Coach Al Westover on the highs and lows of the Melbourne Tigers championship years

Aussie Hoopla NBL & NBA Podcast

The Melbourne Tigers left possibly the biggest imprint in Australian basketball history, winning four NBL championships in fifteen years (1993 to 2008) and being home to basketball royalty like Andrew Gaze, Lanard Copeland, Mark Bradtke and Chris Anstey.

Al Westover, who was born in California and originally left the states to join the Tigers as a player during the 1970s, re-joined the team as a coach in 1992 and was a part of all four of the club's championship runs.

Al, who left the Tigers after playing in one NBL season with the team, returned eight years later to assist head coach Lindsay Gaze, a partnership which lasted until 2005 when Lindsay retired, and Al was named head coach.

In his first year as coach, Al not only won the NBL Coach of the Year Award but won the NBL championship with a re-tooled roster featuring Chris Anstey on his return from stints in the NBA and Europe.

Two years later, Westover and Anstey won another NBL Championship, a feat that saw Westover become the first coach in NBL history to reach the Grand Final in each of his first four years as coach, resulting in two Championships and two Runners Up.

Four NBL Championships and four runners-up later, Al was unceremoniously fired from his coaching role with the Tigers and never coached again in the NBL.

Westover remains the second-winningest coach in NBL history (134-74 win-loss record).

Topics include...

• Where Al Westover is coaching these days (2:00)
• Arriving in Australia as a player and memories of the VBL of the ’70s and ’80s (4:00)
• Why the Melbourne Tigers chose to play in the Victorian Basketball League instead of the NBL in the 1980s (7:00)
• Playing in the NBL during the 1980s and memories of the competition (10:00)
• Joining the Tigers as an assistant coach (11:00)
• How the Melbourne Tigers linked China to the NBL (14:00)
• The Tigers V Magic rivalry of the 1990s (17:00)
• The Tigers' first championship in 1993 (19:00)
• The second title in 1997 (21:00)
• How Lindsey and Alan juggled the coaching responsibilities of the team between 1992 and 2005 (24:00)
• Taking over as coach in 2005 and adding Chris Anstey to the roster (25:30)
• Winning the 2006 championship as head coach of the Tigers (27:00)
• Falling short to the Brisbane Bullets in 2007 (32:00)
• Coaching Chris Anstey (36:00)
• Coaching against his former Tigers teammate Brian Goorjian (40:00)
• Facing the South Dragons in the Tigers' fourth Grand Final in four years (44:00)
• Did the ‘Gaze Era’ Melbourne Tigers underachieve by only winning two titles (48:00)
• The Tigers sack Al Westover despite delivering 4 Grand Final appearances in five seasons (49:30)
• Coaching in Japan (57:00)
• The highlights and learning moments of his basketball journey (59:00)

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Listen to our previous interviews with the biggest stars in Australian Basketball

Head to Aussie Hoopla to check out previous podcasts featuring; Australian Basketball Legends - Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, Leroy Loggins, David Andersen, Andrew Vlahov, Phil Smyth, CJ Bruton, Chris Anstey, Brett Maher, John Rillie, Tony Ronaldson, Damian Martin

Current NBL Stars - Bryce Cotton, Chris Goulding, Jack White, Dejan Vasiljevic, Thomas Abercrombie, Daniel Johnson, Jason Cadee, Mitch McCarron, Anthony Drmic, Brad Newley, Kai Sotto, Luke Travers

Our Finest Coaching Minds - Brian Goorjian, Barry Barnes, Joey Wright, Adrian Hurley, Aaron Fearne, Rob Beveridge, Ian Stacker, Shawn Dennis, Dean Vickerman, Trevor Gleeson, Lindsey Gaze, Ken Cole, Will Weaver, Bruce Palmer

NBA Stars Past & Present - Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Stephen Jackson, Randy Livingston, Torrey Craig, Acie Earl, Josh Childress, Reggie Smith, Todd Lichti, Ryan Broekhoff, Doug Overton

The NBL's Greatest Imports - Darryl McDonald, Ricky Grace, Derek Rucker, Leon Trimmingham, Scott Fisher, Lanard Copeland, Mike Mitchell, Darnell Mee, Isaac Burton, Adonis Jordan, Shawn Redhage, Willie Farley, Al Green, Corey "Homicide" Williams, Steve Woodberry, Doug Overton, Kevin Lisch

And the men who run things - Larry Kestelman, Mal Speed, Paul Maley, Vince Crivelli, Jeremy Loeliger, Chris Pongrass, Jeff Van Groningen, Bob Turner, Danny Mills

All that and much more.

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