BIO: Matthew Reece was born in Adelaide (SA) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Sturt basketball program. Reece received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 1988. He spent two years year there and played for the program’s state league team (1988, 1989).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Matthew Reece made his NBL debut with the Adelaide 36ers at 19 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

36ers long time assistant coach Don Shipway was appointed coach of the team after three-year boss Gary Fox paid the price for the 36ers’ third consecutive playoff failure. In his first season at the helm, Shipway wasn’t able to do much better, with Adelaide missing the playoffs for the first time since 1983, the club’s first ever losing season.

1990 was also the year Mark Davis replaced Darryl Pearce as team captain, a role he would hold until the end of 1996.

Former captain and local favourite Peter Ali managed to play in only two games for the season and retired from playing at the end of the year after 279 NBL games (141 of them with the 36ers).

In his first season in the league, Reece averaged 2.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game.

1991
Despite Adelaide having their worst season ever in 1990, head coach Don Shipway was able to avoid being fired and looked to rebuild around the squad’s young talent. He began with replacing 37-year-old club legend Al Green with 29 year old, former NBA player Butch Hays as the team’s import point guard, signing him to a two year deal. The 36ers also added 19-year-old Adelaide product Brett Wheeler, who at 208 cm provided the extra size the team needed to support Bradtke.

Butch Hays (24.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 9.0 assists) and Mark Davis (23.0 points and 14.7 rebounds) would lead the team as Reece contributed 2.0 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 0.4 assists alongside the all-star pair, helping the 36ers return to the playoffs. Finishing in fourth place (16-10) during the regular season, Adelaide faced off against Melbourne in the elimination finals. Adelaide would defeat Melbourne (2-0) to reach the semi finals only to then be eliminated by the defending and eventual champions Perth (0-2).

1991 was also the last season the 36ers would play out of the 3,000 seat Apollo Stadium.

GOLD COAST ROLLERS
1992
A stroke of luck saw the Rollers able to retain team captain Larry Sengstock who signed a three-year deal (worth $300,000) to play with Westside Melbourne only to see that disintegrate after they merged with Eastside Melbourne (forming South East Melbourne) and had no room on the roster. Sengstock then returned to the Gold Coast who re-signed star imports Mike Mitchell and Andre LaFleur and looked to take things one step further after narrowly missing out on the playoffs in their first season playing together. Nine games into the season, however, the Rollers suffered a huge blow when they lost Mitchell on May 31, 1992, after he suffered a horrific injury after a loss in Illawarra. Mitchell had punched a wire-reinforced glass panel of a locker-room door after Gold Coast narrowly lost to the Illawarra Hawks, which saw his arm almost severed, and his muscle cut from the bone. Mitchell was found slumped on the floor in a pool of blood by Rollers teammate Ron Radliff. Doubt was initially cast over whether Mitchell would ever play again, miraculously he recovered, making his return to the court the following season.

Mitchell (26.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.9 steals) left a huge hole at both ends of the court. Willie Jennette, who had averaged 37.3 points over three seasons in the state league (SEABL) was then signed as his replacement, and the team looked to LaFleur (22.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 9.6 assists, and 2.2 steals) and Sengstock (13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists) to step things up in Mitchell’s absence.

Reece also added 13.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, but the Rollers were unable to cover Mitchell’s loss and struggled to generate wins against any of the top team’s. Gold Coast ended the year with a record of 11-13 and a tenth-place finish in a disappointing season for Gold Coast fans.

1993
In 1993, Reece averaged 14.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists during a season where the Rollers struggled to generate wins, finishing with a 12-14 record and their second consecutive tenth place finish.

1994
1994 was the third season in a row where the Rollers finished in 10th place, although they had won fewer and fewer games each year. Reece averaged 9.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists this season, which would end in a major revamp at the end of the year with the team not re-signing import duo Mike Mitchell and Andre LaFleur.

MELBOURNE TIGERS
1995
In 1995, Mark Bradtke requested some time off to allow him to support his wife Nicole’s tennis career as she travelled abroad and miss the first two-thirds of the season. Around that same time, Chris Anstey, a part of the Tigers junior program, also informed the club that he would return, having signed a deal to play with rival club South East Melbourne. Melbourne coach Lindsey Gaze appealed via the NBL tribunal, which ruled that Anstey could not leave the Tigers as long as they could match the contract, which they did.

After some extremely creative salary tweaking, the Magic then signed Anstey to a one year deal worth $180,000 which the Tigers had no interest in matching, allowing Anstey to shift clubs. Once Anstey had signed with the Magic, he renegotiated his contract to a 3-year, $181,000 contract, remaining higher than the Tigers contract not to break any NBL salary cap rules of the time.

The Tigers added forward Reece and centre Blair Smith (via Brisbane) to cover the loss of Bradtke and Anstey.

Andrew Gaze (33.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 2.3 steals), Lanard Copeland (25.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.7 steals) and Dave Simmons (14.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks) led the team offensively, during a season which saw a merry-go-round of league leaders, during the regular season, Brisbane, Sydney, North Melbourne, South East Melbourne and Melbourne all sat in the number one spot on the ladder some point. With Melbourne narrowly sitting among the top eight team’s (10-7), Bradtke (11.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.2 blocks) would return to playout the Tigers’ last nine games for the season.

The Tigers would scrape into the playoffs, claiming the eighth seed (14-12), their worst result since 1988. With Bradtke out of form and the team still adjusting to him being back in the lineup, Melbourne was eliminated by the Perth Wildcats in the first round (1-2).

Reece would appear in 21 games for the Tigers, averaging 3.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.7 assists.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1996
In 1996, Reece averaged 9.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists as the Falcons finished in ninth place with a record of 11-15.

NORTH MELBOURNE GIANTS
1997
In 1997, the Giants were beginning to feel the pinch financially and struggling to retain talent. He would lose the services of forwards Tonny Jensen (via Newcastle) and Paul Maley (again due to crippling back problems) however due to the demise of team’s in Gold Coast and Hobart he would benefit by making some key free agent signings. Import Mike Mitchell and young gun David Stiff, both looking for a new NBL homes joined the team as Coach Brett Brown cleverly tried to make the most of his team budget by playing the entire season with the league minimum of 11 players.

Another setback that hurt the Giants was when Paul Rees suffered a severe knee injury that kept him out for the majority of the season, only to then see him return and break his wrist against the Bullets in the second last round of the season. Behind star import Darryl McDonald (17.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 8.9 assists) and leading scorer Pat Reidy (20.2 points and 5.7 rebounds), they had enough talent to keep the Giants’ competitive. Reece would average 2.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 0.5 assists, as the team finished the year in third place, behind a 18-12 record.

Starting centre Paul Rees was able to return for the playoffs, his presence making a huge difference as the Giants handily defeated the Canberra Cannons (2-1) in the Elimination Finals.

The Giants were eliminated in the next round by the extremely talented Melbourne Tigers (0-2), who went on to win the NBL championship.

A little 90's Nth Melb Giants v Sydney Kings.. Enjoy!! pic.twitter.com/3VdqfONAJN— RANDOM HOOPS (@HoopsRandom) May 14, 2023

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Matthew Reece played eight seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Adelaide 36ers, Gold Coast Rollers, Newcastle Falcons, Melbourne Tigers and North Melbourne Giants. He averaged 7.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 181 NBL games.