sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Bradley Robbins (born 12 January 1985) is an Australian basketball coach and former player who is most known for his time spent in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Perth Wildcats. He currently serves as an assistant coach with the Perth Lynx of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL).

Brad Robbins

Perth Lynx
Position	Assistant coach
League	WNBL
Personal information
Born	(1985-01-12) 12 January 1985 (age 37) Melbourne, Victoria
Nationality	Australian
Listed height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Listed weight	102 kg (225 lb)
Career information
Playing career	2001–2019
Position	Point guard
Coaching career	2017–present
Career history
As player:
2001	Dandenong Rangers
2003	Dandenong Rangers
2003–2004	Victoria Giants
2004–2005	Knox Raiders
2004–2005	Cairns Taipans
2006–2007	Willetton Tigers
2006–2013	Perth Wildcats
2011–2013	Wanneroo Wolves
2015	Joondalup Wolves
2019	Rockingham Flames
As coach:
2017–2018	Joondalup Wolves (women's asst.)
2021	Rockingham Flames (men's asst.)
2021–present	Perth Lynx (asst.)
Career highlights and awards
NBL champion (2010) SBL champion (2011) 2× SEABL South YPOY (2004, 2005)
Medals Men's basketball Representing  Australia FIBA U19 World Cup 2003 Greece Team

Early life and career

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Robbins played his junior basketball at Dandenong. He represented Victoria in national competitions in Under 14s in 1998, Under 16s in 2000 and Under 18s in 2001 and 2002. In 2002, he represented Australia in junior men's teams and was then a member of the World Championship winning Australian Emus Under 19 team in 2003.[1][2]

Robbins made his debut in the SEABL in 2001 with a one-game stint with the Dandenong Rangers. He played 21 games with the Rangers in 2003.[3]

Professional career

NBL

Robbins made his debut in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Victoria Giants during the 2003–04 season. He scored 11 points in 13 games.[4] For the 2004–05 season, he played for the Cairns Taipans and averaged 1.6 points and 1.1 rebounds in 25 games.[4]

After not playing in the NBL in 2005–06, Robbins joined the Perth Wildcats for the 2006–07 season. He played 67 games in his first two seasons in Perth averaging 4.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 1.9 assists a game, but was restricted to just three appearances in 2008–09 through injury.[2][5]

In the 2009–10 season, Robbins formed a tremendous point guard duo with Damian Martin to help lead the Wildcats to the NBL championship and in 32 games he averaged 4.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals a game.[2] In the 2–1 grand final series win over the Wollongong Hawks, Robbins played through broken ribs, a calf tear and sore hips to drag Perth across the line.[6] He was named co-captain of the Wildcats for the 2010–11 season and averaged 5.4 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals a game.[2] The 2011–12 season was his second as co-captain and he had career-high numbers right across the board with 7.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals a game as the Wildcats lost in three games to the New Zealand Breakers in the grand final series.[2]

Off-season wrist surgery forced Robbins to miss the first three weeks of the Wildcats' 2012–13 season,[7] but upon returning to action, he managed just eight games before his long-running battle with various injuries began impeding on his ability to perform. Consequently, on 11 December 2012, he announced his retirement from the NBL effective immediately,[8] citing his ailing body and a fatigued mind were the main reasons in his decision to walk away from basketball.[9][10] He continued on with the team in an advisory role, but following an Achilles injury to Damian Martin in Game 2 of the Wildcats' semi-final series against the Wollongong Hawks, Robbins came out of retirement to fill in the back-up point guard role for the 2013 grand final series against the New Zealand Breakers.[11][12] He played in both games of the Wildcats' 2–0 series loss to the Breakers, finishing his NBL career with 215 games and averages of 4.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.[4]

SEABL and SBL

Robbins played for the Knox Raiders in 2004 and won the SEABL's Australian Youth Player of the Year for the South Conference.[13] He returned to Knox for the 2005 SEABL season and earned back-to-back Australian Youth Player of the Year honours for the South Conference.[13]

In 2006 and 2007, Robbins played for the Willetton Tigers of the State Basketball League (SBL).[1]

Robbins returned to the SBL in 2011, joining the Wanneroo Wolves and helping the team win the championship alongside Wildcats' teammate Greg Hire. In 15 games, he averaged 13.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game.[14] He returned to the Wolves in 2012 but played in just seven games, averaging 10.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game.[14] With the Wolves in 2013,[15] he helped them reach the grand final, where they lost to the Lakeside Lightning.[16] In 20 games, he averaged 4.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.[14] After not playing in 2014, he re-joined the Wolves in 2015.[17] He left the team in early July prior to the finals. In 10 games, he averaged 3.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game.[14]

In October 2018, Robbins came out of retirement to sign with the Rockingham Flames for the 2019 SBL season.[18] He came into the season six kilograms lighter than he was when he was with the Wildcats.[19] A hamstring injury suffered during pre-season forced him to miss the start of the regular season.[20] He made his debut for the Flames in round nine.[21] He went on to miss the back-end of the season, including the finals, with an Achilles injury.[22]

Coaching career

In December 2016, Robbins was appointed assistant coach for the Joondalup Wolves' WSBL team for the 2017 season.[23] He continued on in the role in 2018,[24] and had the responsibility as head coach for a large chunk of the season with coach Craig Friday unavailable due to his duties with the national wheelchair team.[19] During the 2021 NBL1 West season, he served as an assistant under Ryan Petrik with the Rockingham Flames men's team.[25]

In July 2021, Robbins was appointed assistant coach of the Perth Lynx for the 2021–22 WNBL season.[26] He re-signed with the Lynx as assistant coach for the 2022–23 WNBL season in September 2022.[27]

Personal

In 2013, Robbins started working part-time as a project officer at the Fremantle Police and Community Youth Centre (PCYC). The centre's Streetball program, which Robbins began co-ordinating, was developed in 2012 to combat anti-social behaviour in the area.[28] Robbins also began studying psychology and counselling at Edith Cowan University in 2013.[29]

Robbins is the brother-in-law of Wildcats and SBL teammate Greg Hire, with the pair having both married sisters.[19]

References

External links

• Perth Wildcats player profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 18 January 2013)
• NBL stats
• SBL stats
• Brad Robbins Retirement Tribute
• Archived profile

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