BIO: Pero Vasiljevic was born in Adelaide (SA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Pero Vasiljevic made his NBL debut with the Canberra Cannons at 20 years of age. He scored seven points in his first game.

As a rookie, Vasiljevic averaged 5.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.0 assists as the Cannons finished with a record of 8-18.

MELBOURNE TIGERS
1999/00
This season, Melbourne would lose Blair Smith (to West Sydney) and import Marcus Timmons (to Perth), replacing them with athletic young big man Pero Vasiljevic (from Canberra) and Bennett Davison, who would arrive injured and be unable to join the team until six games in. The retirement of Tigers legend Ray Gordon also opened up another roster spot, which Lindsey Gaze would use to sign rookie Luke McMillan. Although Davison (19.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2.4 blocks) would fill the hole left by Timmons quite capably, the aging core of the Tigers, including the 30-year-old Mark Bradtke (17.9 points, 14.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.6 blocks) and Lanard Copeland (21.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals) and Andrew Gaze (29.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists), who both celebrated their 34th birthdays this season struggled against the league’s best team’s. Melbourne finished in fifth place this season and scraped into the playoffs despite not having a winning record (14-14), the team’s worst record since they last failed to make the playoffs in 1988. Melbourne then lost to the Victoria Titans in the Quarterfinals (1-2). Gaze would be selected to the All-NBL first team for a record fifteenth time, the last time he was recognised for the award. This season cemented the decline of the Gaze led Tigers, with the team never finishing higher than fifth again until after the retirement of both Andrew and Lindsey Gaze.

Vasiljevic would appear in 15 games and average 1.3 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.3 assists.

VICTORIA TITANS
2000/01
After three years in the NBA, Chris Anstey returned to play for Brian Goorjian and the Titans. Although Anstey’s signature was a major coup, Victoria also suffered a major loss with Frank Drmic signing with Brisbane. In a surprise move, however, Drmic would exercise a European out clause before the start of the season and head overseas before backflipping, returning to Australia and inking a deal with the Sydney Kings. To fit Anstey in, Victoria released Nathan Taylor (to Melbourne), replaced David Smith with Jason Smith’s older brother Darren and signed Kiwi guard Mark Dickel to replace Drmic. Dickel, who just graduated from UNLV, was signed as a import player as New Zealand players weren’t considered local players in the NBL until 2003.

Dickel (13.2 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 5.1 assists) and Jason Smith (20.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists) formed quite a duo, with Smith leading the team in scoring while having a career-high scoring season himself.

Anstey (16.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks) returned a vastly improved player from the NBA, but coach Goorjian surprised many by bringing Anstey off the bench this season, favouring Brett Wheeler (13 points and 8 rebounds) in the starting lineup as he looked to replicate the success of the double-headed centre that was Anstey and John Dorge during the Magic’s 1996 championship run.Later, young players Marcus Wright and Pero Vasiljevic, originally signed as development players, were elevated into the roster during the season as a result of mid-season injuries to Ben Pepper, and the Titans finished the year in first place with a franchise-best record of 22-6. Anstey, who was named Titans MVP that season and the fact he did it all from the bench, made him a easy choice for the league’s Sixth Man of the Year.

This saw them face off against long-time rivals, the sixth-placed Adelaide 36ers and behind a season high scoring performance from Anstey (27 points and collected 16 rebounds) took out game one (101-96). The Sixers, behind star duo Darnell Mee and Kevin Brooks, would then rebound to win games two (96-83) and three (115-103). Mee (22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists) and Brooks (25 points and 7 rebounds) put up big numbers over the three-game series.

As a result of finishing first, the Titans being the highest placed loser in the Qualifying Finals allowed them to proceed to the semi finals. There they would face the Townsville Crocodiles, led by 37 year old Robert Rose, who had just become the league’s oldest winner of the NBL’s MVP award. Thanks to veteran players Tony Ronaldson (22 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists) and Darryl McDonald (20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists) stepped up and delivered a game one win for Victoria (106-97). a injury to Anstey in the early moments of game two saw him miss the remainder of the series, which saw the Titans lose both game two (98-82) and three (101-97). A major factor was Anstey suffering a injury in the early moments of game two which kept him out of both games.

In a twist of fate, the Crocodiles roster was made up of a number of players discarded by Brian Goorjian in recent years. In addition to Rose, both Pat Reidy and Mike Kelly were Titans cast-offs, both playing huge roles in eliminating the Titans. Reidy (19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists) was a equal game high scorer (with Rose and Andrew Goodwin) in game two, while Kelly (17 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists) was the clear difference maker in the deciding game three.

