BIO: Ben Thompson was born in Dubbo (NSW) before later moving to Queensland where he family resided in Calamvale. He began playing basketball as a junior with the Southern Districts Spartans basketball program where many who saw a young Benny Thompson predicted he would be a star as they watched his rise through the junior ranks in Queensland – and that’s exactly what he was. One of the most gifted players coming out of the state in his time, Thompson could do it all. He could score with the best of them, he could shoot from the perimeter, had athleticism to burn in his younger years, could defend and was the ultimate competitor.

Thompson would go on to have a long career in the NBL with the Brisbane Bullets, West Sydney Razorbacks, Perth Wildcats and New Zealand Breakers but would also win championships for fun in the mid to late 2000s in the QABL. Thompson received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 1996. He spent one year there and played for the program’s state league team.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Ben Thompson made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 19 years of age. He scored two points in his first game.

Although many believed Leroy Loggins would retire after delivering the worst season of his career, he instead bounced back, returning to his previous form. With Loggins (21.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) paired with Steve Woodberry (21.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 2.0 steals), who was named to the All-NBL third team, the Bullets finished in fifth place (15-15).

The 39-year-old would also drag the Bullets back into the playoffs, facing off against Perth (17-13) in the elimination finals. Brisbane would lose both games one (79-81) and game two (71-88), ending the season prematurely.

As a rookie, Thompson averaged 6.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists.

1998
After two first-round exits, Dave Ingham would be released and replaced with returning head coach Brian Kerle who had led the team to hampionship success in 1985 and 1987. Also during this time, the high cost of playing home games at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre (along with falling attendances) forced the Bullets to move to the smaller (4,000) capacity Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from the 1998 season.

Brisbane were led again by Steve Woodberry (26.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 4.3 assists) and a 40 year old Leroy Loggins (18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals per game), who, remarkably, was still starting for the team at small forward.

The Bullets also added CJ Bruton (15.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 4 assists), fresh from playing college basketball in the USA. Together, the trio formed one of the league’s most effective perimeter attacks and finished the regular season in fourth place (16-14).

After four consecutive seasons of being eliminated during the first round of the playoffs, Brisbane defeated Melbourne in two straight games to move on to the semi finals.

South East Melbourne had destroyed most team’s during the season, losing only four games for the year. With Brisbane responsible for one of those defeats (a 81-76 win in round five) Bullets fans had reason to believe a upset was possible. The Magic wouldn’t let things fall that way, however, winning game one (98–106) and game two (90-84) in straight sets, ending the Bullets’ season.

Thompson appeared in 13 games and averaged 6.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists for the season.

WEST SYDNEY RAZORBACKS
1998/99
In 1998/99, Thompson averaged 4.3 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 0.7 assists as the Razorbacks finished in eighth place (12-14).

1999/00
In 1999/00, Thompson averaged 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, playing a key role in the Razorbacks rotation, helping the team finish in a sixth place (12-16).

PERTH WILDCATS
2000/01
The 2000/01 season saw Thompson average 2.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists and play a key role in helping the Wildcats to a third place finish in the regular season (21-7).

2001/02
During the 2001/02 season Thompson averaged 10 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists and helped the Wildcats finish the regular season in a second place (17-13).

2002/03
In 2002, club legend and captain Andrew Vlahov retired after 12 seasons, leaving Ricky Grace as the only remaining Wildcat from the team’s early championships in the 1990s. Following Vlahov’s retirement, Grace became captain of the Wildcats’ (a role he continued until his retirement) before the closure of the Perth Entertainment Centre saw the Wildcats return to their old home, the Superdrome (now HBF Stadium), for the 2002/03 season.

Vlahov’s retirement created a enormous gap in both leadership and frontcourt that seemed impossible to fill. However, as a result of the unexpected demise of the Victoria Titans, Vlahov’s fellow Australian Boomers teammate Tony Ronaldson would join the team and capably fill his role. Big man Brett Wheeler would also move across from Victoria to Perth and fill the shoes of the recently departed Paul Rogers, who had decided to return to his hometown 36ers.

The team would start the year with a 5-1 record, losing only to Wollongong, with the team hardly missing a step despite losing Vlahov and Rogers. Import Rob Feaster (19.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists) would lead the team in scoring, while the recently acquired Wheeler (12.1 points and 8.6 rebounds) led the team in rebounds, and Ricky Grace (18.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 8.0 assists) led both the team and league in assists.

