BIO: Ray Wood was born in Melbourne (VIC)

NBL EXPERIENCE

Ray Wood made his NBL debut with the West Adelaide Bearcats on 3/3/1979. He scored 10 points in his first game.

During the league’s first season, Wood played in 17 games for the West Adelaide Bearcats, averaging 13.2 points. There, he would play alongside player/coach Ken Richardson (26.2 points) who led the team in scoring (finishing second overall behind Brisbane’s Cal Bruton) and claimed the league’s first Most Valuable Player award.

The Bearcats finished with a record of 12-6 and in fourth place, however, the first champions of the national league would be decided in a Grand Final match played between only the first and second team’s ranked team’s. This saw St Kilda (1st) defeating Canberra (2nd), 94 to 93.

1980
In 1980, Wood averaged 12.7 points per game, playing a key role in the Bearcats rotation, helping the team finish reach a second place finish in the regular season with a 17-5 record.

1981
After losing to St Kilda and the team’s superstar import Rocky Smith in Grand Final by a significant margin, Richardson noted he needed to find a player to counter him. This resulted in New York guard Al Green making his way to Australia to play for the Bearcats.

West Adelaide started the season with a surprise loss to Forestville Eagles (74-94), which would be the only loss the Bearcats suffered at home this season.

Green (26.0 points per game) was forced to quickly become the primary focus of West Adelaide’s offence when player/coach Richardson (14.8 points per game) suffered a season-ending injury after just four games. Rick Hodges (13.4 ppg) and Peter Ali (13.1 ppg) were relied upon to fill the gap left by Richardson, who remained with the team in the role of head coach.

Although nearly unbeatable at home, West Adelaide struggled to win on the road (3-8) and finished the year in third place with 13 wins and 9 losses.

Ray Wood (13.2 points) went on to win this season’s Best Defensive Player award, while Green earned a spot on the All-NBL First team.

In 1981, the playoff format saw a single elimination semi-final propel the winners into a one game decider for the championship. Despite the tournament being held in Adelaide’s Apollo Stadium, the Bearcats’ season would end with a loss to the Nunawading Spectres in the semi-final (71-74).

Wood contributed 11.8 points, appearing in 23 games.

1982
Bolstering the squad prior to the 1982 NBL season, player-coach Ken Richardson recruited Leroy Loggins from the Brisbane Bullets and added him to the team’s already impressive roster. This season the Bearcats would start Loggins (25 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists), fellow import Al Green (26.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists), Australian Boomers veterans Peter Ali (8.1 points and 3.5 rebounds) and Ray Wood (8.2 points and 2.1 assists) and young centre Brad Dalton (8.5 points and 6.8 rebounds) with Richardson (14.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 58.8% from the field) coming off the bench.

Behind a MVP season from Green, the Bearcats finished the season with a 21-5 record, blitzing the competition, averaging 97.1 ppg as a squad and allowing opponents only 83.7 ppg (a winning differential of 13.4 ppg).

Behind stars Ken Richardson and Leroy Loggins, West Adelaide would dispose of Coburg (94-74) in the semi-final, setting up a NBL NBL Grand Final against the Geelong Supercats, led by player-coach Cal Bruton.

The grand final would be played at the neutral venue of Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium (Newcastle), which West Adelaide entered as the clear favourites. Of the Bearcats’ fives losses that year, two had been by one point and another by two points, and in addition to this, West Adelaide had thrashed Geelong by 29 points at Apollo Stadium during the last round of the season.

West Adelaide would resist a courageous second-half challenge by Geelong to win the Grand Final 80-74. Although no NBL Grand Final MVP was named in 1982, Loggins was named player of the match, being the game’s top scorer with 32 points.

Wood would appear in 27 games and finish the season with averages of 8.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.

West’s 1982 NBL title is the only one to include three league MVPs, Richardson the inaugural winner of the outstanding individual player award in 1979, Green (1982) and Loggins (1984 and 1986-87).

1983
In 1983, player-coach Ken Richardson retired and the Bearcats lost Brad Dalton (to Sydney). They would add Mike Parsons (via Launceston) and national team player Andy Campbell. ‘King’ Ken Cole would take up the head coaching role but struggled to generate the results of previous years, finishing the regular season in third place (17-5).

Al Green (29.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.0 steals) would lead the team in scoring once again, while ‘do-it-all’ import Leroy Loggins (24.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.0 steals) backed him up offensively while also being tasked to defending the opposing team’s best player each night. Loggins efforts would also see him named in the All-NBL first team at season’s end. Wood contributed 12.1 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists Over the course of the season, as well.

In what was deemed a cost-cutting measure, the NBL chose to play two divisional finals, a three-game round-robin tournament for the top eight team’s, which strangely saw the league’s two best team’s excluded from the playoffs.

The three-game round-robin tournament resulted in the first-placed team in the Western Divison (Sydney) and the first place team in the Eastern Division (Geelong) being eliminated from a playoff spot due to finishing the three game round robin tournament with 2 wins and 1 loss, a equal record to two other team’s who progressed through based on points percentage.

While they made it through to the playoffs, few expected them to survive the rigours of the first round. Cole, widely regarded as the league’s premier motivator, came through on his pre-season prediction that West contend for the championship despite the loss of Richardson and Dalton as Green, Loggins and company led the Bearcats to a victory over Nunawading (84-77). Canberra would eliminate Coburg (80-75) on the other side of the bracket, pitting the two team’s against each other to decide the championship.

In a final which proved a seesaw ride for spectators, Canberra would be crowned champions after defeating West Adelaide by two points (75-73).

1984
In 1984, Wood averaged 16.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4 assists as the Bearcats finished in tenth place with a record of 11-13.