The Titans falling short of the Grand Final was also the first time a Brian Goorjian team hadn’t reached a NBL Grand Final since 1996 (seven years).

2001/02
After the Titans failed to reach the Grand Final in 2001, the first time a Brian Goorjian team hadn’t reached a NBL Grand Final in seven years. It was decided the triple big man rotation of Chris Anstey, Brett Wheeler, and Ben Pepper wasn’t working, and as a result, Pepper was not re-signed. As a result of Darryl McDonald becoming a naturalised Australian, the team used its second import spot to sign power forward Jamahl Mosely as his replacement. Mark Dickel remained the team’s second import, as New Zealand players were not considered local players until 2003. The Titans’ next moves were replacing Glen Siegle with young guard Nathan Crosswell who had been playing for the Melbourne Tigers state league squad.

Anstey would move into the starting lineup this season, and alongside team captain Tony Ronaldson, Jason Smith, Brad Sheridan and McDonald guide the team to a first place regular season finish for the second year in a row.

The team featured six players scoring in double-figures that year with team captain Ronaldson (19.5 points and 4.5 rebounds) leading the team in scoring, Anstey (16.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks) filling each section of the box score each night (he be named Titans club MVP at the end of the season) and Mosely (11.5 points and 6.7 rebounds), who had a dominant season off the bench and became the first import player to win the league’s sixth man of the year award. As well as Jason Smith (18.8 points and 5.4 rebounds), Darryl McDonald (12.0 points and 7.3 assists), Mark Dickel (11.6 points) rounded out perhaps the most well rounded scoring attacks in league history, with Vasiljevic also contributing 4.7 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.1 assists.

The first stage of the playoffs saw Victoria take on sixth-placed Melbourne and, after winning game one (113-107), went on to lose games two (105–107) and three (103-97). As a result of finishing first, they progressed to the next stage as a result of being the highest-ranked losing team in the Qualifying Finals. This time, facing third-ranked Adelaide this time, the Titans lost game one in Melbourne 92-99, evened the series with a 86-81 win in Adelaide, then lost game three 103-92. The loss would become the last game for the Victoria Titans franchise, with the team falling into financial strife shortly after. The team would sell their licence to a group comprising a number of former North Melbourne Giants staff headed by Peter Fiddes and rebranding to the Victoria Giants.

CANBERRA CANNONS
2002/03
Although Canberra entered 2002 struggling to stay afloat financially, the team added imports Mike Chappell (via Wollongong) and Reginald Poole (via Europe) to the roster and hoped a competitive team would draw enough fans to cover their costs.

With Chappell (21.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) leading the team in scoring, alongside Dave Thomas (18.2 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals), CJ Bruton (15.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.1 steals) and Poole (14.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 1.7 steals, and 2.2 blocks) the Cannons started the season on fire. The part of the plan that involved building a successful team worked with Canberra winning seven of their first nine games, but by December, Cannon’s ownership couldn’t afford to keep paying the bills, and the team was forced into voluntary administration just three months into the season. Vasiljevic (5.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) and Thomas, who had both just signed two-year deals with the Cannons, exited the club to find alternative employment. A few games later, Bruton and Chappell both requested their release and signed elsewhere also.

Veterans Matthew Shanahan (14.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists) and Willie Simmons (6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks) were added mid-season to help cover the loss of their starting lineup but it wasn’t nearly enough.

In a combined attempt to raise enough money to keep the team in the league and add a few bodies to the roster, a number of NBL legends made cameo appearances with Cannons throughout the last half of the season. 41-year-old Butch Hays suited up for four games for the Cannons, and Perth Wildcats’ legend James Crawford also came out of retirement for one game. The Cannons season ended with the club going 4-17 across their remaining games, and at the end of 2003, Canberra’s licence was moved to Newcastle, where it operated as the Hunter Pirates.

VICTORIA GIANTS
2002/03
After being released by the Cannons, Vasiljevic joined the Giants mid-season. The team were led by Jamahl Mosely (21.2 points, 9.5 rebounds) and team captain Darryl McDonald (14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.5 assists and a league leading 2.4 steals), while mid-season addition Pero Vasiljevic (16.5 points, 8.3 rebounds) and Nathan Crosswell (15.1 points, 2.9 assists) grabbed the increased playing opportunities by the horns and moved into the starting lineup.

By round nine, the Giants were sitting on a respectable record (4-5) and sat middle of the NBL ladder.

