No 55 STEVE BREHENY
6 feet 3 inch (190cm) Guard
1980 Olympic Games
The Australian men’s team was on tour playing college teams in the USA. One of their players was fouled and awarded two free throws. The tour had been a tough one and the players were tired. The player bounced the ball routinely before shooting. To the amazement of all the players lined up the shot missed everything. It was an air-ball free throw! The player looked towards the bench and the coach and pleaded “Lindsay I was fouled!” That reduced everyone to laughter. Ever the humorist but also one of the toughest players on the team Steve Breheny had struck again.
Stephen “Steve” Breheny was born June 21st, 1954 in Melbourne, Victoria. He started playing basketball when he was thirteen years old with a church team Christ the King Braybrook in 1967 in the Saturday social competition run by the local CYMS. He was a relatively late starter to the game. Although Steve showed promise he did not make a CYMS representative team until his last year of Under 18’s. His late start also hindered his basketball development and he was not selected to any Victorian State junior teams.... a rare occurrence for a future basketball Olympian.
Steve played with the CYMS from 1971 to 1977 with his first club representative games for the Club in the Victorian Basketball Association (VBA) competition when he was seventeen years of age. He showed more improvement and gained a reputation as a “garbage player”....... that is a complimentary term for someone who “scraps” around the court picking up rebounds, loose balls, offensive rebounds, and put back baskets. He was developing his talent for reading the game, being in the right place and frustrating the opposition in doing so.
An important move came for Steve in 1978 when he moved to the St Kilda Club and came under the guidance of Coach Brian Kerle an Olympic representative player. Kerle was building a mini-empire at St Kilda and was recruiting young players and future Olympians such as Danny Morseu and Larry Sengstock. This was a great opportunity for Steve as he got to practice and play with veterans and the exciting future of Australian basketball and a future NBL Hall of Fame Coach.
Steve’s timing was also excellent in that the National Basketball League (NBL) commenced in 1979 and St Kilda was one of the inaugural teams in the League. St Kilda went on to win the NBL title in that first year. Steve’s play and St Kilda’s performances gained him selection to his first Australian squad in 1979.
He was selected in 1979 to play for the Australian Team in matches against touring teams Cibona-Zagreb and Colorado State College and for a ten match tour to the USA to play College teams. An important task in 1979 for the Australian Team of which Steve was a member was to defeat New Zealand in the 1980 Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Australia, which they did.
Australia was now in the 1980 Olympic Games and Steve’s ambition was to make the team for the Olympics.
This was quite a challenge for someone who had only emerged “on the radar” in the last few years. In1980 he played for the Australian Team against the touring Yugoslavian Club team Yugoplastika, Oklahoma University and University of Puget Sound teams.
By now Steve’s ability to make unlikely plays, score uncanny baskets around the keyhole, rugged defence and his overall team focused efforts were “glue” for his teams and it was no surprise when he was chosen on the Australian Basketball Team for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games.
In the two years since moving to St Kilda Steve had won an NBL title and was an Australian Men’s Basketball Team member and Olympian. However there was still one very threatening hurdle to take and that was the USA led boycott of the Moscow Olympics because of the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets.The Australian Basketball Team departed early to Europe to play preparation games against world class opponents but also to get “one foot in the door” to Moscow. If the Australian Government gave the approval Steve and the team were getting into Moscow as quickly as they could. Prime Minister Frazer eventually left the decision up to the players (as did Coach Lindsay Gaze) and everyone agreed and the team went to Moscow. Many of the players thought that it might be their only Olympics and that sport and politics shouldn’t mix.
Steve and others believe the events that followed over the next thirty years in Afghanistan confirm they made the right choice.
The Australian Basketball Team played wonderfully well in Moscow and scored their first ever victory over Italy (who would go on and win the Silver Medal). But in a “twist” or “contrivance” (depending on who you talk to) the Australians missed out on the Quarter Finals on percentages when the Italians scored a seven point win over the Cubans. This was the only result that could eliminate the Aussies. The Australian Team went on to secure 8th position, their best result to that time at an Olympic Games.
That same year (1980) Steve and St Kilda won back-to-back NBL titles. In 1981 St Kilda forwent the NBL finals and travelled to Brazil to compete in the World Club Championship, thus depriving itself of a possible (some say very likely) NBL “three-peat”. Again it was another great learning experience for Steve as he got to see and play against some of the world’s best Club players one year after playing in the Olympic Games.
In 1981 Steve was a member of the Australian Team that won the Oceania 1982 World Championship Qualification Tournament in New Zealand. That same year the Australian Team undertook a very arduous six week tour to the USA and China. Steve was now a regular part of the Australian Team. He was a difficult player to guard, a very good defender, tough and a terrific rebounder for his size. He was still doing the “glue” and “garbage” things as well.
After games with the Australian Team against Zadar (Croatia) and Iona University (USA) in 1982 Steve was selected to the Australian Basketball Team to play in the World Championships in Columbia. This was another tough assignment, encompassing a very long journey (via the USA) and playing in a very difficult and high personal risk environment. Steve’s personality and humour were valuable assets for the team in those conditions. Steve and the team played very well and came away from the Championships in 5th position the equal best ever result by the Australian Men’s Team in a World Championships.
Steve played for the Australian Team in the first ever Commonwealth Basketball Championships which were held in New Zealand in 1983. The Australian Team found it tough going throughout the tournament with injuries and tough opponents from NZ, Canada and Great Britain. They won the Bronze Medal but more importantly they beat NZ to qualify for the 1984 Olympic Games.Later that year Steve played his last games for Australia when he played in the series in Australia against the US College team NIT All Stars.
1984 was to be Steve’s final year with St Kilda in the VBA and the NBL. He was not selected for the 1984 Olympic Team.
In 1985 Steve moved to the Geelong “Supercats” NBL and VBA Club, and in 1986 he moved to the North Melbourne Giants for the NBL and the VBA. 1985 was his last year in the NBL or VBA. He was 31 years of age and injuries, “wear and tear” were all taking their toll.
After retirement from playing basketball Breheny moved into coaching. He coached the Coburg Women’s team in the Women’s national Basketball League (WNBL) in 1987 and 1988, winning the Australian Club Championships in both years. He then moved to Canberra to coach the Canberra Cannons in the NBL for two years, 1989 and 1990. He coached the Geelong “Supercats” in the NBL in 1992 and 1993. In 1994 he moved back to Melbourne and was Assistant Coach at North Melbourne that year when they won the NBL crown. He stayed at the North Melbourne Club from 1994 to 1997 when he moved to Adelaide to be Assistant Coach to Phil Smyth at the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL. He was with the 36ers for eleven years in the role of Assistant Coach, winning NBL Championships in 1998, 1999 and 2000. He also acted as Tournament Director for three Australian Masters Games Basketball Tournaments held in Adelaide. Steve was Assistant Coach for the 2001 Australian Men’s Basketball Team.
In May 2009 Breheny became the Operations Manager at the Adelaide Lightning Basketball Club that plays in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL). In 2012 he coached the Lightning in the WNBL season.
Steve Breheny was a late starter in the game of basketball however he became an Australian Olympic basketball player and then continued to devote his life and skills to the sport he loves.
Steve Breheny (National Basketball League Magazine/Aldo Marcolin)
Steve Breheny at the Moscow Olympics (G. McLeod)