BIO: Phil Handy was born in San Leandro, California (USA) and attended Pilar Blanco High School.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Phil Handy made his NBL debut with the Melbourne Tigers at 29 years of age. He scored 17 points in his first game.

2000/01
The Tigers would see several new faces join the squad this season after losing both Bennett Davison (to Europe) and Warrick Giddey to injury. David Smith (via North Melbourne), Stephen Hoare (via West Sydney) and Nathan Taylor (via Victoria). Guard Phil Handy was signed as a import replacement for Bennett Davison, and Melbourne began the season winning five of their first eight matches.

Around this time, Phil Handy (10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists) joined Giddey on the injury list (missing eight games), so Jason Sedlock (3.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) was signed as an injury replacement during Handy’s absence. At the mid-way point of the season, Melbourne received the bonus of long-serving guard Lanard Copeland gaining his Australian citizenship and qualifying as a local player. To take advantage of that, Melbourne used the additional import spot to sign former Townsville star Clarence Tyson (3.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) for the remaining 14 games.

This season saw Daniel Egan (11.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 blocks) develop into a key part of the Tiger’s rotation, Copeland (20.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 steals) continue to score buckets as Gaze (29.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists) finished as the league’s highest scorer and Mark Bradtke (21.3 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks) led the league in rebounds while also being selected to the All-NBL First team.

With Melbourne entering their final ten games, they sat just outside the top six and with Lindsey Gaze trying to balance the incoming talent with the Tigers’ existing core, they went on a five-game losing streak to drop out of the playoff race. A three-game winning streak to end the season came too late, and Melbourne finished in seventh spot (13-15), missing out on the playoffs by three wins. This would be the first time Melbourne would finish with a losing record and miss the playoffs since 1988.

WEST SYDNEY RAZORBACKS
2001/02
With the Razorbacks having missed the playoffs each year since joining the league in 1999 General Manager Robbie Cadee responded by landing Sam MacKinnon, the NBL’s biggest name free agent that year, from the Townsville Crocodiles.

It was thought that pairing MacKinnon with the core group of John Rillie, Simon Dwight, Bruce Bolden and Derek Rucker (Captain) was all that was needed to deliver a championship to the Razorbacks. However, due to a knee injury sustained whilst playing for Townsville, MacKinnon would miss the entire season, forcing the remaining group to step up in his absence, and step up they did.

John Rillie would lead the team, averaging 22.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists while leading the league in three-point percentage (47.4%). Simon Dwight would lead the league in blocks (3.7 per game) and win the league’s Best Defensive Player award after averaging 17.1 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. Handy was also key to the team’s success, adding 11.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game as well.

Even without their best player (MacKinnon), the Razorbacks would finish the season with a record of 16-14 and lock up the fifth spot on the ladder and a playoff opportunity. The Razorbacks made quite a name for themselves in the postseason, first upsetting second seed Perth in two straight games, then after suffering a 93-114 loss to the Melbourne Tigers in the semifinals, West Sydney rebounded with wins in game two (125-109) and game three (115-103). As a result, West Sydney become the first Sydney team to reach the NBL Grand Final in the leagues (then) 24-year history.

In the Grand Final series the Razorbacks would lose game one to Adelaide (106–97) before evening the series with a 103–100 victory at the State Sports Centre in Sydney. The Grand Final then returned to Adelaide where the 36ers made quick work of the Razorbacks, closing out the series 125–107.

Phil Handy played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Melbourne Tigers and the West Sydney Razorbacks. He averaged 10.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 58 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (811 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.