Shawn Dennis spent 16 years in the NBL as a coach with the Newcastle Falcons, Perth Wildcats and Townsville Crocodiles, this included winning NBL coach of the year in 2016.
Since the demise of the Crocodiles Dennis has coached in Japan’s rapidly growing B.League, the country’s premier national league despite having only started in 2016 has become one of the highest paying leagues in the world.
This NBL off-season numerous players are engaged in talks with both Australian and B.League teams with Japan’s national league likely to snatch up a number of NBL players for the coming season.
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Dennis, now head coach of the Nagoya Dolphins, is going into his sixth season coaching in Japan and has also spent time coaching with the Shiga Lake Stars and Tochigi Brex. He joins Dan Boyce on the podcast the discuss how the B.League has managed to grow so fast, the development of Australian players plying their trade already in Japan ie. Nick Kay, Angus Brandt, Rhys Vague and what NBL players B.League teams are trying to sign.
Podcast topics include;
- How basketball is improving in Japan and the rise of the B.League (2:00)
- What players in the NBL are Japanese teams wanting to sign (7:00)
- How former NBL players are faring in Japan ie. Nick Kay, Shawn Long, Angus Brandt (9:00)
- B.League salaries compared to NBL salaries (10:30)
- The East Asian Super League and how Australia could be involved in the future (15:00)
- Shawn’s scouting role with the Australian Boomers (18:00)
- Japan’s national league seems to be benefitting from Australia’s players and coaches, how can Australia take advantage of the Japanese basketball resources (20:00)
All of this and a whole lot more…