The Age from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Page 41

10 focus SPORTSWEEK THE SUNDAY AGE 9 MARCH 1997 Clubs show new faces to fans NBL clubs are welcoming imports and using the preseason competition to assess their lineStephen Howell reports. TITH five weeks to go before the National Basketball League season, clubs are taking the game and its new faces those that are in Australia to the people as a springboard to the real thing. This past week, in Melbourne, last year's grand finalists South East Melbourne Magic and Melbourne Tigers, have clashed twice in a state league game at Sandringham on Wednesday and in the first round-robin of the NBL Cup, the official pre-season competition, at Dandenong last night. The Magic played its new import, point guard Brian Tolbert; the Tigers haven't gone to the airport for theirs, forward Jarvis Lang. The latest report from the club is that Lang is playing in Venezuela and is expected in Australia during the week he arrives, he will have to settle in quickly because star centre Mark Bradtke will miss the first four or five games completing NBA commitments with Philadelphia.

Also not expected until the season is under way is back-up forward Brett Jefferies, at college in America. He trained with the Tigers last year and is part of the arrival of Tolbert late last month confirmed the list. Coach Brian Goorjian says: "He's definitely a good player, he definitely has the skills we wanted, and now we're really happy with Brian Tolbert the person. "He has a great work ethic and everybody gets on well with him." Matt Moore (Newcastle) is Tolbert's back-up and the Magic has promoted young veteran Tony Ronaldson to share the captaincy with fellow Olympian John Dorge. The only other import yet to arrive is Illawarra's point guard Bryan Edwards, but already two players Brisbane's Leonard White and Adelaide's Jeff Brown are reported to be not up to scratch and, barring a great leap forward in the pre-season cup, are likely to be replaced.

NBL communications manager Brendan McClements says the Cup is important for players, who get games of quality, and the league, which can use the interest as a springboard to the season. McClements says the league is looking for consistency with the event and is prepared to take it to country and suburban strongholds yesterday was Dandenong, today Kilsyth (5pm and 7pm) and Geelong and Frankston are scheduled later in the month. This is year two of a three-year commitment to the NBL Cup in a north-south format (with some modificatons because of the reduc- Just reward: The Magic has chosen Tony Ronaldson as co-captain. early-season logjam for bench spots with Melbourne. Already out of the equation are two players from cut teams Geelong and Hobart: Supercat Matt Scalzi has signed with Canberra; Devil Mark Nash may have to settle for the CBA.

South East Melbourne settled on its 10 some weeks ago, and the return ticket Irvine's return Jim Irvine missed out on becoming Australian hockey coach. But, as Richard Hinds reports, Irvine still has an important role to play. A TIME when athletes, A are Sydney coaches jostling and 2000 to get administrators aboard bandwagon, the Jim Irvine took more time than most to take his seat. After eight years as Victorian and VIS coach, Irvine had competed with a field that included his friend and former teammate Terry Walsh for the job of coach of the national hockey team. He was still dealing with his disappointment at missing that post when Walsh, the successful applicant, phoned Irvine and asked him to be his assistant.

Besides some slightly dented pride, Irvine also had to consider his previous stint as a part-time assistant to former national coach Frank Murray before making his response. That partnership ended in 1991 after what a rock band might call "artistic And, given his success with his own program Victoria has produced a stream of players for the national squad and Irvine's Melbourne Redbacks were the defending National Hockey League champions Irvine had prospects of coaching overseas. But for reasons part-patriotic, part-pragmatic, Irvine accepted Walsh's invitation. The fact that the next Olympics will be on home soil, he says, was a major factor. "I know I would prefer to see if I could help develop Australian players to the point that they can win a gold medal rather than helping another team do that against Australia," he says.

Even more importantly, the role Walsh offered seemed far more substantial than the ill-defined function tion in teams from 14 to 11.) The result is three weekends of round-robin contests, with the final between north and south winners at Homebush in Sydney on Friday 4 April. (Obviously, the Sydney Kings, if not in the final, will play a curtain-raiser against a good-drawing team.) Year three has to be put on hold in '98 because of the switch from winter to summer the changeover season will start in February, allowing no time for a lead-up competition, and the first summer season will I begin in October, creating the same time restrictions. New at the other clubs Adelaide: Jeff Brown (US), Rupert Sapwell (Geelong). Brisbane: Leonard White (US), Toby Zaremba and Ben Thompson (AIS), Andrew Ramsey (Geelong), John Szgeti (Gold Coast). Canberra: Ronnie Henderson (US), Paul Denman (Canberra CBA), Matt Scalzi (Geelong).

Illawarra: Lachlan Armfield (Newcastle), Eric Crooks (Ballarat CBA), Clayton Ritter and Bryan Edwards (US). Newcastle: Tonny Jensen (North Melbourne), David Simmons (Melbourne). North Melbourne: David Stiff (Hobart), Mike Mitchell (Brisbane), Adam Barry and Cameron Jackson (CBA Giants). Perth: David Van Dyke (Newcastle). Sydney: Aaron Trahair (Perth), Cameron Dickenson (Townsville), Matt Neilson (AIS).

Townsville: Simon Kerle (Geelong), Tony de Ambrosis (Gold Coast). Back in the Job: Jim Irvine retums as assistant coach of the national hockey team. Picture: KEN IRWIN Irvine had performed under Murray. Frustrated by his inability to contribute, Irvine had quit that post after two years, with little input into the national system since. While their personal differences added to the tension leading.

to Irvine's resignation, he accepts part As well as his duties with the national squad, which will include overseeing defensive strategies and scouting the opposition, Irvine will travel the eastern states assessing the training and performance of players outside the Australian Institute of Sport program in Perth. That in itself represents a change of approach from the past regime, where players outside the AIS often felt isolated and insecure about their role in the Australian squad. "If a player wants to stay home or has to stay, that shouldn't be a barrier from representing their country and we have to go to them," says Irvine. "If you have a player who is happy and content, you get yourself a good Having coached at state level for eight years, Irvine admits the instinct to control the team may have to be suppressed in his early days beside Walsh. "You definitely do have a feeling of control and so what I've been doing with this job is trying to apply my focus to my own role which is the defensive area of the team," he says.

Irvine was with the Australian team that toured India in December, although that team contained mainly younger players and Walsh and Irvine acted mainly as observers. The Sydney 2000 campaign began formally three weeks ago at a national camp in Sydney where 30 members of the Australian squad and development squad set their long-term objectives. The competitive side of that leadup begins this week when a much stronger Australian squad leaves for the Pakistan Hockey Federation of the responsibility. "One of the things I didn't handle as well as I might was just focusing on my job rather than offering some suggestions that might have helped in other ways," he says. "You have to remember with all coaches, it is their job, they are the ones who get appointed and you have to work in with what they want." Irvine says it was not his friendship with Walsh that persuaded him to accept the job in fact he thought that may be an unwanted complication but the belief he would have a worthwhile role.

Golden Jubilee Invitational tournament, where they will also play the Netherlands, Germany and England. Jay Stacy has again been given the captaincy, while forwards Michael Brennan and Jeremy Hiskens, halfback Brent Livermore and full-back Jason Duff are among-the players given a chance to push for a permanent place in the 16-player squad..