Bruce Hope
July 23, 2020
Ray Shirley
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth:
- Place of Birth: New York, New York (USA)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 196
- Weight (KG): #N/A
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: Wichita State University
- NBL DEBUT: 24/04/87
- AGE AT DEBUT: 0
- LAST NBL GAME: 19/08/89
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 0
- NBL History: North Melbourne 1987 | Geelong 1988-89
- Championships: 0
- None
NICKNAME/S: Sugar
BIO: Ray Shirley was born in New York, New York (USA).
NBL EXPERIENCE
Ray Shirley made his NBL debut with the North Melbourne Giants on 24/4/1987. He scored 21 points in his first game.
Shirley’s debut season in 1987 also marked the first season for the North Melbourne Giants, who had missed the playoffs in 1986 then moved home venues from Coburg to the inner city, where they would play at the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre (The Glasshouse). North Melbourne’s first season in the league saw the team appoint a new head coach in Bruce Palmer and recruited star import Scott Fisher. Shirley added 15.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4 assists alongside Fisher (25.1 points and 11.0 rebounds), and together they helped guide the Giants back into the playoffs. North Melbourne finished in sixth place at the end of the regular season (15-11) and then went on to lose to Illawarra (97–105) in the Elimination Finals.
The Giant’s decided to sign import Tim Dillon for the following season leaving Shirley without a team. He was able to secure a contract with the Geelong Cats in 1988.
Geelong suffered at the hands of ownership problems during the latter part of the 1980′s, this issue was at in 1987, resulting in a mass exodus of the team’s top talent. The Cats lost their five highest scoring players from 1987 when Greg Giddings, Ian Davies, Mark Leader, Mark Dalton and Brad Dalton all left the club. Geelong used whatever the finances they had to bring in names like Sam Foggin, Leonard Mitchell, Bruce Hope and Shirley to try and keep the team competitive. The high volume of player turnover and reduction in player salary cap proved far too difficult to overcome and the team went winless for the entire year.
Shirley managed to put up averages of 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists as Geelong finished with a 0-22 record, the worst season in NBL history.
At the end of the 1988 season a group of local business men fought together to save the club, injected the team with some much needed financial assistance, rebranded the team from Cats to Supercats and as a result were granted a license to ensure Geelongs ongoing participation in the NBL.
The Supercats improved from 0-22 the season prior to 5-19 in 1989. Shirley played a second year with Geelong and averaged 10.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in what would be his last season in the NBL.
Ray Shirley played three seasons in the NBL, playing for both the North Melbourne Giants and the Geelong Supercats. He averaged 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 44 NBL games.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 0 | Geelong | 5-19 (13) | 16 | 373.0 | 165 | 82 | 46 | 32 | 50 | 23 | 12 | 33 | 40 | 71 | 164 | 43% | 5 | 24 | 21% | 18 | 26 | 69% | 47% | 45% | 24 |
| 1988 | 0 | Geelong | 0-24 (13) | 4 | 148.0 | 76 | 36 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 5 | 2 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 60 | 53% | 3 | 12 | 25% | 9 | 16 | 56% | 56% | 56% | 33 |
| 1987 | 0 | North Melbourne | 15-11 (6) | 24 | 703.0 | 381 | 141 | 95 | 49 | 92 | 23 | 12 | 77 | 65 | 163 | 328 | 50% | 12 | 36 | 33% | 43 | 73 | 59% | 53% | 52% | 33 | Totals | 44 | 1224 | 622 | 259 | 157 | 101 | 158 | 51 | 26 | 127 | 120 | 266 | 552 | 48.2% | 20 | 72 | 27.8% | 70 | 115 | 60.9% | 52% | 50% | 33 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 0 | Geelong | 5-19 (13) | 16 | 23.3 | 10.3 | 5.1 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 4.4 | 10.3 | 43% | 0.3 | 1.5 | 21% | 1.1 | 1.6 | 69% | 47% | 45% | 24 |
| 1988 | 0 | Geelong | 0-24 (13) | 4 | 37.0 | 19.0 | 9.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 8.0 | 15.0 | 53% | 0.8 | 3.0 | 25% | 2.3 | 4.0 | 56% | 56% | 56% | 33 |
| 1987 | 0 | North Melbourne | 15-11 (6) | 24 | 29.3 | 15.9 | 5.9 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 6.8 | 13.7 | 50% | 0.5 | 1.5 | 33% | 1.8 | 3.0 | 59% | 53% | 52% | 33 | Total | 44 | 27.8 | 14.1 | 5.9 | 3.6 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 6.0 | 12.5 | 48.2% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 27.8% | 0.5 | 1.6 | 60.9% | 52% | 50% | 33 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 33 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- Parramatta 1983 | Bulleen 1985 | Knox 1986 | Southern Peninsula ?
Related
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