BBL Jam with Josh Bett and Ishmael Fontaine
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In this special episode, Skylar Smith and Brian Bosche battle Josh Bett and Ishmael Fontaine to build the best BBL Jam duos. In a High Tea Hoops vs. Below the Rim competition, both shows select two players from each BBL Club to represent their BBL Jam duo. The group also discusses the Newcastle Eagles beating the London Lions in the first game of the BBL Cup, BBL Twitter, and games being cancelled due to COVID.
Full Transcript:
Brian Bosche:
All right, let's go into BBL Jam. So we're going to try this out. This is going to be High Tea Hoops versus Below The Rim team. Josh has recruited a ringer to join, so we'll see how this goes.
Josh Bett:
The greatest free agent ever.
Brian Bosche:
Good free agent pickup. This is new American BBL fans, so I think you guys, you have the experience. We're a little bit underdogs here, but we did our scouting, we're ready to kind of throw this against you. Here are some of the ground rules for it. So if you don't know, NBA Jam is probably... I think it's the most popular arcade game of all time. Sports Illustrated did an incredible overview of how they built and launched it. The arcade when we had arcades in person, the machines kept breaking, they could not figure out why, and it's because they were packed full of quarters and they were overflowing when they didn't expect it.
Brian Bosche:
So incredibly popular game, and it included duos from each NBA team. So two players, often a big and a small or a big and a guard, so we're going to do this for the BBL. We're going to go through, High Tea Hoops versus Below The Rim, and we are going to pick our BBL Jam duos. Current rosters only, and we're going to alternate back and forth who gets the first pick for each team. So we're going to pick four total players for each club and then we'll throw out each team's pick to see, on Twitter, to see who actually wins these different matchups.
Brian Bosche:
So it's going to be a little complicated. We're going to have arguments back and forth when we pick, so I encourage arguments and to answer out loud as you try to decide who you're going to pickup. And let's launch right into it. So shout out Dave Owen Basketball for greatly helping the High Tea Hoops team to figure out rosters.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Talk about me being a ringer, the geezer's got like spreadsheets on his wall, he's like one of those freak dudes, "Oh, what's that number?"
Brian Bosche:
It's amazing. Otherwise, I don't know where we would get this information.
Skylar Smith:
It's really clutch. Yeah, it's really clutch information.
Brian Bosche:
Really clutch. But because you're the guests, you're coming onto our podcast, we'll give you the first pick and we're going to start with the London Lions. So Below The Rim team, what is your pick off the London Lions for your first BBL Jam duo team?
Ishmael Fontaine:
I already got it in my brain. Go ahead.
Josh Bett:
[crosstalk 00:21:01]
Brian Bosche:
What are the options? Who are you considering?
Josh Bett:
Justin Robinson.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I got two in my brain. I already know my big and my small. I'm good.
Brian Bosche:
Josh is going Justin Robinson. What do you think, Ish?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yes, that was my first pick.
Brian Bosche:
Is that who you both are picking?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Oh yeah, oh yeah. Two time MVP? Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.
Brian Bosche:
All right. Justin Robinson off the board, first pick. All right, it's over to us, Skylar.
Skylar Smith:
I think that's a really solid pick for their first pick.
Brian Bosche:
I think it's, yeah, two time MVP, leader on the court.
Skylar Smith:
What are we thinking, Brian?
Brian Bosche:
Well, we're totally biased because we had both Byron and Deandre on the pod. I'm kind of leaning Byron.
Skylar Smith:
I'm not leaning Byron. We haven't really seen Byron as a lion.
Brian Bosche:
I've seen him. I mean BCL, preseason, it's been on and off.
Skylar Smith:
We just haven't seen very much of him.
Brian Bosche:
So you think Deandre?
Skylar Smith:
Yeah.
Brian Bosche:
All right, we going with Deandre Liggins.
Skylar Smith:
Get my thick king.
Brian Bosche:
First the thick king or the fits? So we're also judging this on charisma on the team, who is someone going to want to pick when they go into the machine? So Deandre Liggins, all right. Number one pick for us. Back to Below The Rim.
Ishmael Fontaine:
This is very easy, Josh. This is very, very easy. I don't know this quizzed look on your face. This is a very, very easy pick, Josh.
Josh Bett:
Well, I don't know. I'm thinking the same as well right now. I'm just thinking, there's-
Brian Bosche:
Throw out your options. Think out loud.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Don't overthink. Don't overthink.
Brian Bosche:
Overthink it.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Go with Slam.com from 12 years ago, when the dude said, "There's no one in Ohio that can guard me." Then he came to England and got buckets, then he went to the place in the BCL and got buckets, and then he had that preseason game where he got buckets, he got thrown out the game. Go with that guy. It's not even a conversation. You're not even doing this.
Josh Bett:
Thrown out the game?
Ishmael Fontaine:
They gave us a gimme, a gimme, a gimme. Ohio State's basketball player of the year, they gave us a gimme.
Brian Bosche:
Downtown LaMarcus Aldridge.
Ishmael Fontaine:
And he's got a British passport, and he didn't turn up for the Olympics. You know who we're talking about.
Josh Bett:
Yes, yes. No, I forgot that he got kicked out the game. That's what you got right. Yes, all right, fine. Byron Mullins. [crosstalk 00:23:00]
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah. We're good. We're good. We got Byron. [crosstalk 00:23:03] pick, man.
Brian Bosche:
See, that's what I was scared of, Skylar. They have their point guard and then they have their big.
Ishmael Fontaine:
That's right.
Skylar Smith:
Honestly, I forgot that we were not going to take an Ohio State guy as our first pick, Brian. I wasn't allowing it.
Brian Bosche:
Skylar wants University of Michigan.
Skylar Smith:
The truce is over, the truce that we set up for our pod with Byron Mullins was only for that pod. It's over now.
Brian Bosche:
Okay. We couldn't pick him due to Midwest United States rivalries.
Ishmael Fontaine:
See? Politics. Ooh. A killer, a killer.
Skylar Smith:
Big politics.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, it's all about politics. So I think we got to go Kevin Ware here, Skylar. We go to go both wings.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah.
Brian Bosche:
All right.
Skylar Smith:
Twitter fingers.
Ishmael Fontaine:
We're going to bust them open.
Skylar Smith:
Thick king.
Brian Bosche:
We're going to change this. It's going to be full court two on two, and then we might have a shot.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Oh yeah.
Josh Bett:
Byron can run. Byron can run.
Brian Bosche:
I know, Byron can run, Byron can run too.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Byron's going to shoot from half court, we're good. He's going to shoot from half court.
Brian Bosche:
So we have the two wing matchup versus, yeah, you guys are the traditional NBA Jam duo. That's going to be a tough one, Skylar, but-
Skylar Smith:
We've only done one team and I already don't feel great about this Brian, for us.
Josh Bett:
Well, Ishmael, you threw me off, because when you said he got thrown out, now I realize you're talking about the Oostende game he got thrown out. Didn't he?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Right, yeah.
Josh Bett:
Not the Neptuners game, right?
Ishmael Fontaine:
No, he wouldn't do that. He wouldn't risk that. He wouldn't do that.
Josh Bett:
That's why I was like, "Who got thrown out?" No, I get it now. That's what threw me off. But yeah, he [crosstalk 00:24:23]
Ishmael Fontaine:
He was jet lagged, he didn't want to play all them games. He was jet lagged. He said, "Look, man, I'm going to get this quick 50 and I'ma go sleep." He was jet lagged, he had to get himself out the game.
Josh Bett:
Apparently there's a podcast with Vince Macaulay and Swishful Thinking, and Byron Mullins signed for a team in South Korea. Vince Macaulay thinks it was North Korea.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Forgive Uncle. Sometimes you get your north and south mixed up.
Josh Bett:
It's in the podcast, I'll send you. He said he was in North Korea last year. I was like, "I don't think there's a league, unless he went on tour with Dennis Rodman."
Ishmael Fontaine:
Forgive Uncle, man.
Skylar Smith:
Honestly, I have to think about those a lot.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, forgive Uncle.
Skylar Smith:
Like sometimes I go, "South?" You got to think about it, maybe he just misspoke.
Brian Bosche:
It's like your left and right.
