Crosscourt: Latest news out of the NBL ahead of the 2023-24 Play-in Tournament
Fresh off an eye-catching rookie season in Brisbane, one of the newest Boomers has his eyes set on heading to the NBA. Get the latest NBL news in CROSSCOURT.
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Fresh off an eye-catching rookie season in Brisbane that translated to a Boomers debut, Melbourne-born Bullets’ forward Josh Bannan will declare for the 2024 NBA draft.
Bannan was the standout across a pair of Boomers Asia Cup qualifying wins over Korea (11 points, 11 rebounds) and Indonesia (17-8), winning more fans in the big league by the day.
The 22-year-old has visits to several NBA teams lined up worked out and feels his experience working out with Indiana during the 2023 pre-draft process and the learnings during his first year as a pro enhance his draft chances.
“My name will be going into the draft this year,” Bannan, 22, confirmed.
“I had that workout (with the Pacers) and I felt like I did a great job and I feel confident that I could stick it at that level.
“I was focused on the NBL season with Brisbane Bullets, now I’m focused on playing for Australia.
“Whatever’s next I’ll prepare for that and that pre-draft process, but I don’t ask a lot of questions — I let my agent take care of that, Sammy (Wloszczowski), he does a great job.
“He’ll get me (the NBA) opportunity and then it’s up to me.”
Bannan will consider short-term overseas offers before heading to the US in May for workouts, where it’s understood there are teams who have him in their considerations.
He has the security of a three-year deal with the Bullets, who have pushed him to chase his dreams at every opportunity.
“From day one, Brisbane and coach Schueller have been entirely supportive of Josh’s pursuit of his NBA ambitions. Josh will pursue the 2024 NBA Draft knowing he also has a great situation and a home with the Bullets,” Wloszczowski said.
There’s an air of confidence that emanates from 208cm Bannan, who has shown an ability to do a little bit of everything an NBA team would covet in a big man — crash the glass, finish at the cup, post up, pick n roll, stick the three ball, play some defence, handle the rock and initiate some offence.
It’s a developing package that helped him average 12 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists as an important cog in Justin Schueller’s improved team and there’s enough there to suggest the right NBA club could help him make the jump from prospect to pick.
Crosscourt has been told the Pacers were impressed with the young gun during his visit and recruiters would not have to look too hard for a taste of the competitiveness and ability Bannan brings to the table.
Just over a week ago, on a do-or-die final game of the regular season, Bannan was the only Brisbane player to stand up, monstering New Zealand with 29 points on 12-14 shooting and making all four of his threes as he played a lone hand in the “gut wrenching” 103-87 loss that ultimately proved fatal to the Bullets’ playoff hopes.
On Thursday, he was at it again, sparking a fourth-quarter Boomers tsunami in his national team debut on his way to an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double that helped sink Korea.
A ‘little dream’ achieved for Australian basketball’s next big thing
Towering NBL Next Star Rocco Zikarsky might carry himself like a seasoned pro, but admits he was every bit the excited teen who felt “all the emotions” when Boomers’ coach Brian Goorjian phoned with news he’d make his Australian Boomers debut.
“Yeah, I was just really excited,” the 17-year-old 2025 NBA draft prospect said.
“I’m just thankful that I got a call from Goorj and (I had) a couple of sleepless nights after that call.
“Coming into this camp and being able to be around this group is something really special.”
The driven 220cm Queenslander revealed he’d written down the goal of donning the green and gold in this FIBA window and pulling on the jersey against Korea in Bendigo was a ‘little dream come true’.
“You know, I had it up on the whiteboard, this was the (Asia Cup) qualifying window that I wanted to play in,” he said.
“It’s a great start to what hopefully is a long time wearing green and gold … and another step towards my ultimate goal — the Olympics.”
Master coach Goorjian has engaged with the young Brisbane Bullet to give him a taste of the Boomers culture, with an eye on the future of the national team program.
“Rocco’s an experience,” Goorjian said.
“It comes back and haunts you if you don’t touch these guys when they’re young. So you know, (you don’t want them to develop, then say) ‘I’m on the verge and I’m going to be something, you never said anything’.
“That’s his position now but he’s got a huge future and he’ll be part of this thing for a long time.”
Zikarsky knows Paris is a long shot — and Goorjian said as much above — but that won’t stop him from aiming for at least an invite to the Boomers’ Olympic selection camp, with the view to being a mainstay in LA in 2028 and then his hometown in 2032.
“It would be an honour to be a part of that camp … that is definitely in the back of my mind, something I want to make happen,” he said.
“But LA and Brisbane, those are the two I’m trying to make a reality and every day I’m working toward that.”
He’s trying to make the NBA a reality, too.
That’s something mentor Damian Martin, who leads the Australian arm of agency ProMondo Sports, which represents Zikarsky, expects to happen.
“I dare say when he’s eligible for the NBA draft, we’ll hear his name called out,” Martin, a Perth Wildcats legend who has taken Zikarsky under his wing, said.
“I talk to Rocco every single week, sometimes multiple times.
