Blaze vs Crocs

I was lucky enough to have one of my friends (thanks Nick!) hook me up with a ticket to the Gold Coast Blaze's home-opener on Sunday. I've got a friend's 40th coming up at Hyatt Coolum so I planned a quiet one this weekend and the Blaze game was the highlight. The first live game of the NBL season is always a highlight and after some major changes to the lineup, it was going to be interesting to see how the team looked.

The "look" was answered pretty quickly when Gold Coast found themselves down double-digits early in the game. Another friend who was at the game text me saying, "Worst game ever" as the Blaze found themselves down by 22 points in the 3rd quarter.

Just before it seemed that the home crowd were about to give up, the Blaze finally started to make some shots and they started to show some life. Sparked by Chris Goulding off the bench and solid play from Anthony Petrie, the Blaze started to work their way back in to the game. Superstar Mark Worthington also found his range and there was still hope.

Each time Gold Coast looked like it would cut the margin back to single figures, Townsville would immediately answer to keep them at bay. With just over 2 minutes in the game, Townsville led by 12 and I figured there just wasn't enough time left for them to really have a chance. A couple of turnovers from the Crocs and a couple of triples from the Blaze and the game was well and truly on. Miraculously the Blaze hit tough shot after tough shot and tied the game with 18 seconds to go.

It was here where the game turned on its head. Crocs point guard, ex-Detroit Piston, Will Blalock wound down the clock at the top of the key before driving left and putting up a tough runner. It missed and the last few seconds players were scrapping for the ball without anyone gaining control. Just as time expired the baseline ref blew a foul in favour of the Crocs and it looked like Gabe Freeman would step to the line to win the game. The Crocs celebrated but the Blaze were saying that time had expired and the whistle was blown after the buzzer. Head referee Scott Butler conferred with the scorer's bench and after much discussion ruled that time had expired and we were going to overtime.

Not surprisingly, Trevor Gleeson (Crocs coach) and the Townsville bench exploded at the decision. I'm not impartial, but considering the way the game played out in the final quarter, it would have been a terrible injustice to have the game decided on a scrappy play in the final milliseconds.

History now shows that the Blaze continued the momentum in to extra-time and got the win 94-90.

For the Blaze:
Worthington had 26 points (on 8 of 12 from the field), 6 boards
Petrie had 17 points (on 7 of 9 from the field), 9 boards
Harvey had 13 points, 8 boards

For the Crocs:
Blalock had 18 points
Cedar had 17 points with 5 triples
Freeman had 14 points, 7 boards

My notes from the game:
* Disappointing crowd numbers but that can be put down to the V8's, first game of the season, Sunday afternoon time-slot, etc
* Blaze are yet to secure a naming rights sponsor (they didn't have one last season either)
* Blaze were awful from the free-throw line (21 of 35) and need to work on this
* Blaze playing with one import, James Maye, and he'll have to do a LOT of work to survive the next month
* Blaze will take time to gel but showed in the final quarter that they should be ok
* Crocs have a good, deep team and they just had a rough weekend on the road

Two days to go ...

For a basketball fan like myself, its two days until (my) Christmas!!

Not only does the NBL season get underway on Friday night but our fantasy NBA league has its draft at 11pm on the same night. Basketball overload on the way!

Draft night has been one of the highlights of the calendar for the last couple of years for me. Half our league gets together for dinner and drinks first, a lot of crap is talked and then after a few too many beers, its time to select your team.

I did a mock draft or two last week in preparation, but tomorrow night I'll be doing some more serious research in to team depth charts and potential sleepers.

As for the NBL season, with still no Brisbane Bullets in the league, I'll be supporting the Gold Coast Blaze. Its been a rough pre-season for the Blaze so far with a couple of very sub-par performances, sending an import home already (Bennett Davison) and the season-ending injury to star-signing Mark Worthington.

It'll likely be a slow start to the season for the Blaze, but hopefully they come together and find some form like last year and can finish in the top 4.

Gold Coast Blaze on fire ...

Irony??

