NICKNAME/S: Sneaky

BIO: Stephen Hoare was born in Melbourne (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Bulleen basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Stephen Hoare made his NBL debut with the North Melbourne Giants at 19 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

As a rookie, Hoare averaged 1.4 points as the Giants finished in second place (18-8).

1996
The Giants would return almost their entire roster in 1996 as the team looked to go one step further after finishing runners-up in 1995. The only roster changes being the addition of Tonny Jensen, a member of the Australian Boomers, who would replace the retiring Mark Leader and a returning Paul Maley would replace import Chris Jent after he delivered one of the greatest one and done seasons in NBL history.

Pat Reidy would lead the team in scoring, averaging 20.8 points as well as 6.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, while McDonald would deliver another stellar season, putting up 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and a league leading 10 assists per game. Hoare would average 1.8 points, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.1 assists alongside the two stars and in a extremely close season, where only two games seperated third place and eight place. The Giants finished with a 15-11 record and in seventh place finish on the NBL ladder.

North Melbourne would face crosstown rivals South East Melbourne who would make quick work of the Giants behind a season high 19 points from Andrew Parkinson in game one, a 82-96 loss and a 25 point effort from Tony Ronaldson in game two, which resulted in a 77-87 defeat and the end to the Giants season.

At seasons end McDonald would again be named to the All-NBL First team.

1997
In 1997, the Giants were beginning to feel the pinch financially and struggling to retain talent. He would lose the services of forwards Tonny Jensen (via Newcastle) and Paul Maley (again due to crippling back problems) however due to the demise of team’s in Gold Coast and Hobart he would benefit by making some key free agent signings. Import Mike Mitchell and young gun David Stiff, both looking for a new NBL homes joined the team as Coach Brett Brown cleverly tried to make the most of his team budget by playing the entire season with the league minimum of 11 players.

Another setback that hurt the Giants was when Paul Rees suffered a severe knee injury that kept him out for the majority of the season, only to then see him return and break his wrist against the Bullets in the second last round of the season. Behind star import Darryl McDonald (17.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 8.9 assists) and leading scorer Pat Reidy (20.2 points and 5.7 rebounds), they had enough talent to keep the Giants’ competitive. Hoare would average 1.3 points, 1 rebounds, and 0.2 assists, as the team finished the year in third place, behind a 18-12 record.

Starting centre Paul Rees was able to return for the playoffs, his presence making a huge difference as the Giants handily defeated the Canberra Cannons (2-1) in the Elimination Finals.

The Giants were eliminated in the next round by the extremely talented Melbourne Tigers (0-2), who went on to win the NBL championship.

A little 90's Nth Melb Giants v Sydney Kings.. Enjoy!! pic.twitter.com/3VdqfONAJN

— RANDOM HOOPS (@HoopsRandom) May 14, 2023

WEST SYDNEY RAZORBACKS
1998/99
After spending a season without a NBL contract, Hoare signed with West Sydney for the 1998/99 season. Hoare averaged 5.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists and was a part of the Razorbacks squad that finished in eighth place (12-14).

1999/00
Hoare averaged 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds, and 1 assists, and helped guide the Razorbacks to a sixth place finish in the regular season (12-16).

2000/01
The Tigers would see several new faces join the squad this season after losing both Bennett Davison (to Europe) and Warrick Giddey to injury. David Smith (via North Melbourne), Stephen Hoare (via West Sydney) and Nathan Taylor (via Victoria). Guard Phil Handy was signed as a import replacement for Bennett Davison, and Melbourne began the season winning five of their first eight matches.

Around this time, Phil Handy (10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists) joined Giddey on the injury list (missing eight games), so Jason Sedlock (3.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) was signed as an injury replacement during Handy’s absence. At the mid-way point of the season, Melbourne received the bonus of long-serving guard Lanard Copeland gaining his Australian citizenship and qualifying as a local player. To take advantage of that, Melbourne used the additional import spot to sign former Townsville star Clarence Tyson (3.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) for the remaining 14 games.

This season saw Daniel Egan (11.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 blocks) develop into a key part of the Tiger’s rotation, Copeland (20.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 steals) continue to score buckets as Gaze (29.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists) finished as the league’s highest scorer and Mark Bradtke (21.3 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks) led the league in rebounds while also being selected to the All-NBL First team.

