Mika Vukona
July 23, 2020
Adrian Majstrovich
- Nationality: NZL/AUS
- Date of Birth: 9/02/80
- Place of Birth: Turangi (New Zealand)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 201
- Weight (KG): 100
- Junior Assoc: WA - East Perth
- College: None
- NBL DEBUT: 30/10/98
- AGE AT DEBUT: 18
- LAST NBL GAME: 9/02/07
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 27
- NBL History: Perth 1999-00, 2005 | Brisbane 2001 | New Zealand 2006 | Adelaide 2007
- Championships: 1
- Perth (2000)
NICKNAME/S: A.J.
BIO: Adrian “A.J.” Majstrovich was born in Turangi, New Zealand, to Croatian parents, and was raised in Carnarvon, Western Australia, on his grandparents’ banana plantation. He later moved to Perth, where he attended Morley Senior High School. In 1996, he made his SBL debut for the East Perth Eagles. Majstrovich spent the majority of his 20-year career playing in the Australian NBL, New Zealand NBL and State Basketball League (SBL). He achieved the most success in New Zealand, winning two championships and earning the Rookie of the Year in 2003 and league MVP in 2004. Majstrovich received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 1997. He spent three years year there and played for the program’s state league team (1997, 1998).
FAMILY: Majstrovich is the son of Maja and Ozren, and has an older brother named Ivan who also played state league basketball for East Perth (1994-1999). Majstrovich is married to wife Jaime.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Adrian Majstrovich made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 18 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.
In 2000, he became a NBL champion, when the Wildcat’s defeated the Victoria Giants in the NBL Grand Final series.
During the 2000/01 NBL season, he joined the Brisbane Bullets and played four games.
In 2004 Majstrovich returned to play with the Perth Wildcats after winning the New Zealand NBL MVP award.
Majstrovich again played in New Zealand after the completion of the 2004/05 NBL season and was recruited to play with the New Zealand Breakers for the 2005/06 NBL season. His debut season with the Breakers was cut short by a season-ending leg injury.
Majstrovich joined the Adelaide 36ers for the 2006/07 NBL season for what would be his last professional season in Australia.
As a rookie, Majstrovich averaged 4.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.7 assists as the Wildcats finished in sixth place (13-13).
1999/00
In 1999/00, Majstrovich averaged 4.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.3 assists, playing a limited role in the second unit, while Perth finished in third place (22-6).
2004/05
After being unable to secure a NBL contract for the past four seasons, Majstrovich was offered a chance to return to the Australian NBL in 2004. At that rime Mike Ellis was replaced as coach by Scott Fisher. In addition, co-owner Luc Longley relinquished his majority share of the Wildcats in April 2004, leaving Andrew Vlahov as the sole owner of the franchise.
After Perth’s leading scorer James Harvey chose to play overseas (Israel) this season, Perth were then forced to rebuild. Tony Ronaldson, Matthew Burston, Liam Rush, Ricky Grace (captain) and Rashad Tucker, who had broken every triple-double record the season prior, all returned from the previous season but lost their leading scorer James Harvey to a lucrative contract overseas (Israel). Perth brought in Townsville product Peter Crawford to fill the scoring void left by Harvey and, looking for ways to bolster the frontcourt, signed import Jaron Brown, who wasn’t a great fit and was replaced by Rosell Ellis before the season started. Matthew Shanahan (via Wollongong), Braith Cox (via state league) and Adrian Majstrovich (via NZNBL) were all later added to round out the team’s second unit.
with the Wildcats leading scorer James Harvey opting to play overseas (Israel), the team were then forced to re-tool. Tony Ronaldson, Matthew Burston, Liam Rush, Ricky Grace (captain) and Rashad Tucker, who had broken every triple-double record the season prior, all returned from the previous season but lost their leading scorer James Harvey to a lucrative contract overseas (Israel). Perth brought in Townsville product Peter Crawford to fill the scoring void left by Harvey and, looking for ways to bolster the frontcourt, signed import Jaron Brown, who wasn’t a great fit and was replaced by Rosell Ellis before the season started. Matthew Shanahan (via Wollongong), Braith Cox (via state league) and Majstrovich (via NZNBL) were all later added to round out the team’s second unit.