Big-Joe Tertzakian is on the side of the road, half way down the toowoomba range because the bus caught on fire! :( we're all out, fire extinguisher is empty... now what? :(

17 minutes ago via Mobile Web · Comment ·

• • 

    Danielle Casson Watch it burn???
    glad u all got out tho!
    x

    14 minutes ago ·
  • 

    Karissa Louise Milikins aww
    thats kinda of funny but

    14 minutes ago ·
  • 

    Danny Page ahhh The Gold Coast Blaze, everyones ok, can't help but laugh.

    8 minutes ago ·
  • 

    Michelle Verrall Blaze Bus on fire..... Now that's taking thing a little far isn't it, a 'tad' ironic??? STAY SAFE!

Big Joe in the news

I'm not quite sure why this is "news-worthy" but it was obviously a slow sports day on the Gold Coast. Good to see (former Brisbane Bullets) team manager Big Joe getting some love in the paper.

Blaze's Big Joe navigates Sydney Gossip News | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

BLAZE team manager 'Big Joe' Tertzakian has absolutely everything under control in his job of running the affairs of the squad, but finally CC has uncovered something he didn't have down pat.

The nationwide basketball identity travelled to Sydney with coach Joey Wright to visit the injured Jason Cadee and hired a Ford Falcon to drive out to the rookie's western suburbs home.

When the pair arrived at the hire facility they were upgraded to a plush new Audi complete with its own built-in navigation system.

Only problem was the system left Big Joe somewhat stumped at how to operate it. In particular, how to turn up the volume of the lady giving directions.

Needless to say Big Joe resorted to a very vocal conversation with the computer when all else failed and naturally that didn't work.

It's about time there was something he didn't have 110 per cent under control.

It may be a while before he is found out again.

Gold Coast Blaze load up

The other big mover and shaker so far this NBL off-season has been the Gold Coast Blaze. They took huge strides forward last season but weren't content with their semi-final finish and have definitely shaken things up again.

(Click on the links below to read the full story on each signing)

1. First they signed veteran forward Stephen Hoare.
   
2. They then brought in some youth and rebounding with Tom Garlepp.
3. Their biggest move was bringing in former Breakers centre Rick Rickert as a naturalised Kiwi so he will no longer be classed as an import.
   
4. They then signed Bennett Davison, former Tigers import who was a stand-out at the High Stakes Hoops tournament.
5. And finally (for now), they signed future star Jason Cadee.
   

The 2010/2011 NBL season is still a number of months away but the Gold Coast Blaze are showing they're serious about making a run at the title. It'll be interesting to see what other moves they make and what type of player they bring in as their second import.

Tweeting with the Premier

I mentioned in a post a few month's back that one of my good friends had organised Premier Anna Bligh to be the number 1 ticket holder for the Gold Coast Blaze. I speculated at the time that the over/under on how many games she would attend was 4 ... my friendly quickly e-mailed me and said that was way too high. Anna got her #1 singlet at the end of last year but until last night was yet to attend an actual game.

Yesterday I re-tweeted a message from the Premier that she was off to her first game:

I'm looking forward to seeing Gold Coast Blaze play Perth Wildcats in last home game tonight - Go Blaze!! about 17 hours ago from web

I then woke up to a surprise direct message from the Premier herself (or maybe it was one of her staff):

TheQldPremier

hey Dodge - Blaze won by 13 points after trailling every quarter - great game! about 13 hours ago

Turns out it was a great game for the Premier to see. Top of the table clash between the Blaze and the Wildcats with another strong crowd. Gold Coast trailed from the start but did a great job in shutting down Redhage and Schenscher storming home in the final quarter to get the win, 86 - 73.

The Blaze are now back on top of the table and put the top spot on the line tonight in Woolongong against the Hawks.

Blaze win and Gibbo gets POTW

Going in to this round the Gold Coast Blaze were looking a little shaky having dropped two games in a row, had been without Adam Gibson for a couple of games and then lost playmaker Ayinde Ubaka to injury.

