Basketball On The Internet.

*FLASHBACKS, my irregular "lucky dip" where I just reach into my drawers of old Australian basketball stuff and transcribe whatever I find for you.

(For the regular readers of "Flashbacks", apologies for the long hiatus. Three months away earlier this year meant when I reached into my drawers, I was taking out sightseeing brochures. You get out of the habit when you come home. But, here goes...)

OK. I have the NBL's 1983 Media Guide in my hand so I will just open it randomly and revisit 30 years ago. Interesting. It's the Frankston Bears pages... And they follow the Coburg Giants page. Hmm. Maybe give you both?

 

HEIGHT IS NO WORRY FOR GAZE

SABA BEARS coach Tony Gaze has scoffed at sceptics who claim his team is too small to be a success in the NBL.

Although he has refrained from rash predictions about the Bears winning the NBL title or even getting as far as the playoffs - he's a very conservative sort of bloke about things like that - Gaze is confident his team will win more games than they lose.

"I don't go along with people who reckon our team is too small for the NBL," Gaze said.

"They said it in 1981 and we were runners-up to Geelong for the South East Conference title. They said it again last year and we won the SEC.

"Sure we're small compared to some of the teams but we're also quick and a good shooting side.

"By the time the season comes around we plan to be so fit that we'll run the legs off the giants in the  teams we play.

"But don't get me wrong. I realise the NBL is a very tough league to play in. Every game will be hard.

"I have always believed that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And that's the Saba Bears to a tee."

Although he has never coached an NBL team before, Gaze's ability as a leader and his knowledge of the game is beyond question.

For years he and his brother Lindsay, the national coach, played for Church Tigers in an era when the Tigers were the outstanding club in Victoria, if not Australia.

Tony had great success as a coach in women's basketball and won nine State titles with the original Comets including four in a row (1963-66) and seven in eight years (1959-61 and '63-66).

He also coached the national team that went to the 1967 World Championship in Rio de Janeiro.

In 1971 Gaze made his first appearance on the coaching scene in men's basketball.

His team, Dandenong Rangers, finished sixth of nine teams in the Victorian Championship that year but possessed the season's leading scorer in American George White who averaged 26.1 points per game.

Gaze coached the Rangers for eight seasons during which he produced and cultivated some outstanding talent including Peter Lawler, George Jolly, Michael Tucker, Mel Dalgleish, Rod Hind, Rocky Naughton and Paul Davis.

Tucker and Dalgleish went on to play for Australia.

Tucker led the State championship scoring in 1975 with an average of 16.8 points per game. He outscored many fine shooters for that honor including St Kilda's David Lindstrom and Tony Barnett, Melbourne's Doug Dodge, Ray Tomlinson and Bruce Case, Nunawading's Brian Bestul and CYMS's Gary Fox.

The Rangers' best year under Gaze was in 1976 when they finished in fifth place in both the 1976 State championship and the Australian Club Championship in Sydney. Their record was 17-7, with one game drawn.

Tony left the Rangers after 1978 and offered his services to the young Frankston and District Association which until then had only played in country competitions.

He was given a readymade first division team when most of Dandenong's senior players decided to follow their coach to Frankston.

After a modest start, the Frankston Bears went from strength to strength. They finished seventh in the State championships in 1979 and 1980, climbed to fifth in 1981 and fourth in 1982 after sharing top position with Nunawading at the end of the regular season.

Their overall win-loss record in the four State championships is 40-37 with one draw but their 48-8 in the SEC is even better.

On their way to playing in the SEC and Victorian championships, the Bears picked up the last two VBA summer season titles.

The Bears have worked hard to get where they are today and owe their success to their ability to play together as a team rather than to the individual brilliance of the players.

However every successful team must have one player who stands out above the rest and in the Bears' case that player is superguard Wayne Burden.

Originally from North Carolina, Burden fell in love with Australia when he toured this country with Chico State in 1979. It wasn't long before Burden was back here wearing a Bear uniform.

His scoring statistics are really remarkable. In 3 and a half seasons in the State championships and two in the SEC, Burden has shot a total of 2,330 points at an average of 25.6 ppg.

He holds all of his club's scoring records including the high-game of 44 points against Lithgow last year.

A serious knee injury which resulted in cartilage surgery in 1980 threatened to end Burden's basketball future but he bounced back even better than before the following season.

Last year he won the Bears' MVP award and was runner-up to Chelsea guard Brad Bainter for the Ken Watson Trophy awarded by the VBA.

One of the reasons Burden has been so successful with the Bears is the fact he has good players around him to relieve a lot of the pressure.

Players like Mel Dalgleish, Mark Gaze and David Leslie could get court time with any other NBL side.

Dalgleish and Gaze were members of the national team that won fifth place at the 1982 World Championship in Colombia. Mel has been in every national team since the 1978 World Championship in Manila but Mark is a comparative newcomer to the international scene.