ADELAIDE 36ERS
1985
In 1985, West Adelaide and Adelaide joined to form one NBL club for the South Australian fans to get behind. The team was built from a combination of both rosters, with the Bearcats head coach Ken Cole being selected over 36ers Mike Osborne to run the merged club. Darryl ‘Ice Man’ Pearce and ‘Mean’ Al Green, who had just gained Australian citizenship and qualify as a local player, would become the team’s starting guards, Moscow Olympian Peter Ali started at small forward and American centre Bill Jones was recruited to anchor the middle.

The season began with the backcourt duo of Green (31.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.3 steals) and Pearce (22.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 steals) leading the way in scoring but it wasn’t until the mid-season addition of import Mark Davis that the team started to look unbeatable. After Davis (27.9 points, 17.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.3 steals) was added to a side already bursting with depth after the sixth round, the 36ers stormed into the Grand Final. There, Adelaide fell short to Leroy Loggins and the Brisbane Bullets, with the championship being decided in a single game (121-95).

Green was selected to the All-NBL First Team while first-year guard Mike Mckay (12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) was named Rookie Of The Year. Wood appeared in all 28 games and averaged 5.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 1 assists for the season.

Coming off a tough Grand Final loss to Brisbane the previous year, Adelaide entered the 1986 season with renewed determination, producing what is often considered the greatest season in NBL history. The team made just one major roster change, with naturalised import Dwayne Nelson replacing Karl Luke, while key players like Ray Wood continued their important roles. Wood (5.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.8 assists) appeared in all 30 games, contributing to Adelaide’s historic regular-season performance, where they finished in first place with a (24-2) record.

This 36ers squad, nicknamed ‘The Invincibles’ in the South Australian media, finished the regular season with the best record in NBL history, achieving a 92.3 percent win rate that has yet to be matched. Of their 27 total victories that season, 17 were by 20 points or more, showing just how dominant they were. Adelaide’s only two losses came in heartbreaking fashion, with last-second buzzer-beaters against West Sydney (87-89) and Coburg (114-116), leaving them just seconds away from a perfect regular season. The 36ers averaged (117.3 points) per game while conceding (96.0 points), creating a winning margin of over 21 points. They finished five games clear of second-placed Canberra (19-7).

Wood played a key role in Adelaide’s strong defence and was part of a team that was unbeatable at home, winning all 13 of their regular-season games at the sold-out Apollo Stadium. Their home dominance extended to (14-0) after a convincing semi-final victory over Illawarra (116-92), where Pearce (28 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists) and Al Green (27 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists) led the way. If the 36ers’ home games from 1985 are included, this brought their streak to (20-0) at Apollo heading into the Grand Final series.

In the Grand Final, Adelaide faced Brisbane in a rematch of the previous year’s decider. The NBL had expanded the championship from a single-game final to a best-of-three series. Adelaide took Game 1 in a hard-fought victory (122-119), with Davis (38 points, 23 rebounds, and 5 assists) dominating in the paint. Bill Jones (30 points, 17 rebounds, and 3 blocks), Pearce (13 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists), and Wood (5 points, 1 rebound, and 2 steals) all contributed to the opening win.

In Game 2, however, Brisbane bounced back, delivering a 21-point defeat to Adelaide (104-84), with Cal Bruton (38 points) and Larry Sengstock (19 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists) leading the charge. Wood added (6 points and 1 rebound), but it was Adelaide’s largest loss of the season. Despite the setback, the 36ers regrouped for Game 3, returning to Apollo Stadium to seal the championship with a (113-91) victory. Bruton led Brisbane with (31 points), but Pearce (27 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists) and Green (22 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist) stepped up for Adelaide. Although Wood didn’t score in the final game, he grabbed (2 rebounds) and played a key role in Adelaide’s championship win.

1987
The Adelaide 36ers entered the 1987 season with a strong returning core, including Ray Wood (2.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists), Mark Davis (26.1 points, 17.1 rebounds, and 1.4 steals), Al Green (23.1 points, 5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists), Darryl Pearce (20.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists), Bill Jones (14.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks), and Mike McKay (14.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists). The team, led by new head coach Gary Fox, looked to defend their 1986 championship title and build on their success.

Adelaide opened the season with a strong victory over Westside Melbourne (131-105). However, they faced a tough patch early in the season, going through a three-game losing streak that began with a narrow loss to North Melbourne (103-106) and ended with a defeat to Perth (104-106). Despite this challenging start, the 36ers quickly turned things around and embarked on a five-game winning streak, beginning with a win over Brisbane (127-111) and ending with a victory over Eastside (98-87).

Wood contributed off the bench throughout the season, providing valuable defensive energy and distributing the ball. The 36ers continued their strong form with an eight-game winning streak, starting with a close win over Canberra (118-115) and concluding with a victory over Sydney (108-103), before being halted by a loss to Hobart (108-112).

The 36ers’ biggest win came on July 17, when they dominated West Sydney (147-99), but they also suffered a significant loss to Illawarra (108-90) on June 25. Wood’s role as a reliable backup helped the team maintain its depth throughout the season as they finished with a league-best 21-5 record, capping off the regular season with a victory over Geelong (128-97).

Wood’s contributions, although modest statistically, were important in providing depth and defensive intensity for the 36ers. His presence allowed Adelaide to maintain strong rotation options throughout the season.

In the playoffs, the 36ers earned a first-round bye and faced Perth in the semi-finals. Wood supported his teammates as Adelaide won a close Game 1 (99-98). However, the team lost the second game (99-101), and despite their efforts, they were defeated in Game 3 (103-93), ending their hopes of defending their championship as they lost the series 2-1.

Ray Wood played nine seasons in the NBL, playing for both the West Adelaide Bearcats and the Adelaide 36ers. He averaged 9.3 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 229 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (832 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.