BIO: Simpson was born in Los Angeles County, California, Simpson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Hayward and graduated from Hayward High School in 2005.
Diamon Simpson made his NBL debut with the Adelaide 36ers at 24 years of age. He scored 15 points in his first game.
Things didn’t get any better for the 36ers or coach Marty Clarke in the 2011/12 season. A complete roster rebuild saw only four of last season’s squad, Daniel Johnson, Darren Ng, Mitchell Creek and the injured Adam Ballinger returning. Adelaide’s backcourt had been a huge question mark last season and guards Nathan Crosswell (via Victoria) and Everard Bartlett (via NZNBL) were added to remedy that, while Nathan Herbert returned to the court after missing the entire 2010/11 season with a ACL injury. Imports Chris Warren and John Williamson were signed to finalise the roster, but a injury to import Williamson during the pre-season saw the 36ers play their opening game with one import, resulting in Adelaide’s largest opening night loss in team history to Perth (69-102).
Simpson, a college teammate Patty Mills, replaced Williamson and joined the 36ers in time for their second game. Simpson recorded his best game of the year in Adelaide’s 12 point victory over Perth (Dec 4 2011) when Simpson filled the box score with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block in 26 minutes. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this feat is the fact he did it against the incredible front-line defence of the Wildcats, something which happened only four times that season (Adelaide being responsible for two of them).
Simpson (14.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks) posted 12 double-doubles in his 27 games while leading Adelaide in scoring and finishing second in the league in rebounding.
Injury woes continued when new signing Nathan Crosswell saw his season cut short due to a Achilles tendon injury suffered in round 10 against New Zealand and despite gaining Adam Ballinger (5.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) for the last half of the season, injuries kept him from being anywhere close to his former self, forcing him to play a role off the bench for the first time in his NBL career.
Adelaide finished the season in last place (8–20), including a club record losing streak of eight games.
While 36ers fans didn’t have much to cheer about besides the rapid improvement of Daniel Johnson. Johnson (16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds) boosted his numbers from 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds to become the 36ers’ second-highest scorer, earning him the NBL Most Improved Player award at season’s end.
Diamon Simpson played one season in the NBL. He averaged 14.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 27 NBL games.
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.
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011-12 | 24 | Adelaide | 8-20 (9) | 27 | 665.0 | 387 | 233 | 24 | 100 | 133 | 23 | 41 | 49 | 73 | 155 | 262 | 59% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 77 | 142 | 54% | 59% | 59% | 23 | Totals | 27 | 665 | 387 | 233 | 24 | 100 | 133 | 23 | 41 | 49 | 73 | 155 | 262 | 59.2% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 77 | 142 | 54.2% | 60% | 59% | 23 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011-12 | 24 | Adelaide | 8-20 (9) | 27 | 24.6 | 14.3 | 8.6 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 59% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 2.9 | 5.3 | 54% | 59% | 59% | 23 | Total | 27 | 24.6 | 14.3 | 8.6 | 0.9 | 3.7 | 4.9 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 59.2% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0% | 54.2% | 60% | 59% | 23 |
POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 23 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
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The Rockets signed Simpson to a guaranteed contract for the last eight games of the NBA season. This included a non-guaranteed contract for the 2012/13 season which Houston opted not to take up.
Season | Team | PTS | AST | STL | BLK | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 0 | 81% | 53% | 76% | 98% | ||||||
2 | 0 | 23 | 4 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
Total | 155 | 262 | 59.2% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% |
YEAR | AGE | TEAM | POS | GP | GS | MINS | PTS | TRB | AST | ORB | DRB | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011-12 | 24 | Adelaide | 8-20 (9) | 27 | 665.0 | 387 | 233 | 24 | 100 | 133 | 23 | 41 | 49 | 73 | 155 | 262 | 59% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 77 | 142 | 54% | 59% | 59% | 23 | Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Simpson attended the Saint Mary's College of California and played for the Saint Mary's Gaels in the NCAA's West Coast Conference (WCC) between 2005 and when he graduated in 2009. He was a teammate of Australian and Portland Trail Blazers backup point guard Patrick Mills when playing for the Gaels from 2007–2009.
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POS | TEAM | W | D | L | PTS |
1 |
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21 | 3 | 3 | 66 |
2 |
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20 | 4 | 3 | 64 |
3 |
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19 | 4 | 4 | 61 |
4 |
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18 | 2 | 6 | 56 |
5 |
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18 | 2 | 4 | 56 |
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