BIO: Matthew Moore was born in Townsville (QLD) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Townsville basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Matthew Moore made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 18 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

As a development player with Brisbane, Moore saw limited playing time during his first NBL season, failing to score a point while the Bullets finished in seventh place (12-12).

NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1996
During the 1996 season, Moore averaged 4.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists and was a part of the Falcons squad which finished in a ninth place with a record of 11-15.

SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE MAGIC
1997
After winning the championship in 1996, the Magic returned the majority of their roster for the 1997 season, the only major changes being import Brian Tolbert replacing the exiting Billy McCaffrey, 18-year-old Frank Drmic replacing a retiring Darren Lucas and Moore joining the club. The changes didn’t seem to impact the Magic’s winning ways, with the team finishing the year on top of the NBL ladder with the best record in franchise record (22-8).

The team delivered a balanced scoring attack again, with five players averaging double figures and only four points separating the team’s leading scorer from its fifth-leading scorer. Leading the way in points per game was Tony Ronaldson (16.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists), closely followed by young stars Sam MacKinnon (15.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists) and Chris Anstey (13.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and a team-leading 1.6 steals and 1.8 blocks). Moore added 1.9 points, 0.2 rebounds, and 0.5 assists per game, and at the end of the season, veteran Mike Kelly (12.6 points) was named the NBL’s Best Defensive Player, and Brian Goorjian took home the Coach of the Year trophy.

Finishing first on the ladder saw the Magic earn a first-round bye in the playoffs before facing the fourth-placed Perth Wildcats, who had eliminated Brisbane in the elimination finals. In game one, Chris Anstey (19 points, 16 rebounds, and 5 steals) and Tony Ronaldson (18 points) led the Magic to victory in Perth (92-82). With game two being in Melbourne, the Magic upped their defensive intensity, shutting down the Wildcat’s to win by 27 points (96-69), with Sam MacKinnon (21 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists) leading the way on the scoreboard.

The Magic returned to the NBL Grand Final with a rematch against the Tigers set to determine this year’s champions. This Melbourne squad, however, was no ordinary team. After a slow start (6 wins and 5 losses), once the team replaced import Jarvis Lang with Marcus Timmons mid-way through the season, the Tigers made history this season, recording a franchise record of 13 consecutive wins during the regular season, which they had extended to 15 by the time they met the Magic in the Grand Final. Behind big games from Lanard Copeland (29 points and 4 rebounds), Marcus Timmons (24 points and 9 rebounds), and Andrew Gaze (23 points, 9 assists), the Tigers blew the Magic off the court to the tune of 37 points in the opening game (111-74), while shutting down Anstey (6 points) on the offensive end.

Goorjian knew the game plan had to change, and in game two, the Magic surprised the Tigers behind a much more physical game, with veteran John Dorge selected to start instead of Anstey. Anstey (21 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 33 minutes) responded with his best postseason game to date, delivering the win for the Magic (84-78) and ending the Tigers’ consecutive win streak at 17.

For the second straight year, Melbourne and South East Melbourne would face off in a third game to decide the championship. Midway through the opening term of game three, the scores were tied, but after the Tigers frontcourt were able to limit Anstey (8 points) and pull out a offensive Tigers run in the second quarter, the game was all but over at half-time. The Tigers never looked back, claiming the team’s second NBL championship (93-83).

Ronaldson (26 points) led the Magic in scoring, while Copeland (26 points) was the top scorer for the victors. Copeland was named Finals MVP after averaging 27.6 points and 3.3 rebounds (56% shooting) over the three game series, yet it was blue-collar Tigers forward Warrick Giddey who the Melbourne Tigers deemed the deciding factor in the game three victory. Giddey recorded zero points, four rebounds, three assists and one block, and if you hadn’t seen the game, you’d probably question why he even bothered showing up. But Giddey delivered three crucial plays in the series’ closing moments that turned the tide. Firstly a hard foul on Sam MacKinnon, which broke the Magic star’s nose. The second was a huge block on Frank Drmic, and finally, a mid-court screen on Mike Kelly that came close to knocking him out of his shoes.

Moore would continue to see limited playing opportunities, appearing in only 17 games, averaging 1.9 points, 0.2 rebounds, and 0.5 assists.

A great Australian sporting rivalry!! pic.twitter.com/qVrlKwROkN

— RANDOM HOOPS (@HoopsRandom) March 21, 2023

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Matthew Moore played three seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Brisbane Bullets, Newcastle Falcons and South East Melbourne Magic. He averaged 3.5 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 43 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (833 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.