Perth Redbacks
| Perth Redbacks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leagues | State Basketball League |
| Founded | 1989 |
| History |
Perth Redbacks 1989–present |
| Arena | Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre |
| Location | Bentley, Western Australia |
| Team colors | Red, black, white |
| President | David Simonette |
| Head coach |
M: Nik Lackovic W: Keith Horwood |
| Team captain |
M: Joel Wagner W: Jessica Jakens |
| Championships |
3 (1989, 1990, 1997) (M) 2 (1989, 2000) (W) |
| Website | PerthRedbacks.asn.au |
The Perth Redbacks are a basketball club from Perth, Western Australia competing in the semi-professional State Basketball League (SBL). The Redbacks are a division of the Perth Basketball Association, the major administrative basketball organisation in Perth's eastern suburbs.
History
Early years
The Perth Basketball Association (PBA) began life in 1964 as the Perth Men's Basketball Club. The original name was a conscious decision to distinguish the club from a netball club as netball was also known as basketball in Australia at that time. The founders of the club were Bob Symons and Peter Simper who were playing A-grade basketball for the University Basketball Club in the City of Perth's A-grade basketball competition in the early 1960s. Some of the other teams playing in the City's A-grade competition were Subiaco, Highgate, YMCA-Perth and Scarborough-YMCA.
A number of players in the University team had graduated from the University of Western Australia (UWA) several years earlier and were technically no longer eligible to play for the University club. Bob Symons also believed that it was time for a new team to play at the top level in the men's competition run by the Amateur Basketball Association of WA at the new and modern three-court basketball stadium at Perry Lakes, five kilometres west of the Perth CBD. Symons captain-coached the first senior men's team. The other players included Peter Simper, Graham Smith (St Johns), Len Vlahov (SLOGA) and Richard Longley. Simper, Vlahov and Longley were also all former UWA students. An A-reserve team was also formed to take up the other interested players. Almost immediately the club experienced success, and in the 1965 season, Perth defeated YMCA-Perth in the Grand Final. This success was followed by wins in the 1970 and 1973 Grand Finals, and runners-up in 1968 and 1975.
From 1964 until 1975, the club remained a men's basketball club with three senior teams and a number of under 16 and under 18 junior boy's teams. Under the leadership of Edmund Rogers and others, the Perth club began a very successful junior boy's development program emphasising strong fundamentals. The program produced many skilful and talented players who represented WA at national basketball carnivals.
In 1975, the Amateur Basketball Association of WA required all eight major basketball clubs in the Perth metropolitan area to field and promote women's teams. Swan Districts and East Perth joined the District competition (formerly A-grade competition) and all clubs were allocated districts to work and promote the game. Clubs such as Subiaco and Highgate, however, did not join and either merged with other clubs or played in the lower ranked Metropolitan (Metro) competition. That same year, the Perth Men's Basketball Club became known as the Perth Basketball Association (PBA) in keeping with the new structure. That season, the Perth men finished runners-up and the Perth women won the grand final.
In 1982, when the Weststate Wildcats entered the National Basketball League (NBL), several players from the PBA were in the Wildcats squad including Ed Cecins, Brad Cecins and Ian Frame. In 1984, the PBA men's A-grade side were defeated by Cockburn 86–78 in the District championship game.[1]
SBL
In 1989, the Perth Redbacks were the first paid-up and founding club in the newly formed State Basketball League (SBL). Perth won both the men's and women's SBL titles in 1989, and the men's title in 1990 all under coach Don Shepherd. Norm Majors coached Redbacks men to the title in the 1997 season, while Rod Justin coached the women to its second SBL title in the year 2000.[2] The women's team were also runners-up under coach Abe Kassab in 2001. In 1989, the PBA was also able to field six competitive junior boy's teams, six competitive junior girl's teams, and six men's and women's teams in the newly formed Western Australian Junior Basketball League (WABL).
Over the first 13 seasons of the SBL, the Redbacks men and women were dominant units. However, come the turn of the century, the club failed to produce the goods. Since 2001, neither the men or women have made it back to the Grand Final despite numerous playoff appearances.
In 2014, the Redbacks men signed highly credentialed import Stan Okoye, the 2012–13 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year.[3] He and fellow import Lee Roberts led the Redbacks to a third-place finish in 2014 with a 17–9 win/loss record, the best finish for the team since 2001 when they finished third with a 19–7 record. However, they were eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual champions the East Perth Eagles.
Signed to replace Okoye for the 2015 season was Ray Turner, a 6'9" power forward from Houston coming off a QBL championship with the Rockhampton Rockets.[4] To add to an already impressive line-up, the Redbacks signed former Rio Grande Valley Viper Marshall Brown three days before the team's season opener.[5] After entering into Round 14 with a 6–11 win/loss record, the Redbacks announced on 13 June that the club had replaced Brown with another former Viper in 6'9" forward Raphiael Putney.[6] The Redbacks finished the 2015 season in 11th place and missed the playoffs with a 10–16 win/loss record. Despite the poor season, Turner was named league MVP,[7] becoming just the second male Redback to win the SBL MVP award after Dwaine Michaels (1997).
Current roster
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References
- ↑ "1984 Championship - Cockburn Cougars V Perth Redbacks". YouTube.com. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ↑ "Redbacks hit 50". CommunityNews.com. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ↑ "Redbacks Sign Okoye for 2014". FoxSportsPulse.com. 2 February 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ↑ "Redbacks welcome Ray Turner". FoxSportsPulse.com. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ↑ "Redbacks welcome Marshall Brown". FoxSportsPulse.com. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ↑ "REDBACKS SET FOR COUNTRY CLASH". Facebook.com. 13 June 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
- ↑ "2015 Award Winners". FoxSportsPulse.com. 7 September 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
External links
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