This weekend we saw an all-time hot-shooting performance as Murcia handled Bilbao, a gritty scrap as Reggio Calabria completed the comeback win over Giulianova and the ultra-rare underdog blow-out as Porto Torres dismantled Cantù. It all begs the question; what do you do when your opponent can't seem to miss? Available now, wherever you get your po…

This week: Wheelchair basketball statues, appropriate trophy transport, one-sided write-ups, Wiesbaden running Thuringia close, EuroCup qualifying groups, James's various misfortunes on Italian soil, Futurama quotes, and more! Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe…

Sometimes you can circle the games that will deliver on their promise. Then sometimes you get a couple more great games thrown in unexpectedly. Never ones to complain about more content-worthy basketball, we break down 4 games from the past weekend. We dive into our first Italian game of the season (Reggio Calabria vs Sassari), catch an offensive s…

Ah, basketball games. They take over our weekends and then we spend all week thinking about them. With the season officially underway, we drill down on what we've deemed to be the two most interesting games so far; Lahn-Dill vs Hannover & Amiab vs Bidaideak. We then touch on scores and points of interest from other games around Europe and highlight…

Well, this has come around fast. Guess that's what happens when you take 4 months off. A lot of player movement has taken place over the summer, and a lot of teams look a lot different as a result. We discuss some teams, at varying levels of competitiveness whose outlook for the new season has us intrigued, excited or confused about their immediate…

Well, looks like we overslept. Fortunately, one thing almost guaranteed to bring us out of our months-long hibernation is the handing out of Paralympic medals and our inability to fight the sense that people want to hear what we might have to say about it. And so we present our mega return episode. It covers everything important that happened in bo…

4 teams. 4 games. 3-peat. This past weekend, we saw European club basketball’s four established powerhouses go at it again. As with the two previous Final Four stages, Amiab Albacete came away with the biggest prize on the continent. We dive into the key moments that saw a worthy challenger emerge and momentarily threaten to take the crown, and wha…

36 games, 24 teams, 9 sets of medals. Too many interwoven storylines to coherently explain. With the dust now settled on the EuroCup 1, 2 & 3 Finals, we take a tour from Valladolid to Sassari to Giulianova as we recap all the action. We talk about the most compelling teams, matchups, subplots and outcomes of the three tournaments, before looking ah…

Nothing like bringing the podcast back to its roots once in a while. We're very pleased to be joined by a first-time guest and first-season Sheffield Steeler. Abs Taghrest joins Bench Units to talk about a resurgent season for the club where this podcast originated, one that has seen them qualify to the EuroCup 3 Finals and hold the distinction of …

Who needs a guest when we have our own set of boots on the ground! Ahead of James travelling to Giulianova, we look ahead at each inmate on maybe the greatest Murderers’ Row that EuroCup 1 Finals has ever seen. With at least 6 teams that could credibly win the competition in any given year, we try and plot each team's path through the pool stage an…

We have been accused of, and admitted to, not giving the French League the attention it deserves. Since this season began, Colin Higgins hasn't left us much of a choice but to take notice. The key off-season signing for Les Aigles du Velay last summer, Colin has helped to establish them as the class of the domestic league and be dominant in their E…

Whether you think the Paralympic wheelchair basketball should have been cut to 8 teams or not, the Repechage tournament to decide the 8 was premium viewing content. After three days of seeding games, we saw Netherlands, Germany, Canada and France qualify for the chance to compete at Paris 2024. We break down the performance of each team, the bigges…

A lot can happen between two appearances on Bench Units. Tasked with overseeing one of wheelchair basketball's historic national programs return to prominence, Brad Ness joins us to talk about having already punched a coveted ticket to Paris via the AOZ tournament. From his position as a Roman Emperor watching the gladiators battle it out, Brad hel…

This week, James is joined by frequent Bench Units guest Mendel to go through the Italian play-off semi final deciders, as well as trying to figure out what happened down the stretch of a drama-filled Spanish league game. If you like people going so far into wheelchair basketball games they come out the other side, this might be the episode for you…

3 days. 3 EuroCup Levels. 7 Groups. 33 Teams. 62 Games. This amount of hoops output can't be broken down in any reasonable fashion, so we've reverted to a Bench Units favourite and chosen to cherry-pick the topics that interest us, so long as they can be phrased like an awards category or meaningless cliché. We cover players we've never seen before…

He's back, again! Coming off a pair of wins to secure the German Cup this past weekend, Tommy Böhme stops by to catch us up on the season so far and look ahead to this weekends Champions Cup Quarter Finals. RSV Lahn-Dill currently sit at 24-0 across all competitions within the season, and may be about to take on their toughest test as they face off…