The Wildcats’ season started out hot, defeating Harvey and the Razorbacks in their opening game (120–97), adding a home win against Cairns in round two (110–93) and then two easy wins over both Hunter (85-72) and Townsville (108–101) to start the season 4-0.
Tucker (17.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.5 steals) was player of the week in round one, and was putting up impressive numbers once again but concerns around his attitude resulted in Perth sacking him by round nine.
The Wildcats then replaced Tucker with Ontario Lett as a means to fill the gap left by a season ending injury to centre Matt Burston (14.8 points and 6 rebounds), who managed to play in only 8 games. Tucker would land on his feet, knocking back offers from Brisbane and Townsville to sign a deal to play with Melbourne shortly after.
Shortly after, media reports suggested that Tucker’s attitude and behaviour were overblown and a result of Fisher wanting to replace one of the team’s imports with Lett and after Rosell Ellis, who was originally destined for the chop, exploded with a 38 point and 15 rebound effort against Townsville, the axe was swung on Tucker.
In either situation, the move failed to improve the team’s win/loss record. With the team struggling to win on the road again, they finished in seventh place (17-15) record for the second consecutive season.
Rosell Ellis (17.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game) collected the Wildcat’s MVP award after he finished as the Wildcat’s leading scorer and rebounder, as well as being the league’s most effective scorer, shooting 61% from the floor. Peter Crawford (15.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists) impressed during his first year in Perth and collected the NBL Most Improved Player award at the season’s end. Majstrovich finished the season with averages of 9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 0.7 assists.
The 2004/05 season saw the end of a era as captain Ricky Grace played his last game of his career with the Wildcats on 24 February 2005. Grace retired as a four-time NBL champion and a 15-year member of the Wildcats.
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
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. Majstrovich averaged 8.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1 assists, appearing in 12 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).
Majstrovich would see limited playing opportunities with the Breakers, appearing in only 12 games, averaging 8.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists.
Adrian Majstrovich played six seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Perth Wildcats, Brisbane Bullets, New Zealand Breakers and Adelaide 36ers. He averaged 7.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.7 assists in 112 NBL games.
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.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 27 | Adelaide | 11-22 (11) | 33 | 738.0 | 283 | 163 | 30 | 53 | 110 | 11 | 2 | 54 | 88 | 101 | 266 | 38% | 38 | 120 | 32% | 43 | 61 | 70% | 48% | 45% | 16 |
| 2005-06 | 26 | New Zealand | 9-23 (10) | 12 | 259.0 | 99 | 51 | 12 | 16 | 35 | 13 | 0 | 20 | 29 | 31 | 86 | 36% | 11 | 37 | 30% | 26 | 33 | 79% | 49% | 42% | 19 |
| 2004-05 | 25 | Perth | 17-15 (7) | 31 | 767.0 | 289 | 176 | 21 | 57 | 119 | 15 | 4 | 35 | 74 | 116 | 251 | 46% | 1 | 5 | 20% | 56 | 88 | 64% | 49% | 46% | 27 |
| 2000-01 | 21 | Brisbane | 4-24 (10) | 4 | 18.0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 33% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 2 | 4 | 50% | 41% | 0% | 2 |
| 1999-00 | 20 | Perth | 22-6 (3) | 12 | 136.0 | 48 | 28 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 18 | 38 | 47% | 0 | 1 | 0% | 12 | 21 | 57% | 50% | 47% | 8 |
| 1998-99 | 19 | Perth | 13-13 (6) | 20 | 279.0 | 83 | 41 | 14 | 15 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 30 | 32 | 77 | 42% | 12 | 39 | 31% | 7 | 11 | 64% | 50% | 49% | 20 | Totals | 112 | 2197 | 806 | 462 | 81 | 154 | 308 | 44 | 9 | 141 | 238 | 299 | 721 | 41.5% | 62 | 202 | 30.7% | 146 | 218 | 67.0% | 49% | 46% | 27 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 27 | Adelaide | 11-22 (11) | 33 | 22.4 | 8.6 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 8.1 | 38% | 1.2 | 3.6 | 32% | 1.3 | 1.8 | 70% | 48% | 45% | 16 |
| 2005-06 | 26 | New Zealand | 9-23 (10) | 12 | 21.6 | 8.3 | 4.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 7.2 | 36% | 0.9 | 3.1 | 30% | 2.2 | 2.8 | 79% | 49% | 42% | 19 |