Josh Bett:
Kim Jong Un did like basketball, I guess.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He loves it.
Brian Bosche:
He's the greatest basketball player in the world.
Skylar Smith:
True.
Brian Bosche:
As reported by him. All right, next team. Skylar, we're going to jump to... Well, now I want to cheat and go to a team where there's a great number one pick for us, but we'll go to the-
Skylar Smith:
Let's do it. Why not? This is our podcast, we set the rules here.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Right. Aint that the truth?
Brian Bosche:
Fair. Lets go to the Newcastle Eagles, we'll just go with that first match up. We got the first pick. Skylar, I think Fletcher's two time MVP as well. Played really well against the Lions. We also-
Skylar Smith:
What about my thick king?
Brian Bosche:
I mean we could pick Defoe, but I think he might fall. I think we might be able to pick him up a little bit later in the draft.
Skylar Smith:
That's true.
Brian Bosche:
I loved Maxwell. Gordon, I mean what? He had 24 points or something against the Lions. He really stepped up. Pflueger, Notre Dame guy. My whole family moved to Notre Dame, so coming out of Notre Dame, he was on fire. Skylar, I think you'd like him on social. He's prolific on social media. Who do you think?
Skylar Smith:
It's still Notre Dame. I think we got to pickup an MVP, Brian.
Brian Bosche:
I think you're right. Good, I'm glad we're on the same page.
Skylar Smith:
Let's do it.
Brian Bosche:
Rahmon Fletcher, number one pick. Over to you, Below The Rim. Good luck.
Josh Bett:
All right, before we decide this. Ish, are we going big or are we going small?
Ishmael Fontaine:
I think we got to go big first. Get one of those big hitters off the board.
Josh Bett:
All right, big, fine. Then you know who it is. Yeah.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Go ahead.
Josh Bett:
Just don't want to get his name wrong. I'm picking up big man Evan Maxwell. Yeah.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He was buckets.
Brian Bosche:
He was good. He was dominant.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He ran the floor. He's a jumper.
Brian Bosche:
And you're right, he ran the floor and dunked.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Rebounded basketball above the rim, above the rim.
Brian Bosche:
The Above the Rim Podcast.
Josh Bett:
He looks a bit-
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah. I mean we have to change the way we [crosstalk 00:26:42]
Skylar Smith:
On brand.
Josh Bett:
It's called Below The Rim because we only do layups, we can't dunk of course.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Disclaimer, I got bounced.
Josh Bett:
Well, you were a free agent.
Brian Bosche:
Yes, Batman.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Thank you.
Brian Bosche:
You're welcome. All right, Skylar, number two. I'm so scared of this. Are you going to make us pick Defoe? We need a big.
Skylar Smith:
Let's do it.
Brian Bosche:
You want to pick-
Skylar Smith:
I have some-
Brian Bosche:
But Justin Gordon's so good.
Skylar Smith:
But I got some intel that he's a bully, so I think we should pick Defoe.
Brian Bosche:
Okay. And it's half court, so it is half court.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah. We're good.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Well, now it's half court.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, I was cheating last time. It is half court for all of us.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah, we will cheat throughout this entire game.
Brian Bosche:
Actually, no. NBA Jam is full court, it's just a short court.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, I was going to say. It's a short, yeah.
Brian Bosche:
It's a short, so okay, I'm a little more confident. We're going to go with Defoe. We have two time MVP.
Skylar Smith:
That's my guy.
Brian Bosche:
Fletcher and Defoe, both veterans, both going to put in the work. I like it, I like that duo, and it's probably going to be a fan favorite. I think we can steal some votes.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah, I think that's a fan favorite.
Brian Bosche:
All right.
Ishmael Fontaine:
It is a fan favorite.
Brian Bosche:
Who was your second pick, Below The Rim?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Obviously-
Josh Bett:
Ive got mine.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Obviously we got to go with the shooter from Notre Dame. There's two we could really pick because no one's actually mentioning that Louis Sayers lit lines up, no one's actually mentioned that.
Brian Bosche:
Serious overtime.
Josh Bett:
No, no, no. That's not what I'm thinking.
Ishmael Fontaine:
No one's actually speaking about that.
Brian Bosche:
Josh does not want Sayers.
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:28:12]
Josh Bett:
I like him as a player, but he's not my pick.
Ishmael Fontaine:
... right now, he's lit them up.
Brian Bosche:
He did.
Ishmael Fontaine:
But Pflueger?
Brian Bosche:
Josh doesn't like Pflueger either.
Ishmael Fontaine:
What's up? What's up? Explain, I'm ready.
Josh Bett:
Cortez Edwards.
Brian Bosche:
You're going for Cortez Edwards?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Ooh, he's nice. He is nice. The combo guard, he can play both spots too.
Josh Bett:
The guy that basically won Worcester Wolves, the BBL cup last year.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Ooh, he's nice. He got a little bounce in him too. He could get exciting, because their attributes, they don't know... You got layups in your team, you just got layups. You aint got no guns.
Josh Bett:
Brian, for the record, I like Louis Sayers, I like Lex... What's his foot? Not the actor, Pflueger, the guy from newcastle.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Pflueger.
Josh Bett:
But I'll sit them in the corner and they can shoot the ball, and that's what they do really well. But Cortez Edwards, now-
Ishmael Fontaine:
He's nice.
Josh Bett:
... got a little bit over Rahmon Fletcher as well.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He's nice, and he got some pizazz, he put some spice on it. Yeah, he aint no lemon and herb. He's nice. He's nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm with you, I'm with you, I'm with you, I'm with you.
Josh Bett:
[crosstalk 00:29:17]
Brian Bosche:
All right, Cortez Edwards.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, yeah, I'm with you.
Brian Bosche:
All right. That's the pick, also has two last names, which I appreciate.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, I never noticed.
Brian Bosche:
You always got to watch out for those.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I got a teammate like that. My teammate Howard Crawford.
Brian Bosche:
I love it.
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:29:32]
Brian Bosche:
I like when people have two first names, or two last names. All right, let's move onto the next team. Bristol Flyers. Below The Rim, you're on the clock. You have the first pick. Skylar, you need to tell me in the doc who you want to pick second.
Skylar Smith:
Okay, okay.
Josh Bett:
Hold up, I'm just lost. Is Jenche Thomas still at Bristol Flyers?
Ishmael Fontaine:
No, no.
Josh Bett:
He left. Sorry, I thought he was still there. Okay, because I was going to say that would be my automatic pick right there, but I realize he's gone now.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Fred Thomas is better than Jenche anyway.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, but is he still there though? That's the thing, I've-
Ishmael Fontaine:
No. You know who we got to go for first? We got to go with the Twin first because he been dunking on everyone this preseason. Delpeche.
Josh Bett:
Not Josh? You want to go Marcus? Delpeche is top, and he's strong as anything.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, he dunking.
Brian Bosche:
He was on our list.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He dunking on everybody.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, but what about Josh Wilshire? The shooter?
Brian Bosche:
Shh, don't pick him.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I mean I love Josh.
Josh Bett:
I love Delpeche, Delpeche is just Delpeche.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He runs like a guy on [inaudible 00:30:32] perfect tilt, he needs to sort out his hips. He needs some squats or something, he messing around. He be running crazy. I reckon he run like a penguin.
Josh Bett:
I'll go with Marcus.
Ishmael Fontaine:
We got to pick Delpeche first.
Josh Bett:
Did you just say he runs like a penguin?
Ishmael Fontaine:
That's my brother, he knows he run like a penguin. I'll text him right now.
Skylar Smith:
He's built like a penguin.
Ishmael Fontaine:
That's my brother.
Josh Bett:
You just said the guy-
Ishmael Fontaine:
Happy feet.
Skylar Smith:
He's going to listen to this and get his feelings hurt.
Josh Bett:
You just said Josh Wilcher's got happy feet. Oh my.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Happy feet. He's a bucket though.
