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??

NBL wrap - round 21

Its a little later than usual, but here are the numbers that matter from round 21 in the NBL:

Dragons 97 36ers 77

For the Dragons:

Adam Gibson 18 points (6 of 7 from the field, 4 of 4 from downtown), 8 boards, 4 assists
Joe Ingles 18 points (including 4 triples), 4 assists
Mark Worthington 13 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals

For the 36ers:

Paora Winitana 14 points, 3 assists
Jacob Holmes 10 points, 11 boards
Rod Grizzard 10 points, 7 boards

The Dragons jumped the 36ers early and were up 55 - 36 at the half. Full credit to the Dragons defence for keeping Ballinger and Schenscher to just 8 points each and forcing the 36ers in to 23 turnovers (Dragons had just 12). Adelaide, you know you're in trouble when Winitana is your top scorer! Very disappointing result for the 36ers as it show they're just not at the same level as the top teams in the league.

Taipans 89 Spirit 81

For the Taipans:

Martin Cattalini 28 points (11 of 14 from the field, including 4 triples), 10 boards, 6 assists
Aaron Grabeau 18 points, 6 boards, 4 assists
Matt Smith 5 points, 13 boards

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 21 points, 11 boards
Jason Smith 13 points, 6 boards
Blagov Janev 14 points

The Cat (Martin Cattalini) showed he can still put up great numbers. Is this his audition for the Wildcats for next season? Not much to say about the game itself ... two not good teams, Cairns just shot better from the field.

Hawks 103 Breakers 98

For the Hawks:

Dusty Rychart 18 points, 10 boards
Glen Saville 16 points, 4 boards, 4 steals
Kavossy Franklin 11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists

For the Breakers:

Phill Jones 25 points, 7 boards
CJ Bruton 13 points, 7 boards, 5 assists
Oscar Forman 16 points (including 4 triples)

No Kirk Penney for the Breakers and they drop yet another. I would've made the case earlier in the season for CJ being "more valuable" to the team but this stretch is showing that the Breakers struggle when they're not all fully fit. The Breakers dominated the boards 53 - 35 but hit just 39% from the field while the Hawks shot 55%.

Crocs 101 Dragons 98

For the Crocs:

John Rillie 28 points (including 6 triples), 7 boards
Corey Williams 26 points, 5 assists (but 7 turnovers)
Rosell Ellis 17 points, 9 boards, 3 steals

For the Dragons:

Donta Smith 22 points, 5 boards
Mark Worthington 22 points, 4 boards
Joe Ingles 20 points, 4 boards

Very good win for the Crocs against the #1 team. Great to see more heroics from our boy John Rillie. Two Joe Ingles sightings in two games ... what happened to him mid-season?? The Dragons could have won this but shot just 23 of 34 from the line.

36ers 102 Breakers 91

For the 36ers:

Adam Ballinger 19 points, 10 boards
Luke Schenscher 17 points, 7 boards
Brett Maher 17 points, 4 assists

For the Breakers:

Oscar Forman 26 points (including 4 triples), 6 boards
CJ Bruton 14 points (including 4 triples), 6 assists, 5 boards
Dillon Boucher 8 points, 9 assists, 5 boards, 4 steals

This game marked the final regular season home game for Adelaide legend Brett Maher. Still no Kirk Penney for the Breakers and they drop yet another one. Oscar Forman with some "old team rule" action. For some reason, import Rick Rickert came off the bench for the Breakers. NZ again let the opposition shoot 55% from the field while they shot just 43%.

Wildcats 106 Spirit 88

For the Wildcats:

Darnell Hinson 13 points, 8 assists, 6 boards
Shawn Redhage 16 points, 8 boards, 4 assists
Ben Knight 14 points, 9 boards

For the Spirit:

Clint Reed 20 points, 9 boards (but 7 turnovers and 0 assists)
Matthew Knight 11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists
Blagov Janev 14 points

A game of spurts with Perth winning the first quarter by 11, Spirit winning the second quarter by 11 and Perth dominating the third by 16. A very balanced effort from the Wildcats with 7 players in double figures and even youngster Chris "Bubbles"Goulding had 25 minutes of court time.

