Jason Williams
July 23, 2020
Paul Bauer
- Nationality: AUS
- Date of Birth:
- Place of Birth: Adelaide (SA)
- Position: GRD
- Height (CM): 184
- Weight (KG): #N/A
- Junior Assoc: SA - Sturt
- College: None
- NBL DEBUT: 29/05/98
- AGE AT DEBUT: 0
- LAST NBL GAME: 1/04/00
- NBL History: Adelaide 1998-00
- Championships: 2
- Adelaide (1998-99)
BIO: Paul Bauer was born in Adelaide (SA) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Sturt basketball program.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Paul Bauer made his NBL debut with the Adelaide 36ers on 29/5/1998. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.
1998
After missing the playoffs in 1997, Adelaide replaced Dave Claxton with former 36ers guard Phil Smyth. Imports Leon Trimmingham and Jeff Brown departed, while Brett Wheeler (to South East Melbourne), Brad McKinnon, Willie Simmons and Nathan Hawkes were also no longer with the club. Captain Brett Maher, John Rillie, Mark Davis, Martin Cattalini, Scott Ninnis and Rupert Sapwell returned.
Smyth added Darnell Mee (via Canberra), Kevin Brooks, Paul Rees (via North Melbourne), Dean Brogan, Jason Williams and Sturt junior Paul Bauer to complete a deeper roster.
He made his NBL debut at Adelaide Arena on May 29, appearing briefly and finishing scoreless as Adelaide defeated Wollongong 112-89.
Bauer (2 games) was listed as Adelaide’s reserve point guard and remained outside Smyth’s regular rotation behind an established backcourt. He played seven total minutes, adding one rebound and one steal, while his only other appearance produced his three points for the season after he made his only field-goal attempt from three.
Brooks (19.4 points and 6.7 rebounds) led Adelaide in scoring, while Maher (17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.3 steals), Cattalini (15.8 points and 6.7 rebounds) and Mee (14.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks) formed the core of a team which recorded its most wins since 1988 and finished second with a 19-11 record.
Bauer did not appear during the postseason as Smyth tightened the rotation around Adelaide’s established players.
The semifinals opened at Challenge Stadium, where Maher (36 points and 6 assists) made seven three-pointers and Mee (16 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assists) led Adelaide past Perth 114-97, while James Crawford (22 points and 6 rebounds), Ricky Grace (20 points) and Scott Fisher (19 points and 10 rebounds) led the Wildcats.
Game two moved to Adelaide Arena, where Maher (26 points and 7 rebounds), Brooks (22 points) and Mee (12 points, 15 rebounds, and 6 assists) led the 36ers, while Andrew Vlahov (32 points and 11 rebounds) was Perth’s best as Adelaide won 117-110 and completed the sweep.
The Grand Final opened at Adelaide Arena against defending champion South East Melbourne, which had finished the regular season 26-4 and swept Brisbane in the semifinals. Brooks (24 points and 8 rebounds) and Mee (14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks) led Adelaide to a 100-93 victory, while Clinton McDaniel (20 points and 4 assists) and Tony Ronaldson (18 points and 8 rebounds) led the Magic.
Game two moved to Melbourne Park, where Brooks (21 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks) and Cattalini (20 points and 6 rebounds) led Adelaide, while Brett Wheeler (12 points) was South East Melbourne’s leading scorer as the 36ers forced 26 turnovers and won 90-62. Adelaide completed the sweep, collected its first championship since 1986 and Brooks was named Grand Final MVP in the NBL’s last winter season.
1999/00
Coming off winning back-to-back championships, Adelaide seemed primed for a NBL dynasty and bolstered their roster by signing Paul Maley. Maley, who had contemplated retiring after his experience with the Victoria Titans, was thought to be everything the team needed to achieve a three-peat, but then, economic factors impacted the 36ers’ season in a way no one could have predicted.
