Speaker 1: It's time to talk Sixers, Simmons off balance and an
Speaker 1: incredible bank shot is good. Here on the broadcast, the
Speaker 1: official podcast of Sixers dot Com, I Drive Doma. He
Speaker 1: goes in that slabs and oh man, what a play
Speaker 1: by it being. Now here's today's episode. My my, my.
Speaker 1: It is amazing to see and feel just how much
Speaker 1: a city, it's vibe, it's people can change in a
Speaker 1: matter of days. And that is certainly what has happened
Speaker 1: in Philadelphia, the surrounding Delaware Valley sports fans of this
Speaker 1: town all over the place since last we had a
Speaker 1: Friday edition of the broadcast. Brian Seltzer saying hello and
Speaker 1: as always thanks for checking out the podcast. Yes, it
Speaker 1: was a historic moment, unquestionably last Sunday in Minneapols Us
Speaker 1: and the culmination of a couple of days worth a
Speaker 1: celebration taking place on Thursday up broad Streets around Dilworth
Speaker 1: Plaza out onto the Parkway all the way to the
Speaker 1: Art Museum. If you had a chance an opportunity to
Speaker 1: experience the Super Bowl parade, whether it was in person,
Speaker 1: scrolling along with your feeds, streaming, watching the old fashioned
Speaker 1: way on television, hopefully you were able to take away
Speaker 1: some lifelong memories from however, you soaked it in and
Speaker 1: just a joyous experience. It was something and certainly it
Speaker 1: was a long time coming for the Birds and the
Speaker 1: city and the team threw down. As such, it's hard
Speaker 1: not to have the no one likes us, no one
Speaker 1: likes us, no one likes us celebratory song still stuck
Speaker 1: in your head after Thursday. All right, that's probably as
Speaker 1: much jurisdiction as I should have crossing over into football
Speaker 1: talk territory right well, whether it is or it is not.
Speaker 1: Onward we move to some seventy sixers related basketball talk.
Speaker 1: So for this edition of the podcast, we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: with a guy who is intimately familiar with Brett Brown
Speaker 1: and also has great insights on the Simmons family as well.
Speaker 1: This man hails from the first family of basketball in
Speaker 1: Australia and his name is Andrew Gays. Who is Andrew Gays?
Speaker 1: More on that in just a second before we bring
Speaker 1: them on for the interview, But first a reminder that
Speaker 1: to subscribe to the podcast, you can head to our
Speaker 1: SoundCloud feed at SoundCloud dot com backslash Sixers, and you
Speaker 1: can also go to iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher and
Speaker 1: type in Sixers Podcast Network and that should take you
Speaker 1: to US. Andrew Gays is is arguably one of the
Speaker 1: most accomplished Australian basketball players of all time. He's an
Speaker 1: AUSY Basketball Hall of Famer. He is also regarded as
Speaker 1: one of the top international players ever, as one of
Speaker 1: feba's fifty Greatest of all Time and a FEBA Basketball
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer. His father's name is Lindsay Gays. If
Speaker 1: you are deeply in tune with the international basketball circuit,
Speaker 1: Lindsay Gays is a name you might know. He is
Speaker 1: an iconic coaching figure in Australia. He's in the Nay
Speaker 1: Smith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and someone who gave
Speaker 1: Brett Brown his very first professional coaching gig. At the time.
Speaker 1: Andrew Gays, who we're talking with, was a player on
Speaker 1: the team when Brett was an assistant, and a few
Speaker 1: years after Brett got to the Melbourne Tigers and began
Speaker 1: as an assistant there, Dave Simmons, Ben Simmons' dad was
Speaker 1: signed by the team and brought on board. So it
Speaker 1: might be very dense and a lot to digest at
Speaker 1: the beginning, but over the course of this conversation we'll
Speaker 1: get into some of those stories and connections more with
Speaker 1: Andrew Gays. So without further ado, we will bring him
Speaker 1: on right now, Andrew, to get things started. Why don't
Speaker 1: you give us some perspective on just how much attention
Speaker 1: the country of Australia is paying to the seventy sixers
Speaker 1: right now, with gentlemen like Brett Brown and Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: involved in the mix. Well, I'll say this, it's a
Speaker 1: lot more than it was a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: that's for sure, and I guess it's a twofold explanation
Speaker 1: is one is that, of course it's been a great
Speaker 1: turnaround in their form and they've got some getting some
Speaker 1: wins on the board and the way in which they're playing.
Speaker 1: And then, of course, of course the primary reason that
Speaker 1: it's covered so extensively over here right now is because
Speaker 1: of Ben Simmons. He's a young man that grew up
Speaker 1: here in Australia, played with Australian junior teams, time in Melbourne,
Speaker 1: playing for the State of Victoria the national championship. So's
Speaker 1: he's created a bit of a storm over here with
Speaker 1: the way in which he's he's been able to have
Speaker 1: the success during his rookie year, and I dare say
Speaker 1: that that would be a rippling effect right throughout the world,
Speaker 1: given the way in which he's been able to play.
Speaker 1: I mean serious, Although, what are the odds of someone
Speaker 1: who has such deep ties to Australian basketball like Brett
Speaker 1: Brown overseeing the development of perhaps one of the top
Speaker 1: prospects to ever come out of the country. It's crazy,
Speaker 1: it is, And it's one of those things where just
Speaker 1: the fickle hand of fate works in mysterious ways, doesn't it.