Saturday saw the Melbourne Tigers come to the coast with momentum on their side and their season on the line. With the Breakers also finally stringing some wins together the Blaze needed a win to solidify their top 4 spot.

The Tigers came out strong and led after the first quarter but Gold Coast stepped up narrowly winning the next three quarters and after a big 3 on the buzzer from Mark Worthington the game moved in to overtime. In the final term tho Erron Maxey stepped up and the Blaze dominated 12 - 4 to get the important win.

News came out today that Adam Gibson was named Player of the Week for his contribution to the Blaze's victor. Gibbo had 15 points, 12 assists & 7 boards against the Tigers. Great numbers from Adam and the 12 assists is the stand-out stat for me, especially in the shortened 40 minutes of action.

Looking ahead, this week the Gold Coast Blaze play Perth at home on Friday and then head to the 'Gong to take on the Hawks. Hopefully the Blaze can take some revenge on the Hawks after the stinker they put up last time they played. In the final round of the regular season Gold Coast are away to the Breakers and the Tigers.

As teams jockey position to make the top four coach Joey Wright believes they need two more wins to ensure their spot in the playoffs.

Countdown to the NBL playoffs

On the back of the most obvious press release ever from the NBL about how close the season is, and with just one month until the regular season finishes, its time to start thinking about the playoffs.

The New Zealand Breakers have just announced Kevin Braswell as a second import for the remainder of the season. The Breakers are yet to find form and haven't been able to close out games in the final quarter. If Braswell can come in and give the team a much needed spark, the Breakers still have time to make the finals.

The Melbourne Tigers are at the bottom of the ladder but are just 4 games out of the top 4. They too are tipped to be looking to add another import for the last month of the season. The Tigers have won 3 of their last 4 games, if they can stay healthy and find the right addition to their squad, their not out of contention yet.

The Woolongong Hawks started the season as the Cinderella story, tipped to finish last they won the pre-season tournament and led the league over the opening months. Trouble struck the team last week when it was announced they have lost star import Tywain McKee for the season. They currently sit in 4th position on the ladder but have lost 3 of their last 5 games and look like they will slip out of the playoff picture.

The Townsville Crocs have been the surprise of the season for me. Croc Nation have jumped on the back of Corey "Homicide" Williams and he's led from the front and they find themselves just one win out of the top spot.

The Gold Coast Blaze started the season slowly but they've hit their strides and are tied with the Crocs in second place. They further strengthened their roster adding former Bullets Craig Bradshaw in to the mix. Despite their good form, the best news for the Blaze is that they still have plenty of upside and they're not playing to their full potential yet. If the injury to Adam Gibson turns out not to be too serious, look for them to make some noise in the playoffs.

The Perth Wildcats began the season much like the Blaze, slowly. They have now won 4 of their last 5 games and have a strong 9 - 2 record at home. Luke Schenscher took a little while to fit in to Perth but the team have found the right balance of late and have surged to the top of the table.

The top 3 of the 4 playoff teams seem set with the Wildcats, Blaze and Crocs. The story of the final month of the season will be which team will round out the four. Can the Hawks hang on to the final spot or who can make a late charge in to contention?

Gold Coast Blaze vs Wollongong Hawks

It had been a few weeks since I'd seen a Gold Coast Blaze game live and with the Wollongong Hawks in town, the top of the table clash seemed like the perfect opportunity.

With their Brisbane Bullets and Northside Wizards connections, a number of my friends were also at the game and thankfully we weren't the only ones and there was a decent crowd in attendance. They still have a long way to go before the stadium is full but it was probably the best crowd I've seen so far this season.

Here are my thoughts from the game:

• I'm not sure why Ayinde Ubaka (pictured right) came off the bench and didn't enter the game until a minute left in the first quarter. Check news articles in the next day or so as I'm sure the real story will come out.
• There were again times early in the game when the Blaze defence looked awful
• Erron Maxey has noticably cooled off from his hot start in the NBL
• Tywain McKee is very similar to Corey Williams in that when they want they really want to score, its extremely tough to stop them
• Cameron Tragardh is an offensive machine
• The game came down to a battle between Ubaka (28 points including 6 triples, 5 assists) and McKee (24 points, 5 assists)

The 88 - 84 win now moves the Blaze to top of the NBL ladder which is great considering they still have so much upside/room for improvement.

