Did Robbie Coman steal your look?
I don’t think he stole it. But the boys are getting involved and we’ve got this mo-and-headband thing going. I love it. It’s a good look. Bring back the ’70s or ’80s, whenever it was.
Larry Bird or Magic Johnson?
Larry Bird. I don’t watch much old basketball but you’ve got to go Larry Bird on that one, I’m pretty sure.
Casey Frank loves to call you The Slippery Eel, but you’re more of a barracouta, right?
They like to come up with random stuff on the commentary sometimes. But thankfully it is not Mr Irrelevant. I’m sick of that one by now. But Slippery Eel is all right. It is pretty descriptive and tells a story of what I do out there.
You were the last player drafted for the NBL 2020 Showdown — hence the Mr Irrelevant tag. Are you tempted to email them and say, ‘Hey, I’ve got two NBL rings’?
Hah. I’ve never been tempted to do that. People can say what they want. Pick 84 does not bother me. Those two wins speak for themselves, don’t they?
LeBron James or Michael Jordan?
I love what LeBron does but MJ, for sure.
Which team-mate is the most likely to cheat at Monopoly?
I’d say someone who is not playing at the moment — he’s injured. That’s Joe Ahie. He can’t be trusted, that Mr Ahie.
You once described your job as to be as ‘annoying as hell on defence’. Do you take pride in that?
Absolutely. Anything you can do out there to help your team to win. If it frustrates the other teams, gets under their skin a little bit, then I’m happy to do it. I don’t need to be filling up the stat sheet, just going out there and contributing to a win.
Who is the most niggly opponent in the league?
I’ve got a name, but I’m not answering that question.
Anyone in the camp eat with his mouth open?
No-one that I’ve noticed. Hopefully, that does not start up.
Ten seconds left. The Nuggets trail by one point. You are inbounding the ball. Who do you pass it to?
If Sam [Timmins] is open like he was at halftime on Saturday night, I’d be throwing it to him because that was a nice little play. Otherwise, any of our shooters.
The Nuggets have started the season with seven wins and have won their last 12 NBL games on the trot. Are you guys invincible?
Nah. But things have gone our way so far and that has been awesome. But there is a lot to improve on.
You’ve got the Auckland Tuatara tomorrow night. What is the main focus this week?
We’ve just got to be locked in mentally. When we played them previously, we got ourselves in a bit of a hole and had to dig our way out. It was impressive we could get out of that. But we need to come out firing and not even give them a sniff.
Matthew Bardsley
The facts
Age: 27.
Position: Guard.
Games: 56.
Career high: 18 points and eight rebounds v Taranaki, 2020.
Club: City Rise.