Speaker 1: And it was just a great situation where I think
Speaker 1: Brent having spent so many years here in Australia coaching
Speaker 1: our national team at the Olympic Games, and married an
Speaker 1: Australian lady, and has just got a need of an
Speaker 1: understanding of the culture of Australia and Australians. And although
Speaker 1: Ben has Dave Simmons his dad, who also spent many
Speaker 1: many years in Australia and still, as I understand it,
Speaker 1: resides here most of the time here in Australia. In fact,
Speaker 1: although he's born in the United States, I think, given
Speaker 1: right now, I think his dad had probably been his
Speaker 1: mid to late fifties, he probably has spent more time
Speaker 1: in Australia than he has in the United States. So
Speaker 1: I think it really does help with Bean's transition when
Speaker 1: he's got someone providing that tutor, leage and guidance falling
Speaker 1: him through those formative years that understands a little bit
Speaker 1: about his background and where he's come from and what
Speaker 1: makes him kids. You've got plenty of connections yourself to
Speaker 1: this whole thing between Brett and the Simmons's family, but
Speaker 1: at the outset of this chat, I really wanted to
Speaker 1: focus on Brett and his beginnings in coaching. What you
Speaker 1: recall from that period of time, which must have been
Speaker 1: if we're going to put a time stamp on this,
Speaker 1: around the late nineteen eight he's in Melbourne. Does that
Speaker 1: put us at the right place in time for you
Speaker 1: and Brett first cross paths. Yeah. Absolutely, And I remember
Speaker 1: really really vividly because it was following the season I
Speaker 1: had at the University of Seton Hall. I played at
Speaker 1: Seton Hall University in eighty nine season and we hadn't
Speaker 1: had the good fortune to go through to the championship
Speaker 1: game unfortunately. Whilst that one in overtime to Michigan. But
Speaker 1: my dad was the coach of the Melbourne Tigers, and
Speaker 1: I remember when I was at Seton Hall and he's saying, Oh,
Speaker 1: I've got this new young American kid who's going to
Speaker 1: be like an intern type team and work out and
Speaker 1: be part of the coaching staff with the club team.
Speaker 1: And he was coming. And not only was he just
Speaker 1: coming as a guy that was just wanting an opportunity
Speaker 1: and to be a part of our program, but he
Speaker 1: was also coming to work with the team, and he
Speaker 1: was actually starting in doing some marketing for the team,
Speaker 1: selling sponsorships and those types of things as well as coaching.
Speaker 1: So you have this picture in your head that of
Speaker 1: what that guy stereotypically might look like. But I remember
Speaker 1: when I first arrived and there is his kid. He
Speaker 1: looked like he was about seventeen walking around in the
Speaker 1: office and coming to practice and got introduced me. It
Speaker 1: was Brett Brown, and yo, he was He looked very young,
Speaker 1: and then still goes he's probably late pictures as well
Speaker 1: right now, and he still looks like he's thirty. He's
Speaker 1: been blessed with great genetics. But you can imagine when
Speaker 1: he was in his early twenties or amid the early twenties,
Speaker 1: what he looked like and um, but it was it
Speaker 1: was a great experience for him. He's just got this
Speaker 1: infectious personality where UM a really funny guy that had
Speaker 1: a great accument for the game, but more importantly was
Speaker 1: a guy that could bring people together because of his
Speaker 1: humor and his perspective on life and the game. That
Speaker 1: made him a real fun guy to beer and and
Speaker 1: everyone loved him and he was prepared to do all
Speaker 1: the jobs which I get himself to the coaches and
Speaker 1: the players and um. And then fortunately for him, he
Speaker 1: learned a lot and came up through the ranks here
Speaker 1: in Australia through the various coaching leagues and eventually went
Speaker 1: on to come out our our national coach. So we
Speaker 1: we UM really enjoy and love the time that that
Speaker 1: Brett spent here in Australia and what he was able
Speaker 1: to do for Australian basketball really is an amazing story.
Speaker 1: Um was the New England accent as strong with Brett
Speaker 1: back then as it is now. Well, I think he's
Speaker 1: feeling good at the decking and I think that he
Speaker 1: tried to tried to jump into the Australian accent pretty quickly. Um,
Speaker 1: but just so he felt part of it. But um,
Speaker 1: but yeah, to me it was it was one of
Speaker 1: those ones where you have this understanding of what a
Speaker 1: New England accent was. But it was like this butcher
Speaker 1: view in England accent because he was, um, it's been
Speaker 1: a little bit of Australian terminally around and and I
Speaker 1: guess trying to embrace the Australian culture and probably most
Speaker 1: importantly trying to be understood, he adopted a bit of
Speaker 1: the Australian lingo and a bit of Australian accent as well.
Speaker 1: So it was all over the place a little bit there.
Speaker 1: And was the mop top rag top hair do as
Speaker 1: prominent than as some of the pictures. I'm just you know,
Speaker 1: I was going back and looking at some of the
Speaker 1: pictures of his days at Boston University. That is a
Speaker 1: distinct quaff of hair that it is a good, healthy
Speaker 1: hit of the hair. But it was a bull fawn.
Speaker 1: This fawn had rolling around and he did it looked
Speaker 1: like you'd had a firm or something goes through it.
Speaker 1: But but I guess back in those days, you know
Speaker 1: what it's like when you're looking back on so we
Speaker 1: didn't sort of thinking of the of it at the time.
