NICKNAME/S: DT

BIO: Dave Thomas was born in Brampton, Ontario and attended Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School where he averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists per game as a senior in 1995/96. He went on to play for Michigan State where he was a reserve on the Spartans’ 2000 championship team.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Dave Thomas made his NBL debut with the Canberra Cannons at 24 years of age. He scored 14 points in his first game.

Thomas signed with the Canberra Cannons for the 2001/02 NBL season. Thomas averaged 13.7 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3 assists per game and the Cannons finished with a paltry record of 12 wins and 18 losses and failed to reach the playoffs.

2002/03
Although Canberra entered 2002 struggling to stay afloat financially, the team added imports Mike Chappell (via Wollongong) and Reginald Poole (via Europe) to the roster and hoped a competitive team would draw enough fans to cover their costs.

With Chappell (21.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) leading the team in scoring, alongside Dave Thomas (18.2 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals), CJ Bruton (15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.1 steals) and Poole (14.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.7 steals, and 2.2 blocks) the Cannons started the season on fire. The part of the plan that involved building a successful team worked with Canberra winning seven of their first nine games, but by December, Cannon’s ownership couldn’t afford to keep paying the bills, and the team was forced into voluntary administration just three months into the season. Back-up big man Pero Vasiljevic (5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) and Thomas, who had both just signed two-year deals with the Cannons, exited the club to find alternative employment. A few games later, Bruton and Chappell both requested their release and signed elsewhere also.

Veterans Matthew Shanahan (14.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists) and Willie Simmons (6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks) were added mid-season to help cover the loss of their starting lineup but it wasn’t nearly enough.

In a combined attempt to raise enough money to keep the team in the league and add a few bodies to the roster, a number of NBL legends made cameo appearances with Cannons throughout the last half of the season. 41-year-old Butch Hays suited up for four games for the Cannons, and Perth Wildcats’ legend James Crawford also came out of retirement for one game. The Cannons season ended with the club going 4-17 across their remaining games, and at the end of 2003, Canberra’s licence was moved to Newcastle, where it operated as the Hunter Pirates.

MELBOURNE TIGERS
2003/04
The 2003/04 season saw Thomas average 15.8 points, 9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists and play a key role in helping the Tigers to a fifth place finish in the regular season with a 20-13 record.

2004/05
During the 2004/05 season, Thomas averaged 16.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists alongside Melbourne Tigers legends Andrew Gaze, Lanard Copeland and Mark Bradtke, helping to guide the Tigers to a 17-15 record and a sixth place finish in the regular season. The team would defeat Perth 108-88 in the first round of the elimination finals before losing to the Townsville Crocodiles in the second elimination final, 100-112. This game would be the last for Tigers legends Andrew Gaze and his father Lindsey who had decided would both retire at the end of the season.

2005/06
In 2005, the Tigers were forced into rebuilding mode as legendary figures Andrew Gaze and his father Gaze retired while Tigers stalwarts Mark Bradtke and Lanard Copeland headed to Brisbane. By a stroke of luck, Chris Anstey, who after three seasons in Europe had decided he wanted to return to play in Australia, began talking to the Tigers, who were now the only NBL team in Melbourne.

With Anstey on board and David Stiff, Rashad Tucker, Darryl McDonald, Stephen Hoare and Daryl Corletto and Thomas all returning, the Tigers core was set and so finalised their roster by adding a bunch of young talent in Tom Greer, Braith Cox and Matt O’Hea.

The Tigers opened the season with a huge win over the Wollongong Hawks at home (102–61), then reeled off wins against Perth (twice) and Brisbane to start the season 4-0 before suffering their first loss (88–95) to the Sydney Kings.

Anstey (22.5 points, 10 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.1 blocks) would lead the Tigers scoring, rebounds, blocks, and minutes played and, unsurprisingly, was named the Philips Most Valuable Player of the 2005/06 Philips Championship season. Both Corletto (11.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) and Tucker (15.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists) were the primary benefactors of the exit of Gaze and Copeland, both seeing a major boost in their minutes and production. Tucker, who had struggled in the rotation the previous season, emerged as the team’s second option on offensive, which included Tucker erupting with a 35-point haul in a win over Perth (115-105), his former club. Alongside Anstey and Tucker, Thomas averaged 16.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.

The Tigers finished their season with the best record in franchise history (25-7) which included a almost unbeatable home record (15-1). Melbourne would still manage only second place however, with Sydney (15-1) also being unstoppable at home (15-1) and finishing with a better overall record (26-6).

With Melbourne and Sydney earning automatic entry to the semi finals, they awaited the winners of the play-in tournament, which resulted in Melbourne facing Perth and Sydney facing Cairns. Both team’s eliminated their competition in two straight games to set-up a Grand Final series between the two rivals who had been the clear front runners all season.

Anstey then led the Tigers to the franchise’s third title, winning three straight games against the defending triple-champion Sydney Kings to sweep them 3-0. Anstey’s play also saw him snare the Larry Sengstock Medal as MVP of the Philips Grand Final Series after he delivered arguably the most dominant performance of NBL Finals history, recording 24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks In game one, 30 points 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in game two and 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists in Game 3.

