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.

YOU might recall last week I remembered my drawer of old NBL, WNBL and SEABL yearbooks? Yeah. I reached in there again because when Leroy Loggins is on a cover, focused and lining up for a free throw, you know you want to revisit that. So here are a couple of excerpts from the Brisbane Bullets' yearbook ahead of the 1990 NBL season. God I miss that club.

 

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING FOR NEW-LOOK BULLETS

The 1990 Brisbane Bullets have made a subtle change to procedure this year that typifies what the new-look team is all about. Whenever they break from a team huddle before or during a game, the cry is not "Let's go", as its has been for several years, but "Let's work".

The change was at the instigation of new captain Leroy Loggins and underlines the strong work ethic of a team fighting for public credibility after the most tumultuous summer in the club's 11-year history.

It is all about attitude. The team is based solely on a want for work, hard work and lots of it, and a willingness to listen and learn and to play together.

This year the team comes first and everything else is secondary. There is no room for individual egos or private goals.

That, of course, was the painful lesson of last year when the Bullets finished a dismal eighth with an 11-13 win-loss record to miss the playoffs for the first time in the six-year golden era under Brian Kerle.

For a team that won the 1989 preseason title and had arguably the most talented bunch of individuals in the league, it was totally unsatisfactory. There was no alternative. Something had to be done.

Unavoidably, coach Kerel was the focal point of a massive off-season clean-out that has seen the NBL's most successful club of the 1980s undergo a total facelift as they move into the 1990s.

Of the 13 players who wore a Bullets singlet in NBl competition last year, there are just three survivors - Leroy Loggins, Robert Sibley and Greg Fox.

Heading the absentees are eight-year captain Larry Sengstock, seven-year favorite Ron Radliff, five-year centre John Dorge and three-year playmaker Darren perry, plus 1989 imports Winston Crite and Greg Giddings.

Also, 1989 rookie Rodger Smith loved on, along with local product Shane Edwards and veteran pair Dan Clausen and Danny Morseu.

Kerel was quick to insist there were no easy decisions. "We've shared a lot of good times and there were some very strong personal ties, but for the good of the players as well as the club, things had to be done," he said.

The Bullets this year are trying to do the impossible - turn around a program without a massive recruiting splurge on established NBL players from other clubs.

It is not like Perth of 1987 when the battling club recruited Cal Bruton, James Crawford and Tiny Pinder and built an entire team around them.

If anything, it is closest to the Sydney Kings of last year, who made great inroads from mediocrity in 1988 with pretty much the same playing staff. But even they had a new mentor in dual NBL Coach of the Year Bob Turner and they did falter in the finals.

The Bullets are looking to to do as Sydney did - make the playoffs - and then take it one step at a time.

Every week will be an adventure into the unknown. When the new-look team hits the Boondall floor for the first game of the season against the Adelaide 36ers, six players will be making their NBL debut, and a seventh will be playing in the big-time for the first time since 1986.

It is a gamble, certainly, and there will be hard times. But as the season grew nearer, Kerle became more and more confident. Why? Simply, he likes the players' attitude. They get on well together, on and off the floor, and they work hard.

In a word - chemistry! How ironic it is that the indefinable quality which was so sadly lacking in 1989 promises to be the Bullets' biggest asset in 1990.

Still, it has been a trying time for Kerle, the man who has fought for six years to see basketball established as a major sport in Brisbane and now, as a direct result, sees his own head in a noose.

"My head is on the line," he admits bluntly, honest enough to concede that a repeat of the team's poor 1989 season will bring an end to his record-making stint as coach of the Bullets that began in 1984 when people asked: "Who are the Bullets?"

"All top-level sport is big business these days and things have to be run along business principles. You have to be successful or you're out," Kerle said.

"Leo (Bullets chairman Leo Williams) and the board have shown faith in me this year and now I have to repay that faith. I've been told my head is on the line and I accept that 100 per cent. It's good. It's right. It's the only way it can be."

Now Kerle faces a challenge equal to that which confronted him when he arrived unknown to Brisbane in 1984 to build a program from virtually nothing.

"I still say 1984 was my most enjoyable year in the NBL although we didn't win the title. We didn't have too many superstars but it was enjoyable because everyone worked together and everyone wanted to do whatever they could to make the team successful," he said.

The make-up of the 1990 team is altogether different. Last year the Bullets had eight players who thought they could or should score 20 points a game.

This year the bulk of the scoring will be carried by just four players - a rejuvenated Loggins, 1989 success story Sibley, and new imports Derek Rucker and Andre Moore.

Rucker, rated pre-season as possibly the best player in the country by astute Illawarra coach Dave Lindstrom, will lead a young backcourt with 1989 rookie Fox the likely fifth starter, and Adelaide newcomers Duncan Johnston and Darren Breeding.

Loggins, used with mixed success in the off-guard spot last year, will revert chiefly to his more familiar and preferred small forward position.

Moore and Sibley will head a frontline that also will include comeback player Chris McGraw and young Melbourne pair Paul Rees and Craig Adams, with locals Steve McLeod and Chris Clarkson making up the 12-man list.

In a flash, the Bullets went from the oldest team in the league with an average age of 26.5, to probably the youngest at 23.1.

Loggins (32), McGraw (28) and Moore (25) are the only players who would not be eligible for a youth competition. Rucker and Sibley are 23, Clarkson is 22, Fox, Johnston, Rees and Adams 21 and Breeding the baby of the team at 20.

 

1990 - The Other Teams

Adelaide: Can a long-time assistant-coach become a successful head coach? Don Shipway finally gets his chance to say "yes" this year after three-year boss Gary Fox paid the price for the 36ers' third consecutive playoff failure.

Canberra: The Cannons will start the season in the extraordinary situation of having a caretaker coach, with understudy Andy Campbell in charge until May while Steve Breheny completes a suspension incurred for a sensational head-butting incident involving the Sydney Kings' Damian Keogh during last year's playoffs.

Eastside Melbourne: Eastside Melbourne are tipped to be the big improvers of 1990 after finishing "best of the rest" last year. Westside import Bruce Bolden will replace Arne Duncan to support Dean Uthoff while ex-Bullet Darren Perry fills a problem spot at the point.

Geelong: For the second year in a row, coach Barry Barnes will start with a new-look squad, headed by Uni of California forward/centre Brian Vaughans. Other notable newcomers include John Dorge and Westside swingman Vince Hinchen.

Gold Coast: The Cougars boast four ex-Bullets on an experienced 12-man roster under Tom Wisnman, headed by Larry Sengstock and Ron Radliff, for their NBL introduction. Also on the Coast are 1989 Bullets rookie Rodger Smith and early 1980s benchman Mark Kitching.

Hobart: Hobart promised much last year and delivered nothing. The Devils had three different coaches in the first five weeks. This year Tom Maher, coach No.3 in 1989, will start and if nothing else, this should guarantee greater stability. League super-veteran Gordie McLeod has retired amid threats of suing the club and Joe Hurst, NBL MVP in 1988, was released to make way for hard-working Devonport SEABL import Dan Krebs.

Illawarra: They should be more stable this year but do they have the talent? New American Patric Fairs, a swing forward from Texas Uni, is the only notable addition and much will hinge of 1989 Rookie of the Year Justin Withers.

Melbourne: The loss of bench swingman Eric Bailey to Gold Coast has been covered by North Melbourne's stud sixth-man Cecil Exum, while imports Dave Colbert and Dave Simmons are back. The "G-Factor" Andrew Gaze is back after missing on an NBA contract with Seattle Supersonics.

Newcastle: More than just an earthquake shook Newcastle during the off-season. Coach Ken Cole had his own shake-up and out fell imports Jerry Everett and Bill Jones. Playmaker Shawn Dennis is also gone, leaving Cole with a young team headed by Michael Johnson and new imports Tom Curry and Greg Lazard.

North Melbourne: Defending champions, the Giants will field a new-look line-up trying to beat the bogey which has seen only one team successfully defend the title in 11 years. Dwayne Nelson and Patrick Reidy replace Tim Dillon and Cecil Exum.

Perth: The naturalisation of James Crawford and Tiny Pinder shortly before the end of season 1989 qualified them as Australians and allows Perth two new imports - Texas guard Ricky Grace and centre Jeff Allen. David Close comes in but the question is chemistry.

Sydney: After a season of sell-outs at the 4200-seat State Sports Centre, the Kings will move to the 10,700 Entertainment Centre and expect attendances upwards of 8000. Coach Bob Turner will stick with the same team, their only "recruit" former Olympian Mark Dalton who returns from a serious knee injury.

Westside Melbourne: Former stalwart Dean templeton, who played nine years in the league before retiring in 1988, is the Saints new coach following Colin Cadee's resignation. Much will depend on new imports Paul Maley and Gary Vose.