Al Green (basketball)

Al Green (born 3 September 1953)[1] is an American-Australian former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for three different colleges and was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 1979. He arrived in Australia in 1981 and had a successful career in the National Basketball League (NBL) until his retirement in 1993. He won two NBL championships in 1982 and 1984, and was the NBL Most Valuable Player in 1982.

Al Green
Personal information
Born (1953-09-03) 3 September 1953
New York City, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Australian
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight172 lb (78 kg)
Career information
High schoolMaine Central Institute
(Pittsfield, Maine)
College
NBA draft1979: 3rd round, 64th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Playing career1979–1993
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Number15, 10
Coaching career2011–present
Career history
As player:
1979–1980Utica Olympics
1980–1981Atlantic City Hi-Rollers
1981West Adelaide Bearcats
1981Crispa Redmanizers
1982–1984West Adelaide Bearcats
1985–1990Adelaide 36ers
1991–1993Newcastle Falcons
As coach:
2011–2014Woodville Warriors
2014Forestville Eagles (assistant)
2016–2017South Adelaide Panthers
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life and college

Green was born in New York City[1] and grew up in South Bronx.[2] He attended Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, Maine, where he was a third-team Parade All-American selection in 1974.[3]

Green began his college basketball career at Arizona Western College[4] before playing two seasons for the NC State Wolfpack between 1975 and 1977.[5] After redshirting the 1977–78 season, he played his final college season in 1978–79 for the LSU Tigers.[5]

Professional career

NFL and NBA drafts

Coming out of college, Green was selected by the San Diego Chargers in May 1979 in the NFL draft as pick #269 as a defensive back despite never having played organised football. The choice was made primarily on Green's size, speed and jumping ability. Green and his agent spoke to the Chargers but despite the money he was being offered to change sports, he decided that he wanted to continue playing basketball.[2]

The following month, Green was selected by the Phoenix Suns in the third round of the 1979 NBA draft with the 64th overall pick. He spent the 1979 preseason with the Suns but never debuted in the NBA.[6]

CBA (1979–1981)

Green's first professional stint came during the 1979–80 season with the Utica Olympics of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). He continued in the CBA with the Atlantic City Hi-Rollers for the 1980–81 season.[7]

NBL (1981–1993)

In early 1981, Green moved to Australia to play for the West Adelaide Bearcats in the National Basketball League (NBL). He earned All-NBL First Team in his first season.[8] Following the NBL season, he moved to the Philippines where he helped the Crispa Redmanizers win the 1981 PBA Reinforced Filipino Conference.[9]

Green returned to the Bearcats in 1982 and won the NBL Most Valuable Player Award. He helped the Bearcats reach the 1982 NBL Grand Final, where they defeated the Geelong Supercats to win the NBL championship.[8]

Green continued on with the Bearcats in 1983 and 1984. In 1984, he scored 50 or more points four times, including a 71-point game.[10] He subsequently earned the 1984 scoring title.[11]

In 1985, Green joined the Adelaide 36ers. He helped the 36ers reach the NBL Grand Final, where they lost to the Brisbane Bullets. He earned All-NBL First Team honours. In 1986, he helped the 36ers return to the grand final and won his second NBL championship, with the 36ers this time defeating the Bullets. He parted ways with the 36ers after the 1990 NBL season.[8]

Between 1991 and 1993, Green played for the Newcastle Falcons. He retired from the NBL in 1993 having played 340 games. He finished with career averages of 22.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game.[8][10]

Coaching career

In 2011, Green was appointed head coach of the Woodville Warriors men's team in the Central ABL.[12] He served in that role until being sacked early in the 2014 season.[13] He immediately joined the Forestville Eagles as an assistant coach.[14]

In 2016 and 2017, Green served as coach of the South Adelaide Panthers.[15][16]

Athletics

Green was also a professional runner who won Adelaide's famous Bay Sheffield sprint race held over 120 metres in both 1983 and 1984. During 1985, after he became a naturalised Australian, Green announced his retirement from professional running with the intention of running for Australia at the 1986 Commonwealth Games although he did not end up making the team.[8]

Personal life

As of 2016, Green lives in Adelaide and works as a U.S. basketball tour guide.[17]

NBL career stats
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
† Denotes season(s) in which Green won an NBL championship
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1981 West Adelaide Bearcats 2323NA.500NA.733NANANANA26.0
1982† West Adelaide Bearcats 2828NA.587NA.7434.72.4NA0.026.5
1983 West Adelaide Bearcats 2626NA.567NA.7633.72.31.00.229.6
1984 West Adelaide Bearcats 2121NA.523.349.7606.45.01.90.339.5
1985 Adelaide 36ers 2828NA.541.366.7936.05.11.30.331.0
1986† Adelaide 36ers 3030NA.505.389.6894.53.51.10.519.4
1987 Adelaide 36ers 292941.0.537.368.7205.03.20.80.423.1
1988 Adelaide 36ers 262636.3.542.325.7283.93.91.40.620.0
1989 Adelaide 36ers 252537.7.528.366.7833.53.81.20.214.7
1990 Adelaide 36ers 26NA22.5.505.400.7502.12.20.90.39.8
1991 Newcastle Falcons 262641.1.533.383.7025.12.11.00.222.2
1992 Newcastle Falcons 242434.4.548.414.8055.83.01.10.418.9
1993 Newcastle Falcons 282832.0.413.310.6834.32.71.10.210.3
Career 340NANA.531.364.7484.23.01.00.322.1

References
  1. Nagy, Boti (13 November 2015). "Adelaide 36ers to honour greats Al Green and Darryl Pearce by retiring their singlets". adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2022. AL "Mean Machine" GREEN. Al Green in action against Canberra in 1989. Born: September 3, 1953, New York. Height: 188cm. NBL Career (1981-93).
  2. "DARRYL PEARCE & AL GREEN GOLDEN ERA DOCO EXTRACTS". YouTube. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. Cohen, Haskell (31 March 1974). "Parade's All-American High School Basketball Team". Parade. p. 21. Retrieved 2 April 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "#11 AL GREEN". lsusports.net. 25 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  5. "Al Green". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  6. "Al Green". realgm.com. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  7. "Al Green minor league basketball statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  8. "Al Green". andthefoul.net. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016.
  9. Leongson, Randolph B. (4 May 2021). "Aussie players who played as imports in the PBA". spin.ph. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  10. "Player statistics for Al Green – NBL 1984". NBL. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  11. "All Time Leaders". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017.
  12. "Newsletter from the President - 'Welcome to Warriors Basketball January 2011'". Woodville District Basketball Club. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  13. Turner, Matt (20 May 2014). "Hoops great Al Green sacked as Woodville Warriors coach after 'personality clash' with club president". adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  14. Turner, Matt (30 July 2014). "Al Green loses vote to oust Woodville Basketball Club committee that sacked him as coach". adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  15. Nagy, Boti (11 March 2016). "Basketball Premier League tips off tonight — but who knew?". adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  16. Turner, Matt; Schultz, Duane (30 March 2017). "Basketball SA's new US import rule to even out competition as Southern, Norwood look to defend their championships". adelaidenow.com.au. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  17. Adelaide 36ers’ 1986 NBL ‘Invincibles’ sewed the seeds with a future foundation
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