BIO: David Smith was born in Melbourne (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Knox basketball program. Smith received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 1997. He spent one year there and played for the program’s state league team.

NBL EXPERIENCE

David Smith made his NBL debut with the North Melbourne Giants at 18 years of age. He scored four points in his first game.

With the Giants again facing financial difficulties, the team struggled to remain competitive in 1998 and after finishing the season with a record of 9 wins and 21 losses, North Melbourne merged with the South East Melbourne Magic. Smith would average 7.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists during the North Melbourne Giants’ last season.

VICTORIA TITANS
1998/99
After the NBL’s move to summer, interest in the league had declined, and financially, it had become difficult for Melbourne to sustain three separate clubs. In a effort to boost sponsorship and membership numbers, the South East Melbourne Magic merged with the North Melbourne Giants, who had struggled financially for a number of years.

The team was re-branded to the Victorian Titans and with the majority of the front office being former Magic owners, a decision was made to retain Brian Goorjian, leaving Giants coach Brett Brown without a job (Brown would later sign on to coach the Sydney Kings).

Selecting a team generated its criticism as Goorjian’s appointment coincided with team’s deciding not to offer Pat Reidy, then a member of the Australian national team, a spot on the roster. The Titans would complete their roster by signing four players from the Giants roster, Darryl McDonald, Ben Pepper, David Smith and Paul Maley and five players from the Magic’s roster, Jason Smith, Frank Drmic, Brett Wheeler, Mike Kelly and Tony Ronaldson.

As a testament to the strength in depth that this newly possessed the Titans became immediate favourites to lift the title in April. To kick-start the season, Victoria faced long-time rivals of the Magic and Giants, the Melbourne Tigers. The 80-99 loss inflicted by the Tigers wasn’t the result many expected and clearly showed the lack of cohesion that combining two team’s had created.

Although it took a little while before the Titans found their rhythm, starting the year with a 2-2 record, a few weeks into the season and they quickly proved they were championship contenders.

Ronaldson (16.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists) was named team captain and responded by leading the team in scoring and earning the club MVP at the end of the season. Ben Pepper (12.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks) finished second in scoring and led the team in rebounds and blocks, while Darryl McDonald (11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 2.4 steals) led both the Titans and the league in steals and assists.

The team would deliver a balanced attack with seven of its players scoring in double figures and Smith finishing the season with averages of 1.9 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1 assists per game.

The Titans finished the year in fourth place, and having lost only three games at home (10-3) and finishing the regular season on a four-game winning streak, they were clearly a different team come playoffs than the team which lost by 19 points to the Tigers in round one.

Victoria destroyed Wollongong at home in game one of the Qualifying Finals (96-65) and in game two, delivered the knockout punch, eliminating the Hawks in two straight games.

in the semifinals, the Titans would face the aforementioned Tigers, who led by star import Marcus Timmnons (31 points and 9 rebounds), and were able to grind out a three point win (80-77). Ronaldson (17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) led the team in scoring, and Paul Maley (16 points) delivered a incredibly efficient game off the bench, nailing seven of nine shots in 22 minutes.

In game two, Mike Kelly (19 points and 7 rebounds) and Ben Pepper (15 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks) led Victoria in scoring as the Titans led the Tigers in all four quarters and came away with the win (94-87). The win would set up a grand final series between Victoria and Adelaide, who defeated Brian Goorjian’s squad the previous season when they were known as the Magic.

The opening matchup delivered a battle of the point guards with McDonald (23 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals) and 36ers import Darnell Mee (25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks) led both team’s in scoring. Mee was able to come out on top in this one, with Adelaide winning the game (104-94) and Mee also forcing McDonald into making 8 turnovers.

Brett Maher (25 points) came out firing for Adelaide in game two, but the Titans’ defence saw the remainder of the 36ers struggle, with no one else able to score more than 12 points and the team shooting 39% from the field. Victoria would rely on Tony Ronaldson (22 points), Brett Wheeler (18 points, 9 rebounds) and McDonald (12 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists) to get the win (88-82), evening the series.

With the 36ers finishing in first place during the regular season the deciding game would be held in Adelaide where more than 7,000 Sixers fans willed the team over the line to become back-to-back NBL champions. Martin Cattalini (19 points and 9 rebounds) led the 36ers in scoring while Brett Maher (15 points and 7 rebounds) was named Grand Final MVP. Ben Pepper (15 points) top scored for the Titans who shot a woeful 26/78 from the field (38%) in the deciding game.

1999/00
After falling short in the Grand Final for the second year in a row (Magic ’98, Titans ’99) Brian Goorjian looked to add local youth to his roster in a attempt to go one step further… a proven Goorjian strategy. This saw veteran import players Paul Maley and Mike Kelly shown the door and replaced with 23 year old big man Nathan Taylor, who had previously played for the team when they were the North Melbourne Giants, and elevated 20 year old development player Glen Siegle elevated into the full roster. The remainder of the Titans roster all returned, as the team looked to go one step further than last season and win the NBL championship.