Gold Coast Blaze sign Craig Bradshaw

Clearly I have been out of the loop for too long as I was stunned to receive this press release today.

The Gold Coast Blaze are sitting in 2nd spot on the NBL ladder, on the back of a 5 game winning streak, and now sign ex-Brisbane Bullet Craig Bradshaw to replace Pero Cameron. If this was fantasy basketball that deal would certainly be vetoed by the commish as being unfair.

If you didn't already have the Blaze as title contenders, adding Kiwi big-man Bradshaw to their squad definitely makes them legit. He may take a little time to get back to NBL speed but this is a huge addition for the Gold Coast and he will add further depth to their frontcourt of Maxey, Vukona and Petrie.

PS. Yes, you can now rename the Blaze the Gold Coast Tall Blacks ...


MEDIA RELEASE

16 December 2009

BRADSHAW CLEARED TO PLAY TONIGHT

New Gold Coast signing Craig Bradshaw has received the all-clear to join the Blaze for their road game against the Adelaide 36ers this evening after his international clearance papers came through overnight.

Bradshaw and the Blaze had been sweating on the arrival of his transfer documents from the Korean Basketball Association and faced the prospect of missing his team’s big clash with Adelaide if they didn’t arrive in time. The papers were faxed through late on Tuesday night however freeing Bradshaw to join his new teammates on the floor in Adelaide.

The 210cm New Zealand Olympian should provide a significant boost to the Blaze, who will be looking to score their second win over the Sixers in seven days after notching an 80-72 victory over Adelaide at the Gold Coast Convention Centre last Wednesday.

The former Winthrop University (NCAA) standout was signed by the Blaze as a mid-season replacement for the injured Pero Cameron, who was ironically a teammate of Bradshaw’s on the New Zealand Tall Blacks national team at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

Bradshaw is no stranger to the NBL, having played the 2006/07 season with the Brisbane Bullets, appearing in 30 games and averaging 13.5 points and 5.7 rebounds.

In another ironic twist, Bradshaw made his NBL career debut for the Bullets on 19 September 2007 against the Blaze, scoring 13 points and grabbing four rebounds.

The athletic forward/centre holds an NBL career-high of 30 points, scored for the Bullets against the Sydney Kings on 17 October 2007. He also had 10-rebound games on four occasions whilst playing for Brisbane and came third in voting for the 2007 NBL Rookie of the Year behind current NBA player Nathan Jawai of Cairns and Australian international Alex Loughton of Perth.

Bradshaw has been honing his game overseas since leaving the Bullets after the 2006/07 season, and played for Efes Pilsen S.K. in Turkey before shifting to the Korean Basketball League where he joined the LG Sakers.

The Blaze’s game against Adelaide tips-off at 7:30pm local time at the Brett Maher Court at The Dome, and will be shown live on FOX SPORTS 3 from 8:00PM AEDT. Live stats for the game can be followed by clicking on the link below.

Gold Coast Blaze update

I'll get back to my normal blogging frequency within the next few days when corporate travel season slows down. This is the last week of madness before things die down for the Christmas holidays and then I can get back in to the world of basketball.

For now tho, here's a quick summary of the Gold Coast Blaze over the last weeks. The team is really starting to come together and heading in to round 12 they find themselves now in 3rd place on the NBL ladder thanks to a 4 game win-streak. Not just that, they're just one win behind the Hawks and Wildcats who are tied at the top of the table.

I mentioned in my last post about the team that they had one of their biggest challenges ahead of them when they had to go to Perth to take on the Wildcats. In what was likely the biggest win for them at this early stage of the season, they got the job done 82 - 78. Former Wildcats James Harvey and Chris Goulding took the chance to salute the crowd after the win which not surprisingly wasn't received well by the hometown fans.

