The glory of a moment: Andrew Gaze on the upcoming World Cup, the difference maker, and his favourite shot
The legend shared a winning anecdote, the Boomers' rising talent, what lies ahead in the coming tournament and more.
Andrew Gaze has long been considered the greatest Australian male basketballer, and there is now a memorabilia range available to celebrate the accomplishments of Australia’s five-time Olympian.
Mitchell & Ness recently launched an exclusive Aussie Legends range for Australian fans. Following a debut range celebrating Australian basketball icon Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze’s own range shares iconic highlights and playing stops of his career. It’s headlined by a bespoke San Antonio Spurs jersey, with whom Gaze had his longest stint in the NBA, that features green and gold insignia in homage to Gaze’s longstanding career with the Australian Boomers.
There is also a Melbourne Tigers styled jersey, featuring the club’s red and gold colour scheme along with one special number, 18,908 - the total points scored by Gaze during his NBL career.
Credit: Rush
Gaze recently sat down with The Pick and Roll at an exclusive NBA event in Melbourne to discuss the origins of this memorabilia series, before discussion turned to the Boomers upcoming FIBA World Cup campaign and Gaze’s own personal history of playing for Australia.
“The NBA approached me along with a few others. This is the second series that they put together, and the great Luc Longley was the first one. They asked if they could theme up some [San Antonio] Spurs jerseys in what I'm more renowned for and that is playing for Australia and also with the Melbourne Tigers. They have a red and gold version of the jersey.
Credit: NBA (via Speak Communications)
“Each of [the jersey] has a little symbol, like on the Australian themed jersey there's the Olympic [years] that I competed at. Same thing with the red and gold [version]; it's got the claw scratch through the front of it, even though it's got the Spurs number ten, and on the back it's got my career total points.”
(Don’t miss the full audio from our chat with Andrew Gaze.)
On the Boomers’ latest World Cup campaign
While Gaze has long been the name synonymous with the Australian Boomers, the upcoming World Cup offers another chance for Australia’s modern day athletes to create basketball history. With a maiden Olympic medal now secure, the only way to improve upon this tangible result is by making it into a major tournament final for the first time. It is the last frontier required for a Boomers program that has been trending upwards over successive generations. We asked Gaze about the state of the Boomers leading into the World Cup, and his response reinforces the maturity of the program over recent decades.
“If you look at our past 40 years or 50 years even of Australian teams and Australian basketball, there might be a glitch here or there, but by and large, the graph has been heading in the right direction. It is going up. This is a stock that if you invested into it 40 years ago, you're living large right now because this thing has gone upwards the whole time.
“Even now, the trajectory may not be as sharp, but even when you compare back to 2021, I think it's still heading in the right direction.I think that we go into World Championships, Olympic Games and any international competition with the evidence that we can compete, and we rightfully go into this World Cup campaign with an expectation that a gold medal is not beyond the realms of possibility.
“We've been in that situation for quite some time, but the recent evidence of the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games, the opportunities that our players are getting in the NBA or international basketball around the world, holds us in really good stead that this is not just some fanciful idea or dream. This is an absolute reality.”
The reality that Gaze refences is rooted in the fact that Australian male basketball has more talent, dispersed all around the world in major leagues, than ever before. It’s easy to talk about NBA mainstays in Patty Mills and Joe Ingles. Equally obvious pointing at budding starters like Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels. But there are also the likes of Nick Kay and Duop Reath who are applying their trade and successfully performing in second tier leagues all around the world. That offers Brian Goorjian a smorgasbord of options when crafting his rotation for the upcoming World Cup. There is also a merging of the generations, as the program transitions from one era to the other. That’s a competitive advantage according to Gaze.
“I look at our team right now and we've got an era where, if you're talking about one of our strengths, the senior leadership combined with talented young players coming through. There's a nice feel about that. There's a nice balance that you see.
“You've got these veterans that can guide these young bull, enthusiastic, passionate youngsters and help guide them in that transition through tournament play. Giving them experience is an important part of transitioning, but also an important part of giving this group the best chance to for success.”
