NICKNAME/S: The Phenom

BIO: A hard-nosed defender with a sweet outside shot, Rhys Carter was born in Sale (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Sale basketball program. Carter received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2000. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (2000, 2001, 2002).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Rhys Carter made his NBL debut with the Victoria Giants at 18 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

After Victoria Titans folded in mid-2002, a group fronted by businessman Peter Fiddes was granted a licence in their place, and with new ownership primarily made up of former North Melbourne personnel, still upset about the Giants/Magic merger in 1998, re-branded the team to the Giants.

The team was put together on a shoestring budget and could not retain head coach Brian Goorjian nor the majority of the team’s higher-profile talent. The club was able to re-sign veteran Darryl McDonald and import Jamahl Mosely to new (reduced) deals but lacked the financial backing to re-sign much of the local talent losing Chris Anstey, Jason Smith and Mark Dickel to more lucrative European contracts and Tony After Victoria Titans folded in mid-2002, a group fronted by businessman Peter Fiddes was granted a licence in their place, and with new ownership primarily made up of former North Melbourne personnel, still upset about the Giants/Magic merger in 1998, re-branded the team to the Giants.

The team was put together on a shoestring budget and could not retain head coach Brian Goorjian nor the majority of the team’s higher-profile talent. The club was able to re-sign veteran Darryl McDonald and import Jamahl Mosely to new (reduced) deals but lacked the financial backing to re-sign much of the local talent losing Chris Anstey, Jason Smith and Mark Dickel to more lucrative European contracts and Tony Ronaldson and Brett Wheeler to the Perth Wildcats.

The Giants had been able to re-sign some of the Titans’ younger talent, Nathan Crosswell, Darren Smith and Marcus Wright and committed to giving them increased minutes and becoming a club focused on giving young Aussie talent a pathway to the NBL. This saw the team fill the remaining roster spots with young players who had been playing in the state leagues, giving them their first big break into the national league. Nik Mirich, who had just graduated from George Mason University, was signed, both Lindsey Tait and Miles Pearce were recruited from the semi-professional New Zealand NBL and Rhys Carter (AIS), David Cooper (Dandenong Rangers) and 36-year-old David Biwer (Nunawading) who had all been playing in the SEABL state league rounded out the bench.

The team would be led by former North Melbourne backup guard Mark Wright, who helped the Giants win a championship in 1989. First year coach Wright and the Giants and budget roster had been picked to finish last on the ladder and began the season with a road loss to Perth (95-85). The team would then surprise everyone by beating the West Sydney Razorbacks in their home opener (122–106) before destroying their cross-town rivals Melbourne (130–102).

The team were led by Jamahl Mosely (21.2 points, 9.5 rebounds), captain Darryl McDonald (14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.4 steals), who led the league in steals, and Nathan Crosswell (15.1 points and 2.9 assists), who grabbed the increased playing opportunities by the horns and moved into the starting lineup.

By round nine, the Giants were sitting on a respectable record (4-5) and sat middle of the NBL ladder. The wheels truly fell off from here, however, as the team lost the next seven games in a row, culminating with the release of import forward Dusty Rychart (16.5 points and 8.3 rebounds) was viewed as underperforming. Behind the scenes, the Giants had made a offer to a athletic big man Pero Vasiljevic, who had exited his deal with Canberra due to their financial instability. The front office was enamoured with Adonis Jordan, a key player during Magic v Giants rivalries of old that had recently been released from Townsville as Rychart’s replacement before letting him go. However, Jordan (19.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists) failed to change anything in the Giant’s win-loss column, with Victoria finishing the season with four wins in their final ten games. Injuries also took their toll during this period, with Darren Smith (13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 steals) injuring his knee’s medial and cruciate ligaments, forcing him to miss the second half of the season. Jamahl Mosley (finger) and Marcus Wright (leg) would also both miss a month’s worth of games, resulting in the Giants finishing the season in second last place (9-21).

