Chris Anstey put on a master class at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre yesterday.
Tuesday 8 November 2016
By Tristan Evert
Chris Anstey put on a master class at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre yesterday (Monday 7 November).
The 213cm (7ft) tall giant towered over his Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games opposition, scoring an impressive 16 points with five assists for the Hasbeens.
Anstey is one of Australia’s best known basketball exports after stints with the Portland Trail Blazers, Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks in the American NBA.
Back in Australia Anstey also played in the NBL and now finds himself at his first Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games.
“We played in a couple of Victorian Masters and Australian Masters last year. We basically put the team together with a few of the old (South East Melbourne) Magic and (Melbourne) Tigers boys,” Chris said.
“It’s been good fun to get away and spend a week together a couple of times a year and it’s good to do a little bit of exercise – move around and see if we can still shoot a couple.
“It’s almost a bit of an old reunion for a lot of us good mates.”
Anstey wasn’t the only big name out on the masters games courts. Former NBL stars Jason Smith and Cam Rigby both showed a glimpse of their former glory for the Hasbeens.
Their opponents, the Cairns Marlins, put up a fight, however Anstey said the match was played in great spirits, with the Hasbeens coming out on top.
“The Marlines were a good strong team. They had Dusty Rychart and a couple of others so they made us work,” Chris said.
“Most of our group can play over 40s and 45s but we thought we’d play over 35s just to challenge ourselves.
“It’s all done in great spirits and it would be great to see more and more players as soon as they get out of playing professional or playing semi professional come and join in.”
The 10th biennial Jupiters Pan Pacific Masters Games is being held 5-13 November, 2016, on the beautiful Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
The world’s biggest and best biennial masters games is showcasing competition in 43 teams and individual sports and has attracted about 13,000 participants from Queensland, interstate and overseas.
