BIO: Eric Bailey was born in Los Angeles, California (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Eric Bailey made his NBL debut with the Hobart Devils at 22 years of age. He scored 24 points in his first game.

In 1983, after the demise of the Launceston Casino City Tigers saw the state without an NBL team, Hobart entered the NBL. The Devils would play their home games from Kingsborough Sports Centre and were coached by Keith Scott, who built a team around three Stanwix brothers, Warren, Brennan and Darren and imports Eric Bailey, Marty Green and Curtis Coleman, who had been a part of the defunct Launceston team in 1980.

Hobart would win their very first game of the season, a 45 point victory over fellow Tasmanian expansion team Devonport (85-40). The offensive firepower of import trio Bailey (25.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.4 steals), Green (21.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks) and Curtis Coleman (11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.2 steals) would put points on the scoreboard, but the league’s newest team struggled to compete against the more talented programs in the competition.

After their initial win, the Devils would lose ten consecutive games until a surprise upset of Nunawading at home (81-73). Hobart would lose the remaining games for the season, finishing dead last with Devonport, who both finished win two wins for the season.

1984
In 1984, Bailey averaged 29.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 3.3 assists, playing a key role in the Devils rotation, helping the team reach a fourth place finish in the regular season with a 4-19 record.

1985
The 1985 season saw Bailey average 19.6 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists and as the Melbourne Tigers finished the regular season with a 5-21 record.

1989
In 1989, Bailey averaged 6.9 points and 2.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, as the Tigers finished in fourth place with a 16-8 record.

1990
1990 saw Gold Coast Cougars enter the NBL, playing home games out of Carrara Indoor Stadium. Tom Wiseman was named the team’s first-ever head coach, and his first move was filling his roster with a number of players from state rival club Brisbane. In their inaugural season, Gold Coast boasted four ex-Bullets, veterans Larry Sengstock and Ron Radliff, as well as 1989 Bullets rookie Rodger Smith and early 1980s bench player Mark Kitching.

The team would be led by its imports Leroy Combs (23.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.7 steals and 2.3 blocks) and Brian Kellybrew (14.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists) as well as US born Eric Bailey (17.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists), who after playing a number of seasons in both the NBL and the state league, had become a naturalised Australian.

Australian Boomers big man Paul Kuiper (15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds), who had been playing for the St Kilda Saints, was also added to the roster.

Radliff (13.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.0 steals) and team captain Sengstock (11.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists) provided the veteran leadership while rookie big man Andrew Goodwin (9.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) also impressed during his first year in the league.

Overall, the team struggled to deliver wins over the league’s more successful team’s and replaced Wiseman with rookie coach Brian Lester mid-way through the season. The Cougars then finished their first NBL season with a record of 9 wins, 17 losses with Combs being named the team’s MVP.

1991
In 1991, Gold Coast re-branded themselves from the Cougars to the Rollers, an effort to engage with Jupiter’s Casino at the time. After replacing inaugural head coach Tom Wiseman with Brian Lester mid-way through the team’s first year, the Rollers looked for stability and brought in Gold Coast local Dave Claxton, who had previously coached the Brisbane Bullets, as the team’s new coach.

Under Claxton, they recorded their best team result ever, finishing with 14 wins and 12 losses. The team was headlined by import stars Mike Mitchell (29 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocks) and Andre LaFleur (22 points, 3.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 2.6 steals), while veterans like Paul Kuiper (13.1 points and 7.3 rebounds) and team captain Larry Sengstock (12.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists) provided leadership from the bench.

The team also got an added boost from the development of talented youngster Rodger Smith (8.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 5 assists), who developed into one of the league’s most exciting young guards.

Despite the winning record, the Rollers would not qualify for the postseason. Bailey contributed 4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in what would be the most successful year of the franchise’s six years of existance.

Eric Bailey played six seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Hobart Devils, Gold Coast Cougars, Melbourne Tigers and Gold Coast Rollers. He averaged 16.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2 assists in 136 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (832 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.