Carter would see minimal playing time as a rookie, appearing in 8 games and averaging 1.0 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.5 steals.

2003/04
Carter spent two seasons with Victoria Giants but was given limited playing opportunities under coach Mark Wright. Carter has noted playing for the Giants was a relatively negative experience where the team struggled for success and his love for the game diminished.

He averaged 3.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in his second season as the Giants finished with a record of 11-22 before folding in 2004.

Carter took a season away from basketball to play VFL football with Werribee. Carter also played with his hometown team, the Sale Sonics and that season and found a renewed love for hoops. He would return to basketball the following season, playing for the West Sydney Razorbacks.

WEST SYDNEY RAZORBACKS
2005/06
After two shocking seasons in a row, the Razorbacks were forced to build after losing a number of players. The major blow coming from promising youngster Steven Markovic walking out on the club to play in Europe just a few weeks before the start of the season, the forced retirement of Simon Dwight due to a chronic knee injury and Sam MacKinnon heading to Brisbane. This left Scott McGregor, who was named team captain, as the sole remaining player from the Grand Final loss to Sydney (2004).

Coach Mark Watkins recruited James Harvey (via Perth) to the team to replace some of the outgoing firepower but was then forced to fill the remainder of the roster with low-budget players with financial issues beginning to impact the team.

Pero Vasiljevic and Rhys Carter, who weren’t even playing in the NBL the prior season, were added to the roster, alongside Graham Dann, Cameron Rigby and Miles Pearce, who were struggling to get minutes with other NBL team’s. Nick Horvath would return as a import player, and Jermaine Blackburn was later added as the team’s second import.

West Sydney’s season wasn’t only hampered by financial issues. Horvath sustained a knee injury in the first game, which sidelined him for the season. Harvey (21.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3 assists) led the team in scoring but managed only 11 games due to injuries, while import Jermaine Blackburn (18 points, 5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.5 steals) was never able to fit in with the squad and was sacked midway through the season.

The team cycled through a number of low producing imports to finish the season, Casey Frank (6.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assists) and Joel Cornette (10.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals) among them, but the team was never competitive and finished dead last with a 5-27 record. Carter would appearing in all 32 games, averaging 8.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.

2006/07
With the team still struggling financially, they continued to make the most of their low cost roster but were boosted by the return of a healthy James Harvey, who missed the majority of last season through injuries. Coach Mark Watkins was able to convince young big man Julian Khazzouh to turn down a college scholarship in favour of a spot in the full-time roster. He later signed Justin Bailey and Cheikh Ya Ya Dia as the team’s imports.

The updated roster did little when it came to West Sydney’ fielding a more competitive team. Behind another poor showing, the Razorbacks finished in last place (5-28) for the second straight season.

There weren’t many moments to celebrate, but West Sydney beating Wollongong and breaking their 20-game losing streak against them was one of few. Six games after that, the Razorbacks thumped crosstown rivals, the Sydney Kings (106–75) at the Pig Pen, a game which saw Kings coach Brian Goorjian make history for coaching the most games in NBL history.

It was around this time the Razorbacks team owner, Canterbury-Bankstown Rugby League Club, withdrew its financial support with Tri Media Group later taking over the running of the club, which had almost folded. It also was around this time that Watkins was axed and replaced by Cal Bruton.

Harvey (20.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists) would lead the team in scoring for a second year in a row while promising young forward Liam Rush (14.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) won the league’s Most Improved Player award. Khazzouh (9.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting behind Joe Ingles (South Dragons), and Carter would play in all 33 games, averaging 5.7 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists.

2007/08
By 2007, the Razorbacks were in the midst of a multitude of financial problems. Under new ownership, the team chose not to re-sign coach Cal Bruton, who was hired mid-way through the previous season and added Rob Beveridge, a unproven young coach who was the former head coach of the junior men’s national team. The financial instability of the team saw leading scorer James Harvey and club veteran Scott McGregor both sign deals to play for Gold Coast. To replace them, Beveridge recruited two of his former junior players, University of Loyola Marymount graduates Damian Martin and Matthew Knight. Liam Rush was named team captain, and Darnell Hinson and Troy De Vries were later signed as import players.

a injury to Damian Martin during the pre-season saw him miss the first half of the season, forcing the team to rely on Hinson (20.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.1 steals) and De Vries (16.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) to carry the offensive load and the ball carrying duties.