Josh Bett:
I can't believe you say he runs like a... because the thing is, I'm not disagreeing with you.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah. That's my guy, but you've got to get Delpeche first because you've got to see what they're doing. You've got to see what the High Tea is doing, High Tea is messing up and we just got to keep letting them mess up. So we get Delpeche first, [crosstalk 00:31:19]
Josh Bett:
All right, I'll agree with you with Delpeche because he single handedly destroyed the London City Royals in that last game in the BBL cup so yes, Delpeche. Defensively, offensively, you can't stop him, you can't.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Right. [crosstalk 00:31:32]
Josh Bett:
But I just can't believe the happy feet.
Skylar Smith:
Delpeche is also so fun to say.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Great name.
Skylar Smith:
Delpeche.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I don't even know if I'm saying it right. I never heard him speak.
Brian Bosche:
All right, that's your first pick. Skylar and I spoke offline, we're talking Josh Wilcher. I think he's a strong first pick.
Ishmael Fontaine:
With the happy feet?
Brian Bosche:
I also just love that he runs like a penguin.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Exactly.
Brian Bosche:
That's the off court stuff we want to see.
Skylar Smith:
That sold me. We had already decided-
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, it sold me immediately.
Skylar Smith:
... but that was the... That's what did us in.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He got the salsa hits.
Brian Bosche:
All right, you're on the clock again. Who's your second pick?
Josh Bett:
We need a guard. It's tough.
Ishmael Fontaine:
It's not that tough.
Josh Bett:
If this was last year.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, last year would be amazing. But you know it's the here and now. Live in the moment. Don't overthink.
Josh Bett:
[crosstalk 00:32:20]
Ishmael Fontaine:
Don't overthink.
Josh Bett:
I want to know who you're going with, Zack Copeland?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yes, bro.
Josh Bett:
Okay. I'll go with that one.
Brian Bosche:
Zack Copeland? He was on our list. That's who I wanted next.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Good.
Brian Bosche:
Athletic shooter.
Ishmael Fontaine:
You just need a big and a small. A big and a small.
Skylar Smith:
A small, a small.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Because they're going to switch pick on rows, it's two on two. It's going to be over.
Josh Bett:
Yeah. No, no. You're right, you're right, yeah.
Ishmael Fontaine:
The Cortez Edwards thing, that was a very, very good idea. I wasn't going there and you took me there. See how we did that?
Brian Bosche:
That's a good team.
Skylar Smith:
The dream team.
Josh Bett:
I'm just disappointed, I wanted Jenchiro Thomas, but then for some reason in my mind, I thought he was still there. But he's not there. I know, I get it, I get it. I'm sorry. I messed up. Zack Copeland, yeah, we won this one again.
Brian Bosche:
Zack Copeland. [crosstalk 00:33:05]
Skylar Smith:
Brian, we're fucked.
Brian Bosche:
I knew. I mean we're the underdogs. People can root for us.
Ishmael Fontaine:
You have Dave Owen and his spreadsheets.
Brian Bosche:
That's all we have, and highlight tapes.
Ishmael Fontaine:
We don't have them.
Brian Bosche:
We don't have the deep history. All right, Skylar, we only have one more on our list. So those were three of our four, the last one we had, we're going to take a little bit of a Flyer. Hopefully he'll improve a lot more this year. Raphael Thomas Edwards.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He's nice. I like him.
Brian Bosche:
You like that pick?
Ishmael Fontaine:
I've been very surprised at how slow he's been going. He is nice, dude. I played against him last year. No, last year? The year before, he's nice. He's a very good pick.
Brian Bosche:
All right, we had Ethan, BBL analyst, say he was going to be the most improved player on the Flyers this year, so we're going to take a little risk here.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He's buzzing. I mean he's nice.
Brian Bosche:
All right, Skylar. Who do you want to go to next? We need to rebound a little bit here.
Skylar Smith:
I don't think any of these are going to be strengths for us though.
Brian Bosche:
Okay. Who can we just scoop at number one and just totally cheat? I'm not seeing it.
Skylar Smith:
Let's go to the Sharks.
Brian Bosche:
All right, let's do Sheffield Sharks.
Ishmael Fontaine:
They're trash.
Brian Bosche:
Skylar, do you want to go through some of our options here?
Ishmael Fontaine:
They're trash.
Brian Bosche:
Skylar, what are some of our options here? Who do you like?
Josh Bett:
Marco Begovich.
Skylar Smith:
I mean I feel like High Tea Hoops is a big supporter of Mike Tuck, it feels like it would be-
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, friend of the pod.
Skylar Smith:
... an insult to him for us not to take him number one, if we're talking Sharks.
Brian Bosche:
This year, Skylar? See, this is why we're going to lose, is we pick with our hearts.
Skylar Smith:
Listen, fan favorite, fan favorite. We're going to pick up the fan points, that's what we're going to do.
Josh Bett:
Loyalty.
Brian Bosche:
Look at Ishmael's face.
Skylar Smith:
We're going to pick up fan points. I'm going for a different strategy here.
Brian Bosche:
Okay. So let's go through the Mike Tuck pick. Would've been an incredible pick 10 years ago. Mike, I love seeing you out there, you're a silver fox. I asked you about your skin care routine on the BBL show.
Skylar Smith:
Definitely a silver fox. He's like a media guy.
Brian Bosche:
He's a media guy.
Skylar Smith:
He's got the charisma. I'm going for fan votes.
Brian Bosche:
All right.
Ishmael Fontaine:
But fans don't like buckets then, I didn't know that. Josh, did you know that fans don't like buckets? All right then.
Josh Bett:
I'm just loving this because Skylar is trying to show so much loyalty, and I love Mike Tuck. Bless him, he is such a great guy.
Ishmael Fontaine:
This is what happens when you support [crosstalk 00:35:26]
Skylar Smith:
If Marcus Rashford is listening-
Josh Bett:
I'm just trying to say politely he's 40 years old.
Brian Bosche:
Come on the pod.
Skylar Smith:
... we just got the sign off that I am very loyal, so if Marcus Rashford is listening, I'm available.
Brian Bosche:
All right, so we're going to pick with our hearts here and we're going to go with Mike Tuck. Our heads and our preparation and scouting report-
Skylar Smith:
I'm also committed to losing this at this point.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I can feel it, I can feel it.
Brian Bosche:
Our head said Nick Lewis because Kevin Ware endorsed him as being nice. It also went to Lillard, who was impressive early in season. I wasn't as impressed the last couple games, but I think he's really strong. I also love Kipper Nichols, I also love saying Kipper Nichols. I think he's going to be a really strong rookie for them.
Skylar Smith:
Kipper Nichols is literally the most American name I've ever heard in my entire life. Kipper Nichols, are you kidding me?
Brian Bosche:
Love Kipper Nichols. But we're going with Mike Tuck. Fan favorite. Love you, Mike.
Skylar Smith:
I said what I said.
Brian Bosche:
Below The Rim, what's your pick? Who's Mike going to have to guard?
Ishmael Fontaine:
The 416 is listening, and they say it's Nick Lewis.
Brian Bosche:
Nick Lewis?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Make him work global.
Brian Bosche:
Ah, I picked Josh.
Josh Bett:
Well, Kevin Ware said he's nice, so yeah, we got to go with him. Plus he's the experienced vet in the BBL, he's in his prime.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He won things.
Josh Bett:
Canada's finest.
Brian Bosche:
Nick Lewis?
Josh Bett:
Yeah.
Ishmael Fontaine:
First Canadian player ever to come out of Canada and play professional basketball as a high school kid.
Brian Bosche:
Damn.
Josh Bett:
and Brian, tweet me on this, his jump shot is sweet as Timbits at Tim Horton's. Canada's finest.
Brian Bosche:
All right, Skylar, who is our number two pick? You got to highlight who you like here. I'm thinking I really like Kipper Nichols, we might need... You want Lillard?
Skylar Smith:
I don't know honestly.
Brian Bosche:
Lillard versus Kipper Nichols? This is a tough one, all right.
Skylar Smith:
If we get Kipper Nichols, that name is... We can't take Kipper Nichols.
Brian Bosche:
What? Why not?
Skylar Smith:
It's too American. It's too much.
Brian Bosche:
I'm making an executive decision, we're taking Kipper Nichols.
Skylar Smith:
Okay.
Brian Bosche:
You picked Mike Tuck, I get Kipper Nichols. He's our number two pick.
Skylar Smith:
All right, all right.
