Bruce Palmer on the 1989 Giants Championship and NBL coaching challenges

Bruce has over 30 years experience in basketball from his days playing in Melbourne to becoming one of the seven winningest coaches in NBL history.

The colourful American began his career playing with the Coburg Giants in the NBL before transitioning to an impressive coaching career which included NBL coach of the year honours in 1988 and the NBL championship in 1989.

Palmer's NBL coaching resume includes the North Melbourne Giants (1987-1992), Brisbane Bullets (1993-1995) and the Hunter Pirates (2003).

Topics include;

• How did Bruce Palmer's reputation as an NBL bad boy begin (2:00)
• The bond between US NBL coaches he shares with Brian Goorjian and Al Westover (13:00)
• Melbourne pick-up basketball in the 1970s and 1980s (21:30)
• How many imports should NBL teams have on their rosters? (27:00)
• What structure does the NBL have to take operate under to enable larger expansion (32:00)
• The challenges the Hawks face trying to play games in regions outside of Illawarra (36:00)
• Bruce begins his coaching career in 1987, wins coach of the year in 1988 and builds the foundation of an NBL championship win with the North Melbourne Giants (39:30)
• Coaching the Giants to the 1989 championship (59:30)
  The "Twin Boulders" Tim Dillon and Scott Fisher, where do they rank in the greatest import duos of all time? (1:11:00)
• The 1989 NBL Grand Final win over the Canberra Cannons (117:30)
• The biggest mistake Bruce Palmer made in his NBL career and what he learnt from it (1:21:00)
• Difficulties coaching Shane Heal during his time with the Brisbane Bullets (1:23:00)
• The growth of Japanese basketball over the past 3 years (1:35:00)
• Coaching in Korea and China and the hurdles faced over there (1:37:00)
• The financial disfunction that was the Hunter Pirates (144:00)

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Listen to our previous interviews with the biggest stars in Australian Basketball, head to Aussiehoopla.com. Check out previous podcasts featuring;

Australian Basketball Legends - Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, Leroy Loggins, David Andersen, Andrew Vlahov, CJ Bruton, Chris Anstey, Brett Maher, John Rillie, Tony Ronaldson, Brad Newley

Current NBL Stars -Donald Sloan, AJ Ogilvy, Damian Martin, Daniel Kickert, Thomas Abercrombie, Jason Cadee, Bryce Cotton, Chris Goulding, Mitch McCarron, Cam Gliddon, Anthony Drmic

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

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, Andre Moore, Steve Woodberry, Mike Mitchell, Dusty Rychart, Ebi Ere, Doug Overton, Kevin Lisch

And the men who run things - Larry Kestelman, Paul Maley, Vince Crivelli, Jeremy Loeliger, Chuck Harmison, Jeff Van Groningen, Bob Turner

All that and much more.

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