With Melbourne entering their final ten games, they sat just outside the top six and with Lindsey Gaze trying to balance the incoming talent with the Tigers’ existing core, they went on a five-game losing streak to drop out of the playoff race. A three-game winning streak to end the season came too late, and Melbourne finished in seventh spot (13-15), missing out on the playoffs by three wins. This would be the first time Melbourne would finish with a losing record and miss the playoffs since 1988.

Hoare would appear in 25 games during his first year with the Tigers, averaging 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists.

2001/02
This season, Marcus Timmons would return to play for the Tigers, replacing the outgoing Phil Handy (to West Sydney). Timmons (16.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.0 blocks) would slot right back into the team, his presence catapulting the Tigers back to the top of the ladder. Lanard Copeland (25.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals) was also in amazing form this season, hoping to earn selection to the Boomers squad after being recently naturalised.

With Melburne sitting on 9 wins and 5 losses, they would lose Gaze after he succumbed to a ankle injury three minutes into a game against Townsville. The Tigers would then lose this game by two points (98-100) and Gaze (19.1 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists) would miss twelve games with an ankle injury. During this time Hoare would step up his game, delivering notching up 33 points and 8 rebounds in a win over Cairns. yet Melbourne would drop from top of the ladder to fifth spot, recording 7 wins and 9 losses in Gaze’s absence. Mark Bradtke (22.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 blocks) would step up during this time, leading the league in rebounding for a sixth time and being selected as the NBL MVP at the end of the season.

Although not fully healed, Gaze would return to the court to help the Tigers (16-14) in their Qualifying Final matchup against crosstown rivals, the Victoria Titans (21-9).

Victoria had finished the season in first place and entered the series as clear favourites. However, after the Titans secured game one (107-113), in a game where Hoare delivered 20 points and 13 reobunds, the Tigers would bounce back. Copeland (41 points, 5 assists and 2 steals), who shot a impressive 14 from 27 shots (52%), and Timmons (19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists) both delivered big games to secure victory in game two (107-105). Copeland (37 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists) and Timmons (21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks) backed that performance in game three (103-97) to move onto the semi finals and face West Sydney. Gaze struggled through the series, playing in all three games but scoring total of 11 points.

Melbourne would face the fifth placed West Sydney Razorbacks (16-14) at home and behind Timmons (36 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals) and Bradtke (21 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals), come away victorious (114-93). Once the series moved to Sydney the Tigers lost games two (109-125) and three (103-115) with Gaze still not back to full health.

This season marked the first time Gaze failed to lead the Tigers in scoring since they entered the league in 1984, yet he still managed to lead the league in free throw shooting (88.4%). Hoare would appear in all 36 games and average 9.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists.

2002/03
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), Greg 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 line-up 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.

Hoare delivered another solid season for the Tigers, appearing in 33 games, averaging 9.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.

2003/04
In 2003/04, Hoare averaged 9.6 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.4 assists, playing a key role in the Tigers rotation, helping the team finish in fifth place (20-13).

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.

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.

Hoare appeared in 37 games, averaging 9.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists.

2005/06
In 2005, the Tigers were forced into rebuilding mode as legendary figures Andrew Gaze and his father Gaze retired while Tigers stalwarts Mark Bradtke and Lanard Copeland headed to Brisbane. By a stroke of luck, Chris Anstey, who after three seasons in Europe had decided he wanted to return to play in Australia, began talking to the Tigers, who were now the only NBL team in Melbourne.

With Anstey on board and David Stiff, Rashad Tucker, Dave Thomas, Darryl McDonald, Stephen Hoare and Daryl Corletto returning, the Tigers core was set and so finalised their roster by adding a bunch of young talent in Tom Greer, Braith Cox and Matt O’Hea.

The Tigers opened the season with a huge win over the Wollongong Hawks at home (102–61), then reeled off wins against Perth (twice) and Brisbane to start the season 4-0 before suffering their first loss (88–95) to the Sydney Kings.

