Michele Timms

Michele Timms

Medal record
Women's Basketball
Competitor for  Australia
Olympic Games
	1996 Atlanta	National team
	2000 Sydney	National team
World Championships
	1998 Germany	Team Competition

Michele Margaret Timms (born 28 June 1965 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian female basketball coach and retired professional basketball player who played for the Phoenix Mercury in the Women's National Basketball Association. Many people consider the Melbourne native to be one of Australia's greatest basketball players of all time.

WNBL career

Timms played for four clubs in her WNBL career; Bulleen, Nunawading, Perth and Sydney. In 2005, Timms was honoured by the WNBL with the creation of the Michele Timms Cup. The cup is presented to the winner of the Bulleen Bombers-Dandenong Rangers derbies.

WNBA career

At the onset of the WNBA in 1997, she went to the Phoenix Mercury, for whom she played in the Finals in 1998, losing to the Houston Comets. Timms came within inches of giving the Mercury their first title that year; with the Mercury up 1-0 and needing only one more win for the championship, and Game Two tied at 66 with three seconds to go, Timms took a three-point shot that bounced off the rim's back. Ultimately, the Comets won that game 74-69 in overtime, and then the championship in Game Three. In 2001, Timms announced her retirement and almost immediately joined the Mercury's television broadcasting crew, a job which she held only for that season. She averaged 4.6 points and 4.0 assists per game with the Mercury; her highest scoring average in one season being 12.1 points per game in 1997. On 7 August 2002, her number "7" jersey became the first to be retired by the Phoenix Mercury, and only the 2nd jersey ever retired by the WNBA. Upon her retirement, she was the Mercury's career leader in assists.

In February 2005, the Phoenix Mercury announced that she had been signed as an assistant coach under fellow Australian and Mercury head coach Carrie Graf.

Timms played a very influential role in opening the flood gate for many of the future international women's players, especially Australian women basketball stars.

International career

Timms began her professional basketball career in 1984 in Australia. In 1989, she became the first Australian (male or female) to play professional basketball internationally when she went to Germany to play with the Lotus München team. While there, she got a chance to play alongside Marlies Askamp, who would later also play with her on the Mercury. While there, she was named the Women's International Player of The Year in 1994 and 1996. She was selected to the WNBL All team 7 times (1988–92, 1994, 1996)

Also in 1996, at her second Summer Olympics, she helped the Australian national women's basketball team earn their first Olympic medal, a bronze at the Atlanta competition. Four years later Timms was on the squad that captured the silver medal in front of their own crowd.

Coaching career

She worked as the basketball development officer for the South Dragons in the Australian National Basketball League. During her time with the Dragons, she impressed many of the club's staff and players with her sound knowledge of the game and excellent coaching skills. She left the club on 9 January 2008 and during the middle of the Dragons' season, to fulfill her career ambitions by moving to the United States.^[1]

She was an assistant coach with China women's national basketball team, reuniting her with her former Opals coach Tom Maher.^[2]

In 2009, Timms was appointed as an assistant coach of the Jayco Australian Opals, the Australia women's national basketball team. She was also appointed an assistant coach of the Global Metals Bulleen Boomers in the Women's National Basketball League.

Honours

Timms was named the Women's International Player of The Year in 1994 and 1996. She received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2003.^[3][4] In 2008, Timms was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.^[5]

Vital statistics

• Position: Guard
• Height: 5 ft. 7 in. / 1.7 m
• College: Australia
• Teams: Phoenix Mercury (WNBA), Bulleen Melbourne Boomers (WNBL)

See also

• List of Australian WNBA players

References

1. Timms signs off on Dragons, southdragons.com.au, 9 January 2008
2. Bernard, G., China calls for Timms, Herald Sun, 10 February 2008
3. "Timms, Michele: Australian Sports Medal". It's an Honour. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
4. "Michele Timms OAM". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
5. "WBHOF Inductees". WBHOF. Retrieved 2009-08-01.