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Australian basketball superstar Andrew Gaze is the newest San Antonio Spur. The 6'7 guard announced his departure from the NBL (The Australian basketball league) after negotiating out of his contract with the Melbourne Tigers a team that he has played with for over a decade. During that time he won two titles and countless MVP and scoring titles. He left the Tigers just over half way through the season with them a clear leader on the league table.
Basketball fans may remember Gaze playing with Seaton Hall's NCAA Finals side in 1989 or his exploits in Olympic and World Championship International basketball.
Why has Greg Popovich and Spurs management taken the gamble by signing the 33 y.o. player you may ask? What will the stringy, unathletic, gray headed, white guy bring to the Spurs?
Quite a bit actually.
The addition of Gaze will help fill a lot of the Spurs 'problem areas' from the past. Namely:
Scoring from the perimeter- Gaze is one of the best three point shooters in international basketball history. Currently Gaze leads the NBL in points per game (33.7) and the majority of these come from three point bombs and deep spot up jumpers.
Free throw shooting- Gaze has the uncanny ability to get to the free throw line at will. Once he gets to the line he misses hardly any shots (he shoots a career percentage above 90%). Gaze is one of the best free throw shooters in the world today.
A big guard- Andrew is a 6'7 guard who can either run the point or play at the two. Height at the guard spot has always been a problem for the Spurs and Andrew will be a big help here.
Value for money- The Spurs don't have much cap room dollars to splash around and Andrew will sign for the league minimum or close to it.
Some of the question marks about Gaze include his age- at 33 he is no college kid. His athleticism will also be shown up in the fast paced NBA and his ability to go from playing major minutes to much smaller ones could be a concern.
I.M.H.O. Andrew has been a great pickup for the Spurs. The qualities that he brings outweigh his negatives tenfold and he should be far more valuable than a Reggie Geary or a Willie Burton.
Look for Andrew to bring a slick game and a solid basketball mind to the Spurs if given the chance during season 1999.
