Voelkel back to old form under familiar coach at new club

Written for NBL1 West by Chris Pike

He might be doing it with a different club and there might be some more miles in the legs, but it's the same Brian Voelkel with his familiar warrior-like mentality who has returned under a past coach at the Perth Redbacks this NBL1 West season.

Voelkel had a stunning 81-game stretch previously in the league at the South West Slammers where he averaged quite the remarkable 15 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists a game where triple-doubles became almost commonplace.

He was part of a Slammers team that made the Grand Final in 2015 and then made a stunning run to the playoffs in 2017 with quite the exciting team under coach Charles Nix who could have gone a lot further had it not been for Shawn Redhage and the Perth Redbacks.

Making his return down under

Now having spent several seasons plying his trade in Japan, the now 31-year-old Voelkel has returned to the league and he is teaming up with coach Nix once more this time at the Redbacks.

Not much else has changed with what Voelkel provides on the floor and that included a triple-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in Saturday night's win against the Geraldton Buccaneers in Karratha.

That showed exactly why Nix wanted Voelkel on a Redbacks team loaded with offensive weapons including Bryton Hobbs, Tevin Jackson, Louis Timms, Maris Colton and the inside presence of Joel Vaiangina.

Voelkel is glad to be back in the league and in Western Australia, and especially to play under a coach he thrived under once more.

"It's been great coming back. Obviously I love Western Australia in general and it's been good," Voelkel said. 

"The league has made a lot of progress since I last played here and just going to the NBL1 has helped it become more and more professional. There's definitely a lot of talent between NBL1 guys playing and just the talent from overseas and the local guys so it's at a very high level right now.

"From a basketball perspective, it's definitely grown and I feel good. I'm just happy to be living in Perth for the first time and playing for someone like Nixy again who I've obviously played for before and have a lot of respect, and really enjoy playing for."

Triple-double in crucial win over Geraldton

That Saturday night win for the Redbacks in Karratha against the Buccs sent a message of what the team will be capable of in 2023, but it also came two days after they had a disappointing loss to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

There are still some early season growing pains as expected with a new coach and so many new faces coming into the team, but Voelkel feels that win over Geraldton should springboard them now.

"We have high expectations this year and I think Thursday obviously wasn’t the result we wanted, but in a way it was almost a good thing because it really made us focus on the Geraldton match and realise we have to do all the little things if we want to be one of the top teams in this league," he said.

"I think we did that on Saturday. Defensively we were really good and then we moved the ball around, and played within ourselves."

Reconnecting with old foes

While Voelkel last played in the league in 2019, he's already come across plenty of familiar faces in his first three games back from Kyle Armour to Seb Salinas and then to Aaron Ralph and Mat Wundenberg with Geraldton.

"I've kept a little bit of tabs in the league when I've been away and each team we play I still see some familiar faces from the first time I was around," Voelkel said.

"The first week it was Kyle Armour and then on Saturday it was Ralph and Wundenberg. It's awesome for those guys to keep playing and to do it at such a high level, it's just really good and we need that combination of the younger guys and those older guys to help pass the game along. 

"It's fun and those guys, Wundenberg especially is a strong guy so it's always fun to battle against someone like him."

Looking forward to battle with big Clive

Voelkel has enjoyed reigniting those battles, but taking on the Slammers and Clive Weeden for the first time will be something else. He's just disappointed there's no game in Bunbury for him to play and that the one game won't be until July 15 at Belmont.

"When I first saw Clive signed I gave him a quick message so I'm excited to play against him," he said.

"That's my guy and that's going to be a lot of fun, and we've had a lot of laughs over the years so I'm looking forward to going to battle. 

"It will be good but I don’t think we play them for a little while and unfortunately we don’t play them in Bunbury but it will be a lot of fun to play against Clive and any other guys still there from when I was with the team."

Timely phone call from coach Nix

What brought Voelkel back was a timely phone call from coach Nix. Voelkel had yet to decide on whether he wanted to remain playing in Japan or head back to Europe where he's also spent time playing since his college career at Vermont.

However, Nix had just been appointed as coach at the Redbacks to make his return to coaching in the men's competition after stints with both the Perth and Joondalup Wolves women, including winning a championship in the shortened 2020 season.

He made Voelkel an offer he just couldn’t say no to after the fun they had together at the Slammers in 2017.

"I had been playing in Japan the last few years and I was just trying to figure what was going to be my next step, and if I would wait for a contract in Japan or try Europe again," Voelkel said.

"When I was really starting to figure it out, that's when Nixy gave me the call to see if there was any chance I was interested because he'd love to team up with me again. 

"I thought it over a little bit and it ended up being a fairly easy decision just because as a professional, most of the best years I've had were when I was in Bunbury. Every year I was there I loved the people and being near the water, and I really enjoyed playing in this league.

"I think everything just kind of worked out and it was good timing when Nixy called me, and I'm just really happy with the decision. I love playing with Nixy and he's put together a really good team of good guys where everyone gets along on and off the court. I couldn’t be happier with the decision."

Similar feel to 2017 Slammers team

Speaking of that 2017 Slammers team, they came together in such exciting fashion in their run to the playoffs before running into a Redbacks team who won the championship.

But Nix had that team clicking on all cylinders with the likes of Voelkel and Clive Weeden the physical power while Tre Nichols, Michael Lay and Teny Puot were brilliant in the back court, and Voelkel sees plenty of similarities with this Redbacks team with the make up.

"I think there are a lot of similarities to that team and I think that's one of the reasons Nixy kind of constructed the team he did," Voelkel said.

"Even from the import position we had Tre that year and he was really electric, and I think we have that now with Bryton and with both those players I think I complement them well. They're the ones who are going to be putting up the points and be a little flashier, and I can just kind of do my thing and do the dirty, and try to get them baskets. 

"I really enjoyed playing with Tre and so far I'm enjoying playing with Bryton. Then just in general, Louis has been coming off the bench these first couple of games and we used to have Mike Lay coming off the bench who was a great player. 

"There's a lot of firepower that we have and between me, Bryton, Louis and then we've got someone like Tevin who is a big time player who is a really unselfish player. Then you add people like Maris and Sioeli, and we have all the offence we need and it's just about us continuing to grow and get better each week."

Future beyond 2023

Voelkel is still new into his return season in the NBL1 West and while he is open to the prospect of staying beyond 2023, the fact he has been away from his New York home since he left for college at some point will mean the overseas sojourn comes to an end.

"You never know and honestly the way I have been I've been taking it a year at a time," Voelkel said.

"I've been overseas now ever since college and I never know what's going to be my next step, but as far as places to live I loved Bunbury and coming to Perth has been amazing. I've been going to the beach a lot and have been enjoying everything Perth has to offer.

"For me, it's got to be one of the best places to live in the world so you never, I could stay for a while. The only problem is it's so far away from home but every other box is ticked in terms of a place to live and play basketball."

Kyle Hogg will make his debut as a referee in Saturday night's South West Slammers v Eastern Suns women's game at Eaton Recreation Centre. Kyle is from Albany and commenced officiating in October 2017 and after being part of the WABL Referees Program in 2022 and officiating WABL games, he will now make his NBL1 West debut.