DISCLAIMER: This episode was recorded prior to the news that the Ilunion-Amiab game, scheduled for the 2nd of March, had been postponed due to illness. Copa del Rey champion, MVP and now Bench Units Most Accommodating Player. What a week for Pincho Ortega. Poncho stops by to take us through Ilunion’s signature win of the season so far, and how it s…

Almost as excited as last time, and one appearance away from being forced to intro the podcast, Arinn Young is back! Juice talks about the recent stretch of the season for Wiesbaden, which has seen them rise to third in the standings in Germany and qualify for the EuroCup 1 Finals. They also break down the past weekend's game against Hannover, the …

In this episode: Albacete are able to hold off a feisty Malaga team, including playing a quarter that felt like a choreographed movie fight scene. Lahn-Dill make it 2-0 against their nemesis, Thuringia Bulls, in what mostly felt like a brawl. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/su…

Aaaaand breathe. 5 preliminary rounds, 23 teams, 44 games, all in about 36 hours. Anyone who has been there knows that the true currency of any EuroCup weekend is hours spent in the venue, between your own games, taking a crash-course in a bunch of teams you probably wouldn't watch otherwise. Of course, all of that is worth nothing if you can't sho…

With EuroCup set to begin later this week, we were going to let last weekend slip by without a round-up, but an expansive slate of games left us no choice. In the first ever Bench Units Tasting Menu, we selectively nibble at the best and most meaningful games from 6 (!) leagues across the continent (UK, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain, Germany). Avail…

If you haven't heard about Oscar Knight yet, you probably don't consume any Bench Units content and therefore won't be reading this. The important thing is that WE have heard of Oscar Knight, and that means that both us and you get to hear from him. This out-of-nowhere rookie sensation, from a competitive AMFIV Vigo squad, joins us to talk about th…

As we officially begin the ramp-up to the business end of the season, basketball is taking place on many fronts. As usual, we start out with a few league games that piqued our interest. We then move on to the placement games of the AOZ qualifiers, which has left both the Men’s and Women’s sides of Paris 2024 with 4 teams cemented and 8 teams vying …

Happy 2024! We kick off our resolution of making the podcast better, first by musing on the feedback from our listeners and secondly from only talking about the games worth talking about. That taken care of, we take a look at the AOZ qualifiers and what we've learned about Austria, Iran & Japan from a highly competitive group stage. Available now, …

For the last weekend round-up of 2023, we cover an 11-game schedule across Spain and Germany. There's enough lukewarm musings in this episode to patch you through until the new year, so gather your all-time best and worst teammates, set your back castors on the three-point line and dive in. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full ac…

This week, in Mark’s absence, James is joined by Lahn Dill and Dutch national team player, and Bench Units regular, Mendel Op Den Orth. In what was meant to be an off week for the Spanish league, join the guys as they go through 9 games between Spain and Germany, and then answer a few listener questions, before handing out the belt. Listen in to ou…

In a week stuffed with 30-attempt games, lopsided quarters and wild +/- numbers, we saw everything from tier-clarifying blowouts to further-mystifying upsets. 5 games in Spain, 5 in Germany, some more in places we don't have time for. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe…

This week, we get a peek at what the world of wheelchair basketball would look like if the Americas didn't exist. Malaga take down Murcia, Munich squeak past Münsterland, other teams beginning with M are also available. Out now, wherever you get your podcasts! Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe…

It's not every day we get our hands on someone who's coming off the best game of their season, in a result that “wasn't on the bingo card”. Rose Hollermann joins us from Santiago Chile to talk about basketball in Germany. We break down a surprising result in the biggest game of the German calendar so far, and what it might mean going forward. We th…

Some teams love giving us content to chew over, other teams love to leave us without any stones to turn. Note that this episode doesn't contain any coverage of Lahn-Dill/Thuringia, as that will be covered in an upcoming guest episode! Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribe…

What with having at least 5 minutes of extra basketball tacked onto the end of basically every game, it's a wonder we finished watching video in time to record an episode at all. With Friday being headlined by a clash of the Spanish titans, Saturday was free to deliver all the high-stakes extra basketball that Spain, Germany and France (!) could of…

We get back to rounding up the action, just in time to see a team shoot 64% for an entire game, a one-man wrecking crew give a 45-point performance, and a game-winning shot in an unexpectedly close affair. Get full access to Bench Units at benchunits.substack.com/subscribeBench Units

She's back! A lot has happened since the last time Kady Dandeneau joined us. In the last 14 months she has: Moved to an island Been awarded the All-Star 5 in a Champions Cup quarter-final round Competed at a wild World Championships Moved to another island Been awarded the Bench Units Belt All of this is discussed in great detail, wherever you get …

