Matt Hodgson: A Better Man

Written for nbl.com.au by Tom Hersz

If you think you’re watching a different Matt Hodgson this season, it’s because you are.

Now in his sixth full season in the NBL, the old Hodgson who was prone to foul trouble, losing focus or making mental errors is gone. He’s been replaced by a player who is calm in his approach, confident in his abilities and locked in on how he can help his team win.

And that’s exactly what Hodgson has been doing. After missing the start of the season with a calf injury, he has been coming off the bench and making a huge impact. In turn, the Brisbane Bullets just finished a very successful round where they knocked off the Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United in back-to-back games.

Leading the charge on Sunday against Melbourne was Hodgson, who capped off a career-high 24 points with what many people are calling the dunk of the season. It was certainly one the most ferocious dunks Hodgson has ever thrown down and it sealed the game. 

It looked like a personal attack on Melbourne’s Mason Peatling – a first year development player – and while he had something to say to Peatling afterwards, that was not what was going through Hodgson’s mind as he planted both feet and took off for the rim.

“I didn’t even know he was there so I thought I had an open one,” Hodgson explained to NBL Media yesterday. 

“Usually it’s times like that where you’re blind like that, is when you’re likely to get blocked, so I was actually lucky that he didn’t time it right. But I guess he got there late and ended up with a bit of body contact and I guess I blacked out and said the first thing that came to my mind. 

“It was a pretty emotional game; I was glad we got the W against a really good team so it was more based on that than something personal against Mason.”

In many ways, more so than just that moment, that game was the culmination of everything ‘Hodgy’ has worked for since he entered the league back in 2014 – as a development player himself – with Melbourne. His career started off very slowly, as he battled several knee injuries and complications.

Eventually he got a chance to play when he signed with Adelaide, and his career started to head in the right direction. Hodgson has been largely a starter for most of his career since then, has played for the Boomers on numerous occasions – including winning Gold at the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup, and he recently played his 150th NBL game.

When reflecting on everything it’s taken for him to get to this point and hit that milestone, as well as where is now as a pro basketball player, Hodgson talked about the journey he’s been on; one that he is still on in his mind.

“I think a culmination is a really good phrase for it,” he said. 

“I was unhealthy coming into my pro career, so I always viewed my pro career as a journey. How do I view it now? I wouldn’t say anywhere near the finished product and I think that’s exciting. 

“But how I’ve reflected upon it? I’ve just been so grateful for that journey. Obviously I was lucky enough to get that start [with Adelaide], but [also] to be able to continue in professional sports and that being my vehicle for self-mastery and to be able to become a better man. 

“Basketball has taught me to appreciate the beautiful experiences that I have had playing this game. Obviously there are a lot of hard parts about it. It’s not like it’s all sunshine, flowers and I’m happy all the time, but with a lot of reflection comes a lot of gratitude for how fortunate I am to be able to live life as a professional athlete.”

That gratitude is evident in his approach, which has also evolved. Hodgy is a lot more patient when he has the ball offensively. He’s a lot more confident with his post-moves, picking his moments of when to attack or when to wait for a seam in a double team that he can exploit, while also recognising when it’s time to move the ball and not force the action.

He’s also having a career year on the offensive glass, where he’s currently averaging 3.1 o-boards per game, which ranks second in the league.

Defensively, Hodgson’s been great. He has been able to be a primary rim protector, helps clean up the defensive glass, but also in probably the biggest difference, avoid being the foul-prone guy that limited his minutes in seasons’ past.

Hodgson is averaging just 2.6 fouls per game this season; well down from the 3.5 he’s averaged the past two seasons.

So what has changed in how he prepared for NBL21 and how he’s approaching the game?

“A few things,” admitted Hodgson. 

“The COVID break actually was good for me in terms of having a long time to have a look at things in my game. So I guess that’s where the added confidence on the block is more from having a lot of time to work on some different stuff, and [also] saw some deficiencies so I worked on addressing those. 

“But definitely in the approach. I think a lot of it is changing my mental approach in being a lot calmer and being more engaged in the moment; identifying my insecurities and places where my inner childlike ego would come out and mentally take over. And those were the reasons that held me back in a lot of games previously in my career, where now I’ve been able to recognise those and I have strategies in place to work through [those moments]. 

“But just enjoying playing the game of basketball and that’s just made me stay in the moment. So, even if I don’t start off well, or I do something bad or stupid, I understand it’s just part of the game and move on and get back into the flow of the game.

“I think a lot of that is being more attached to the flow of the game, so I’ve been able to make the right plays in a bunch of settings.”

Hodgson started all but one game in his first two seasons in Brisbane, but has come off the bench in all ten games he’s played in this season. Initially it was because he was coming back from injury, but after a while Andrej Lemanis decided it was actually better to keep it that way.

After the game on Sunday, Lemanis addressed Hodgy’s impact for this team.

“He’s been playing great,” Lemanis said.