Thompson added 5.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists as the new-look squad delivered a balanced offensive attack with seven players, all scoring in double figures (James Harvey 14 ppg, Stephen Black 12.6 ppg, Tony Ronaldson 12 ppg, and Matthew Burston 11.6 ppg). As a result, the Wildcats were unbeatable at home, finishing with a 14-1 home record and ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak. Perth and Sydney ended the season with equal records (22-8) but due to the Kings having the head-to-head advantage (2-1), the Wildcats finished in second place, with the Kings claiming top spot.

The Wildcats balanced roster saw a number of players recognised at the 2003 NBL awards night. Stephen Black earned the Sixth Man of the Year award, and Matthew Burston won the league’s Most Improved Player award, having leapt from 2.3 ppg in 6 minutes of game time to 11.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg and averaging 21 minutes per game. Grace’s continued form saw him named to the All-NBL First team for the fourth time.

The Qualifying Finals saw Perth matchup against their former teammate Rogers and the Adelaide 36ers. Perth would win games one and three behind big games from Grace, who came up big in Perth’s wins in game one (29 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists) and game three (32 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists).

Perth’s semi-final matchup would be against fourth-seed Illawarra, who they swiftly eliminated in two straight games with the one-two punch of Grace and Wheeler really hitting its stride. Game one saw Grace (24 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists) and Wheeler (21 points and 7 rebounds) destroy the Hawks 121-90 at home before a similar result saw Grace (26 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists) and Wheeler (27 points and 14 rebounds) eliminate the Hawks in Perth for game two (113–84). The win saw Perth reach their seventh Grand Final in 17 years.

The Kings had followed a similar playoff path to the Wildcats, defeating Melbourne (2-1) in the Qualifying Finals before convincing wins over Townsville (2-1) resulted in the two squads who had led the competition all season facing off in the Grand Final.

The Kings lineup, which featured league MVP Chris Williams, Shane Heal and Matt Nielsen, guided Sydney to a narrow victory at home for the opening game, overcoming the phenomenal play of Grace (15 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists), who recorded the second triple double ever in a grand final series. With Williams (26 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals) shooting 12/23 from the field, the Kings claimed the opening game (98-94).

Even with game two being held in Perth and Feaster (40 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal) doing everything he could, including scoring 30 points in 4th quarter, the same result followed. Behind a near triple double from Shane Heal (23 points, 9 rebounds, and 12 assists), a big defensive effort from Nielsen (21 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks), and another stellar performance from Williams (24 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists), this time shooting a even higher percentage (10/17 shooting), Sydney won their first NBL championship (117-101). Williams would be a unanimous choice for named Finals MVP.

2003/04
In the days following their grand final loss to Sydney, Perth choose not to renew Alan Black’s contract and parted ways with him for a second time (he was sensationally sacked in 1990 after just one season as a coach before being brought back in 1998 to replace the outgoing Adrian Hurley. After the change, Perth struggled to retain a lot of the roster which had reached the 2003 NBL Grand Final under Black, with only five players returning for 2003/04. Team captain Ricky Grace, James Harvey, Tony Ronaldson, Matthew Burston and Ben Thompson remained as the club’s core group after losing Brett Wheeler (Sydney) and last season’s leading scorer Rob Feaster (Victoria) after both were asked to take 30% pay cut. They were then replaced with import tandem Reed Rawlings and John Jackson. Young guns Travis Lane and Liam Rush were also signed to fill out the team’s second unit.

Past Wildcat legend Mike Ellis was brought in as head coach and struggled to retain the previous season’s roster, which had reached the Grand Final under Black. Only five players would return, Ricky Grace (team captain), James Harvey, Tony Ronaldson, Matthew Burston and Ben Thompson. Brett Wheeler (Sydney) and last season’s leading scorer Rob Feaster (Victoria) both signed with other clubs after being asked to take a 30% pay cut and replaced with young talent Travis Lane (Sydney) and rookie Liam Rush. Imports Reed Rawlings and John Jackson were both added to round out the roster.

