Pierre Wooten
July 23, 2020
Rich Melzer
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth: 8/12/79
- Place of Birth: Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA)
- Position: FRD
- Height (CM): 203
- Weight (KG): 102
- Junior Assoc:
- College: Wisconsin–River Falls (2001–2004)
- NBL DEBUT: 4/09/05
- AGE AT DEBUT: 25
- LAST NBL GAME: 13/02/10
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 30
- NBL History: New Zealand 2006 | Cairns 2010
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Rich Melzer was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA) and attended River Falls High School.
NBL EXPERIENCE
Rich Melzer made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 25 years of age. He scored 19 points in his first game.
With the Breakers still searching for their first winning season, they chose not to re-sign Mike Chappell, the Breakers’ leading scorer from the past two seasons and appointed a new head coach Andrej Lemanis. Lemanis had played in the NBL during the 1980s and 1990s and spent the previous five seasons as a assistant coach with the Townsville Crocodiles.
Lemanis inherited a Breakers squad who had seen both its national team players, Pero Cameron (Gold Coast) and Dillon Boucher (Perth), leave for better opportunities on other NBL team’s.
Lemanis looked to build around its young turning core group, which included Aaron Olsen, Ben Pepper, Lindsay Tait and Paul Henare, who was named team captain with the departure of co-captain Pero Cameron.
Rugged defender Ben Thompson and New Zealand born Adrian Majstrovich (both via Perth) were added to the roster, as was the import duo of Rich Melzer and Brant Bailey.
The Breakers started the season poorly (1-5) and quickly made the decision to replace Bailey (18.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists) with Brian Green (18.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.5 steals).
Melzer (18.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists) would lead New Zealand in scoring while the Breakers continued to see strong development from young gun Aaron Olson (17.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists) and Ben Pepper (14.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks) was a force inside the paint.
Lemanis’ first season in charge was not particularly memorable. During the season, the Breakers endured a team-worst eleven straight losses, but after making the personnel changes, the team split their final twelve games of the season and finished the regular season tenth out of eleven team’s (9-23).
CAIRNS TAIPANS
2009/10
Melzer returned to Australia to play with Cairns during the 2009/10 season, but was a shadow of the player he was four years ago when he played with New Zealand. Melzer averaged 10.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists and was a part of the Taipans squad which finished in seventh place (11-17).
Rich Melzer played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Cairns Taipans and the New Zealand Breakers. He averaged 14.5 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 53 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 30 | Cairns | 11-17 (7) | 28 | 676 | 304 | 135 | 35 | 41 | 94 | 14 | 18 | 74 | 84 | 103 | 289 | 36% | 27 | 100 | 27% | 71 | 97 | 73% | 45% | 40% | 23 |
| 2005-06 | 26 | New Zealand | 9-23 (10) | 25 | 839 | 465 | 184 | 43 | 81 | 103 | 37 | 35 | 81 | 72 | 194 | 418 | 46% | 15 | 49 | 31% | 62 | 94 | 66% | 50% | 48% | 34 | Totals | 53 | 1515 | 769 | 319 | 78 | 122 | 197 | 51 | 53 | 155 | 156 | 297 | 707 | 42.0% | 42 | 149 | 28.2% | 133 | 191 | 69.6% | 49% | 45% | 34 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-10 | 30 | Cairns | 11-17 (7) | 28 | 24.1 | 10.9 | 4.8 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 10.3 | 36% | 1.0 | 3.6 | 27% | 2.5 | 3.5 | 73% | 45% | 40% | 23 |
| 2005-06 | 26 | New Zealand | 9-23 (10) | 25 | 33.6 | 18.6 | 7.4 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 2.9 | 7.8 | 16.7 | 46% | 0.6 | 2.0 | 31% | 2.5 | 3.8 | 66% | 50% | 48% | 34 | Total | 53 | 28.6 | 14.5 | 6.0 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 5.6 | 13.3 | 42.0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 28.2% | 0.8 | 2.8 | 69.6% | 49% | 45% | 34 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 34 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
|---|
NBA EXPERIENCE
USA (CBA) - Sioux Falls Skyfoce (2005)
Melzer played games in the NBA. He averaged 0 points, 0 rebounds, and 0 assists per game over his NBA career.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Dominican Republic - San Carlos (2005) | France - ASVEL Basket (2006), JL Bourg-en-Bresse (2006), Le Portel (2012) | Israel - Hapoel Gilboa/Afula (2007), Hapoel Holon (2010–2011) | Germany - Artland Dragons (2007), New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig (2011–2012)
Melzer joined San Carlos for the 2005 Dominican Republic season, playing his first season outside the United States in the Dominican Republic and later being voted MVP of the National Finals during San Carlos’ title run.
