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1997 Melbourne Tigers season

January 01, 1970

The 1997 NBL season was the 14th season for the Melbourne Tigers in the Australian-based National Basketball League. The club won its first NBL Championship after defeating the Perth Wildcats 2-1 in the Grand Final series in 1993. In 1996, the Tigers lost to cross town rival South East Melbourne Magic in the Grand Final series 1-2. A year later, they won for the second time.

1997 Melbourne Tigers season
Head coach Lindsay Gaze
Captain Andrew Gaze
ArenaMelbourne Park
NBL results
Record19–11 (63.3%)
Ladder2nd
Finals finishChampions
(Defeated Magic 2–1)
Stats at NBL.com.au
← 1996
1998 →

The Melbourne Tigers played their home games at the 14,820 seat Rod Laver Arena.

Roster edit

1997 Melbourne Tigers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt.
G/F 6   Giddey, Warrick 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 98 kg (216 lb)
F 7   Egan, Daniel 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb)
CG 8   Gordon, Ray 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 80 kg (176 lb)
CG 10   Gaze, Andrew (C) 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 95 kg (209 lb)
F 11   Jeffries, Brett 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 100 kg (220 lb)
G 13   Chapman, Damian (DP) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 80 kg (176 lb)
G/F 21   Copeland, Lanard (I) 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 88 kg (194 lb)
G 22   Wickstrom, Erik (DP) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 75 kg (165 lb)
G/F 23   Rainbow, Brett 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 100 kg (220 lb)
F/C 31   Smith, Blair 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 105 kg (231 lb)
F 40   Timmons, Marcus (I) 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 100 kg (220 lb)
F 44   Lang, Jarvis (I) 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb)
C 50   Bradtke, Mark 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) 120 kg (265 lb)
Head coach
  •   Lindsey Gaze
Assistant coach(es)
  •   Al Westover
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (I) Import player
  •   Injured

Depth chart edit

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Reserves
C Mark Bradtke Blair Smith
PF Marcus Timmons Brett Jeffries Jarvis Lang
SF Warrick Giddey Daniel Egan
SG Lanard Copeland Brett Rainbow
PG Andrew Gaze Ray Gordon Erik Wickstorm Daniel Chapman

Ladder edit

Pos 1997 NBL season
Team Pld W L PCT Last 5 Streak Home Away PF PA PP
1 S.E. Melbourne Magic 30 22 8 73.33% 4–1 W1 12–3 10–5 2850 2662 107.06%
2 Melbourne Tigers 30 19 11 63.33% 5–0 W13 9–6 10–5 3092 3028 102.11%
3 North Melbourne Giants 30 18 12 60.00% 3–2 L1 9–6 9–6 2943 2881 102.15%
4 Perth Wildcats 30 17 13 56.67% 3–2 W2 10–5 7–8 2933 2825 103.82%
5 Brisbane Bullets1 30 15 15 50.00% 2–3 L3 10–5 5–10 2731 2786 98.03%
6 Canberra Cannons1 30 15 15 50.00% 4–1 W3 11–4 4–11 2789 2773 100.58%
7 Adelaide 36ers2 30 14 16 46.67% 1–4 L4 7–8 7–8 2973 2922 101.75%
8 Townsville Suns2 30 14 16 46.67% 0–5 L6 9–6 5–10 3084 3015 102.29%
9 Newcastle Falcons3 30 12 18 40.00% 2–3 L1 7–8 5–10 2995 3173 94.39%
10 Sydney Kings3 30 12 18 40.00% 1–4 L3 8–7 4–11 2938 2991 98.23%
11 Illawarra Hawks 30 7 23 23.33% 2–3 W2 4–11 3–12 2906 3178 91.44%

Updated to match(es) played on 29 September 1997. Source: NBL.com.au

The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.

