FROM QBL / BQ website

After steering his team to five straight wins in the opening rounds of the QBL 2012 season, the first mens Coach of the Month award goes to Liam Flynn from the Townsville Heat. The Heat have dominated the field, with big wins against Cairns, Brisbane, Toowoomba and Bundaberg, and most notably a big upset win over Ipswich in Round 3. It’s Flynn’s second year of coaching the Townsville QBL side, last year taking the team to the quarter-finals.

Flynn has 15 years’ experience in coaching state league, state team and NBL teams, and has been the assistant coach for the Townsville Crocodiles since 2010. Flynn helped take the Crocodiles to the semi-finals in both the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 seasons, and is also at the helm of the Crocodiles ‘Sharp Start’ Talent Identification and Development Program. After getting involved in coaching as a teenager at Southern District Spartans in Brisbane, Flynn’s coaching career took off in South Australia, where was head coach of the Sturt Sabres in the Central Australian Basketball League from 2008 to 2010, taking the Sabres to the finals each year and championship runners-up in 2009. Flynn has also coached junior state teams for SA Metro, returning from national competitions with a number of medals. In 2007 Flynn was selected as Assistant Coach for the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL, spending three seasons with the team until his move to Townsville.

Flynn’s experience and connection with the Townsville Crocodiles NBL team has influenced the Townsville Heat roster, which features Crocodiles Todd Blanchfield, Mitch Norton, Chris Cedar and Crocs development player Keegan Tudehope as Heat captain. Combined with a young but talented group of local players, the Heat have put their mark on the league early in the season. With five from five wins so far this season, the Heat pulled a 14-point win over local rivals Cairns Marlins in Round 1, during a close match at home which saw Matthew Rees shoot a game-high 16 points at 80 percent success from the field. In Round 2, again in Townsville, Chris Cedar shot 20 points in his team’s 82 to 61 defeat of the Brisbane Capitals, capitalising on the southerners’ double-header road trip, having defeated Cairns the previous night. Round 3 saw the Heat hit the road, securing a convincing 16 point win over Toowoomba before taking on the undefeated Ipswich Force. With three minutes left in the game and the Heat 12 points down, Todd Blanchfield led the way to see Townsville steal the match to win by four points. The Heat returned home for Round 4 and hosted the Bundaberg Bulls, and dominated the match by securing the lead early and sustaining it throughout the 40 minutes. In the coming rounds, Townsville take on Cairns for the second time this season in Round 5, before going up against the powerhouse Mackay Meteors in Round 6.