NICKNAME/S: Rusty Pie Cart, The Garbage Man

BIO: Dusty Rychart was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Dusty Rychart made his NBL debut with the Adelaide 36ers at 24 years of age. He scored 10 points in his first game.

After Victoria Titans folded in mid-2002, a group fronted by businessman Peter Fiddes was granted a licence in their place, and with new ownership primarily made up of former North Melbourne personnel, still upset about the Giants/Magic merger in 1998, re-branded the team to the Giants.

The team was put together on a shoestring budget and could not retain head coach Brian Goorjian nor the majority of the team’s higher-profile talent. The club was able to re-sign veteran Darryl McDonald and import Jamahl Mosely to new (reduced) deals but lacked the financial backing to re-sign much of the local talent losing Chris Anstey, Jason Smith and Mark Dickel to more lucrative European contracts and Tony Ronaldson and Brett Wheeler to the Perth Wildcats.

The Giants had been able to re-sign some of the Titans’ younger talent, Nathan Crosswell, Darren Smith and Marcus Wright and committed to giving them increased minutes and becoming a club focused on giving young Aussie talent a pathway to the NBL. This saw the team fill the remaining roster spots with young players who had been playing in the state leagues, giving them their first big break into the national league. Nik Mirich, who had just graduated from George Mason University, was signed, both Lindsey Tait and Miles Pearce were recruited from the semi-professional New Zealand NBL and Rhys Carter (AIS), David Cooper (Dandenong Rangers) and 36-year-old David Biwer (Nunawading) who had all been playing in the SEABL state league rounded out the bench.

The team would be led by former North Melbourne backup guard Mark Wright, who helped the Giants win a championship in 1989. First year coach Wright and the Giants and budget roster had been picked to finish last on the ladder and began the season with a road loss to Perth (95-85). The team would then surprise everyone by beating the West Sydney Razorbacks in their home opener (122–106) before destroying their cross-town rivals Melbourne (130–102).

The team were led by Jamahl Mosely (21.2 points, 9.5 rebounds), captain Darryl McDonald (14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.4 steals), who led the league in steals, and Nathan Crosswell (15.1 points and 2.9 assists), who grabbed the increased playing opportunities by the horns and moved into the starting lineup.

By round nine, the Giants were sitting on a respectable record (4-5) and sat middle of the NBL ladder. The wheels truly fell off from here, however, as the team lost the next seven games in a row, culminating with the release of import forward Dusty Rychart (16.5 points and 8.3 rebounds) was viewed as underperforming. Behind the scenes, the Giants had made a offer to a athletic big man Pero Vasiljevic, who had exited his deal with Canberra due to their financial instability. The front office was enamoured with Adonis Jordan, a key player during Magic v Giants rivalries of old that had recently been released from Townsville as Rychart’s replacement before letting him go. However, Jordan (19.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists) failed to change anything in the Giant’s win-loss column, with Victoria finishing the season with four wins in their final ten games. Injuries also took their toll during this period, with Darren Smith (13.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.1 steals) injuring his knee’s medial and cruciate ligaments, forcing him to miss the second half of the season. Jamahl Mosley (finger) and Marcus Wright (leg) would also both miss a month’s worth of games, resulting in the Giants finishing the season in second last place (9-21).

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2002/03
After being released by the Giants, Rychart was offered a contract with the Adelaide 36ers the following month, where he signed for the rest of the season. He made his debut for the 36ers on January 29, 2003, and averaged 17.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.1 assists as the 36ers finished in fifth place (16-14).

2003/04
In 2003/04, Rychart averaged 21.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists, playing a key role in the 36ers rotation, helping the team finish in a eighth place (14-19).

2004/05
The 2004/05 season saw Rychart recording his best season, averaging 21.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. Adelaide would finish the regular season in fourth place (19-13).

2005/06
During the 2005/06 season Rychart averaged 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists and helped the 36ers finish the regular season in fourth place (19-13).

BRISBANE BULLETS
2006/07 – THE GREATEST NBL TEAM OF ALL-TIME?
Brisbane continued to develop its roster in 2007, adding the country’s best backcourt player in CJ Bruton (via Sydney) to the existing combo of two of Australia’s greatest frontcourt talents, Sam MacKinnon and Mark Bradtke. Signing Bruton also led to the Bullets moving on from long-term import duo Derek Rucker and Bobby Brannen. Ebi Ere, Bruton’s backcourt partner for the Kings championship in 2004, and do-it-all forward Dusty Rychart (via Adelaide) were signed as import replacements and, with the roster having a number of scoring options, chose not to re-sign Lanard Copeland (to Adelaide) and Daniel Egan (to Townsville) and brought in defensive stopper Dillon Boucher (via Perth) who Bullets front office felt was responsible for the Wildcats eliminating the team from the playoffs the previous season, after shutting down leading scorer Stephen Black.

The Bullets began the season by winning the NBL Preseason Blitz (Coffs Harbour), with Bruton being named MVP of the tournament. In contrast, Brisbane began the regular season with a largely indifferent record (3-3), which by the season’s mid-way point was a respectable, but not at all earth-shattering 10 wins and 5 losses. Reigning champions Melbourne (11-4) sat on top of the ladder, although Brisbane had managed to defeat them in their first matchup of the season (98-85). From here, the Bullets reached a level that has many considering this team to be the greatest of all time. Brisbane wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the regular season, heading into the playoffs on a 18 game winning streak. During this time, seven of the team’s victories come in wins by 30 points or more, including a run of three games against Adelaide, New Zealand and Singapore, where they won by 32, 34, and 32, respectively.

