I think blind freddy could coach the Wildcats. The roster is sooooo much better than the rest. I never once saw Gleeson draw up any good plays. You saw his work at the Tigers yeah?

Joey Wright is a proven top coach and has done a great job with a pretty weak roster. 36ers desperately need a couple who can own the boards and dominate the post.

Breakers were a huge surprise to me. I still rate their roster so unsure what happened this year.

Beveridge built the core of the current roster so in a way he deserves a bit of credit for that. Some will say Gleeson inherited a stacked roster and hit the import jackpot, correct on both counts though Heal had a stacked roster at Sydney and they failed miserably.

lol, Shitneys roster was never a patch on the Perth one.

Heal is/was a ham though. Almost as good/bad as moose. Probably better than moose for a laugh all things considered. :)

Spot on #064, give Sydney's roster to Joey, Gordie or Trevor and they would have at least made the playoffs

I recall reading somewhere (I think it was one of Damo's articles for the NBL website) that a lot of Gleeson's gameplan this season has been "just do what Bevo had you do."

Yea Bevo gave them a great base to work with and great core of aussie players, who all work hard at both ends.

Gleeson helped them get 2 top imports (i know atleast Beal was his pick up, not sure if he was overly involved in the Ennis signing) and gave them a fair bit of freedom and confidence, which helped them take the next step. This type of things happens all the time, even when Smyth took over Adelaide he came in added Brooks and Mee and gave them freedom and we all know the results, guys like Cat had breakout seasons.

Some of the Perth players played a bit cleaner than last year, not sure if thats Gleesons coaching or the refs tightening up in general that caused that, but it resulted in the focus being on basketball, not purely beating the crap out of their opponent (albeit some games where cleaner than others).

To me thats what helped them take the next step, (Cedric Jackson leaving the NBL also helped!) and Gleeson deserves plenty of credit, but Bevo bringing guys like Martin, Knight, Wagstaff, etc to the club and working them very hard also helped.

I would say both Bevo and Gleeson (i was a fan of Gleeson at Townsville) are good coaches with their strengths and weaknesses and both have coached perth to a title each.

You could also argue that Clarke played his role at the 36ers bringing DJ, etc to the club, but no one is arguing Wright is a massive coaching upgrade.

So lets not downgrade Bevo or Gleeson both are good at what they do and most NBL clubs would be happy to bring Bevo in as coach if they had a vacancy id say.

Bevo installed a great culture and specifically a defensive culture on the floor. Gleeson then added a bit of offensive punch to that which put them over the edge. I think Bevo does need a lot of credit because I've never seen a previous Gleeson team defend like that, and I watched him closely for five seasons in Townsville. But who knows, maybe he just never had the right players -- he did have a few defensive duds playing for him in his time in Townsville.

Spot on Mick re Bevos defensive culture.

I'd say Gleeson also had a few more defensive players on his roster in Perth and also more resources in general at his disposal. Perth being the richest NBL club.

He had some ok rosters at Townsville, but never had a import combo as good as Beal/Ennis and wouldnt have had many Aussies as good as D.Martin, where he had all 3 this season. Perth likely spend more on there roster which helps get these things, which can make a huge difference to a teams/coaches success.

On a side note, Imagine if Geordie ever got a 'expensive' Perth like roster/team budget.

That would be scary for everyone else!

He does so much with so little, its amazing imo.

We really do have some good coaches in the NBL, and Aus Basketball.

No doubt the result gave Bevo some satisfaction...however a bit bitter, I'm sure.

Put me in the core/culture camp too. Martin, Wagstaff, Hire, Redhage, Knight could probably play well enough without a coach.

Not to say that Gleeson was abysmal previously, but he did start with a grand final runner up who are clearly the richest team in the league.

Please poker, Joey wright a proven coach, he won a championship also with a loaded team, why does everyone bash gleesons coaching.

There was even an article a week or so ago that talked about the influence the senior/"Bevo" guys have on the team, in particular, the defense they play. I'd say after four years of being damn good, there was no way those players weren't going to want to be just as good defensively so I'd say Bevo has to take credit for instilling that in to them.

Whoops, just saw Mick's comment above.

the skill set required to coach a cellar dweller team Vs a team of ego's and settled players is entirely different......well done Trev.

Please poker, Joey wright a proven coach, he won a championship also with a loaded team

Just seems like a stupid debate to me. Why does it matter that there may be an element of Bevos legacy still contributing to the current teams success ?

They got the job done and he is the current head coach. Seems like a more than capable coach regardless. Same as Bevo and Joey.

Gleeson had an awesome year & to sell him short is typical of our 'small poppy' mentality. To say 'do what bevo did' shows respect to the previous coach & works on the strengths this group already had! Trev is a terrific bloke & great coach & he just shoved it up Anstey & the Tigers by proving them horribly wrong. Yes his roster was stacked but yes he got it right!!

Poker...you believe that this Sixer's team is a pretty weak team?

How did it get to the finals then?

I remember David Parkin coached a Carlton side to a flag in the 80's & everyone said how they didnt need a coach that year.

Bollocks!!

Well done Gleeson & with crafty coaches like joey around thats what makes it special.