In their second as the Titans, Victoria finished the season strong thanks to a breakout season from Jason Smith, who boosted his numbers from 11.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.7 steals in 29 minutes to 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.8 steals in 40 minutes per game and named the Titan’s club MVP at the end of the season. In addition to Smith leading the team in scoring, Victoria would deliver a well-balanced offensive attack, with six players scoring in double figures. Captain Tony Ronaldson (16.0 points and 5.4 rebounds) and Darryl McDonald (13.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 3.1 steals), who led the league in steals and assists were key contributors, while Smith adding 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.

Once again, the Titans built their season around a strong home record (11-3) and finished the season in fourth place. This saw Victoria (20-8) and Melbourne (14-14) face off in the elimination finals where the Tigers took game one (101-94). The Titans evened the series (78-70) in game two, setting up a third and deciding game. In game three, Victoria overcome a offensive explosion from Melbourne’s Andrew Gaze (30 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists), but again, the Titans defence proved highly successful in generating turnovers (Gaze himself had 7), and Victoria closed out the series (2-1). MacDonald (29 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steal) led the Titans in scoring in the win (105-96).

This set-up a rematch with the aforemention Adelaide, who had picked up the discarded Paul Maley (12.3 points and 6.1 rebounds) midseason, to see him become a valuable bench contributor. Adelaide, who had finished the season in first place (and had the wood of the Titan’s it was believed) and entered the in the semifinals as favourites. Ronaldson (26 points and 5 rebounds) and MacDonald (24 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks) would lead the Titans to a game one win in Melbourne (101-86), before the series moved to Adelaide for games two and three.

Game two saw the 36ers return to the same high-scoring offence that had proven unstoppable during the past two seasons. Martin Cattalini (24 points and 7 rebounds) and Darnell Mee (22 points,7 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals) delivered big games, allowing the 36ers to even the series with a win (95-72). With many expecting Victoria to come up short against Adelaide yet again, the team rallied behind MacDonald (24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals), who again impacted the game from every angle. While his counterpart Mee (22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals) filled the stat sheet, his 36ers teammates struggled to score through the impenetrable Titans defence. This resulted in Victoria winning the game three (93-89) and finally overcoming the 36ers, igniting a Titans celebration on court, which some felt was premature considering the grand final series was still to come.

Not surprisingly, Victoria had nothing left for Perth in the Grand Final, and the Wildcat’s defeated the Titans in two straight contests, a six-point win in game one (84-78) followed up with a similar outcome in game two (83-76). Perth were led by league MVP Paul Rogers (24 points and 20 rebounds), who connected on 10 of 16 shots and racked up a 20/20 game in game one. Marcus Timmons (27 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals) couldn’t miss in game two, going 9/15 from the field and being voted the NBL Finals MVP.

MELBOURNE TIGERS
2000/01
The Tigers would see several new faces join the squad this season after losing both Bennett Davison (to Europe) and Warrick Giddey to injury. David Smith (via North Melbourne), Stephen Hoare (via West Sydney) and Nathan Taylor (via Victoria). Guard Phil Handy was signed as a import replacement for Bennett Davison, and Melbourne began the season winning five of their first eight matches.

Around this time, Phil Handy (10.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists) joined Giddey on the injury list (missing eight games), so Jason Sedlock (3.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) was signed as an injury replacement during Handy’s absence. At the mid-way point of the season, Melbourne received the bonus of long-serving guard Lanard Copeland gaining his Australian citizenship and qualifying as a local player. To take advantage of that, Melbourne used the additional import spot to sign former Townsville star Clarence Tyson (3.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists) for the remaining 14 games.

This season saw Daniel Egan (11.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.0 blocks) develop into a key part of the Tiger’s rotation, Copeland (20.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.0 steals) continue to score buckets as Gaze (29.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists) finished as the league’s highest scorer and Mark Bradtke (21.3 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks) led the league in rebounds while also being selected to the All-NBL First team.

With Melbourne entering their final ten games, they sat just outside the top six and with Lindsey Gaze trying to balance the incoming talent with the Tigers’ existing core, they went on a five-game losing streak to drop out of the playoff race. A three-game winning streak to end the season came too late, and Melbourne finished in seventh spot (13-15), missing out on the playoffs by three wins. This would be the first time Melbourne would finish with a losing record and miss the playoffs since 1988.

Smith would appear in 27 games during his first year with the Tigers, averaging 8.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals.

2001/02
This season, Marcus Timmons would return to play for the Tigers, replacing the outgoing Phil Handy (to West Sydney). Timmons (16.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.0 blocks) would slot right back into the team, his presence catapulting the Tigers back to the top of the ladder. Lanard Copeland (25.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals) was also in amazing form this season, hoping to earn selection to the Boomers squad after being recently naturalised.

