Lindsay John Casson Gaze (born 16 August 1936) is an Australian former

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 ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. He played for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in three Summer Olympics qualification tournaments, between

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

, and was the head coach of the senior Australian basketball team at four

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

, between

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. Gaze also coached the

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 a ...

for 35 years, including 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL), winning two league championships, in 1993 and 1997. Gaze was the

NBL 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 a ...

in 1989, 1997 and 1999, and is second all-time in the number of coaching wins in that league. Gaze is a member of the

Australian Basketball Hall of Fame The Australian Basketball Hall of Fame was instituted by the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1998 as the ''NBL Hall of Fame'' as part of their 20th season celebrations. The NBL initiated the Hall of Fame to recognise the outstanding players ...

, as both a player and coach, and is an associate member of the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser t ...

. He has also been inducted into both the FIBA Hall of Fame and the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

, as a coach.

Personal life

Gaze is the son of Albert J. Gaze and Avis M. Gaze. He has two older brothers, Barry and Tony, who is a former coach of the Australian national women's basketball team, the Opals. He married Margaret in 1962, with the couple having a daughter, Janet Gaze-Daniels (born 8 July 1964), who works in recreation management, and a son, Australian basketball player Andrew Gaze (born 24 July 1965). As the GM of the Victorian Basketball Association (until his retirement), the Gaze family lived in the official GM's residence, which was attached to the back of the Albert Park Basketball Stadium. Gaze's nephew, Mark Gaze (Tony's son), played for Australia, under Lindsay's coaching, at the

1982 FIBA World Championship The 1982 FIBA World Championship was the 9th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. The tournament was hosted by Colombia from 15 to 28 August 1982. Qualification Venues Competing nation ...

and went on to play in 182 NBL, games from 1983 to 1991. He is also the great-uncle of Mark Gaze's daughter, Kate Gaze, who played for the Canberra Capitals, in Australia's

Women's National Basketball League The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Baske ...

. Lindsay Gaze and his brothers were raised by his mother, after his parents separated soon after moving from Adelaide to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, in the early 1940s. As a youth, he played

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

, 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 was his school

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in tennis and football. Lindsay and Barry Gaze played in the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

for

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

, and they were both selected as members of an Australian rules team that played an

exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

during the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics, although Lindsay didn't take the field.

Olympic career

It was in basketball that Gaze would make his mark in the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

. In 1958, he chose to pursue a career in basketball, rather than football (and a promising engineering career) and although still playing, became the first full-time basketball administrator of the Victorian Basketball Association, accepting the position of

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. Lindsay Gaze held the position until his retirement in 2005, during which time the number of registered players in Victoria rose from around 2,000 in 1958 to over 200,000. He was selected for the senior Australian basketball team for the 1960 Bologna Pre-Olympic Tournament, which was the first Australian basketball team to travel overseas to compete for a place at the

. Gaze soon established himself as one of Australia's leading basketball players, establishing an international reputation, when he was selected as a member of the All-Star Five at the 1962 Philippines Invitational Basketball Tournament. Gaze represented Australia during the 1960 Bologna, 1964 Yokohama, and 1968 Monterrey Summer Olympics world qualification tournaments, but Australia only qualified to compete at the 1964 Games. He developed a reputation as a fanatical trainer, training two or three times a week with his club and at home. Gaze also coached the Australian national under-16 and under-18 squads, during his playing career. His reputation for training led to his appointment as a coach of the Melbourne Tigers (MBA) in 1970, and also of the senior men's Australian basketball side in 1971, which he went on to coach at four Summer Olympic Games, in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

and

. His son,

Andrew Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derive ...

, was a part of the team that he coached in 1984. Lindsay Gaze would write his first book, ''Better Basketball'', in 1977. Lindsay was a part of every Australian Boomers' Olympics team as a player or coach, from 1960 to 1984. He covered each of the campaigns, year by year, on the Aussie Hoopla podcast.

NBL coaching career 1983–2005

Gaze was the inaugural

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

of the

, at the start of the NBL, in 1984. He retired in May 2005, after coaching the team for 22 seasons. He coached in a total of 651 games, and recorded 339 victories. The Melbourne Tigers won two NBL championships, in 1993 and 1997, with Gaze as the club's head coach. He was a widely respected coach in the NBL, winning the league's Coach of the Year award three times during his career. He announced his retirement from coaching basketball, on the same day that his son, Andrew Gaze, announced his retirement from playing basketball, after having played in 612 NBL games. Lindsay Gaze had coached Andrew Gaze during his son's entire career as an NBL player, with the pair forming the longest standing father-son partnership in the history of world sport. The pair would also author a book titled, ''Winning Basketball'', in 1992. Lindsay Gaze was also a member of the NBL Board. In 2004, he became a part owner of the Melbourne Tigers, along with Andrew Gaze. At his retirement, journalist Stephen Howell of the ''Melbourne Age'', wrote that history would judge him as, ''the most influential figure in Australian basketball''.

CBA coaching career

Gaze was announced as the

of the Tianjin Ronggang, of the Chinese CBA, for the 2008–09 season.

Awards and accolades

* Played at the

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

and

editions of the

FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament The FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, formerly known as the FIBA Pre-Olympic Basketball Tournament, is the last qualifying tournament for the Olympic Basketball Tournament. The best non-champions from the different FIBA World zones quali ...

. * Played at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this h ...

and the

1970 FIBA World Championship The 1970 FIBA World Championship was the 6th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Yugoslavia in Sarajevo, Split, Karlovac, Skopje and Ljubljana, from 10 to 24 May 1970. It was ...

. * Head Coach of the Australian national team at the

and

editions of the

. * Head Coach of the Australian national team at the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

and

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

editions of the

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

. * Coached in 689 NBL games, with 363 victories (52.6%). * NBL champion (head coach) - 1993 and 1997. *

- 1989, 1997, 1999. *

inductee, as player and coach - 2004. * Associate member of the

(SAHOF), for role as a coach and member of the SAHOF board. * Victorian Father of the Year 1992 (his son, Andrew Gaze, would also win the award in 2004). * FIBA Hall of Fame inductee as a coach - 2010. *

inductee as a coach – 2015 (formal induction on 11 September). *

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM), in the

1985 Australia Day Honours The 1985 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 1985 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day (26 January), with ...

, for "service to the sport of basketball". * Lindsay and his son, Andrew, are the only Australians that are currently in the FIBA Hall of Fame. Andrew was inducted as a player in 2013.

References

* ''Who's Who in Australia 2005'', Crown Content North Melbourne 2005, page 789
NBL Lindsay Gaze page

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110709012753/http://www.sportal.com.au/basketball.asp?i=news&id=65593%2F Sportal article on retirement of Lindsay and Andrew Gaze
Basketball Highway article on history of Australian basketball

External links

Basketball Hall of Fame ProfileFIBA Hall of Fame ProfileAustralian Basketball Hall of Fame Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaze, Lindsay 1936 births Living people Australian men's basketball coaches Australian men's basketball players 1970 FIBA World Championship players Australian Olympic coaches Australian rules footballers from Adelaide Basketball executives Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics FIBA Hall of Fame inductees National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Olympic basketball players of Australia Prahran Football Club players Shooting guards Basketball players from Adelaide Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Australian expatriate basketball people in China

Personal life

Olympic career

NBL coaching career 1983–2005

CBA coaching career

Awards and accolades

See also

References

External links