Success for Australia across the next month will be measured at a level higher than anything that has come before. A roster full of internationally renowned athletes raises the bar. It also places those on the team in position to legitimately complete with the leading nations unlike what faced Gaze a generation earlier. Balancing the age profile of this squad against the harsh reality of tournament is a challenge that Gaze acknowledges, albeit one he feels the Boomers are ready to handle.
“If you look at, again, the balance of the team, the big man department is really good, but there are some unknowns. Unknowns on how that'll fit into the system. Unknowns on are our bigs capable of competing with some of the bigs that the other countries have and can they negate that? No doubt about the talent. The talent is really good. But do we have those pieces in place to find that balance in our group that can get us to that next level?
“You need everything to go right. In tournament play, there is very, very little margin for error. So, there is a little uncertainty about that. But I think perimeter shooting, we tick off well. I think athleticism, we tick that box really well. I think with Brian Goorjian and the way in which that he can coach defence, that that's a really good tick. And then you're talking about the fine details that often can be really, really important in getting to that next level.”
The challenge of a World Cup
The “fine details” Gaze references have been sliding doors moments for Australia over the past decade. Their fourth places finishes across the 2016 Olympic Games and 2019 World Cup came down to one play in each tournament; one moment at either event would have permanently changed the result. These are the small margins of international sport, and truth be told, this is why World Cup campaigns carry so much weight. There is no debate on sample size theory, or whether a once-off occurrence is indicative of larger trends. These are cutthroat moments. To Gaze, the challenge of a World Cup, thanks to the breadth of talent across the global basketball ecosystem, is harder than the Olympic Games.
“The World Cup is different from the Olympic games and in fact, although it probably doesn't have the same prestige. If you ask the players, well, if you had a choice, you have a hypothetical, what would you rather win? A World Cup gold medal or an Olympic gold medal? I think the vast majority of them would say, if you twisted their arm and say you had to make a choice, they'd probably choose an Olympic gold medal. But in fact, to me, the World Cup medal is harder to win. There are more teams and more really, really good teams that qualify.
“So the depth of competition in the World Cup is a lot, lot tougher than what it is at the Olympic Games. The way the game is played these days, and I know what you've got to do on the defensive end and the athleticism and the way in which you can stop teams is really important, but when you're at the World Cup and you're looking for those fine margins, sometimes it can come down to whether you can make or miss shots.
“Now that seems really, really simplistic. You think, well, of course the objective is to put the ball in the hole. A lot of times you can do everything right and play really well, but you just have those days where the shots don't quite drop. You miss a couple of free throws at crucial times like we did at the last World Cup.”
This is the free throw Gaze referenced. It’s something we have covered in depth over the past four year, both here and here. Mills missing one free throw doesn’t diminish his legacy one iota. It merely proves the point that hard work and talent can only get you so far. To win these tournaments, you need that one percent of luck in the pivotal moments, and as someone who has seen every iteration of the modern day Boomers, this is a fact that Gaze knows better than anyone.
“We certainly were not in that situation [at the 2019 World Cup] without Patty, so we don't blame Patty, but it shows that those very, very small details and something as simple as just being a couple of percent better from the three-point line. Being really strong from the free throw line and being able to score because of the nature of the way the game has evolved in the style of play these days, where it is very uptempo. It’s a lot of shots. It's a lot of work from the three-point line. It can come down to just whether you shoot the ball.
“We are very fortunate. We've got some really good shooters, so hopefully that will hold us in good stead, but sometimes really good shooters have a bad day. It's not like the NBA where you get an 82 game regular season, or the NBL where you’ve got 30 plus games and you've got a bit of margin for error.
“Every single game is like a final. With the pools and carrying wins and losses over into the next pool, it is a lot of pressure. How you adjust to that and how you work that in your favour, so when you're taking those shots you're making them rather than missing them. It can be just a percent or two here or there that can make the difference.”
