Former NBL champion and Australian Boomer Mitch McCarron joins the podcast to reflect on retiring from professional basketball at just 32, what went wrong during his three seasons with the Adelaide 36ers, and narrowly missing out on representing Australia at an Olympics or World Cup.
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Host Dan Boyce chats with McCarron about the injuries which ultimately ended his NBL career, his transition into coaching and player relations, and why he continues to play basketball with Eltham in NBL1.
McCarron also looks back on Aaron Fearne’s system in Cairns, leaving the Taipans for Melbourne, winning the 2021 NBL championship, the defensive criticism he faced as a bigger point guard, his decision to leave United for Adelaide and why the talented 36ers rosters he captained continually fell short of expectations.
The conversation also covers his final season with the New Zealand Breakers, playing alongside Parker Jackson-Cartwright, his Boomers career, missing the 2019 World Cup and Tokyo Olympic teams, captaining Australia to Asia Cup gold and what each NBL offence he played in taught him about the type of player he really was.
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- Retiring from the NBL at 32 and life after professional basketball
- Playing through injuries and the knee problems which ultimately ended his career
- Aaron Fearne’s system in Cairns and why the Taipans consistently exceeded expectations
- Bryce Cotton, Perth and what Cairns lacked during the 2017 playoffs
- Leaving Cairns, his growing market value and signing with Melbourne United
- Why Dean Vickerman and Melbourne brought out the best version of McCarron
- Winning the 2021 NBL championship and becoming an All-NBL Second Team player
- Whether Melbourne needed to protect him defensively against smaller, quicker point guards
- Why he left a championship team in Melbourne to sign a three-year deal with Adelaide
- What went wrong during three straight seasons without finals basketball at the 36ers
- The Craig Randall situation, CJ Bruton’s departure and Adelaide’s internal problems
- Whether Adelaide asked McCarron to be the wrong type of point guard
- Joining the New Zealand Breakers and playing alongside Parker Jackson-Cartwright
- Why he continued playing through serious injuries during his final NBL season
- Missing the 2019 World Cup and Tokyo Olympic teams despite becoming a regular Boomer
- The frustration of playing FIBA qualifying windows but missing the major tournaments
- Captaining Australia to Asia Cup gold and what those Boomers teams meant to him
- Comparing the offences he played in at Cairns, Melbourne, Adelaide and New Zealand
- What the perfect offence for peak Mitch McCarron would actually look like
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