How do you evaluate a team based on two games? They lost to a team better than them one week, and beat a team worse than them the next, but are those teams actually better or worse, or is that based on their own two games that are impossible to parse? Truth is, nobody knows at this point. Unless the team in question is the undefeated Burgos. Availa…

Spain is back! Ilunion complete the comeback on Bilbao for the second time in 7 days. Burgos start out undefeated. Amiab rely on having more good players than their opponent. Malaga look potentially dangerous. Germany is back! Münsterland are here for the fight. Wiesbaden have got plenty of pieces. Thuringia seemed to be short of pieces, but able t…

Our second belated review podcast of the summer! We talk all things Euros. GB men and Netherlands women extend their dominance on the respective sides of the competitions, we see some early tickets punched to Paris 2024, and the stage is set for a slobber knocker of a repechage tournament. Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Get full acc…

Recovered from the 2023 edition of the 2022 World Championships yet? Well now’s no time to relax! There are Paralympic spots on the line and many a team keen to either build on this summer’s earlier success or wash a bad taste out of their mouth. James and Mark break down tournament that will see the Dutch look to retain two gold medals, Italy try …

We know we're late to the party, but you can do whatever you want when you win the silver. After a bit of a summer break, James has had chance to clear his head and top lip, and we're ready to talk Worlds. The guys give their analysis for both the Men's and Women's World Championships competitions, covering the final standings, surprise results and…

It must be November last year, because it's officially World Championships time! Absent his usual co-host, who is getting ready to partake in basketball rather than fake some in-depth analysis, Mark does what precisely nobody asked for and talks to himself for almost an hour solidly. And if that seems crazy, he then writes this episode description …

Regular listeners will know that we do our best to stay in our lane at all times we're on the record. Despite our best efforts, we (Mark) occasionally get off the chain and have to face the consequences of the things we said and ultimately still stand by. To that end, we are joined by Jack Perry of London Titans. After demanding the opportunity to …

11 months after he joined us to announce his move to Albacete, Phil Pratt is back to give us the breakdown on closing out his first season there as a Champions Cup winner. Phil talks through the season up to this point, a crucial two weeks between Copa del Rey and Final Four, and emerging victorious in the two biggest games of the season. He also p…

They literally don't get much bigger than this. With his rookie season in the books, we welcome Tommy McHugh of the newly crowned EuroCup 3 champions, Hannover United! Tommy talks us through his early days of following a path trodden by some Rollers legends, his jump to Europe under the watchful eye of Shaun Norris, and what Hannover have to do to …

So. Many. Games. We applaud newly-crowned Champs on three levels, critique some All-Star selections, shout out the underdogs who make tournament basketball the mayhem that it is, and look ahead to Europe's four superpowers fighting it out next weekend. We also do our best to reduce 3 concurrent competitions of basketball down to one Belt holder. Ge…

This week, are joined by back-to-back Copa del Rey winner and not back-to-back All-Star 5 member, James MacSorley. We salute Amicacci Giulianova as they travel the Scudetto trophy home in admirably brash fashion. We applaud Thuringia Bulls as avenge last year's playoff result, reclaiming the German Championship, on their home floor, against their n…

In a weekend defined by sign-me-up-for-next-season standout performances, we see the final games of the Spanish league play out and an anticlimactic beat down in Game 1 of the German title series. We also get to award The Belt to a season-long Bench Units favourite. Stay tuned for a big weekend coming up, as we will see a German champion crowned an…

As we get our episode schedule back on track for the stretch run of the season, we fall back on the tried-and-tested formula of roping in one of James’ teammates. Lukas talks to us about his first professional season, the jump to Spain, Germany's youth movement and how it has all lead to his first-time selection to his Senior National Squad. Lukas …

We take a break from club basketball to analyse our first taste of international competition, with respective national beginning to ramp up for the 2023 World Championships and Europeans. We break down the six teams that appeared in Belgium's Easter Tournament, while also touching on two of the first nations to announce their final 12-man squads af…

In the penultimate week of the División de Honor, we see a game-winning bucket, game-deciding 24-9 run, and a league-deciding 13-0 start to a game. In the second leg of the German Playoffs, we say a teary “until next season” to a couple of Bench Units favourites, but delightedly saddle up for at least 2 more games between the league's resident powe…

With a shorter slate of games this week, we get in-depth on some of the results of consequence! We see the previously undefeated Amiab take their first loss of the season, in a game that would of officially clinched them the league title. Consider the inevitable delayed on this one. We also see Rhine River Rhinos put a brief scare into a heavily-fa…

A weekend this packed needed a round-up episode, even if it is late! We see Amicacci Giulianova punch their ticket to the Italian League Finals, Amiab Albacete nail down the top spot in the Spanish standings, and the German League Playoffs take form. All that covered, we give The Belt to one of the most indisputable stat lines of the season. Get fu…