The The NBL wasn’t in as good a financial shape as the 36ers, and in a cost-cutting move aimed at assisting struggling NBL clubs, the league reduced the league salary cup from $70,000 to $625,000. This reduction in cap resulted in the team being unable to re-sign star Kevin Brooks for the same money without breaching the cap, considering it also had added Maley only a few weeks earlier. Although the league applied for consideration on this, it was denied, and Brooks was forced to make a move to Sydney to play with the Kings.
Days later, high-scoring forward Martin Cattalini agreed to play in France for ASVEL Villeranne, which would have been ‘double whammy’, but prior to the season tipping off, he backflipped and re-signed with Adelaide in the hopes that a big year would result in being selected for the 2000 Olympics to be held in Sydney.
The season kicked off the season with a 109–89 win over Perth at home, with the 36ers fielding a starting lineup of team captain Brett Maher (20.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists), team leading scorer Martin Cattalini (20.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists), Darnell Mee (13.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.2 blocks) who filled almost every category on the stat sheet and veterans Paul Rees (7.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists) and Maley (12.3 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists).
As a result of winning the 1999 NBL championship, the 36ers were again invited to participate in the McDonald’s Cup, held at the 12,000 seat Fila Forum in Milan, Italy which was scheduled during the first month of the regular season. After losing their first game 90–79 to Brazilian side CR Vasco da Gama (who went all the way to meet the San Antonio Spurs in the final), the team won the 5–6 place playoff 91–84 over Lebanese team Hekmeh BC.
After returning to Australia, Adelaide never skipped a beat. They won three straight games before heading to Townsville, a game where Maher nailed five from five threes, scored 15 points in the first quarter, and finished with a career-high 40 points as Adelaide lost its first game of the season in overtime.
Maley missed a number of games due to a recurring back injury which saw David Stiff enter the starting lineup, where he responded with a career-high 35-point game (70% from the field) in a 111-103 win over Wollongong.
On 6 February 2000, the 36ers participated in the league’s first ‘open air’ game where 10318 fans gathered to see the Titans deliver a rare loss (83-75) at Melbourne Park.
Bauer finished the season appearing in 21 games and averaging 1.2 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game as Adelaide finished minor premiers again with a 22–6 record.
Bauer failed to appear in any playoff games but was a part of the team which lost to the Victoria Titans in the semifinals.
Paul Bauer played three seasons the Adelaide 36ers. He averaged 1.5 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 1 assists in 46 NBL games.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-00 | 0 | Adelaide | 22-6 (1) | 21 | 171 | 25 | 9 | 26 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 24 | 13 | 8 | 35 | 23% | 1 | 11 | 9% | 8 | 15 | 53% | 30% | 24% | 4 |
| 1998-99 | 0 | Adelaide | 18-9 (1) | 23 | 178 | 45 | 22 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 15 | 44 | 34% | 4 | 20 | 20% | 11 | 19 | 58% | 42% | 39% | 8 |
| 1998 | 0 | Adelaide | 19-11 (2) | 2 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | 1 | 1 | 100% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 150% | 0% | 3 | Totals | 46 | 356 | 73 | 32 | 46 | 8 | 24 | 13 | 2 | 35 | 22 | 24 | 80 | 30.0% | 6 | 32 | 18.8% | 19 | 34 | 55.9% | 38% | 34% | 8 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999-00 | 0 | Adelaide | 22-6 (1) | 21 | 8.1 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 23% | 0.0 | 0.5 | 9% | 0.4 | 0.7 | 53% | 30% | 24% | 4 |
| 1998-99 | 0 | Adelaide | 18-9 (1) | 23 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 34% | 0.2 | 0.9 | 20% | 0.5 | 0.8 | 58% | 42% | 39% | 8 |
| 1998 | 0 | Adelaide | 19-11 (2) | 2 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 100% | 0.5 | 0.5 | 100% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 150% | 0% | 3 | Total | 46 | 7.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 30.0% | 0.0 | 18.8% | 0.1 | 0.7 | 55.9% | 38% | 34% | 8 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- Sturt 1997-04
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