Kevin Lisch of the Hawks lays up the ball against the New Zealand Breakers. Photo / Getty Images
Illawarra's Kevin Lisch has won the prestigious Andrew Gaze Trophy as the NBL's most valuable player.
Reuniting with former championship coach Rob Beveridge, Lisch returned to Australia to play for the Hawks who are sitting in third place for the NBL finals series starting on Thursday in Melbourne.
He came
back to the NBL after two years in Europe, one of which was spent playing with MVP runner-up, Chris Goulding of Melbourne United, for Zaragoza in the Spanish League.
Rounding out the top five in MVP voting, the Adelaide 36ers' Jerome Randle came in third ahead of two other Illawarra players, Kirk Penney and AJ Ogilvy.
Lisch was MVP in 2012 while playing for Perth and was part of the Wildcats' championship side in 2010, also taking out the grand final MVP award.
It was a stellar night for the Townsville Crocs with Shawn Dennis winning the Lindsay Gaze Trophy for coach of the year, rookie of the year going to Nick Kay and most improved player being taken out by Clint Steindl.
The fans' MVP went to Randle, while Lisch also claimed the defensive player of the year award.
All NBL First Team:
Jerome Randle (Adelaide 36ers)
Kevin Lisch (Illawarra Hawks)
Chris Goulding (Melbourne United)
Daniel Kickert (Melbourne United)
AJ Ogilvy (Illawarra Hawks)
All NBL Second Team:
Stephen Holt (Melbourne United)
Corey Webster (NZ Breakers)
Kirk Penney (Illawarra Hawks)
Matt Knight (Perth Wildcats)
Daniel Johnson (Adelaide 36ers)