Josh Bett:
You could've selected Marco Bagovich. I mean he's great.
Brian Bosche:
Josh, stop trying to put us into traps. Who's your number two pick?
Skylar Smith:
We will put ourselves in traps, you don't need to do it.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, you don't have to do it for us.
Josh Bett:
All right, Ish, I'm thinking hard about this. If we did a big, who do we go for? Otherwise we go for a small line up in this one.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, go count the jumps.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Crutch, right? Do we have Crutch? He's back, right?
Josh Bett:
[crosstalk 00:38:00] [Benecotch 00:38:00]?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah.
Josh Bett:
He was there last season, but is he back this season?
Ishmael Fontaine:
He's back.
Brian Bosche:
I don't have him on the list.
Josh Bett:
I want to go smaller than this. We got to go Kipper Nichols. Kipper Nichols.
Brian Bosche:
No, we went Kipper Nichols.
Skylar Smith:
You can't have him.
Josh Bett:
Oh sorry, sorry. You went Kipper, sorry. Yeah, sorry.
Skylar Smith:
He's ours.
Brian Bosche:
We took him.
Josh Bett:
I thought you picked Marco Bagovich. Sorry.
Ishmael Fontaine:
You got two big, who's going to dribble? You lot playing netball tonight? What's happening?
Josh Bett:
Are they playing netball? Mike Tucker's the gold striker.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah.
Josh Bett:
All right, wait, Benecotch, is he back?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, I thought he was. That was my favorite guy.
Brian Bosche:
I don't even have him on my list.
Josh Bett:
I'm not sure he's there. But I know he was there last season, but-
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:38:39] There you going, trying to cheat. So who do you want? Because you need a big, just take a big, we'll take a big. We'll be fine.
Josh Bett:
If we need a big then, I guess we got to go... I don't know.
Brian Bosche:
10 seconds. You're on the clock.
Josh Bett:
Why don't we just go really, really small and beat them for speed?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Okay.
Josh Bett:
Anton Lilith.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Shall we take Lilith?
Josh Bett:
Yeah, Anton Lilith.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Okay.
Brian Bosche:
All right, I like the pick. It's going to be a tough one.
Josh Bett:
Anybody with that last name's got to be good.
Brian Bosche:
True, if history tells us anything.
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:39:13]
Brian Bosche:
All right, let's go, we're going to go next to the Cheshire Phoenix. Below The Rim, you have the first pick.
Josh Bett:
I don't see-
Ishmael Fontaine:
I'm going to pick a fan favorite, bro. I got to pick the London boy.
Josh Bett:
Disraeli?
Ishmael Fontaine:
What do you think though?
Josh Bett:
Disraeli?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Dizzy, yeah, man.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, I got to go with Dis as well, yeah, yeah.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Great defensive player, moves the ball, will shoot the open shot. Very solid pick.
Brian Bosche:
Who else are you guys-
Skylar Smith:
In the BBL a long time. Fan favorite. There you go.
Ishmael Fontaine:
See, I'm using your strategy for the low market teams.
Brian Bosche:
Who else were you guys considering?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Kerr.
Josh Bett:
I don't know, I mean I watched that game [crosstalk 00:39:51]
Skylar Smith:
Who was your number two? Who was your number two?
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, who was your number two pick?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Kerr.
Brian Bosche:
Just for the party, no?
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:39:56] pulled yesterday.
Brian Bosche:
Just a little preview. Skylar, who are you thinking here? I'm thinking [Jalon 00:40:01] Hayes. I'm thinking Devon Mitchel. Who do you think?
Skylar Smith:
I like Jalen Hayes.
Brian Bosche:
Okay. We're taking Jalen Hayes. 15 and sixth last year, third year with the Phoenix.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah, strong last year, yeah.
Brian Bosche:
Picking him big, that's our pick.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Good player. We got to go with young boy's cousin. Remember the French kid that got hurt?
Josh Bett:
Surhill?
Ishmael Fontaine:
He's mad athletic.
Josh Bett:
I don't know how to say his last name, William is it?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, something crazy. [inaudible 00:40:32]
Brian Bosche:
Surhelm William?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah.
Josh Bett:
If this was last season though, how much would-
Ishmael Fontaine:
He wasn't there last season.
Josh Bett:
No, no. But I said again, if we had Cheshire Phoenix's team last year you could not go with anyone else but PJ Sleet.
Ishmael Fontaine:
PJ who?
Josh Bett:
Parker Jackson Cartwright.
Ishmael Fontaine:
[inaudible 00:40:48]
Josh Bett:
You're winding me up, are you?
Ishmael Fontaine:
I don't like that he gets an abbreviated name, he's only been here nine months, you don't get an abbreviated name. Get some [inaudible 00:40:56] time, then you get an abbreviated name. He aint doing [crosstalk 00:40:57]
Josh Bett:
He's got an abbreviated name because people like me can't be bothered to say Parker Jackson Cartwright. PJ [crosstalk 00:41:01]
Ishmael Fontaine:
Say it, say it, until he's ordained by the BBL gods.
Josh Bett:
Okay. We will go with Monsieur Mullion then.
Brian Bosche:
Monsieur Mullion, okay.
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:41:13]
Brian Bosche:
He wasn't even on our list. Good shout.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He's balling.
Brian Bosche:
Putting him down. Entering, Skylar.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Dave Owen is messing with you guys. Dave Owen is messing you guys up.
Brian Bosche:
Well, there's no stats for him so we had nothing to pull from. Dave Owen.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Oh man, he messing you guys up.
Brian Bosche:
All right, we need a guard, Skylar. I'm thinking it's either... They took Disraeli who was on our list, Corone Ross. Corone? Is that how you pronounce it? Who knows?
Ishmael Fontaine:
It might be America. That's your forte, right?
Brian Bosche:
Devin Mitchell? I think Devon Mitchel, Skylar. What do you think?
Skylar Smith:
I think Devin Mitchel.
Brian Bosche:
All right. First year in, elite shooter, decent preseason game. Devon Mitchel's our pick.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Okay, okay.
Brian Bosche:
Is that it? Oh yeah, you guys already won. Great.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, yeah.
Brian Bosche:
What did you guys think of our picks there? Pretty good, huh?
Ishmael Fontaine:
It's hit and miss. I watched them play in Leicester, they got killed, so it's a tough one.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah. It's tough, tough year for the Phoenix. All right, let's go Glasgow Rocks.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Oh my god.
Brian Bosche:
We get number one pick. Skylar, this is obviously, right? Jonny Bunyan, right off the bat.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I love Jonny Bunyan.
Brian Bosche:
I love Jonny Bunyan so much.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He is cold, man.
Brian Bosche:
We were talking about him last night.
Skylar Smith:
Jonny Bunyan is also a name I can't believe is real. Jonny Bunyan.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I know. Imagine your name being Bunyan. You got a target on your back when you're named Bunyan, you don't want anyone called Bunyan to scorn you so it's tough. "Old Bunyan crossed him over." Like, "What?"
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, Jonny Bunyan.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Oh my goodness.
Josh Bett:
Jonny Bunyan, I love your name. I'm just saying, it's already the name for you, but I just can't hold it together, sorry.
Brian Bosche:
Skylar, do you want to say this pick?
Skylar Smith:
I feel like we got to go Gareth Murray.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, we'll have the player coach.
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:42:55]
Skylar Smith:
We have to. Player coach, love a player coach.
Brian Bosche:
Love it.
Josh Bett:
I hate you guys.
Skylar Smith:
He's a vet, can still bring it, but he's a vet.
Josh Bett:
I hate you guys. [crosstalk 00:43:04]
Brian Bosche:
You know he's going to get a lot of minutes. He's just going to leave himself in until he gets tired, and then-
Ishmael Fontaine:
Gareth Murray don't get tired. He's going to shoot everything.
Josh Bett:
No, he doesn't. No.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He going to shoot everything.
Brian Bosche:
He has no threat of a coach pulling him out, he's going to be unstoppable.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Never. Man, he's set that up for years too, I just know it. He just wanted to be that guy, I just could feel it. Ooh, that's a good pick.
Brian Bosche:
All right, you're on the clock, Below The Rim.