He made his international debut in senior basketball at the 1981 Oceania Series in New Zealand although he had been to Brazil with the Australian Under-20 team before that.

The Bears are lucky in that they have a deep well of talent. In 19-year-old Steve Davis, for instance, they have a centre-forward who may one day play for Australia.

Steve's brother Paul is a handy forward who has won quite a few games with his ability to hit clutch shots. He and guard Ian Stacker alternated on being the first player to come off the bench last season.

Peter Ioannou and Wim Broekhoff saw more action with the Bears' second division team than they did in the SEC or State championship last season but their games improved as the season wore on.

The Bears' 38-7 overall record in the 1982 Victorian championship and the SEC was the best in Australia.

The club announced it was changing its name from Frankston Bears to Saba Bears after their major sponsor, Saba Furniture Expo handed them a package deal worth $150,000 spread over five years.

The Bears' new uniform of blue, white and yellow will carry the insignia of Saba and also that of Nautilus, Melbourne's pacesetter in the field of physical fitness.

Bears Playing Roster

Wim Broekhoff  195cm  Forward

Wayne Burden  188cm  Guard

Mel Dalgleish  198cm  Forward

Paul Davis   194cm  Forward

Steve Davis  198cm   Centre/Forward

Mike Dyslin   194cm Forward

Mark Gaze   182cm  Guard

Peter Ioannou  200cm  Centre

David Leslie   191cm  Forward/Guard

Rocky Naughton  195cm  Forward/Centre

Ian Stacker  181cm Guard

Coach: Tony Gaze

Team Manager: Graham Burke

Playing Venue: The Bears' Den, Bardia St, Frankston

 

 

Palmer's back and firing  (Coburg Giants)

The Coburg Giants were one of the surprise teams of 1982.

After a delayed appointment of Bruce Palmer as head coach, Coburg faced a hectic battle to get their playing roster finalised for '82 and most expected the Giants to have little influence on the year's outcome.

But through the efforts of Palmer and tireless team manager and NBL delegate Alan Kealey, Coburg quickly set about building a highly competitive combination that reached the semi finals in Newcastle.

The volatile Palmer, a damaging player with Melbourne Tigers before crossing to the Giants, picked up the high-leaping American Benny Lewis from Illawarra and tough forward/centre Chuck Rose from Missouri, USA.

The pair blended with a highly talented bunch of homegrown players including Australian team members Les Riddle, Wayne Carroll and Ray Borner, the brilliant Peter Blight and highly competitive Mark Holland, plus volatile brothers Graham and Brian Longstaff.

Midway through the season Coburg shrugged off a three-game losing streak and vindicated the club's player selection by storming home to win nine of their last 11 matches and clinch a trip to Newcastle for the playoffs.

In the process, the Giants silenced many critics who said they were not good enough to match it with the NBL's leading teams.

Coburg may have gone further but a severe back injury restricted playing-coach Palmer to very little court time.

After an operation, the fiery American is back in full training and looks set to enjoy a far better year than his trouble-riddled 1982 season which resulted in suspension as well as injury.

The Giants moved quickly to get things ready for season '83.

Before the Victorian championships were even completed they had approached Ray Tomlinson as head coach while Bruce Palmer takes up the post of coaching coordinator.

Tomlinson is a proven coach with the Giants.

The former Australian Olympic star brought Coburg to the top of Australian basketball by winning the Australian Club Championship in 1977 and 1979.

Coburg also released Chuck Rose to Victorian club Diamond Valley and recruited American Matt Waldron.

The Giants should be even better served than last season by their local talent with the return of talented guard Terry Kealey who missed most of last season.

Since entering the NBL the Giants have steadily moved up the ladder and with their first taste of finals behind them they are sure to come out this season fit and firing.

Coburg also have extended their spectator facility to more than 1,000 seats and with the ever-growing support from their local program, will enjoy big crowds and great atmosphere at home games this year.

If there was any doubt left about the Giants' ability to match it with the big guns, they were dispelled during the amazing Victorian championship finals last year when a sellout crowd witnessed a titanic battle between Coburg and the Nunawading Hang Ten Spectres.

Although the Spectres narrowly retained their title, Coburg served notice for the coming NBL season.

Giants Playing Roster

Graham Longstaff  184cm  Guard

Les Riddle  195cm  Guard

Wayne Carroll  195cm  Guard

Brian Longstaff  185cm  Guard

Peter Blight  195cm  Forward/Centre

Bruce Palmer  195cm  Forward

Bennie Lewis  190cm Guard

Mark Holland  188cm  Guard

Tony Forbes  197cm  Forward

Mark Warke  190cm  Forward

Terry Kealey  184cm  Guard

Matt Waldron  197cm  Forward/Centre

Ray Borner  202cm Centre

Aresti Therapos  196cm  Forward

Paul Gardner  196cm  Centre/Forward

Coach: Ray Tomlinson

Manager: Alan Kealey

Playing venue: Coburg Basketball Stadium, Outlook Dr, East Coburg