59-683: Darryl "The Iceman" Pearce (born 15 October 1960) is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) for the Adelaide 36ers from 1982 to 1991 before playing four seasons (1992–1995) with the North Melbourne Giants . A 6'3" (191 cm) Shooting guard , Pearce is regarded as one of the best ever Three-point field goal shooters in NBL history having shot at 41.9% from beyond
118-631: A former 36er, returning to the NBL in November 2009, signing with the Melbourne Tigers. Hodge was a star in Adelaide when he joined the 36ers mid-season the previous two years, however issues relating to alleged missed payments caused him to walk out on the club in early January 2009 on bad terms. Hodge returned to his old home court for the first time on 5 December 2009 in a Tigers overtime victory. After being heckled and taunted all night in
177-644: A league license, following the same model as the Tasmania JackJumpers.” The last Canberra team to play in the NBL was the Cannons from 1979–2003. They won three NBL championships and played their home games at the AIS Arena . In January 2024, the NBL announced a partnership with the Japanese B.League which will see future collaboration on pre-season game crossovers and potential exploration of
236-673: A near end when the Cairns Taipans were on the verge of extinction due to financial issues. The rivalry between the two North Queensland based clubs is currently extinct due to the Crocodiles folding at the end of the 2015–16 NBL season . Illawarra Hawks vs Sydney Kings Illawarra Hawks fans consider the Sydney Kings to be their most fierce rival. Many Hawks players have moved to the Kings including two former Rookie of
295-527: A quiet game by his standards, Hodge caused more controversy when he stamped and spat on the Brett Maher signature on the centre of the Brett Maher Court following his new club's win. He was booed off aggressively and loudly by the Adelaide fans and needed security to escort him out of the stadium. Adelaide 36ers vs Perth Wildcats Both teams were perennial championship contenders in
354-452: A row, including a clean sweep of the Hawks. The next time they met in the post-season, Sydney swept the Hawks 2–0 in the 2022 Semi-Finals enroute to their fourth championship. New Zealand Breakers vs Perth Wildcats 1987 NBL season The 1987 NBL season was the ninth season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 14 teams contested the league. Three of
413-524: Is "a true winner". Pearce and the 36ers won their first NBL championship in 1986 , defeating the Brisbane Bullets 2–1 in the NBL's first ever three game Grand Final series. The Iceman averaged 19.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists for the season while averaging 23.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the GF series. While Adelaide, now under the coaching of Gary Fox , was still at the top of
472-404: Is the dominant North Queensland team. The Cairns-Townsville basketball rivalry would have to be one of the longest and most passionate in the NBL. Both teams generally attract a close to capacity crowd anywhere from 4000+ at their home games. Each team and their supporters and mascots generally boo and taunt their visiting rivals. The rivalry has been in existent for over 10 years and almost came to
531-548: Is the premier professional men's basketball league in Australia and New Zealand. Before the establishment of the NBL, there were two national basketball competitions: the National Titles and the Australian Club Championships. In August 1979, the inaugural season of the NBL commenced, playing in the winter season (April–September) which it did so until the completion of the 1998 season ,
590-635: The 1986 FIBA World Championship in Spain, as well as at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul , South Korea. Darryl Pearce was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002. On 14 November 2015, the Adelaide 36ers will formally retire the No. 4 worn by Darryl Pearce as well as the No. 15 of his long time guard partner Al Green. The numbers will join the No. 5 of Brett Maher and
649-753: The 1993 Quarter finals by the Perth Wildcats , the Giants bounced back in 1994 to win their second NBL championship after defeating Pearce's former club Adelaide 2–0 in the Grand Final series. Darryl Pearce's last season in the NBL came in 1995 . He announced his retirement after the Giants lost the Grand Final series to the Wildcats. Darryl Pearce played numerous games for the Australian boomers throughout his career. He represented Australia in
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#1732801468516708-586: The 2013–14 NBL season , recording the highest cumulative crowd attendance figures for the past five years. After numerous teams folding and a plummeting public profile property developer Larry Kestelman purchased a 51% portion of the league. Since then game attendance, TV viewership, website visitors and app downloads have been consistently on the increase. In April 2016, the Townsville Crocodiles folded as they had become too financially unsustainable to continue. Larry Kestelman has stated on