Gleeson holds the record for most successful coach in Townsville history. Fact. Made playoffs all five yrs there and was never expected to with the rosters he had. Fact. Coached one year in Melbourne under very difficult circumstances (need I say more?). Fact. From memory (correct me if I'm wrong), he equalled the previous year record when in Melbourne. He is the only NBL coach to also have AFL coaching experience which he credits for part of this years win. Fact. He did an amazing job of recruiting imports due to his tight USA connections. Fact. He just won the Grand Final in his first year. Fact. Fact. Fact!

What the hell are you nay sayers on about FFS. No worries at all, we're happy to keep him in Perth and watch him win more championships while you all continue to whinge about him. Fact. Ha!

So, if instead of getting Gleeson, the Wildcats had, for instance, poached Heal, do we think Wildcats would win the title/make playoffs? And if they had nabbed Wright or Gordie, does the team go 26-2 or something silly like that?

It can't be denied that the off-court resources of the Wildcats have done well bringing this team together and providing their coaches with every tool to develop them and any coach given the reins has a leg up from the start. But you still need someone who can coach; give the team to Marty Clarke and "28 Straight" becomes "Wasn't that 27 year streak cool?"

"Poker...you believe that this Sixer's team is a pretty weak team?

How did it get to the finals then?"

I stand by my comment that Adelaides roster is weak. It's a little league team compared with the bigger bodied Perth. The core is good and with a few changes IMO should be able to go one better.

Adelaide made the final this year because Melbourne is far too streaky and a bit of a one trick pony and Wollongong was eliminated by Perth.

Melbourne does need some greater consistency; hard to win a title without some sort of reliability, and one streaky shooter isn't the trick.

"and one streaky shooter isn't the trick."

Agreed, but god damn the boy can shoot!

He just won the Grand Final in his first year.

Agreed Isaac....I'd say they're both great coaches. Different style, both great.

Very true, everyone is forgetting Matty's injury which was significant. One could easily argue he did what Bevo couldn't. On him I say. One hell of a job.

What did he do that Bevo couldn't?

Wait for Cedric Jackson to leave New Zealand...

Gleeson has done great things throughout his Australian Bball career. I know him as the ultimate professional. The first guy at the office and often last to leave. I couldn't be happier for him. And I hope the Tigers like eating their humble pie. I guess one way to solve the Bevo/Gleeson argument is to give Bevo Sydney and see how he goes on a more limited budget. Gleeson proved his ability when in Townsville.

Anon - 470443

Sounds like a comment from an uneducated person who has not idea how to people manage. Whether its AFL,NBL or the Aussie Swim team its still takes alot of skill to not only manage the different personalities but also implement a game plan.
I would think that with an AFL list having 40 odd players there would be specific attributes that would tranlate into basketball.

The anon is misunderstanding what Gleeson's point had been; which was that if you have a team like the Wildcats playing group, with a leader like Martin, sometimes the best thing you can do is put the onus on the players and see what they come up with.

They're a pretty savvy bunch, after all.

Championships are not won by a coach - come on people... they are bought by an organization the offseason....All the coaches mentioned can coach...Bevo has proven to be one of the best in Australia hands down….

But "coaching" and championships don't go hand in hand - Professional basketball is all about managing talent and having the best talent.

The Wildcats had a good core of Australian players - injuries or not - under Bevo it was not enough to win the championship in his last year…..Simple answer NO IMPORTS - Not enough talent. Fast fwd a year, same group NEW TALENTED IMPORTS - more talent = CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

I love the comment - "Gleeson didn't draw up a good play all year"...And nor should he….This is PROFESSIONAL basketball...his job is to get the best player the ball and make sure no one gets in the way….What awesome plays would you draw up for Kevin Durant or Lebron James? Just get them the ball with space and get out of the way…THEY ARE PROS - its what they are paid to do.

I wonder if Phil Jackson used to yell out to Jordan or Shaq or Kobe "run the offense"…..Sometimes i feel we confuse "over coaching" with "great coaching"…..Great coaching is winning. Thats all - great coaches WIN!!! No set way how, they WIN….and they usually have the best talent too….

Every "great coach" in history has had a championship ready team hand-delivered to him in the off season….I dare anyone to name one who has not - Now my definition of "great" - again is winning a championship - so no coaches who haven't please.

Is Gleeson a better coach than Bevo? I don't know….But he won a championship

Juniors need great coaches, Pros need coaches who can manage a team with great players.

"I wonder if Phil Jackson used to yell out to Jordan or Shaq or Kobe "run the offense""
All the damn time. There's an entire book largely about Jackson trying to get Jordan to run the offense.

In a weird way 'doctor Basketball' make a good point: professional coaching is largely about managing egos and putting players in position to succeed. How successful the team will be is mostly dependent on the talent available to the organisation.

One exception I can think of is Geordie McLeod. I don't know if he's won an NBL championship, but he has recognized that (due to a constrained budget) his teams are regularly less talented than their opponents, and does a great job of disrupting opposition teams with unorthodox players and strategies e.g. Oscar Forman, matchup zones.

Perth were noticeably more talented this season, even without Lische, and a championship was always expected of Gleeson and the Wildcats. Given that Bevo didn't 'fail' in his tenure at Perth (IMO), I think he would have been equally successful as Gleeson with the 13/14 roster.