T1 LEAGUE defending champion Kaohsiung Aquas’ coach Brendan Joyce said he is grateful to be part of the league’s first-ever All-Star Game after being asked to coach one of the teams, which also includes Dwight Howard as one of the players, according to the club on Monday.
“I am very proud to be an All-Stars coach representing my Kaohsiung Aquas here in Taiwan and grateful to be a part of the first All-Stars Game in our T1 LEAGUE,” said Joyce, who was named Coach of the Year at the end of last season after leading the Aquas to the highest winning percentage in the league’s inaugural season.
The Aquas, T1 LEAGUE champions in the 2021-22 season, finished top with a winning percentage of 76.7 percent after recording a 23-7 in the six-team league’s regular season standings.
The Kaohsiung team also swept the Taichung Wagor Suns 3-0 in the best-of-five final series to clinch the championship trophy.
A former assistant coach for the Australian men’s national team and head coach of the Australian women’s national team, Joyce said his plan is to encourage the players to showcase their “beautiful skills.”
“Keep it very simple and encourage every player to put on a show displaying their strengths and showing why they are selected,” Joyce said. “For me it’s about making sure it’s exciting for the players and a great experience for the fans.”
His team in the All-Star Game, named “Infinity,” includes four players from the Aquas and eight-time NBA All Star Dwight Howard.
“Obviously, we have Dwight who I have coached against at the 2008 Olympics and a World Cup. I am glad he will be in our team,” Joyce said. “Many fans will have come to watch him put on a show and witness his athleticism and great skills.”
It will be his job to make sure that happens, Joyce said, adding that coaching an All-Stars Game is really about the players and he will be enjoying it just like the fans.
“I really am grateful to be a part of it,” Joyce said.
A former National Basketball League (Australia) player and coach, Joyce was an NBL All-Star Game Player in 1988 and 1989 and a coach in 2006, according to the Aquas.
Joyce has coached over 400 NBL games. As a professional basketball player, he was also a point guard in the NBL, playing in the league’s inaugural year in 1979, and went on to play in 289 games. He was Runner Up for Most Assists from 1985-87 and Winner of Most Assists in 1988.
Joyce is respected by Taiwan’s basketball community for helping to put Kaohsiung basketball on the map and forging one of the strongest ever teams to come from the southern port city.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel