Gold Coast Blaze news

I was checking out the Ozhoops boards this morning and came across this news. It seems that the rumour mill has ex-Brisbane Bullets coach Joey Wright as the new head coach of the Gold Coast Blaze. Nothing has been finalised as yet so it will be interesting to see what happens.

The Boards @ Ozhoops • View topic - Brendan Joyce Fired

Word is Wright will be new coach
Nick Smart- Gold Coast Bulletin (2/3/09)

SPECULATION is rife that former Brisbane Bullets coach Joey Wright will soon be unveiled as the new coach of the Gold Coast Blaze.

The Gold Coast Bulletin understands that incumbent coach Brendan Joyce, who is currently holidaying in Hong Kong and could not be reached yesterday, will be replaced at the club he took to the playoffs in the Blaze's first year.

The Coast struggled with injuries and a tough draw on their way to a wooden-spoon finish in their second season.

The shake-up has already begun with assistant coach Mark Watkins - who declined to comment when contacted yesterday - believed to have already been told his services at the club are no longer required.
The former West Sydney coach has been Joyce's loyal and hard-working right-hand man at the Blaze since their formation.

But it appears the highly respected basketball mind will now be looking elsewhere. With Watkins understood to be out the door, Joyce is expected to soon officially follow suit. The Bulletin believes the former Wollongong championship-winning coach was recently told of his fate by the club.

Sources close to the club suggest Wright - a former Bullets championship-winning coach and two-time NBL coach of the year -has agreed to terms with the Blaze and will be announced once the Coast receive word they have been accepted into the new league.

However, one stumbling block could be the fact Joyce still has two years remaining on his current deal.
The club could have a legal fight on their hands if Basketball Australia force current clubs to honour existing contracts in the revamped competition next season.

An NBL spokesman yesterday said a decision had not been made on whether current contracts remain valid.

Blaze co-owner Owen Tomlinson would not be drawn when contacted by The Bulletin yesterday.
``Brendan Joyce is not gone and Joey Wright is not in,'' he said.
``We haven't really done anything yet, and don't take that as misleading either.
``We haven't made any specific moves.
``We are not going to do anything until we find out officially that we are in the league and that's what we are doing now.
``We are trying to put everything in place and then we can look at the structure of the team and the coaches if we decide to make a change.'

In other Blaze news, not surprisingly Luke Whitehead was rewarded for his extremely productive last couple of months with the team's MVP award. The only question now is, Luke ... what are you wearing??