Player statistics edit

Regular season edit

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
No. Player GP GS MPG PPG FG% 3FG% 3P FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TOV
6 Warrick Giddey 30 30 31.24 3.38 .60 .00 0.0 .65 4.6 3.5 0.63 0.13 1.8
7 Daniel Egan 24 0 8.90 3.0 .48 .33 0.8 .60 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.3 0.2
8 Ray Gordon 30 0 17.40 4.77 .33 .27 1.0 .75 1.0 1.0 0.6 0.0 0.5
10 Andrew Gaze 30 30 48.00 31.68 .52 .39 4.0 .86 4.6 6.7 1.4 0.4 4.5
11 Brett Jeffries 11 0 7.54 2.45 .30 .00 0.0 .75 1.2 0.4 0.0 0.2 1.0
13 Damien Chapman 2 0 3.71 1.0 .25 .00 0.0 .00 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
21 Lanard Copeland 30 30 42.00 22.8 .44 .38 3.0 .80 4.6 3.1 2.0 0.7 2.4
22 Erik Wickstrom 8 0 3.44 0.30 .17 .000 0.0 .00 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 Brett Rainbow 11 0 4.50 0.92 .44 .20 0.1 .25 0.1 0.27 0.0 0.0 0.0
31 Blair Smith 28 10 22.30 6.47 .56 .00 0.0 .54 4.7 2.1 0.2 0.6 0.4
40 Marcus Timmons 17 17 38.84 16.82 .50 .38 0.6 .73 9.3 3.7 1.7 1.5 3.1
44 Jarvis Lang 8 8 42.30 19.1 .50 .000 0.0 .69 9.1 2.0 0.9 0.9 4.6
50 Mark Bradtke 25 25 44.20 20.36 .50 .000 0.0 .69 12.6 2.5 0.9 1.8 2.6

Team leaders edit

  • Points per game 31.68 – Andrew Gaze
  • Rebounds per game: 12.64 – Mark Bradtke
  • Assists per game: 6.7 – Andrew Gaze
  • Steals per game: 2.0 – Lanard Copeland
  • Blocks per game: 2.1 – Mark Bradtke

Finals edit

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
No. Player GP GS MPG PPG FG% 3FG% 3PG FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TOV
6 Warrick Giddey 5 5 33.96 1.4 .37 0.0 0.0 .75 5.8 0.2 0.4 0.6 2.0
7 Daniel Egan 4 0 4.90 3.0 .48 .33 0.5 .60 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.1 0.0
8 Ray Gordon 5 0 8.84 3.4 .33 .27 1.0 .75 1.0 1.0 0.1 0.6 0.2
10 Andrew Gaze 5 5 47.29 26.20 .52 .39 4.2 .88 4.5 8.2 0.4 0.3 4.0
11 Brett Jeffries 2 0 4.60 2.0 .33 .00 0.0 .66 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.5
14 Lanard Copeland 5 5 40.00 23.8 .44 .38 2.4 .80 4.2 3.8 2.0 0.6 2.4
23 Brett Rainbow 2 0 3.26 1.5 .37 .20 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
31 Blair Smith 5 0 13.41 2.0 .53 .00 0.0 .50 4.0 0.3 0.1 0.5 0.0
40 Marcus Timmons 5 5 41.38 19.6 .50 .40 0.6 .73 10.4 2.8 1.2 1.4 3.4
50 Mark Bradtke 5 5 46.00 20.60 .51 .00 0.0 .74 11.2 2.5 0.7 1.8 2.2

Team leaders edit

  • Points per game: 26.20 – Andrew Gaze
  • Rebounds per game: 11.20 – Mark Bradtke
  • Assists per game: 8.2 – Andrew Gaze
  • Steals per game: 2.4 – Lanard Copeland
  • Blocks per game: 1.8 – Mark Bradtke

Awards edit

NBL award winners edit

Season summary edit

Regular season edit

The 1997 Melbourne Tigers were determined to go one better and avenge their Grand Final loss to the South East Melbourne magic in 1996. Melbourne let go longtime import Dave Simmons after eight years and one championship with the power forward. In Simmons' place they signed import forward Jarvis Lang.

