Ollie Bailey brings his incredible work ethic to the Miners for the 2016 season

By Kasey Cornwell

Strong swingman Ollie Bailey comes into the Ballarat Miners team and he knows how to win.

He got into basketball during high school, as a means to stay out of trouble. Ollie was always playing in the streets, but it was his teacher at school that got him into organised basketball.

Basketball is a way for Ollie to remove himself from negativity in his life and he finds it was a peaceful break from everyday life.

Ollie Bailey made it to Rutgers College to play basketball and this was a huge accomplishment for him, he credits his college scholarship to how well his basketball career has turned out.

Bailey has since played professional basketball for a number years over many different continents, Europe, South and Central America and this has taught Ollie many life lessons. Being thrust into basketball and immediately moving away from home is what Ollie testaments to how he matured quickly.

During the early stages of Bailey’s professional basketball career Ollie developed a lot, learnt plenty about the game and reassessed himself, as a basketballer and as a person. He saw this time as very challenging, but stayed focused and kept working.

Ollie is an incredibly hard worker on and off the court, and he is sure that his hard work at training is evident in his game and he always makes sure he assesses his game for any room for improvement.

Bailey takes his basketball very seriously, he appreciates that this is his life, it is what feeds him and the people close to him, he will do whatever it takes to get better and is what inspires him to continue to train.

While last season Ollie averaged 25.4 points a game and shot the ball at an impressive 61.3%, he doesn’t go into the game thinking about how many points he will score, he goes in with the mindset that he will do whatever needed to get the team over the line. When talking defence, Ollie knows that this is a huge element of the game, and he thinks this is what wins games.

Bailey’s preseason has gone really well and he thinks that he and the team have made steady improvements and the team’s chemistry is developing well.

Catch Ollie Bailey in action against Bendigo at the Ballarat Miners season opener Friday 1 April at 8:00pm.