NICKNAME/S: Ivan Drago

BIO: Christopher Matthew Jent was born in Orange, California and grew up in Sparta, New Jersey. After attending high school at Sparta High School (New Jersey), he played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes, leaving in 1992 after four seasons.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Chris Jent made his NBL debut with the North Melbourne Giants at 25 years of age. He scored 33 points in his first game.

When Chris Jent stepped off the plane in Melbourne back in 1995, there was probably still confetti in his hair from celebrating the Houston Rockets 1994 NBA Championship a few months earlier. He had played in 11 playoff games that season for the Rockets who were able to win the cities first NBA championship that year.

Joining the team as an injury replacement for Paul Maley, who would miss the season with back problems, Jent’s debut marked the first time a reigning NBA champion had played in our league (Andrew Gaze has since repeated the feat).

When Jent joined the North Melbourne Giants they were reigning NBL champions but with import Paul Maley being forced out through injury and the rest of the league making drastic steps to improve, the Giants needed a big time recruit to level the playing field, and Jent didn’t disappoint. Jent was a winner. Before winning a NBA ring, he was a key member of the ’93 Ohio state team that finished 1st in the Big Ten. Chris was a major part of that team which was unlucky not to beat Chris Webber and his Michigan “Fab Five” (they lost by 4 points) to reach the NCAA Final Four.

North Melbourne’s coach at the time Brett Brown described him as the only player in the league who could “defend a point guard, play interior defence and break somebody down off the dribble”. One of the deadliest long-range scorers we ever saw on our shores, his 46 point game against Canberra was a testament to that. He nailed seven from 14 from downtown and to show he wasn’t simply one dimensional finished with seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks before fouling out.

In September, Jent exploded for 46 points against Canberra. He nailed seven from 14 from downtown and to show he wasn’t simply one dimensional finished with seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks before fouling out.

The Giants would finish the year with a record of 18-8, setting up a Quarterfinal match-up against the Brisbane Bullets whom they defeated 2-0, before eliminating the South East Melbourne Magic 2-1 in the semifinals. This would see Copeland and the Giants take on the Perth Wildcats in one of the most watched finals series in NBL history.

The Giants stunned the Wildcat’s in the opening game in front of a capacity crowd at the Perth Entertainment Centre, winning 104-97. With their backs against the wall, the Wildcat’s travelled to Melbourne hoping to even up the series. Trailing 53-45 at half-time, the Wildcat’s ramped up its defensive effort to take the win 97-88. Captain Andrew Vlahov later revealed the team was motivated by the fact that the Giants organisation had already made celebratory preparations in anticipation they would win Game 2. The Wildcats continued their strong defensive effort in game three holding the Giants to 15 points in the first quarter while scoring 30 themselves.

Perth’s defence was incredible in the deciding game. The Wildcats limited Jent, the Giants leading scorer, to 5/14 shooting and forced the entire team to shoot 38% from the field (29/77 shots).

the Wildcats were led by James Crawford’s magnificent 32 points (shooting at 83%), 10 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots, the Wildcat’s blitz the Giants who were never in the game, running out eventual winners 108-88. Andrew Vlahov would go on to be named MVP of the series.

At the end of the season Jent returned to the states to play one more season in the NBA (with the Knicks) before carving out a impressive five-year career in Italy.