The Tigers had a slow start to the season, starting off the season at 4-9. There was talk in the Herald Sun about sacking the team's long-term head coach Lindsey Gaze, but it was the import Jarvis Lang, who was dealing with knee soreness and struggling to learn the Tigers' shuffle offense, that was let go. In turn the Tigers turned the season around by winning 16 straight games 17-1 during the end of the regular season and finals.

The Tigers went from second last at 4-9 on the ladder during the start of the season to finishing in second place at 19-11, with a 13-game winning streak to end the regular season. The Tigers were meant to finish the regular season with a 20-10 record, but because of some paper work that wasn’t finalized, the league stripped the Tigers of a win over in round 3 against the 36ers. As expected, the team was led by Andrew Gaze, who had one of his best shooting seasons of his career, averaging just on 4 3 point field goals made making 143 for the season, whilst averaging his typical over 30 points per game and over 6 assists. Alongside him in the back court, Lanard Copeland averaged his typical over 22 points for the season, whilst big man Mark Bradtke anchored down low averaging 20 points over 12 rebounds. Timmons averaged over 17 points and over 8 rebounds. Andrew Gaze would be named MVP, and he and Mark Bradtke would be named to All-First NBL team, whilst Andrew Gaze and Mark Bradtke were named to the All-Star game.

Semi-finals edit

Along with the 1st placed South East Melbourne Magic, the Tigers were given a bye in the quarter-finals. In their three-game semi-final against the 3rd placed North Melbourne Giants there was little resistance, sweeping them in two games. The Tigers would be moving on to their second consecutive grand final appearance. Andrew Gaze was outstanding in the semi-finals, averaging 36.5 points and 9.5 assists per game. Ahead of the Tigers was cross town rival South East Melbourne Magic, the same team that they had lost to the year before in the deciding game 3.

NBL grand final edit

The Tigers' opponents in the 1997 NBL Grand Final would again be the South East Melbourne Magic, the same team that beat the Tigers in the previous grand final in game 3. All three of the games would be held at Melbourne Park, game 3 if needed. Similar to the Tigers the Magic swept their previous round of the finals.

Game 1 was a beat down from the Tigers, who were on full attack from the beginning, never trailing in the game and winning 111-74. Larand Copeland was the game's high scorer with 29, whilst Gaze added 23 and 9 assists. Frank Drimc was top scorer with 12 for the Magic.[1]

Similarly to the year before after dropping the first game, Game 2 was a lot better for the Magic. They started veteran John Dorge over the young Chris Anstey. The Magic bounced back to beat the Tigers, winning the close game to even the series at 1-1 and forcing a game 3 for the second straight year against the Magic and Tigers. The scores were 84-78 with Chris Anstey bouncing back from an average game one dropping 21 points in game 2. Lanard Copeland was the Tigers' high scorer with 28.[2]

For the second straight year the Melbourne Tigers played the South East Melbourne Magic in game 3 to decide who would win the championship. The Melbourne Tigers won the NBL championship with a score line of 93-83, the top scorer again being Larand Copeland with 26 points; Gaze added 22 and 9 assists. Lanard Copeland was named Most Valuable Player, and Andrew Gaze won his second championship ring.[3]

Game 1 edit

October 25th
12:00 p.m. EST
[1] Box score
South East Melbourne Magic 74, Melbourne Tigers 111
Scoring by quarter: 20-29, 17-32, 14-17, 23-33
Pts: Frank Drimc 12
Rebs: Frank Drimc 11
Asts: Sam Mackinnon 4		 Pts: Larnad Copeland 29
Rebs: Mark Bradtke 9
Asts: Andrew Gaze 9
Melbourne leads series, 1–0
Melbourne Park
Referees: Bill Mildenhall, Ray Hunt, Scott Butler

Game 2 edit

October 29th
12:00 p.m. EST
[2] Box score
Melbourne Tigers 78, South East Melbourne Magic 84
Scoring by quarter: 25-21, 22-24, 19-20, 12-19
Pts: Lanard Copeland 29
Rebs: Marcus timmons 12
Asts: Andrew Gaze 5		 Pts: Chris Anstey 21
Rebs: Mike Kelly 10
Asts: Sam Mackinnon 6
Series tied, 1–1
Melbourne Park
Referees: Bill Mildenhall, Eddie Crouch, Michael Butler

