April 22, 2025 • 8 mins
Back to the future at the Breakers.
Dillon Boucher has returned to the club as president of basketball operations, and now Judd Flavell is going to be the new associate head coach.
Judd 'Gameday J' Flavell spoke to D'Arcy Waldegrave on the radio all the time during his last stint at the Breakers and he was happy to have another yarn with D'Arcy on Sportstalk.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Darcy Wildergrave
from News Talks'd be.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
All right, enough of this, let's talk some hopes. It's
a much better idea. Well it is now because oh mate,
jud Flavel joins us now on the program, got himself
another job. Good evening, Judd, Good evening, Darcy, congratulations on
the new role came out the end of last week.
You are now I'd say assistant coach, but it's the
(00:33):
associate head coach of the Breakers. What's in a name?
Jud tell us what's on your plate?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Now?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Well I just decided, well, what's another job in New
Zealand basketball I can take at the moment. But if
I haven't got my hand it's involved in the Breakers yet.
But no, look really excited about getting back to a
club that has shaped me as a coach and shaped
(01:00):
me in a lot of ways with the values that
the club used to have and that's kind of been
part of my journey. I've taken that with me and
and to get back to the club that has given
so much to me is it's exciting. And obviously with
the new direction of the new owner of Mark Mature,
but his vision of what he has and but a
lot of the names. The familiarity of the names Belcher,
(01:23):
every Crombie and the Blackwells really sort of clinched it
for me and understanding that well they're really serious about,
you know, steering the ship and what they want.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
And yeah, I was happy to really jump on coach Cop.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Tell us your relationship with him, what you see in him,
bring in because he's retained his job. Not many people
have after that ownership swap.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, it's right.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
I have, you know, caught up with Cop a few
times last year just by attending practices, you know, their time.
I was there with my tall blacks hat, just watching
the guys, and you got the chance to meet and
have a few chats with him, just sort of casual conversations,
and look, we have a good chat on the phone
as well, and real good chat. From all takes like
(02:10):
he is somebody that you know obviously had his hand
or has his challenges last year, and I think that
was probably a lot to do with probably some of
the moves that were made for him with roster and.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
But really, you know, from what I took away from it,
like a guy that's really like as in his words,
like a coach that really wants to empower and get
the most out of his coaches as well, and saying that,
you know, he wants people to share their voices and
share their knowledge. And so I really feel like I
(02:44):
can help in terms of that with this league, with
the ambl A league that I've spent sixteen seasons with
and then certainly thirteen of those seasons with the Breakers,
So there's a lot there that I feel like I
can sort of assist with and help. But yeah, really
kind of a young coach and an aspiring coach and
brings a lot of good positive energy, and I think
(03:06):
that's going to be a good situation to really step into.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
This Week's really well with your role as head coach
of the Tall Blacks, because you're engaged some of the
better players and we hope more New Zealanders do actually
join up with the roster the Breakers, So that is good.
What do they get out of it? What do they
want from you?
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Yeah, look, I think you know a lot of my
conversations with them has been they want to bridge that
connection back with the Kiwi basketball community, and not a
lot to do with the players, of course, but Also
their intention is to start up the Breakers Academy again,
you know, and which served a really great place for
producing future Breakers players and to the roster. And it
(03:47):
used to be a time that we had to recruit
offshore to accumulate talent. But then you know, Andre Lamanas,
it was his idea of the Breaks Academy and that
was my first responsibility really was setting that up. But
the vision was, Hey, build our own we're good enough
and if we have kiwis that want to grow up
(04:07):
and put on the Breakers singlet, like every teenager that's
watching a Breakers game, we want them to have the
dream that they can put on that singlet one day.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
But those things just don't happen.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
So they need the infrastructure, they need the resources, and
they need the expertise.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
And this is something that the Breakers are wanting to do. Now.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
If we expand on that and say like this is
where our whole country doesn't matter if you're a teenager
or if you're a mid twenties someone like a Taylor
Britt who's been carving out in his role and development
and New zeal And NBL now gets another shot at
you know, plying has trade in the Australian NBL. So
there's so many I guess kiwis that are just naturally
(04:43):
wanting to be here because this is home.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Now. We can't keep them more.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
You know, we develop some and some that are developed
offshore and they're hard to get back sometimes because they're
on great money. But what we can do is continue
to build the next ones. And that's where I think
by having the Tour Blacks involved in this, and when
I say Tour Blocks obviously myself, that really he shows
a lot of continuity and also the approach of yes, looks,
(05:13):
let's grab the best players that we can, but let's
look at our backyard first, and let's have a look
at some of the homegrown talent that we have.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
The previous management of the Breakers paid lip service to
that concept. We've heard it all the time, but it
never really got any traction. I'm presuming you reach back
to those heady days under the black Walls and say
we can actually do that, that we're just not spit
talking here. This is something we really want to do.