West Sydney struggled to be competitive most nights with its young roster, but there were still odd nights that they could squeak out a win if a number of players had big games. A win over the South Dragons (116-106) where Devries (31 points), Hinson (26 points), and Knight (23 points and 14 rebounds) all fired at once or the back-to-back wins where Hinson put up big numbers in wins against Gold Coast (32 points and 8 rebounds) and Cairns Taipans (31 points) but there were highlights for the Razorbacks across the season.

The team’s young frontcourt of Knight (12.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) and Khazzouh (11.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) showed promise and was able to double the team’s number of wins from the previous season from 5 to 10.

Carter would see limited playing time behind Martin, averaging 4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1 assists in 28 games.

SOUTH DRAGONS
2008/09
The Dragons retained five players heading into their third season. Ingles, the blue-collar Matt Burston, wing Nathan Herbert, the naturalised Nick Horvath, and import Cortez Groves. The demise of the Sydney Kings saw legendary coach Brian Goorjian open to offers, and the Dragons quickly offered to bring him to Melbourne and replace Shane Heal. Talented point guard Adam Gibson also joined the roster after his team (Brisbane) also exited the league. During the 2008/09 season, Carter, with no team to play for, asked Dragons assistant coach if he could train with the team to keep in shape. His play impressed Goorjian who decided to sign him as the team’s back-up point guard. Mika Vukona later joined the roster, adding physicality and leadership and Tremmell Darden signed on as the team’s second import, rounding out the Dragons core unit.

The season began with a slow start, a loss to Cairns and then Townsville saw the Dragons start the year with a 2-2 record. Then came a eight game winning streak which ended with Groves suffering a season ending injury which led to his release. The Dragons were 16-4 when Donta Smith was axed from his Chinese team Shanxi Zhongyu (making room for NBA star Bonzi Wells) and Goorjian, who was aware of Smith from his time playing for the Atlanta Hawks, quickly signed him as Groves replacement. Smith had dropped 41 and 35 point games in his last few weeks playing in China, but started his NBL campaign much quieter in comparison. Seven games in and Smith was still coming off the bench and yet to score over 14 in a game. During this time however, his talent was never questioned, as he was able to always fill the stat sheet in almost every other area which ensured the Dragons finished the season on top of the ladder (22-8).

Mark Worthington led the team in both points and rebounds (16.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.3 steals) while Smith finished up second on the team in scoring and first in assists (15 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals), while Carter added 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists this season. Adam Gibson and Joe Ingles would earn the NBL’s Best Defensive Player and Rookie of the Year awards before heading into the playoffs, where the Dragons received a first-round bye (due to finishing top of the ladder) and meeting Townsville in the semifinals. The Dragons defeated Townsville at home in both game one (94-81) and game three (101-78), while on the other side of the bracket, the Melbourne Tigers defeated the NZ Breakers in two straight games, setting up a ‘All Melbourne’ Grand Final.

In game one, the Dragons defeated the Tigers by double digits (93–81) after holding Melbourne to 36 points in the second half. Mark Worthington (23 points) top scored for the Dragons, while Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) led the way for the Tigers.

After leading by 14 points midway through the final quarter of game two, the Tigers fought off a late comeback by the Dragons to win on the Tigers home court (88-83). David Barlow (26 points) and Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) finished as the Tigers’ best, and import Donta Smith (18 points and 6 rebounds) top scoring for the Dragons.

