| South Dragons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Leagues | NBL | ||
| Founded | 2006 | ||
| Dissolved | 2009 | ||
| History | South Dragons 2006–2009 | ||
| Arena | Melbourne Arena | ||
| Capacity | 10,500 | ||
| Location | Melbourne,Victoria, Australia | ||
| Team colors | Red, black, white | ||
| Championships | 1 (2009) | ||
TheSouth Dragons was anAustralian professional men'sbasketball team in theNational Basketball League (NBL). It debuted in the 2006/07 season and played its final season in 2008/09. The club was based atMSAC inMelbourne's inner south-eastern suburbs, and was one of the city's two NBL teams; the other was theMelbourne Tigers, which entered the league in 1984.
On 13 October 2005, Mark Cowan, a graphic designer and owner of Cowan Basketball, andRaphael Geminder, chairman ofVisy, bought the license of the formerVictoria Giants/Titans NBL franchise to establish a new NBL team in Melbourne. Cowan owned 51%, with Geminder owning the remaining 49%. The team's name and uniforms were not announced until 15 December 2005, and until that time the Cowan Basketball website left a message "UNLEASHED 15.12.2005" as the only details on the team.
The Dragons entered the NBL in the 2006–07 season as the 12th franchise, and promised to look to fill its roster with young Australian basketballers returning home after playingNCAA college basketball in theUnited States. The team's first signing wasJoe Ingles at the age of 18. The first members of the development squad (started in the team's second season) were Adam Barras and Ashly Donald from the Warrandyte Venom (formally of the SEABL) both aged 19.
The Dragons hired formerNBA All-StarMark Price as their inaugural head coach on 1 March 2006. Price is arguably the biggest name to play a major role in any Australian basketball club.[1] His appointment was announced one day after the Melbourne Tigers had won the 2005-06 NBL Championship. The team also hired various other front-office staff with extensive basketball experience, including formerWNBA player andAustralian team captainMichele Timms as basketball development officer.
The team played its first NBL championship season game on 26 September 2006 against theNew Zealand Breakers at theNorth Shore Events Centre inAuckland,New Zealand, losing 112 to 106.
Price resigned his position on 22 October 2006 after the Dragons lost their first five NBL championship season games, citing family reasons; he was replaced byShane Heal, who was appointed as captain and interim coach for the remainder of the season,[2] The following day Price spoke to the media and claimed that Heal had undermined his position, stating, "I've been in professional basketball a long time and I've never seen undermining of a coach quite like this before."[3]
The team won its first NBL game on 29 October 2006 against theCairns Taipans 96–86, having lost its first six games.
OnBoxing Day, 2006, the South Dragons claimed a memorable victory over their cross-town rivals, theMelbourne Tigers 107–94, leaving its mark on this newly formed rivalry in front of 9175 fans atVodafone Arena.
After finishing their first ever season with a 15–18 record, the Dragons reached the knockout phase of the playoffs - losing to Cairns 97–118 on 15 February 2007 at the Cairns Convention Centre.
The team's season 2007/2008 campaign began on 22 September 2007 against the West Sydney Razorbacks at Vodafone Arena with a 116–106 loss. It was a turbulent season for the club, ending with the club's chairman Mark Cowan stepping down[4] and the sacking of star player/coachShane Heal.[5] This came after the team once again started the season with six straight losses, prompting the sacking of import Nick Horvath, who was replaced by American Bakari Hendrix. Initially the move looked to have paid dividends as the Dragons claimed their first win of the season on 28 October at home to New Zealand. However, wins once again dried-up, with only another 3 coming in the remainder of the 2007 calendar year. On 9 January 2008, with the team sitting on the bottom of the ladder at 4–17, assistant coach Michele Timms resigned from the club, citing overseas job opportunities as the reason behind her sudden departure. Timms wouldn't be the only coach to go, as the club announced on 1 February 2008 that player-coach Shane Heal had been sacked, effective immediately. The last coach remaining at the Dragons- Guy Molloy- took over as interim coach for the final four games of the season, and took just two games to secure an elusive victory and snap a 14-game losing streak with a 95–90 win over Cairns at Vodafone Arena on 6 February. Despite returning to the winners list and showing greater energy and competitiveness under Molloy, the Dragons finished the season on the bottom of the ladder with a 5–25 record. On 1 April 2008,Brian Goorjian was signed as head coach on a 3-year deal.
