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 two 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.
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), Canberra (1997–1998), Launceston (2001), Kalamunda (2009–2010), Perth (2011–2012), Perry Lakes (2013), Goldfields (2014), Stirling (2016)
Majstrovich joined East Perth for the 1996 SBL season, playing state league basketball with his junior club and averaging 11.2 points per game across 15 contests.
Majstrovich joined the Australian Institute of Sport for the 1997 SEABL season, then continued with the AIS in 1998 across a two-season state league stint in Canberra.
Majstrovich returned to East Perth for the 1999 SBL season, appearing in 11 games and averaging 24.2 points per game for the Eagles.
Majstrovich joined Launceston for the 2001 SEABL season, adding another state league stop after his earlier AIS run in the same competition.
Majstrovich joined Kalamunda for the 2009 SBL season, averaging 27.31 points, 12.35 rebounds and 3.15 assists across 26 games while earning SBL All-Star Five honours.
Kalamunda finished the 2009 SBL regular season at 11–15 and reached the finals in seventh place, with Majstrovich also leading the league in three-point percentage at 45.7 percent on 64-of-140 shooting and earning Player of the Week honours in rounds 10 and 16.
Majstrovich continued with Kalamunda in 2010, won his second straight SBL All-Star Five selection and became SBL scoring champion after averaging 31.2 points per game.
Kalamunda finished the 2010 SBL regular season at 7–19, and Majstrovich added Player of the Week honours in rounds 7 and 15 during his second Eastern Suns season.
Majstrovich joined Perth for the 2011 SBL season, winning the SBL scoring title for a second straight year after averaging 30.04 points per game for the Redbacks.
Perth finished the 2011 SBL regular season at 15–11 and reached the finals in sixth place, with Majstrovich earning Player of the Week honours in rounds 3, 17 and 19.
Majstrovich rejoined Perth for the 2012 SBL season, completing a two-year Redbacks stint after his 2011 scoring title season.
Majstrovich joined Perry Lakes for the 2013 SBL season, with the Hawks finishing the regular season at 18–8 in second place before losing in the semi-final series.
Majstrovich moved to Kalgoorlie in June 2014 and joined Goldfields for the rest of the SBL season, returning to the league midway through the Giants’ campaign.
Goldfields finished the 2014 SBL regular season at 5–21 and placed 14th, with Majstrovich’s late-season stint coming after the club had entered the year under new coach Marcus Taylor.
Majstrovich joined Stirling for the 2016 SBL season, playing his final state league season with the 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
- Germany - TUS Jena (2001–2002) | Austria - UBC St.Pölten (2002–2003) | New Zealand - Hawke’s Bay Hawks (2003–2006), Wellington Saints (2007), Auckland Stars (2008), Nelson Giants (2014), Southland Sharks (2015) | Romania - CS Universitatea Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca (2008)
Majstrovich joined TUS Jena for the 2001–2002 season in Germany, then played one season in Austria with UBC St.Pölten in 2002–2003.
Majstrovich joined Hawke’s Bay Hawks for the 2003 New Zealand NBL season, made his NZNBL debut and was named Rookie of the Year.
Majstrovich remained with Hawke’s Bay Hawks for the 2004 New Zealand NBL season and earned league MVP, NZ MVP, Most Outstanding Forward, Most Outstanding NZ Forward/Centre and All-Star Five selection while averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds through 13 games.
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 Hawke’s Bay Hawks, who reached the Grand Final and lost 69–68 to Auckland Stars while Majstrovich scored 14 points.
After returning from injury in 2006, Majstrovich played with New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay for a fourth season and led the team to the 2006 NZNBL championship, with Hawke’s Bay defeating Auckland Stars 85–69 in the Grand Final.
After finishing his career in the NBL Majstrovich joined Wellington Saints for the 2007 New Zealand NBL season.
Majstrovich joined Auckland Stars for the 2008 New Zealand NBL season.
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, and his stint ended in December 2008 after appearing in three league games and two EuroChallenge games.
Majstrovich played two EuroChallenge qualifying games for U-Mobitelco Cluj against EWE Baskets Oldenburg in October 2008, totaling 14 minutes, 2 points and 3 rebounds.
For the 2014 season, Majstrovich initially joined the Nelson Giants in New Zealand, but a foot injury ruled him out for the duration of the campaign.
In 2015, Majstrovich returned to New Zealand and helped the Southland Sharks win the New Zealand NBL championship, averaging 11.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists across 17 games.
Majstrovich scored 18 points and 16 rebounds in Southland’s 95–80 semifinal win over Supercity Rangers, then Southland beat Wellington Saints 72–68 in the Grand Final.
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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