Game 3 edit

September 1st
12:00 p.m. EST
[3] Box score
South East Melbourne Magic 83, Melbourne Tigers 93
Scoring by quarter: 21-25, 15-25, 19-20, 28-23
Pts: Tony Ronaldson 26
Rebs: Frank Drimc 9
Asts: Sam Mackinnon 6		 Pts: Larnad Copeland 26
Rebs: Marcus Timmons 13
Asts: Andrew Gaze 9
Melbourne wins series and NBL Championship, 2–1
Grand Final MVP: Lanard Copeland (Melbourne)
Melbourne Park
Referees: Bill Mildenhall , Ray Hunt, Scott Butler

References edit

  1. ^ a b "National Basketball League (NBL) Match Centre - SportsTG". Websites.sportstg.com. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b "National Basketball League (NBL) Match Centre - SportsTG". Websites.sportstg.com. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b "National Basketball League (NBL) Match Centre - SportsTG". Websites.sportstg.com. Retrieved 27 June 2018.

Sources edit

January 01, 1970
1997, melbourne, tigers, season, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, june, 2018, learn, when, remove, this, messag. This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations June 2018 Learn how and when to remove this message The 1997 NBL season was the 14th season for the Melbourne Tigers in the Australian based National Basketball League The club won its first NBL Championship after defeating the Perth Wildcats 2 1 in the Grand Final series in 1993 In 1996 the Tigers lost to cross town rival South East Melbourne Magic in the Grand Final series 1 2 A year later they won for the second time 1997 Melbourne Tigers seasonHead coachLindsay GazeCaptainAndrew GazeArenaMelbourne ParkNBLresultsRecord19 11 63 3 Ladder2ndFinals finishChampions Defeated Magic 2 1 Stats at NBL com au 19961998 The Melbourne Tigers played their home games at the 14 820 seat Rod Laver Arena Contents 1 Roster 1 1 Depth chart 2 Ladder 3 Player statistics 3 1 Regular season 3 2 Team leaders 3 3 Finals 3 4 Team leaders 4 Awards 4 1 NBL award winners 5 Season summary 5 1 Regular season 5 2 Semi finals 6 NBL grand final 6 1 Game 1 6 2 Game 2 6 3 Game 3 7 References 7 1 SourcesRoster edit1997 Melbourne Tigers roster Players Coaches Pos No Nat Name Ht Wt G F 6 nbsp Giddey Warrick 1 98 m 6 ft 6 in 98 kg 216 lb F 7 nbsp Egan Daniel 2 00 m 6 ft 7 in 100 kg 220 lb CG 8 nbsp Gordon Ray 1 94 m 6 ft 4 in 80 kg 176 lb CG 10 nbsp Gaze Andrew C 2 01 m 6 ft 7 in 95 kg 209 lb F 11 nbsp Jeffries Brett 2 03 m 6 ft 8 in 100 kg 220 lb G 13 nbsp Chapman Damian DP 1 90 m 6 ft 3 in 80 kg 176 lb G F 21 nbsp Copeland Lanard I 2 00 m 6 ft 7 in 88 kg 194 lb G 22 nbsp Wickstrom Erik DP 1 90 m 6 ft 3 in 75 kg 165 lb G F 23 nbsp Rainbow Brett 1 94 m 6 ft 4 in 100 kg 220 lb F C 31 nbsp Smith Blair 2 05 m 6 ft 9 in 105 kg 231 lb F 40 nbsp Timmons Marcus I 2 03 m 6 ft 8 in 100 kg 220 lb F 44 nbsp Lang Jarvis I 2 00 m 6 ft 7 in 100 kg 220 lb C 50 nbsp Bradtke Mark 2 10 m 6 ft 11 in 120 kg 265 lb Head coach nbsp Lindsey Gaze Assistant coach es nbsp Al Westover Legend C Team captain I Import player nbsp Injured Depth chart edit Pos Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Reserves C Mark Bradtke Blair Smith PF Marcus Timmons Brett Jeffries Jarvis Lang SF Warrick Giddey Daniel Egan SG Lanard Copeland Brett Rainbow PG Andrew Gaze Ray Gordon Erik Wickstorm Daniel ChapmanLadder editPos 1997 NBL season vte Team Pld W L PCT Last 5 Streak Home Away PF PA PP 1 S E Melbourne Magic 30 22 8 73 33 4 1 W1 12 3 10 5 2850 2662 107 