Blaze 93 Taipans 88

For the Blaze:

Luke Whitehead 20 points, 24 boards
James Harvey 19 points (including 5 triples), 4 boards
Justin Bowen 18 points, 6 boards

For the Taipans

Martin Cattalini 19 points, 9 boards
Gary Boodnikoff 18 points, 8 boards
Aaron Grabeau 14 points, 4 assists, 3 steals

Another game with 2 bad teams. Blaze essentially shot the ball better (50% - 42%) and outrebounded (48 - 35) the Taipans and would've won by more but had 20 turnovers (Cairns had just 11). Luke Whitehead has had a MASSIVE second half of the season!

Dragons 93 Tigers 83

For the Dragons:

Donta Smith 21 points, 5 boards
Mark Worthington 11 points, 10 boards
Joe Ingles 9 points, 11 boards, 6 assists

For the Tigers:

Chris Anstey 23 points, 11 boards
Ebi Ere 16 points
David Barlow 12 points, 9 boards

Its unfortunate that when these two teams meet its always an arm-wrestle and neither shoot great clips (both were around 40%), credit the defenses for that. Dragons won the game in the second half outscoring the Tigers 49 - 37. It'll be interesting to see what happens when these two teams battle in the play-offs.

At the end of round 21, the NBL ladder sees the Dragons on top and they have secured the minor premiership already. The Tigers are just behind and the Breakers are in third having dropped 5 in a row. The Crocs, Wildcats and 36ers round out the 6 and will fight for vital positions in the final round of the season. Not surprisingly, the Blaze are still at the bottom and will finish there.

Earlier in the week the NBL announced that John Rillie was the Player of the Week for his game-winning performance against the Dragons. Great to see John really find form in the lead up to the playoffs. Last week the NBL gave the award to James Harvey so I was wrong with my first guess of David Barlow but suspected Harvey might get the nod.

Now to the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. The runner-up is Tony Ronaldson from the NZ Breakers (2 of 10 and 3 of 13 from the field in two losses). The Flop of the Week however goes to Ronaldson's team mate Rick Rickert from the Breakers for his 3 of 9 and 1 of 10 from the field in their two losses. When your bigmen are shooting these sort of clips its not surprising the Breakers can't get a win at the moment.

As always our Shooter of the Week is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. There were some great basketball shooting performances and the honourable mentions go to John Rillie from the Crocs (28 points, 9 of 18 from the field, 6 triples, 4 of 4 from the line in a win over the Dragons) and Adam Gibson from the Dragons (6 of 7 from the field, 4 of 4 from downtown and 2 of 2 from the line in a win over the 36ers). The award this week goes to Martin Cattalini (pictured below) from the Cairns Taipans for his performance against the Sydney Spirit. Like JR last week, The Cat showed some of his offensive arsenal that made him almost unguardable a couple of seasons ago. His full line was: 28 points, 11 of 14 from the field, 4 of 5 from downtown, 2 of 2 from the line, 10 boards, 6 assists and 5 turnovers. Martin essentially put his team on his shoulders and carried them to a win and for that we salute him as our Shooter of the Week.

Great basketball shooting technique from The Cat

NBL wrap - round 19

I hope everyone enjoyed the Australia Day long weekend. That's my excuse for not posting over the last few days.

Here are the numbers that matter from round 19 in the NBL:

36ers 110 Blaze 88

For the 36ers:

Adam Ballinger 28 points, 12 boards
Luke Schenscher 16 points, 10 boards
Brett Maher 17 points (including 4 triples), 4 assists

For the Blaze:

Luke Whitehead 21 points, 19 boards, 8 assists
Justin Bowen 18 points, 7 boards
Scott McGregor 8 points, 7 boards (in just 12 minutes)

The Blaze actually have a good recent record over the 36ers but Adelaide turned up ready to play and took control with a 30 - 13 first quarter. Adelaide shot 55% from the field while the Blaze were just 40%. Shane Heal and James Harvey combined for just 2 of 13 from the field. Luke Whitehead is putting up large, large numbers over the last 6 weeks.

Tigers 103 Breakers 85

For the Tigers:

Ebi Ere 22 points, 6 boards, 3 steals
Chris Anstey 16 points, 13 boards, 4 assists
Daryl Corletto 15 points (7 of 9 shooting), 4 boards (in just 16 minutes)

For the Breakers:

Kirk Penney 28 points (12 of 18 shooting), 4 boards
Rick Rickert 15 points, 8 boards
Tony Ronaldson 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists

The Tigers dominated the second half 56 - 37 to secure the win. The Breakers got to the free-throw line just 10 times during the game and were an uncharacteristically poor 5 of 17 from downtown. Tigers won the boards 49 to 35. CJ Bruton returned to the bench ... obviously he's nowhere near 100% since coming back from injury.