767-432: The 2019–20 season ; a season which was widely regarded as a major season for the league. After an active off-season, including the signings of LaMelo Ball and R. J. Hampton , two highly rated NBA 2020 draft picks , the league started by continuing to topple attendance records from the first round. The season's opening night had 10,300 fans in attendance to watch Melbourne United and the S.E. Melbourne Phoenix compete in
826-689: The Apollo Stadium ) when they won Game 2 104–83 before Adelaide won its first NBL title with a 113–91 win at Apollo in Game 3. The teams were evenly matched at the time with players such as Al Green, Mark Davis, Bill Jones, Peter Ali, Darryl Pearce , Mike McKay and Dwayne Nelson (Adelaide) against Brisbane's star import Leroy Loggins , captain Larry Sengstock , guard Ron Radliff , forwards Danny Morseu , Robert Sibley and Chris McGraw, centre John Dorge and (in 1985 and 1986) Cal Bruton. Loggins
885-481: The Brisbane Bullets and Bruton, who moved from Brisbane to be player-coach of Perth in 1987, built a team specifically to beat the reigning champions. Despite the long time rivalry between the two clubs, and the two teams having played numerous semi-final series against each other with the first being in that 1987 season , they did not face each other in a grand final series until the 2013–14 season , which
944-488: The Clipsal Powerhouse a 'double bird'. Heal, who had scored 61 points in the last regular season game before scoring 42 points in Game 1 to lead Brisbane to a 116–105 home win over the 36ers, had not actually managed to score a point before half time in Game 2 which the 36ers had won 99–91 before also winning Game 3 101–84. Heal, along with former 36er Mark Bradtke who had left under acrimonious circumstances at
1003-516: The Illawarra Hawks are the oldest clubs in the league, both clubs were established in 1979. The Illawarra Hawks are the only club which has participated in every NBL season since the inaugural season in 1979. After weeks of reports of a return of a Tasmanian team, in June 2019, Larry Kestelman flagged Tasmania as a potential 10th team. However he stressed that if a Tasmanian team did enter
1062-701: The Perth Entertainment Centre . The club was back in the Semi-finals in 1991 , but once again fell short, losing the Semis to defending champions the Perth Wildcats . 1991 would prove to be Darryl Pearce's last as a 36ers player and before the 1992 NBL season he was released by the club and would join the North Melbourne Giants. Darryl Pearce played 258 NBL games for the Adelaide 36ers. Pearce joined North Melbourne for
1121-479: The 1992 season, with his first game for the club being against Adelaide at the 36ers new home, the 8,000 seat Clipsal Powerhouse . He scored 8 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists for the Giants, though they were beaten 106–84. Despite their poor start, the Giants would make the Semi-finals in 1992 where they were defeated in two games by the South East Melbourne Magic . After being eliminated in
1180-406: The 36ers had what many believed to be the league's best guard combination despite both being natural shooting guards. Cole successfully chose to leave Pearce at SG (primarily due to his better outside shooting) and move Green to play Point guard . Green jokingly later told that he "hated" Pearce for being forced to play the point, but added seriously that he would play alongside him any day because he
1239-459: The 36ers stating that he would finish his one-year contract with the club should he return within a certain time. Upon his return to Australia, Bradtke stated his intention not to return to the 36ers with the Tigers rumoured to be actively chasing him. After protracted negotiations with 36ers management that led to the club being prepared to buy out his remaining contract, the NBL stepped in and vetoed
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#17328014685161298-877: The Aussie Hoopla podcast that no NBL club will ever fold again as long as he is in control of the league. Allowing for clubs to recruit the best Australian players not in the NBA became easier with the marquee rule which saw the return from Europe and the US of players such as Brad Newley , David Andersen and Andrew Bogut . In addition the Special Restricted Player rule, introduced for the 2016–17 season, allows for clubs to recruit players born in countries such as China , Philippines , Taiwan , India , South Korea , Singapore , and Japan who would not count as imports under NBL rules. From 2016 to 2018, there
1357-829: The Melbourne-based clubs rebranded themselves in the off season, with the Nundawading Spectres renaming themselves to Eastside Spectres, Coburg Giants became North Melbourne Giants and the St. Kilda Saints became Westside Saints . The NBL had 14 clubs spread across all Australian states and territories with the exception of the Northern Territory . The 1987 regular season took place over 22 rounds between 24 April 1987 and 20 September 1987. Updated to match(es) played on 20 September 1987. Source: NBL.com.au The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in
1416-473: The NBL (as of 15 November 2019). The rivalry continues into the 2012–13 season with the 36ers beating the Wildcats in back to back games in rounds 6 and 7, including the opening game at Perth's new home, the Perth Arena , in front of a then record Wildcats crowd of 11,562. The Wildcats and the 36ers dominated the 2013–14 NBL season , finishing first and second respectively during the regular round. After
