Basketball On The Internet.

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

FOR a long time the NBL disavowed any knowledge of its inaugural All Star Game way back in 1982 at Apollo Stadium. Yet, guess what? This week I pulled out the actual game-night program for the event. I reprint it here with no apologies for anything that was written those 31 years ago. Some of it is indirectly amusing and definitely dated!

EAST V WEST

Inaugural NBL All Star Game

Welcome

Welcome to what must rate as the most spectacular basketball game ever presented in Australia.

This inaugural East Versus West All Stars Game provides the opportunity to see the stars of the NBL together in the one spectator match.

And what a match it promises to be. While not having the intensity or pressure of a competition match, it will have spectacular action to burn, for the pressure will be off and the stars will be on show. But there will still be plenty at stake for just as the players will be on show, reputations will be at stake and for at least some of the players, a good performance in this showcase could mean a contract renewal or a contract with another team. A poor showing, on the other hand, could have the opposite effect.

Spectacular action is the byword for tonight’s game and there will be plenty of it, with the accent on attack. These two teams, loaded with the finest offensive players in the league, will demonstrate that basketballers do score more often, particularly when they are of the calibre of the awe-inspiring James Crawford, the dynamic Al Green, Australian star Phil Smyth, Chuck Harmison and Donnie Ray Cruse.

All in all, tonight’s match will be a showcase of basketball skills and a game you are sure to enjoy.

Make the most of it! Star-studded lineups like these are few and far between.

Curtain-Raiser

South Australian Police V West Adelaide Youth

SAP (Red, white & blue): 4 Phil Paddick (Adelaide Patrols); 5 Paul Tothill (Tactical Reserve Group); 6 Mal Williams (Mt Barker CIB); 7 Alan Cuk (Pt.Adel Patrols); 8 Greg Lane (Pt.Adel Patrols); 10 Bob Fauser (Tactical Reserve Group); 11 Maris Akermanis (Burnside CIB); 12 Peter Schar (Pt.Adel CIB); 13 Peter McKenzie (Speed Detection Section); 14 Jack Thomas (Darlington Patrols). Coach: Seamus Flynn. Manager: Barry Hannaford

West (Black & red): 5 Trevor Clarke;  6 Peter Bleckley; 7 Peter Dawe; 8 David Spear; 9 Frank Arsego; 10 Michael McKay; 11 Shaun McGargil; 12 Gary Thompson; 14 Ed Tarento; Mark Douglas. Coach: Alan Dawe. Asst.Coach: John Wright. Manager: Peter Bennett.

NBL EAST VERSUS WEST ALL STARS

EAST

Name     Team     Hgt     Position
Larry Sengstock   Brisbane  200cm  C/F
Gordon McLeod  Illawarra  173cm  G
Curt Forrester      Sydney     198cm  C/F
Donnie Ray Cruse Bankstown 182cm  G
George Morrow   Newcastle 203cm  C/F
Darryl Pearce      Adelaide   185cm   G
Reg Biddings      Adelaide   200cm   F
Chuck Harmison Nunawading 205cm  C
Coach: Barry Barnes (Nunawading)
Manager: Jeff Coulls (Adelaide City)

WEST

Name     Team     Hgt     Position
Al Green              West   188cm  G
Bennie Lewis      Coburg 190cm G/F
Phil Smyth           St Kilda 183cm G
Jim Ericksen        Launceston 207cm C/F
Tim Evans           Perth    198cm G
David Nelson     Canberra 203cm C
Leroy Loggins    West   198cm F
James Crawford   Geelong 198cm C/F
Coach: Ken Richardson (West)
Manager: Keith Woods (West)

