AUS - Olympic star Michelle Timms to coach Aussies at Oceania tournament

SYDNEY (Oceania Tournament) - Basketball Australia has announced that Michelle Timms, who starred for the Opals in the Olympics and World Championships, and for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, will be the assistant coach for the Australian women's team at the 2009 Oceania Basketball Tournament.

Timms has played 241 senior games with the Opals, Australia’s national women's basketball team.

She made an immediate impact as a rookie in the 1988 Seoul Olympics helping the Opals to a fourth-place finish.

She was part of the bronze medal team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and as team captain led the team to a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

She starred for the Opals at the World Championships in 1986, 1990, 1994, and 1998, winning the bronze medal in 1998. These were the first medals ever won by the Australian women's team.

She was the first Australian woman to play professionally overseas, playing for teams in Germany and Italy, and being selected twice to the league all-star team. At the onset of the WNBA in 1997, Timms became one of the first imports to be selected to play in the inaugural season.

Placed with the Phoenix Mercury, she played in the WNBA Finals in 1998, losing to the Houston Comets. She served as co-captain of the team for five years. Timms played in the first ever WNBA All Star Team for the West in 1998, where she helped lead the West to their first All Star victory. She also starred in the Australian WNBL for 16 years, being selected to six all-star teams, winning five championships, and being selected as Player of the Year four times.

Timms is a member of the Australian Sports Hall of Fame, the Basketball Australia Hall of Fame, and the United States Basketball Hall of Fame.

Since retiring as a player, Timms has stayed with the game, both as a broadcaster and as a coach, in Phoenix as well as Australia.

In addition to her duties with the WNBL and Basketball Australia, Timms also runs a professional coaching business which provides opportunities for the youth of today to work with one of the legends of the game.

From her home in Melbourne, Timms said:

"I am extremely honoured and excited to be making the trip to Saipan. This will be my first trip as a coach with an Australian National Team and this has been a dream of mine since retirement as a player in 2001. I imagine representing Australia as a coach (assistant) is going to be right up there with the same emotion that surrounded my first ever game for Australia as a junior. I am really looking forward to seeing what other talent is out there at this age level throughout Oceania and just as excited to meet and experience the Saipan people. I have travelled to hundreds of countries and islands around the world, but I have never been to Saipan. I am absolutely thrilled to get a chance to see this wonderful island and experience their wonderful culture. I am sure all players and their staff are as excited about the upcoming Oceania Tournament as I am, as they have the rare and privileged opportunity to represent their countries and forge friendships for years to come."

Michele Timms was born June 28, 1965 in Melbourne, Victoria, and commenced playing basketball in the Melbourne area. During her stunning 16 year career, Michele would become the “face” of women’s basketball in Australia, playing leadership roles with all of the clubs she joined. Michele is without doubt one of Australia's greatest basketball players in history, male or female.

The Oceania Tournament will be held in Saipan from Sunday, June 21, to Friday, June 26, 2009. Australia and New Zealand, along with Pacific basketball powerhouses New Caledonia and Guam, will send national men's and women's teams to compete with the CNMI's best.

Gold sponsors for the Tournament include Tan Holdings, the Joeten Charitable Foundation, Shell Marianas, and IT&E. BANMI President Elias Rangamar expressed his appreciation to all of the official sponsors and other contributors, especially the Marianas Visitors Authority, the Saipan Legislative Delegation, and the Saipan Grand Hotel.

FIBA Oceania