| 2004-05 | 25 | Perth | 17-15 (7) | 31 | 24.7 | 9.3 | 5.7 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 8.1 | 46% | 0.0 | 0.2 | 20% | 1.8 | 2.8 | 64% | 49% | 46% | 27 |
| 2000-01 | 21 | Brisbane | 4-24 (10) | 4 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 33% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.5 | 1.0 | 50% | 41% | 0% | 2 |
| 1999-00 | 20 | Perth | 22-6 (3) | 12 | 11.3 | 4.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 47% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0% | 1.0 | 1.8 | 57% | 50% | 47% | 8 |
| 1998-99 | 19 | Perth | 13-13 (6) | 20 | 14.0 | 4.2 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 42% | 0.6 | 2.0 | 31% | 0.4 | 0.6 | 64% | 50% | 49% | 20 | Total | 112 | 19.6 | 7.2 | 4.1 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 6.4 | 41.5% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 30.7% | 0.6 | 1.8 | 67.0% | 49% | 46% | 27 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 27 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- East Perth 1996, 1999 | AIS 1997-98 | Launceston 2001 | Kalamunda 2009/10 | Perth 2011-12 | Perry Lakes 2013 | Goldfields 2014 | Stirling 2016
First played state league basketball with his junior team, East Perth in 1996 where he averaged 11.2 points per game in 15 contests.
In 1997 he moved to Canberra to attend the Australian Institute of Sport and played for the programs state league team (SEABL) for two seasons.
During the 1999 NBL offseason, he played for the East Perth Eagles, appearing in 11 games and averaging 24.2 points.
Following the 2000 NBL season, he played for the Launceston Tigers in the SEABL.
In 2009, Majstrovich returned to Perth and joined the Kalamunda Eastern Suns of the State Basketball League. He continued on with the Suns in 2010.
In 2011 and 2012, he played for the Perth Redbacks, and in 2013, he played for the Perry Lakes Hawks.
In June 2014, he moved to Kalgoorlie and joined the Goldfields Giants for the rest of the SBL season.
In 2016, Majstrovich played one final season in the SBL, this time with the Stirling Senators.
FIBA EXPERIENCE
Majstrovich represented Australia at Under 20 level from 1996 to 1999, making him ineligible to play for New Zealand in FIBA competition.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Austria - UBC St.Pölten (2002-2003) | Germany - TUS Jena (2001-2002) | New Zealand - Hawkes Bay (2003-2006), Wellington (2007), Auckland (2008), Southland (2015) | Romania - U Mobitelco Cluj (2008)
Between 2001 and 2003, he played one season in Germany for TUS Jena and one season in Austria for UBC St.Pölten.
In 2003, Majstrovich made his debut in the New Zealand NBL for the Hawkes Bay Hawks. He was named Rookie of the Year in his first season before going on to earn the MVP award in 2004. During this time, Majstrovich was considered the best basketball player in the New Zealand league.
After the NBL season finished in 2005 Majstrovich returned to New Zealand and played the last third of the NZNBL with Hawkes Bay Hawks.
After returning from injury in 2006, Majstrovich played with New Zealands Hawkes Bay for a fourth season and led the team to the 2006 NZNBL championship.
After finishing his career in the NBL Majstrovich continued playing overseas. In 2007, he played with the Wellington Saints and in 2008, he played with the Auckland Stars.
Following his season with the Auckland Stars, Majstrovich moved to Romania to play for former New Zealand coach Tab Baldwin at CS Universitatea Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca. His stint ended in December 2008 after appearing in three league games and two EuroChallenge games.
For the 2014 season, Majstrovich initially joined the Nelson Giants in New Zealand, but a foot injury ruled him for the duration of the campaign.
In 2015, Majstrovich returned to New Zealand and helped the Southland Sharks win the NBL championship. He averaged 11.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assist across 17 games.
AWARDS
- NZNBL Rookie of the Year (2003)
- NZNBL MVP (2004)
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2× NZNBL champion (2006, 2015)
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2× SBL All-Star Five (2009, 2010)
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2× SBL scoring champion (2010, 2011)
Related
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