Alan Black

Alan Black is a former basketball player and a current basketball coach in the Australian National Basketball League. Black is currently the head coach of the Cairns Taipans.

Black also has a son that plays in the NBL, Stephen Black, who currently plays for the Cairns Taipans.

Playing career

Black started his NBL playing career in the league's inaugural year, 1979, playing for the Nunawading Spectres. In 1981, he was a member of the Nunawading side that lost to Launcestion Casino City in the Grand Final that season. After seven seasons with the Spectres, Black made the moved west in 1986 to play for the Perth Wildcats. In 1987, Black was once again a member of a losing Grand Final side when the Wildcats were defeated by the Brisbane Bullets. After only one more season, Black retired from playing in 1988.

Coaching career

Black started his NBL coaching career by replacing then Wildcats head coach Cal Bruton in 1989. His rookie coaching season saw him lead the Wildcats to third on the NBL ladder (with 16 wins and 8 losses) and through to the semi-finals. In 1990 he was once again named the Wildcats head coach, but after only two games was controversially fired by the club to be replaced by Cal Bruton for the remainder of the season. That season saw the Wildcats win their very first championship.

In 1993, Black became the head coach for the Illawarra Hawks and lead the club into the quarter finals each year until he left the club at the end of the 1995 season. During his time with the Hawks, Black was named the NBL's Coach of the Year in both 1993 and 1995.

Black made the moved to Sydney in 1996 to begin coaching the Sydney Kings. However, his tenure with the Kings was not as successful as his time with the Hawks and left the club after the 1997 season.

In 1998, Black returned to the Perth Wildcats as head coach, this time replacing Adrian Hurley. The following season Black's son, Stephen, began his NBL career with the Wildcats appearing in a couple of games to replace the injured Ricky Grace and would eventually become a full member of the squad in 1999. This time around, Alan Black's tenure at the Wildcats lasted considerably longer than his first, and also resulted in his first NBL championship in 1999/2000. Black coached the Wildcats for six straight seasons before history seemed to repeat itself. After being defeated by the Sydney Kings in the 2002/2003 grand final series, Black was once again fired by the club, which was somewhat surprising especially to the coach that had lead them to their 7th grand final appearance. Black was replaced by his assistant coach Mike Ellis. In response to his fathers sacking, his son Stephen also departed the club.

Black returned to the NBL as a head coach in 2005, this time for the Cairns Taipans. In his first season with the Taipans, he coached the team to their highest finish on the NBL ladder (5th) and to their first semi-final appearance.

Over the years, Black was also been an assistant coach at a national level for Australia. He maintained this role as assistant coach for the Boomers for seven years, including during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the 1998 FIBA World Championship and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

External links

* [http://www.abc.net.au/wa/stories/s829929.htm Alan Black dumped as coach of the Wildcats]