After losing the first two games of the season, Reed Rawlings (12.5 points and 2.5 rebounds) was replaced by Rashad Tucker, who performed well in his debut, but it was when Ricky Grace went down with a injury that Tucker took control of the team and the point guard spot and setting a NBL record for single-season triple-doubles, notching up six during his first year with the Wildcats.

This season also saw James Harvey (20.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists) develop into one of the league’s most potent offensive weapons, his scoring increasing by 6 points per game, becoming the team’s leading scorer. while Thompson averaged 8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.

In Ellis’ lone season as coach of the Wildcats, the team would record their first losing season (15 wins, 18 losses) since 1986, finishing in the seventh spot after a season destroying team’s at home (13-3) but failing to win on the road (2-15). In a year where the league’s top eight team’s would make the playoffs thanks to a early format of the play-in tournament, the Wildcat’s faced sixth-placed Cairns in a qualification game. There, former Perth guard Anthony Stewart (30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists) led Cairns to victory (103-96) and ended the Wildcats’ season.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
2004/05
The Breakers entered their second NBL season looking to improve on their tenth-place finish in their first year during their debut season. The Breakers moved Frank Arsego, who had replaced Jeff Green mid-season, into a permanent position as the team’s head coach. The next move was locking in the Breakers’ leading scorer and MVP from the previous season, Mike Chappell, and replacing import Casey Frank with Shawn Redhage, who had been dominating the state league (SEABL).

Ben Melmeth would return to his hometown of Newcastle to play for the Hunter Pirates. He was replaced with fellow Aussie big man Ben Pepper, whose former team, the Victoria Giants, had vacated the league due to financial issues.

To begin the season, Paul Henare was made co-captain, alongside last year’s ‘skipper’ Pero Cameron, and despite falling short in their opening game (a re-match of the team’s first ever game against Adelaide, which they lost 94-106) they started the season by splitting the first games six games and sit within the middle of the were pack with a 3-3 record.

Although Redhage (12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) made a impressive start to the season, a form slump in November, which saw the team lose six of its seven games, led to Redhage’s court time being reduced and eventually his release after 13 games.

While Redhage would go on to sign with Perth and become one of the NBL’s all-time greats, his replacement came in the form of Marcus Timmons (9.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 steals). A clear mistake had been made there, however, as shortly after taking the court, it was clear Timmons was no longer the player he was back when he joined the Melbourne Tigers mid-season in 1997 and led them to a championship.

Chappell (18 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists) would lead the team in scoring for a second consecutive season, while Aaron Olson would boost his scoring from 10.8 points per game to 15.5 points per game and win the club’s MVP award at the end of the season.

Thompson appeared in 31 games and averaged 9.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, while the Breakers finished in eleventh place (9-23), failing to improve on their debut season.

2005/06
With the Breakers still searching for their first winning season, they chose not to re-sign Mike Chappell, the Breakers’ leading scorer from the past two seasons and appointed a new head coach Andrej Lemanis. Lemanis had played in the NBL during the 1980s and 1990s and spent the previous five seasons as a assistant coach with the Townsville Crocodiles.

Lemanis inherited a Breakers squad who had seen both its national team players, Pero Cameron (Gold Coast) and Dillon Boucher (Perth), leave for better opportunities on other NBL team’s.

Lemanis looked to build around its young turning core group, which included Aaron Olsen, Ben Pepper, Lindsay Tait and Paul Henare, who was named team captain with the departure of co-captain Pero Cameron.

Rugged defender Ben Thompson and New Zealand born Adrian Majstrovich (both via Perth) were added to the roster, as was the import duo of Rich Melzer and Brant Bailey.

The Breakers started the season poorly (1-5) and quickly made the decision to replace Bailey (18.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) with Brian Green (18.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.5 steals).

Melzer (18.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) would lead New Zealand in scoring while the Breakers continued to see strong development from young gun Aaron Olson (17.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists) and Ben Pepper (14.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks) was a force inside the paint. Thompson averaged 6.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists, appearing in 17 of the Breakers’ games.

Lemanis’ first season in charge was not particularly memorable. During the season, the Breakers endured a team-worst eleven straight losses, but after making the personnel changes, the team split their final twelve games of the season and finished the regular season tenth out of eleven team’s (9-23).

Ben Thompson played ten seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Brisbane Bullets, West Sydney Razorbacks, Perth Wildcats and New Zealand Breakers. He averaged 7.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 267 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.