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Wright on for 36ers
TweetJOEY Wright already is rolling up his sleeves, ready to be the architect of another resurrection, this time in Adelaide with the 36ers.
The 44-year-old dual-NBL Coach of the Year knows about starting at the bottom, returning to Australia during the 2002-03 NBL season to be Brisbane's interim coach after a 0-10 start led to Richard Orlick's firing.
Wright was coaching St Edwards University in Austin, Texas when he took the SOS from the Bullets, having already coached high school ball and the Austin Cyclones in the Southwest Basketball League, a comparable comp to the CBA.
He won his first game and five of his first seven but that 0-10 start was always going to be an issue, Brisbane finishing in the bomb shelter.
The following year, with a full season, Joey had Brisbane into the semi finals.
He won his two Coach of the Year accolades at Brisbane and led the Bullets to the 2007 championship with arguably the most talented team in league history. (But that's a review for another day.)
The Bullets fired their last shots a year later, despite another semi final appearance, and like many, Joey was out of a job.
That changed when he was called in to resurrect Gold Coast Blaze after they finished in the whine cellar in 2009. Once again, he had them back to the semi finals a year later.
Turning a basket case into a winner is par for the course now for Wright and after consecutive last placings under Marty Clarke (after a second-to-last in his first season) and a last place in Scott Ninnis' final year, the storied 36ers were definitely staring at a chasm of no-return.
It is nothing new for Wright whose focus is not on any chasm - other than reconnecting the one between the club and its disenfranchised fanbase - but looking up ... up to the NBL summit.
"As a coach, you look at Adelaide and Perth as great opportunities," he said of the clubs with coaching vacancies.
"When the chance came to go for the Adelaide job, I didn't hesitate."
Any interest Wright may have had in the Perth gig was spurred by misinformation he received telling him Brett Maher "already had the job" at the 36ers.
Clearly, as Sixers general manager Dean Parker and chairman Daryl Simmons repeatedly publicly said, that was not the case and so it proved when Wright made his inquiries.
"I wasn't playing one club against the other," Wright said of speculation linking him to the Wildcats.
"That's not me. I don't do that. I told the 36ers that."
Wright has inked a three-year deal and is aiming high.
"Lately, whoever finishes top has won it (the NBL championship)," he said.
"In years past, that wasn't always the case. I can think of some Brian Goorjian teams that finished top and didn't win.
"If you can get to the playoffs, anything can happen.
"We just need to get there."
Wright said in an ideal world, an import point guard and an import three-man would be a great fit at Adelaide, assuming it retains Adam Gibson along with returnees Luke Schenscher, Daniel Johnson, Anthony Petrie, Jason Cadee and Mitch Creek.
But signing two imports was unlikely.
"I don't think that would work out," he said. "The (player) points (cap) would be an issue.
"If Gibbo stays, I think we have 54 points already (out of 70)."
Imports usually take the 10-point maximum.
On the point guard front, Wright brought Adris Deleon to Australia for Gold Coast and they retain a strong friendship after his stellar season at Wollongong.
"I have a great relationship with him," Wright said, though when it looked as if Deleon's mentor was going to return to head coaching in the NBL, it became more businesslike.
"You'd expect that," Wright said.
He is interested in swingman Stevie Weigh who has been linked to Wollongong where the Hawks are looking for a three-man to replace retired superstar Glen Saville.
"I've been recruiting Stevie since he was a 12-year-old in Brisbane," Wright laughed.
"He is such a talent, I honestly thought he'd be tearing up this league by now.
"But I have had zero contact with the players at this stage."
It will be a big family move for the highly-regarded coach.
"I'm going to the US on May 15 for my son's graduation," Wright said. "My wife and two kids will move with me (to Adelaide), and I have two kids in the US."
Adelaide's hierarchy could not be happier with its selection.
"We had some excellent candidates, very high quality," Parker said of the selection process.
"To get a coach of Joey's calibre ... we couldn't be happier."
Despite persistent rumors Maher "had the job", the 36ers were understandably gun-shy about appointing another rookie coach, even one of the club's favorite sons and the man after whom centre court at Adelaide Arena is named.
The past two rookie coaches - Clarke and Ninnis - were calculated gambles that didn't pay off.
Wright, from Hammond, Indiana - "about 30 minutes outside Chicago" - started his love affair with Australia as an import guard from the University of Texas.
Recruited to Geelong Supercats in 1995, he played 25 games despite suffering a knee injury mid-season. He managed two games in 1996 before 'Cats coach Ian Stacker released him. Small world, eh? Stacker's assistant at Geelong at the time was a young guy named Andrej Lemanis.
Wright averaged 21.3 points, 5.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds, with a career-high scoring game of 39 against Goorjian's Magic.
He also is in the rare breed of triple-double exponents, with 28 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds against Melbourne Tigers.
The further good news for the 36ers is last week co-captain and London Olympian Gibson - who played for Wright's Bullets champions and followed him to the Blaze - said Adelaide's coaching selection would be paramount in his decision whether or not to exercise his option-year.
Wright was considered to be one of Gibson's preferred options.
But Joey takes nothing for granted.
"I think the (Adelaide) roster, there's some younger players there, if you mix with the right group, they will be stars of the league," he said.
Right now, 36ers fans will just be thrilled to know they have a proven success back holding the coaching reins. The rest will take care of itself.
WRIGHT #11
JOEY becomes the 36ers' 11th NBL mentor.
The other 10, in order of success, were: 1 Phil Smyth, 2 Ken Cole, 3 Mike Dunlap, 4 Gary Fox, 5 Mike Osborne, 6 Don Monson, 7 Don Shipway, 8 Dave Claxton, 9 Scott Ninnis, 10 Marty Clarke.
On form alone, Joey would start his reign as our #3 ranked coach.
HOW IT WAS REPORTED TODAY