Josh Bett:
This is tough because-
Brian Bosche:
Maybe discuss two or three options out loud, just for no reason, just for the audience.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Josh, you're going to have to take this one. Ever since Glasgow tried to kidnap the league last year, I've struggled to watch anything they try to do, so you're going to have to take this one off me, bro.
Josh Bett:
You've just taken the most noble basketball player in Scottish basketball history for like the last 20 years, and a player who I've so... Fraser Malcolm.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Is here there?
Josh Bett:
I think he's there. Oh no, he's not, is he?
Ishmael Fontaine:
I thought he moved to France. He's at France, he's in France.
Josh Bett:
So I don't even know who's there, because they've been talking about having some [crosstalk 00:44:10]
Brian Bosche:
He's on Dave Owen too, Fraser Malcolm's on Dave Owen.
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:44:14] massive [crosstalk 00:44:15]
Josh Bett:
Okay, okay, fine. Fine, I'm going to have to go with Boban Jack Domney, whatever his name is, from Sothemere Whoever.
Brian Bosche:
Love that pick.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Boban's a sick name though. You want that kind of name.
Brian Bosche:
That was in our notes.
Josh Bett:
How do you say the second name? Jack Donme?
Brian Bosche:
Jack Donme maybe. Yeah, our scouting report was Southern Mississippi 69, nice, name is Boban. That was our scouting report.
Skylar Smith:
You can tell that I contributed to that scouting report.
Brian Bosche:
All right, Skylar. So we have our big, we need a guard now. We could either pick Jonny Bunyan, I was also thinking Asa Brandon, Isa? I haven't heard it out loud yet.
Skylar Smith:
I feel like-
Ishmael Fontaine:
Yeah, his dad played in the league some years ago.
Skylar Smith:
I feel like we got to take Jonny Bunyan. Come on, come on. It's Jonny Bunyan. We got to get him off the-
Brian Bosche:
We're just picking with our hearts.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah. I'm not even thinking about these picks at this point. I'm just choosing the name I like.
Brian Bosche:
You're just going with your gut? Who gets us the most quarters in our BBL Jam game?
Skylar Smith:
Yeah.
Brian Bosche:
All right, we're going Jonny Bunyan and Gareth Murray, the greatest duo so far that I can think of.
Skylar Smith:
That is unbeatable.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, I mean you're either going to get hit by Murray or Bunyan. Both are bad options for you. What do you think, Josh?
Josh Bett:
Yeah, we've lost this one so I'm just going to resign to it and say Isa Brandon, who I think is a good player, so we will-
Ishmael Fontaine:
He's a good defensive guy, good energy guy off the bench. You haven't seen much of his offensive game, but he didn't get a lot of shots at Plymouth so maybe he's a surprise.
Brian Bosche:
We'll see. Can he guard Jonny Bunyan? That's the real question.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Everyone can guard Jonny Bunyan.
Skylar Smith:
No one can take Jonny Bunyan.
Brian Bosche:
No one can. He has a cheat code in BBL Jam, he can't miss a shot. All right, next one, Leicester Riders.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Ooh, we get to pick first?
Brian Bosche:
You get to pick first, yeah.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah.
Ishmael Fontaine:
What we saying?
Brian Bosche:
Who're you doing?
Ishmael Fontaine:
I think we got to go for a guard first, what do you think?
Josh Bett:
Okay, which one.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I got Connor Washington all day.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, that's a no brainer, yeah. Okay, I'll agree with you. I was just thinking about that. Yeah, yeah.
Ishmael Fontaine:
I don't know who our second pick is.
Josh Bett:
GB, international.
Ishmael Fontaine:
But I'm just going to keep quiet.
Brian Bosche:
Connor Washington. That's who you're going first, Connor Washington? Pick submitted?
Josh Bett:
Yeah.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Brian Bosche:
All right. Who're you going to do, Skylar?
Skylar Smith:
I feel like I've picked all of these, Brian. I am on this team by myself now?
Brian Bosche:
Let's go Corey Johnson.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Good pick. He can shoot it.
Skylar Smith:
I like that.
Brian Bosche:
All right, let's do it.
Ishmael Fontaine:
He can shoot it.
Skylar Smith:
I like a young guy.
Ishmael Fontaine:
And he's probably very good at maths because he went to one of your Ivy League schools, didn't he? Probably very, very good at maths, knows all his times tables.
Skylar Smith:
I didn't even know that.
Ishmael Fontaine:
All of them. Fuck that.
Brian Bosche:
Knows how to score.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Nine times nine.
Skylar Smith:
Maybe he can get hired at Dave Owen, help him with the spreadsheets.
Brian Bosche:
Wow.
Ishmael Fontaine:
They're failing you now.
Brian Bosche:
All right, Ish. You got to-
Ishmael Fontaine:
You're ripping them off the wall.
Brian Bosche:
Ish, you got to go, right?
Josh Bett:
Please clip that, please clip that.
Skylar Smith:
We're going to cut that from this podcast. This is our pod, we make the rules.
Josh Bett:
That was brilliant. I love it.
Brian Bosche:
Dave, we love you.
Skylar Smith:
Dave, you literally saved us in this podcast. We love you.
Brian Bosche:
He did. Ish, you got to go after this team, right? So this is your last pick.
Ishmael Fontaine:
This is my last pick.
Brian Bosche:
All right, Josh, you got to carry the team the rest of the way.
Skylar Smith:
That's tough.
Josh Bett:
Jamel?
Ishmael Fontaine:
Huh?
Josh Bett:
Jamel.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Do you know why I love you? Because we're like this, bro. We're like this, we're like this.
Brian Bosche:
You're in each other's heads. You did not prep for this at all.
Ishmael Fontaine:
[crosstalk 00:48:02]
Josh Bett:
Those two together, but the thing is Jamel and Connor Washington, they've played with each other since they were 20, so they know each other. So you could chuck whoever at them, Connor will know where Jamel is on the court, Jamel will know where to go to, he'll know where the alarms are coming from. And Jamel Anderson will be 73 years old and still catching out loops.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Do you? Not only that, he can guard one to five. He can guard one to five, and he's shooting the three very, very well, and Connor Washington shoots the three. I love you. This is what I'm talking about. That's why we're safe, we're safe, me and you. I'm going to leave you now.
Josh Bett:
We won this one. We won this one.
Ishmael Fontaine:
We're so good.
Brian Bosche:
Who's our second? Let's finish out, Skylar, who we picking next?
Ishmael Fontaine:
So good.
Brian Bosche:
We need a guard.
Josh Bett:
Dem Routledge.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Ooh yeah.
Brian Bosche:
What do you think Skylar? You want a guard or a big? We have a wing.
Skylar Smith:
We have a wing. Let's go-
Brian Bosche:
All right, announce it. I agree.
Skylar Smith:
Do you agree?
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, I don't know who you're highlighting now. It's all over the place. All right, do it. Announce it. Who is it?
Skylar Smith:
Okay, we're going to take Daria Nelson Henry.
Brian Bosche:
Thoughts?
Ishmael Fontaine:
I don't believe you.
Skylar Smith:
Big, 13 points for a game last year. We'll take it.
Brian Bosche:
We'll take it.
Skylar Smith:
I think it's solid.
Brian Bosche:
He's going to be holding down the post. All right, Ish, thanks for joining. We appreciate it.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Thank you guys for having me.
Brian Bosche:
Have a good one, man.
Ishmael Fontaine:
Be safe.
Skylar Smith:
We'll talk soon.
Brian Bosche:
All right, Josh, you got to close out the Below The Rim team here.
Josh Bett:
Okay.
Brian Bosche:
We're going to Manchester Giants.
Josh Bett:
Oh good.
Brian Bosche:
Skylar? No brainer, right? What are your thoughts here?
Skylar Smith:
On the Giants? Sorry, we're jumping around now. I'm trying to get to all my notes.
Brian Bosche:
No, we're going in order. This team has Sam Purcell Jr, who love. Sam Purcell's one of my favorite players just for his swag for the Bucks. We also were considering Jordan Waylan, Zack Powell. But we're going to go with Lyle Hexom. American, should be the MVP of the team, elite talent. That's our first pick.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, they are an interesting one because they have gone from winning nothing to all of a sudden signing all these players, so who knows how this team's going to go? So you're going to go with Hexom, I guess I'm just going to have to go with... I'm going to be honest with you, I haven't seen a lot of these players play. I've seen a lot of the British players play, so I'm going to go with Jordan Whelan, on the basis that he was at the Lions last year, he was a decent role player for them, he's come back to his home town team. So yeah, I'm going to have to go with JW on this one.
