The 1997 Melboune Tigers - legendary team

Today's legendary team, the 1997 Melbourne Tigers.
http://classicbasketballtees.spreadshirt.com/legendary-teams-C159208

Having to deal with a mid-season return of Mark Bradtke from the NBA, the Melbourne Tigers started the 1997 season in very poor form with a 3–11 mark at the midpoint of the season. Marcus Timmons was brought in on a tip from former assistant coach Brett Brown. From that point, the Tigers did not lose another game until the second game of the Finals against the Magic. The Tigers would go on to defeat the Magic in Game 3 of the Finals to claim their second championship in front of their home-town fans.

The 2007 Brisbane Bullets - legendary team

Following on from the 1985 team yesterday, this morning's feature legendary team is one of the greatest ever assembled, the 2007 Brisbane Bullets.
http://classicbasketballtees.spreadshirt.com/brisbane-2007-A14751173/customize/color/4

Whether you consider them the best NBL team ever (or the best that money could buy), you can’t argue with how great the Brisbane Bullets team was that won the 2006/2007 championship. They were so good their bench players would have likely beaten most rival teams. “G-Unit” as they named themselves featured Adam Gibson, Dillon Boucher, Mark Bradtke (Dusty Rychart was the starter I believe), Mick Hill & Brad Williamson.

The Bullets won the pre-season title and then easily won the minor premiership, claiming an end of season record of 28 wins and only 5 losses. This included an all-time NBL record-breaking 21-game winning streak, marking the Bullets' most successful season since 1979. Brisbane went on to make their first NBL grand final since 1990 and took out the finals series 3-1 over defending champions the Melbourne Tigers to be crowned NBL champions for the third and last time (for now).

NBL Hall of Fame vs 1998 Adelaide 36ers

Here are some of the highlights from the NBL Hall of Fame vs 1998 Adelaide 36ers held last weekend. The Hall of Fame team features some of the legends we've immortalised in t-shirts so far:

• Leroy Loggins 
• Cal Bruton 
• Mark Bradtke 
• Andrew Gaze 
• Lanard Copeland
• Steve Carfino

None of them were moving too quickly or playing any defence but Kevin Brooks looks to have been the star of the show.

To represent your favourite NBL legend, check out our range of t-shirts here:
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Melbourne Tigers t-shirts

Gather round and let me tell you about a time when the league was booming, so much so, NBL players were household names!

Back in the 90’s when the league was booming, one of the teams to beat was the Melbourne Tigers who took out their first championship in ’93 and then won it again in ’97. Lindsay Gaze prowled the sidelines while his son Andrew was the superstar. He wasn’t alone as he was joined by two of the legends of the league, Lanard Copeland and Mark Bradtke.

Fast forward to the 2000’s when the big three had moved on, a new superstar emerged for the Tigers in the form of Chris Anstey who returned from several years in Europe. Anstey dominated the league helping Melbourne to another two titles in ’06 and ’08.    

As you can see from the pic below, we’ve come up with two different styles for this team, based on the team’s classic uniforms from back in the day.

Check out our store for team nine of the "Legends" range:
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Foot Locker Elite Classic - Day 0

I say Day 0 because the tournament doesn't actually get underway until tomorrow so today was the day before day 1.

I was up at 4:40 in order to finish my packing and get to the airport in time for my 6:30 flight to Adelaide. When I checked in to Virgin Blue I noticed my seat number looked like it was down the back but for some reason I didn't think to change it. Having dated a Virgin Blue flight attendant and knowing a few others, I was aware that they put kids, babies, families down the back of the plane. I found myself sitting next to a mum with 2 young kids which wasn't too bad until 20 minutes or so before we landed and all hell broke loose. Note to self: make sure to sit down the front on the way home.

When we landed in Adelaide, I got a lift in to the city with Mark Bradtke, Deba George and a couple of the guys that were helping run the tournament. I caught up with JVG at the Stamford and met a few of the players who had already arrived and were waiting to check-in. More players and coaches arrived gradually throughout the day and the hotel was soon buzzing.

I helped collect bios on the players for One and had to call a few of the guys that hadn't arrived to fill theirs in over the phone. The first was my boy John Rillie and the next was Stephen Hoare who both fly in tomorrow and then one of the local Adelaide guys (who I caught up with at the Dome.)

In the afternoon we headed out to the Adelaide Dome to meet with the guys who are running the broadcast, while a number of the teams had shoot-arounds at another stadium. We had a meeting in the Sixers lounge surrounded by team pictures of all the Adelaide players throughout the years. Before we left we saw some of the sequences and imagining One are running during the event ... they look pretty good. Cal Bruton gave us a lift back in to town where we grabbed some dinner before the evenings events.

I had some running around to do before a meeting with all the players and coaches. It was essentially a welcome to everyone, a run through of what would be happening over the next week and what ECB's expectations were of those involved.

The day begins early tomorrow and after my 4:40 start this morning its a quiet night in for me and hopefully a good night sleep. Can't wait for the tournament to get started tomorrow!

Around the league

The underground media in the NBL continues to do a good job covering the league and keeping fans up to date. John Rillie and DJ Rod have just released the latest edition of the OT while Andrew Gaze and Mark Bradtke are up to Episode 7 of Gaze TV.

The OT's special guest this week is Corey "Homicide" Williams who is hilarious as always. He certainly lacks no confidence and his street-ball stories alone make this episode worth listening to. Yours truly also gets a mention right at the end.

Gaze TV is good also. Drewey's interview with Russell Hinder after the Spirit game is hilarious. Russell is in fine form as usual and I cracked up when he dropped the "its what I do" comment. Its good to see the boys are now filming indoors rather than in the car park outside Tigers training facilities ... next thing they need is a tripod. The OT has its "dodgy accent girl" announcer, Gaze TV has a dodgy camera guy with a shaky hand! Also, still no mention by them about the OT.

More NBL news

While I'm catching up on everything NBL, today saw the announcement of the NBL player of the week that went to Adelaide 36er Luke Schenscher (below). Thanks to his outstanding 33 points and 20 rebounds against Perth he took the honour ahead of Redhage, Ere, Homicide and Anstey ... amongst others. Luke's 30-20 night was the first by a sixer since Mark Bradtke in 1992!!

Also in Adelaide, Boti is calling for the axe to drop in his latest article.

Could Australians soon be seeing NBA games back on free-to-air TV again? The Age better not be teasing me! Thanks to Glockers for the scoop.

(Luke Schenscher ... get a haircut!)

NBL coverage

If you're missing the Foxtel coverage of the NBL that you're used to or worse, like me your favourite team is no longer in the league ... there are still plenty of ways to keep up to date with the action in this "in-between" season.

The guys down in Adelaide have their own internet show "Hoops TV" (their username is: TheAdelaide36ers) and they're now up to about episode 5. Not to be outdone, Andrew Gaze and Mark Bradtke are doing similar with "Gaze TV" (their username is: 50hoges). I've watched their first two episodes so far and they're both funny guys so it makes for some light-hearted, entertaining coverage of the NBL. You can check out both shows on youtube.

Also keeping up news on the NBL are John Rillie and DJ Rod with their weekly podcasts including special guests. You can find them on JR's blog ... I've only got through two of them so far, but again interesting stuff and should take care of your NBL fix.