BIO: Ben Melmeth was born in Waratah(NSW) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Newcastle basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Ben Melmeth made his NBL debut with the Newcastle Falcons at 21 years of age. He scored 14 points in his first game.

As a rookie, Melmeth averaged 12.2 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists as the Falcons finished in ninth place (11-15).

1997
In 1997, Melmeth averaged 12.3 points, 8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists, playing a key role in the Falcons rotation, helping the team finish in a tenth place (12-18).

1998
After losing up and coming talent Scott McGregor (to Sydney) and Ben Pepper (to North Melbourne), coach Shawn Dennis made several changes to the roster, including moving on from aging imports Dave Simmons and Butch Hays. Dennis chose to replace Hays with Terry Johnson (via Illawarra), who, after delivering a number of productive seasons as a shooting guard, believed he could also make a import at the point guard spot. After the Hawks told him that he wasn’t a ‘point guards bootlace’ he headed to Newcastle, who were willing to give him a season running the point.

Newcastle added Tonny Jensen (via Townsville) and Marc Brandon (via Illawarra) to replace their local talent and then rounded out the roster by adding former Sydney Kings fan favourite Isaac Burton and highly credentialled NBA big man Todd Mundt as imports.

Newcastle lost their opening game to South East Melbourne (73–93) and went on to suffer defeats to Illawarra (92-96), Sydney (90–105) and Brisbane (90-92) before they chalked up their first win against Townsville (110–96).

While the loses continued to rack up, the unearthed a future star with Newcastle local Ben Melmeth lifting his production from 12.3 points and 8.0 rebounds to 21.6 points and 12.4 rebounds. As a result, Melmeth was selected to the All-NBL First Team and named Most Improved Player at the end of the season.

Johnson (10.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists) fared well in his new role, his play gaining him a spot at this years Boomers selection camp and Burton (19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.2 steals), Todd Mundt (13.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) and returning star Tonny Jensen (18.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.3 steals) delivered quality numbers as well. The lack of production came from the team’s bench, who combined to deliver 12 points per game in total, with new recruit Brandon (3.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists) the highest scoring player off the bench. As a result, the Falcons struggled to stay in front during any game during times they rested their starting lineup and finished the season in tenth place (9-21).

1998/99
In 1998/99, Melmeth averaged 17.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists as the Falcons finished in ninth place with a record of 9-17.

SYDNEY KINGS
1999/00
Sydney underwent a familiar narrative during the 1999/00 season. One that began with compiling a impressive roster on paper to start the season, only to see it fall apart (like a violet crumble) by the end of the year. Expectations were high with the continued development of Sydney underwent a familiar narrative during the 1999/00 season. One that began with compiling a impressive roster on paper to start the season, only to see it fall apart (like a violet crumble) by the end of the year. It started with a coaching change, Brett Brown replacing Bill Tomlinson (the team’s fourth coach in six seasons). Then, with Sydney seemingly stockpiling much of the league’s best young talent, adding Ben Melmeth (Newcastle) and Derek Moore (South Carolina-Aiken University) and to the talented young core of Matthew Nielsen, Aaron Trahair and Scott McGregor, re-signing one of the most dominant big men in NBL history, Acie Earl and poaching the reigning league MVP, Steve Woodberry from the Brisbane Bullets expectations were high.

The Kings started the year with a 98–76 win over Canberra, but it was clear Earl’s fitness wasn’t where it was the previous season. He managed 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists and was released before their next game. Meanwhile, Kevin Brooks who had just led Adelaide to back-to-back championships. Brooks’s signing was unusual, with Adelaide signing him to a contract which the league determined it would not approve, claiming it would put the club over the salary cap considering it also had added Paul Maley to its championship unit only a few weeks earlier. Brooks found himself without a team to play for until the Kings contacted him and signed him as Earl’s replacement.

After a mediocre start to the season (2-2), import Steve Woodberry suffered a season ending injury forcing the Kings to find a replacement for him also. This came in the form of NBA talent Drew Barry who was also the son of NBA legend Rick Barry.

The Kings went 6-5 with Barry (7.6 points, 4 rebounds and 6.3 assists) but with his production not being anywhere near where they expected for a NBA level point guard, he too received the axe and was replaced with Kendrick Johnson.

From here, Johnson (21.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists) led the team in scoring, alongside Brooks (16.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists) and Nielsen (16.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists) and the team finished their season with a record of 11-17. Melmeth averaged 11.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists as the Kings missed the playoffs for the fourth season in a row.

One of the few bright spots for the Kings roller-coaster season was the development of Derek Moore (9.2 points and 5.1 rebounds) who was named Rookie of the Year at season’s end.

2000/01
The 2000/01 season saw Melmeth average 16.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists and play a key role in helping the Kings finish in fifth place during the regular season (17-11).

2001/02
During the 2001/02 season Melmeth averaged 15.6 points, 11 rebounds, and 1.7 assists and helped the Kings finish the regular season in a eighth place (14-16).