The Blaze returned home and scraped over the line 69 - 68 against the Cairns Taipans. The low scoreline wasn't a huge surprise when you see that team captain James Harvey had an off night shooting 0 of 8 from the field. The fact that they were still able to win despite their star having an off night is the positive to take away from this game. I'm sure the game plan for the Taipans was to make it a slow, knock-down drag out affair. Not great for the fans tho as one of my friends who was there described it on Facebook as: has witnessed a lot of ugly games of hoops in his time, but Gold Coast vs Cairns last night is the winner. 69-68 win to Gold Coast. Wow

The bad news for the team is that they have lost big man Pero Cameron who will be out for at least the next month with a recurring knee injury. Its not a huge (pardon the pun) on-court loss for the team but with Greg Vanderjagt still out their depth will be tested.

Next up for the Blaze is a home game tomorrow night against the Sixers and then they have a week and a half before the Hawks come to the coast. I haven't been to a game for a while so I'm thinking the top of the table clash with the Hawks will be a good one to get along to. If they can get wins in both of these games it should see them take the top spot on the ladder.

Gold Coast Blaze heating up

Its great to see the Gold Coast Blaze starting to find some form and stringing some wins together.

My last post regarding them was heading in to their two game road-trip and how they needed to get at least one win. They upset the shaky Breakers in NZ and almost knocked off the 36'ers in Adelaide but fell just short.

Since then, they've defended their home court against the Townsville Crocodiles and last night against the Perth Wildcats. It was good to see them knock off the Crocs who won on the Gold Coast in round 1. Last night would also give the team confidence after they came from more than 20 points down to get the win against the #1 ranked Perth. The win set up by a defensive effort in the 3rd quarter that held the Wildcats to just FIVE points.

The Blaze started the season slowly but now find themselves in the top 4. I mentioned from day 1 that the Gold Coast would take time to gel and this has obviously been the case. Coach Joey Wright will be pleased with their development but will no doubt still expect more from them.

The keys to winning for the Blaze seem to be:

• So goes Adam Gibson, so goes the Blaze. When Gibbo has a good night, this usually leads to a win for the Blaze
• Gold Coast need offensive production from one or two players outside of their 3 main weapons (Harvey, Maxey & Ubaka). This tends to be from Gibbo, Petrie, Vukona or Goulding.
• Their defence is the catalyst for their offence.

Ahead for the Blaze will be a tough return encounter against the Wildcats but this time the two teams meet in Perth ...

Gold Coast Blaze - Testing week

I thought to myself today that I haven't seen or heard anything about the Gold Coast Blaze for a while. I checked the schedule and found out why ... the team only had one game last week and that was last Wednesday.

The schedule this week sees them on the road with two game, the first is Thursday against the New Zealand Breakers and the second is on Saturday night against the Adelaide 36ers.

The Blaze currently sit tied second last with the Melbourne Tigers but with the competition being so close still they're just 1.5 games out of 3rd. With two games on the road this is a defining week for the team. Their 3 wins have all come at home so they really need to get their first win on the road this round.

To win, the team needs to get out, run and get some strong offensive production from outside the big 3 of Harvey, Ubaka and Maxey. The Blaze need Gibson running the show at both ends of the court. Most importantly tho they need scoring from the second unit of Goulding, Vanderjagt, Petrie & Vukona.

Its going to be tough for the Blaze to go to NZ and knock off the Breakers but its not impossible. If they do lose tho, they need to regroup quickly and be ready for the 36ers just two days later. They should match up well with Adelaide as they have the defensive players to "contain" reigning Player of the Week John Gilchrist and bigman Adam Ballinger.

With 7 days off, the team should be well rested and focused. Let's hope that translates to their first road win and some momentum and confidence.

Gold Coast Blaze lose to Melbourne Tigers

After coming from behind at home to beat the Melbourne Tigers earlier in the month, unfortunately the Gold Coast Blaze couldn't do the same thing on the road last night.

I was out at trivia last night (which we won for the first time ever!) and since I don't have Fox, I didn't get to see the game.