And because of your engagement early on and the piece
back in those days, they know it's going to work.
(05:44):
So you've joined up with this role, having full faith
in what happens above you, that they're going to give
you that space to grow this side and grow local talent.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Yeah, and look, and that may not be necessarily me
hitting the academy, that it won't be hitting the academy.
But I think what it's shown before is that, I mean,
everybody can have a vision, but the excellent, the actual
execution of it is really there's a lot of hard
work to put into it. And I can I can
(06:13):
say that there's many hours and early mornings that you
know that I got to spend in that gym, not me,
not just me, but a lot of coaches that we
had come in.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
As well, and a lot of those athletes and players.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
But it definitely got to show that within a real
short span of time span, we were able to really
change and we became the benchmark of the NBL with
not just hanging banners championship banners, but also the development
system that we had. So and that's how I got
plucked out and head hunted from the Southeast Melbourne Phoenixes.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
They saw what was going on and they wanted to
build their blueprint.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
So you know, yeah, the club has I guess the
last few years priorized other things and that's to their prerogative,
but it just for me personally and seeing the growth
for these on basketball, this is going to be one
of the best strategic moves that I think that this
country will make.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It was more instrumental in getting your signature, Jad Flavel.
Was it Dylan Boucher or was it the black Walls?
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Well, yeah, if truth is to be told, I guess
it's a combination of both.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
I really Obviously a.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Relationship with Dylan goes way back to when we're playing
against them with each other and with the tall Blacks
in our club teams here in New Zealand. But so
I really feel, you know, he understands that the landscape
of this country.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
He also understands the Australian NBL.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Whenever you jump into any any kind of partnership or
collaborate with people, it's.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Always you know so much.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
I guess productive if you've got people with the same mindset,
same vision. The clincher though, was when the Blackwells names
got thrown in there. And I haven't even heard a
conversation with paul O Liz, but once I heard that
they were and I knew that this was serious.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
It just wasn't talk.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
And as you say before, like sometimes people can just
say things for the sake of it, but you know
we're qualify people are that you know, you're not only
going to get the best out of yourself there in
that position, but the best out of the club.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And so this is yeah, that was that was the
cluncher by far.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I thought it'd be something along those lines. Thank you
very much. Game Day Jay Judd Flavel now back involved
with the Breakers again.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
You For more from Sports Talk, listen live to news
talks that'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Darcy Wildergrave
from News Talks'd be.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
All right, enough of this, let's talk some hopes. It's
a much better idea. Well it is now because oh mate,
jud Flavel joins us now on the program, got himself
another job. Good evening, Judd, Good evening, Darcy, congratulations on
the new role came out the end of last week.
You are now I'd say assistant coach, but it's the
(00:33):
associate head coach of the Breakers. What's in a name?
Jud tell us what's on your plate?
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Now?
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Well I just decided, well, what's another job in New
Zealand basketball I can take at the moment. But if
I haven't got my hand it's involved in the Breakers yet.
But no, look really excited about getting back to a
club that has shaped me as a coach and shaped
(01:00):
me in a lot of ways with the values that
the club used to have and that's kind of been
part of my journey. I've taken that with me and
and to get back to the club that has given
so much to me is it's exciting. And obviously with
the new direction of the new owner of Mark Mature,
but his vision of what he has and but a
lot of the names. The familiarity of the names Belcher,
(01:23):
every Crombie and the Blackwells really sort of clinched it
for me and understanding that well they're really serious about,
you know, steering the ship and what they want.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
And yeah, I was happy to really jump on coach Cop.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Tell us your relationship with him, what you see in him,
bring in because he's retained his job. Not many people
have after that ownership swap.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Yeah, it's right.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
I have, you know, caught up with Cop a few
times last year just by attending practices, you know, their time.
I was there with my tall blacks hat, just watching
the guys, and you got the chance to meet and
have a few chats with him, just sort of casual conversations,
and look, we have a good chat on the phone
as well, and real good chat. From all takes like
(02:10):
he is somebody that you know obviously had his hand
or has his challenges last year, and I think that
was probably a lot to do with probably some of
the moves that were made for him with roster and.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
But really, you know, from what I took away from it,
like a guy that's really like as in his words,
like a coach that really wants to empower and get
the most out of his coaches as well, and saying that,
you know, he wants people to share their voices and
share their knowledge. And so I really feel like I
(02:44):
can help in terms of that with this league, with
the ambl A league that I've spent sixteen seasons with
and then certainly thirteen of those seasons with the Breakers,
So there's a lot there that I feel like I
can sort of assist with and help. But yeah, really
kind of a young coach and an aspiring coach and
brings a lot of good positive energy, and I think
(03:06):
that's going to be a good situation to really step into.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
This Week's really well with your role as head coach
of the Tall Blacks, because you're engaged some of the
better players and we hope more New Zealanders do actually
join up with the roster the Breakers, So that is good.