1475-452: The NBL returned to their normal format of 28 games with no midseason tournament. The top four teams at the end of the regular season advances to the Finals. The team finishing in the first and second position at the completion of the regular season receives home advantages in their best-of-three first round matchup against the team finishing in third and fourth position. The winner of each of
1534-522: The NBL would begin its revamping, much like the old National Soccer League which became the eight team A-League . The NBL returned to free-to-air television in Australia for the first time in three years with One broadcasting 2–3 games a week. The 2010–11 season saw the return of the Sydney Kings after the club was purchased for A$ 20,000 on 31 July 2008. In 2013, the NBL had a de-merger from Basketball Australia . Crowds improved for
1593-494: The NBL, they would be eased in, and that there was no timeline. On 28 February 2020, the NBL and the Tasmanian Government announced that they had reached an agreement for Tasmania to host the 10th team in the NBL, known as the Tasmania JackJumpers, which would join for the 2021–22 season . In April 2022, Larry Kestelman flagged Canberra as a potential 11th team. Kestelman says “Canberra could be next in line for
1652-682: The No. 33 of their 1986 championship teammate Mark Davis hanging from the rafters of the Titanium Security Arena . As of 2016, Pearce lives in Melbourne where he works as a financial planner. National Basketball League (Australia) The National Basketball League ( NBL ) is a men's professional basketball league in Australasia , currently composed of ten teams: nine in Australia and one in New Zealand. It
1711-516: The Year winners and a two-time Olympian. In the absence of the Kings, the Sydney Spirit took the role of rival, but this felt fake to some Hawks faithful. The Hawks took bragging rights after the 2000–01 season when they became the first team from New South Wales to qualify for the NBL finals, which they won against Townsville. Sydney then took the ascendency when they won three championships in
1770-644: The arc during his 374-game career. Darryl Pearce was born in Adelaide , South Australia , and was a member of junior South Australian teams in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Adelaide 36ers were formed for the 1982 NBL season (as the Adelaide City Eagles ) with Pearce one of the first guards signed by the club. He made his NBL debut on 6 February 1982 in Adelaide's 87–84 loss to the Coburg Giants at Adelaide's Apollo Stadium . Pearce scored 14 points and collected 4 rebounds on debut for
1829-495: The arc with only Brett Maher able to match his 3-point record when he hit 11/12 in a game against Brisbane in 1996 . The team slipped to 6th place in 1989 in Fox's last year as coach before missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years by finishing 9th in 1990 under new coach and long time team assistant Don Shipway. Despite Adelaide missing the playoffs in 1990, Pearce was selected to his only NBL All Star Game played at
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1888-522: The buy out, effectively letting Bradtke leave for Melbourne without the 36ers receiving any compensation for the remainder of his contract with the club. When Bradtke returned to Adelaide with the Tigers on 4 July 1993 he was soundly booed whenever he touched the ball by the 8,000 strong crowd at the Clipsal Powerhouse . The booing of Bradtke and the Andrew Gaze led Tigers continued for a number of seasons. A new rivalry has emerged with Julius Hodge ,
1947-619: The club (plus another with Perth), while Blakemore, the NBL's Rookie of the year in 1993 and its Most Improved Player award winner in 1994 , as well as playing for the Australian Boomers in 1995, joined the Canberra Cannons in 1996 and his career went downhill from there with his NBL career ending at the end of 1997 after just two seasons with the Cannons. As the mainstay players began to slow with age and retire,
2006-492: The competition in the 2007–08 season . In 2007, Australian NBA player Andrew Bogut suggested the NBL try to adopt a model similar to the Australian Football League (AFL) whereby there are the same 10 or 15 teams over a 10-year period. A turbulent period during 2008 and 2009 saw the league lose teams from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Singapore. The 2009–10 season earmarked as the season in which
2065-459: The cup tournament with a Magic Round -style basketball event. The NBL was founded in 1979 with ten clubs. Due to club expansions, reductions, and relocations, many of the clubs either changed or ceased to exist. There are currently ten clubs; nine clubs in Australia and one club in New Zealand. The clubs are located in Adelaide , Auckland , Brisbane , Cairns , Hobart , Melbourne , Perth , Sydney , and Wollongong . The Brisbane Bullets and