In game three, the series became front-page news after a clash between Anstey and Dragons backup point guard Rhys Carter. a incident that saw the Tigers star big man charged with ‘striking – with elbow’ after the altercation with Carter in the third quarter of the grand final series before being ejected from the match (along with Dragons forward Mika Vukona, who was involved in the subsequent on-court melee). The game was a bloodbath after Anstey’s ejection, with the Dragons hammering the defending champions 84-67 at Hisense Arena. The Dragons were led by Donta Smith (18 points), who scored 10 points in the final period.

After the NBL tribunal decided they wouldn’t suspend any players for the melee, game four saw Carter (17 points), who copped the brunt of Anstey’s anger in Game 3, came back with a big game but Anstey (31 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assists) also erupted for his team in game four, propelling Melbourne to victory (108-95) and setting up a fifth and final game to decide the NBL championship.

Game five saw 9,000 fans packed Hisense Arena to witness the Dragons beat the Tigers by 21 points (102-81) and become NBL champions. Tremmell Darden (31 points) was the key for the Dragons in this game, scoring 21 points in the final quarter, and Donta Smith (21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists) did the rest, almost notching up a triple-double. Worthington and Mika Vukona were able to limit the impact of limit Anstey (12 points and 3 rebounds) yet again, with Ebi Ere and David Barlow (16 points each) the only Tigers’ players able to make a impact.

Donta Smith was named MVP of the Finals after averaging 18.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists over the five-game series.

Although initial reports had the Dragons regrouping for a run at back to back titles, in a surprise move, the club announced it would withdraw from the NBL less than two months after hoisting the trophy. Although in a positive financial position, Dragons ownership felt that due to the league’s instability and focus on stablising itself conflicted with their goals of continuing to grow.

“The Dragons’ board of directors believe that more time is required to develop the league as a commercially viable entity,” said co-owner Mark Cowan at the time. “The Dragons aspire to play at the highest level, to the highest standards, in a fully professional league. This is a sad day for our club, but in many ways, it’s the only way forward for a sport which needs some time to reinvent itself.”

Cowan further addressed the club’s decision in a letter to Dragons members, outlining the testing time that it was for everyone involved across the league.

“The NBL is a mess,” stated Cowan. “In the last two years, team’s in Brisbane and Sydney have collapsed. Singapore pulled out of the league. Cairns and the Sydney Spirit had major financial crises. Fox Sports severely cut its telecasts, and mainstream media interest has waned. Crowds fall every year. Basketball Australia and the NBL owners decided something had to be done, so we handed in our licences on the condition that a reform process would be undertaken.”

After the Dragons folded and with the league’s points system making it difficult for local guards get NBCL contracts, Carter decided to try his luck playing in Europe, signing a deal to play in Sweden’s national league.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2010/11
Following the club’s worst ever season, Scott Ninnis was sacked as coach and replaced by Johnson’s former AIS coach Marty Clarke for the 2010/11 NBL season. Clarke, who had won a NBL Grand Final with North Melbourne in 1989 as a player, was a unusual choice as coach due to his lack of experience coaching at a NBL level.

Before the season began, he recruited two of his former AIS graduates, Daniel Johnson (Melbourne) and Rhys Carter (Sweden) to bolster the bench as well as oversaw the re-signing of team captain Adam Ballinger who had led the team in scoring, and rebounding the season prior.

Clarke then replaced imports John Gilchrist and Cortez Groves with sharpshooter Troy De Vries and Craig Winder.

The 2010/11 season saw a litany of injuries befall the 36ers. The first casualty was Nathan Herbert, who suffered a anterior cruciate ligament injury and miss the entire season. After defeating long-time rivals Perth in the opening game of the season 74-69, the 36ers recorded two wins in seven games. December then saw Rhys Carter suffer a major injury that would see him miss a third of the season. During Carter’s absence, Adelaide signed former 36ers guard Aaron Bruce, who had taken time off basketball to finish his studies in the US. When healthy, Carter returned to the lineup, but Adelaide also chose to keep Bruce on the roster for the remainder of the season. Import guards Troy DeVries and Craig Winder, who had battled with fitness issues, were released and replaced after the first nine games of the season. The underperforming Winder (10.1 ppg from 35% shooting) was replaced by Ron Howard and De Vries (10 ppg) with veteran Euroleague guard, Eddie Shannon.

