The Euro Step Brit Podcast

This episode’s guest is Todd Cauthorn who spent time in both Austria and Belgium, but to most fans will be known for his multiple spells with the Sheffield Sharks. In this episode, we’ll look back on Todd’s basketball journey, the highs and lows and how they shaped his career. And we’ll also dive into life after his playing days came to an end.

Our guest is Kelvin Robinson, who played four seasons in the UK for the Hemel & Watford Royals, Milton Keynes Lions and Thames Valley Tigers. In this episode we go over his journey from Newark, New Jersey, also talking about his University days in Buffalo, 2 years in South Africa, a spell in the mid-Atlantic and his post-BBL career in France.

These days Jason Swaine is a basketball commentator, but before that he enjoyed a long and successful playing career. In this episode we'll look back over that career in both the British Basketball League and National League, as well as suiting up for the national team. From the pride of playing in big games against European giants, to playing alongside his son.

In this episode we catch up with London Lions' guard Matt Goodwin and the journey that has got him to where he is. From when his basketball journey began to experiencing EuroCup for the first time, and much, much more.

The NBA Europe project continues to dominate the headlines in European basketball, but will it really happen? Well, we don't know and we also don't know the answer to a lot of questions surrounding it, but it's not going to stop us asking them, especially when it comes to the UK's role in the project.

Another one of our on-the-road episodes and this time it's a trip to a Bristol Flyers home game. In this episode we catch up with the Flyers' commentary duo of Joel Osborne and Gareth Till, and head coach Andreas Kapoulas. We talk about commentaries and ENBL.

Our guest is John Coffino, who shares stories from a coaching career that has taken him all over the globe. There's been highs and lows, but every stop has shaped the person he is today. Coaching basketball can be tough sometimes, not just on the court, so join us as we go on a global basketball journey, including a stop here in the UK at the Cheshire Phoenix.

The podcast goes back on the road, to London as the Lions take on EuroLeague side Zalgiris Kaunas at the Copper Box Arena. In this episode we hear from Lions' CEO Lenz Balan, GM Martynas Purlys, player Amin Adamu and fan Phil Groves, as well as a EuroLeague and Zalgiris legend, Paulius Jankunas, now the President of the Lithuanian side.

Delighted to have Ryan Schmidt as our guest - the former London Lions head coach, now in the NBA as an assistant on the Atlanta Hawks bench. We caught up a couple of weeks ago and Ryan talked about his current role, his G-League days, the CEBL and of course, the Lions. I know a lot of people asked me to get Ryan on, so this bumper episode is for you.

Gareth Murray is about to embark on his first full season coaching in Slovakia. After his exit from the Caledonia Gladiators, Murray spent the remainder of last season coaching Prievidza. In this episode we talk all about his new role and how’s he relishing the challenge. We’ll also talk about the FIBA Europe Cup and of course, look back on the time the Gladiators won the BBL Trophy.

In this episode we speak with BBL legend Tony Holley, whose professional career took him from the USE to Ireland to England to Israel and Switzerland. He spent many years with the Thames Valley Tigers and we look back on those years as well his other stops along the way.

Our guest is Andrew Bridge, who enjoyed a successful career in the British Basketball League with the Newcastle Eagles and Sheffield Sharks, as well as representing England in the Commonwealth Games. We look back at those years as well getting his insights into his former coaches that are now in the NBA, the young talent that is Quinn Ellis, as well as many other topics.

This short little bonus episode takes a look at the London Lions' upcoming opponents in EuroCup and gives you a little bit of information about each one. Hope you like it!

Our guest this week is Chris Pullem, best known here in the UK for his time with the London Leopards and the Worthing Bears. In this episode we’ll look back at his time with those clubs, why he walked away from coaching and also dive into a project which means so much to him, My Town TV.

Our guest is Great Britain international Evan Walshe, who spent last season in the SLB with the Bristol Flyers. In this episode we’ll discuss Evan’s basketball career to date and look back at some of the highs and lows along the way that have got him to where he is today. And we’ll also get Evan’s insights into the world of 3 x 3 and how much it has become a part of his life.

Billy Mims is best known here in the UK for his time with the London Leopards and Leicester Riders. After 2 decades as the head coach of Florida Tech, Billy decided to step down in March, so we take a look at Billy’s future plans and of course, we’ll talk London, Leicester and the time he ended up coaching in Ireland.

Host Niall Gray takes a look back at his recent trip to watch Ratiopharm Ulm take on Fraport Skyliners of Frankfurt, and throws in interviews with Ulm's Sporting Director Thorsten Leibenath, head coach Ty Harrelson and guard Justinian Jessup. And there's also some random bits about the Berblinger Turm (Tower) and a hotel conversation!