Mackinnon (18.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks) would deliver perhaps the greatest season of all time, becoming the first player in NBL history to win both the Best Defensive Player and Most Valuable Player award in the same season. Making Brisbane even tougher to stop is the fact that besides MacKinnon, they had five guys who could take over a game at any time in Ere (17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), Rychart (15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals), Bruton (14 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists), Black (13.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists) and Bradtke (10.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists).

Joey Wright would be named coach of the year before leading Brisbane to a seven-point win over Sydney (91-84) in the first game of the semi-finals. Ere (22 points) led the Bullets in scoring. Game two moved to Sydney, where Ere (23 points) would again finish as the game-high scorer, but it was Bruton (21 points) that sealed the series, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter to eliminate his former club from the playoffs (93-86).

Melbourne (25-8) had finished second on the ladder and defeated Cairns (2-0) to meet Brisbane in the Grand Final. Playing at home, Brisbane extended their winning streak to 21, narrowly defeating Melbourne by three points (98-95). Stephen Black (24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) top scoring, alongside Sam Mackinnon (18 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 blocks), who came close to racking up a triple-double. Chris Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) would lead the Tigers in the loss.

Melbourne would end the streak in game two, defeating Brisbane (105-91) thanks to a huge game from Anstey (31 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks) and the Tigers dominating the Bullets on the glass (59 to 44 rebounds).

Brisbane returned home for game three where they had only lost one game for the entire season and made sure Anstey (9 points and 13 rebounds) wouldn’t have a repeat performance. MacKinnon, Bradtke and Rychart were instrumental in keeping him off the scoreboard, limiting him to 4 of 15 shooting. Black (22 points) again finished as the game’s high scorer, with MacKinnon (19 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals) filling every other column of the stat sheet to give the Bullets a 20 point victory (113-93).

In game four, Brisbane defied the odds and defeated Melbourne by nine points (103-94), despite the Tigers shooting a better percentage from the field, beyond the arc and winning the rebound battle. However, Melbourne finishing with 26 turnovers, compared to Brisbane’s 14 was the true indicator of the championship. Rashad Tucker (17 points and 12 rebounds) would lead the Tigers in scoring, while the Bullets held Anstey (16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks) well below his usual scoring averages again, making him shoot 6 from 15 from the field. Bruton (22 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals) and Dusty Rychart (21 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals) were instrumental at both ends of the floor, while MacKinnon (13 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals), who may have had his quietest game of the series, was awarded the Finals MVP.

MacKinnon would become the first player to ever be selected to the All-NBL First team, win the regular season and finals MVP awards, be the defensive player of the year and win a championship in the same season (Until Chris Anstey would repeat the effort in the following season). Gibson would appear in 39 games and average 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 2 assists for the season.

2007/08
In 2007/08, Rychart averaged 16.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists as the Bullets finished in third place (20-10).

WOLLONGONG HAWKS
2008/09
In 2008/09, Rychart averaged 15.1 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists, playing a key role in the Hawks rotation, helping the team finish in a seventh place (11-19).

CAIRNS TAIPANS
2009/10
The 2009/10 season saw Rychart average 11.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists and play a key role in helping the Taipans to a 11-17 record (seventh place).

2010/11
After finishing one loss away from the wooden spoon in 2010, the Taipans underwent a major rehaul of their roster. While the core group of Ian Crosswhite, Dusty Rychart, Aaron Grabau and captain Phill Jones remained, Cairns replaced the rest of last year’s roster. Alex Loughton, the team’s major signing, returned to Australia after a season spent in Spain. Daniel Dillon, who had spent the past season in the state league, signed on as the Snake’s backup point guard, and imports Ayinde Ubaka and Ron Dorsey replaced Julien Mills and Rich Melzer.

After a modest start to the season, starting with one win from the first three games of the season, the Taipans became the surprise packed of the year. The team won five in a row and jumped from 7th place in round three to 2nd place by round nine.

A well-balanced attack from Cairns saw Ubaka (13.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists), Dorsey (13.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists), Loughton (11.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists) and Crosswhite (11.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists) all score in double figures.

The Taipans finished the season on a four-game winning streak and in third place (16–12).

The semi finals saw them lose to Townsville in the opening game of the series before winning games two and three to advance through to the Grand Final series for the first time in franchise history.

Matching up against the New Zealand Breakers, Cairns suffered a thrashing in the series opener, going down 85–67 in Auckland.

Returning to Cairns for Game 2, the Taipans looked set for a three-point win in regulation before a three-pointer from Breakers guard CJ Bruton in the dying seconds sent the match into overtime. However, not to be outdone, five minutes later, Dorsey returned the favour, wiping out the Breakers’ three-point lead with a miraculous long-range buzzer beater, which forced the match into double overtime (It marked the first time in NBL history a play-off match was decided in double overtime).

With momentum now on their side, the Taipans took home a nail-biting 85–81 double-overtime win which sent the series back to New Zealand for a deciding third game.

The Taipans lacked the same spark In game three, with import pair Ubaka and Dorsey shooting 4-of-26 between them and the Breakers winning comfortably, 71–53.

Rychart would play in all of the Taipans 34 games, averaging 8.3 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists for the season.

2011/12
During the 2011/12 season, Rychart averaged 6.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 0.7 assists and was a part of the Taipans squad which finished in fifth place with a record of 15-13.

2012/13
In 2012/13 Rychart averaged 3.9 points and 2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists, and helped guide the Taipans to a sixth place finish in the regular season with a 11-17 record.

Dusty Rychart played twelve seasons across five NBL teams. This included the Adelaide 36ers, Victoria Giants, Wollongong Hawks, Brisbane Bullets and Cairns Taipans. He averaged 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 309 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 35th in total rebounds

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.