REFEREES: Eddie Crouch & Geoff Weeks

EAST – PEN PICTURES

Larry Sengstock: Played for Australia since 1977. Six years prior he played for Queensland both senior and junior. Also played for St Kilda and has now come back to play for the Bullets.
Gordon McLeod: Represented Australia in the World Championship in Manilla, 1978. Was a member of the Olympic team in Moscow in 1980.
Curt Forrester: This is Curt’s second NBL season. Was leading national rebounder in 1981. Originally from Stelson University, Florida. Took out all playing honours and is highly respected by opponents. Coaches call him a “tradesman”.
Donnie Ray Cruse: Donnie is an American player from Abilene, Texas from McMurray State College. All American 1979.
George Morrow: Attended Creighton University and was drafted by world professional champions Boston Celtics in the fifth round. Leading rebounder in the NBL to date.
Darryl Pearce: A prolific shooter and like his nickname “Ice” suggests, he is cool under pressure.
Reg Biddings: In his second NBL season, Reg played for University of Oklahoma. “Rifle” is a prolific scorer holding the NBL record of 63 points (1981) and is leading scorer in the NBL to date (with a season-high of 44 points).
Chuck Harmison: Centre from Iowa State, in his first year of NBL after playing in Belgium in 1981. An aggressive rebounder with a soft touch.
Barry Barnes (Coach): An aggressive tactician enabling him to gain maximum results from his players.
Jeff Coulls (Manager): Jeff would have to be classed as the rough diamond of South Australia. Very efficient in his job as manager.

WEST - PEN PICTURES

Al Green: One of the most excellent players in Australia, averaging 26 points per game. His nickname is Dr Dunkenstein. His basketball career blossomed from Lousiana State University.
Bennie Lewis: Formerly of St Louis University, Missouri. Was selected in the NBL All Star Five in his first year and is a spectacular rebounder, ball handler and sharp shooter.
Phil Smyth: Nicknamed “Fabulous Phil”, the Moscow Olympian and Australian representative took out both the Woollacott Medal and Milestone Medal in 1978.
Jim Ericksen: One of the best players to ever come out from the USA. Jim has the ability to move as well, if not better, than a lot of the shorter players. He is recognised in Tasmania as the “Magic Man” and is heading back to the USA at the end of this year.
Tim Evans: Was the second all-time leading scorer for Puget Sound. Played in Norway and Sweden. His overall average is 25 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds per game. The previous coach from Puget Sound, David Lindstrom, has one word for him – outstanding.
David Nelson: Attended St Louis College, Colorado. Came to Canberra at the start of last NBL season. Was selected in last year’s NBL All Star Five.
Leroy Loggins: Attended Fairmont University, West Virginia. Currently playing with West Bearcats.
James Crawford: James is a black American, formerly from Cumberland University, Alabama. An All-American in 1980.
Ken Richardson (Coach): What can one say about the Number One coach in Australia?
Keith Woods (Manager): Generally a nice guy. Keith is the team manager for West Bearcats and always aims to please.

THE BIG GAME

Hang on to your seats tonight or you’ll get blasted out of them when the NBL stars set out to shoot their opponents off the floor.

The accent tonight could cast some light on the question of whether the team that wins the boards does in fact win the game. That’s the way the saying goes but in an out-and-out shoot-out, which this seems likely to be, the team that can score freely from outside could have an advantage in which case the West lineup looks likely to have an edge.

While coach Ken Richardson is not exactly undermanned in the frontcourt, having Launceston’s Jim Ericksen, Canberra’s David Nelson, the awesome James Crawford from Geelong and his West Adelaide teammate Leroy Loggins to call on, his West side does appear to be shaded by the East’s frontcourt arsenal of Newcastle’s George Morrow, Curt Forrester from Sydney, Nunawading’s Chuck Harmison – the league’s third top rebounder – and City of Adelaide’s mercurial Reg Biddings, the league’s top scorer, plus Brisbane strongman Larry Sengstock.

But East coach Barry Barnes could strike some problems in the guard department for he has only two recognised guards to call on in diminutive Illawarra star Gordie McLeod and City of Adelaide’s Darryl Pearce. The West lineup on the other hand is very strong in the guard department – West Adelaide’s Al Green, the league’s second top scorer and leader in the MVP voting when the polling was last published, Coburg’s Bennie Lewis, former Sturt and now St Kilda guard Phil Smyth and the smooth-moving, hot-shooting Tim Evans from Perth.

All of which suggests this could turn into a guards versus forwards match, an intriguing contest when they are players of this calibre.

Whatever the outcome, you will have had a feast of the most spectacular basketball in Australia from the best players in Australia.  Aren’t you glad you came? Oh, the winner?

East to win by about one slam dunk.

Finals Offer

Tickets for the spectacular NBL finals series now are available at Apollo Entertainment Centre for just $25.

That gets you admission to all three sessions – the two semi finals on Friday night, the all star clash on Saturday and the final on Sunday.

The series is scheduled for July 16-18 in the Broadmeadows Stadium, Newcastle.

Newcastle has a huge basketball following and the series is almost certain to be sold out well before the end of the season, so for any serious follower of basketball, this offer is an opportunity not to be missed.