BIO: Glen Siegle was born in Melbourne (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Knox basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Glen Siegle made his NBL debut with the Victoria Titans at 19 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

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 an 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 Victoria Titans and, with the majority of the front office being former Magic owners, a decision was made to retain Brian Goorjian as head coach, leaving Giants coach Brett Brown without a job. The Titans completed 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 roster, Jason Smith, Frank Drmic, Brett Wheeler, Mike Kelly and Tony Ronaldson, while Siegle and Brad Sheridan (via AIS) also joined the new club.

Siegle (1.1 points across 7 games) appeared briefly during Victoria’s first season, making his first appearance on November 28 against Perth, where he added 2 assists in 4:47 minutes as the Titans defeated the Wildcats 86-83.

Siegle’s best game came against Sydney Spirit on December 4, where he finished with 3 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 2 steals in 7:01 minutes as Victoria won 101-73. His only other scoring games came the next night against Newcastle, where he made his only three-point attempt and finished with 3 points in 3:37 minutes, and against Perth on February 7, where he added 2 points in 4:06 minutes during a 94-74 win.

Ronaldson (16.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists), who was named team captain of the new franchise, responded by leading Victoria in scoring and earning club MVP honours. Pepper (12.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks) finished second in scoring and led the team in rebounds and blocks, while McDonald (11.1 points, 5 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 2.4 steals) led both the Titans and the NBL in assists and steals as Victoria finished fourth with a 16-10 record.

Victoria opened the Qualifying Finals by defeating Wollongong 96-65 before completing the sweep with a 91-82 win at the WIN Entertainment Centre. The Titans then swept Melbourne in the semifinals, winning 80-77 in game one and 94-87 in game two to move into the Grand Final.

The Grand Final series opened in Melbourne, where Adelaide defeated Victoria 104-94 behind Brett Maher (31 points) and Darnell Mee (25 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists), before the Titans levelled the series in Adelaide with an 88-82 win behind Ronaldson (22 points), Wheeler (18 points and 9 rebounds), Smith (15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists) and McDonald (12 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists).

Game three remained in Adelaide, where more than 7,000 36ers fans saw Martin Cattalini (19 points and 9 rebounds) lead Adelaide and Maher (15 points and 7 rebounds) named Grand Final MVP as the 36ers completed back-to-back championships. Pepper (15 points) top scored for the Titans in the 80-69 loss.

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. 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 Siegle adding 2.3 points, 1 rebounds, and 0.9 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.

2000/01
After losing the previous season’s Grand Final to Perth, Victoria lost Frank Drmic (to Sydney), Nathan Taylor (to Melbourne) and David Smith, while Jason Smith, Tony Ronaldson, Darryl McDonald, Brett Wheeler, Ben Pepper and Brad Sheridan returned from the previous season’s group.

Head coach Brian Goorjian brought Chris Anstey (via Chicago) back to Australia following three seasons in the NBA, replaced David Smith with his older brother Darren Smith and signed Mark Dickel (via UNLV). Dickel occupied an import position because New Zealand players were not considered local players in the NBL until 2003.

Victoria opened the season with a 95-80 road win over Brisbane, where Darren Smith (8 points and 3 rebounds) made his Titans debut as part of Goorjian’s bench rotation. McDonald (16 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks), Ronaldson (17 points and 7 rebounds), Jason Smith (15 points and 4 steals) and Dickel (12 points and 7 assists) led Victoria as the Titans began the season with a win.

Darren Smith (6.6 points and 3.7 rebounds) gave Victoria another experienced wing-forward off the bench, joining the club as Jason Smith’s older brother and adding depth to a roster already built around McDonald, Ronaldson, Jason Smith, Dickel, Wheeler and Anstey.

Darren Smith produced one of his best early games against Canberra on January 26, finishing with 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals as Victoria continued its push towards the top of the ladder.

Darren Smith’s best regular-season scoring game came against Cairns on March 24, where he finished with 12 points and 5 rebounds as Victoria moved closer to locking away first place.

Darren Smith also delivered a strong game against Adelaide on February 10, finishing with 10 points and 7 rebounds, while Jason Smith (8 points and 10 rebounds), McDonald (13 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists) and Ronaldson (13 points and 6 rebounds) were part of Victoria’s main rotation against the 36ers.

Injuries to Pepper, Anstey and Darren Smith led to development players Marcus Wright and Pero Vasiljevic being elevated to the full roster during the season.

Jason Smith (20.5 points and 5.4 rebounds) produced the highest-scoring season of his career and was selected to the All-NBL First Team, while Anstey (16.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 2 blocks) was named Titans MVP and NBL Sixth Man of the Year after returning as a vastly improved player from the NBA. Ronaldson (16.3 points and 5.7 rebounds), McDonald (15.4 points, 5 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 2.7 steals), Dickel (13.2 points and 5.1 assists) and Wheeler (13 points and 8 rebounds) gave Victoria six players who averaged at least 13 points, helping the Titans finish first with a franchise-best 22-6 record.

Victoria opened the qualifying finals with a 101-96 win over Adelaide behind Anstey (27 points and 16 rebounds), Jason Smith (26 points and 7 rebounds), Ronaldson (23 points and 5 rebounds), Wheeler (18 points and 7 rebounds) and McDonald (15 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists, and 3 steals). Darren Smith (11 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal) played 24:45 minutes from the bench.

Game two moved to Adelaide, where Brooks (34 points and 9 rebounds), Maher (24 points and 5 assists) and Mee (12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals) led the 36ers to a 96-83 win. Wheeler (12 points and 11 rebounds), Ronaldson (11 points), Dickel (12 points and 7 assists) and Darren Smith (8 points and 4 rebounds) were Victoria’s main contributors as Adelaide forced a deciding game.

Game three remained in Adelaide, where Adelaide won 115-103 to take the series 2-1, with Brooks (25 points and 7 rebounds per game) and Mee (22 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game) having driven the 36ers across the three games. Darren Smith produced his best game of the season, finishing with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals, while Ronaldson (22 points and 7 rebounds), Dickel (17 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists), McDonald (12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block) and Wheeler (11 points and 5 rebounds) also contributed as the Titans still advanced as the highest-placed losing team from the qualifying finals.

The semifinal series opened in Melbourne, where Ronaldson (22 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists), McDonald (20 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists), Wheeler (17 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 blocks) and Dickel (16 points and 6 assists) led Victoria to a 106-97 win over Townsville. Darren Smith (4 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals) played 23:56 minutes in the win.

Game two moved to Townsville, where Goodwin (19 points and 11 rebounds), Reidy (19 points and 4 assists) and Robert Rose (19 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists) led the Crocodiles to a 98-82 win. Sheridan (17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists) and Ronaldson (17 points and 8 rebounds) top-scored for Victoria, while Darren Smith (12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals, and 1 block) played 27:58 minutes as Anstey (2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block) suffered an injury early in the game and missed the remainder of the series.

Game three remained in Townsville, where Dickel (33 points and 4 assists), McDonald (19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals), Darren Smith (15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals) and Sheridan (8 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 steal) led Victoria, while Goodwin (23 points), Rose (20 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals) and Mike Kelly (17 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals) carried Townsville to a 101-97 win. Darren Smith (15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 steals) played 32:13 minutes in the 101-97 loss.

Glen Siegle played five seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Victoria Titans and the Brisbane Bullets. He averaged 3.9 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 132 NBL games.