Melbourne Tigers

The Long and Winding 2014 Tigers review

RKS News ,

Another year has almost wrapped up, it has been a year of almost two halves for Tigers fans and not all of it was good.

The beginning started so well, the Tigers were heading for the NBL finals after a couple of years sitting on the outside looking in, people were filling The Cage to 100% capacity and Hisense Arena was open for Tigers business to which the fans responded by getting 7,000+ in for a game against Sydney.

Finals were reached but the joy was short lived as Adelaide crashed the party and bundled the Tigers out of the title race, despite this Tigers fans were looking forward to the 2014/15 season for they knew if the Tigers got one or two more recruits and worked more their plays then finals would be a strong chance again.

It was a pretty quiet off season, the only major news it seemed was that Chris Goulding was on many international teams shopping lists which was understandable yet saddening for he was in great form with the Tigers then May 19 came.

May 19 started like any other day, people went on with their daily business and then in the afternoon rumors were spreading that the Tigers were going to be no more on May 20 and throughout the night people were swamping the Facebook page with questions and rumblings of dissent started.

May 20 came and the rumors were true, the Melbourne Tigers were no more, gone because they were the Melbourne Tigers, the offspring of the original Melbourne Tigers who have been a pain in the junior competition ranks and the BigV since 1931, gone because people said they wouldn’t support the Melbourne Tigers but would support another team, gone because owners didn’t want people to follow any other team.

The Tigers were renamed Melbourne United, the owners were the same, the coach was the same and the staff was mostly the same but the colours were different, the mascot was different, the song was different, the feel was different, in short they were not the Melbourne Tigers known for the last 30 years, replaced by the Victoria Titans 2.0.

Tigers fans were suddenly in unknown territory, do they stand with Melbourne United or stay away from the NBL?. Arguments broke out as some members pointed the finger at fans who didn’t have the means to be a member or attend matches, others struck back by pointing out that Melbourne United’s aims were moot because they were a repainted Melbourne Tigers and a second NBL team was coming to Melbourne in 2015/2016 or 2016/17.

In the months past fans have been reduced to watching NBL games in Melbourne as a casual observer, some have joined Melbourne United, some more have joined the South Dragons and South East Melbourne efforts to rejoin the NBL while a good number of fans have gone to follow the original Melbourne Tigers as they rebuild their honour and legacy through the VJBL and BigV.

Fans have indicated they don’t know what the future holds for the Tigers, many hope the Gazes can once again steer Melbourne towards good times, others hope business will give the SEABL plan for 2016 the green light, while it is still fairly dark in the tunnel there is a tiny light in the distance and it is not trains coming the other way but instead it is a future.

2015 will see the Tigers play in the BigV and VJBL and it is hoped that many Tigers fans will be watching and supporting the many Tigers teams as they have during this testing year, fans have learnt many lessons from this year and those lessons will help the Tigers grow again to be one of the best known and loved teams in Australian sporting history.

Let’s Go Tigers, Let’s Go!.

A slightly empty Christmas for Tigers fans

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Christmas time used to be special for Tigers fans for it meant that the NBL season was entering the second half of the season and thoughts of finals start to enter the mind.

For this festive season there is no Tigers in the NBL or any major competition but Tigers fans find some cheer in knowing that the number of Christmases without the Tigers in competition are numbered for we have every faith in the team being built up to be nice and strong again and playing in a number of strong leagues.

Enjoy this Christmas, wear some Tigers gear and add to your Christmas some Basketball cheer by playing a game or watching a classic match or two in the company of family and friends and may next Christmas be one of 100% Tiger positivity.

Dragons roar to 800 likes

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Save Our South Dragons Facebook page has passed 800 views thanks to a mention in The Age, the group had 528 members before The Age on December 10 published a story mentioning the South Dragons and the group which lead to the rapid increase in likes.

The group has some way to go to catch Melbourne United who have 35,000 likes although the majority of those were from the days the page was run for the Melbourne Tigers, South East Melbourne Magic currently has 610 likes while Melbourne Tigers fans are discussing opening a fan page in the near future.

Save Our South Dragons hope that the increase in likes continues and that the page enters four figure likes real soon to ensure that the NBL really knows that there is great interest in the revival of the former NBL team.

Tigers fans are readying for a big 2015

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Melbourne Tigers fans haven’t had a great last half of 2014 but it has ended on a high note with reports that the Tigers are committed to rebounding through the VJBL and BigV before tackling SEABL in 2016.

Those in charge of the mammoth task are understood to have a strategic plan in place for the Tigers to live on as a multi league Basketball team with no ties to Melbourne United and the plan will become clearer to fans as 2015 goes on.

The reports could not have come at a better time with the Dragons, United/Ballers and Magic getting all the news attention in recent weeks, it is hoped that with the news of the rebuild it will get Melbourne Tigers interest fans back from Melbourne United who are at the moment losing fans to the push for the Dragons to re-enter the league.

Fans are also hoping that the Tigers would stop by referred to as a ‘brand’ and instead referred to as a team for Melbourne and the Tigers are two names that go as one complete name and no part of the name is  interchangeable at any time.

Tigers Girls score wins

RKS News ,

The Melbourne Tigers Girls teams played on Friday and had mixed results with some wins and some losses but overall the ladies should all be pleased with their performances and we hope they had a great time no matter what the result was for their respective teams.