The glory of a moment
During our sitdown with Gaze at the NBA event in Melbourne, a fan from the audience asked a great question of Gaze: does he have any memorable shots from his playing career? It was an outstanding question that without a doubt, drew the best response from our chat.
The short answer: Gaze retells one shot from the Sydney 2000 Olympics above many others. Tied game, last minute against Russia and Gaze knocks down a three ball that put Australia in the lead for good (link to the play).
The long answer is five minutes of Andrew Gaze telling stories with his trademark panache. We have included the full audio and text below, as Gaze recounts one of the most memorable shots during his career. Enjoy!
Andrew Gaze on his last minute shot against Russia at the Sydney 2000 Olympics
I have my memories tattooed in my mind and I know that sometimes my mind starts to waver. These days as I get older, I forget some very, very significant things that I shouldn't forget. But much to the frustration of some of my family members, I don't forget a lot of the experiences I had growing up playing basketball.
I don't forget certain big games that I watched when I was a younger kid and I don't forget certain moments that I had or some teammates that we played with throughout the journey. There are many memorable shots and some of them are completely irrelevant to the fan because they are not always dramatic. It's not always a three pointer at the end of the game to win it. They are at certain stages of games where there are big, big shots. I remember a lot of those.
The one that is probably more to the latter and that is those big moments was the one when we're playing Russia in the 2000 Olympic games. There’s 13 or 14 seconds to go and scores are tied. Scores are tied. Left hand wing.
We've given up a massive lead. I think we got about 18 or 19 points up, and the momentum is right against us. I remember left hand wing. Luc Longley comes out to set an onboard screen and I had no predetermined idea of what I was going to do. I remember back to almost an identical situation when we were playing Croatia in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Situation on ball screen: I drive, I get into the paint, the defence collapse and I kick it out to Tony Ronaldson. Tony hits a three ball in the corner and gets fouled for a four point play. Then we win that game. Now that was Tony's shot, but I remember the action and how you don't predetermine what you're going to do.
But in this particular case, in the 2000 Olympics, I’m on the wing and Luc Longley comes out to set the on-ball screen. I remember that I was pretty deep, and I remember the defence making the decision to go under the screen. It was almost like there was this rush, there was this excitement. And it happens in a millisecond, but at the time you're processing this and you're going through it and straight away the synapses fired and there was this excitement in me: this bloke's going underneath the screen!
So I knew that I was going to be able to get a shot off. You don’t know whether it's going to go in or not, but you are in the moment and when you're in those moments, your mindset thinks every shot's going to go in. Now, they don't always go in, but you have a self-belief that every one of these shots is going to go in.
I can remember the feeling of ‘I've been given an opportunity.’ This guy’s decided to go underneath the screen and as soon as he released to go underneath the screen, it happens slowly in your own head, but if you look at it, it happens really quickly. Straight away I go up, shoot the three ball and knock down a three ball to give us a three point lead. They call a time out.
That joint there, of all the venues I played in, that was one of the most special. And it was a makeshift venue. The finals were played at the Superdome in Sydney, which is now Qudos Bank Arena, but the [group] round was played in this makeshift hall. It was all temporary seating and it held about seven or eight thousand people when sold out. It was the loudest venue and just the intensity, the Olympics, all those things. It was the best venue, atmosphere-wise, that I'd ever played in, and to knock down that shot.
They called a timeout after the shot. I can still remember going to it, and you can have a look at it, it was a Lanard Copeland line. I remember we were all excited, high fiving and Brett Maher came up and I remember saying to Brett, and it was a Lanard Copeland line that he used to say week in week out, every practice session whenever he is making shots. When we're at practice, he always used to say, ‘Man, don't you have Foxtel at home? Because surely you see this on a week in and week out basis.’
I remember when I was running over, and I had that thought of Lanard in my head about what he'd say when he hit a big shot. I remember Brett Maher coming up to me and I whispered, ‘clearly the Russians don't have Foxtel at home.’ We went there and we ended up winning that game, and going on to play off for a medal. That was a big shot.