Adam Ballinger played twelve seasons in the NBL, spending time with the Victoria Giants, Wollongong Hawks, Adelaide 36ers and Melbourne Tigers. Over his career, he averaged 15.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 340 NBL games.
Prior to the NBL, he played college basketball with Michigan State where he won a national championship alongside NBA stars Jason Richardson, Mateen Cleaves and future NBL stars Mike Chappell and Dave Thomas.
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He also discusses his time playing under coaches Tom Izzo, Mark Wright, Brendan Joyce, Phil Smyth, Scott Ninnis and more and the things he took from them for his own coaching philosophies.
He also spoke about his decade long rivalry with Perth Wildcats forward Shawn Redhage and their battles on the court.
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Podcast topics include;
- Ballinger on making a living post-basketball as an artist/cartoonist (2:00)
- Growing up in Indiana and gaining a scholarship to Michigan State University (7:00)
- Winning the 2000 NCAA National Championship alongside Mateen Cleaves, Jason Richardson and future NBL stars Mike Chappelle and Dave Thomas (11:00)
- The NBL connection that exists within that team (17:00)
- That game where Michigan State University faced the Canberra Cannons featuring Magic Johnson (19:00)
- Finding his way to Australia and his debut season with the Victoria Giants (21:00)
- Moving to the Wollongong Hawks for his second season in the NBL (25:00)
- Moving to Adelaide to play with the 36ers (27:00)
- Becoming an Australian citizen and a “local” player in 2009 (31:00)
- An ankle injury limits what Adam can deliver to NBL teams after 2011 (35:00)
- Returning to Melbourne to play with the Tigers (37:00)
- His difficult exit from the Tigers (38:00)
- Thoughts on the coaches he experienced during his career and what he took from them for his own coaching strategies (40:30)
- The rivalry between Adam Ballinger and Shawn Redhage (43:30)
- Players Adam loved to face off against the most (44:30)
- The biggest challenges Adam faced during his NBL career (46:30)
- The highlight from his 10 years in the NBL (49:00)
All of this and a whole lot more…
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