2006/07
The Melbourne Tigers season began under mild controversy when the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) announced Melbourne’s Rashad Tucker and Perth’s David Bailey had returned positive tests from in-competition samples. Both were fined $5000, and Bailey was axed by the Wildcat’s shortly after. The Tigers instead chose to stand him the US guard, with Melbourne Tigers majority owner Seamus McPeake stating, ‘We’ve given him a severe warning, and we have notified him of a breach of contract, but I think he’s had his punishment. A second offence is a automatic two-year suspension, so if he wants to continue his career, he can’t offend again’.

McPeake also noted the circumstances were different to those of Bailey, who he said was out of contract and believed to be seeking a pay increase from the Wildcats.

With Tucker onboard, the team also saw its core group of Chris Anstey, Dave Thomas, Stephen Hoare, Darryl McDonald, Darryl Corletto, David Stiff and Tommy Greer all return. The only roster changes saw Nathan Crosswell, Alex Dench and Liam Norton replace exiting bench players Neil Mottram, Braith Cox and Gerard Leonard.

The Tigers started the season strong behind a 5-1 record and looked every bit ready to repeat as champions. Their only hurdle, it seemed, was the re-vamped Brisbane Bullets after finishing in sixth place the prior season, adding CJ Bruton, Ebi Ere, Dusty Rychart and Dillon Boucher. The Tigers and the Bullets were clear favourites from the season’s start to finish, and it didn’t surprise any to see the two clubs finish first (Brisbane – 28 wins, 5 losses) and second (Melbourne – 25 wins, 8 losses). Anstey led the team in almost every statistic once again, averaging 19.4 points (1st), 9.3 rebounds (1st), 2.8 assists (5th), 1.4 steals (3rd) and led the league with 1.8 blocks per game. The Tigers saw six players averaging in double figures, Thomas (16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds), Tucker (14.2 points and 8.0 rebounds), Hoare (12.5 points and 6.7 rebounds), McDonald (10.6 points and 5.2 assists) and Corletto (10.4 points), a nightmare for opposition team’s who knew that all of the six could carry the Tigers in scoring on any night.

Thanks to finishing in the top two both Brisbane and Melbourne were given a first and second-round bye in the playoffs. They then faced the winners of the Quarterfinals, Sydney and Cairns, respectively. The Bullets eliminated the Kings in two games, and Melbourne mirrored their result, defeating the Taipans in back-to-back games.

Once into the Grand Final series, Brisbane drew first blood behind a 98-95 victory in Brisbane. The efforts of Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) and Thomas (19 points) proved not enough to outclass Brisbane’s Stephen Black (24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) and Sam MacKinnon (18 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists). For game two, the series headed to Melbourne and behind a 31 point and 8 rebound game from Anstey, the Tigers claimed a 105-91 victory to even the series. game three was played in front of 7,539 Brisbane fans, who all went home happy, getting the 113-93 win. Stephen Black’s 22 points led the team in scoring, Sam MacKinnon added 19 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals, and the Bullets frontline held last season’s MVP Chris Anstey to only 9 points. Game Four was played in Melbourne, and at half-time, with the Tigers leading 52-51, it looked like it would come down to the wire. However, a 15-27 third quarter from the Bullets made sure it wasn’t to be and with the scoreboard reading 103-94 at the final buzzer, Brisbane, who many now consider the greatest NBL team of all-time were the 2007 NBL Champions. Tigers players Darryl McDonald (17 points and 4 assists) and Rashad Tucker (17 points and 12 rebounds) stood up to lead the team in scoring as CJ Bruton (22 points and 7 assists), and Dustry Rychart (21 points) led the way for the victors. Sam MacKinnon was named Finals MVP, making history as the first player ever to win a NBL championship, season MVP, Grand Final MVP and Best Defensive Player all in the same year.

2007/08
In 2007/08 Thomas averaged 11 points and 5.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, as the Tigers finished in a second place with a 22-8 record.

2008/09
This was a dark period for Cairns started the season in financial strife and by December 2008, saw themselves placed into voluntary administration. As a result, coach Alan Black and son Stephen Black (the team’s leading scorer) were let go, along with imports Larry Abney (15.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) and Dave Thomas (11.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.5 steals). The rest of the team had to agree to a blanket 45 percent pay cut for the rest of the season. Less than 12 months later, the Taipans were again in financial trouble – at the time, the club was almost $350,000 over budget and had only recorded a profit in one of the previous four months.

In response, Basketball Australia and Cairns Regional Council vowed to continue supporting the cash-strapped Taipans.

Taipans CEO Mark Beecroft stepped in as head coach for the remaining games, team captain Martin Cattalini (15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) led the team to the end of the season. Against all the odds Cairns finished with a reasonable record of 11-19 to end the season.

Thomas signed a deal to play with the New Zealand Breakers the following season but prior to the season starting, he was forced to retire due to injury. Former NBA talent Awvee Storey was then signed as his replacement.

Dave Thomas played nine seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Canberra Cannons, Melbourne Tigers and Cairns Taipans. He averaged 14.6 points, 8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 232 NBL games.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Dan Boyce (817 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.