Speaker 1: He had sort of a month going on with a
Speaker 1: bit longer at the back and all the curly costs
Speaker 1: on the front. We didn't sort of think too much
Speaker 1: of it. But obviously when you look back on it now,
Speaker 1: it's I'm not sure you could pull that looks off
Speaker 1: these days, between yourself a feeble hall of famer and
Speaker 1: your dad a Hall of Famer himself, you guys have
Speaker 1: done so much for the sport in Australia and it's
Speaker 1: something that Brett talks about a lot when he's discussing
Speaker 1: his coaching influences, whether it's to Dad, Lindsay or someone
Speaker 1: like Rick Pattino or his own father or Greg Popovich,
Speaker 1: citing different things he took along the way from each
Speaker 1: of those experiences. How did he originally connect with your
Speaker 1: dad for that very first coaching opportunity with the Melbourne Tigers. Well,
Speaker 1: I think it was just one of those ran situations
Speaker 1: in that he came. He was originally working and I
Speaker 1: believe he was working for eighteen and T selling telephones
Speaker 1: right more telephone services, and then what happened was he
Speaker 1: had this passion for coaching, and he also he's got
Speaker 1: this emphibis soonality and he wanted to travel the world
Speaker 1: and see different places. And he stumbled on a job
Speaker 1: in New Zealand in fact, and New Zealand is a
Speaker 1: different country to Australia, and I wanted to take any
Speaker 1: of the granted here. And he coached in the New
Speaker 1: Zealand League. And the way he described it, he said
Speaker 1: he had no idea what he was doing and he
Speaker 1: was learning on the job and he said, well, all
Speaker 1: he could do is he made him the fittest team
Speaker 1: he's possibly could And I think he looked back on
Speaker 1: that time and said, well it was great for him,
Speaker 1: but perhaps not great for the team that he was coaching.
Speaker 1: But he had that experience there and then was looking
Speaker 1: to continue that journey that he was on. And almost randomly,
Speaker 1: I believe, is that he came to and called basically
Speaker 1: out of the blue, cold Coin was able to get
Speaker 1: onto my dad, and I think he'd made a few
Speaker 1: calls to various peoples. Was really the only one that
Speaker 1: listened to him and was the pack years ago, because
Speaker 1: as you can imagine, he's a lot of ambitious people
Speaker 1: that's coming from the States or various parts of the
Speaker 1: world looking for opportunity in Australia being a great country
Speaker 1: to live that those those types of requests are made
Speaker 1: quite regularly and he was probably one of many, but
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, he and my dad listened to him.
Speaker 1: And I think a little sidebar to that was that
Speaker 1: another player that was from the city of Melbourne. His
Speaker 1: name was David Stiff, and David Stiff was playing for
Speaker 1: Brett's dad in at Boston University, and I think I
Speaker 1: think that that's where the connection and the names that
Speaker 1: were being banned around and being in the NBL, that's
Speaker 1: how it all sort of fell into place for how
Speaker 1: he gained an opportunity. It's really like the farther you
Speaker 1: go on, the bigger the world seems at times, the
Speaker 1: smaller it actually is. It's nuts just how within the
Speaker 1: fraternity there can be all those connections. So you were
Speaker 1: playing for Melbourne for your dad at the time when
Speaker 1: Brett joined the coaching staff, and you mentioned that maybe
Speaker 1: the tasks and responsibilities that Brett had initially were not
Speaker 1: of the very much distinguished variety. Do you remember any
Speaker 1: specific Do you remember any of the specific things that
Speaker 1: he had to do. That's probably the most straw of it.
Speaker 1: But but now spot on and oh absolutely, Then, like
Speaker 1: I said, he's um job description was very much beyond
Speaker 1: just coaching. He was there from a mocking cent. He
Speaker 1: was the greatest solisment I think the club's ever had
Speaker 1: inality taught. I mean he could sell snow to the iskumos.
Speaker 1: I mean he's just got that why about him that
Speaker 1: he's very engaging, really lockable and um, I guess he's
Speaker 1: experiences selling telephones for right and tail telephone services held
Speaker 1: him in good stay in that regard and he um
Speaker 1: he was at but as far um where we practice
Speaker 1: that there was this old Ricky Army warehouse storage facility
Speaker 1: that have been converted into a basketball facility, and that
Speaker 1: there was possible was rats. And I mean before each
Speaker 1: training extension, he literally had to go mop the plossom,
Speaker 1: we up and possum threw off the floor, and then
Speaker 1: we would respet the floors and and do all those
Speaker 1: types of things before we before we could even start practice.
Speaker 1: And I think there was charged with a lot of
Speaker 1: those types of tasks. But as a guy who was
Speaker 1: looking for an opportunity. The thing about Bread is that
Speaker 1: he's sort of die and and he's happy to get
Speaker 1: his hands dirty, and it didn't fade him anything interesting
Speaker 1: this experience. He was always extraordinarily grateful for the opportunities
Speaker 1: to his getting and the chance to live in another
Speaker 1: country and learn about the game of basketball and at
Speaker 1: a relatively high level as well. I think that he
Speaker 1: just felt privileged to was happy to do anything. I
Speaker 1: guess you learn a lot about a man's fortitude when
Speaker 1: he has put to the task of cleaning up possum waste,
Speaker 1: that sort of thing just for the sake of a job.
