Ron Smith
July 23, 2020
Bill Palmer
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth:
- Place of Birth: Portland, Oregon (USA)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 197
- Weight (KG): #N/A
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: Stanford (1967-1970)
- NBL DEBUT: 24/02/79
- AGE AT DEBUT: 0
- LAST NBL GAME: 2/05/81
- NBL History: Nunawading 1979-81
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Bill Palmer was born in Portland, Oregon (USA).
NBL EXPERIENCE
Bill Palmer made his NBL debut with the Nunawading Spectres on 24/2/1979. He scored 17 points in his first game.
Bill Palmer played three seasons the Nunawading Spectres. He averaged 15.5 points, 0 rebounds, and 0 assists in 51 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 0 | Nunawading | 13-9 (4) | 14 | 0 | 168 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 59 | 115 | 51% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 50 | 66 | 76% | 57% | 51% | 26 |
| 1980 | 0 | Nunawading | 14-9 (4) | 19 | 0 | 303 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 125 | 250 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 53 | 83 | 64% | 52% | 50% | 32 |
| 1979 | 0 | Nunawading | 13-5 (3) | 18 | 0 | 321 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 133 | 266 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 55 | 76 | 72% | 53% | 50% | 38 | Totals | 51 | 0 | 792 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 317 | 631 | 50.2% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 158 | 225 | 70.2% | 54% | 50% | 38 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 0 | Nunawading | 13-9 (4) | 14 | 0.0 | 12.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 4.2 | 8.2 | 51% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 3.6 | 4.7 | 76% | 57.4% | 51% | 26 |
| 1980 | 0 | Nunawading | 14-9 (4) | 19 | 0.0 | 15.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.6 | 6.6 | 13.2 | 50% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 2.8 | 4.4 | 64% | 52.3% | 50% | 32 |
| 1979 | 0 | Nunawading | 13-5 (3) | 18 | 0.0 | 17.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.4 | 7.4 | 14.8 | 50% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 3.1 | 4.2 | 72% | 53.1% | 50% | 38 | Total | 51 | 0.0 | 15.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 6.2 | 12.4 | 50.2% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0% | 70.2% | 54% | 50% | 38 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- Canberra (1971–1972), Bulleen (1972–1974) | Nunawading (1976–1978)
Palmer joined Canberra’s ACT side for the 1971 South Eastern Conference season as captain-coach, and he remained with the team into 1972.
Palmer then joined the Bulleen Spectres in 1972 after his Canberra stint, playing alongside fellow Stanford products Fred Green and Dennis O’Neill and leading Bulleen to win Victorian state titles in 1973 and 1974. He was also recognised as the VBA Most Valuable Player in 1974.
Palmer joined the Nunawading Spectres in 1976 and captained the club, adding further VBA Most Valuable Player awards in 1977 and 1978. Nunawading won the 1978 Australian Club Championship, where he tallied 16-point contribution in the championship game.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
Palmer also joined a team in Germany for the 1975–1976 season.
COLLEGE
Palmer played college basketball at Stanford, As a freshman he entered the program in 1966-67 when freshmen were not eligible for varsity competition, before beginning his recorded varsity career the following season under head coach Howard Dallmar.
He was a center and developed into a three-year starter for Stanford from 1967-68 through 1969-70.
In 1967-68, Palmer appeared in 7 varsity games for a Stanford team that went 10-15 overall and 5-9 in conference play, tying for fifth.
During that 1967-68 season he scored 50 points, grabbed 49 rebounds and handed out 10 assists while shooting 19-of-43 from the field for 44.2 percent and 12-of-22 at the foul line for 54.5 percent, which worked out to 7.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
Stanford’s main frontcourt minutes in 1967-68 went to Arthur Harris, Mal McElwain and Steve Kuchenbecker, so Palmer’s varsity role was limited that year before expanding the next season.
As a junior in 1968-69, Palmer moved into a much larger role and played all 26 games for Stanford as the team finished 8-17 overall and 4-10 in the Pac-8, tied for seventh.
He averaged 8.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in 1968-69, finishing with 231 points, 245 rebounds and 68 assists while shooting 90-of-202 from the field for 44.6 percent and 51-of-105 from the line for 48.6 percent.
Palmer led Stanford in rebounding in 1968-69, and his 245 rebounds remain one of the stronger single-season rebounding totals in the program’s earlier era.
He opened that season with Stanford’s starting group alongside Mal McElwain, Mike Michel, Don Griffin and Dennis O’Neill.
During 1968-69, Stanford played its first game in Maples Pavilion on January 3, 1969, losing 95-89 to BYU before beating the Cougars 94-78 the next night.
Stanford also pulled down 81 rebounds against BYU that season, one of the biggest team rebounding games in program history, and Palmer was the team’s leading rebounder for the year.
As a senior in 1969-70, Palmer again started at center and served as team captain for a Stanford side that finished 5-20 overall and 2-12 in the Pac-8, placing eighth.
He played 25 games in 1969-70 and averaged 8.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, totaling 206 points, 211 rebounds and 69 assists while shooting 80-of-171 from the field for 46.8 percent and 46-of-92 at the foul line for 50.0 percent.
Palmer led Stanford in rebounding for the second straight season in 1969-70 and ranked among the conference leaders on the glass.
One of his best offensive outings that season came in Stanford’s 114-78 Kodak Classic win over Rochester, when Palmer scored a season-high 19 points as the team finished runner-up in the event.
He also contributed 15 points and eight rebounds in Stanford’s 73-71 upset of California during the 1969-70 season.
The 1969-70 team also pushed nationally ranked Utah to a 96-95 result and later beat Oregon State 71-69, with Palmer serving as the senior anchor in the frontcourt.
Across his recorded varsity career at Stanford, Palmer played 58 games and finished with 487 points, 505 rebounds and 147 assists.
His career shooting line was 189-of-416 from the field for 45.4 percent and 109-of-219 from the free-throw line for 49.8 percent.
Those totals gave him career averages of 8.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.
Palmer’s 8.7 career rebounds per game placed him among Stanford’s better long-term rebounders and later ranked sixth in program history in rebound average.
He completed his Stanford career as a three-year starter, a two-time team rebounding leader and the 1969-70 captain.
LIFE AFTER BASKETBALL
In 1982, Palmer was the Victorian Director of Coaching.
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