The Western Conference standings are a mess. With three weeks left in the season, just three losses separate teams four through 12 in the standings. A conference that has dominated the NBA over the past twenty years has finally been surpassed. A glut of mediocre teams are fighting for their place in the postseason and two Australians find themselves in the middle of it all. Josh Green and Josh Giddey look headed for a collision course in the west’s play-in tournament. Both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks (sitting one game under .500 at the time of writing) are jostling side by s ..read more

Australian guard Georgia Amoore is making a name for herself, and in the process, helping to put Virginia Tech’s women’s college basketball program on the map. Photo credit: Virginia Tech Athletics and Jaylynn Nash Amoore, who hails from Ballarat in Victoria, is a proud country kid who is now shining under the bright lights of NCAA Division I basketball, having led her Virginia Tech Hokies to the ACC championship last week and earning a number one seed in the NCAA tournament. Virginia Tech is half a world away from Ballarat, but Amoore says lessons learnt —both on the court and off it— from ..read more

Credit: Ringwood Hawks In the two completed seasons of the NBL1 South, the Ringwood women have recorded two top four finishes, a conference championship, and a Nationals grand final. Despite being underestimated by many due to being a Big V club when the NBL1 first came together, the Hawks have a program that values defence and ball movement and it results in wins. The Pick and Roll is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This year is the first season in a long time that club legend Tim Mottin will not lead ..read more

With conference play over and the NCAA tournament upon us, it is worth reflecting on an outstanding season by the Australians this season, including many who received postseason conference accolades at Division I level. This year, it was the Aussie women who dominated, winning a plethora of awards, while the men are also represented strongly. More: The Aussie men and women going dancing in 2023 Let’s go through those that came away with the postseason conference awards. Women Santa Clara Women's Basketball @Santaclarawbb Read up on today's season finale at the @UCU_LA @WCChoops Tournament ..read more

Image credit: Michelle Couling Photography The Southside Flyers and Melbourne Boomers have thrown (metaphorical) haymakers at each other through the first two games of their physical WNBL Semi-Final series, and now all attention turns to the winner takes all Game 3 for a spot in the Grand Final series on Wednesday. With the Townsville Fire ready and waiting for their Grand Final opponent after taking care of business against the Perth Lynx in two games, the Flyers and Boomers will face off for the fourth time in five games, and that familiarity is bringing out a fierceness on-court that is ..read more

It’s that time of the year when the craziness of March Madness steps up to another level with the NCAA Tournament for men and women set to tip-off, this Wednesday (Australian time). Australia is well represented across both tournaments, with seven men’s and twelve women’s teams set to take to the court featuring athletes from down under. Centre of Excellence @BACentreofExcel Congratulations to former @BACentreofExcel stars Kelsey Rees and Isabel Palmer for helping @UTAHWBB to the PAC-12 Championship 10:38 PM ∙ Feb 25, 2023 23Likes2Retweets Read more ..read more

Credit: May Bailey Photography William McDowell-White has seemingly been around forever, yet this year he was still only a couple of weeks short of qualifying for the NBL Next Generation Award. Queenslanders will have even earlier memories, but I first recall getting an extended look at his game eight years ago, watching both the Australian School Championships and the Under 19 World Championships. Despite being a 1998-born player, competing with and against 1996 and 1997 born players, McDowell-White led Australia in minutes in Greece. 10 of the 12 players on that Emus squad have gone on to ..read more

Duke University is home to one of America’s most storied college basketball programs. With six NCAA titles in the last 32 years, anything else than a deep playoff run is almost considered a disappointment. The 2022-23 season however has marked a transition phase for the Blue Devils, who welcomed a new head coach in Jon Scheyer, to follow in the footsteps of longtime mentor Mike Krzyzewski (“Coach K”). Duke lost nearly 50 years worth of coaching experience when Coach K retired, but as discussed earlier in the season, this didn’t deter Tyrese Proctor from committing, as he welcomed the challenge ..read more

The WNBL Finals are here, and all four championship contenders have superstar players that could potentially turn a series on its head. With that in mind, each team will feel that they have a real chance of progressing through to the Grand Final series. Image credit: Getty Images The Finals tip off tomorrow and before all the exciting action begins, we’re here to breakdown the players to watch in both series. Southside Flyers vs Melbourne Boomers Game 1: Wednesday March 8 at the State Basketball Centre. Game 2: Saturday March 11 at Melbourne Sports Stadium. Game 3 (if necessary): Wednesday ..read more

The world of sports can, and often does feel distant from the reality we live in. For example, a fellow Australian in Josh Giddey collecting triple-doubles with the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder is a powerful endpoint of where basketball can take a talented athlete. But that glamorous image is at the same time, very removed from the everyday moments of young people shooting hoops in the street. The sight of casual pickup games in every suburb likely doesn’t garner the attention of the masses —not even from dedicated basketball sites like this one— but the daily fostering of a love for the spo ..read more