“I feel like a proud uncle to Rocco. I’ve got to know him quite well and got to know his parents and siblings and they’re just a wonderful family.
“The way he’s taken to the game and his dedication to trying to get the most out of his natural ability, that’s why I’ve got no doubt he’s going to do something incredible in basketball.”
Sydney stoush: Real reason coach benched feisty King
Unsung Sydney championship hero Angus Glover was benched by coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah after a heated exchange with star import Jaylen Adams.
Glover sat by and watched for 40 minutes as the Kings handed out a record-breaking 55-point beat down of South East Melbourne on February 17 that sealed their postseason berth.
Twelve of the 13 players named on the team sheet took the floor against the Phoenix, the 25-year-old the only King not to have his name called.
Asked postgame why Glover was a healthy scratch, Abdelfattah passed it off as “part of rotations”.
“Yeah, no, it’s just, you know, part of the rotations, just my thought process of going in, the groups that I wanted to see,” Abdelfattah said.
“It’s nothing moving forward that he’s not going to play.
“As you guys have seen, I will mix it up and just try to put the best group out there.”
But, as Sydney prepares for a sudden death eliminator against last year’s grand final opponent New Zealand, it’s understood Glover directed pointed words at 2022 NBL MVP Adams during the Kings’ 106-95 loss to Illawarra on February 11.
Multiple sources told Crosscourt Glover got in Adams’ face and told the Maryland-born guard to ‘play defence or f*** off’. Adams is as talented as any player in the league but, at times, lacks effort on the defensive end.
Glover, who has been in and out of the fifth-placed Kings’ rotation all season, started the game against the Hawks and played 13 minutes, but didn’t take the floor after three-quarter time, leaving former NBL MVP Derek Rucker puzzled.
“There have been some really bemusing things. The fact that I thought Angus Glover came out really good in that first quarter and he’s only played 13 minutes in the game,” Rucker said.
The two-time NBL champion is contracted to the Kings next season and, while Crosscourt has been told there’s been no indication he could consider leaving the Harbour City, the 194cm wing would have rival suitors who see him as a winner and someone who can stiffen a club’s culture.
Jordi hunted?
Out-of-contract King Jordan Hunter is no certainty to be in Sydney next season.
Hunter has been the Kings’ most reliable player in a season that has been plagued by inconsistency and, while it’s understood there has been some dialogue between club and player, it’s increasingly likely the 27-year-old will hit free agency.
Crosscourt recently revealed Sydney will consider a play for Adelaide star Isaac Humphries, who was the 2018 NBL Rookie of the Year with the Kings, a move which would likely see Hunter at a new home next season.
Humphries could command $4-500,000 per season on his next deal as one of — if not the — best homegrown big in the NBL. The 209cm Hunter, who made his national team debut alongside Humphries in last week’s FIBA Asia Cup qualifier, would likely come at around half that price, providing a skilled local starting centre a club could pair with a high-level import four man.
The Sydney native could consider himself stiff to not be among the NBL’s Most Improved Player finalists, given his statistical increases (5.7 to 10.3 points and 3.0 to 7.0 rebounds) and impact were equal to a greater than finalists Sean Macdonald, Tyrell Harrison and teammate Jaylin Galloway.
Fired up for finals after long breaK
By the time Wednesday night rolls around, the NBL will have been dormant for 10 days.
But a Play-in Tournament double-header promises to be worth the wait.
First up at 5.30pm AEDT, Tasmania (third) and Illawarra (fourth) go head-to-head in the Seeding Qualifier, which will determine who goes straight to the semi final to face Perth.
The loser won’t have to wait long to know who they must defeat in Monday’s Play-In Game. The Grand Final rematch between Sydney and New Zealand in the Play-in qualifier will determine that, with the Breakers given an opportunity to take revenge on the Kings.
Monday’s winner will then face top-of-the-table Melbourne United in the other semi-final.
NBL Finals fixture:
PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT
Seeding Qualifier: Tasmania JackJumpers (3) v Illawarra Hawks (4), Wednesday, February 28, 5.30pm AEDT, MyState Bank Arena
Play-in Qualifier: Sydney Kings (5) v NZ Breakers (6), Wednesday, February 28, 7.30pm AEDT, Qudos Bank Arena
Play-in Game: Loser of Seeding Qualifier v Winner of Play-in Qualifier, Monday, March 4, 7.30pm – either WIN Entertainment Centre or MyState Bank Arena, depending on results.
BEST-OF-THREE SEMI FINAL SERIES
Melbourne United (1) v winner of Play-in Game — Game 1, Thursday, March 7, 7.30pm AEDT @ John Cain Arena.
Perth Wildcats (2) v winner of Seeding Qualifier — Game 1, Friday, March 8, 9.30pm AEDT @ RAC Arena
BEST-OF-FIVE GRAND FINAL SERIES – TBA
Semi final winners face off for the Dr John Raschke Trophy
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Originally published as Crosscourt: Latest news out of the NBL ahead of the 2023-24 Play-in Tournament
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