Brisbane Bullets

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Brisbane Bullets

Established	1979
Team Colours	Midnight Navy and Maize
Home Venue	Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane
Major Sponsor	BreakFree Resort Apartments
Championships	1985, 1987
Team History	Brisbane Bullets (1979-Present)
Chief Executive	Jeff Van Groningen
Coach	Joey Wright
Captain	Sam Mackinnon
Website	www.bullets.com.au

The Brisbane Bullets are a professional basketball team competing in Australia's National Basketball League. The Bullets are one of only two teams that have survived since the NBL's inception in 1979; the other is the Wollongong Hawks. The team plays in Midnight Navy and Maize colours. The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre has been the home base for the Brisbane Bullets since the mid 1990s. Until then they were based at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

The Bullets have two NBL Championships in their history, being successful in the 1985 and 1987 seasons, as well as having competed in the 1984, 1986 and 1990 grand finals. The team has reached the play-offs nearly 20 times.^[1]

The Bullets play at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, in Brisbane, Queensland. They are one of three current Queensland based teams in the league, the others being the Townsville Crocodiles and Cairns Taipans. A team from the Gold Coast will also be joining the league in 2007-08.

1 History
2 Honour roll
3 Season-by-Season
4 Current roster
5 References
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

The Bullets were established in 1979 for the foundation season of the National Basketball League, under the captaincy of Bruce Fitzgerald, and head coach Bob Young. Of the 18 games played during the inaugural NBL season, Brisbane won 13 and lost five, finishing in fifth place. Brisbane's Calvin Bruton finished as the league's highest points per game scorer of the season.

The Bullets made it to the finals in the second NBL season of 1980. Dave Claxton took over as head-coach as well. Finishing in third place, winning 17 of their 22 season games, the Bullets met the West Adelaide Bearcats in the second semi-final, losing 94-101. Brian Banks made the NBL First Team that season.

Brian Banks became the Bullets captain the following season. After making the finals in the second season, Brisbane did so again in 1981. Brisbane finished in fifth place, but first-placed St. Kilda did not attend the finals, as they were in Brazil contesting the World Club Championship. The Bullets lost to Launceston Casino City 69-71 in the first semi-final. In 1982, with new coach Rick Harden, the Bullets missed out on qualifying for the finals, finishing eighth. The following year season they finished fifth, still out of the finals.

Under new coach Brian Kerle, the Bullets' first grand final appearance came about in the 1984 season, though they were not successful in capturing their first championship. However, the following season they finished in first place and were again finalists, and this time were successful, gaining their first NBL championship.

The success in the 1980s continued under Kerle and captain Larry Sengstock, as they were again unsuccessful finalists in 1986, and then won their second championship in the 1987 season. They finished third in 1988, and made their exit at their elimination final. The following season they failed to make the finals, for the first t ime since 1983, finishing in eighth place.

However, the Bullets made a huge turn around the next season, finishing in third place, and going onto make it to the grand final of the 1990 season. The next season was not nearly as successful, as the team finished in ninth place, way out of finals contention. However, in 1992 the Bullets were back in the finals, making it to the quarter-finals. In 1993, Bruce Palmer became the new Bullets coach, and the team made it as far as the semi-finals.

From 1994 through to the 1996 seasons, the Bullets made it as far as the quarter-finals, finishing in fifth, sixth and eighth place respectively. David Ingham took over as head coach for the 1996 and 1997 seasons, with Brian Kerle coaching from 1998 to 2000.

The Bullets failed to get to the finals during the early years of the 2000s. The 2001-02 season was disappointing for the Bullets as they finished second last on the regular season table, winning just 4 of their 28 fixtures. The Bullets won 22 of their 33 fixtures in 2003-04 to finish in fourth place on the ladder.

The team qualified for the finals in the 2004-05 and the 2005-06 seasons. The Bullets finished in fifth place in 2005-06, just missing out on a quarter-final place. They hosted the Perth Wildcats at home in game one, though they lost 96-91 and were eliminated.

During the 2006-07 pre-season Blitz, the Bullets won all three of their group stage games to finish at the top of Pool A and advance to the quarter-finals. Defeating the Wollongong Hawks they moved to the semi-finals, where they beat the Sydney Kings to enter the final. The Bullets defeated the Melbourne Tigers in the final to win the pre-season title.

