NICKNAME/S: Big Willie Style

BIO: Willie Simmons was born in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Willie Simmons made his NBL debut with the Coburg Giants at 23 years of age. He scored 24 points in his first game.

A dismal result in the previous season saw coach Owen Hughan replaced with former player Les Riddle. This move also saw Ray Borner (to Illawarra), Chuck Harmison (to Bankstown), Steve Davis (to Nunawading) and Benny Lewis (to St Kilda) all leave the club for opportunities elsewhere. Riddle and the Giants made efforts to find replacements for them, the key moves being imports Willie Simmons and Jim Foster joining the team and adding a young David Graham to fill the void. Losing the majority of the team’s core however, proved too much and the Giants missed the playoffs for the first time since 1981.

Simmons averaged 15.2 points and 10 rebounds for the season as the team struggled to a 14-12 record and a 8th placed finish.

1987
After missing the playoffs in 1986, the Giants moved home venues from Coburg to the inner city where they would play at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre, more commonly known as ‘The Glasshouse’. Thanks to a influx of finances the team then re-branded to the North Melbourne Giants, appointed a new head coach in Bruce Palmer and recruited star import Scott Fisher. Simmons added 21.4 points and 12 rebounds alongside Fisher (25.1 points and 11.0 rebounds), and together they helped guide the Giants back into the playoffs. North Melbourne finished in sixth place at the end of the regular season (15-11) and then went on to lose to Illawarra (97–105) in the Elimination Finals.

CANBERRA CANNONS
1988
The 1988 season saw Simmons average 17.3 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 1 assist and play a key role in helping the Cannons to a fourth place finish in the regular season with a 16-8 record.

1989
During the 1989 season Simmons averaged 15.2 points, 10 rebounds, and 0.6 assists and helped the Cannons finish with a record of 17-7 and end the regular season in second place.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
1993
After two losing seasons under coach Don Shipway, Adelaide hired American Don Monson to replace him and steer the team back to its winning ways of the past decade. With the 36ers still regrouping from the huge loss of Boomers big man Mark Bradtke (who left for Melbourne) they added young talent in Chris Blakemore (AIS) and Scott Ninnis (South East Melbourne) and veterans Phil Smyth (captain of the Australian Boomers at the time) and Willie Simmons from the Canberra Cannons.

Simmons averaged 4 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 assist while the team improved to a 14–12 record under Monson and made the playoffs by finishing in 7th place.

At the end of the season Blakemore claimed Rookie of the Year honours and while Ninnis was named the NBL’s Most Improved Player, scoring a career best 20.1 points and 4.4 assists per game after returning to the club after two seasons playing in Melbourne. The 36ers were then eliminated in the Quarterfinals by Ninnis former team, the defending NBL champions, South East Melbourne Magic.

1994
The 36ers continued strengthening their roster in 1994, enticing last season’s MVP Robert Rose (via South East Melbourne) to move to Adelaide. The undersized 36ers also acquired 6’8″ forward Andrew Svaldenis from the Hobart Devils before lastly replacing Monson with heralded NCAA coach Mike Dunlap.

The team finished in fourth place with a 19–8 record and went on to win their semi-final series against defending champions, the Melbourne Tigers and earning a matchup against the North Melbourne Giants to decide the NBL championship.

The win over the Tigers came at a cost though as team captain Mark Davis’s court time was limited in the Grand Final after dislocating his right shoulder during the first game of the semi finals. Adelaide would lose both games to North Melbourne (0-2), losing game one at the Powerhouse in overtime (93–95) and game two in Melbourne (97-117). Robert Rose averaged 32 points for the 36ers over the two grand final games, scoring 33 in game one and 31 in Game 2. He played a major role in game one as Adelaide came back from 63–77 down in the last period down to level the game at 84-84 at the end of regulation time and most felt that had Adelaide won the series he would have been the leading candidate for the Grand Final MVP award. The award was deservedly won by Giants centre and future three time 36ers championship player Paul Rees.

Blakemore improved his production from 6 points in 19 minutes per game to 13 points in 33 minutes per game and was awarded the league’s Most Improved Player award.

In 1994, under American coach Mike Dunlap, the 36ers made it back to the Grand Final but with Davis playing after dislocating his shoulder during the semi finals against Melbourne, it was always going to be a big ask. The Sixers lost to North Melbourne Giants but again had fans swooning as import Robert Rose confirmed his superstar status in Adelaide. Dunlap went on to coach in the NBA, as did Brett Brown, who coached the Giants to the flag.