2124-498: The domestic cricket competition (which commenced its first season in 1892) and Australian Football League (which commenced its first season in 1897 as the Victorian Football League before changing its name in 1990). The NBL experienced its "golden age" in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but its popularity, media attention, attendance and corporate support deteriorated and plateaued in the decade afterward with
2183-550: The end of 1992 to join the Melbourne Tigers, became public enemy #1 to the 36ers crowd following the incident. With the Bullets returning to the NBL in 2016, the rivalry has continued with Adelaide defeating the Bullets in their first encounter at home, the Bullets returning the favour with an away win in Adelaide, while a week later Adelaide spoiled the Bullets regular season return to the Entertainment Centre for
2242-483: The first "Throwdown", with a further 20,550 fans attending games across the first round. After signing a broadcasting deal with Facebook Watch , over one million American fans watched Ball 's first game in the NBL against the Brisbane Bullets . Following two condensed seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2022–23 NBL season and the 2023 finals series saw a number of all-time attendance records being set for
2301-487: The first time since 1997 with a resounding 101–83 win. Adelaide 36ers vs Melbourne United Apart from the normal South Australian and Victorian rivalry, the 36ers vs United (formerly Tigers) rivalry started at the end of the 1992 season when 36ers centre Mark Bradtke joined Spanish club Juver Murcia following the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona , Spain for a short stint. Before he left he signed an agreement with
2360-557: The growth of the country's four football codes. A second Melbourne club, the South Dragons , entered the league in the 2006–07 season , but was short lived, soon folding 3 years later after the 2008–09 season in which they were NBL champions. In the 2006–07 season, the NBL became the first Australasian sporting league to field a team from Asia with the Singapore Slingers playing. The Gold Coast Blaze also joined
2419-409: The intensity of this rivalry has declined. The two clubs remain some of the most successful in the NBL with four championships for Adelaide and ten for Perth, and are first and second on the all-time wins list (748 wins for Perth, 692 wins for Adelaide as of 20 May 2021) and have also matched up on more occasions (134 times total; Perth leading all time between the two 73 – 61) than any other two teams in
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2478-492: The key, Blakemore back handed Cattalini, giving the Wildcats forward a large cut on his mouth that required 15 stitches. Blakemore was suspended for Game 2 in Perth as the Wildcats swept the 36ers 2–0 before going on to defeat the defending champion North Melbourne Giants (who had swept Adelaide in 1994) 2–1 in the Grand Final. In an ironic twist, Cattalini would join the 36ers in 1996 and later went on to win two championships with
2537-413: The late 1980s and early 90s and had several marquee players with excellent match-ups, the three most notable all involving American imports: Al Green (Adelaide) vs Cal Bruton (Perth), Mark Davis (Adelaide) vs James Crawford (Perth) and Bill Jones (Adelaide) vs Tiny Pinder (Perth). Games during this era were rarely blowouts and helped to fuel the rivalry. Adelaide won the 1986 NBL Championship over
2596-578: The league in 1987 and 1988 , they were unable to progress past the Semi-finals in both seasons. Pearce averaged 20.6 points in both seasons. In Round 2 of the 1988 season against the Ken Cole coached Newcastle Falcons in Newcastle, Pearce set two Adelaide 36ers records that still stand as of the 2014–15 NBL season . He set the 36ers single game scoring record with 48 points and also set the record for most three-pointers made when he hit 11/14 from outside
2655-401: The league's twentieth season. The 1998–99 season , which began only months later, was the first to be played during the summer season (October–April). The shift, which is currently used by the league, was an attempt to avoid competing directly against Australia's various winter season football codes . Officially the NBL is Australia's third oldest continuing national sporting competition after
2714-426: The league. In the 2023–24 season , one million fans attended NBL games for the first time since 1996. Since the 2009–10 season , each team has played 28 games during the regular season, 14 home and 14 away. The regular season starts in early October and ends in mid February. In the 2020–21 season , each team played an extra 8 games (36 games) due to the newly formatted NBL Cup tournament. The following season
2773-405: The league. Following the 1984 season, Adelaide's "other" team, the 1982 champion West Adelaide Bearcats , pulled out of the NBL and a number of their star players including 1982 season MVP Al Green , Australian boomers representatives Peter Ali and Ray Wood, and young gun Mike McKay , moved across to play for the 36ers. Former Australian Boomer and 1964 Olympic representative Ken Cole
2832-549: The new club. He would go on to average 15.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in his first season. The club changed its name to the Adelaide 36ers from the 1983 NBL season , though the club failed to make the playoffs until 1984 where they were defeated in the Elimination Finals by the Nunawading Spectres . By this time "The Iceman" had cemented his place as one of the premier shooting guards in
