BIO: Vic Law was born in South Holland, Illinois (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Vic Law made his NBL debut with the Brisbane Bullets at 25 years of age. He scored 17 points in his first game.

Brisbane continued to struggle to build a solid foundation and culture in their fourth year since re-entering the league. The Bullets released Cam Gliddon (to South East Melbourne), Lamar Patterson (New Zealand) and Will Magnay (NBA), who signed a deal to play with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Entering the Bullets camp were rookie Tanner Krebs (St Mary’s – NCAA), Anthony Drmic and Harry Froling (both via Adelaide), as well as import signings Law and Orlando Johnson.

The Bullets had put together a high-scoring side onto the floor, with Law (18.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks) shooting the ball at 47% from the field and team captain Nathan Sobey (21.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists) shooting the ball at 46 FG%, and both finishing among the top five scorers in the league. A solid local frontcourt of Matthew Hodgson (10.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks), Harry Froling (8.0 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Tyrell Harrison (5.2 points, 5.8 rebounds) made sure the Bullets outrebounded most team’s, finishing third in offensive rebounding and second in defensive rebounds across the league.

Brisbane showcased what they ‘could be’ in a win over Illawarra (97-91) where Law (29 points and 9 rebounds) and Sobey (18 points and seven assists) piled on the points while Froling and Hodgson notched up 13 rebounds combined.

Memorable games for the team included a win against top-of-the-table Melbourne (96-88). Law (10 points, 15 rebounds and 4 assists) delivered his best rebounding effort to date, and Hodgson (24 points in 27 minutes) had a season-high scoring night as well and a win over Perth (95-92), where Law (23 points and 5 rebounds) and Sobey (31 points and 4 assists) would combine for 54 points, more than half the team’s score.

The high-scoring offence and strong rebounding still saw Brisbane (8-8) struggling to win half of their games. Orlando Johnson (6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) was released mid-March after posting average numbers across 15 games, a move which coincided with New Zealand releasing Lamar Patterson after a niggling knee injury and sluggish start to the season.

Patterson (14.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.5 steals) returned to Brisbane, overcame the knee injury and set the stage for the Bullets to return to the playoffs, but a knee injury to Law in the very next game would rule him out for the rest of the season.

Brisbane (10-8) had been floating in and out of the top four, and while Sobey would attempt to fill the void created by Law’s injury, the Bullets would lose five of their next seven games, giving up a average of 90 points while putting up 80 of their own. This led to the mid-season signing of BJ Johnson (10.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) who they hoped would help stem the bleeding, which it somewhat did, resulting in a 8-10 run to end the Bullets season.

Brisbane’s worst performance came against South East Melbourne (95-66) in round 19. With Sobey injured, Brisbane struggled to score at all, only putting up 66 for their season low. Anthony Drmic (20 points) and Patterson (11 points) were the only players putting up more than six points.

Despite flashes of brilliance, Brisbane stumbled to a sixth-place finish at the end of the season (18-18) and failed to reach the playoffs.

PERTH WILDCATS
2020/21
This season, Perth would see Trevor Gleeson, who coached the team to five championships in seven seasons, leave to coach in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors. The Wildcats would then suffer another blow, losing mid-season signing Will Magnay and half of Perth’s bench rotation (Clint Steindl, Jarrad Weeks, and Jarred Bairstow), all signing multi-year deals to play for Tasmania under former Wildcats assistant Scott Roth.

Perth then looked to rebuild its squad, bringing in US coach Scott Morrison to replace Gleeson, adding imports Vic Law (via Brisbane) Michael Frazier III and signing Matthew Hodgson (via Brisbane) with their last free roster spot.

Perth played its first five games at home before playing 14 games away due to the border closures resulting from COVID-19. Despite the obstacle of being away from family and friends, the Wildcats spent the majority of the year in the top four and were a consensus favourite to make the Grand Final.

The dynamic duo of Cotton (22.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.4 steals) and Law (20.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks) was nearly unstoppable in the early stages of the season, with both players among the top three scorers in the league and Perth leading the league in total points scored (89.1 points per game).

During the 2021/22 season Vic Law was involved in a incident with Sydney Kings forward Deng Deng when the pumped-up pair came together in a heated exchange, to which Law leant into Deng, who then dropped to the floor in a attempted to earn the referee’s whistle in humerous fashion.

Plenty happening in The Jungle ????
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– Watch #NBL22 live on @ESPNAusNZ + @kayosports ???? pic.twitter.com/aURlMOjRfb

— The NBL (@NBL) December 17, 2021

Both players received technical fouls and the incident was reported to the NBL tribunal. Law received a $1,000 fine for his role in the confrontation.

Perth, who were second on the ladder (13-6), returned to Western Australia to play their last nine games, all at home. During that time, the team decided to replace Frazier with big man John Brown III, who flew into the country and began training only to receive the news that his former team would not provide a clearance in time for him to make the playoffs. Perth was then faced with the uncomfortable situation of asking Frazier, who had been training alongside Brown, to return to the lineup while Brown III headed back to the USA.

Earlier today, @PerthWildcats head coach Scott Morrison addressed the awkward nature of how things have played out with Michael Frazier II and John Brown III.#NBL22 pic.twitter.com/scxWbnKfDQ

— NBL (@NBL) April 6, 2022

A season ending knee injury saw Law shut down with only a few games to go, while Cotton also missing several games during the run home. This resulted in Perth winning only three of their nine home games and heading into their last game needing to defeat South East Melbourne to reach the playoffs. Perth entered the game sitting in fourth place, with their playoff chances on the line, but when the team built a eight-point lead in the second half, it seemed a lock that the Wildcats would return to the playoffs for the 37th season in a row. The Phoenix, however, fought back and ended the Wildcats’ extraordinary run of finals campaigns with a thrilling two-point overtime win, ending the team’s run of consecutive playoff appearances, a streak which had begun in 1986.

Both Cotton and Law were selected in the All-NBL First Team at season’s end.

Vic Law played two seasons in the NBL, playing for both the Brisbane Bullets and the Perth Wildcats. He averaged 19.7 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 42 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.