06 2 Melbourne Tigers 30 19 11 63 33 5 0 W13 9 6 10 5 3092 3028 102 11 3 North Melbourne Giants 30 18 12 60 00 3 2 L1 9 6 9 6 2943 2881 102 15 4 Perth Wildcats 30 17 13 56 67 3 2 W2 10 5 7 8 2933 2825 103 82 5 Brisbane Bullets1 30 15 15 50 00 2 3 L3 10 5 5 10 2731 2786 98 03 6 Canberra Cannons1 30 15 15 50 00 4 1 W3 11 4 4 11 2789 2773 100 58 7 Adelaide 36ers2 30 14 16 46 67 1 4 L4 7 8 7 8 2973 2922 101 75 8 Townsville Suns2 30 14 16 46 67 0 5 L6 9 6 5 10 3084 3015 102 29 9 Newcastle Falcons3 30 12 18 40 00 2 3 L1 7 8 5 10 2995 3173 94 39 10 Sydney Kings3 30 12 18 40 00 1 4 L3 8 7 4 11 2938 2991 98 23 11 Illawarra Hawks 30 7 23 23 33 2 3 W2 4 11 3 12 2906 3178 91 44 Updated to match es played on 29 September 1997 Source NBL com auThe NBL tie breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win loss record the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding Player statistics editRegular season edit Legend GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game FG Field goal percentage 3P 3 point field goal percentage FT Free throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game No Player GP GS MPG PPG FG 3FG 3P FT RPG APG SPG BPG TOV 6 Warrick Giddey 30 30 31 24 3 38 60 00 0 0 65 4 6 3 5 0 63 0 13 1 8 7 Daniel Egan 24 0 8 90 3 0 48 33 0 8 60 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 3 0 2 8 Ray Gordon 30 0 17 40 4 77 33 27 1 0 75 1 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 5 10 Andrew Gaze 30 30 48 00 31 68 52 39 4 0 86 4 6 6 7 1 4 0 4 4 5 11 Brett Jeffries 11 0 7 54 2 45 30 00 0 0 75 1 2 0 4 0 0 0 2 1 0 13 Damien Chapman 2 0 3 71 1 0 25 00 0 0 00 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 21 Lanard Copeland 30 30 42 00 22 8 44 38 3 0 80 4 6 3 1 2 0 0 7 2 4 22 Erik Wickstrom 8 0 3 44 0 30 17 000 0 0 00 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 Brett Rainbow 11 0 4 50 0 92 44 20 0 1 25 0 1 0 27 0 0 0 0 0 0 31 Blair Smith 28 10 22 30 6 47 56 00 0 0 54 4 7 2 1 0 2 0 6 0 4 40 Marcus Timmons 17 17 38 84 16 82 50 38 0 6 73 9 3 3 7 1 7 1 5 3 1 44 Jarvis Lang 8 8 42 30 19 1 50 000 0 0 69 9 1 2 0 0 9 0 9 4 6 50 Mark Bradtke 25 25 44 20 20 36 50 000 0 0 69 12 6 2 5 0 9 1 8 2 6 Team leaders edit Points per game 31 68 Andrew Gaze Rebounds per game 12 64 Mark Bradtke Assists per game 6 7 Andrew Gaze Steals per game 2 0 Lanard Copeland Blocks per game 2 1 Mark Bradtke Finals edit Legend GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game FG Field goal percentage 3P 3 point field goal percentage FT Free throw percentage RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game No Player GP GS MPG PPG FG 3FG 3PG FT RPG APG SPG BPG TOV 6 Warrick Giddey 5 5 33 96 1 4 37 0 0 0 0 75 5 8 0 2 0 4 0 6 2 0 7 Daniel Egan 4 0 4 90 3 0 48 33 0 5 60 0 5 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 8 Ray Gordon 5 0 8 84 3 4 33 27 1 0 75 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 6 0 2 10 Andrew Gaze 5 5 47 29 26 20 52 39 4 2 88 4 5 8 2 0 4 0 3 4 0 11 Brett Jeffries 2 0 4 60 2 0 33 00 0 0 66 1 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 5 14 Lanard Copeland 5 5 40 00 23 8 44 38 2 4 80 4 2 3 8 2 0 0 6 2 4 23 Brett Rainbow 2 0 3 26 1 5 37 20 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 31 Blair Smith 5 0 13 41 2 0 53 00 0 0 50 4 0 0 3 0 1 0 5 0 0 40 Marcus Timmons 5 5 41 38 19 6 50 40 0 6 73 10 4 2 8 1 2 1 4 3 4 50 Mark Bradtke 5 5 46 00 20 60 51 00 0 0 74 11 2 2 5 0 