NICKNAME/S: Mr Double Double

BIO: Shawn Long was born in Morgan City, Louisiana (USA) and attended Morgan City High School under coach Jeremy Whittington. As a senior, he averaged 21.4 points, 15.2 rebounds, and 9.1 blocks, helping team to a 26-5 record.

He was named district MVP, earned first team all-district honours for two straight year and was the district defensive player of the year as a senior.

Attended the University of Louisiana (2012-2016) and was Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year in 2016.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Shawn Long made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 25 years of age. He scored 10 points in his first game.

In February 2018, a consortium headed by former NBA player Matt Walsh took over as majority shareholders, ending the 13-year ownership of Liz and Paul Blackwell. This marked the beginning of a new era for the Breakers. The off-season saw the departure of several franchise stalwarts, including coach Paul Henare (free agent), all-time leading scorer Kirk Penney (retired), and key players like Mika Vukona (to Brisbane), Alex Pledger (to Melbourne), and Rob Loe (to Cairns). Thomas Abercrombie stepped into the captaincy role, while former player Kevin Braswell was brought in as the new head coach to rebuild the squad. To bolster the team, New Zealand brought back Tai Wesley (via Melbourne), Corey Webster (via Europe), and Jarrad Weeks (via Cairns). They also added imports Patrick Richard, Armani Moore, and Shawn Long.

The Breakers headed to the USA and faced the Phoenix Suns in a preseason NBLxNBA exhibition game to start their season. Despite being heavy underdogs, New Zealand pushed the Suns to the limit, making a late surge to cut the lead to four in the final minute before falling just short in a 91–86 loss. Corey Webster (27 points and 7 assists) and Tai Wesley (15 points and 7 rebounds) led the Breakers offensively. Phoenix, who were without star Devin Booker, relied on Deandre Ayton (21 points and 15 rebounds) and Trevor Ariza (16 points and 6 assists).

New Zealand began the season slowly, struggling to find consistency and managing just four wins in their first 12 games. Their struggles were highlighted by a five-game losing streak from late November to early December, including close defeats to Perth (91–86) and Sydney (71–70). New Zealand found some form after mid-season, putting together back-to-back wins against Brisbane (109–96) and Cairns (113–106) in January.

New Zealand’s lacklustre season was also due to several key players not delivering as expected. Corey Webster (10.4 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists), who was once a premier scorer in the league, had his worst statistical season in five years. Thomas Abercrombie (8.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists) and Shea Ili (7.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists) both saw a decline from last season, while imports Patrick Richard (11.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) and Armani Moore (7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) weren’t able to deliver the numbers expected either.

The Breakers finished the season with a 12-16 record, ending in sixth place and missing the playoffs.

Shawn Long (18.3 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) became the Breakers’ primary target on offense and their most potent weapon on defense. His best games included a 33-point, 3-rebound, and 1-assist performance against Perth (6 Jan 2019), where he also recorded 1 block and shot 12 of 18 from the field, including 3 three-pointers. Long followed up with another dominant display, posting 32 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocks against Cairns (24 Jan 2019). He rounded out his top games with a 28-point, 11-rebound, and 6-assist game against Melbourne (3 Feb 2019), where he added 1 steal and 1 block to his stat line. Long’s efforts earned him a place on the All-NBL Second Team as well as the Breakers Club MVP.

Bright spots for the Breakers this season included the return of Tai Wesley (14.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists) and Jarrad Weeks (10.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists), who delivered the best season of his career, finishing runner-up for both the Best Sixth Man and Most Improved Player awards.

2019/20
Melbourne United began the season with a complete rehaul of its roster. The team chose not to re-sign imports Casper Ware and Josh Boone, released Daniel Trist and lost young forward Craig Moller when he signed with Sydney as a free agent.

United then signed Jo Lual-Acuil, Shea Ili (who played under Dean Vickerman during his time at the Breakers) and Jack Purchase as the team’s development player. Vickerman then added import duo Melo Trimble from Cairns and Shawn Long via New Zealand, who were friends, having played together for the USA National Team. Rounded out the squad David Barlow, Alex Pledger, Tohi Smith-Milner and Casey Prather re-signed with the club.

After a season spent in Europe, Casey Prather would return to the club (two-year deal) as the team’s third import, but he Prather missed the first seven games of the season due to injury, question marks around his health and signing were raised. Once Prather (9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.7 assists) managed to return to the court, his scoring was far below his career numbers. He managed to play in six games before undergoing another knee clean-out shortly after and was then ruled out for the rest of the season due to a right hamstring tear. United would sign former NBA talent Stanton Kidd (9.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.5 assists) as his injury replacement.

This resulted in United losing four of their first five games of the season, and with reports of a rift between players, a coach under pressure and frustrated supporters, the club looked utterly rattled. By late-November however, United sat third on the ladder (7-4) behind six consecutive wins and were the highest scoring team in the competition (99.7 points-per-game). Melo Trimble (19.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 steals) would lead United in scoring, alongside Long (18.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks) and Captain Chris Goulding (17.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists).

Long finished the season averaging 18.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists while Melbourne finished the season in fourth place (15-13) and face Sydney in the semifinals.

Long (23 points, 10 rebounds, and 1 block) controlled the inside while Trimble (34 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals) came off the bench to finish as the game’s leading scorer. It wasn’t enough however, with United losing game one (80-86) with Xavier Cooks (21 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists) and Jae’Sean Tate (19 points and 5 rebounds) doing most of the damage for the Kings.

They returned to Melbourne for game two where United would even the series, thanks to a combined effort from their import trio, with Long (26 points and 11 rebounds), Trimble (21 points and 2 steals) and Kidd (18 points and 4 rebounds) all delivering when it counted. Tate (18 points and 6 rebounds) kept the scoreboard ticking over for Sydney but the damage was done during the second quarter, where United outscored the Kings 32-7, a lead that allowed them to win by 45 points at full-time (125-80). The series decider was played at Qudos Bank Arena in a game that came down to the final seconds. Goulding (19 points and 3 assists) led Melbourne in scoring, but Tate (20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists) and the Kings were able to come away with a two-point win and proceed to the Grand Final, ending United’s season.

Shawn Long played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the New Zealand Breakers and the Melbourne United. He averaged 18.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 59 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (811 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.