With Melburne sitting on 9 wins and 5 losses, they would lose Gaze after he succumbed to a ankle injury three minutes into a game against Townsville. The Tigers would then lose this game by two points (98-100) and Gaze (19.1 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists) would miss twelve games with an ankle injury. This saw Melbourne drop from top of the ladder to fifth spot, recording 7 wins and 9 losses in Gaze’s absence. Mark Bradtke (22.6 points, 13.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 blocks) would step up during this time, leading the league in rebounding for a sixth time and being selected as the NBL MVP at the end of the season.

Although not fully healed, Gaze would return to the court to help the Tigers (16-14) in their Qualifying Final matchup against crosstown rivals, the Victoria Titans (21-9).

Victoria had finished the season in first place and entered the series as clear favourites. However, after the Titans secured game one (107-113), the Tigers would bounce back with Copeland (41 points, 5 assists and 2 steals), who shot a impressive 14 from 27 shots (52%), and Timmons (19 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists) having big games to deliver a Tigers win in game two (107-105). Copeland (37 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists) and Timmons (21 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks) backed that performance in game three (103-97) to move onto the semi finals and face West Sydney. Gaze struggled through the series, playing in all three games but scoring total of 11 points.

Melbourne would face the fifth placed West Sydney Razorbacks (16-14) at home and behind Timmons (36 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals) and Bradtke (21 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals), come away victorious (114-93). Once the series moved to Sydney the Tigers lost games two (109-125) and three (103-115) with Gaze still not back to full health.

This season marked the first time Gaze failed to lead the Tigers in scoring since they entered the league in 1984, yet he still managed to lead the league in free throw shooting (88.4%). Smith would appear in all 36 games and average 5.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.

2002/03
After coming close to a NBL Grand Final berth the prior season, which many feel they would have if not for a ankle injury that derailed Andrew Gaze for the playoffs, the Tigers underwent some small roster changes in 2002. Moving on were Daniel Egan (to Brisbane) and Warrick Giddey (retired), while Neil Mottram (via Perth), Blake and import Matt Rueter, who had both been playing in the state league, were also added to the roster.

Tigers started off slowly (2-4) before findng their groove and recording a four winning streak to improve to return to the top six by round 10 (6-4). Melbourne would lose Gaze (22.1 points, 4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.1 steals) to a knee infection that saw him miss four games (one win, three losses) with David Smith (5.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) inserted into the starting lineup. When Gaze returned to the lineup he was visibly unfit and several kilograms lighter. The Tigers had also dropped out of the playoffs picture again (9-11) after losing the NBL’s leading rebounder, Mark Bradtke (17.4 points, 12.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks) for six games with back and hamstring issues.

In addition to Gaze and Bradtke, the Tigers would rely on Lanard Copeland (18.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.4 steals) and Marcus Timmons (13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3 assists 1.4 steals) to provide the offensive punch, with Neil Mottram (10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.0 assists) and Stephen Hoare (9.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists) also stepping up in Bradtke’s absence.

Heading into the last round, the Tigers (14-14) needed to a extra win to avoid losing the sixth spot on the ladder to West Sydney (12-16), who had the head to head advantage against Melbourne. They would defeat Illawarra (108-99) locking in a playoff spot, but then lose to Townsville (104-106) to end the regular season (15-15).

Melbourne faced the first seed Sydney (22-8) in the Qualifying Finals and lost the opening game (89-101) thanks to big games from Kings stars Shane Heal (25 points), Kavossy Franklin (19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists) and David Stiff (18 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks).

In game two, Bradtke (21 points, 20 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals) and Kings star import Chris Williams (32 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocks) would battle inside in one of the greatest head to head battles of all-time. Although Williams would do it all that night, the Tigers locked down the Kings backcourt of Heal (14 points) and Franklin (16 points) and thanks to big games from Gaze (25 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists) and Copeland (22 points and 5 assists), came away victors in game two (108-104).

With the series returning to Sydney, the Kings simply outclassed the Tigers in game three (114-89), with Williams (25 points, 13 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks) continuing his unstoppable form and the Kings winning by 25 points. The Kings locked down Melbourne’s ‘Big Three’ of Gaze, Copeland and Bradtke who in rare fashion were limited to only 34 points combined. Stephen Hoare (15 points and 12 rebounds) top scoring for the Tigers.

2003/04
In 2003/04 Smith averaged 4.6 points and 2.7 rebounds, and helped guide the Tigers to a fifth place finish in the regular season with a 20-13 record.

At the end of 2004 Smith would retire from basketball to focus on playing Australian Rules Football.

David Smith played seven seasons across three NBL teams. This included the North Melbourne Giants, Victoria Titans and Melbourne Tigers. He averaged 5.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 217 NBL games.

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.