1997
Simmons wasn’t resigned by the 36ers at the end of 1994 and spent the next two seasons playing in the state leagues. In 1997, with Adelaide having shown coach Mike Dunlap the exit, the 36ers hired his assistant and former Gold Coast Rollers coach Dave Claxton as his replacement.

This season would saw Brett Maher take over the team captaincy from Mark Davis (something he would hold until his retirement in 2009) and the team replaced exiting guard Rick Brunson with import Jeff Brown.

While Brown had been signed to pair with 36ers leading scorer Leon Trimmingham and Mark Davis it became apparent six games that he wasn’t the player the 36ers needed and he was quickly replaced with 35 year old Simmons.

Adelaide struggled through the remaining games and finished in 7th place (with a 14–16 record) and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1998/99
Entering the 1998/99 season, the Falcons were in dire financial trouble, but on the brink of the season starting, they secured funds from a group of investors from Albury. As a result, the Falcons were able to retain local talent Ben Melmeth, Terry Johnson and import Todd Mundt but were forced to build the rest of the team on a shoestring budget. Somewhat luckily, Newcastle benefitted from the merger of South East Melbourne and North Melbourne, which saw Pat Reidy and import Butch Hays both former Giants players, without a team. With few NBL team’s having any space on their rosters at this stage, the Falcons were able to sign both at budget prices. Dean Brogan (via Adelaide), Rod Johnson (via Canberra) and legendary shot blocker Willie Simmons was lured out of retirement to play another season.

While obvious favourites to finish on the bottom of the ladder, the Falcons surprised everyone by winning five of their first six games.

Shortly after, reports of players not being paid their salaries surfaced, and the focus, motivation and production among the players began to wane. Mundt exited the team as a result of not getting paid on time and was replaced with Simmons (14.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.2 steals) who after a season playing with Sydney was sitting at home after being unable to find another new deal.

The remainder of the season then saw Newcastle record three wins from their next nineteen games before finally beating Perth (113–111) in their final game of the year.

Pat Reidy (17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals) led the team in scoring, Ben Melmeth (17.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals) led the team in rebounds while Terry Johnson (14.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.1 steals) delivered his best season at the point guard position and his brother Rod Johnson (11.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists) rounded out the team’s leading scorers. Simmons also contributed 8.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks across 24 games.

After narrowly surviving the season before, this would prove to be the death knell for Newcastle, with the league stepping in to address their financial situation and its result being the removal of their NBL licence and the Falcons being forced out of the league.

CANBERRA CANNONS
1999/00
In 2000 Simmons averaged 5.9 points and 6.5 rebounds, and helped guide the Cannons to a ninth-place finish during the regular season with a 11-17 record.

2002/03
Although Canberra entered 2002 struggling to stay afloat financially, the team added imports Mike Chappell (via Wollongong) and Reginald Poole (via Europe) to the roster and hoped a competitive team would draw enough fans to cover their costs.

With Chappell (21.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) leading the team in scoring, alongside Dave Thomas (18.2 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals), CJ Bruton (15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.1 steals) and Poole (14.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.7 steals, and 2.2 blocks) the Cannons started the season on fire. The part of the plan that involved building a successful team worked with Canberra winning seven of their first nine games, but by December, Cannon’s ownership couldn’t afford to keep paying the bills, and the team was forced into voluntary administration just three months into the season. Back-up big man Pero Vasiljevic (5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) and Thomas, who had both just signed two-year deals with the Cannons, exited the club to find alternative employment. A few games later, Bruton and Chappell both requested their release and signed elsewhere also.

Veterans Matthew Shanahan (14.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists) and Willie Simmons (6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks) were added mid-season to help cover the loss of their starting lineup but it wasn’t nearly enough.

In a combined attempt to raise enough money to keep the team in the league and add a few bodies to the roster, a number of NBL legends made cameo appearances with Cannons throughout the last half of the season. 41-year-old Butch Hays suited up for four games for the Cannons, and Perth Wildcats’ legend James Crawford also came out of retirement for one game. The Cannons season ended with the club going 4-17 across their remaining games, and at the end of 2003, Canberra’s licence was moved to Newcastle, where it operated as the Hunter Pirates.