Brian Bosche:
All right, I like it. Skylar, do we have to go Sam Cassell Jr?
Skylar Smith:
We have to.
Brian Bosche:
We have to.
Skylar Smith:
It's like a Mick Tuck, we have to. Fan votes.
Brian Bosche:
We just have to do it, fan votes. All right, Sam Cassell Jr, he's our second pick. I like that. A little Lyle Hexom, Sam Cassell Jr. A lot of Americans for the High Tea Hoops spots.
Skylar Smith:
Those are good names. There's a lot of Americans.
Josh Bett:
It's a tough one.
Brian Bosche:
What do you think, Josh? Who are your options? You can't tip your hand to us anymore since we made both picks.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, yeah, that's a real tough one. So I've got JW, you've taken Sam Cassell Jr, you've also got Lyle Hexom. Again, I just haven't seen any of these Americans play because it's just been a team that's gone from literally nothing to just scrambling players. I've seen Jack Hudson, but Jack Hudson to me is a very, very good role player, so I can only go on players I've seen. But I'm interested to know what Donovan Johnson's like.
Brian Bosche:
Okay.
Josh Bett:
Interested, I haven't seen enough of him. I mean you could see highlights of somebody, but until you see them in the British Basketball League or whatever pro league they're in, then you'll understand what they're like. So I'm going to take a wild guess on Donovan Johnson, but I think with Jordan Whelan there could be a good one two punch between them.
Brian Bosche:
Love it. Love the pick. We have three more teams. The Scorchers, the Wolves and the Raiders. So we're going to go to the Scorchers next, Surrey Scorchers. We had Creon on the pod, seems like a team that has a really nice culture. They seem to be coming together pretty well. Skylar, who do you like for this first pick?
Skylar Smith:
I mean we're going to Surrey, right?
Brian Bosche:
Surrey Scorchers, yeah.
Skylar Smith:
Okay, great.
Brian Bosche:
We've got the Detroit [crosstalk 00:52:11] pick with Martelle.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah, I feel like there's two that we have connections that literally don't matter, but connections to. Yeah, we got a guy from Detroit, so it's always going to make me consider. We got a guy with literally my name spelled differently.
Brian Bosche:
Skyler White.
Josh Bett:
Pick Skyler White, please pick Skyler white.
Brian Bosche:
Josh.
Skylar Smith:
No, Josh.
Josh Bett:
He's great. No, go on. He is a good player, I'm not joking, I'm not joking. He's a good player.
Brian Bosche:
He's a shooter.
Skylar Smith:
Josh, we don't trust you at this point.
Brian Bosche:
But he's a Skyler with an E, Skylar. Not a Skylar with an A.
Josh Bett:
I'm not saying he's a bad player. He's a good player.
Skylar Smith:
I know, and I also feel like I don't think this happens to people with common names, but if you have a name that's not super common I feel like I have to duel every other Skylar I meet, because there can only be one and it's-
Brian Bosche:
That's fair.
Josh Bett:
[crosstalk 00:52:58]
Skylar Smith:
So not sure. I feel like we got to take Martelle. We got to back our guy.
Brian Bosche:
What Rashad Hassan?
Skylar Smith:
No, he's from Detroit. I don't care. We're not taking-
Brian Bosche:
But Rashad Hassan's putting up almost 20 a game. Are we going with our hearts again?
Skylar Smith:
All right, we'll take him first. We'll take Rashad Hassan.
Brian Bosche:
Okay. Yeah, Josh hates it, but we're picking Rashad Hassan.
Josh Bett:
Fair enough. I mean look, I am going to have to go with... I want to go with Martelle McLemore because-
Brian Bosche:
Oh, come on.
Josh Bett:
Right.
Skylar Smith:
Brian, I'm blaming you for this.
Josh Bett:
Because he's an old teammate of mine.
Brian Bosche:
Wow.
Josh Bett:
We did literally two games together at Thames Valley Cavaliers. Let me tell you something about Martelle McLemore, he dunks medicine balls. He's also just a-
Skylar Smith:
What?
Josh Bett:
Yes.
Brian Bosche:
That's insane.
Josh Bett:
I've even got the video of it, I've got a video of it. I'll send it to you. So we were training, I'm in Uxbridge right now, and we were training at Uxbridge College and we were doing a three man weave with a medicine ball and he said, "Watch me dunk this." I said, "Yeah, whatever." He dunked it like it was nothing, and it was a reverse dunk as well.
Skylar Smith:
What? That does not make sense.
Brian Bosche:
If anyone's never tried this, go do it. You'll hardly get off the ground.
Skylar Smith:
I'd love to see a video of Zion doing this.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, Zion. There's only a few players.
Josh Bett:
He'll can probably do like four or five.
Brian Bosche:
I remember Hansbrough doing this out of North Carolina, with those big medicine balls, and just the power is insane.
Josh Bett:
Totally.
Brian Bosche:
All right, so Martelle is your first pick?
Josh Bett:
I'm going to change it. I've got to go with Lavelle Cooke.
Brian Bosche:
Okay. Yes, Skylar, let's go.
Josh Bett:
Just because Lavelle Cooke can shoot anywhere on the basketball court, and if we're going NBA Jam, when the ball is on fire and you don't miss, for me that is Lavelle Cooke. Because he is the chef, he will cook it up and it will get hot.
Brian Bosche:
All right, that's a good pick. A little flair at the end, so we're going with Martelle, Skylar, right? No brainer?
Skylar Smith:
Yes.
Brian Bosche:
You don't want Tayo? Or Connor?
Skylar Smith:
No.
Brian Bosche:
No Connor, okay?
Skylar Smith:
He dunks medicine balls, Brian.
Brian Bosche:
He dunks medicine balls.
Skylar Smith:
I have some intel that he dunks medicine balls, and also he's from Detroit so-
Brian Bosche:
All right, so we've got-
Skylar Smith:
... that's my guy.
Brian Bosche:
We're not the greatest GMs. We have a lot of dual bigs and wing bigs, but all right, we're going fan favorites. What are you going next, Josh?
Josh Bett:
So in the context of NBA Jam you have picked Martelle McLemore, the medicine ball dunker who will definitely jam it up in an NBA Jam sesh. You've also picked, what's the guy?
Brian Bosche:
Rashad.
Josh Bett:
Rashad Hassan, who was the best post, back down post player in the British Basketball League. I've got the chef who's going to cook it up from anywhere else in the court. However, if we're talking the two on two NBA Jam sesh-
Brian Bosche:
We are.
Josh Bett:
... I'm also going to pick up another little splash brother. I've got Caylin Raftopoulos who does not miss, who does not miss. Now, he is not your go to franchised player, but I can tell you one thing, he was another player that he can shoot from the half court and he will make it. He is that good of a shooter.
Brian Bosche:
So he's your BBL Jam pickup, just because of the format?
Josh Bett:
Yeah, just because he can shoot the lights out.
Brian Bosche:
He can shoot, yeah.
Josh Bett:
They can both shoot the lights out, yeah.
Skylar Smith:
I like that strategy.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, we're going to have two bigs against two smalls there.
Skylar Smith:
Coaches kids, their fundamentals, their shooting, always so strong.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, that's going to be a tough matchup for us, Skylar, but I like it. All right, we're going to the Wolves next. Who gets the number one pick? I forgot. Oh, we do.
Skylar Smith:
I think we just had it. Yeah.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, Below The Rim. Josh, it's you.
Josh Bett:
I need to see who's at Worcester Wolves, because again this is in-
Brian Bosche:
For us, our list was Jordan Williams, Michael Elon, their new guy, Brandon Anderson, Marten, I can't pronounce his last name. Had 28 points against the Flyers.
Josh Bett:
I'm going Dave Owen right now.