Checking out the boxscore, here are my thoughts:

• The big 3 (Harvey, Ubaka & Maxey) all delivered, scoring more than 75% of the team's points
• They got virtually nothing from Goulding and Vanderjagt
• Mika Vukona had 6 turnovers but only 2 points 2 boards. The Tigers had just 6 turnovers for the entire game.
• Tigers dominated the paint outscoring the Blaze inside 52 - 30
• Tigers were led by youngster Daniel Johnson with 20 points, 6 boards
• Tigers had a balanced scoring attack with 4 players scoring 15 points or more
• Melbourne hit a very tidy 16 of 18 from the line

The Gold Coast Blaze really need to start getting some wins on the road if they're going to work their way up the NBL ladder.

Gold Coast Blaze vs Cairns Taipans

I didn't make the trip down the coast last night. Traffic would have been rough not to mention that its the what used to be Indy, then SuperGP, now V8 weekend in Surfers. For this reason (V8's), I'm not surprised to see that it was another disappointing crowd of roughly 2400 which is less than 1/2 the stadium's capacity.

From reading the game recap on the NBL website, this is the most pleasing part:
"but it was the defense of the Coast that was most impressive in a sign that the bottom placed team had turned the corner"
In the two games I've seen so far this season the Blaze have struggled on the defensive end getting killed on the boards and general allowing easy buckets. As the team gels and learns Coach Joey Wright's system, this was something that I knew would improve eventually.

Here's the other highlights from the game/boxscore:

• Ayinda Ubake (Chewbacca) top scored with 25 points (9 of 12 from the field) including 4 triples
• Anthony Petrie was a beast defensively with 10 points, 4 boards, 5 blocks and 2 steals
• Dusty Rychart was well and truly shut-down scoring just 2 points and 5 turnovers
• Erron Maxey was again solid with 15 points, 7 boards
  

The Blaze convincingly won the game 80 - 63 despite not getting much on the offensive end from young-guns Adam Gibson, Chris Goulding or Greg Vanderjagt. The win takes the Gold Coast Blaze off the bottom of the ladder and when they get all cylinders firing look for them to make a move up the leaderboard.

Ayinde Ubaka (Chewbacca) led the Blaze in scoring

Anna Bligh and the Gold Coast Blaze

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of my friends had essentially put together the relationship to have Queensland Premier Anna Bligh as the Gold Coast Blaze's # 1 ticket holder this season. It was this friend that hooked me up with the corporate seats for the last game and why we were treated like VIP's by the Blaze. Yes, I'm people who knows people! LOL

Anyway, when we were at the game last week my friend started to organise a time for Anna to meet the team, the front office and officially receive her #1 jersey. This all took place earlier today while the team were shooting around before their game tonight with the Cairns Taipans. Here are a couple of photos from the event:

Premier Bligh with Blaze captain James Harvey

Premier Bligh with Blaze team and GM Dave Claxton

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.

Gold Coast Blaze vs Melbourne Tigers

One of my friends has hooked me up with a corporate ticket to the Gold Coast Blaze game tomorrow night against the Melbourne Tigers.

This is my second game of this new NBL season and I'm hoping that firstly the Blaze can get the win and secondly that the crowd is better than it was for game 1 against the Crocs. Like the first game, I'll be tweeting updates so if you're not already follow me on Twitter.

The Blaze are currently last on the ladder but I said it before the season started, it will take time for them to gel. They've got a new coaching staff, new imports and a number of other new players in key roles. I saw it first hand when the Brisbane Bullets over-hauled their roster, we had a star team on paper but it took time for them to come together and

I found two good articles talking about the Blaze and their start to the season. Click on the titles below to read the full stories.

Time is Wright for side to fire Blaze | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

WHEN Joey Wright was appointed coach of the Gold Coast Blaze, he asked supporters for some time.

With an almost completely new playing group, he was only too aware it would take a few matches for his side to gel.

His prediction was correct -- the Coast are sitting bottom with one win and three losses.

