NICKNAME/S: Dolla, Dolla Dolla Beal

BIO: Born and raised in Dallas, Texas (USA), Jermaine Beal attended DeSoto High School in DeSoto, where he was a two-time All-State honoree and helped the Eagles to a 5-A state title as a freshman and a state runner-up finish as a junior.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jermaine Beal made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 25 years of age. He scored 11 points in his first game.

Having been defeated by the New Zealand Breakers in the previous two Grand Final series and then losing star import Kevin Lisch (to France), the Wildcats revamped their roster, looking to bring a new-look squad and style that would deliver the team a sixth championship.

Team changes included the departure of Rob Beveridge, Kevin Lisch (who would follow Beveridge to Illawarra), and Cameron Tovey. The Wildcats then reloaded, first by appointing Trevor Gleeson as head coach and signing two new imports: small forward James Ennis, who had just been selected as the 50th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, and shooting guard Jermaine Beal. Hard-nosed point guard Damian Martin was named team captain, and Perth’s core group of Shawn Redhage, Jesse Wagstaff, Matthew Knight, and Greg Hire all returned. Tom Jervis, as well as guards Drake U’U and Erik Burdon, were also signed to bolster the team’s bench.

A search to replace a former NBL MVP is never easy, but when Wildcats managing director Nick Marvin and head coach Trevor Gleeson witnessed his ability firsthand at the NBA Summer League, they knew they had a star.

Ennis opened the season with 25 points and 4 rebounds on debut, a three-point victory over arch-rivals Adelaide—the most points scored by a Wildcat on NBL debut at the time. Ennis would earn Player of the Month honors in his first month as a Wildcat as Perth began the season with an 8-0 start.

Beal’s first three games with the Wildcats, however, saw him make just six shots from his 34 field goal attempts. By Round Three, however, Beal’s scoring ability was on full display in back-to-back road games: first, a 19-point effort against the New Zealand Breakers, and then a 24-point night against the Sydney Kings. He continued this hot streak through November, where he hit five three-pointers in the first quarter of an 87-47 win over the Wollongong Hawks. He also finished with a game-high 21 points in a game that saw the Wildcats equal their best start to an NBL campaign at 6–0.

On December 6, he scored a season-high 30 points and equaled a club record with eight three-pointers in a 95–91 win over the Breakers.

Injuries to Knight forced the club to sign Jarrad Prue and Jeremiah Trueman as short-term injury replacements in October and January, but the Wildcats were still the clear pacesetters for the league. By the league’s mid-season break for the All-Star Game, they sat in first place with a 12-1 record, and it was clear that Perth possessed the league’s best import duo that season. James Ennis (21.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.4 steals) and Jermaine Beal (15.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists) perfectly complemented the league’s best defender Damian Martin (7.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.2 steals) and best villain Shawn Redhage (13.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists). To no surprise, Perth finished the season on top of the ladder and reached the postseason for their 28th year in a row.

Once into the postseason, the Wildcats eliminated the Wollongong Hawks first in straight sets, while on the other side of the bracket, their historic rivals Adelaide eliminated Melbourne in three games to see both teams progress to the 2014 Grand Final.

The Grand Final would see first-placed Perth face second-ranked Adelaide, with Game One held in Perth. Wildcats star import James Ennis (30 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists) led Perth in points, rebounds, and assists, resulting in Perth claiming the win (92-85) and taking a 1-0 series lead. Beal also contributed 19 points in the win.

Game Two saw Beal (19 points) again lead the Wildcats in scoring, but it wasn’t enough to stop the 36ers from forcing a deciding third game in front of their largest crowd of the season. 8,127 fans helped rally the 36ers to an 89-84 win behind the high scoring of Gary Ervin (23 points) and an all-round game from Adam Gibson (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists) to even the series (1-1).

In response, 13,498 of Perth’s ‘Red Army’ showed up to see Perth defeat Adelaide and win their sixth NBL title. With James Ennis subdued by foul trouble, the Wildcats’ most experienced duo, Shawn Redhage and Damian Martin, were relied upon to pick up the slack. Redhage scored 10 of his 16 points in the first term to help his team settle into the contest, while Martin produced a superb defensive effort on 36ers star Gary Ervin, limiting Adelaide’s Game Two hero to just four points while adding 14 points and six rebounds to the stat sheet. Greg Hire (9 rebounds, 5 assists) and Jermaine Beal (15 points and 4 assists) provided key contributions to help Perth bury the demons of successive Grand Final defeats in the past two seasons.

