BIO: Everard Bartlett was born in Hawkes Bay (New Zealand). Between 2006-2016, Bartlett had various stints in the NBL for the New Zealand Breakers, Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers

NBL EXPERIENCE

Everard Bartlett made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 20 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

As a development player in 2006/07, Bartlett appeared in two games as the Breakers finished in tenth place with a record of 11-22. Despite seeing minimal playing time he won the 2006 NBL Slam Dunk Competition during all-star weekend.

2011/12
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 Perth) 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).

Diamon Simpson, a college teammate Patty Mills, replaced Williamson and joined the 36ers in time for their second game. Simpson (14.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks) would then lead Adelaide in scoring and finish 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.

Bartlett averaged 5.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists during a season where 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.

While Adelaide’s imports were good for a couple of big games, neither were retained for the following season. Warren’s best game came in a loss to Melbourne (81-87) in February, where he exploded for 31 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, shooting a ridiculous clip of 55% (10/18) from the field, 50% (5/10) from downtown and 100% (6/6) from the free-throw line. Simpson showcased his dominance in a win over Perth in December, going 83% from the field, racking up 22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this feat is the fact he did it against the incredible front-line defence of the Wildcats, who only lost four times at home that season, Simpson and the 36ers being responsible for two of them. Simpson would sign to play with the NBA’s Houston Rockets at the end of the season.

2012/13
Before the season began, the state-of-the-art Perth Arena was completed, with the 13,500 seat stadium becoming the new home of the Wildcat’s in 2012.

Bartlett averaged 5.2 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, helping the Wildcat’s finish second on the ladder with a 19–9 record before losing the Grand Final to the Breakers in two straight games.

2015/16
The Breakers retained every player from their 2015 championship-winning roster minus Rhys Carter (to Sydney) and Ekene Ibekwe (to Europe). To replace the pair, the club picked up Australian point guard Shane McDonald and rookie American big man Charles Jackson. New Zealand’s pre-season was met with a number of challenges which included Alex Pledger being absent due to recovering from off-season foot surgery, Thomas Abercrombie being forced to the sidelines with a nagging hamstring strain and the exit of Corey Webster, who headed to the US to trial with the New Orleans Pelicans. In a move to replace them, the Breakers elevated development players Shea Ili and Tai Wynyard, while also signing Everard Bartlett as a replacement for Webster.

New Zealand were handed a shock loss to Adelaide in their season opener (71-90). Without Webster, Abercrombie and Pledger, the Breakers had limited scoring options, the highest scorer being Cedric Jackson (14 points). At half-time, the score was 51–26 in the 36ers favour, which saw the team’s 26 points become the second lowest first-half score and second biggest halftime deficit in team history.

With a dwindling record (1-3), New Zealand were boosted by the addition of Corey Webster (19.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), who returned after failing to secure a roster spot with the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. In order to add Webster to the roster, forward Duane Bailey was released and Everard Bartlett, who had been signed as an injury replacement, was retained for the rest of the season. The Breakers then won nine of their next eleven games and were back in title contention (10-5) by Round 10. However, the Breakers stumbled during the final rounds, losing five of their next six games and fell behind fourth-placed Adelaide (11–9) and out of the top four by Round 15.

After starting the season 1–3, the Breakers won nine of their next 11 games to breeze back into the championship mix with a 10–5 record after Round 10. However, the Breakers went on to lose five of their next six games to slip behind the fourth-placed Adelaide 36ers (11–9) at the conclusion of Round 15 with a 11–10 record.

On November 8, Cedric Jackson recorded his fifth career triple-double with 16 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in a loss to Melbourne United.

Jackson played most of January with a toe and Achilles heel injury. He responded to his poor form in the team’s first game of February, recording a season-high 31 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in a 106–84 win over the Adelaide 36ers, keeping the Breakers’ playoff chances alive. With seven 3-pointers, 10 rebounds and six assists, Jackson became the first NBL player to record such stats since John Rillie did so in 1998.

On January 17, 2016, Charles Jackson (10.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) recorded 11 points and 18 rebounds in a 103–96 double overtime loss to the Illawarra Hawks, fouling out in the second overtime. Of his 18 rebounds, 10 of them were offensive, becoming the first player in Breakers’ history to grab 10 offensive rebounds in a game, and the first player in the NBL to record that mark since Rosell Ellis did so in January 2007.

On 21 January, the Breakers lost their fifth straight game, the team’s worst losing streak since the 2008/09 season. Despite the mid-season turmoil, the Breakers managed to fight back and win five straight to edge out the 36ers for the fourth place seed with a 16–12 record.

In the playoffs, the Breakers defeated first-placed Melbourne United in the semifinals with a 2–0 sweep, moving on to their fifth NBL Grand Final appearance in six years. There they faced their archrivals the Perth Wildcats who would rely on the presence inside of Nathan Jawai and the tough defence of Casey Prather to claim a 82–76 victory in game one. With game two back in New Zealand, the Breakers evened the score, winning 72–68 on the back of a near triple-double from import Cedric Jackson who finished with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists.

With the deciding game in Perth and 13,090 of the ‘Red Army’ in attendance, the Wildcats’ made sure to avenge their grand final loss from the previous season. Casey Prather (19 points) and Jermaine Beal (14 points) did most of the damage on the scoreboard for the Wildcats, but it was Damian Martin’s inspirational display in defence that shone the brightest. Martin would be named Grand Final MVP after keeping star Breakers guard Cedric Jackson scoreless on five attempts and forcing him to foul out early in the last term. The Wildcats would go on to claim their seventh NBL championship in a blow-out victory (75–52).

The loss marked the first time New Zealand had lost to the Wildcat’s in playoff history and the team’s first ever grand final series loss.

Webster went on to be named in the All-NBL Second Team, and Bartlett would average 4.7 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists for the season.

Everard Bartlett played five seasons in the NBL. He averaged 5 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1 assists in 87 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (811 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.