Speaker 1: So for some of us who might not be as
Speaker 1: informed with what your dad was doing at the time
Speaker 1: and some of the basketball philosophies that were a part
Speaker 1: of his coaching style, what were some of the things
Speaker 1: that your dad was all about, And maybe even now
Speaker 1: as you look back and you've seen Brett evolve over
Speaker 1: the course of his coaching career, that you draw some
Speaker 1: parallels between. Well. I think that it was really an
Speaker 1: eye opener for Brett because in our situation, you're dealing
Speaker 1: with guys and the age rains in our team at
Speaker 1: the time, age from say seventeen year olds all the
Speaker 1: way up to thirty four year old, so you had
Speaker 1: this real diversity, and the coaching style of my dad,
Speaker 1: I think was vastly different to that over stereotypically what
Speaker 1: you see in college where it's it's very dictatorial, it's
Speaker 1: very my way on the highway, and the coach really
Speaker 1: had this authoritarian approach on the team, and which is
Speaker 1: understandable when you're talking about kids seventeen to twenty one,
Speaker 1: that type of age age group, you can understand why
Speaker 1: as part of the teaching they were pretty dogmatic in
Speaker 1: the way they go about it. I think it was
Speaker 1: an eye openness for him because the relate the player
Speaker 1: coach relationship was so vastly different. The players being able
Speaker 1: to contribute and have input into assistance in running suggestions
Speaker 1: on how in which the game would be played. And
Speaker 1: I think that my dad had a way of really
Speaker 1: being able to put some rules in place. But I
Speaker 1: guess guided discovery would be the best way that I
Speaker 1: would just describe it. As far as the way in
Speaker 1: which he interacted with the players, he wasn't a yellower
Speaker 1: and a screamer. He wasn't you know. He'd get emotional time,
Speaker 1: but nothing like what hysterio typically see at college, particularly
Speaker 1: for Brad who played for Vic Prittino, who I think
Speaker 1: there's no doubt his coaching genius, but it's fair to
Speaker 1: say that he's pretty animated and h I had a
Speaker 1: way about him that that left you with no uncertain
Speaker 1: terms about his style. So it was, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: it was vastly different. I think that lioss of Os
Speaker 1: and the style of playing. Sure, that was different, but
Speaker 1: that's different everywhere around the world, and you're going to
Speaker 1: pick that up and learn that. But I think that
Speaker 1: the probably the greatest lessons that he learned were beyond
Speaker 1: the exs and ozs, with just the interaction, the divenor
Speaker 1: the relationship building how in which there are other ways
Speaker 1: to get outcomes out of players rather than just demanding,
Speaker 1: being dictatorial and saying, well, this is it. It's black
Speaker 1: and white, there's only one way to do it. So
Speaker 1: I think that that was probably a big part of
Speaker 1: his learning experiences. I think hopefully I'm remembering this correctly.
Speaker 1: At Brett has said from Rick Pettino he learned a
Speaker 1: lot about the importance of fitness and being in the
Speaker 1: best shape of your life, and from Greg Popovich a
Speaker 1: lot about defense and I'm pretty sure he said from
Speaker 1: your dad there were some more offensive schematic influences that
Speaker 1: he took. Is that true? What what was your dad
Speaker 1: doing back then? Yeah, well, we we ran a lot
Speaker 1: of the shuffle it's called and I mean I can
Speaker 1: go into details that I don't want to avoid you
Speaker 1: with what that means. But it's a lot of carting,
Speaker 1: cutting and passing, a lot of cutting and passing and
Speaker 1: perhaps compared to the modern game, significant list action with
Speaker 1: the ball, a lot of action without the ball. It
Speaker 1: had some action with the ball, but there was this
Speaker 1: I think it took him a while to get his
Speaker 1: hit around exactly what was going on, because it's not
Speaker 1: it wasn't necessarily a himple black and white. This is
Speaker 1: how you do things. There was his action with his
Speaker 1: cutting and screening and timing and red reacting within the
Speaker 1: within the confines of a specific structure that it takes
Speaker 1: a lot of time to learn and it's not easy
Speaker 1: to understand. And when you're a coach and you're trying
Speaker 1: to remember there are times when you swit the team
Speaker 1: up either end you'll be going far or no. And
Speaker 1: he'd have one in and a lot of times the
Speaker 1: players that have to help him through. He ever basically understanding,
Speaker 1: but when it got to the certain or third um
Speaker 1: series of the of the actions that we're having, it
Speaker 1: can get a little confusing. So it was um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that that he embraced a lot of that
Speaker 1: and it's interesting. I mean watching some of the stuff
Speaker 1: that he's done as a coach now that um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's not necessarily similar to what we do, but there
Speaker 1: are certain actions that are in the game that I
Speaker 1: look at and go on, there's a third option or
Speaker 1: there's a reverse, and he's trying to run this kind
Speaker 1: of similarity to what we were doing back then to
Speaker 1: what he's doing now. It is interesting because there is
Speaker 1: a lot of movement with the Sixers now, even as
Speaker 1: far as the pace when they get into half court sets,
Speaker 1: and most of all, it's just like it seems philosophically
Speaker 1: one of the things that he says all the time
Speaker 1: is that the pass is king, So it sounds like
Speaker 1: maybe that was something that he took from that experience.
Speaker 1: It's interesting, oh, for sure, for sure. And I think
Speaker 1: that it's the game is a lot of people trying
Speaker 1: to repeat what others do and they have success with
Speaker 1: and I think that it does have some trends, and
Speaker 1: I think that fortunately, that is a bit of a
Speaker 1: trend that we're seeing now. You see it with the Spurs,
Speaker 1: you see with some of the Boston action that they do,
Speaker 1: certainly with what Brett's trying to do, where there's a
Speaker 1: bit more passing and cutting and a bit more coordination
Speaker 1: between the guys rather than just saying we'll roll the
Speaker 1: balls out, will get in a rumball and let tell
Speaker 1: and prevail. I think it's a far better game to watch,
Speaker 1: and when the players embrace it, it's a beautiful game
Speaker 1: to be part of. And I think that's what san
Speaker 1: Antonio certainly had a big input on and what they're
Speaker 1: doing over the last eighteen to fifteen years. And of course,
Speaker 1: with Brett being a part of that program for so long,
Speaker 1: I'm sure that he's taken inspiration for some of the
Speaker 1: things that were happening there as well. So I think
Speaker 1: we were fortunate into the game that that that's happening,
Speaker 1: because the other stuff can get a little stale. Let's
Speaker 1: talk about you and Brett for a moment. You guys
Speaker 1: aren't too far apart in terms of age, did you guys?