7 1 8 2 2 Team leaders edit Points per game 26 20 Andrew Gaze Rebounds per game 11 20 Mark Bradtke Assists per game 8 2 Andrew Gaze Steals per game 2 4 Lanard Copeland Blocks per game 1 8 Mark BradtkeAwards editNBL award winners edit NBL MVP Andrew Gaze All NBL First team Andrew Gaze and Mark Bradtke Grand Final MVP Lanard Copeland NBL All Star Andrew Gaze Mark Bradtke and Lanard Copeland NBL Coach of the Year Lindsey Gaze NBL Most Efficient Player Andrew Gaze NBL scoring champion Andrew Gaze NBL 3 point champion Andrew GazeSeason summary editRegular season edit The 1997 Melbourne Tigers were determined to go one better and avenge their Grand Final loss to the South East Melbourne magic in 1996 Melbourne let go longtime import Dave Simmons after eight years and one championship with the power forward In Simmons place they signed import forward Jarvis Lang The Tigers had a slow start to the season starting off the season at 4 9 There was talk in the Herald Sun about sacking the team s long term head coach Lindsey Gaze but it was the import Jarvis Lang who was dealing with knee soreness and struggling to learn the Tigers shuffle offense that was let go In turn the Tigers turned the season around by winning 16 straight games 17 1 during the end of the regular season and finals The Tigers went from second last at 4 9 on the ladder during the start of the season to finishing in second place at 19 11 with a 13 game winning streak to end the regular season The Tigers were meant to finish the regular season with a 20 10 record but because of some paper work that wasn t finalized the league stripped the Tigers of a win over in round 3 against the 36ers As expected the team was led by Andrew Gaze who had one of his best shooting seasons of his career averaging just on 4 3 point field goals made making 143 for the season whilst averaging his typical over 30 points per game and over 6 assists Alongside him in the back court Lanard Copeland averaged his typical over 22 points for the season whilst big man Mark Bradtke anchored down low averaging 20 points over 12 rebounds Timmons averaged over 17 points and over 8 rebounds Andrew Gaze would be named MVP and he and Mark Bradtke would be named to All First NBL team whilst Andrew Gaze and Mark Bradtke were named to the All Star game Semi finals edit Along with the 1st placed South East Melbourne Magic the Tigers were given a bye in the quarter finals In their three game semi final against the 3rd placed North Melbourne Giants there was little resistance sweeping them in two games The Tigers would be moving on to their second consecutive grand final appearance Andrew Gaze was outstanding in the semi finals averaging 36 5 points and 9 5 assists per game Ahead of the Tigers was cross town rival South East Melbourne Magic the same team that they had lost to the year before in the deciding game 3 NBL grand final editThe Tigers opponents in the 1997 NBL Grand Final would again be the South East Melbourne Magic the same team that beat the Tigers in the previous grand final in game 3 All three of the games would be held at Melbourne Park game 3 if needed Similar to the Tigers the Magic swept their previous round of the finals Game 1 was a beat down from the Tigers who were on full attack from the beginning never trailing in the game and winning 111 74 Larand Copeland was the game s high scorer with 29 whilst Gaze added 23 and 9 