Shannon, who was recommended to Adelaide by Chris Anstey, who played alongside him in Russia, had played in Europe for ten years as a pro despite only being able to see out of one eye.

The 36ers never quite nailed their imports, and for the first time in their history, the Adelaide 36ers failed to win at least ten games in a season, finishing with a 9–19 record. Carter finished the season averaging 8.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 4.0 assists.

Adelaide was able to avoid their second straight last-place finish only because of the returning Sydney Kings, who, with a limited budget for players and finished one game behind (8–20).

Ballinger (15.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 blocks) led the team in scoring, shooting a impressive 54.1% from the field and was the league’s leading shot blocker before injuring his ankle in Adelaide’s last home game of the season. Due to the relatively small size of the 2010/11 36ers squad, the 205 cm tall Ballinger was used as the team’s’ starting centre until sustaining a season ending ankle injury on March 18, 2011. He did, however, revert to his more natural position of power forward when 212cm teammate Daniel Johnson was on the court. Ballinger won his fourth straight club MVP award, finished third in the NBL’s MVP voting and was selected to the All-NBL Third Team.

2012/13
Before the season began, the state-of-the-art Perth Arena was completed, with the 13,500 seat stadium becoming the new home of the Wildcat’s in 2012.

After undergoing off-season shoulder surgery, Matthew Knight entered the season with the expectation that he was going to be the team’s go-to guy in the paint. Knight embraced the responsibility and excelled in the Wildcats’ season-opening win over the New Zealand Breakers, earning the NBL’s Player of the Week award for a 20-point, nine-rebound effort.

Against the Townsville Crocodiles on October 14, Kevin Lisch played in his 100th consecutive NBL game, which, not coincidentally, was Rob Beveridge’s 100th game for the Wildcats as coach. Shortly after, import Michael Dunigan was brought in as a short-term replacement for Knight while he missed four games to injury and became a fan-favourite with his thunderous dunks and athletic blocks.

The team then faced another hurdle when co-captain Brad Robbins abruptly retired just eight games into the season, citing he had lost his motivation and passion for the game. Not long after, Cameron Tovey also announced he would retire after the 2012/13 season.

Despite the turmoil, Carter averaged 6 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, helping the Wildcat’s finish second on the ladder with a 19–9 record. Lisch and Knight were named to the All-NBL first team, and the Wildcats finished second on the ladder with a 22–6 record. Perth swept the Wollongong Hawks in the semifinals to move on to the 2013 NBL Grand Final series, a re-match from last season against the New Zealand Breakers, which would be their third time facing the Breakers in a playoff series in as many years.

Another injury hurdle struck the Wildcat’s when Damian Martin, who joined Redhage as co-captain upon Robbins’ retirement, won his third consecutive Best Defensive Player award before being ruled out of the grand final with a Achilles injury. To cover his loss, Brad Robbins was subsequently rushed back into the team to take Martin’s place, but with the team missing Martin, the Breakers defeated Perth in two straight games, winning their third consecutive championship in 2013.

2013/14
In 2013, the 36ers secured NBL championship-winning coach Joey Wright who took the team from two consecutive wooden spoons and into the Grand Final against the Perth Wildcats. The team retained its core group of Aussie talent, including Daniel Johnson (19.2 points and 6.8 rebounds), who once again led the team in scoring, and rebounding, Adam Gibson, Anthony Petrie, Jason Cadee, as well as a healthy Mitch Creek, who returned to action after a Achilles injury kept him sidelined for most of the previous season. In desperate need of on-court direction, the club also signed the 2011 NBL MVP, point guard Gary Ervin, paired him with import Jarrid Frye and added former NBA centre Luke Schenscher.