While Anthony Petrie (20 points) gave his all for the 36ers, he lacked the support from fellow starters Adam Gibson (8 points) and Daniel Johnson (9 points), both of whom had been influential in the first two games of the series.

After his huge opening game, Ennis struggled to make an impact in Games Two and Three, and Beal went on to win Finals MVP after averaging 17.6 points per game, shooting 48% from beyond the three-point line.

In 33 games, Beal also made 101 three-pointers, which set the record for the most three-pointers made by a player in a season in the NBL’s 40-minute era (since 2009) and remained the highest total until 2018. Beal was named to the league’s All-NBL Second Team as well.

2014/15
In 2014, the reigning NBL champions saw close to their entire roster return for a chance to repeat as NBL champions. Perth was able to re-sign both Shawn Redhage and Damian Martin (both on three-year deals) and have Jermaine Beal, Damian Martin, Matthew Knight, Greg Hire, and Tom Jervis return. Although the team lost star import James Ennis to the NBA, they were able to replace him with another star in DeAndre Daniels (14.8 points and 7.7 rebounds) as their second import.

This season, Redhage relinquished the captaincy to Damian Martin and saw Perth struggle through injuries all season. Most impacted was the team’s front court, as Knight (6 games) and Hire (19 games) both missed games during the season, and Redhage suffered from a stress fracture in his right foot, which saw him miss the Wildcats’ entire finals campaign.

With the departure of Ennis, Beal (16.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists) became Perth’s main offensive weapon despite another slow start to the season. In the season opener against the New Zealand Breakers, he went 2-of-17 from the field, and on November 23 against Melbourne United, he went 0-of-10 from the field. Despite this, coach Trevor Gleeson was confident Beal would deliver, and Beal then recorded some of his biggest games. These included a game-high 25 points to go with four assists and four steals in an 83–64 win over the Wollongong Hawks, as well as his best two performances of the season in back-to-back games: scoring 29 points against the Townsville Crocodiles on November 14, then notching up 27 points against the Sydney Kings on November 16. On February 15, he scored 24 points in an 89–87 double-overtime loss to the Breakers. Beal was crucial in helping send the game into both overtime periods and then put the Wildcats ahead 87–86 with two clutch free throws in the dying moments of the second overtime. The Breakers won the game with a buzzer-beating half-court shot from Cedric Jackson. Beal finished among the league’s top five scorers through the regular season, finishing with 450 points, leading the league with 69 made three-pointers, and winning the club’s MVP award at the end of the season.

The Wildcats’ banged-up roster still managed to finish in fourth place (16–12), with Matthew Knight earning a spot on the All-NBL Second Team and Damian Martin named the NBL’s Best Defensive Player for the fifth consecutive year at the end-of-season awards.

Perth was then swiftly eliminated by Cairns in the semifinals. Even with Beal scoring 20 points in Game One and 21 points in Game Two, the Wildcats had no answer for the Taipans and star guard Scottie Wilbekin. Wilbekin tallied 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists in Game One (71-64) and then backed it up with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists in Game Two (80-68).

Beal played in 30 games, averaging 16.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists and was awarded the Perth Wildcats Club MVP at the end of the season.

2015/16
On the heels of an injury-riddled season that ended in a semi-final defeat, similar to the 2010/11 season, coach Trevor Gleeson was confident heading into the 2015 season that he had a team capable of winning Perth’s seventh championship. After conceding his side struggled with chemistry issues the past season, Perth added high-profile recruits Casey Prather and Nathan Jawai, as well as backup guard Jarrod Kenny, to correct team balance.

With the team’s acquisition of Nathan Jawai, an injury-free Matthew Knight was able to move to his natural position of power forward for the first time, while Shawn Redhage was moved to a bench role.

The first month of the season began with the loss of Damian Martin (5.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.8 steals), who suffered a broken jaw and lost teeth after an errant elbow from Townsville Crocodiles forward Brian Conklin. He returned to action by the end of the month, despite initially being ruled out for three weeks.