At the team's 15 December launch, Cowan said, "If you're Victorian and you're incollege and coming home, you're on our list." It was believed the team was looking to signLuke Schenscher – a member of the 2004Georgia Tech team which went to theNCAA championship game against theUniversity of Connecticut, and at the time anNBA Development League player – as its first marquee player.[6]
On 3 March 2006, it was reported by Melbourne'sHerald Sun newspaper that former Australian starShane Heal was considering coming out of retirement to captain the Dragons for the 2006-07 NBL season, and is involved in contract negotiations with the team.[7] He officially signed with the team on 6 April as the Dragons' inaugural captain.[8]
On 17 March 2006, 18-year-oldAustralian Institute of Sport graduateJoe Ingles became the team's first signed player.[9] The Dragons were unable to sign Schenscher because theChicago Bulls called him up to fill a roster vacancy earlier that month.
After a disastrous2007–08 NBL season, in which the team only won a handful of games, the Dragons looked set to try to rebuild quickly. Captain-CoachShane Heal was sacked along with multiple players. The Dragons signed on formerSydney Kings coachBrian Goorjian as their head coach. From there the Dragons signed onNick Horvath as their starting centre,Mika Vukona from theNew Zealand Breakers, former Sydney Kings playerMark Worthington, former Brisbane Bullets point guardAdam Gibson, and formerWest Sydney Razorbacks point guardRhys Carter. The team were believed to have signed starNBL playerEbi Ere but he decided to sign on with the Dragons' crosstown rivals theMelbourne Tigers. Instead the Dragons signed on high-flying AmericanTremmell Darden as their second import alongsideCortez Groves.
The team started the season with a 6-point loss to theCairns Taipans. The Dragons rebounded by beating thePerth Wildcats twice. Next the Dragons lost a close match against theTownsville Crocodiles. After this coach Brian Goodjian blasted his team for their slow start, in which the team trailed by as much as 20 points in the first half. After this the Dragons rebuilt by beating theGold Coast Blaze by 17 points, theWollongong Hawks by 19 points and theSydney Spirit by 5 points. Next up for the Dragons was the local derby against the Tigers. 9308 fans and spectators packed into the Dragons' home court ofHisense Arena. The contest was close early but a strong finish to the first quarter and strong defensive pressure saw the Dragons crush the Tigers 108–80, making it the biggest winning margin for the club in their history. The win saw the Dragons take top spot on the ladder. After the win coach Brian Goorjian commented that The Dragons' time is now.[10] The Dragons followed this up with their fifth straight win against theCairns Taipans. The Dragons dominated the contest from the start and led by as much as 37 points before eventually winning by 29 points. A neck injury which sidelined crowd favourite Cortez Groves saw the Dragons move on quickly, releasing Groves and signingDonta Smith. Smith bought a level the NBL has been missing and was an important key to the success to come. The Dragons finished the regular season in top spot on the ladder and had home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The home-court advantage was crucial as they went on to win the championship by defeating Townsville 2–1 in the semi-final and Melbourne 3–2 in the Grand Final series.
| NBL Championships: | 1 (2008/09) |
| NBL Finals Appearances: | 2 (2006/07, 2008/09) |
| NBL Grand Final Appearances: | 1 (2008/09) |
| NBL Most Valuable Players: | – |
| NBL Grand Final MVPs: | Donta Smith (2009) |
| All-NBL First Team: | Mark Worthington (2008/09) |
| All-NBL Second Team: | – |
| All-NBL Third Team: | Kavossy Franklin (2006/07),Adam Gibson (2008/09),Joe Ingles (2008/09) |
| NBL Rookie of the Year: | Joe Ingles (2006/07) |
| NBL Most Improved Player: | – |
| NBL Best Defensive Player: | Adam Gibson (2008/09) |
| NBL Best Sixth Man: | – |
| NBL Coach of the Year: | Brian Goorjian (2008/09) |
| NBL champions | League champions | Runners-up | Finals berth |
| Season | Tier | League | Regular season | Post-season | Head coach | Captain | Club MVP | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | |||||||
| South Dragons | |||||||||||
| 2006–07 | 1 | NBL | 7th | 33 | 15 | 18 | .455 | Lost elimination final (Cairns) 97–118 | Mark Price Shane Heal | Shane Heal | Kavossy Franklin |
| 2007–08 | 1 | NBL | 13th | 30 | 5 | 25 | .167 | Did not qualify | Shane Heal Guy Molloy | Jacob Holmes Matt Shanahan | Cortez Groves |
| 2008–09 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 30 | 22 | 8 | .733 | Won semifinals (Townsville) 2–1 Won NBL finals (Melbourne) 3–2 | Brian Goorjian | Mark Worthington | Mark Worthington |
| Regular season record | 93 | 42 | 51 | .452 | 1 regular season champions | ||||||
| Finals record | 9 | 5 | 4 | .556 | 1 NBL championships | ||||||
As of the end of the2008–09 season