Anstey (22.5 points, 10 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.1 blocks) would lead the Tigers scoring, rebounds, blocks, and minutes played and, unsurprisingly, was named the Philips Most Valuable Player of the 2005/06 Philips Championship season. Both Corletto (11.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) and Tucker (15.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists) were the primary benefactors of the exit of Gaze and Copeland, both seeing a major boost in their minutes and production. Tucker, who had struggled in the rotation the previous season, emerged as the team’s second option on offensive, which included Tucker erupting with a 35-point haul in a win over Perth (115-105), his former club. Alongside Anstey and Tucker, Hoare averaged 9.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

The Tigers finished their season with the best record in franchise history (25-7) which included a almost unbeatable home record (15-1). Melbourne would still manage only second place however, with Sydney (15-1) also being unstoppable at home (15-1) and finishing with a better overall record (26-6).

With Melbourne and Sydney earning automatic entry to the Semi-Finals, they awaited the winners of the play-in tournament, which resulted in Melbourne facing Perth and Sydney facing Cairns. Both team’s eliminated their competition in two straight games to set-up a Grand Final series between the two rivals who had been the clear front runners all season.

Anstey then led the Tigers to the franchise’s third title, winning three straight games against the defending triple-champion Sydney Kings to sweep them 3-0. Anstey’s play also saw him snare the Larry Sengstock Medal as MVP of the Philips Grand Final Series after he delivered arguably the most dominant performance of NBL Finals history, recording 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks In game one, 30 points 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in game two and 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists in Game 3.

2006/07
The Melbourne Tigers season began under mild controversy when the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) announced Melbourne’s Rashad Tucker and Perth’s David Bailey had returned positive tests from in-competition samples. Both were fined $5,000, and Bailey was axed by the Wildcat’s shortly after. The Tigers instead chose to stand him the US guard, with Melbourne Tigers majority owner Seamus McPeake stating, ‘We’ve given him a severe warning, and we have notified him of a breach of contract, but I think he’s had his punishment. A second offence is a automatic two-year suspension, so if he wants to continue his career, he can’t offend again’. With Tucker onboard, the team also saw its core group of Chris Anstey, Dave Thomas, Stephen Hoare, Darryl McDonald, Darryl Corletto, David Stiff and Tommy Greer all return. The only roster changes saw Nathan Crosswell, Alex Dench and Liam Norton replace exiting bench players Neil Mottram, Braith Cox and Gerard Leonard.

The Tigers started the season strong (5-1) and looked set to repeat as champions in 2007 and likely would have if not for a incredible off-seasonrecruitment drive from Brisbane. The Bullets, who had finished sixth the season prior (17-15), added CJ Bruton, Ebi Ere, Dusty Rychart and Dillon Boucher to play alongside Anstey’s former teammates, Sam MacKinnon and Mark Bradtke, on a roster considered by many to be the greatest in NBL history.

Another dominant season from Chris Anstey (19.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks) saw him lead the team in scoring and rebounds and the entire league in block shots. The Tigers also got quality production from Dave Thomas (16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds), Tucker (14.2 points and 8.0 rebounds), Stephen Hoare (12.5 points and 6.7 rebounds), Darryl McDonald (10.6 points and 5.2 assists) and Darryl Corletto (10.4 points), who all scored in double figures for the season, creating a nightmare for opposition team’s thanks to any of the six players able to carry the team in scoring on any given night.

Brisbane and Melbourne were clear title favourites from start to finish, and it didn’t surprise any to see both team’s finish first and second respectively at season’s end. Brisbane finished in first place (28-5) before eliminating Sydney Kings (2-0), while Melbourne finished second (25-8) and eliminated Cairns Taipans (2-0) to meet them in the Grand Final.

Melbourne had defeated Cairns thanks to a unlikely hero in game one (100-87), with Axel Dench (18 points) leading the team in scoring as Anstey (5 points) struggled to find the basket and stay out of foul trouble. In game two (95-87), the Tigers withstood a huge game from Taipans’ import Darnell Mee ( 23 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 blocks), who racked up 13 points in the third quarter behind a balanced attack that saw six players, including Anstey (16 points and 9 rebounds), Hoare (15 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists), Tucker (15 points and 12 rebounds), Corletto (15 points), McDonald (10 points) and Nathan Crosswell (10 points) all notching up double-figure scoring nights.

