BIO: Pat Reidy was born in Melbourne (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Cobourg basketball program. Reidy 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

Pat Reidy made his NBL debut with the North Melbourne Giants at 19 years of age. He scored 10 points in his first game.

The Giants lost a number of key players after winning the 1989 Grand Final, which resulted in head coach Bruce Palmer furiously recruiting new talent instead of devising ways to defend their championship.

Former Indiana Hoosier Joe Hillman was signed as a replacement for Dillon, naturalised import Dwayne Nelson who had spent the past five seasons with Adelaide filled the role of Exum and young Australian Institute of Sport product, 19-year-old Pat Reidy was added to fill out the team’s main roster.

Despite the roster overhaul, the Giants blazed a trail through NBL opponents, winning their first eight games in a row. Scott Fisher (31.4 points, 12 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.5 steals) led the team in points and rebounds, finished second on the team in assists and steals and shot 55% from the field to deliver one of the greatest statistical season in NBL history.

Hillman added 22.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.3 steals while Reidy also contributed 7.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game.

The team finished the season in first place on the ladder, winning 20 from 26 games. The Giants and the Eastside Melbourne Spectres (who finished first and second) would earn a bye and face the winners of the elimination finals which saw Perth defeat Melbourne in two games and Brisbane, rebound from a game one loss to eliminate Sydney in three games. In surprising fashion, fifth placed Perth would eliminate North Melbourne in the semifinals (2-1) and third placed Brisbane defeated Eastside in two games. Perth would go on to become eventual champions, defeating Brisbane in three games to capturing their first NBL title.

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. Reidy would average 14.7 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 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, Reidy would average 14.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.9 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 began his search for Fisher’s replacement first with import Chuckie White, who failed to cut it during pre-season, before settling on Jason Reese. Reese was known around the league as ‘workhorse’ and dominant inside scorer that had spent the past two seasons with Hobart (1991) and Canberra (1992) and Mark Leader, who had became a naturalised Australian in 1993, replaced Fisher as team captain.

Reese went on to lead the team in scoring (26.4 ppg and 8.9 rpg), fellow import Paul Maley led the team in rebounding (22.5 ppg and 9.1 rpg) and Reidy also contributed 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.

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.

With team stalwart Mark Leader eligible to play as a local in 1994, the Giants were able to sign a new import for 1994, but many were surprised when the team added a 30-year-old point guard Darryl McDonald to the roster. The media and betting agencies tipped the Giants to finish at the bottom of the ladder. The pundits couldn’t be more inaccurate, however, with the team McDonald leading the league in steals and assists and finishing second in both the NBL MVP (behind Andrew Gaze) and Best Defensive Player (Darren Lucas) awards.

Giants fans began to get excited 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. The new-look outfit would go on to win 19 of their 26 games and finish the year in second place. Pat Reidy (19.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg and 3.4) and Paul Maley (19.4 ppg and 6.7 rpg) would carry most of the offensive load.

Once into the NBL playoffs, the Giants faced the Sydney Kings, who opened the Quarterfinalswith a absolute blitz of the Giants (131–109) before falling in three games. On the other side of the bracket, South East Melbourne swept Perth before being swept in a similar fashion 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 Reidy averaged 20.7 points and 7.9 rebounds, and helped guide the Giants to a second place finish in the regular season (18-8).

1996
The Giants would return almost their entire roster in 1996 as the team looked to go one step further after finishing runners-up in 1995. The only roster changes being the addition of Tonny Jensen, a member of the Australian Boomers, who would replace the retiring Mark Leader and a returning Paul Maley would replace import Chris Jent after he delivered one of the greatest one and done seasons in NBL history.

Pat Reidy would lead the team in scoring, averaging 20.8 points as well as 6.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, while McDonald would deliver another stellar season, putting up 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and a league leading 10 assists per game in a extremely close season, where only two games seperated third place and eight place. The Giants finished with a 15-11 record and in seventh place finish on the NBL ladder.

North Melbourne would face crosstown rivals South East Melbourne who would make quick work of the Giants behind a season high 19 points from Andrew Parkinson in game one, a 82-96 loss and a 25 point effort from Tony Ronaldson in game two, which resulted in a 77-87 defeat and the end to the Giants season.

At seasons end McDonald would again be named to the All-NBL First team.

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 new NBL homes, joined the team as Coach Brett Browncleverly 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 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.

1998
With the Giants again facing financial difficulties, the team struggled to remain competitive in 1998 and after finishing the season with a record of 9 wins and 21 losses, North Melbourne merged with the South East Melbourne Magic. Reidy would average 17.9 points, 6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists during the North Melbourne Giants’ last season.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1998/99
During the 1998/99 season, Reidy averaged 17.8 points and 5.2 rebounds, helping the Falcons record a 9-17 record.

TOWNSVILLE CROCODILES
1999/00
The 1999/00 season saw Reidy average 14.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists and play a key role in helping the Crocodiles to a second place finish in the regular season with a 22-6 record.

2000/01
During the 2001 season Reidy averaged 17.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists and helped the Crocodiles finish with a record of 22-6 and end the regular season in second place.

2001/02
During the 2002 season, Reidy averaged 16.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3 assists and was a part of the Crocodiles squad, which finished in ninthplace with a record of 13-17.

2002/03
Reidy averaged 19.6 points and 8 rebounds, and helped guide the Crocodiles to a third place finish during the 2002/03 season with a 19-11 record.

2003/04
the Crocodiles finished with a 13-20 record in 2003/04. Reidy averaged 17.1 points and 6.3 rebounds.

2004/05
In 2004/05 Reidy averaged 8.6 points and 4.2 rebounds, and helped guide the Crocodiles to a third place finish in the regular season with a 19-13 record.

Pat Reidy played sixteen seasons across three NBL teams. This included the North Melbourne Giants, Newcastle Falcons and Townsville Crocodiles. He averaged 16.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 467 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 24th in total games played.
– 16th in total points
– 22nd in total rebounds
– 23rd in total assists
– 20th in total steals

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.