Speaker 1: Because of that become close when he was an assistant.
Speaker 1: You were still playing for Melbourne at the time. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: You know, we still communicate when he comes back to
Speaker 1: Australia in the offseason. We always catch up and he
Speaker 1: comes to visit visit my dad and we try and
Speaker 1: catch up. When I was over there at the Summer
Speaker 1: League looking at some players, I got to spend a
Speaker 1: little bit of time with him there. We we we
Speaker 1: communicate via text and still keeps some some contact there.
Speaker 1: And yeah, he's a good friend. I know him well.
Speaker 1: I know his family and he is a terrific lady
Speaker 1: and he's done a great job with his family. So
Speaker 1: it's um, it's one that that my dad. When my
Speaker 1: dad got inducted into the Name Smith Hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: he was one of the people that that he wanted there.
Speaker 1: So Brett came to that a couple of years ago
Speaker 1: in Springfield, Massachusetts over there, and my dad is um,
Speaker 1: it's almost like Bret's one of his sons as well.
Speaker 1: He's extraordinarily proud of Brett and what he's been able
Speaker 1: to achieve, and not just the way in which he
Speaker 1: coaches his basketball team, but the way he's developed into
Speaker 1: a man and a father and someone that's great that
Speaker 1: goes beyond just his basketball, that goes to the community
Speaker 1: and the way he treats people as something that I
Speaker 1: think he feels very very proud of. You can only
Speaker 1: trust Wikipedia and what you read on that website so much,
Speaker 1: but I think I think on Brett's page it said
Speaker 1: that he and you were running a camp at the
Speaker 1: time during the NBA lock and that's uh. And that's
Speaker 1: when r C. Buford from the Spurs was over in Australia.
Speaker 1: And was that one of the first connections that you
Speaker 1: guys had with URC? And did that ultimately lead to
Speaker 1: the opportunity that And I didn't even realize this at
Speaker 1: first that when Brett was over there for the first
Speaker 1: season in ninety eight ninety nine, that's when you spent
Speaker 1: a season with the Spurs playing for San Antonio as well. Right, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right. And and what happened was is we just
Speaker 1: finished the World Championships in ninety eight in Greece and
Speaker 1: um uh great probably which was there and had some
Speaker 1: people talk to me and asked if I'd be interested
Speaker 1: in coming joined the Spurs, And I thought that it
Speaker 1: was a something a joke at the time, but because
Speaker 1: the lockout, we weren't speaking him directly, and UM, it
Speaker 1: was just one of those things where you're always hopeful
Speaker 1: and seeking, Oh, this could be a great experience. But
Speaker 1: at my at that particular time, it was thirty three
Speaker 1: years of age and it's getting a bit older. You
Speaker 1: start to think, well, maybe that opportunity had passed you by.
Speaker 1: But it was funny because we were doing it. It It
Speaker 1: was just after Christmas time and were in Sydney and
Speaker 1: we were both lived in Melbourne, but we were doing
Speaker 1: this camp in Sydney and it was an ear where
Speaker 1: I didn't even have a mobile phone. But somehow or other,
Speaker 1: somehow or other in the city of Liverpool is a
Speaker 1: Liverpool Community Center, a three court bistall stadium and I
Speaker 1: get this one of the Edits a multi sports complex
Speaker 1: that swimming and badman and other sports that are going
Speaker 1: on there. And the manager the facility comes in and
Speaker 1: should be so American on the phone and wants to
Speaker 1: talk here and UM had no idea what it was about,
Speaker 1: and sure enough it was our see just continuing to
Speaker 1: make inquiries about whether or not I was interested in
Speaker 1: coming to Australia and and because the lockout, we all
Speaker 1: thought that there wasn't going to be a season anyway.
Speaker 1: But I developed a relationship with R. C Ufford and
Speaker 1: at the time Bret and I, outside of those little
Speaker 1: community camps we were doing, we were also doing I
Speaker 1: don't know if they're still around in the States, but
Speaker 1: it was an ADDS abc D camp in Australia and
Speaker 1: UM and they were looking for someone to come out
Speaker 1: here from the States to help with our camp. And
Speaker 1: because I've been for talking to RC we Um, we
Speaker 1: said that we invited him out to be one of
Speaker 1: the coaches in our camp because there was a lookout
Speaker 1: and Australia helped us out at the camp. We got
Speaker 1: to know him and that's how Brett got to know
Speaker 1: him and Brett's team Unfortunately, that season had folded, had
Speaker 1: still more folded, had merged with another team, and Brett
Speaker 1: said see at the time, said listen, I'm getting paid
Speaker 1: for next year. I'm keener to go and learn can
Speaker 1: could I could I be like an intern with the Spurs.
Speaker 1: And because he'd seen and worked with Brett here in Australia,
Speaker 1: that one thing led to another and he got an
Speaker 1: opportunity there to lockout ended and I got an opportunity
Speaker 1: with the Spurs and everything seemed to fluid the playfors.