Brian Bosche:
In the preseason, Dutch.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, the thing is, this team is very, very thin, but they have picked up Henry Wilkins who's a decent three point shooting machine. But not good enough for this selection, I believe. I got to go with Jordan Williams, just on the fact that.
Brian Bosche:
That was our number one.
Skylar Smith:
That's a big one.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, he is my friend and I've got loads of respect and love for the guy, but is like a hulk. He jumps so high, he moves so quickly and he is probably four times as big as I am. I mean he's frightening. He's so frightening. If you're talking about a NBA Jam style, that's the kind of player I want. He'll jump from half court.
Brian Bosche:
All right. Skylar, do you want to do this one? He's young.
Skylar Smith:
Sure. I feel like we're going to take... Do agree with this, Brian?
Brian Bosche:
I do, I think.
Skylar Smith:
Okay. We're going to go Mica Elan. Is it Elan? I think it's E-L-A-N.
Brian Bosche:
Elan. Yeah.
Skylar Smith:
Whatever, Elan.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, it is.
Skylar Smith:
He's a guard, 16 points in the preseason, young, hungry. I like it.
Brian Bosche:
Also most improved player Canada.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah.
Brian Bosche:
We're going with Mica.
Josh Bett:
Okay, yeah. Then I'm going to have to go with Lamar Kimble.
Brian Bosche:
Okay.
Josh Bett:
Just on the basis he went to Louisville, and again, I haven't seen him play and this will be his first pro team. But yeah, I got Kimberland Williams. Again, I don't know how that's going to pan out though. That's different.
Brian Bosche:
Okay. We'll see what the audience says, putting it down now, and the pick is in. All right, this next one, we're going with Marten. We're going small. Two guards. He had 28 points against the Flyers, Dutch guard. I'm sorry I don't know how to pronounce your last name, Marten. We'll get there though. Can I try? Boenech?
Josh Bett:
I think the last bit is Boognecht.
Brian Bosche:
Boogneck? I'm American, I'm so sorry. But we're picking you up, we're excited to have you on the team. Any other thoughts there, Skylar?
Skylar Smith:
I just thought it was funny that you were apologizing for being American.
Brian Bosche:
I feel like I have to all the time.
Josh Bett:
Bless.
Brian Bosche:
Especially if this election goes a certain way today. Okay, last team. Josh, Plymouth Raiders. They have two pretty elite players that I'm excited for. We get the first pick here. Skylar, we either go Ashley Hamilton and Andrew Lawrence. Both big time players, which one do you prefer?
Skylar Smith:
I think we stick with the strategy that we've had this whole time, which is just picking picks for a basketball matchup that has nothing to do with basketball.
Brian Bosche:
Everything to do with Twitter?
Skylar Smith:
Yes. So I think Ashley Hamilton has a very big Twitter presence.
Josh Bett:
Yes.
Skylar Smith:
Josh, god damn it.
Josh Bett:
I've won, I've won, I've won, I've won, I've won. Go on, you've picked Ashley Hamilton, go on.
Skylar Smith:
I feel like Josh has changed an answer at this point before.
Brian Bosche:
He just hates us.
Skylar Smith:
So can we change ours though? Listen-
Josh Bett:
No, no, no, no, no. You picked Ashley Hamilton.
Skylar Smith:
Okay, we're taking Ashley Hamilton. I'm committed.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah. Andrew Lawrence is a big one to pass up, but again, we picked Mike Tuck first for the hearts and minds.
Skylar Smith:
We're sticking, we got to be consistent in our strategy.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, we're on brand. Did we pick someone based on their number of Twitter followers, Skylar?
Skylar Smith:
Yes. It's how I make all my life decisions.
Brian Bosche:
All right, we would not make a very good GM team, but that's all right.
Skylar Smith:
But that's okay, because you just have the looper [lonics 01:00:14].
Brian Bosche:
The looper lonics are going to do a better job of drafting players than we are right now. So Josh, who are you picking up? Elliot Sentence? Will Neighbor? Denzel? I'm putting you down for Neighbor. He's good, he's a vet, 12 and five last year.
Josh Bett:
Let me congratulate you on Ashley Hamilton.
Brian Bosche:
Good getting on getting a pint.
Josh Bett:
Yes. Ashley Hamilton's a fantastic professional basketball player. A great human being, just a really nice person. And you know what? You have made a great selection.
Brian Bosche:
Andrew Lawrence is a big pass up.
Josh Bett:
However, I grew up as a teammate and a childhood friend of Andrew Lawrence. Our dads played together, his dad played for my... So I grew up playing alongside him and seeing him progress and progress and progress until he went to Charleston and played in the Olympics, and let me tell you something right now. If Andrew Lawrence goes injury free this season, the Plymouth Raiders will win the league. That's how good he is.
Brian Bosche:
He is really good, Skylar.
Josh Bett:
People don't understand that he sees the game.
Skylar Smith:
It's a big statement.
Josh Bett:
He reads things at a light speed, he makes great decisions, he defends. He's not a player you look at and say, "He's got great ball handling, he's got great shooting." Yeah, he has those good things but he is just a... If he had an IQ for a basketball player, it's off the Richter Scale, he's that great and he makes people around him great. So I am so happy you picked Ashley Hamilton, he's a great player.
Brian Bosche:
We gave him to you. We felt bad that you lost your teammate. Ish isn't here any more, we just wanted to give you a little love there.
Josh Bett:
I've picked the BBL's soon to be MVP.
Brian Bosche:
Andrew Lawrence is good.
Skylar Smith:
So Josh, tell me, you guys grew up playing together?
Josh Bett:
Yeah. His father, Ronaldo, came to the British Basketball League I think in the 80s, and he played against my dad. And then as young as I remember, when I was like five, when my dad was coaching a team called Thames Valley Tigers, his father Ronaldo was playing. So I would see Andrew at games when all the families would sit with each other, and then we became teammates I think at the age of 13.
Josh Bett:
Now, a funny story was he was playing for the national team and this is the worst decision from any coach ever in the history of English basketball. He was on the A team for the under 16s, born 1990 to 2006. I was on the B team. Now, I never thought in my mind I would ever be able to make the A team. I was decent, but nowhere near as good as Andrew. The coach back then, I won't say who the coach was, was like your typical school teacher, PE teacher, that, "It's all about good attitude and you need to listen to what I say."
Josh Bett:
And it's not that Andrew had a bad attitude. He's the most humble human being you'll ever meet. But Andrew is just one of those, he's sort of fixated on basketball and he just does his job. But this coach didn't see that. This coach saw like, "Oh, he's got a bad attitude." Which was wrong. They cut Andrew and then they put me up to the A team.
Brian Bosche:
Nice.
Josh Bett:
And what made it so uncomfortable was I remember going back to home thinking like, "Practice is going to be terrible because he's now got a chip on his shoulder and he's going to come after me." The thing is, he is such a nice person, he always congratulated me. But I could see in his mind, that drove him to be a great player, and I kid you right now, from that day on he just got better and better and better. College of Charleston, GB 2012 Olympian basketball player.
Josh Bett:
I honestly think he should've been in the NBA. I think he had a couple of injuries that sort of slowed him down. But I really just hope this season he has one hell of a season, because I really think when he's healthy, he will be the most valuable player of the BBL>
Brian Bosche:
He's good, but are you saying you pick someone that you were better at at basketball at some point? Is that a great pick then?
Josh Bett:
I was the freshman or whoever that was Michael Jordan's friend, Leroy Smith. They got big and MJ just got possessed and became the best. [crosstalk 01:03:50] analogy.
Brian Bosche:
All right, that sounds good. All right, so Skylar, what's our last pick? I love a Will Neighbor as our big.
Skylar Smith:
Lets do it.
Brian Bosche:
A BBL vet, 30 years old, right in my sweet spot.
Skylar Smith:
Yeah. In our scouting report, Brian added, "Would be great to get a pint with."
Brian Bosche:
Absolutely.
Josh Bett:
Nice guy.
Skylar Smith:
That fits with our strategy of just nothing that has to do with basketball.
Brian Bosche:
As a commentator, this name is gold, right? There's so many, if he hits a shot, if he blocks a shot, "Don't get in his neighborhood." It's just so much potential for the BBL announcer, the NBA Jam announcer has so much firepower here.
