Bruce Palmer (born November 12, 1955) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach who coached primarily in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL).Goorjian warns of bland future – Basketball – Fox Sports
/ref> Palmer began coaching in the NBL in 1987 with the

North Melbourne Giants The North Melbourne Giants, previously known as the Coburg Giants, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of ...

, after coaching the

Dandenong Rangers The Dandenong Rangers were an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League ( WNBL). The club is based in Dandenong, Melbourne, Victoria. The team was founded as the Dandenong Rangers, howeve ...

in the VBA. In 1988 he was awarded

NBL Coach of the Year The National Basketball League Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (Australia), 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 c ...

though the Giants would lose the

NBL Grand Final The NBL Grand Final is the championship series of the National Basketball League (NBL). The entrants are determined by the victors of the two Semi Finals series, who engage in a best-of-five game series to determine the league champion. The win ...

series to the

Canberra Cannons The Canberra Cannons are a defunct basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). They went into financial administration in 2003 and were relocated to Newcastle, where they became the Hunter Pirates. After t ...

. The following year, the Giants won the championship over the Cannons. Palmer moved to the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL f ...

in 1993, although he was unsuccessful in bringing the team the level of success he saw with the Giants. He left the team after three seasons and took a break from coaching in the NBL, during which he coached representative youth basketball. In 1998 he worked as an assistant coach with the Brisbane Bullets under head coach

Brian Kerle Brian Edward Kerle (born 29 August 1945) is an Australian former basketball player and coach. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1972 Summer Olympics. As a coach, he led the St. Kilda Pumas and the Brisbane Bullets to two championships ...

. Between 2000 and 2003, Palmer coached in Asia and the Middle East before returning to the NBL as head coach of the

Hunter Pirates The Hunter Pirates are a defunct Australian professional men's basketball team that competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). It was based in the city of Newcastle, New South Wales. Team history The team was once known as the Canberra ...

. Palmer was fired part way through the season in a controversial management decision.Pirates blasted over sacking - www.theage.com.au
/ref> He is the seventh winningest coach in NBL history, with a win–loss record of 184–104. Since 2004, Palmer coached representative youth basketball as both head coach and assistant coach, including the Australian Under 20 men's team. He was the head coach for the Brisbane Capitals in the

Australian Basketball Association The Australian Basketball Association (ABA) was a semi-professional basketball entity based in Australia. The ABA was Australia's biggest basketball competition for many years. With over 120 teams participating across five leagues and six states ...

League.

Head coaching record

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References

External links

College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Bruce 1955 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Australian men's basketball coaches National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Pacific Tigers men's basketball players Utsunomiya Brex coaches