Casey Prather (16.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.2 steals) also missed several games due to injury but would finish the season as Perth’s leading scorer. Beal (15.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 0.6 steals) had a number of high-scoring games during the season, two coming against the Illawarra Hawks. The first was a game-high 25-point, seven-assist effort in a 106–99 win in Wollongong (Oct 25), and in a second meeting, Beal helped the Wildcats defeat the Hawks 99–96 behind a comeback effort capped off by a 31–13 fourth-quarter run (Nov 11). He scored 14 of his then season-high 26 points in the final term and finished with six three-pointers.

Other big nights included scoring 33 of his 40 points in the second and third quarters of the Wildcats’ 113–83 win over Melbourne United (Dec 10). Beal had been held scoreless in the opening term before hitting nine three-pointers over the next two quarters, finishing with 10-of-19 three-pointers for the game along with seven assists. His 10 three-pointers eclipsed the previous club record of eight, set by himself, Ricky Grace, Anthony Stewart, and Mike Ellis. He also became just the second player in NBL history to score 40 points in a game after going scoreless in the first quarter and became the first Wildcat to score 40 points since teammate Shawn Redhage in 2007.

With the healthy frontline combo of Knight (11.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) and Jawai (10.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) also firing, the Wildcats sat among the league leaders all season.

The battle for the top spot saw Perth and Melbourne go back and forth all season. The Wildcats were able to hold the top position for four rounds, while United owned the top spot for 14 rounds. Both teams faced off in some gruelling battles during the season, including a career-high night from Jermaine Beal, who notched 40 points (sinking ten three-pointers) after not scoring at all in the first quarter as Perth dismantled Melbourne (113-83). A few weeks later, Melbourne responded and defeated Perth (92–87) in a game that pushed the Wildcats into third position on the ladder for the only time that season.

The Wildcats finished the season in second place (18–10) (behind United) and reached the playoffs for the 30th straight season, a streak not matched in any other Australian or American professional sport code.

Next, the Wildcats went on to make light work of the Rob Beveridge-led Illawarra Hawks in Game One of the semi-finals. Casey Prather (19 points) led the Wildcats in scoring in the Game One victory (80–68). In Game Two, the Hawks evened the score behind what was perhaps Oscar Forman’s best playoff game ever, one where he barely missed and finished with 21 points to defeat the Wildcats in convincing fashion (104–87).

Once the team returned home, Perth took out the series (2-1) with a conclusive 89–74 victory. Jermaine Beal led the team in scoring with 17 points, and Prather added another 15 points, including a thunderous one-handed slam over AJ Ogilvy early in the fourth quarter.

On the opposite side of the bracket, a surprise upset saw reigning champions New Zealand (16–12), who had narrowly made the playoffs as the third seed, eliminate top seed Melbourne in two straight games to face Perth in the championship series.

In Game One, the Wildcats played some of their best basketball thanks to Jawai’s presence inside, Prather’s athleticism, and Kenny’s ability to provide a spark while Damian Martin went to the bench—critical factors they were lacking last season. The result was a six-point win (82–76) to open the series. 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’ core of Redhage, Wagstaff, Knight, Hire, Beal, and Jervis made sure history didn’t repeat itself. Casey Prather (19 points) and Jermaine Beal (14 points) did most of the damage on the scoreboard for the Wildcats, but it was Martin’s inspirational display in defence that shone the brightest. Martin was named Grand Final MVP after keeping star Breakers guard Cedric Jackson scoreless in the deciding game as the Wildcats claimed their seventh championship in a blowout win (75–52).

After helping the Wildcats win another title in 2016, Beal headed overseas, winning a championship in Belgium, before returning to play with the Brisbane Bullets in 2016. During his time with the Wildcats, he played a total of 96 games and scored more points (1,521) than any other player in the NBL across the previous three seasons, with New Zealand’s Corey Webster the next best with 1,277 points. Amazingly, during that time, Perth won 41 of the 50 games with Beal on court at RAC Arena.

During the off-season, initial reports indicated Beal was keen to return to Perth for a fourth season, but it was reported that Beal was asking for too much money, and as a result, the Wildcats parted ways with Beal and signed Jaron Johnson in his place.

Jermaine Beal played four seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Perth Wildcats and the Brisbane Bullets. He averaged 14.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 119 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (825 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.