Skylar Smith:
Sure.
Josh Bett:
Can I tell you a story about Will Neighbor?
Brian Bosche:
Yes, please.
Josh Bett:
So Will Neighbor when we were... Again, we all played in the same performance areas like Andrew Lawrence and other players. When we were 15, yeah, 15 years old, I was about six foot one, maybe six two. Will Neighbor was five foot 11.
Brian Bosche:
Holy shit.
Josh Bett:
Two years later, we never really saw him, and all of a sudden Will Neighbor then became six foot seven.
Skylar Smith:
Geez.
Josh Bett:
Yes. Will Neighbor just had this... The thing is, what made Will Neighbor a good player and suited to be a professional basketball player was all those years playing as a guard, when suddenly he must've woke up-
Brian Bosche:
Yeah, had the guard skills.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, he woke up and he's like, "Hey, mum. I'm six foot seven. I'm just going to go and play point guard."
Brian Bosche:
"I'm going to go and play in the BBL forever." All right, who was your second pick then?
Josh Bett:
So you've picked?
Brian Bosche:
We've got Ashley Hamilton and Will Neighbor.
Josh Bett:
Okay. So Andrew Lawrence I've picked as well. Am I correct that Matt Scott is back? Or is he gone?
Brian Bosche:
Let's look here, Dave Owen, what do you say? Do you want a quick stat check? Who do you say?
Josh Bett:
Matt Scott.
Brian Bosche:
I don't see him on, but it's not 100% accurate. We had Denzel.
Josh Bett:
No, I don't think he's back either, no.
Brian Bosche:
Denzel and Elliot Sentence. Sentence had 21 points a game last year for the Kestrels, 26, getting into his prime. Denzel, his name is Denzel, fourth year with the Raiders, young, 23.
Josh Bett:
I'll tell you what, I'm going to go with the new American they've just signed. Chris Porter-Bunton.
Brian Bosche:
Chris? He's not even on Dave Owen. How am I supposed to know this? Who is it? Chris what?
Josh Bett:
Chris Porter-Bunton. Just signed on the 30th of October. Because I'll tell you why-
Brian Bosche:
A little gap in our scouting report there, Skylar.
Skylar Smith:
Couple days ago.
Josh Bett:
He is going to play with Andrew Lawrence, so his-
Brian Bosche:
You keep telling us that.
Josh Bett:
... rating might be 82 or 85 or 90 on the NBA Live, whatever it was. He's about to go up a whole nother 10 digits.
Brian Bosche:
All right, so those are the picks. Let me review them. Please forgive me for any pronunciations. We've got Below The Rim picked up Byron Mullins and Justin Robinson from the Lions. That's a tough duo.
Skylar Smith:
It's a tough one.
Brian Bosche:
But High Tea Hoops, Deandre Liggins and Kevin Ware. So wing versus the traditional duo. We've got the Bristol Flyers, Below The Rim picked up Zack Copeland and Marcus Delpeche. Great, great duo. We picked up on High Tea Hoops, Raphael Thomas Edwards and Josh Wilcher. I think that'll be a competitive one. That one matched up pretty well. Next we go to the Phoenix, High Tea Hoops, let's start with us, we picked up Devin Mitchell and Jalen Hayes. Got the guard and the big duo there, Skylar. Good pick by us.
Skylar Smith:
I'm proud of us there.
Brian Bosche:
I'm proud of us for that one. Below The Rim team, Disraeli and who else did you pick? Oh, Monsignor, Monsour Morrir?
Josh Bett:
Monsieur.
Brian Bosche:
Monsieur Morrir?
Skylar Smith:
Monsieur.
Brian Bosche:
Again, sorry. My name is Bosche, so I should be a little bit better at French. Newcastle Eagles, High Tea Hoops, we picked up Rahmon Fletcher. We also picked up Darius Defoe. The vet duo, love it.
Skylar Smith:
Thick king.
Brian Bosche:
Below The Rim had Cortez Edwards and Evan Maxwell. That's going to be a fun matchup. The Rocks, High Tea Hoops, we got Gareth Murray and Jonny Bunyan. That's my favorite one.
Skylar Smith:
Me too.
Brian Bosche:
I can't wait to make that graphic. The Murray Bunyan duo. Below The Rim, you had Boban and Isa Brandon. Good pickup as well. Next is the Riders. High Tea Hoops, we had Darren Nelson Henry and Cory Johnson. Below The Rim, Jamel Anderson and Connor Washington. We have Manchester Giants. High Tea Hoops picked up Lyle Hexom and Sam Cassell Jr. Just fan favorites, truly what we're going for.
Skylar Smith:
Always.
Brian Bosche:
Always. Below The Rim, Jordan Whelan, Waylan? Josh, help me out. Waylan?
Josh Bett:
I think I'm going to go with Whelan, but I mean-
Brian Bosche:
Okay, Whelan.
Josh Bett:
... tomato tomato.
Brian Bosche:
Donovan Johnson was your second pick, so nice pickups there. We go to the Sheffield Sharks. High Tea Hoops picked Mike Tuck, number one overall.
Skylar Smith:
Let's go.
Brian Bosche:
Can't have anything else. And also Kipper Nichols, so we've got the young guy and the vet. I like our duo. Below The Rim, you guys had Nick Lewis, which pretty good pick, and Lillard. That's going to be a tough matchup. Scorchers. Man, there's a lot of BBL teams. Scorchers, we have, High Tea Hoops picked up Rashad Hassan and Martelle McLemore out of Detroit. Love that team. And Below The Rim picked up Lavelle Cooke and Caylin Raftopoulos, also a very good duo.
Brian Bosche:
For the Wolves, Below The Rim, you picked up Jordan Williams and Lamar Kimble. High Tea Hoops, we had Mica Elan and we also had Marten, the Dutch guard who put up 28 against the Flyers. And finally, the Plymouth Raiders. High Tea Hoops, we picked up Andrew Lawrence. Josh, you let me get by there. We picked up Ashley.
Josh Bett:
I'm keeping my eyes on you, don't worry.
Brian Bosche:
We picked up Ashley Hamilton, also an elite player, and Will Neighbor. Love that duo. And then we let Josh from Below The Rim steal Andrew Lawrence, also picking up Chris Porter-Bunton. All right. Final thoughts on BBL Jam, Josh? What do you think your chances are? You got to win six out of the 11 duos to win this.
Josh Bett:
Leicester, I won. London Lions, I won. Plymouth, I won. Surrey, I won.
Brian Bosche:
I don't think you won Surrey.
Josh Bett:
And everyone else I won as well, all right?
Brian Bosche:
All right. Skylar, final thoughts? What do you think our chances are?
Skylar Smith:
Josh did better by himself than we did as a team. So that's a pretty tough day for us and we chose to do this, we chose to put this on our podcast. So I don't know what that says about us.
Brian Bosche:
I thought it was fun.
Skylar Smith:
I thought it was fun.
Brian Bosche:
I think final thoughts for me, I really hope, like you said, Josh, BBL, Basketball England, let's get this season going forward. Let's keep the players safe. Let's get rapid testing in. I really hope they don't have to shut it down because I'm really looking forward to the winter of BBL basketball.
Josh Bett:
Yeah, same. Absolutely 100%. Let's hope so.
Brian Bosche:
Yeah. All right, thanks for coming on, Josh. Also Ish.
Skylar Smith:
Thanks, Josh. Thanks, Ish.
Brian Bosche:
Great contributor. A lot of drama, love to see it. And Josh, anything to plug? Listen to Below The Rim podcast? Listen to you live?
Josh Bett:
Below The Rim will have-
Brian Bosche:
Where can we listen to you next?
Josh Bett:
Oh, Champions League. Well, there's games tonight but there was some postponement so the next games will be next week. Tuesday and Wednesday, I believe. But yeah, tune into the Basketball Champions League every Tuesday and Wednesday. And yeah, that's it from me. Below The Rim, we'll have a pod... We've had everyone working right now, so we're trying to find time to all come down of course. So we'll just act in a... Yeah, we all miss each other very much. Adam sent a message last night saying he loves us and I said, "Well, I miss you too."
Brian Bosche:
All right. Thanks, Josh.
Josh Bett:
Thank you very much, guys.