2891-481: The play-in tournament. The third seed will play the fourth seed for third spot and the loser will play the winner of fifth or sixth for the fourth seed. In the 2020–21 season , the NBL introduced the NBL Cup which is a 36-game mid-season competition. Each game would contribute to each team's regular season record. In the 2021–22 season , the NBL returned to their normal format of 28 games. The league may return
2950-779: The season. Adelaide and Perth play for the Cattalini Cup named for Perth born Martin Cattalini who won two championships with each club. In each game, the game MVP is awarded with the Paul Rogers Medal named for Adelaide born centre Paul Rogers who made his NBL debut for the 36ers in 1992 and later joined Perth, winning 2 championships and the NBL MVP award in 2000 while with the Wildcats. Cairns Taipans vs Townsville Crocodiles A local derby-style rivalry nicknamed "Reptile Rumble" has developed to determine which
3009-694: The semi-final where they easily defeated for the Newcastle Falcons 151–103 at home in what is still a record semi-final win in the NBL. In the last single game NBL grand final ever played, Adelaide were up against the Brisbane Bullets on the Bullets' home court ( Sleeman Sports Centre ). Going into the final period the game the Bullets' were leading 78–74 but a 42–21 last period in favour of the home team saw Adelaide fail to win their first grand final going down 95–120. Statistically Darryl Pearce enjoyed his best ever NBL season in 1985, averaging 22.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.6 assists. With Green and Pearce,
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#17328014685163068-451: The three matches advances to the Grand Final. The winner of Series 1 plays the winner of Series 2 in the best-of-five Grand Final series, with home advantage being awarded to the highest remaining seed. The winner of this series is crowned as NBL champion. In the 2022–23 season , the NBL introduced play-in games . The top two seeds in the regular season will automatically qualify to the semi-finals. Teams ranked three to six will compete in
3127-470: The three previous semi-final meetings, they then faced off in their first ever Grand Final series which saw the Wildcats emerge with their record 6th NBL championship with a 2–1 series win. This was one of the most anticipated series in NBL history, not only given the two clubs' long-standing rivalry, but also due to the post-game on court 'brawl' which took place following their Round 18 clash in Perth earlier in
3186-499: The two clubs met in the 1986 NBL Grand Final , the first NBL GF to be played over a 3-game series. An Australian indoor sports attendance record of around 11,000 saw the first game of the 1986 series played at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre with Adelaide, who had a 24–2 record for the season , winning 122–119 in overtime. Brisbane then handed Adelaide its only home loss of 1986 (the 36ers had gone 13–0 at
3245-464: The viability of a team from Japan participating in the NBL. Adelaide 36ers vs Brisbane Bullets Arguably the NBL's oldest rivalry started in 1985 when the Brian Kerle coached Bullets defeated the Ken Cole coached 36ers 121–95 in the 1985 NBL Grand Final , the last single game Grand Final in NBL history. From 1985 to 1987, the Bullets and 36ers were the two dominant teams in the NBL and
3304-486: Was a renewed interest in the sport, with it being described as being the National Basketball League's greatest ever period. 2016–17 set a new attendance record for the league, with the figure being matched the following year, as well as the Grand Final series for the 2017–18 season. In 2018, the S.E. Melbourne Phoenix were announced as the latest club to join the league, and started competing in
3363-400: Was signed as coach of the Adelaide 36ers for the 1985 NBL season . Under Cole, the 36ers became one of the league's premier teams. Also joining the 36ers was 6'9" (206 cm) centre Bill Jones , and 6'7" (201 cm) rebounding Power forward Mark Davis . Adelaide went on to a 20–6 record and second on the regular season ladder behind the Brisbane Bullets . The team had a bye going into
3422-467: Was the NBL MVP in 1986 and 1987 (and player of the match in the 1985 GF) while Mark Davis was the Grand Final MVP in 1986 and shared the NBL MVP award with Loggins in 1987 . The Rivalry between the two clubs again reached fever pitch in the mid-1990s when Bullets guard Shane Heal earned the ire of the Adelaide crowd during Game 3 of the 1994 Elimination final series when he gave the crowd at
3481-473: Was won by the Perth Wildcats. the Wildcats have won each semi-finals series played between the two (1987, 1989 and 1995 ). The 1995 series proved to be one of the most volatile and controversial due to an incident between 36ers forward Chris Blakemore and Perth's Martin Cattalini in Game 1 in Adelaide. Under instructions from coach Mike Dunlap to basically belt the next Perth player to go through
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