After Round 7 of the season the 36ers, led by Ervin and Johnson, were sitting in second place on the NBL ladder with a 7–2 record, which also included a 5–0 run. This included the 36ers winning both of their games against the Breakers in Auckland, their first wins over the triple defending champions since 2009. Adelaide also took down the undefeated Perth Wildcats (91–86) in front of 6,585 fans at the Adelaide Arena. Perth had been sitting on a 7-0 record prior to that loss in front of the largest Adelaide home crowd since Brett Maher’s last home game in 2009.

By December, Adelaide (9-4) had already eclipsed last season’s eight-win total.

In February, the 36ers released Jarrid Frye (8.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists) due to underwhelming play and a ankle injury keeping him off the court. With second-placed Adelaide eyeing a Grand Final berth local guard Rhys Carter, who had been playing as a import in Sweden, was signed as his replacement.

The 36ers finished the regular season in second place (18-10), with Carter averaging 6.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists.

The 36ers would face Melbourne in the semifinals, and with Gary Ervin (27 points and 7 assists) finishing the game high scorer, Adelaide claimed victory in game one (101-85). Game two would be played in Melbourne, where Tigers guard Chris Goulding (37 points) exploded in a game two win for the Tigers (98-87), evening the series (1-1). In game three, Adelaide responded by demolishing Melbourne (102-63), holding them to a 27-point half-time score and winning every quarter by 7 points or more.

The grand final would see second-ranked Adelaide face first-placed Perth with game one held in Perth. Wildcats star import James Ennis (30 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists) would lead Perth in points, rebounds, and assists, resulting in Perth claiming the win (92-85) and taking a 1-0 series lead.

Game two would see 8,127 36ers fans (their largest crowd of the season) rally their team to a 89-84 win behind big games from Gary Ervin (23 points) and Adam Gibson (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists) to even the series (1-1).

13,498 of Perth’s ‘red army’ would show up to see the Wildcat’s defeat Adelaide and win their sixth NBL title, with James Ennis subdued by foul trouble Perth’s most experienced duo, Shawn Redhage and Damian Martin were relied on to pick up the slack. Redhage scored 10 of his 16 points in the first term to help his team settle into the contest, while Martin produced a superb defensive effort on 36ers star Gary Ervin, limiting the game two hero to just 4 points while adding 14 points and six rebounds of his own. Greg Hire (9 rebounds, 5 assists) and Jermaine Beal (15 points) provided key contributions of their own to help Perth bury the demons of successive grand final defeats in the past two seasons.

Anthony Petrie (20 points) never stopped trying for the 36ers but lacked support from fellow starters Adam Gibson (8 points) and Daniel Johnson (9 points), both of whom had been influential in the first two games of the series.

Daniel Johnson won his third straight club MVP award and was also named to the All-NBL First Team.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
2014/15
After a dismal season the year prior, where the team missed out on the NBL playoffs despite having won the previous three seasons in a row, the Breakers regrouped by replacing imports Kerron Johnson and Gary Wilkinson with big man Ekene Ibekwe and fan favourite Cedric Jackson, who had led the team to back-to-back titles previously (2012, 2013).

This season saw the exits of CJ Bruton (retired) and Daryl Corletto (to Melbourne) and replaced with Rhys Carter (via Adelaide) and Tai Wesley, who qualified as a local player due to being born in Guam under the league’s Asian player rule.

The Breakers kickstarted the season with back-to-back wins over Perth and Adelaide before suffering back-to-back losses to Cairns and Melbourne. In what was a highly competitive season, New Zealand was able to reel off multiple five game winning streaks behind the offensive talent of both Jackson (14.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.2 steals) and Corey Webster (15.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists), who moved into the starting lineup and become one of the league’s premier scorers, while Carter would average 6.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists. The Breakers battled all season long for top spot alongside Perth and Cairns, eventually finishing in second place (19–9).

in the semifinals, New Zealand would face third-placed Adelaide, who had won their final ten regular season games and entered the playoffs as the hottest team in the competition. Despite the 36ers’ hot form, the Breakers made light work of them in game one (111–82), with Webster (24 points) delivering a career-high scoring effort at Vector Arena. Game two then moved to Adelaide, where they again had the upper hand the entire game, defeating the 36ers (94–83) and moving on to the Grand Final.

