'82 West Adelaide Bearcats: Where are they now

• West Adelaide Bearcats were stacked in 1982, with one of the greatest NBL players of all-time coming off the bench
• The Bearcats beat Geelong by six points to win the 1982 NBL Championship
• basketball.com.au finds out where the NBL champions are now

Al Green, Leroy Loggins, Ray Wood, Peter Ali and Brad Dalton — five legends of Australian basketball but it was also the starting line-up for the 1982 NBL champion West Adelaide Bearcats.

Two of the Greatest NBL players of All-Time along with two Olympians, coached by another of the NBL's greatest players, and the first truly dominant American import Ken Richardson, beat the Geelong Cats 80-74 in Broadmeadow Stadium in Newcastle.

“Al was a superior athlete, honestly, you've never seen anything like," '82 Bearcats captain Peter Ali told basketball.com.au.

"This guy is quick, he could jump, he was fast, he was aggressive on defense and could play both ends of the floor.

“Post up on big guys and take it to them and then Leroy — my goodness — he was so hard to guard.

“He's just like silk, just constant motion and you know he's gonna score on you. You know he's gonna do something, it's almost like Larry Bird, you know he's gonna bloody kick your ass but you don't know when it's gonna happen.

“Two lefties as well, two left handers, which is a quite interesting but both different styles but both very competitive.”

It's been 43 years since West Adelaide won their first NBL championship and Ali's memories of that magical run into basketball immortality were seeded the day the Bearcats entered the NBL in its first season in 1979.

“The foundation was set by a guy called Alan Dawe, who used to coach West Adelaide for many years," Ali said.

"He set a really good standard and the club West Adelaide just had a winning attitude.

“They're always trying to make sure that they're playing at the highest level and winning championships so from that perspective the groundwork was set and then Ken Richardson came in and started coaching the team and took it to another level.

"We ended up recruiting Brad Dalton to come into the team — Leroy Loggins, Al Green and Ken Richardson.

“Ken Richardson, I think, actually changed the game in Australia, the way in which he played. Other teams started to recruit to try and stop a Ken Richardson type player.

“He had these gorilla long arms, you know, enormous hands just and watching him manoeuvre his way almost like a snake — and I mean in a nice way — just to manoeuvre around the game and play and just find his way in there. He was an orthodox looking guy but my god he was effective.

“I’ve never met anybody that's worked as hard as him, I would say he's probably one of the hardest players I've ever played against right across any of the competitions.

“You train against these guys and when you rolled up against Richo, you knew.

“It’s the same as when you train against Mark Davis. They're probably your hardest encounters because, the best part, is there's no referees there and you’re refereeing yourself, so you're really going at it.

“Richo was just a great player, really nice guy, very genuine, give you the shirt off his back. I was I was pleased to know him.”

Ali, now 69, is one of South Australia's greatest men's basketball players. He captained the Bearcats and the Adelaide 36ers, he also played for the Australian Boomers at the 1980 Olympic Games.

Ali said the road to the 1982 championship — literally — was tough. The Bearcats went 21-5.

“It was very difficult, all I can say is that all the games at that particular time were tough," Ali said.

“The competition was very high at that particular time. And it’s not to say it’s not now — it was.

“You were never assured of winning a game — especially on the road.

“I can’t remember the year, but I know we played in Nunawading, and it went into — I think — triple overtime. It was 100 degrees outside.

"Our car that Lindsay (Gaze) gave us — that van that was given to us — had broken down on the way there because the petrol was evaporating.

"So, it was that bloody hot. We had to push the van (to get it started). Then we went into triple overtime.

“It didn’t run out of petrol. What the problem was — the van was fine — I think it was because of the day. It was 100-plus and the petrol was evaporating.

"One of our guys was a mechanic. So we had to push it to start with to get the bloody thing going.

"I recall that game, I had sweat coming out through — it looked like — the bottom of the soles of my feet because as you're walking away, you can see just wet marks behind you.

“It wasn’t just me — everybody was the same way. But anyway — I think we lost by one or something .

"That was the era and there was no air conditioning in the Nunawading Basketball Stadium.

"It was a fantastic — that was with Alan Black, Ian Stacker, and that era — those great players (at Nunawading).

"I’ve never been so knackered in all my life."

The two best teams in '82 met in the Grand Final. The Bearcats finished first (21-5) and Geelong (20-6). The Geelong team was stacked too — James Crawford and Cal Bruton were its centrepieces.

The Bearcats hammered Coburg Giants by 20 — 94-74 — in the first semi-final and Geelong proved too much for Nunawading 71-59 in the second semi.

In '82 it was one game for all the marbles.

"We jumped them pretty well. We got out to a good start — and you know — in the halves (back then)," Ali said.

“I think we were up by about 20-something at halftime but they came back. Geelong changed the way in which they played in that particular game.

"Because up until that stage — halftime — I think Crawford hadn’t really done much. Bruton seemed not his normal self — not dynamic  — and and then in the second half, they upped the tempo.