Speaker 1: It's amazing because he not only did the two of
Speaker 1: you guys have each other, which must have been nice
Speaker 1: and some familiarity to go through that season, but it
Speaker 1: ends in a title which had to be incredible. Well
Speaker 1: you see about it for brettys And the unfortunate thing
Speaker 1: for that was we were over there and he was
Speaker 1: there for the vast majority of the season. But what happened,
Speaker 1: and this is work becomes a little bit right, the
Speaker 1: Sydney Kings of the league come calling and he actually
Speaker 1: left us to come back to Australia right on the
Speaker 1: eve of the playoffs, So Brett because he had to
Speaker 1: hit coaching job here back here in Australia. So I
Speaker 1: think I think the way and I'm folded as my
Speaker 1: memory and my memory I'm getting to be older now,
Speaker 1: So I think he actually missed that that Cinderella run
Speaker 1: we had through the playoffs. I'm not sure if he
Speaker 1: was physically actually there. He was there for for the
Speaker 1: vast majority of the season, but because because of the
Speaker 1: opportunity he had back here, um, he'd left and started
Speaker 1: came back to be a hit coach and that he
Speaker 1: was only here and I think because the impact of
Speaker 1: Brett May, he always came back for Australia for another
Speaker 1: maybe a year season or two before was and Pop
Speaker 1: wanted him to come back there to continue his NBA
Speaker 1: journey and obviously started off at a pretty low level,
Speaker 1: but he worked his way way up through the ranks
Speaker 1: and became very significant and a very strong contributed to
Speaker 1: the to to a number of their championship victories. Guy
Speaker 1: must have the touch. So I think his first year
Speaker 1: back in the States with the Spurs, they won another championship.
Speaker 1: So you know, good things following the man around, He's
Speaker 1: had doing do it some hardship and I think that
Speaker 1: with his Philadelphia but I think it's a credit to
Speaker 1: him to be able to go through that hardship. And
Speaker 1: we live in a world where, regardless of the circumstances,
Speaker 1: not everyone unnecessarily understands the situation and and and although
Speaker 1: most death Woods would would appreciate the challenges he face
Speaker 1: the rank and file fan, they they come still pretty harsh.
Speaker 1: And for him to have that perseverance and determination to
Speaker 1: get things right and find a formula that was going
Speaker 1: to and a process. Pardon the partner gives a process
Speaker 1: that they had to go through in order to get
Speaker 1: to where they are today. I think speaks volumes for
Speaker 1: his character and the way in which he goes about it.
Speaker 1: The process truly a phenomenon known worldwide. My son has
Speaker 1: because now because of Bread, he's a he's a bit
Speaker 1: of a Sixers fan. He's got to he's got a
Speaker 1: picture with he's got a T shirt with Joel and
Speaker 1: Beat on its run across the village one word Thursday.
Speaker 1: So I did the marketing experts to really getting some
Speaker 1: bangs to their back. It's tremendous. That is tremendous. So
Speaker 1: as we begin to wrap this up and bring it
Speaker 1: kind of full circle, there's no doubt that between Joel
Speaker 1: and Beat and Ben Simmons, Brett's got some pieces to
Speaker 1: work with with the seventy six Ers, especially the season
Speaker 1: they've gotten off to a really strong start. In respect
Speaker 1: to what Ben has done this year on the cusp
Speaker 1: of a potential birth to the All Star Game in
Speaker 1: a few weeks, what's been the country of Australia's reaction
Speaker 1: to what he's done is he even exceeded whatever expectations
Speaker 1: there might have been going into this season, is first
Speaker 1: playing in the NBA. I think so. I remember when
Speaker 1: he was coming out of high school and even when
Speaker 1: he was at LSU, everyone talking about this is the
Speaker 1: second coming of Lebron James, and a lot of people
Speaker 1: here and sort of side will turn it up, I meaning,
Speaker 1: we know he's very, very good, but the kid doesn't
Speaker 1: need that type of pressure. How's he going to respond
Speaker 1: to those types of things? And although he's a supreme athlete,
Speaker 1: incredible hand eyke coordination up the legable ball skills, and
Speaker 1: but you also saw that perhaps at the jump shot
Speaker 1: needed a little bit of work and those types of things.
Speaker 1: Everyone knew because he was going to be a major
Speaker 1: impact player in the NBA, and that was a given.
Speaker 1: You could just see that talent from the time he
Speaker 1: was fourteen or fifteen, But I don't think anyone's suspected
Speaker 1: him to have the maturity, the impact, the passion, the
Speaker 1: composer and dare I say it, in some respect, the
Speaker 1: skill to do so quickly what he's doing is basically
Speaker 1: his first season. Now I know, I know he's around
Speaker 1: and certainly would have been a great advantage for him
Speaker 1: to have that induction that he did last season when
Speaker 1: he was hurt, but to come on the floor and
Speaker 1: deface the pressure of expectation of not only the Australian topic,
Speaker 1: but more importantly the media and the heights generating over
Speaker 1: there in the United States, which we all know is
Speaker 1: off the charge. The way in which he's handled it,
Speaker 1: I guess a little surprised that it's happened so quickly,
Speaker 1: and we're just extremely proud of the way in which
Speaker 1: he's handled and conducted himself in a manner that has
Speaker 1: made Australia feel good about him as an individual and
Speaker 1: proud to call him an Australian. He's talked on a
Speaker 1: couple occasions about taking some of the influences of Australian
Speaker 1: culture and how that's carried over to the basketball court.
