BIO: Nathan Herbert was born in Geelong (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Geelong basketball program.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Nathan Herbert made his NBL debut with the South Dragons at 22 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

In his first year in the league Herbert averaged 3.9 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists as the Dragons finished with a record of 5-25 and in third place during the regular season.

2008/09
The Dragons retained five players heading into their third season. Ingles, the blue-collar Matt Burston, wing Nathan Herbert, the naturalised Nick Horvath, and import Cortez Groves. The demise of the Sydney Kings saw legendary coach Brian Goorjian open to offers, and the Dragons quickly offered to bring him to Melbourne and replace Shane Heal. Talented point guard Adam Gibson also joined the roster after his team (Brisbane) also exited the league. Other new additions saw Tremmell Darden signed on as the team’s second import, Mika Vukona (via New Zealand) was brought in to add a new found physicality to the squad and Rhys Carter (via West Sydney), who due to having no NBL team’s interested in signing him, asked Goorjian if he could train with the team to keep in shape and his efforts were enough for Goorjian to offer him the backup point guard spot.

The season began with a slow start, a loss to Cairns and then Townsville saw the Dragons start the year with a 2-2 record. Then came a eight game winning streak which ended with Groves suffering a season ending injury which led to his release. The Dragons were 16-4 when Donta Smith was axed from his Chinese team Shanxi Zhongyu (making room for NBA star Bonzi Wells) and Goorjian, who was aware of Smith from his time playing for the Atlanta Hawks, quickly signed him as Groves replacement. Smith had dropped 41 and 35 point games in his last few weeks playing in China, but started his NBL campaign much quieter in comparison. Seven games in and Smith was still coming off the bench and yet to score over 14 in a game. During this time however, his talent was never questioned, as he was able to always fill the stat sheet in almost every other area which ensured the Dragons finished the season on top of the ladder (22-8).

Mark Worthington led the team in both points and rebounds (16.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.3 steals) while Smith finished up second on the team in scoring and first in assists (15 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals), while Herbert added 6.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1 assists this season. Adam Gibson and Joe Ingles would earn the NBL’s Best Defensive Player and Rookie of the Year awards before heading into the playoffs, where the Dragons received a first-round bye (due to finishing top of the ladder) and meeting Townsville in the semifinals. The Dragons defeated Townsville at home in both game one (94-81) and game three (101-78), while on the other side of the bracket, the Melbourne Tigers defeated the NZ Breakers in two straight games, setting up a ‘All Melbourne’ Grand Final.

In game one, the Dragons defeated the Tigers by double digits (93–81) after holding Melbourne to 36 points in the second half. Mark Worthington (23 points) top scored for the Dragons, while Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) led the way for the Tigers.

After leading by 14 points midway through the final quarter of game two, the Tigers fought off a late comeback by the Dragons to win on the Tigers home court (88-83). David Barlow (26 points) and Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) finished as the Tigers’ best, and import Donta Smith (18 points and 6 rebounds) top scoring for the Dragons.

In game three, the series became front-page news after a clash between Anstey and Dragons backup point guard Rhys Carter. a incident that saw the Tigers star big man charged with ‘striking – with elbow’ after the altercation with Carter in the third quarter of the grand final series before being ejected from the match (along with Dragons forward Mika Vukona, who was involved in the subsequent on-court melee). The game was a bloodbath after Anstey’s ejection, with the Dragons hammering the defending champions 84-67 at Hisense Arena. The Dragons were led by Donta Smith (18 points), who scored 10 points in the final period.

After the NBL tribunal decided they wouldn’t suspend any players for the melee, game four saw Carter (17 points), who copped the brunt of Anstey’s anger in Game 3, came back with a big game but Anstey (31 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assists) also erupted for his team in game four, propelling Melbourne to victory (108-95) and setting up a fifth and final game to decide the NBL championship.

Game five saw 9,000 fans packed Hisense Arena to witness the Dragons beat the Tigers by 21 points (102-81) and become NBL champions. Tremmell Darden (31 points) was the key for the Dragons in this game, scoring 21 points in the final quarter, and Donta Smith (21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists) did the rest, almost notching up a triple-double. Worthington and Mika Vukona were able to limit the impact of limit Anstey (12 points and 3 rebounds) yet again, with Ebi Ere and David Barlow (16 points each) the only Tigers’ players able to make a impact.

Donta Smith was named MVP of the Finals after averaging 18.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists over the five-game series.

Although initial reports had the Dragons regrouping for a run at back to back titles, in a surprise move, the club announced it would withdraw from the NBL less than two months after hoisting the trophy. Although in a positive financial position, Dragons ownership felt that due to the league’s instability and focus on stablising itself conflicted with their goals of continuing to grow.