Wildcats 96 Blaze 90

For the Wildcats:

Alex Loughton 18 points
Shawn Redhage 16 points, 6 boards
Darnell Hinson 15 points, 6 boards, 6 assists

For the Blaze:

Justin Bowen 20 points, 9 boards, 5 assists
Luke Whitehead 16 points, 15 boards
Pero Cameron 10 points, 9 boards, 7 assists

A good effort from the Blaze to keep this close, but they were well rested after they failed to show up for the 36ers game. Both teams shot just over 40% from the field and struggled from the line but the Wildcats had just FOUR turnovers for the entire game. Ugly final quarter with the teams combining for 25 points total (14 for the Wildcats, 11 for the Blaze).

Tigers 95 Breakers 89

For the Tigers:

Chris Anstey 20 points, 11 boards, 4 steals, 3 blocks
Ebi Ere 14 points, 6 boards
Nathan Crosswell 14 points (7 of 10 from the field)

For the Breakers:

CJ Bruton 29 points (including 5 triples and 8 of 8 from the line)
Kirk Penney 23 points, 5 boards
Rick Rickert 11 points, 6 boards

These teams matched up twice in the space of 48 hours, once in NZ and once in Melbourne, the Tigers got both wins tho. CJ Bruton back in the starting line-up and back in form. Tigers came from behind in the second half 50 - 38 to get the win. Both teams shot just over 40% but the Tigers had just 11 turnovers to the Breakers 19.

Crocs 97 Hawks 95

For the Crocs:

Rosell Ellis 25 points, 11 boards, 4 assists
Kelvin Robertson 20 points (including 4 triples), 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals
Brad Williamson 15 points, 5 boards

For the Hawks:

Cameron Tragardh 27 points, 6 boards
Kavossy Franklin 19 points (6 of 9 from the field, 6 of 6 from the line), 8 assists, 5 boards
Glen Saville 17 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals

Crocs come from behind 26 - 16 in the final quarter to get the win thanks to two late buckets from Rosell Ellis. Crocs got the win on the road despite being without leading scorer Corey Williams.

Taipans 89 Spirit 83

For the Taipans:

Ian Crosswhite 27 points (11 of 15 from the field), 11 boards, 4 steals
Martin Cattalini 15 points
Aaron Grabeau 11 points, 6 boards

For the Spirit:

Jason Smith 19 points, 7 boards
David Gruber 14 points (6 of 8 from the field), 7 boards
Matthew Knight 14 points, 6 boards, 3 steals

Cairns could've won by a lot more but shot just 20 of 34 from the line and had 25 turnovers. Sydney shot just 38% from the field. MASSIVE game from Crosswhite! Sydney running out of steam at the wrong end of the season.

At the end of round 19, the Dragons are still in first but the Tigers move in to 2nd on a 6 game winning streak. The Breakers fall to 3rd (won 1 of their last 5) and the Crocs are in 4th. Blaze still on the bottom, Hawks are now second last.

Adam Ballinger (our Shooter of the Month in November) was named player of the week thanks to his impressive performance in Adelaide's win against the Blaze. Ballinger had 21 points in the first half to put the game to bed before half-time.

Now to our Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. The dishonourable mentions go to Oscar Forman from the Breakers (for scoring just 7 points total in two losses to the Melbourne Tigers) and Blagov Janev of the Spirit (1 of 7 in a loss to the Taipans). The award goes to one time shooter of the week, James Harvey for hitting just 1 of 8 and doing virtually nothing else in 26 minutes of court time in an horrible loss to the 36ers.

And finally, as always our Shooter of the Week is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. The runner up this week goes to CJ Bruton from the Breakers for his 29 points, 8 of 14 from the field, 5 of 10 from deep and 8 of 8 from the line in a loss to the Tigers. The winner of the award is none other than Adam Ballinger (pictured right) for his 28 points, 9 of 14 from the field, 4 of 5 from deep and 6 of 6 from the line, as well as 12 boards in his team's win over the Blaze. Ballinger has continued his hot form in November and is now definitely the focus of the Adelaide attack.