Steve Breheny (born 21 June 1954) is an Australian

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 ...

player and coach. He played eight years in the National Basketball League (NBL) for the

Coburg 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 ...

, the

Geelong Cats The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2 ...

and the

St. Kilda Saints The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates ...

. At international level, he played for Australia at the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1982 FIBA World Championship. After retiring, Breheny coached at NBL level for 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 ...

and the

Geelong Supercats Geelong Supercats is a NBL1 South club based in Geelong, Victoria. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The club is affiliated with Basketball Geelong and Geelong United Basketball. The Supercats play their home gam ...

. He also led Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) teams Coburg Cougars and

Adelaide Lightning The Adelaide Lightning is an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League ( WNBL). The club is based in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The club was formed in 1993 and they play i ...

Playing career

Club career

Breheny played for the

between 1979 and 1984. In 1985, he joined the

for one season, before finishing his NBL career in 1987 for the

International career

He competed in the men's tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Breheny took on the head coach role at Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) team Coburg Cougars. He led the Cougars in 1986 and 1987, finishing runners-up in the 1987 WNBL season. In 1989, Breheny was appointed coach of the

. Coaching in a semifinal against the Sydney Kings in September 1989, Breheny was charged with headbutting Kings player

Damian Keogh Damian Thomas Keogh (born 1 February 1962, Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian former professional basketball player who played his career in Australia's National Basketball League for the Nunawading Spectres, Bankstown Bruins, West Sydney ...

. The NBL judiciary suspended Breheny until May 1990. Breheny took charge of his former team

(formerly Geelong Cats) in 1992. The team had experienced a high level of turnover and was not expected to do well. In 1993, Breheny resigned as coach of the Supercats after a dispute over his handling of import player

Adrian Branch Adrian Francis Branch (born November 17, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. A 6'7" small forward out of DeMatha High School, Branch starred at the University of Maryland from 1981 to 1985. He was an All-ACC second team ...

. During the 2010–11 WNBL season, Breheny led the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Breheny, Steve 1954 births Living people Australian men's basketball players 1982 FIBA World Championship players Olympic basketball players for Australia Basketball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state)