BIO: Mark Griffin was born in Melbourne (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Cobourg basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Mark Griffin made his NBL debut with the Coburg Giants at 19 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

In 1987, Griffin averaged 2.7 points and 1.1 rebounds, and helped guide the Giants to sixth place finish in the regular season with a 15-11 record. 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 rebranded to the North Melbourne Giants and appointed a new head coach in Bruce Palmer and recruited star import Scott Fisher. Griffin added 1.2 points and 0.9 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.

It was (almost) a Cinderella season for Griffin and the Giants in 1988. This year the team added bruising import Tim Dillon to play alongside Scott Fisher, a duo that quickly became known as the ‘Twin Boulders’ by media and fans. The team also acquired US born Mark Leader from Geelong, who had become a naturalised Australian during the off-season.

The Giant’s new frontcourt saw the team skyrocket to the top of the NBL ladder, causing regular sellouts at the team’s 7,000 seat home court. Griffin would contribute 1.2 points and 0.9 rebounds, and 0.4 assists for the season, alongside stars Fisher (27.5 points and 11.3 rebounds) and Dillon (33.2 points and 10.9 rebounds) who had statistically, two of the greatest individual seasons of all time. Together, they led the Giants to a second place regular season finish and a 18-6 record.

Griffin would not see any action in the NBL playoffs but had a courtside seat to watch the Giants fall one game short of winning the NBL championship. The Giants would lost a deciding game three 108-101 behind Willie Simmons 23 points and 10 rebounds, and another 21 points from both Simon Cottrell and Phil Smyth. Smyth would be awarded the Grand Final MVP after averaging 21.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 2.6 steals across the three-game series.

In 1989 would agree to play in Geelong in hopes of getting more playing opportunities. Griffin averaged 2.5 points and 2.3 rebounds during a rebuilding season with the Geelong Supercats who finished the season with a 5-19 record.

During the 1990 season, Griffin averaged 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds, and helped guide the Supercats to slightly improved tenth place finish in the regular season with a 11-15 record.

In 1991, Griffin would average 2.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.4 assists as the Supercats finished in third place with a record of 17-9, their best result as a club since 1984. Playing alongside stars Bobby Locke, Daren Rowe, Vince Hinchen, John Dorge and a young Shane Heal, Griffin averaged 2.8 points and 1.9 rebounds. The team of ‘overachievers’ would fall short in the NBL elimination finals, losing to a North Melbourne squad featuring Scott Fisher and Paul Maley in three games.

In his final season Griffin averaged 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds with the Geelong Supercats only managed to win 2 games for the season, finishing with a 2-22 record.

Mark Griffin played seven seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Coburg Giants, North Melbourne Giants and Geelong Supercats. He averaged 2.4 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.3 assists in 74 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (815 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.