But Wright says his squad is 'starting to look like a basketball team'.

There is a renewed confidence in the group after returning home on Saturday from a tough away trip to Cairns and Perth for two matches in three days.

They lost both games but pushed the Wildcats all the way on Friday night.

Wright -- an NBL championship-winning coach with the Brisbane Bullets -- saw enough to predict his side is on the brink of turning their form around.

The View from Downunder – Local Edition #4

Adam Gibson is an impressive young basketballer. When you watch the disciplined way he plays defence, and the uncompromising way he takes the ball to the hole, it is easy to forget that he is only 22 years of age.

But watching the Gold Coast Blaze put up just 66 points last Wednesday against the Cairns Taipans, it was clear that Gibson is still a developing playmaker. Just as the Blaze are a developing team at this point in time.

The way the Blaze played in Cairns was very un-Joey Wright, for want of a better description.

Wright has put together a small, quick, versatile team on the Coast, just as he did at Brisbane. When I asked him why he said: “In this league, as much as we want to say ‘big’ wins, I think the versatile teams win more games, and that’s what we have tried to put together.”

Yet to start this season, the Blaze have been a half court team, with Gibson walking the ball up the floor repeatedly. The half court offence consisted mostly of pick and rolls and clear outs. That won’t get the Blaze far, with no real low post threats and very few people who can create shots off the dribble.

Gibson isn’t a playmaker, he is more of a place-setter at this stage of his career. He is absolutely reliable when it comes to playing defence, pushing the ball in transition, hitting the open shot and scoring in the lane.

Gold Coast Blaze update

I didn't get a chance to post this on the weekend but it was great to see the Gold Coast Blaze get their first win of the NBL season on Friday night at home against the Wollongong Hawks. I'm sure it was dedicated to team manager Big Joe's birthday the next day!

I didn't make the trip down the freeway this week but the game looked fairly close for most of the night according to the FIBA live stats. It was pleasing to see a more balanced scoring attack from the Blaze this week, not solely relying on James Harvey to get it done. Four players in double figures this week led by import Michael Joiner with 18 and Ayinde Ubaka with 15. Mika Vukona was also active with 10 points, 13 boards.

Now it was good to see Joiner put some numbers on the board after a terrible opener, but I got the news on Twitter last night that he was the first import cut. So it seems his performance on Friday night was too little too late. I put up a story last week about how NBA players get in shape during the off-season and Joiner's lack of fitness was likely the reason for his axing. Click on the title below to read about his replacement.

Blaze make import switch

The Gold Coast Blaze have signed a new US import for season 2009-2010.

Former college and California Pro League player Erron Maxey has arrived on the Coast to replace the departing Michael Joiner.

At 100kg and 6’6”, Maxey is a strong rebounder with a handy outside shot who uses ‘outstanding leaping ability’ to beat taller and heavier players to the hoop.

'We put our team together this year from scratch and, quite simply, the eventual line up left no place for Michael,” said Blaze Coach Joey Wright.

'We've brought Erron in knowing that he is a strong forward and someone who has the leap and reach to block shots all over the court.

“He’s a hard working small forward who can knock down the open perimeter jump shot.

'With our team still developing our own playing style, we knew the sooner we could get him out here, the better,” he said.

Maxey comes to the Gold Coast with a solid reputation as an exceptional athlete, able to dominate bigger players at the post when needed.

Brisbane Bullets ... 1987

When I was on the Wollongong Hawk's YouTube page grabbing the link for the Hammer Drill, I noticed they had some Brisbane Bullets footage from WAY back in the day. It would be remiss of me not to share it as it truly is historical gold.

Key points from the footage:

• I saw Glenn Palmer at the Gold Coast Blaze game on Friday night, I'm not really sure he's aged!
• Darren "Spank" Perry ... ha ha ha, need I say more
• A very young Brian Kerle!
• "The Mushroom" working the Boondall crowd, which by the looks of it is pretty close to full. Kids, that's well over 10,000 fans and listen to them really getting in to it ... ahhhh, those were the days