Speaker 1: Can you give us a little bit of insight on
Speaker 1: what that might be, Things that have to do with teammateship,
Speaker 1: the selfless nature of his style of play, things like that. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: it's part of our culture view particularly with their teams,
Speaker 1: to it's and you know, all honest you a lot
Speaker 1: of it's driven by NRL, is the rugby and the AFL,
Speaker 1: which is Australian rules football and culturally they they kind
Speaker 1: of frowned upon the look at me the individual approach
Speaker 1: to it all. Your teammates really keep you in line
Speaker 1: with that type of stuff and um and I think
Speaker 1: that that's helped him as far as dealing with the circumstances.
Speaker 1: There's no doubt he is great self belief. There's no
Speaker 1: doubt that that, um, he has the confidence to match
Speaker 1: it with the best of them. But I think that
Speaker 1: you look at the way he's plays and the way
Speaker 1: the way in which he wants to incorporate his teammates,
Speaker 1: the way in which he can celebrate successes of his teammates,
Speaker 1: the way in which he responds to his coaches. You
Speaker 1: don't see nexts necessarily that with a lot of young players,
Speaker 1: the prim and honor approach to it all. There is
Speaker 1: an understanding of get on with the job. Um. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you might have some adversity takes him hits along the way,
Speaker 1: but let's not get involved with these theatrics that go
Speaker 1: along with it. Let's just get through it. And that's
Speaker 1: very much part of the Australian culture, the way that
Speaker 1: the sporting culture, the way in which the fans embrace
Speaker 1: their athletes, and we've seen it here when you see
Speaker 1: Australian athletes that don't do that, and we've seen it
Speaker 1: dramatically with some of our tennis players who have just
Speaker 1: been disgraceful but relative for our terms, behaving in a
Speaker 1: disgraceful way, it's found upon by the public, is found
Speaker 1: upon by the media, and it does make life pretty difficult.
Speaker 1: But I think that that's really helped him. And I
Speaker 1: think from a physical standpoint. I still remember going and
Speaker 1: watching my son was playing, and I was coaching my son,
Speaker 1: and Ben was I think fourteen years of age, and
Speaker 1: they were playing in the game before my sons, and
Speaker 1: surely his mum was there, and I remember talking to
Speaker 1: his mom and saying, hens growing. He looks like he's
Speaker 1: and Dave was coaching the team. His dad was coaching
Speaker 1: the team, and this is you know, under fourteen, under
Speaker 1: sixteen type of age groups. And I remember talking to
Speaker 1: all said, oh, Ben looks great, and she said, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure he's going to stick with basketball because
Speaker 1: he really loves DFL. He's having a blast with Australian
Speaker 1: rules football. Now. I don't know if you know a
Speaker 1: lot about that, but that is one of the pup
Speaker 1: of stones in the world is the insurance required, the
Speaker 1: hits you have to take, the hand eye coordination. The
Speaker 1: kicking is something that he was very very good at
Speaker 1: as well, and he loved it and he was doing
Speaker 1: both at that time and she was actually sort of thinking, oh, well,
Speaker 1: maybe that might be the pathway he'll take. Now. He
Speaker 1: developed so rapidly in basketball that I think that that
Speaker 1: might have clearly that that that changed. But he was
Speaker 1: very skilled and playing in that team environment, not just
Speaker 1: from a cultural standpoint about the sportsmanship and the way
Speaker 1: you conduct yourself, but also having to take those hits
Speaker 1: and tackle and thrown to the ground. You developed. You
Speaker 1: either develop an ability of resistance to that or you
Speaker 1: whimper and you take up some other sport. But he
Speaker 1: embraced it, was very good at it, and I think
Speaker 1: that that's just shows that that he can take a hitte,
Speaker 1: he doesn't shy away from a physical, physical contacts contest
Speaker 1: and in fact, we're probably welcome him. And you played
Speaker 1: with Dave Simmons rape for Melbourne and that was also
Speaker 1: during part of Brett's tenure there. Yeah, I played for
Speaker 1: him with with with Dave Simmons for let me see,
Speaker 1: I would say he is. Yeah, So I know Dave
Speaker 1: really well. I know Dave and Joy, you know his
Speaker 1: wife reasonably well. Um, I had a little bit. I
Speaker 1: haven't had a lot to do with Ben in all
Speaker 1: aunty because he played in different part and you know,
Speaker 1: Dave was looking after him, and like anything, you grow apart.
Speaker 1: But I saw a day before the start of the
Speaker 1: season here in Australia, and he played with the Melbourne
Speaker 1: Tigers most of his career, where we won a championship
Speaker 1: back in ninety three. But he actually spent one season
Speaker 1: with the Sydney king So he was hitting in a
Speaker 1: friend here and we had a practice game and I
Speaker 1: saw him and caught up with Dave, quickly brought him
Speaker 1: in the rocking room, introduced him to all our current players.
Speaker 1: So when I tried to you know, always say good ay,
Speaker 1: and we're friendly and all. And but I don't seem
Speaker 1: obviously as I used to during those playing days. But
Speaker 1: he was a pretty excellent player, right His number was
Speaker 1: retired ironically, not probably so much coincidentally, number twenty five. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's right, No, he was. He was a great player
Speaker 1: and it was part of the generation that really transformed
Speaker 1: our club, the Melbourne Tigers. So he came. His first
Speaker 1: season was back in nineteen eighty nine. UM and UH,
Speaker 1: and he was part of a team that uh we
Speaker 1: made our first playoff appearances in the NDL with UM
Speaker 1: with Dave, he was, I guess in our time back
Speaker 1: then he was an under size five, but in our
Speaker 1: league as a league in general, was a little under
Speaker 1: size UM. But yeah he was. He had a fantastic
Speaker 1: career in the NBL. UM great athlete, very good around
Speaker 1: the basket. I know, I'm not going to offend even
Speaker 1: say that his offspring is probably a little a little
Speaker 1: superior to what he was, but nonetheless he was UM.