assists Frank Drimc was top scorer with 12 for the Magic 1 Similarly to the year before after dropping the first game Game 2 was a lot better for the Magic They started veteran John Dorge over the young Chris Anstey The Magic bounced back to beat the Tigers winning the close game to even the series at 1 1 and forcing a game 3 for the second straight year against the Magic and Tigers The scores were 84 78 with Chris Anstey bouncing back from an average game one dropping 21 points in game 2 Lanard Copeland was the Tigers high scorer with 28 2 For the second straight year the Melbourne Tigers played the South East Melbourne Magic in game 3 to decide who would win the championship The Melbourne Tigers won the NBL championship with a score line of 93 83 the top scorer again being Larand Copeland with 26 points Gaze added 22 and 9 assists Lanard Copeland was named Most Valuable Player and Andrew Gaze won his second championship ring 3 Game 1 edit TV 0 October 25th12 00 p m EST 1 Box score South East Melbourne Magic 74 Melbourne Tigers 111 Scoring by quarter 20 29 17 32 14 17 23 33Pts Frank Drimc 12Rebs Frank Drimc 11Asts Sam Mackinnon 4 Pts Larnad Copeland 29Rebs Mark Bradtke 9Asts Andrew Gaze 9Melbourne leads series 1 0 Melbourne ParkReferees Bill Mildenhall Ray Hunt Scott Butler Game 2 edit TV 0 October 29th12 00 p m EST 2 Box score Melbourne Tigers 78 South East Melbourne Magic 84 Scoring by quarter 25 21 22 24 19 20 12 19Pts Lanard Copeland 29Rebs Marcus timmons 12Asts Andrew Gaze 5 Pts Chris Anstey 21Rebs Mike Kelly 10Asts Sam Mackinnon 6Series tied 1 1 Melbourne ParkReferees Bill Mildenhall Eddie Crouch Michael Butler Game 3 edit September 1st12 00 p m EST 3 Box score South East Melbourne Magic 83 Melbourne Tigers 93 Scoring by quarter 21 25 15 25 19 20 28 23Pts Tony Ronaldson 26Rebs Frank Drimc 9Asts Sam Mackinnon 6 Pts Larnad Copeland 26Rebs Marcus Timmons 13Asts Andrew Gaze 9Melbourne wins series and NBL Championship 2 1Grand Final MVP Lanard Copeland Melbourne Melbourne ParkReferees Bill Mildenhall Ray Hunt Scott ButlerReferences edit a b National Basketball League NBL Match Centre SportsTG Websites sportstg com Retrieved 27 June 2018 a b National Basketball League NBL Match Centre SportsTG Websites sportstg com Retrieved 27 June 2018 a b National Basketball League NBL Match Centre SportsTG Websites sportstg com Retrieved 27 June 2018 Sources edit http websites sportstg com team info cgi c 0 189 12322 125723 369917 amp a STATS https basketball australiabasket com player Warrick Giddey Australia Werribee Devils 8140 https basketball australiabasket com player Daniel Egan Australia Townsville Heat 9957 http basketball eurobasket com player Brett Jeffries Sweden Alvik Basket Stockholm 15749 https basketball australiabasket com player Erik Wickstrom Australia Sandringham Sabres 25312 https www tigersbasketball com au 20th anniversary of melbourne tigers vba championship part 2 https basketball australiabasket com player Brett Rainbow Australia Ringwood Hawks 12349 https basketball australiabasket com player Blair Smith Australia Gladstone Port City Power 12470 https basketball australiabasket com player Marcus Timmons Australia Hawthorn Magic 24513 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1997 Melbourne Tigers season amp oldid 1174857494, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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