Melzer joined ASVEL Basket for the 2006–07 LNB Pro A season in France on a short-term contract and later that year continued in France with JL Bourg-en-Bresse during the 2006–07 campaign.
Melzer joined Hapoel Gilboa/Afula for the 2006–07 Israeli Premier League season after arriving in Israel in January 2007, before later in 2007 moving to Germany to play for the Artland Dragons in the Basketball Bundesliga.
Melzer returned to Israel for the 2010–11 Israeli Premier League season with Hapoel Holon, where he played under coach Dan Shamir and shared the roster with Kasib Powell, Moran Roth, and Amit Ben David, and he led the league in playoff scoring at 28.2 points per game during that postseason run.
Melzer joined New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig for the 2011–12 Basketball Bundesliga season in Germany, and Eurobasket box scores from that season logged games where he posted lines such as 18 points and eight rebounds in league play, before he later finished his overseas career with Le Portel during 2012 in France.
COLLEGE
Melzer played college basketball at Wisconsin–River Falls from 2001 to 2004, where he competed for the Falcons in NCAA Division III under head coach Jeff Berkhof and developed into one of the most decorated players in program and Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history.
As a freshman in 2001–02, he immediately became a key contributor, helping UW–River Falls to a 20-win season while establishing himself as one of the top post players in the WIAC, averaging double figures in scoring and ranking among the conference leaders in field-goal percentage and rebounding.
In the 2002–03 season, Melzer elevated his production to All-America status, earning D3hoops.com All-America Second Team honours after averaging over 20 points per game and ranking among the nation’s leaders in scoring efficiency and rebounding while guiding the Falcons to another 20-plus win season and a WIAC title share.
On January 29, 2003, he produced the fourth-highest single-game scoring output in WIAC history with 54 points against UW–La Crosse, a performance that ranks among the top individual scoring efforts in conference history and remains one of the highest single-game totals in Division III during that era.
During the 2003–04 season, Melzer was named National Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Division III National Player of the Year and received D3hoops.com All-First Team status in 2004 after averaging over 25 points and double-digit rebounds per game while leading the Falcons to a WIAC championship and an NCAA Division III Tournament berth.
That senior campaign saw him finish second in the WIAC in scoring, rank among conference leaders in rebounding and blocks, and surpass multiple school and conference milestones, including becoming Wisconsin–River Falls’ all-time leader in points and blocks.
Melzer concluded his collegiate career with 2,363 points, ranking second on the WIAC’s all-time scoring list, and 935 field goals made, also second in conference history, while producing one of the most prolific offensive careers in Division III basketball during the early 2000s.
He was a two-time WIAC Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004, earned multiple All-WIAC First Team selections, and was recognized nationally across several All-America teams during his final two seasons.
Melzer graduated from Wisconsin–River Falls as the school’s all-time leader in points and blocks, cementing his status among the most accomplished players in program history.
In 2012, he was selected to the WIAC Men’s Basketball All-Time Team in conjunction with the conference’s Centennial Celebration.
Additional Info: Melzer was a member of UW-River Falls' men's basketball team from 2001-04 and received National Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Division III National Player of the Year honours, as well as D3hoops.com All-First Team status in 2004. He was a D3hoops.com All-America Second Team honoree in 2003.
He graduated from Wisconsin-River Falls as the schools all-time leader in points and blocks. A two-time conference Player of the Year (2003 and 2004), Melzer ranks second on the conference's all-time list with 2,363 points and 935 field goals made. He produced the fourth-highest scoring output in league history, with a 54-point performance against UW-La Crosse on Jan. 29, 2003.
In 2012, he was selected to the WIAC Men's Basketball All-Time Team in conjunction with the conference's Centennial Celebration.
COACHING HISTORY
Rich Melzer moved into basketball coaching following his professional playing career.
Melzer served as an assistant basketball coach at Academy of Holy Angels in Minnesota alongside head coach Troy Bell.
He has also coached youth basketball with Grassroots Sizzle Nation.
Related
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