What do they get out of it? What do they
want from you?
Speaker 4 (03:23):
Yeah, look, I think you know a lot of my
conversations with them has been they want to bridge that
connection back with the Kiwi basketball community, and not a
lot to do with the players, of course, but Also
their intention is to start up the Breakers Academy again,
you know, and which served a really great place for
producing future Breakers players and to the roster. And it
(03:47):
used to be a time that we had to recruit
offshore to accumulate talent. But then you know, Andre Lamanas,
it was his idea of the Breaks Academy and that
was my first responsibility really was setting that up. But
the vision was, Hey, build our own we're good enough
and if we have kiwis that want to grow up
(04:07):
and put on the Breakers singlet, like every teenager that's
watching a Breakers game, we want them to have the
dream that they can put on that singlet one day.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
But those things just don't happen.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
So they need the infrastructure, they need the resources, and
they need the expertise.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
And this is something that the Breakers are wanting to do. Now.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
If we expand on that and say like this is
where our whole country doesn't matter if you're a teenager
or if you're a mid twenties someone like a Taylor
Britt who's been carving out in his role and development
and New zeal And NBL now gets another shot at
you know, plying has trade in the Australian NBL. So
there's so many I guess kiwis that are just naturally
(04:43):
wanting to be here because this is home.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Now. We can't keep them more.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
You know, we develop some and some that are developed
offshore and they're hard to get back sometimes because they're
on great money. But what we can do is continue
to build the next ones. And that's where I think
by having the Tour Blacks involved in this, and when
I say Tour Blocks obviously myself, that really he shows
a lot of continuity and also the approach of yes, looks,
(05:13):
let's grab the best players that we can, but let's
look at our backyard first, and let's have a look
at some of the homegrown talent that we have.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
The previous management of the Breakers paid lip service to
that concept. We've heard it all the time, but it
never really got any traction. I'm presuming you reach back
to those heady days under the black Walls and say
we can actually do that, that we're just not spit
talking here. This is something we really want to do.
And because of your engagement early on and the piece
back in those days, they know it's going to work.
(05:44):
So you've joined up with this role, having full faith
in what happens above you, that they're going to give
you that space to grow this side and grow local talent.
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Yeah, and look, and that may not be necessarily me
hitting the academy, that it won't be hitting the academy.
But I think what it's shown before is that, I mean,
everybody can have a vision, but the excellent, the actual
execution of it is really there's a lot of hard
work to put into it. And I can I can
(06:13):
say that there's many hours and early mornings that you
know that I got to spend in that gym, not me,
not just me, but a lot of coaches that we
had come in.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
As well, and a lot of those athletes and players.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
But it definitely got to show that within a real
short span of time span, we were able to really
change and we became the benchmark of the NBL with
not just hanging banners championship banners, but also the development
system that we had. So and that's how I got
plucked out and head hunted from the Southeast Melbourne Phoenixes.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
They saw what was going on and they wanted to
build their blueprint.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
So you know, yeah, the club has I guess the
last few years priorized other things and that's to their prerogative,
but it just for me personally and seeing the growth
for these on basketball, this is going to be one
of the best strategic moves that I think that this
country will make.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
It was more instrumental in getting your signature, Jad Flavel.
Was it Dylan Boucher or was it the black Walls?
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Well, yeah, if truth is to be told, I guess
it's a combination of both.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
I really Obviously a.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Relationship with Dylan goes way back to when we're playing
against them with each other and with the tall Blacks
in our club teams here in New Zealand. But so
I really feel, you know, he understands that the landscape
of this country.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
He also understands the Australian NBL.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Whenever you jump into any any kind of partnership or
collaborate with people, it's.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Always you know so much.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
I guess productive if you've got people with the same mindset,
same vision. The clincher though, was when the Blackwells names
got thrown in there. And I haven't even heard a
conversation with paul O Liz, but once I heard that
they were and I knew that this was serious.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
It just wasn't talk.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
And as you say before, like sometimes people can just
say things for the sake of it, but you know
we're qualify people are that you know, you're not only
going to get the best out of yourself there in
that position, but the best out of the club.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
And so this is yeah, that was that was the
cluncher by far.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
I thought it'd be something along those lines. Thank you
very much. Game Day Jay Judd Flavel now back involved
with the Breakers again.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
You For more from Sports Talk, listen live to news
talks that'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
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