Gold Coast Blaze recap

If you're following me on Twitter you may have read parts of this story already, if not, here's the trip report from the Gold Coast Blaze vs Melbourne Tigers game last night.

I've been going to basketball games for the last 20+ years and including my 5 years with the Brisbane Bullets have had some great game night experiences. Firstly, when I was 17 one of my friend's dad had a corporate box at Boondall that he gave to us for a couple of games. We were of course underage at the time but that didn't stop us enjoying the corporate drinks and generally having a great night out. Then a few years ago, there was the time that Eddy Groves chartered a plane to take all the Bullets support crew down to Melbourne to cheer on the team in game 2 of the grand final series. As well as the trip, I was lucky enough to sit at the end of the player's bench to watch the game. But last night's Blaze game was definitely right up there ...

One of my friends organised some tickets for us and mentioned they would likely be corporate seats. I was keen to get to the game so the corporate part was really just a bonus. She received confirmation from Blaze GM Dave Claxton about the tickets as well as an invite for us to the pre-game cocktail party.

We arrived at the service counter at the stadium and were advised that Katie had just taken our tickets to which my friend and I looked at each other and jokingly questioned who Katie was. One of the staff walked us to the function room and introduced us to Katie who then introduced us to a few people in the room. We grabbed a drink, something to eat and then went over to say hi to Dave Claxton who informed us we were in the owner's box tonight with Owen & Katie Tomlinson as well as Basketball Australia CEO Larry Sengstock. Katie then came back and chatted to us and it was then it dawned on me that Katie was in fact one of the Blaze owners.

After speeches from Dave & Larry we chatted to the CEO for a few minutes prior to the game and then headed to our box. As we were walking with Owen & Larry we of course walked around the edge of the court and got the chance to say hi to Joey, Ronny, Big Joe and Gibbo before taking our seats. The box was of course centre court and it was great to watch the game with the league's CEO and have the owner's passing me beers all night!

Now, my observations from the actual game:

• Another poor crowd in attendance
• Ben Knight will not be back anytime soon from the knee injury he suffered in the first quarter
• The Gold Coast Blaze's defence and rebounding needs work and quick
• Blaze look terrible when they go to the "no-motion offence"
• Mark Worthington was a one-man wrecking crew, killing the Blaze for most of the game (31 points, 9 boards)
  
• Erron Maxey can play and will put up some large numbers this season (29 points, 7 boards)
  
• Blaze look good when they get offensive contributions outside of their stars
• Chris Goulding is a big chance for this year's Most Improved Player award
• Sam Mackinnon is still average from the free-throw line
  

It was great to see the Blaze come good in the second half and get a much needed home win. They looked dangerous for periods of the game and will be a contendor in this league if they can do that for the entire game.

It was a fantastic night and I owe a big thank you to my friend for hooking me up in VIP fashion. A massive thank you also to Owen, Katie & Dave for their warm welcome and generous hospitality throughout the night.

The view from the corporate box ... and yes, that's the back of Basketball Australia's CEO Larry Sengstock's head sitting in front of me.