NICKNAME/S: Fats

BIO: Mark Leader was born in Idaho (USA) and later attended Western Oregon University.

After graduating he decided to take a six month holiday in Australia in 1982 and while in Tasmania, started playing basketball with the Ulverstone Redhoppers in the North West Basketball Union. It was here he he was spotted by new NBL club Devonport who offered him a spot on their roster.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Mark Leader made his NBL debut with the Devonport Warriors at 23 years of age. He scored 15 points in his first game.

In 1983, Leader averaged 22.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists but the team, who finished with only two wins that year, notching up the second worst record in NBL history (Geelong recorded zero wins in 1988).

1984
With Devonport finishing dead last the season prior, head coach Phil Thomas was replaced with the Warriors leading scorer Mark Leader in 1984. Leader assumed the role of player-coach and also boosted his numbers from 22.1 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists to 28.7 points, 14.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.

With the coaching change and improved play from Leader the team avoided last place, finishing above Perth and Sydney thanks to a record of 4-19.

Devonport were unable to financially continue playing in the national league after 1984 and withdrew from the league.

GEELONG CATS
1986
Leader wasn’t picked up by another team after the demise of the Devonport Warriors, forcing him to sit out the 1985 season. In 1986 however, Geelong coach Ken Richardson offered him the chance to return to the NBL where he put up 14.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 4 assists per game.

Although Leader’s numbers were down when compared to his time at Devonport the Cats roster was a far more talented one, proving that after Leader won more games by round 7 in 1986 than he had in his entire career in Devonport.

After a strong start to the season Geelong struggled to win during the second half of the year but still finished in seventh place with a record of 14 wins, 12 losses.finished with and helped the Cats finish with a record of 14-12 and end the regular season in seventh place.

The Cats had finished in equal 6th spot but due to the head-to-head records of the three team’s tied for 6th, Sydney Supersonics (3-1) and, Geelong Cats (2-2) and Coburg Giants (1-3), the fell to seventh and missed out on the NBL playoffs.

1987
During the 1987 season, Leader averaged 18.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists and was a part of the Cats squad, which finished in ninth place with a record of 13-13.

NORTH MELBOURNE GIANTS
1988
With Leader becoming a naturalised Australian in 1987 and eligible to play as a local play, he was pursued heavily by many NBL team’s. After he almost signing with the Sydney Kings, he chose to stay in Victoria and move to Melbourne to play with the Giants.

In 1988 he joined forces with the “Twin Boulders” Tim Dillon and Scott Fisher at the Giants who came almost delivered a ‘Cinderalla’ season.

This year the team added bruising import Tim Dillon to play alongside Scott Fisher, a duo which quickly became known as the ‘Twin Boulders’ by media and fans. The duo caused skyrocketed the Giants up the NBL ladder and caused regular sellouts at the Glasshouse, the team’s 7,000 seat home court. leader would contribute 11.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists for the season, alongside stars Fisher (27.5 points and 11.3 rebounds) and Dillon (33.2 points and 10.9 rebounds) who had statistically, two of the greatest individual seasons of all time. Together, they led the Giants to a second place regular season finish and a 18-6 record.

In the semifinals, the Giants made easy work of the Wildcat’s and reached the Grand Final for the first time in the club’s history. 5,200 Cannons fans turned up to the AIS arena to see Phil Smyth (25 points) and Jamie Kennedy (21 points) lead the Cannons to victory in game one (120-95). leader would add 8 points and 5 rebounds in the opening game.

In game two, Dillon (43 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assist) was unstoppable, helping the Giants even the series behind a home win (117-101). Leader also delivered his best game of the series, filling the box score with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in the win. 7,200 Giants fans turned up for Game 3, keen to see the team win their first championship, North Melbourne’s Cinderella season wouldn’t come to pass, with Canberra winning the series clinching game (108-101). Willie Simmons (23 points and 10 rebounds) led the way for the Cannons with alongside Simon Cottrell and Phil Smyth (both 21 points). Smyth would be awarded the Grand Final MVP after averaging 21.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 2.6 steals across the three-game series.

1989
Since 1986, the Giants had slowly crept closer and closer to winning their first NBL championship, with it all culminating this season. After missing the playoffs in 1986, Bruce Palmer replaced Les Riddle as coach and turned things around, coming within one game of winning the championship and come 1989, it was all business. The team added naturalised import Cecil Exum from the state league and Ray Borner (via Illawarra) to strengthen the frontcourt alongside Scott Fisher (32.1 points and 12.7 rebounds) and Tim Dillon (29.4 points and 10.0 rebounds), who delivered two of the best statistical seasons in NBL history and Leader added 10.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists as the team finished second in the regular season (17-7).

Canberra (19-5), who had defeated the Giants in the previous grand final, finished one win ahead of the Giants (18-6) and in first place. After a first-round bye, North Melbourne faced Perth in the semifinals bracket. After splitting the first two games (1-1), the Giants delivered a 55 point thrashing to the Wildcat’s (165-110) in the highest scoring playoff game in NBL history, a record which still stands today. Canberra defeated Sydney in the other semi final series, sending them into the Grand Final for the fourth time in seven years.

The Giants headed to Canberra for Game 1, and behind Scott Fishers 37 points and 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists from Leader, the team made sure they returned home for game two in the drivers seat with a 111-105 win. Much like the season prior 7,200 fans sold-out the Glasshouse (the Giants’ home court) to see the team go one step further than last season. Fisher was relentless at the offensive end, finishing the game as its high scorer with 33 points and 12 rebounds. Leader added 10 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals alongside huge games from teammates Dillon (21 points and 15 rebounds) and Ray Borner (16 points and 7 rebounds). The Giants ensured Canberra had no chance of repeating last years result by destroying the Cannons on the glass and at the end of the game the Giants had collected 60 rebounds, compared to Canberra’s 39 as a team and with the final score reading 111-97 the Giants collected their first championship. The 1989 title was the first title won by a Victorian team in the modern era. Not since the St Kilda Saints won in 1980 during the league’s semi-professional years had a Melbourne team won a NBL championship. Fisher, who averaged 35 points and 12 rebounds in the series, was a easy choice for Grand Final MVP honours.

1990
In 1990, Leader averaged 11.1 points and 6.4 rebounds, and helped guide the Giants to a first place finish in the regular season with a 20-6 record.

1991
The North Melbourne Giants had lost star forward Tim Dillon after their 1989 championship and had failed to find a suitable replacement. For the 1991 season the team added Yale University grad Paul Maley who had played the previous season with the South Melbourne Saints. Leader would average 13.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists alongside stars Fisher (30.3 points, 12 rebounds) and Maley (27.6 points, 10.2 rebounds) and help lead the Giants to a second place finish for the season. After eliminating the Geelong Supercats in the elimination finals in three games the Giants were defeated in the semifinals by rival club Eastside Melbourne Spectres.

1992
In 1992, Leader would average 6.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists alongside stars Fisher (27.1 points and 11.3 rebounds) and Maley (21.9 points and 9.9 rebounds) who would again led the Giants to the postseason with a fourth place finish (14 wins, 10 losses). The Giants would then eliminate the Illawarra Hawks in the Quarterfinals before being outed by the South East Melbourne Magic, who had re-branded from the Spectres at the start of the season, in their semi-final matchup.

1993
In 1993, the Giants chose not to re-sign long term head coach Bruce Palmer who since taking over in 1987 had led them to the semi finals five of six years and to the 1989 championship. His successor would be found in young Melbourne Tigers assistant Brett Brown whose appointment was deemed a cash saving move by a team beginning to face years of financial uncertainty. Another sign of the Giant’s financial struggles became evident when they lost star import Scott Fisher to the ‘deeper pockets’ of the Perth Wildcats.

Brown would replace Fisher firstly with import Chuckie White, who failed to cut it during pre-season before signing Jason Reese who had spent the past two seasons with Hobart (1991) and Canberra (1992) and was known around the league as ‘workhorse’ and dominant inside scorer.

Reese went on to lead the team in scoring (26.4 ppg and 8.9 rpg) while fellow import Paul Maley led the team in rebounding (22.5 ppg and 9.1 rpg) and Leader, who was named team captain also contributing 6.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.

North Melbourne finished the season (13-13) sneaking into the final playoff spot. There, they would face familiar foes, Scott Fisher and the Perth Wildcats who had finished the season in first place (21-5). Despite winning game one at home (105-101), the Giants would lose games two (98-108) and three (104-117) to Perth to put a end to their season.

1994 – ONE GIANT LEAP
North Melbourne’s financial struggles publicly came to light after 1993, but a group of new investors saved the team at the eleventh hour from its burgeoning financial woes. The new ownership made a number of changes, including a uniform design change, tossing away the team’s maroon uniforms and switching to the colours of the NBA’s most marketable outfit, the Charlotte Hornets.

The Giants’ roster had aged considerably in the years between its 1989 championship and 1994, with its roster now being the oldest roster in the league, their decision to replace high scoring forward Jason Reese with a 30-year-old point guard named Darryl McDonald was met with much surprise. The media and betting agencies promptly wrote off the Giants’ season, most tipping them to finish dead last. The pundits couldn’t have been more wrong however, with McDonald (17.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 10 assists and 3.0 steals per game) leading the league in steals and assists and when the Giants came home undefeated after the ‘Doomsday Double’, first avenging a home loss to Perth then holding off Adelaide at the Clipsal Powerhouse (a feat which hadn’t been achieved since 1986) fans really started to become excited.

Pat Reidy (19.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 3.4) and Paul Maley (19.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg) became the main beneficiaries of many of McDonald’s flashy assists while Leader finished the season averaging 8.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists.

The Giants would finish the season in second place, winning 19 of their 26 games. At season’s end, Brown would be named Coach of the Year and controversially, McDonald finished second in both the NBL MVP (behind Andrew Gaze) and Best Defensive Player (Darren Lucas) awards but McDonald responded by taking his game to a entirely new level for the playoffs. After Sydney blitzed the Giants (131–109) in the opening game of the quarter-finals, McDonald led the Giants to a 112-91 victory in game two and a 104-95 victory in game three. In the deciding game ‘D-Mac’ played all 48 minutes and filled the stat sheet with 17 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists while shooting 70% (7/10) from the field.

On the other side of the bracket, South East Melbourne eliminated Perth before being knocked out by the Giants after a Adonis Jordan three-point heave (he could have found a open David Graham for a better shot but missed him) in the game’s closing moments missed its mark and the chance to force a third game.

Game one of the Grand Final series was held at the Clipsal Powerhouse in Adelaide and after Robert Rose had dragged the Sixers back into the match when they still had trailed by 14 inside the last six minutes of regulation the ball ended up in McDonald’s hands before he nailed the game-winning shot in overtime, delivering a 95–93 win.

As the series moved to the Glasshouse in Melbourne for game two Rose would come out firing, his 31 point effort would see him finish as the game’s high scoring. Still, a balanced attack from North Melbourne proved too strong for the 36ers. The Giants would control the first half, the scoreboard reading 51-41 at halftime and with 36ers forward Mark Davis in serious pain, the Giants were able to put the foot down in the third quarter and then closed out the game with a 117-97 victory.

Paul Rees, who benefitted greatly from McDonald’s passing all series, finished up earning the Finals MVP award after delivering 17 points and 5 rebounds in game one and 20 points (making all seven of his shots) and 7 rebounds in game two.

The 1994 NBL season made history bypassed the one-million spectator mark during the regular season for the first time.

1995
In 1995, Leader averaged 4.6 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists as the Giants finished with a record of 18-8 and in second place during the regular season.

Leader played 327 games during his NBL career, averaging 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. He is also the only Giants player to be a part of the team’s two title runs and was team captain from 1993 to 1995.

He was also the first player to record four NBL triple-doubles and retired as one of the very few players to have played at every position during his NBL career.

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