Brendan Joyce (born 1 May 1960) is an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. He has coached all levels of the game. He has been to 3 Olympic Games with both the Australian men's Boomers team 2004, 2008 and women's Opals team 2016 and 2 world championships for Boomers men 2006 in Japan and Opals women in 2014 (bronze medal). Joyce was also assistant coach of the Boomers at the Melbourne Commonwealth games Gold medal team. Brendan is a former professional basketball player and head coach of the

National Basketball League (Australasia) The National Basketball League (NBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Australasia, currently composed of 10 teams: 9 in Australia and 1 in New Zealand. It is the premier professional men's basketball league in Australia and New Ze ...

the

Wollongong Hawks The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) is an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball ...

and the

Gold Coast Blaze The Gold Coast Blaze were an Australian men's professional basketball team which competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The Blaze competed in their inaugural season in 2007–08. The club was based on the Gold Coast and joined the ...

. In October 2021, Joyce took up the Head Coach role at new

T1 League The T1 League is a Taiwanese men's professional basketball league founded in 2021. It is the third professional basketball league in Taiwan after the Chinese Basketball Alliance (CBA) and the P. League+ (PLG). In the 2022–23 season, the T ...

franchise

Kaohsiung Aquas The Kaohsiung Aquas ( zh, 高雄全家海神) are a Taiwanese professional basketball team based in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. They have competed in the T1 League since the 2021–22 season, and play their home games at the Kaohsiung Arena. The Aqu ...

Kaohsiung City Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsiu ...

in Taiwan. Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Brendan Joyce grew up playing both basketball and

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and received an invitation to train and play for the North Melbourne Kangaroos. Brendan Joyce decided to continue with basketball and played in the National Basketball League. Joyce played a total of 289 games in the NBL over 13 seasons, playing for the

Nunawading Spectres Nunawading Spectres is a NBL1 South club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is a division of Melbourne East Basketball Association (MEBA), the major administrative basketball o ...

and the

Westside Melbourne Saints The Southern Melbourne Saints, previously known as the St. Kilda Saints, the St. Kildas Pumas and the Westside Melbourne Saints, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne. The Saints competed in the National Basketball ...

and finally for the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to th ...

in 1991. Joyce captained both Nunawading and the Westside Melbourne Saints. Following his playing career, Brendan Joyce became one of the most successful coaches in the National Basketball League, coaching in more than 400 games.

NBL Playing career

Brendan Joyce began his senior National Basketball League playing career in 1979 with the

in the National Basketball League's inaugural year. He was a point guard with the

team that lost to

Launceston Casino City The Launceston Casino City is a defunct Australian professional basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). Formed in 1980, the club was based in Launceston, Tasmania. It lasted only three seasons before folding, b ...

in the 1981 NBL Grand Final. Joyce was renowned for his defensive play and ability to penetrate and create opportunities for his teammates and was an all time NBL league leader in assists for many years. His career highs were 32 points vs.

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...

(1985), 19 assists vs.

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The Kings were formed from a merger between the West Sydney Westars and the ...

1985 and 8 three-point shots made vs.

Hobart Devils The Hobart Devils are a defunct professional basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). Based in Hobart, Tasmania, the team was the only representative from the state of Tasmania for the majority of its tenu ...

(1990).

NBL Coaching career

Brendan Joyce began his professional

coaching career in 1996 with the

and developed the Hawks program with young players such as

Glen Saville Glen Saville (born 17 January 1976) is an Australian former professional basketball player who played the majority of his career for the Wollongong Hawks of the National Basketball League (NBL). NBL career Born in Bendigo, Victoria, Saville mo ...

David Andersen David Emil Andersen (born 23 June 1980) is an Australian-Danish former professional basketball player. One of Australia's most experienced and successful players, Andersen won 12 league championships (9 European national domestic league champ ...

and CJ Bruton, who all later in their career became Olympians. After a losing record in his first two seasons, coach Joyce then lead the Hawks from the bottom to become a consistent winning team. Brendan Joyce coached the

to their first NBL championship defeating the

Townsville Crocodiles The Townsville Crocodiles were an Australian professional men's basketball team based in the North Queensland city of Townsville. They competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games at the Townsville Entertainmen ...

in 2001. After 23 years in the National Basketball League, the

also became the first New South Wales team to win the NBL Championship. This success was followed by another grand final berth in 2005 with a loss to the

. The Brendan Joyce tenure at the Hawks delivered him the

NBL (Australia) Coach of the Year The National Basketball League Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1980 NBL season to the best head coach of the regular season. At the season's end, each club's Head Coach, one Assistant Coach ...

in 1999 and 2001 and as a NBL All Star Coach in 2005. In 2007–08 Brendan Joyce became the inaugural coach of the

and kept on winning. Brendan Joyce lead the Gold Coast to the playoffs in their first year and the Blaze team became the first ever Gold Coast team to make the play-offs in any Australian national competition. Brendan Joyce was named the 2008

Gold Coast Region Coach of the Year Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

and was again a runner up for the

. In the 2008–09 season the team missed the playoffs due to an injury-ridden season.

Australian Basketball Coach

In 2001 Brendan Joyce was named as Assistant Coach to the Australian men's national team the Boomers and continued this role until 2009. Brendan Joyce worked at two Olympic Games,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, as well as the 2006 FIBA World Championships in Japan and assisting in leading the Boomers to their Gold Medal win at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

in his home town Melbourne. In May 2013 Joyce was hired to be the Australian women's national team coach through the 2016 Olympics. Australian Opals win Bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships in Turkey.

Taiwan

Joyce joined the

in the first season of

. The Aquas played well throughout the year, setting a number of individual and team records. The Aqua secured the number one seed prior to the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, and won the T1 League's inaugural championship in a three-game sweep of the

Taichung Wagor Suns The Taichung Suns ( zh, 臺中太陽) are a Taiwanese professional basketball team based in Taichung City, Taiwan. They compete in the T1 League since the 2021–22 season, and play their home game at the National Taiwan University of Sport Gymna ...

. On June 24, 2022, Joyce received the Coach of the Year award in 2021–22 T1 League season.

Awards

NBL awards

Most Assists Award Winner 1988 *

NBL (Australia) All-Star Game The NBL All-Star Game was a special event basketball game that has run in the past as part of the Australian National Basketball League. When held, the All-Star game has been between two teams composed of star players from that season. The first ...

Player 1988 and 1989 *

1999 and 2001 *

Coach 2005 *

Runner-up 2005 and 2008 *

Champions 2001 *

Championship Runner-up 2005

National recognition

*Australian Boomers Squad member (1981/1982/1988) *Australian U23 Captain (1981) *Australian U20 team (1978–79) *Australian Men's Team Assistant Coach (2001–2009) *Oceania Series (2003, 2005, 2007) *Olympic Games Athens (2004) *World Championships Japan (2006) *Commonwealth Games Melbourne 2006 Gold Medalist *Olympic Games Beijing (2008) *Australian Women's Team Head Coach (2013–2016) *Oceania Women's Champions (2013, 2015) *Bronze Medal Women's World Championships Turkey 2014 5 wins & 1 Loss *5th Place Olympics Rio 2016 5 wins & 1 loss

References

External links

Brendan Joyce High Performance LeaderNational Basketball League Season By SeasonNBL Player Award WinnersBrendan Joyce Player Video Hobart Devils V Westide Melbourne Saints 1990NBL Champion & Coach of the Year 2001 Video
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Brendan 1960 births Living people Australian men's basketball coaches National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Australian men's basketball players Australian women's basketball coaches Australian expatriate basketball people in Taiwan Kaohsiung Aquas head coaches Basketball players from Melbourne