The wheels truly fell off from here, however, as the team lost the next seven games in a row, culminating with the release of import forward Dusty Rychart (16.5 points and 8.3 rebounds) was viewed as underperforming. Behind the scenes, the Giants had made a offer to a athletic big man Pero Vasiljevic, who had exited his deal with Canberra due to their financial instability. The front office was enamoured with Adonis Jordan, who was a key player during Magic v Giants rivalries of old and had already teed him up as Rychart’s replacement before letting him go. However, Jordan (19.4 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists) failed to change anything in the Giant’s win-loss column, and the team ended their debut season second last (9-21) The following season he turned down a deal from Victoria to sign with New Zealand, before deciding to play overseas.

2005/06
After two shocking seasons in a row, the Razorbacks were forced to build after losing a number of players. The major blow coming from promising youngster Steven Markovic walking out on the club to play in Europe just a few weeks before the start of the season, the forced retirement of Simon Dwight due to a chronic knee injury and Sam MacKinnon heading to Brisbane. This left Scott McGregor, who was named team captain, as the sole remaining player from the Grand Final loss to Sydney (2004).

Coach Mark Watkins recruited James Harvey (via Perth) to the team to replace some of the outgoing firepower but was then forced to fill the remainder of the roster with low-budget players with financial issues beginning to impact the team.

Pero Vasiljevic and Rhys Carter, who weren’t even playing in the NBL the prior season, were added to the roster, alongside Graham Dann, Cameron Rigby and Miles Pearce, who were struggling to get minutes with other NBL team’s. Nick Horvath would return as a import player, and Jermaine Blackburn was later added as the team’s second import.

West Sydney’s season wasn’t only hampered by financial issues. Horvath sustained a knee injury in the first game, which sidelined him for the season. Harvey (21.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3 assists) led the team in scoring but managed only 11 games due to injuries, while import Jermaine Blackburn (18 points, 5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.5 steals) was never able to fit in with the squad and was sacked midway through the season.

The team cycled through a number of low producing imports to finish the season, Casey Frank (6.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 assists) and Joel Cornette (10.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals) among them, but the team was never competitive and finished dead last with a 5-27 record. Vasiljevic appeared in 21 games, averaging 13.9 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists.

SINGAPORE SLINGERS
2006/07
“In 2006, the Singapore Slingers entered the league, taking over the licence of the defunct Hunter Pirates. With former Sydney Kings legendary coach Bob Turner charged with setting up the team, he first convinced centre Ben Knight to leave the Kings for a opportunity to captain the NBL’s first Asian based team.

Import duo Mike Helms (22.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) and Marquin Chandler (19.1 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists) would lead the team in scoring alongside Knight (15.0 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) and Ben Melmeth (12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists).

The Slingers surprised many and qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural season, finishing in eighth place (13-20). There, they would lose to Townsville in the Elimination Finals (93-106) behind huge games from both John Rillie (37 points, 12 rebounds, and 6.0 assists) and Brad Newley (23 points). Chandler and Helms would top score for the Slingers (22 points each). Vasiljevic played in 24 games and averaged 3.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.6 assists for the season.

GOLD COAST BLAZE
2010/11
During the 2010/11 season, Vasiljevic averaged 3.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.5 assists and was a part of the Blaze squad which finished in sixth place with a record of 13-15.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
2012/13
Adelaide and head coach Marty Clarke finished in last place for the second year in a row with a identical 8–20 record to last season. The 36ers suffered through another eight-game losing streak, equalling the losing streak from last season. After a streak of import woes due to injury or poor performance, the team decided to focus on building a Australian talent. Adelaide signed a trio of former Gold Coast Blaze players after they folded, inking Adam Gibson (who had been close to signing with Melbourne), Anthony Petrie and Jason Cadee to multi-year deals and added up and coming young forward Stephen Weigh from Perth. In order to give their young Aussie core the opportunity to develop further, the decision was made to go with only one import, local state player CJ Massingale.

Daniel Johnson (16.2 points and 8.1 rebounds) solidified his place as Adelaide’s franchise player, leading 36ers in scoring and the league in rebounds. Over the first 12 games the emergence of exciting crowd favourite Mitchell Creek (5.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.5 assists) gave fans hope for the future before he suffered a season ending Achilles tendon injury against Townsville (Dec 15).

Vasiljevic saw limited court time under Clarke and finished the season averaging 0.8 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.2 assists. At the end of the season, Clarke was not re-signed for the coming season, the 36ers securing NBL championship winning coach Joey Wright as his replacement.

Pero Vasiljevic played ten seasons across five NBL teams. This included the Canberra Cannons, Victoria Titans, Victoria Giants, Singapore Slingers, West Sydney Razorbacks, Gold Coast Blaze, Melbourne Tigers and Adelaide 36ers. He averaged 6.4 points, 4 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in 147 NBL games.

HIGHLIGHTS:

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.