We see a game-winning three-point shot, an apparently well-rested squad execute a 52-point blowout, an almost-upset, a late-in-the-season debut and a too-early-in-the-season battle for playoff positioning.All that covered, we give out the first Bench Units Belt of 2023…Check out the Weekend Round-Up each Tuesday, a guest appearance on alternate Thursdays, and check out our Weekend Resources page ahead of every game weekend.To support the podcast, in exchange for exclusive content, head to ko-fi.com/benchunits Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

In the last weekend of games before Christmas, we were kind of hoping the teams playing this late into December would put on a DVD and not give us any homework.No such luck! We got a 30-piece filled James MacSorley-bowl showdown, a wild OT game, a game so slow it was like watching a best-of-The-Matrix-bullet-dodges sequence, and yet another gotcha game from Germany; one that we actually had to watch and study because there were no stats to help us blag our way through it.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast, in exchange for exclusive content! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Told you we’d get to it.When somebody steps up to meet the moment in the way Jannik Blair did to close out the latest instant classic between RSV Lahn-Dill and RSB Thüringia Bulls, you kind of have to wait until they grant you an interview.Jannik joins us from Australia to talk through the biggest game of the season so far. He gets into Lahn-Dill’s approach to their game (the first against their rivals since revamping their roster over the summer), how the standard of the German League so far has prepared them for this test, how this result sets the two squads up for when they see each other again, and what exactly happened in the final minute to allow him to help seal the win for his club.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast, in exchange for exclusive content! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Yeah, we know. This kind of feels like a cop-out. But it will be worth the wait!Please indulge us as we remain tactically oblivious (great name for a future episode) to the elephant in the room when it comes to analysing the games that took place this weekend, we have lukewarm takes on a bunch of games that weren’t the big one, and we will get to that one in due course.In Spain, we saw a couple of close calls as two teams that have struggled to get wins under their belt notched significant victories. We also saw Ilunion break out the vaunted “Third Digit” while donning crisp-as-ever white t-shirts.In Germany, we were treated to an intriguing not-quite-unstoppable force vs moveable-if-you-put-your-back-into-it object as Hannover took on Munsterland, and we got a look at a maybe wheelchair basketball’s premier one-man offense, absent one particular man.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast, in exchange for exclusive content! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

With Germany back in action, we have 11 games to break down across 2 leagues!James and Mark dive into an increasingly muddled Spanish league picture, including some middle-of-the-pack matchups that have left a group of teams with the same record 9 games into the season.In Germany, we see a last-second game-winner that may rattle the standings a little, as well as a team continue to knock on the door of the very top tier of the domestic league.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast, in exchange for exclusive content! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

It’s not every day you find out that a world-class shooter is also a not-so-subtle Bench Units superfan and is unreasonably excited at an opportunity to join the show, but that’s exactly where we find ourselves.James & Mark are joined by none other than Arinn Young, who takes us through her transition from able-bodied to wheelchair basketball, winning gold with Team Canada in her debut international performance, and becoming a force to be reckoned with in the German league.Also covered: supervillain origin stories, nickname roots, moose-based cuisine, and questions from our listeners.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

In a quality-over-quantity schedule, we dive witnessed some fascinating results from 6 games in Spain during a weekend off in Germany.The collection of results lead us to the groundbreaking theory that teams with more players, better players, or even more better players than their opponent are more likely to win a game against said opponent.With that revelation out of the way, we answer your questions and award the Bench Units Belt.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast, in exchange for exclusive content! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

However we try and slice it with our middling analysis, no part of basketball is as fun as watching a hot shooting stretch.This weekend, we were treated to a 13-point fourth quarter by Terry Bywater to put the game away, a Cristian Gomez vs Agostin Alejos tough-shot-making showdown and Jorge Salazar unleashed as a lethal mismatch shooter.All of that paled in comparison, however, to Dirk Passiwan's one-man comeback attempt, as Trier nearly toppled Hannover on the back of his 38 (!) second-half points.All this and more, on the latest Weekend Round-up! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