We speak to Josh Wilcher, who is best remembered in the BBL for his time with the Plymouth Raiders. We'll look back on his time with the Raiders, discuss why his season at Reading Rockets was important for his career and look at his other stops around the British Basketball League, Australia and Germany. And we'll find out what he's been up to since he retired.

Our guest is Anthony Rowe, the former Raider turned Rider who came to the sport late but was able to enjoy a successful career before injuries brought his playing days to an end. We look back what it meant for Ant to play and captain his home-town club, and why Leicestershire is now home, and of course we delve into his commentating as well.

We catch up with former Bristol Flyers fan favourite Mike Vigor, who spent 4 seasons in total in the former British Basketball League, playing over 100 games and amassing over 1100 points during his time with the Flyers and Plymouth Raiders. We look back over his career - including representing Scotland at the Commonwealth games - and also get his insights into the growth of basketball in Australia. During the interview, Mike mentions where his games can be watched next season and here's the link to the league website. https://nbl1.com.au/watch/west

In this episode we catch up with Siobhán Prior, the former Nottingham Wildcats player who is now Director and WEABL Head Coach of their academy. We look back at the family connections to Nottingham basketball, discuss Siobhán's playing days and talk about her role at the Academy, and why it means so much to her. (Apologies for my mic occasionally playing up. Technology, eh?!)

We catch up with Andy Thomson, who had a very successful career in the former British Basketball League, winning 20 titles before his retirement in 2020. We look back at his time in the BBL, as well as spells abroad in Spain and France, and find out what he's been up to since retiring.

The topic of this episode is commentating. It feels odd not talking to Leicester Riders' head coach Rob Paternostro about his playing days and coaching career but don't worry, we'll get him back on again soon! Rob's had a great couple of years with broadcasting opportunities and he joins the podcast to talk about them. Also on this episode Caroline Bullock speaks about her new role doing SLB games for Manchester Basketball.

Our guest this week is Thorsten Leibenath, Sporting Director at ratiopharm Ulm of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), who first became a head coach in what was the British Basketball League (also called the BBL!). We look back at his time in Scotland, talk about the British game and then cover all things Ulm, from EuroCup to their amazing domestic championship win in 2023.

In this episode we catch up with esteemed commentator Daniel Routledge to talk about the past few years of broadcasting in the BBL (now SLB) and what it's like commentating from a studio compared to from the venue. We also discuss his popular basketball podcast, Sunday Night Breakdown, which he co-hosts with Dave Forrester and find out how it all came to be. The original podcast mentioned in this episode can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSDqX4OMBzc

The podcast returns! In this episode we speak with Reading Rockets CEO Matt Johnson about non-SLB teams joining the SLB Cup, take a look at why the player pathway is so important and also look at players who made a name for themselves in the NBL before going on to play elsewhere in Europe.

In this episode we catch up with current General Manager and Head Coach of the Winnipeg Sea Bears, Mike Taylor, who has almost 3 decades of coaching experience from Germany to the UK, from the Polish national team to the G-League.

Niall Gray takes the Pod on the road to Guildford, catching up with 89ers coach Lloyd Gardner, along with players Cam Gooden and Dame Adelekun. We also hear from a couple of supporters John Lanning (Surrey) and Phil Groves (London) for a fan perspective on the summer's events.

A special bonus episode as we talk to Dan Clark (Surrey 89ers) and Paul Blake (Newcastle Eagles). With the launch day of Super League Basketball, it was a chance to take one last look back at the BBL and look ahead to the new Super League, which begins this weekend.

This week we're talking to Marc Steutel, head coach of both the Newcastle Eagles and GB Men. In this episode we talk about life with the National Team, what it means to be part of the Eagles and also take a look at the ENBL.

This week we catch up with Bristol Flyers' head coach Andreas Kapoulas to talk about the ENBL, how he balances the demands of domestic and European basketball. And then we talk about GB and Euroleague, and the team that Andreas has supported since childhood. Also, Ball In Europe's Emmet Ryan pops on to talk about a recent London Lions signing.

For the first episode of the series, we talk to new Artland Dragons head coach Vince Macaulay about the move to Germany, the time he coached the London Lions in European competition and as it's topical, we take a look at the recent Thames Valley Cavaliers deal. Vince talks about his new role and also about life in Germany and the basketball and how it compares and contrasts to the game in the UK. There's also a look back at those Basketball Champions League and FIBA Europe Cup games with the London Lions before we dive into the details around his role with Thames Valley and his hopes for the club moving forward.

This is a short preview episode ahead of the launch of the new Euro Step Brit podcast where the host, Niall Gray, takes a look at how the podcast came about, what it will be about and what you could expect to be covered in the future.