THOSE IN KNOW - WHAT THEY SAY
– Olympic basketballer and legendary coach, leading Melbourne Tigers for 651 games and two NBL championships. “Mike was a good, solid, honest competitor and that’s already showing through with his coaching. Those were some incredibly contested series and Mike probably got the better of Andrew. One thing about the Tigers back then is that we had a rivalry every week. Everyone wanted to beat us and to stop Andrew. It was probably a fair result that they beat us in 1996, but for us to win in 1997.
– Played more than 400 NBL matches and considered one of the best defenders of his generation. “Those were some of the great finals series as far as fever pitch goes. Having two cross-town rivals play three games at the tennis centre was unreal. Mike used to try to wear Drewy like a glove. He was always a fair player, but he was incredibly fierce. I wouldn’t say Mike was overly quick, but he was a great positional player and his best work was done by stopping Andrew from getting the ball. Mike was as tough as they come and he was actually pretty solid offensively and took care of the ball.”
Olympian, two-time NBL champion and grand final MVP for the Brisbane Bullets in 2007. “The hype around the league back then was huge. I was only a kid playing in front of 15,000 people in a local derby. The game was different back then and played in the paint. There were a lot of bloody noses. Mike loved a challenge and he took a long time to get his chance in the NBL and he took it with both hands. For him to stop Andrew was huge for us and that’s just who Mike is.
– American import who went on to play more than 500 NBL games, winning two championships. Was the grand final MVP in 1997 and is now an assistant to Gaze at the Sydney Kings. “Back then we played hard and we had respect for each other. But we didn’t want their respect, we wanted to beat them. Mike was a great guy and a hard-nosed player throughout his career. Any team that Mike coaches is going to be extremely hard to beat. He will be the kind of guy to get the best out of his players.
– Was playing for the ‘other’ Melbourne team at the height of this rivalry, but later was a teammate of Gaze and Kelly. “I wasn’t involved in that series but I remember it. Man it was some tough basketball. Mike was a great defender. He used to weight you down. Andrew Gaze is the greatest to ever play here and he got his measure. That was (Magic coach Brian Goorjian) method. He did the same thing with Jason Smith. He could wear down a player. I think Mike is going to be a great coach because when he speaks, people listen. He won’t ask anyone to do something he wasn’t prepared to do himself and he always went hard.
— Covered the NBL finals series in 1996 and 1997. “As a general sense there’s no doubt the Magic always had a weapon to go up against Gaze. First it was Darren Lucas and then Kelly took the mantle as a go-to stopper. That’s the reason why the Tigers didn’t win as many championships as they would have liked. Mike was a no-fuss player and that was consistent and that’s what Goorj would have loved about him. You have to remember that no player scored as freely as Andrew Gaze. The fact that Mike was able to stop him in those NBL finals is a testament to his ability.