BIO: Greg Blake was born in Sydney (NSW) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Bankstown basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Greg Blake made his NBL debut with the Newcastle Falcons at 26 years of age. He scored six points in his first game.

As a rookie, Blake averaged 4.4 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists as the Falcons finished in tenth place (12-18).

1998
In 1998, Blake averaged 2.7 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.3 assists, helping the team finish in tenth place (9-21).

WEST SYDNEY RAZORBACKS
1998/99
The 1999 season saw Blake average 6.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists and become a regular part of the team’s rotation. West Sydney would finish in eight place (12-14) during the regular season.

1999/00
Blake averaged 3.3 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1 assists and helped the Razorbacks finish the regular season in sixth place (12-16).

MELBOURNE TIGERS
2002/03
After coming close to a NBL Grand Final berth the prior season, which many feel they would have if not for a ankle injury that derailed Andrew Gaze for the playoffs, the Tigers underwent some small roster changes in 2002. Moving on were Daniel Egan (to Brisbane) and Warrick Giddey (retired), while Neil Mottram (via Perth), Blake and import Matt Rueter, who had both been playing in the state league, were also added to the roster.

Tigers started off slowly (2-4) before findng their groove and recording a four winning streak to improve to return to the top six by round 10 (6-4). Melbourne would lose Gaze (22.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 steals) to a knee infection that saw him miss four games (one win, three losses) with David Smith (5.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) inserted into the starting lineup. When Gaze returned to the lineup he was visibly unfit and several kilograms lighter. The Tigers had also dropped out of the playoffs picture again (9-11) after losing the NBL’s leading rebounder, Mark Bradtke (17.4 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks) for six games with back and hamstring issues.

In addition to Gaze and Bradtke, the Tigers would rely on Lanard Copeland (18.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.4 steals) and Marcus Timmons (13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3 assists 1.4 steals) to provide the offensive punch, with Neil Mottram (10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists) and Stephen Hoare (9.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) also stepping up in Bradtke’s absence.

Heading into the last round, the Tigers (14-14) needed to a extra win to avoid losing the sixth spot on the ladder to West Sydney (12-16), who had the head to head advantage against Melbourne. They would defeat Illawarra (108-99) locking in a playoff spot, but then lose to Townsville (104-106) to end the regular season (15-15).

Melbourne faced the first seed Sydney (22-8) in the Qualifying Finals and lost the opening game (89-101) thanks to big games from Kings stars Shane Heal (25 points), Kavossy Franklin (19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists) and David Stiff (18 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks).

In game two, Bradtke (21 points, 20 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals) and Kings star import Chris Williams (32 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocks) would battle inside in one of the greatest head to head battles of all-time. Although Williams would do it all that night, the Tigers locked down the Kings backcourt of Heal (14 points) and Franklin (16 points) and thanks to big games from Gaze (25 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists) and Copeland (22 points and 5 assists), came away victors in game two (108-104).

With the series returning to Sydney, the Kings simply outclassed the Tigers in game three (114-89), with Williams (25 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks) continuing his unstoppable form and the Kings winning by 25 points. The Kings locked down Melbourne’s ‘Big Three’ of Gaze, Copeland and Bradtke who in rare fashion were limited to only 34 points combined. Stephen Hoare (15 points and 12 rebounds) top scoring for the Tigers.

Blake would continue to see limited playing opportunities, appearing in 24 games and averaging 3.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.5 assists.

VICTORIA GIANTS
2003/04
In 2003/04, Blake averaged 7.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists, playing a key role in the Giants rotation as they finished with a 11-22 record.

MELBOURNE TIGERS
2004/05
With Melbourne’s roster aging rapidly, import Rashad Tucker was added mid-season. Tucker, who had begun the season with Perth Wildcats was released due to poor attitude, but upon arriving in Melbourne didn’t show any signs of this.

In a reduced role, Tucker (5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) would play with the team’s second unit.

Melbourne would finish in sixth place (17-15) and once into the postseason, they would defeat Perth (108-88), but then lose to Townsville in their second playoff elimination game (100-112). This game would be the last for Tigers legends Andrew Gaze and his father, Lindsey, who had decided to retire together at season’s end. Blake appeared in 15 games, averaging 2.1 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.3 assists

Andrew Gaze (20.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists) played his last NBL season at 39 years of age, remaining one of the league’s most potent scorers even in his final season. Bradtke (17.8 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists) and Lanard Copeland (13.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists) would also move on at the end of the season, both joining the Brisbane Bullets.

Greg Blake played seven seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Newcastle Falcons, Victoria Giants, West Sydney Razorbacks and Melbourne Tigers. He averaged 4.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 165 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (833 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.