Chris Brown made his NBL debut with the Hunter Pirates at 25 years of age. He scored 16 points in his first game.
As a result of Canberra’s NBL licence moving to Newcastle, former Cannons players Brendan Mann, Matthew Shanahan and Cameron Rigby all came across to the Pirates to form the beginnings of the Pirates roster. Hunter chose not to retain Cannons coach Cal Bruton and signed Bruce Palmer as their first head coach.
Hunter signed rookie point guard Chris Harriman (via Augusta State) straight out of college and filled the remainder of the roster with low-cost imports Kevin Brooks and Chris Brown, local players Josh Morgan and Adam Melmeth, and a number of players who had been discarded by their former clubs like Geordie Cullen (via Wollongong), Michael Kingma (via Sydney) and Travis Lindstrom (via Perth) who were all unable to secure deals elsewhere.
It took six games before the Pirates won their first game, a four-point victory over Adelaide at home (103–99) and then managed to win only one more, a home win against Cairns (109–103) and ended their first season on a 15-game losing streak. Their two win season was the second worst in NBL history (outside of Geelong’s zero win season in 1988).
Initial coach Bruce Palmer was controversially fired partway into the season and was replaced by assistant coach David Simmons but that made little difference to the team’s success.
Cullen (17.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) would lead the team in scoring and win the league’s Most Improved Player award at the end of the season. Kevin Brooks (16.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists), Matthew Shanahan (15.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists) and Chris Brown (10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) would lead the team in scoring. Starting point guard Brendan Mann (9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals) suffered a season ending injury only three games into the season, resulting in rookie Chris Harriman (7.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4 assists) stepping into the starting lineup. Harriman would narrowly miss out of winning the Rookie of the Year award, finishing second to West Sydney’s Steven Markovic.
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 26 | Hunter | 2-31 (12) | 33 | 856.0 | 340 | 161 | 59 | 65 | 96 | 30 | 9 | 80 | 81 | 114 | 279 | 41% | 26 | 76 | 34% | 86 | 136 | 63% | 49% | 46% | 31 | Totals | 33 | 856 | 340 | 161 | 59 | 65 | 96 | 30 | 9 | 80 | 81 | 114 | 279 | 40.9% | 26 | 76 | 34.2% | 86 | 136 | 63.2% | 50% | 46% | 31 |
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 26 | Hunter | 2-31 (12) | 33 | 25.9 | 10.3 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 8.5 | 41% | 0.8 | 2.3 | 34% | 2.6 | 4.1 | 63% | 49% | 46% | 31 | Total | 33 | 25.9 | 10.3 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 8.5 | 40.9% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 34.2% | 0.8 | 2.3 | 63.2% | 50% | 46% | 31 |
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 31 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
|---|
Name: Brown, Chris | college: None| Additional Info:
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