[edit] Honour roll

NBL Championships:	2 (1985, 1987)
NBL Finals Appearances:	1980, 1981, 1984-88, 1990, 1992-99, 2004-05, 2005-06
NBL Grand Final appearances:	5 (1984-87, 1990)
NBL Most Valuable Players:	Leroy Loggins (1984, 1986-87), Derek Rucker (1990), Steve Woodberry (1999)
NBL Grand Final MVPs:	Leroy Loggins (1987)
All-NBL First Team:	Brian Banks (1980), Larry Sengstock (1982), Leroy Loggins (1984-88, 1990, 1993-94), Derek Rucker (1990), Steve Woodberry (1999), Stephen Black (2004)
NBL Coach of the Year:	Brian Kerle (1984, 1990), Joey Wright (2004)
NBL Rookie of the Year:	Shane Heal (1988), John Rillie (1995)
NBL Most Improved Player:	Wade Helliwell (2002)
NBL Best Defensive Player:	Leroy Loggins (1987, 1990), Ben Castle (2004)
NBL Best Sixth Man:	Mike McKay (1996)

Source: www.nbl.com.au

[edit] Season-by-Season

Season	Results	Finals	Coach	Captain
1979	5th (10-8)	n/a	Bob Young	Bruce Fitzgerald
1980	3rd (15-7)	Lost semi-final	Dave Claxton	Bruce Fitzgerald
1981	5th (13-9)	Lost semi-final	Dave Claxton	Brian Banks
1982	8th (12-14)	n/a	Rick Harden	Brian Banks/Larry Sengstock
1983	5th (10-12)	n/a	Rick Harden	Larry Sengstock
1984	1st (19-5)	Lost Grand Final	Brian Kerle	Larry Sengstock
1985	1st (20-6)	Champions	Brian Kerle	Larry Sengstock
1986	3rd (17-9)	Lost Grand Final	Brian Kerle	Larry Sengstock
1987	2nd (20-6)	Champions	Brian Kerle	Larry Sengstock
1988	3rd (18-6)	Lost elimination final	Brian Kerle	Larry Sengstock
1989	8th (11-13)	n/a	Brian Kerle	Larry Sengstock
1990	3rd (18-8)	Lost Grand Final	Brian Kerle	Leroy Loggins
1991	9th (13-13)	n/a	Brian Kerle	Leroy Loggins
1992	7th (12-12)	Lost quarter-final	Brian Kerle	Leroy Loggins
1993	4th (16-10)	Lost semi-final	Bruce Palmer	Leroy Loggins
1994	5th (18-8)	Lost quarter-final	Bruce Palmer	Leroy Loggins
1995	6th (16-10)	Lost quarter-final	Bruce Palmer	Leroy Loggins
1996	8th (14-12)	Lost quarter-final	Dave Ingham	Leroy Loggins
1997	5th (15-15)	Lost elimination final	Dave Ingham	Leroy Loggins
1998	4th (16-14)	Lost semi-final	Brian Kerle	Leroy Loggins
1998/99	5th (13-13)	Lost elimination final	Brian Kerle	Leroy Loggins
1999/00	10th (7-21)	n/a	Brian Kerle	Leroy Loggins
2000/01	10th (4-24)	n/a	Richard Orlick	Leroy Loggins
2001/02	7th (14-16)	n/a	Richard Orlick	Simon Kerle
2002/03	11th (6-24)	n/a	Richard Orlick/Joey Wright	Simon Kerle
2003/04	4th (22-11)	Lost semi-final	Joey Wright	Derek Rucker
2004/05	5th (17-5)	Lost semi-final	Joey Wright	Derek Rucker
2005/06	6th (17-15)	Lost elimination final	Joey Wright	Derek Rucker
2006/07 (in progress)	2nd (10-5)	in progress	Joey Wright	Sam Mackinnon

[edit] Current roster

Brisbane Bullets Current Roster
Head Coach: Joey Wright			Edit
G	8	Stephen Black	(VIC; AIS)
F	24	Dillon Boucher	(NZ)
C	50	Mark Bradtke	(SA)
G	3	CJ Bruton	(Kansas;Indian Hills Junior College)
G	25	Ebi Ere	(Oklahoma;Oklahoma University)
G	1	Adam Gibson	(TAS; AIS)
G	9	Mick Hill	(VIC)
G/F	6	Sam Mackinnon	(VIC)
F	45	Dusty Rychart	(Grand Rapids; University of Minnesota)
G/F	4	Brad Williamson	(QLD)
F/C	10	Cameron Tragardh	(QLD;Oral Roberts)
(Inj) - Injured			Brisbane Bullets