“I think it’s a pretty telling statistic that in games where Hodgy doesn’t play for us, we’re 0 and 3. And so whatever that makes us with him is significantly better.”

That would be 7 wins and 3 losses with Hodgson in the lineup.

“It’s nice to be able to play through him,” continued Lemanis. 

“His presence on the glass, his defensive presence to change shots, his skill in executing what we do in pick and roll defence – all that has a positive influence for us.”

Hodgson was asked about his bench role and touched on a conversation that he and Lemanis had recently about why that role was beneficial to the team, but also to Hodgson.

He was only too happy to go into a bit more detail about what the two discussed in that meeting.

“It was pretty open,” Hodgy explained. 

“Drej was like ‘I think it’s better for us and I actually think it’s a lot better for you in terms of getting some extra looks and touches if you come off the bench’. 

“If I’m performing, I’m going to play minutes and I’m going to finish the games which is what I was really grateful for. He was looking at it as, and I agreed, it gives us some spark off the bench and it gives us another offensive focal point to have when I come in. 

“So obviously, Vic and Sobes are going to be looking to get going the whole game, but especially the start because they establish themselves on that and that’s fine. But then when I come in at the five minute mark, they’re feeling in the flow a little bit so it’s easier to convince the guards that ‘ok we’ve got Hodgy in now, let’s throw it in there’ and that also opens it up for everyone else as well. 

“Coming off the bench doesn’t really worry me. I mean it hurt my ego a little bit, but like I said in that press conference, I really respected the fact that Drej came and talked to me about it. At the end of day, I’m playing more minutes and I’m finishing games more than I ever have in my career previously. 

“I’m getting to stage with what we talked about before in terms of change of perspective and being calmer, so I’m realising that for this season, for right now, for this team, me coming off the bench doesn’t mean I’m not a good player any more, it’s just the nature of the role. But I’m still finding more success than I think I’ve had in my career so far.”

That doesn’t mean that Hodgson will remain in a reserve role for the entire season, but for now it’s clearly working. This Bullets team is really clicking at the moment. 

It’s no fluke that they knocked off Perth and Melbourne in back-to-back games. Hodgson spoke of the balance the team has with their current rotations. With Tyrell Harrison and Tanner Krebs starting, it means Hodgson, Jason Cadee and Harry Froling can come off the bench and bring some energy in a variety of ways; be it defensively, with shot making, providing a post presence, or on the boards. 

They can make an impact and that’s a positive. But Hodgson acknowledged that there’s a lot more to their recent success than just that balanced attack. It’s about comfort, health and chemistry, which were not all there at the early stage of the season.

“I think buy-in has been pretty good,” said Hodgson.

“In terms of guys understanding and getting comfortable within the roles they have, that’s probably the part that’s been good and we’ve come across some good health across the last 5 or 6 games since we’ve been in this hub. So I think we’re getting more chemistry as a complete unit. 

“I guess the level of character with these guys on the team, like with Orlando accepting a role and Tanner Krebs starting and just playing super hard defensively, but not getting many looks and he’s completely comfortable with that; Tyrell being out there just running the floor, grabbing rebounds and looking to block shots and he’s completely comfortable with that. So just having guys accepting roles pretty well and having the unit together to develop chemistry has been pretty good for us.”

After a 2-4 start, the Bullets have now won five of their last seven games. They currently sit in fourth place on the NBL Ladder and were second on the NBL Cup Ladder coming into Round 9.

Vic Law had the whole team sporting moustaches recently to try to come together and it was explained on Sunday that having full facial hair was a privilege according to Law, and they hadn’t previously earned the right to have full facial hair.

After beating Perth and Melbourne, has Law decided his teammates are now worthy of that right? 

Hodgson laughed when questioned about it.

“I tell you the thing was that after we lost to New Zealand, a few of us quit on the moustache only thing, so you started to see some facial hair growing back. I was one of those guys too,” he explained. 

“Vic definitely hasn’t said anything to those of us who decided to grow the facial hair back, so I guess he must have thought we earned it.”

Brisbane have a chance to solidify their position in the top four when they face the Adelaide 36ers tonight. 

The Sixers will again be without Isaac Humphries and new import Brandon Paul will also be on the sidelines, but they will still be tough as they’re desperate to keep pace with that top four themselves.

Hodgson knows how big this game is for the Bullets to keep this momentum going and try to build on what they did last week.

“They’re going to be really hard [to beat],” Hodgson acknowledged. 

“We all recognise that and know that. I think right now with Isaac being out, DJ’s been taking even more of a scoring load for them so just finding ways to starve him of the ball and make sure he doesn’t get into a rhythm. 

“They’re obviously a lot more comfortable when he’s scoring a lot because it opens up everything else for them. So try and shrink the floor as much as we can, force it out and make guys other than DJ have to make plays.”

Hodgy will again come off the bench looking to make an impact as he continues his newfound approach to becoming a better basketball player and, through the sacrifices he’s made in embracing his role, a better man.