12/1 def Keilor 32-7
12/2 def Eltham 25-23
12/3 def Frankston 2 32-28
12/5 def Werribee 28-27
14/2 def by Collingwood 2 25-40
14/3 Weribee2 23-25
14/4 def by Bacchus Marsh 24-38
14/5 def Frankston 32-20
14/6 def Knox 40-14
14/7 def McKinnon 50-20
14/8 def by Keilor 12-14
16/1 def Sandringham 41-38
16/3 def Bacchus Marsh 47-29
16/4 def by Knox 5 22-37
16/5 def by Keysborough 19-34
18/1 def Diamond Valley 38-32
18/2 def by Frankston 38-54
18/4 def by Sandringham 3 22-41

We are proud to be supporting the teams and we hope they have a great Christmas as well as having a great 2015 on and off the court.

Go Tigers!

Flashback to 2012 commemoration of 1993 title win

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Just two years ago, the majority of the staff and members of the Melbourne Tigers 1993 team gathered at The Cage during the NBL’s 2012/2013 heritage round to celebrate the 1993 title.

It was a fitting commemoration even if the celebration was a year short of the 20th anniversary of the great win in Perth, the Gaze’s were there, Lanard Copeland was there, Al Westover was there plus many more of the 1993 heroes and thanks to AndTheFoul.net fans who missed out on watching the commemoration get to see it on YouTube anytime they like.

No article is complete without a video of the highlights from Game 3 of the Grand Final series which is considered by many to be one of the greatest Grand Final matches in NBL history and to finish off there is a video comprised of several news reports on Game 3 of the Grand Final series which is great viewing as both teams gave their thoughts on the game.

SEABL plan reportedly fails

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Melbourne Tigers hopes have reportedly been dashed with reports from Brad Simpson that the 2015 season draw has already been finalized, earlier today we speculated that it was possible Melbourne Tigers could of replaced the Knox Raiders in the competition but it seems negotiations between the Tigers consortium and SEABL (and possibly Melbourne United) did not reach a satisfactory conclusion.

There are no details on why it has failed but it could be anything from the consortium unable to get a compromise from Melbourne United, the Tigers did not raise enough money for SEABL or SEABL did not want the Tigers in at this time plus an array of other options.

If this report is true this news is no doubt a result the Tigers fans were not hoping for but the supporters will bounce back and support the team in the BigV competition as the march continues towards getting the team back towards top level basketball.

Knox out, Melbourne in for SEABL?

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With the Knox Raiders announcing in late November that they are sitting out of the 2015 SEABL competition for financial reasons so they can play in 2016 is leaving Melbourne Tigers fans speculating that this be the catalyst to get the Melbourne Tigers into the competition.

The door still appears open for the Tigers to come in with the 2015 fixture not yet announced and with SEABL one team short this could be the perfect hurry up to get the Tigers into the competition and give the Tigers fans who are currently out in the cold of semi-professional or professional basketball something to cheer about.

Tigers fans watch Melbourne battle with interest

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Tigers fans have been watching the news about the SE Melbourne Magic and South Dragons bids to enter the NBL with interest for it has the potential to give fans a team to support in the NBL whilst the Tigers are on the sidelines.

This does not mean that Tigers fans will be buying Magic or Dragons memberships by the dozen as the majority asked in ‘Save The Melbourne Tigers’ have answered that they will wait for the Tigers to rejoin the competition instead of joining one of the two bids.

Fans have also stated strongly that they don’t mind which team gets in because they’ll get to beat Melbourne United, this could bode well for the incoming team for they will be looking to set up something special against their cross city rivals.

Tigers fans have overwhelmingly voted no to joining the CTI Melbourne United Ballers ranks with no votes recorded on the option, this does not bode well for United who are no doubt hoping those NBL fans who are supporters of the Tigers but dislike the thought of the Magic or the Dragons back in the NBL will join Melbourne United instead.

We Are Not United wishes both bids the best of luck and will be continuing to report on the outcome of their efforts when the news comes to hand.

The 50 heard around the world

RKS News ,

It was Round 21 of the NBL 2013/14 season, The Melbourne Tigers were finals bound and 7532 people went to Hisense Arena to see the Tigers take on the Sydney Kings or as some people called it Chris Goulding vs Sam Young as the season’s two highest point scorers went head to head.

Early on it was noticed that Chris Goulding was a man on a mission as his long range shots started going in while the Kings who were good at close range were having far less success from the 3pt line which kept the Tigers in the game as Sydney were crashing the Tigers party by leading by 5 points early in the third quarter.

But before the Kings could get comfortable and settle into the lead on Hisense Arena, The Tigers roared to life thanks to threes by Goulding and Tommy Greer and soon a lead was opened up that the Kings just couldn’t close up despite Sam Young and company’s best efforts.

Mark Worthington, Nate Tomlinson and Tommy Greer all had starring roles as they blocked, rebounding and assisted their team on the court with such examples being Worthington having six rebounds to go with Tomlinson’s nine assists.

Melbourne held on to win 92 to 82 with Goulding scoring 54% of the Tigers total, news of Goulding’s efforts went right around Australia and even around the world as the achievement set in the full game total of 40 minutes was something not seen in the country for a long time and in some NBL basketball minds it matched Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game in the NBA in terms of outstanding scoring performances in a game.

A few games later Chris Goulding played the last of his games for the Tigers while the Tigers themselves were removed from NBL in the name of bigger profits but until the Tigers return to the NBL few will forget the day Goulding ruled over the Kings.

For video of the great game plus all the finer details check out the NBL article here.