2002/03
During the 2002/03 season, Melmeth averaged 9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 0.9 assists and was a part of the Kings squad which finished in first place (22-8).

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
2003/04
In March 2003, Three Waikato businessmen, Michael Redman, Dallas Fisher and Keith Ward, acquired a NBL licence for a team based in New Zealand. The inaugural Breakers roster was built from the core playing group of New Zealand’s national team, which had finished in fourth place at the FIBA World Championships six months prior.

Phill Jones, who had been the ‘Tall Blacks’ leading scorer (18.2 ppg) at the World Champs, Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher, Paora Winitana and Pero Cameron (who was named team captain) formed the Breakers’ local core. The roster was then filled out with up and coming New Zealand talent like Aaron Olsen and Lindsey Tait and some Australian NBL veterans like Ben Melmeth and Brad Williams to add leadership. Lastly, Casey Frank, a long-time import in the New Zealand national league, was signed as the team’s second import.

Jeff Green was implemented as the team’s first coach and, despite the Breakers being picked by many to finish dead last, they pulled out a win in their very first NBL game against Adelaide (111-110).

After initial success, the Breakers went on to lose ten of their next eleven games (proving the pundits right) to languish near the bottom of the NBL ladder for the remainder of the season.

Twelve games into the season (2-10), Green was fired and succeeded by the team’s assistant coach Frank Arsego, who had also headed up the basketball program at the Australian Institute of Sport for the past five years. Arsego would then bring in Mike Chappell (22.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists), who finished top five in the league in both points and three-point shooting while playing in Canberra the season before. Both Casey Frank and Brad Williams would be released to make way for Chappell, who went on to lead the team in scoring and named Breakers club MVP.

Chappell’s presence delivered a mid-season resurgence where a five game winning streak towards the end of the season gave the Breakers a realistic shot of qualifying for the playoffs. Needing to win both of their final games in the final round to claim a playoff berth, the Breakers instead went winless and finished in tenth place (12–21).

Melmeth averaged 13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists alongside teammates Jones (13.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals) and Ben Melmeth (13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) who were the best among the team’s local talent.

HUNTER PIRATES
2004/05
In the Pirates second NBL season, Adrian Hurley was enticed out of semi-retirement to take on the role of head coach. Feeling that the team’s roster was weak and a direct result for their poor performance last season. Hurley retained only three players, Geordie Cullen, Brendan Mann and Josh Morgan from the previous season’s squad that won only two games.

Ben Melmeth (via New Zealand), Russell Hinder (via West Sydney), Brad Davidson (via Townsville), Damon Lowery (via Townville) and Larry Davidson formed the Pirates new look roster and imports Brian Wethers and Kavossy Franklin were signed to provide offensive scoring power.

Under the guidance of former Australian coach Adrian Hurley, the Pirates became a force to be reckoned with and after a slow start (1-4), the Pirates began reeling off victories against some of the league’s best team’s, including a away win over Perth (83-77) and defeating league leaders Wollongong (90–81). Ten games into the season and the Pirates sat in fifth spot on the ladder (5-5) with much of the credit going to the unselfish play of imports Brian Wethers (24.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists) and Kavossy Franklin (20.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.2 steals).

Weathers would go on to be selected in the All-NBL first team and win the league’s Most Valuble Player award and after winning the last two games of the season, Hunter would secure the final playoff berth and finish in eighth place (13-15).

In the Elimination Finals, however, Hunter fell short to Brisbane (99-113), a loss which ended playoff run.

Melmeth would appear in all 33 games and average 13.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.

2005/06
Melmeth averaged 14.3 points and 8.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists during a lacklustre season where the Pirates finished in eighth place (13-19) for the second straight season.

SINGAPORE SLINGERS
2006/07
In 2006, the Singapore Slingers entered the league, taking over the licence of the defunct Hunter Pirates. With former Sydney Kings legendary coach Bob Turner charged with setting up the team, he first convinced centre Ben Knight to leave the Kings for a opportunity to captain the NBL’s first Asian based team.

Import duo Mike Helms (22.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) and Marquin Chandler (19.1 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists) would lead the team in scoring alongside Knight (15.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) and Ben Melmeth (12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists).

The Slingers suprised many and qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season, finishing in eighth place (13-20). There, they would lose to Townsville in the Elimination Finals (93-106) behind huge games from both John Rillie (37 points, 12 rebounds, and 6.0 assists) and Brad Newley (23 points). Chandler and Helms would top score for the Slingers (22 points each).

GOLD COAST BLAZE
2007/08
In 2007/08, Melmeth averaged 8.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 0.8 assists and helped the Blaze finish the season in eighth place (15-15).

2008/09
The 2008/09 season saw Melmeth average 8.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists during his last NBL season. Gold Coast would finish in tenth place with a 8-22 record.

Ben Melmeth played fourteen seasons across six NBL teams. This included the Newcastle Falcons, Hunter Pirates, Singapore Slingers, Sydney Kings, New Zealand Breakers and Gold Coast Blaze. He averaged 13.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 353 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 19th in total rebounds

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.