This week, James is joined by Team USA and Lahn Dill player Rose Hollermann to interview Ayaka, as he still very much does not trust himself to interview someone by himself.Listen in to hear Ayaka talk about her road to finding wheelchair basketball, how it has helped her over the years, what she loves about the sport, and all of her experiences watching and volunteering at games and tournaments, as well as giving us an insight into the work that it takes to clip as many games as she does for social media. Then, we run through some broader topics in the wheelchair basketball world, and answer listener questions. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

After a week off to get to grips with keeping a small human alive, Mark returns to what has been an immaculately-steered Bench Units ship.With a full schedule of games in Spain and an unexpectedly close call in Germany, the guys pick up where they left off and cast their unsolicited opinions across the wheelchair basketball scene.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast, in exchange for exclusive content! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

This week, James is joined by Mendel Op den Orth from the Dutch national team to talk about the 5 Nations friendly tournament in Madrid last weekend, trying our best to hold down the fort while Mark is taking a break to be a Dad.Mendel joins James in breaking down the games from this weekend, giving their takes on the performances that Spain, France, The Netherlands, Poland and GB put up over the weekend, as well as highlights, Xs and Os, and all the while trying to keep the non-basketball talk to a minimum.Then, we take the listeners questions on topics such as: All Star 5s,facial hair, and whether or not it’s worth practicing half court shots.Available now, wherever you get your podcasts.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

One of the past summer's earliest signings signaled that Fundación Aliados Valladolid were setting themselves up to seriously compete in the 2022-23 season, and Clarence “CJ” McCarthy-Grogan has helped them do just that to start the year.CJ stops by and talks about how growing up with limited wheelchair basketball opportunities in Darwin, NT has lead him full circle, from moving away to boarding school, followed by college in the USA, and then returning to Australia to start a National League team in his home city.We discuss how CJ's unorthodox game is molding into his new team and how he is adapting to playing in the strongest league in the world, as well as what Valladolid's goals are for the season.With all that covered, CJ answers questions from our listeners. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

In Spain, we witnessed maybe the most telling week so far in terms of teams wrestling for position in the standings going head-to-head with each other, including a clinic by Amiab against Ilunion and a who's-coming-of-age-first battle between Valladolid and Murcia.Over in Germany, we saw Lahn-Dill stifle yet another worthy foe and Thuringia reel off a 54-9 run across a 15 minute span.ko-fi.com/benchunits to support the podcast! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

There is never a dull moment.Well, there's probably a few in this very episode, but it certainly didn't feel like there were any as we watched and analysed 11 games this weekend.In Spain, we saw Ilunion break out another turbocharged quarter that got them through an away-to-Gran Canaria fixture that's traditionally given then some trouble. We also witnessed a final score of 50-42 in a genuinely exciting game.Over in Germany, “The Battle for Third” delivered on its promise and was a coming-of-age performance from a young player who earned their first ever Bench Units Belt. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

Let's be honest, none of us really understand how EuroCup works.What we do know is that the groups have been drawn, and that means that teams will play each other at some point.To help us fill in the blanks, we bring in the Voice of Wheelchair Basketball in Dylan Cummings.James, Mark and Dylan give their takes on the layout of this year's competition, their bold predictions and answers to your questions. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe

What a weekend.Albacete travelled a 16-hour round-trip to warm up for 20 minutes, Mideba Extremadura didn’t even make the journey to their own home venue. While Valladolid showed up, Bilbao made the journey to that game in body only.Over in Germany, Dirk Passiwan was extremely present for 34 out of 40 nail-biting minutes, while the opposing Rhine River Rhinos players seemed to be operating on an an offensive rotor. Also, Koeln and Hamburg both put in double shifts but only gathered scoring totals that Thuringia Bulls would hit in a single game.ko-fi.com/benchunits to subscribe and support the podcast in exchange for exclusive content! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe