Two-time NBL champion Matt Garrison joins the podcast to reflect on winning back-to-back championships with two different teams, helping the Wollongong Hawks claim their first NBL title in 2001 before joining the Adelaide 36ers and winning it all again in 2002.
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Host Dan Boyce chats with Garrison about arriving in Wollongong as a mid-season import, adjusting from being a high-scoring starter to an important role off the bench, and being part of the Hawks team that captured the club’s first NBL championship.
Garrison also discusses the controversial 2001 semi-final series against Adelaide, leaving Wollongong for Cairns, being released by the Taipans after only 10 games and then joining the very Adelaide team he had helped eliminate the previous season. The move resulted in another championship and made Garrison the first player in NBL history to win consecutive titles with different clubs.
The episode also covers his basketball journey outside Australia, including his college career, an opportunity with the Los Angeles Clippers, playing professionally in Lebanon and Japan, and the influence Australian basketball had on his successful playing and coaching career overseas.
Listen now:
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- What Matt Garrison is doing today
- Growing up in Montana and his college basketball career
- Beginning his professional career overseas
- Arriving in Australia as a mid-season replacement for Wollongong
- Scoring 24 points in his first NBL game
- Adjusting from a high-scoring import to coming off the bench for the Hawks
- Playing alongside Glen Saville, Mat Campbell, Melvin Thomas and Damon Lowery
- The controversial Damon Lowery foul that sent Wollongong to the 2001 Grand Final
- Winning Wollongong’s first NBL championship
- Why he left the Hawks for Cairns after winning the title
- Being released by the Taipans after only 10 games
- Joining Adelaide immediately after his Cairns exit
- Entering a 36ers locker room containing players he had controversially eliminated the previous season
- Playing for Brendan Joyce compared with Phil Smyth
- Playing alongside Brett Maher and Willie Farley
- Winning the 2002 NBL championship with Adelaide
- Becoming the first player to win consecutive NBL championships with different teams
- Which championship meant more – Wollongong or Adelaide
- Returning to Wollongong for the 2002/03 season
- His career-high 29-point game against Adelaide
- Earning an opportunity with the Los Angeles Clippers
- Playing professionally in Lebanon and Japan
- Winning back-to-back three-point contests in Japan
- How Australian basketball influenced his career overseas
- Returning to Japan as a head coach and winning Coach of the Year
- Highlights and hurdles from his basketball career
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