Speaker 1: He was a tremendous player, had a great attitude to
Speaker 1: the game and UM. I enjoyed my time playing alongside Dave.
Speaker 1: He helped me out a lot. Hopefully we helped him
Speaker 1: out a lot as well, and clearly life turned out
Speaker 1: pretty good for him. But for having that call, he
Speaker 1: actually got on the middle of the Tigers. Then. You know,
Speaker 1: I was at Seaton Hall, my club team, the Tigers
Speaker 1: back in those days that you could do tours, and
Speaker 1: he played college teams and joined the team and the
Speaker 1: very first game he played. I wasn't there because I
Speaker 1: was playing college basketball, but but Dad was coaching, and
Speaker 1: we didn't have that full compliment of players. It was
Speaker 1: really a makeshift team. And they sat down that he
Speaker 1: was recommended that he might be a good player in Australia,
Speaker 1: and he came. His first game that he played was
Speaker 1: against the University of Oklahoma and this is this is
Speaker 1: when I think Ricky Gray did his game. But yeah,
Speaker 1: Ricky Grace was there. They had some um great players
Speaker 1: playing with him, and they literally lost that game by
Speaker 1: sixty and Dave was there, so they lose by sixty
Speaker 1: and I'm sure everyone's kicking. We got no chance aside
Speaker 1: of this guy. He don't want to want to come
Speaker 1: and play with us. But fortunately he understood that that
Speaker 1: it was a makeshift team, just trying to get there
Speaker 1: and working for a process, and he shined on and
Speaker 1: the rest of his It's clearly and it certainly helped
Speaker 1: out club team as well. Well. Andrew, you have been
Speaker 1: a great sport. Taking some of these questions kept you
Speaker 1: for a little bit longer than I said I would.
Speaker 1: But last thing, right now, it looks like I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 1: Nine Aussies in the NBA, from the likes of Simmons
Speaker 1: to Patty Mills, obviously Matt Delavadova, Aaron Baines. For someone
Speaker 1: like yourself who's grown up around the game in the
Speaker 1: country to see the influence that Australia has increasingly had
Speaker 1: in the NBA, how need has this been for you
Speaker 1: your family to see the growth of the sport through
Speaker 1: the lens of the country. It's phenomenal. I think we
Speaker 1: always dreamt of this and tried to envisage it, but
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone thought that we're going to have
Speaker 1: this type of impact in a relatively short period of time.
Speaker 1: And a lot of that's because the talent, the development programs,
Speaker 1: we have, culturally a sporting culture, all those things are
Speaker 1: an advantage for us. But I think that the biggest
Speaker 1: thing is more what the United States has done. So
Speaker 1: when I was coming through, they really didn't embrace or
Speaker 1: look beyond their borders. And the fact that they now
Speaker 1: look beyond their borders and the talent that they have
Speaker 1: in the league, and you say, well, it's a league
Speaker 1: of nations. The greatest players in the world are playing there,
Speaker 1: and some of the greatest players in the world are
Speaker 1: in fact not necessarily Americans, but that's okay. And I
Speaker 1: think that it's it's made the NBA a better place
Speaker 1: for it. It's it's it's made the opportunities here to
Speaker 1: see our Australian players get drafted. We've had two number
Speaker 1: of fun draft picks over the last fifteen years with
Speaker 1: Andrew Bogan and of course we've been and many other
Speaker 1: very high draft picks. And to think that that was
Speaker 1: going to happen in twenty or thirty years ago, I mean,
Speaker 1: people would have thought you'd lost your mind. But it's
Speaker 1: it's it's a fantastic situation we had. There's still many
Speaker 1: many more to come. The games in a really, really
Speaker 1: healthy state here in Australia. And I think it's it's
Speaker 1: not just the fact that they've We've got great athletes
Speaker 1: on the dover and winning an NBA title, Patty Niels
Speaker 1: winning into an NBA title, Aaron Bains winning an NBA title.
Speaker 1: It's not just the fact that they're having success on
Speaker 1: the floor. I think it's the way in which they
Speaker 1: conducted themselves, the class, the respect for the game, respect
Speaker 1: for their teammates, respect for Australian basketball has really promoted
Speaker 1: it and helped propagate the sport here in Australia that
Speaker 1: we're fortunate that the next few generations coming through there's
Speaker 1: still a lot of a lot of talent there and
Speaker 1: just couldn't be more prouder of the way in which
Speaker 1: these guys have helped grow the game even in Australia.
Speaker 1: Outstanding perspective on so many great things Australian basketball from
Speaker 1: Brett Brown to Ben Simmons and his family. One of
Speaker 1: the best basketball players ever produced by the country of Australia.
Speaker 1: One of the top international players of all time. He
Speaker 1: is currently the head coach of the Sydney Kings. Andrew Gays,
Speaker 1: thanks so much for being so janious with your time
Speaker 1: and for the insight and stories that's the plague want
Speaker 1: a great, lively and insightful personality. Andrew Gays, a FEBA
Speaker 1: Basketball Paul of Famer. Thanks to Andrew for picking up
Speaker 1: an international phone call from the good old US of A.
Speaker 1: Thanks to you for listening and enjoy the weekend seventy
Speaker 1: six ers with games against the New Orleans Pelicans and
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Clippers on Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Talk
Speaker 1: to you over the weekend on the rewind editions to
Speaker 1: the podcast see