The Grand Final series started with Tigers duo Thomas (19 points) and Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) finishing with big numbers, but the Bullets proved too strong, finishing the game with a three-point win (98-95). Stephen Black (24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) led the victors in scoring, while Sam MacKinnon (18 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists) narrowly missed out on recording a triple-double. In game two, Anstey (31 points and 8 rebounds) made sure the Tigers evened the series before it shifted back to Brisbane, where 7,539 Bullets fans watched the Bullets claim game three (113-93), thanks to big games from Stephen Black (22 points), Sam MacKinnon (19 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals) and Brisbane’s frontline keeping reigning MVP Anstey (9 points) off the scoreboard.

Game Four was ‘do or die’ for Melbourne, and at the halfway mark, the Tigers had a slight lead (52-51). However, it was all over by final term after the Bullets reeled off a 15-27 run in the third quarter. Brisbane went on to defeat Melbourne (103-94) and win the 2007 championship.

Darryl McDonald (17 points and 4 assists) and Rashad Tucker (17 points and 12 rebounds) were best for the Tigers, while CJ Bruton (22 points and 7 assists) and Dustry Rychart (21 points) came up big in the final game. Sam MacKinnon was named Finals MVP, making history as the first player ever to win a NBL championship, season MVP, Grand Final MVP and Best Defensive Player all in the same year.

Hoare would deliver his best statistical season to date, appearing in 39 games and averaging 12.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists.

2007/08
In 2007/08 Hoare averaged 10.1 points and 4.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, and helped guide the Tigers to a second place finish in the regular season with a 22-8 record.

2008/09
In 2008, Ebi Ere joined the Tigers after being forced to leave Brisbane after their financial demise, and then after committing to play for the South Dragons, he exited his deal for a shot at the NBA and returned to Australia with the Dragons having signed replaced him with Tremmell Darden. Ere (20.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists), then joined stars David Barlow (14.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) and Chris Anstey (18.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.6 blocks), who led Melbourne to the Grand Final for the fourth straight year. The Tigers finished in second place (20-10) and would battle the Dragons (22-8) in a ‘all-Melbourne’ Grand Final series to determine the 2009 championship.

In game one, the Dragons defeated the Tigers by double digits (93–81) after holding Melbourne to 36 points in the second half. Mark Worthington (23 points) top-scored for the Dragons, while Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) led the way for the Tigers.

After leading by 14 points midway through the final quarter of game two, the Tigers fought off a late comeback by the Dragons to win on the Tigers homecourt (88-83). Barlow (26 points) and Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) finished as the Tigers’ best, and import Donta Smith (18 points and 6 rebounds) top-scored for the Dragons.

In game three, the series became front-page news after a clash between Anstey and Dragons backup point guard Rhys Carter. a incident that saw the Tigers star big man charged with ‘striking – with elbow’ after the altercation with Carter in the third quarter of the grand final series before being ejected from the match (along with Dragons forward Mika Vukona, who was involved in the subsequent on-court melee). The game was a bloodbath after Anstey’s ejection, with the Dragons hammering the defending champions 84-67 at Hisense Arena. The Dragons were led by Donta Smith (18 points), who scored 10 points in the final period.

After the NBL tribunal decided they wouldn’t suspend any players for the melee, game four saw Carter (17 points), who copped the brunt of Anstey’s anger In game three, came back with a big game but Anstey (31 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assists) also erupted for his team in game four, propelling Melbourne to victory (108-95) and setting up a fifth and final game to decide the NBL championship.

Game five saw 9,000 fans packed Hisense Arena to witness the Dragons beat the Tigers by 21 points (102-81) and become NBL champions. Tremmell Darden (31 points) was the key for the Dragons in this game, scoring 21 points in the final quarter, and Donta Smith (21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists) did the rest, almost notching up a triple-double. Worthington and Mika Vukona were able to limit the impact of limit Anstey (12 points and 3 rebounds) yet again, with Ebi Ere and David Barlow (16 points each) the only Tigers’ players able to make a impact.

Donta Smith was named MVP of the Finals after averaging 18.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists over the five-game series.

Hoare averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists across 37 games.

2009/10
Hoare averaged 7.7 points and 3.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists during a lacklustre season where the Crocodiles finished in second place (16-12).

Stephen Hoare played seventeen seasons across four NBL teams. This included the North Melbourne Giants, West Sydney Razorbacks, Melbourne Tigers, Townsville Crocodiles and Gold Coast Blaze. He averaged 8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 465 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 25th in total games played.
– 37th in total rebounds

Dan Boyce (823 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.