"Bruton really took a dominant role and Crawford actually really stepped up and started to cause us major grief.

"The thing was — the shots that they weren’t quite making in the first half started to drop in the second half. And in particular — where ours started to miss — a bit of a reverse."

"Stuff that we were shooting at a pretty high clip all of a sudden started to diminish as well.

"Now, whether that was 'oh shit, this is the final and we relaxed or whatever' I don’t know. But I know it didn’t feel it.

"But you know — after the game you go, 'Shit — they really put up a great fight at the end'.

"I think Crawford fouled out. I can’t remember how long before the end of the game. But if had he stayed in, who knows.

“I was elated (at full-time). There’s still a picture that’s hanging up in the club of Ken Richardson holding the trophy above his head in one hand.

"We’d achieved it. It was pretty decent for that particular time, for the club."

Richardson, in the post game interview said: "We deserved it, and it finally came our way. It's the first we've won any kind of national championship for South Australia at all so I'm happy, words just can't even describe it."

Richardson said he was concerned as Geelong came back in the second half after being down more than 20.

"I thought we'd put so much into that first half, in the second half, we kinda fell out and didn't have the legs to carry it home but we went on and won it anyway. Commiserations to Geelong they did a heck of a job coming back at us, it was one heck of a good fight and I'm just pleased that we won."

What's Ali up to now?

"Well, I sort of assist my grandkids with a bit of skills every now and then and I’m semi-retired," he said.

"So I’ve got a bit of consultancy that I do in business management. But more often than not, just enjoy the cappuccino set and watch the kids play sport.

"That’s what I really enjoy doing."

 The 1982 NBL Champion Bearcats — Where are they now

• ‍Ken Richardson: Player / coach (deceased) recruited to West Adelaide in 1975 from Ohio ‍
• Al Green: Lives in Adelaide, recruited from LSU in 1981 ‍
• Leroy Loggins: Lives in Brisbane, recruited from the Brisbane Bullets in 1981.‍
• Peter Ali: Lives in Adelaide, West Adelaide junior, SA junior and senior state representative, Olympian 1980, captain of the Adelaide 36ers in 1986‍
• Ray Wood: Lives in Adelaide, West Adelaide junior, SA junior and senior state representative, also part of the Adelaide 1986 championship team ‍
• Brad Dalton: Lives in Sydney, recruited from Sydney Supersonics 1981, Olympian 1984-1988, Manly Sea Eagles junior ‍
• Jo Thiel: Lives in Adelaide, Australian under-20 representative, junior with North Adelaide Basketball club, SA junior state representative, recruited to Bearcats in 1980‍
• Trevor Maddiford: Lives in Adelaide, West Adelaide Junior, SA state junior representative ‍
• Greg Mules: Lives in Adelaide, West Adelaide Junior
• Peter Dawe: Lives Adelaide, West Adelaide Junior, Australian Under-20 representative and SA state junior representative.

West Adelaide Bearcats Achievements

A Foundation member of the NBL 1979, the club was founded in 1946 (Kingston basketball Club changed name to West Adelaide Basketball).

West Adelaide’s success in the SA State League: 19 men’s State Championships along with the 1982 NBL Championship.

NBL Champions

• 1982 (d. Geelong Cats 80-74)

NBL runner up:

• 1980 (d. by St Kilda 113-88)
• 1983 (d. by Canberra Cannons 75-73) 

South Australian State Champions

• West Adelaide Bearcats Men: 1948; 1949; 1951; 1952; 1967; 1968; 1970; 1971; 1972; 1975; 1978; 1979; 1980; 1981; 1982; 1988; 1994; 1996; and 2017.

The West Adelaide Bearcats in the NBL from 1979 to 1984

NBL Most Valuable Player

• 1979: Ken Richardson
• 1982: Al Green

NBL Grand Final MVP

• 1982: Leroy Loggins

NBL 1st Five

• 1980: Ken Richardson
• 1981: Al Green
• 1982: Leroy Loggins
• 1983: Leroy Loggins 

NBL Best Defensive Player

• 1980: Ray Wood
• 1981: Ray Wood

Most points scored by an individual in an NBL game

• 71 by Al Green (vs Frankston 25/05/84)

Olympians

• Keith Miller 1956 (Coach)
• Alan Dawe 1960
• Werner Linde 1964, 1968
• Glenn Marsland 1972
• Peter Ali 1980
• Michael McKay 1992

About the Author

Peter Brown is the head coach of the Sydney Comets Women’s Youth League team in the Waratah Basketball League in NSW. He is also the assistant coach for the Comets NBL1 women’s team in the NBL East Conference. Peter is a 30-year journalist, starting as a sports reporter at the NT News in the early 1990s. He played junior basketball for the Northern Territory at national championships from U16 to U20 and for the Territory’s senior men’s team at numerous international tournaments. Peter has been a basketball fan since the early '80s, especially the NBA. Basketball is his passion — and his opinions his own. Email peter.brown@basketball.com.au with feedback. Any email feedback on articles sent to Peter can be published on basketball.com.au for others to read.