There, they met the Cairns Taipans, who had become the first regional centre team to win the minor premiership since the Geelong Cats did so in 1984. Despite having home-court advantage, the Breakers easily took game one in Cairns with a 86–71 win led by Jackson’s 22 points and a explosive fourth quarter from Rhys Carter.

Welcome back Mr Carter.@rcarter15 #whereyoubeen pic.twitter.com/ygOgTutB1s

— The Locker Room (@DT_LockerRoom) August 19, 2015

Game 2 then shifted to Auckland, where after a tight contest the entire game, Taipans guard Scottie Wilbekin tied the game with two free throws with 1.2 seconds left in regulation. Coming out of a timeout, Ibekwe caught a inbounds pass, turned and hit a game-winning fade-away shot to lift the Breakers over the Taipans (83–81) and clinch New Zealand’s fourth title in five seasons. Jackson was subsequently named Grand Final MVP for the second time in his career after adding to his 22 points in game one with 15 points in game two. Jackson claimed his third championship and second Grand Final MVP award, becoming the first player in NBL history to win three NBL championships from his first three seasons.

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SYDNEY KINGS
2015/16
Since re-entering the league in 2010, Sydney had never finished with a winning record, something they came narrowly close to last season, until a season-ending injury to star Josh Childress derailed things.

The Kings bounced back by loading up on talent to surround Childress and blossoming young stars like Jason Cadee, Tom Garlepp and reigning Rookie of the Year Angus Brandt. Veterans Julian Khazzouh, Steven Markovic and Carter were brought in, and NBA draftee Marcus Thornton was signed as the team’s second import.

Although Childress would miss the first four games of the season (1-3) with a foot injury, he returned to the court to face Adelaide (Oct 23) at home, only to break his right hand. Childress still managed to score 23 points and played out the Kings’ loss to the 36ers (91–80) before being ruled out for a further four to six games with a boxer’s fracture.

Childress returned in late November, but two games later, he suffered a fractured left hand back and was subsequently ruled out for three weeks. He was reactivated once again on December 29 and played out the rest of the season.

All in all, Childress (21.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.7 blocks) played in only 13 games for the Purple and Gold. Starting centre Khazzouh (13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.8 blocks) delivered great numbers in his return before ripping his right quadriceps tendon off the bone in mid-December, missing a third of the season and Markovic (3.0 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) played a grand total of 3 games for the season due to illness and subsequent recovery. With most of the team’s starting line-up missing, the Kings were so decimated at one stage that assistant coach Ben Knight suited up for four games.

In early January 2016, Craig Moller and Jordan Vandenberg were also brought in to help cover the loss of Khazzouh and backup forward Jeromie Hill (4.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 0.4 assists).

During the absence of Childress, the Kings brought in former NBA players Damion James (7.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) for 5 games, Al Harrington (17.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists) for 6 games with James being a disappointment and Harrington becoming a fan favourite during their brief stints, but both failed to deliver team success and coach Damian Cotter was released mid-season.

Former Washington Wizards assistant Joe Connelly was brought in as a new head coach and helped youngsters Cadee (14.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists), Garlepp (14.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) and Brandt (8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks) continue to develop (Brandt earning a gig with the national team at year’s end), it wasn’t enough for the under-manned Kings to avoid finishing dead last (6-22) during the regular season.

Carter averaged 5.6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists across 28 games in what would be his last year in the NBL. He would continue playing in Sweden and England before retiring for good.

Rhys Carter played eleven seasons across seven NBL teams. This included the Victoria Giants, South Dragons, West Sydney Razorbacks, Perth Wildcats, Adelaide 36ers, New Zealand Breakers and Sydney Kings. He averaged 6.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 280 NBL games.

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Dan Boyce (817 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.