“The Dragons’ board of directors believe that more time is required to develop the league as a commercially viable entity,” said co-owner Mark Cowan at the time. “The Dragons aspire to play at the highest level, to the highest standards, in a fully professional league. This is a sad day for our club, but in many ways, it’s the only way forward for a sport which needs some time to reinvent itself.”

Cowan further addressed the club’s decision in a letter to Dragons members, outlining the testing time that it was for everyone involved across the league.

“The NBL is a mess,” stated Cowan. “In the last two years, team’s in Brisbane and Sydney have collapsed. Singapore pulled out of the league. Cairns and the Sydney Spirit had major financial crises. Fox Sports severely cut its telecasts, and mainstream media interest has waned. Crowds fall every year. Basketball Australia and the NBL owners decided something had to be done, so we handed in our licences on the condition that a reform process would be undertaken.”

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2009/10
The 2009/10 season started with Adelaide failing to re-sign Luke Schenscher (to Perth) and Aaron Bruce (to USA), but luckily, Adelaide was able to replace them with Matthew Burston, Nathan Herbert and Cortez Groves as a result of the South Dragons demise which left all three players without a team to play for. John Gilchrist was signed as a replacement for outgoing import Julius Hodge with the team heading into a new era following the retirement of long-serving club captain Brett Maher (525 games), who captained the club to 3 NBL championships (1998, 1999, 2002).

In his third season with the club, Adam Ballinger (17.6 points, 5.3 rebounds) became team captain and went on to lead the team in scoring. Gilchrist (16.9 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists) led the team in assists and finished second in scoring, while Burston (9.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 0.5 assists)led the team in rebounding in his first season with the club. Herbert would contribute 8.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists for the season as well.

Groves struggled to give the 36ers much at all after injury, which seemed to have impacted his abilities quite significantly, resulting in him scoring his fewest points in a season across his NBL career (9.8 points) and his time with Adelaide being his last in the NBL. As a coach, Scott Ninnis seemed out of his depth, and the year concluded with the 36ers finishing on the bottom of the NBL ladder for the first time in their history with a 10–18 record. Following the club’s worst ever season, Ninnis was sacked as coach and replaced by former AIS coach Marty Clarke for the 2010/11 season.

2011/12
Herbert recovered from his ACL injury and returnedd to thhe plying roster 2011, where things hadn’t improved much since he left as coach Marty Clarke continued to struggle as head coach. A complete roster rebuild saw only four of last season’s squad, Daniel Johnson, Darren Ng, Mitchell Creek and the injured Adam Ballinger returning. Adelaide’s backcourt had been a huge question mark last season and guards Nathan Crosswell (via Victoria) and Everard Bartlett (via NZNBL) were added to remedy that, while Nathan Herbert returned to the court after missing the entire 2010/11 season with a ACL injury. Imports Chris Warren and John Williamson were signed to finalise the roster, but a injury to import Williamson during the pre-season saw the 36ers play their opening game with one import, resulting in Adelaide’s largest opening night loss in team history to Perth (69-102).

Diamon Simpson, a college teammate Patty Mills, replaced Williamson and joined the 36ers in time for their second game. Simpson (14.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks) would then lead Adelaide in scoring and finish second in the league in rebounding.

Injury woes continued when new signing Nathan Crosswell saw his season cut short due to a Achilles tendon injury suffered in round 10 against New Zealand and despite gaining Adam Ballinger (5.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) for the last half of the season, injuries kept him from being anywhere close to his former self, forcing him to play a role off the bench for the first time in his NBL career.

Adelaide finished the season in last place (8–20), including a club record losing streak of eight games.

Herbert averaged 4.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 0.7 assists during a season where 36ers fans didn’t have much to cheer about besides the rapid improvement of Daniel Johnson. Johnson (16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds) boosted his numbers from 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds to become the 36ers’ second-highest scorer, earning him the NBL Most Improved Player award at season’s end.

While Adelaide’s imports were good for a couple of big games, neither were retained for the following season. Warren’s best game came in a loss to Melbourne (81-87) in February, where he exploded for 31 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, shooting a ridiculous clip of 55% (10/18) from the field, 50% (5/10) from downtown and 100% (6/6) from the free-throw line. Simpson showcased his dominance in a win over Perth in December, going 83% from the field, racking up 22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this feat is the fact he did it against the incredible front-line defence of the Wildcats, who only lost four times at home that season, Simpson and the 36ers being responsible for two of them. Simpson would sign to play with the NBA’s Houston Rockets at the end of the season.

Nathan Herbert played four seasons in the NBL, playing for both the South Dragons and the Adelaide 36ers. He averaged 5.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1 assists in 120 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (815 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.