Lindsay Gaze

Lindsay Gaze
Personal information
Born	16 August 1936 (age 87); Tianjin Ronggang
Career highlights and awards
	As head coach 2× NBL champion (1993, 1997); 3× NBL Coach of the Year (1989, 1997, 1999); Australian Basketball Hall of Fame (2004);
	Basketball Hall of Fame as coach
	FIBA Hall of Fame as coach

Lindsay John Casson Gaze

coach

.

He played for

Melbourne Tigers for 35 years, including 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL), winning two league championships

, in 1993 and 1997.

Gaze was the

FIBA Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

, as a coach.

Personal life

Gaze is the son of Albert J. Gaze and Avis M. Gaze. He has two older brothers, Barry and Tony, who is a former coach of the Australian national women's basketball team, the

Canberra Capitals, in Australia's Women's National Basketball League

.

Lindsay Gaze and his brothers were raised by his mother, after his parents separated soon after moving from Adelaide to

exhibition match during the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics

, although Lindsay didn't take the field.

It was in basketball that Gaze would make his mark in the Summer Olympic Games. In 1958, he chose to pursue a career in basketball, rather than football (and a promising engineering career) and although still playing, became the first full-time basketball administrator of the Victorian Basketball Association, accepting the position of General Manager. Lindsay Gaze held the position until his retirement in 2005, during which time the number of registered players in Victoria rose from around 2,000 in 1958 to over 200,000.

He was selected for the senior

1960 Bologna Pre-Olympic Tournament, which was the first Australian basketball team to travel overseas to compete for a place at the Summer Olympics

. Gaze soon established himself as one of Australia's leading basketball players, establishing an international reputation, when he was selected as a member of the All-Star Five at the 1962 Philippines Invitational Basketball Tournament.

Gaze represented Australia during the

under-18

squads, during his playing career.

His reputation for training led to his appointment as a coach of the Melbourne Tigers (MBA) in 1970, and also of the senior men's Australian basketball side in 1971, which he went on to coach at four Summer Olympic Games, in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984. His son, Andrew, was a part of the team that he coached in 1984. Lindsay Gaze would write his first book, Better Basketball, in 1977.

Lindsay was a part of every Australian Boomers' Olympics team as a player or coach, from 1960 to 1984. He covered each of the campaigns, year by year, on the Aussie Hoopla podcast.^[1]

NBL coaching career 1983–2005

Gaze was the inaugural

NBL, in 1984. He retired in May 2005, after coaching the team for 22 seasons. He coached in a total of 651 games, and recorded 339 victories. The Melbourne Tigers won two NBL championships, in 1993 and 1997, with Gaze as the club's head coach. He was a widely respected coach in the NBL, winning the league's Coach of the Year award three times during his career. He announced his retirement from coaching basketball, on the same day that his son, Andrew Gaze

, announced his retirement from playing basketball, after having played in 612 NBL games. Lindsay Gaze had coached Andrew Gaze during his son's entire career as an NBL player, with the pair forming the longest standing father-son partnership in the history of world sport. The pair would also author a book titled, Winning Basketball, in 1992.

Lindsay Gaze was also a member of the NBL Board. In 2004, he became a part owner of the Melbourne Tigers, along with Andrew Gaze.[2] At his retirement, journalist Stephen Howell of the Melbourne Age, wrote that history would judge him as, the most influential figure in Australian basketball.

CBA coaching career

Gaze was announced as the

Tianjin Ronggang, of the Chinese CBA, for the 2008–09 season

.

Awards and accolades

Played at the
1968 editions of the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament
.

Played at the 1964 Summer Olympics^[3] and the 1970 FIBA World Championship.^[4]
Head Coach of the
Australian national team at the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 editions of the Summer Olympic Games
.

Head Coach of the Australian national team at the 1974, 1978, 1982 and 1994 editions of the FIBA World Cup.
Coached in 689
NBL
games, with 363 victories (52.6%).
NBL champion (head coach) – 1993 and 1997.
NBL Coach of the Year
– 1989, 1997, 1999.
Australian Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, as player and coach – 2004.
Associate member of the
Sport Australia Hall of Fame
(SAHOF), for role as a coach and member of the SAHOF board.
Victorian Father of the Year 1992 (his son, Andrew Gaze, would also win the award in 2004).
FIBA Hall of Fame
inductee as a coach – 2010.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee as a coach – 2015 (formal induction on 11 September).^[5]
Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), in the 1985 Australia Day Honours, for "service to the sport of basketball".^[6]

Lindsay and his son, Andrew, are the only Australians that are currently in the FIBA Hall of Fame. Andrew was inducted as a player in 2013.

References

^ Lindsay Gaze on the history of the Australian Boomers.
^ "Lindsay Gaze | Sport Australia Hall of Fame". Retrieved 6 January 2022.
^ Lindsay John GAZE (AUS) participated in 3 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.
^ Lindsay GAZE (AUS) participated in 2 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.
^ "Five Direct-Elect Members Announced for the Class of 2015 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame" (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
^ "GAZE, Lindsay John Casson". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 21 September 2018.

Sources

Who's Who in Australia 2005, Crown Content North Melbourne 2005, page 789
NBL Lindsay Gaze page
Melbourne Age article on the retirement of Lindsay and Andrew Gaze
Sportal article on retirement of Lindsay and Andrew Gaze
Basketball Highway article on history of Australian basketball
1996 ABC Australia page featuring Lindsay and Andrew Gaze

External links

[1] Lindsay Gaze on the history of the Australian Boomers.

[2] "Lindsay Gaze | Sport Australia Hall of Fame". Retrieved 6 January 2022.

[3] Lindsay John GAZE (AUS) participated in 3 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.

[4] Lindsay GAZE (AUS) participated in 2 FIBA / FIBA Zones events.

[5] "Five Direct-Elect Members Announced for the Class of 2015 by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame" (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.

[6] "GAZE, Lindsay John Casson". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 21 September 2018.

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