The

1986 NBL season The 1986 NBL season was the eighth season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 14 teams contested the league. Clubs The NBL had 14 clubs spread across all Australian states and territories with the exception of the Norther ...

was the 5th season for the Adelaide 36ers in the Australian-based National Basketball League. The club won its first NBL Championship after defeating the Brisbane Bullets 2–1 in the NBL's first ever multiple game Grand Final series. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, the 36ers just missed out on their first NBL championship when they had gone down 121–95 to the Brian Kerle coached, Leroy Loggins inspired Brisbane Bullets in the Grand Final that had been played on the Bullets home court, the

Sleeman Sports Centre The Chandler Arena (formerly the Sleeman Sports Centre) is an indoor sports venue, located in the suburb of Chandler in Brisbane, Queensland. It has seating capacity for 2,700, and hosts netball, basketball, indoor soccer, badminton and volleyba ...

. The Adelaide 36ers played their home games at the 3,000 seat Apollo Stadium. Built in 1969, the Apollo was (at the time) Adelaide's largest indoor arena. Coaching the 36ers as he had done in 1985 was former

Australian Boomers The Australian men's national basketball team, known as the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has been placed among the world elite t ...

Olympic Games representative (

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

) Ken Cole. Captaining the team would be 6'9" (207 cm) American import centre, 27 year old Bill Jones. The 1986 Adelaide 36ers compiled a league leading 24–2 record in the regular season before going 3–1 in the playoffs to claim their first title.

Off-season

Additions

(From the squad at the end of the

1985 NBL season The 1985 NBL season was the seventh season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 14 teams contested the league. Regular season The 1985 regular season took place over 18 rounds between 12 April 1985 and 18 August 1985. Roun ...

)

Subtractions

(From the squad at the end of the

)

Roster

Depth chart

1986 NBL clubs

Regular season

Ladder

Game log

Regular season

* All home games were broadcast on Channel 10 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 1 , 26 April ,

Supersonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

W 107–96
, Bill Jones (30) ,

Mark Davis Mark Davis may refer to: Entertainers *Mark Davis (talk show host), American radio talk show host * Mark Jonathan Davis (born 1965), American actor/singer and creator of Richard Cheese *Mark Davis, American bassist and founding member for the band ...

(10) ,

(3) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 1–0 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 2 , 3 May ,

Devils A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in many and various cultures and religious traditions. Devil or Devils may also refer to: * Satan * Devil in Christianity * Demon * Folk devil Art, entertainment, and media Film and t ...

W 108–72
,

(20) , Bill Jones (14) ,

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...

(4) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 2–0 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 3 , 10 May ,

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...

W 114–110
, Bill Jones (27) ,

(19) ,

(2) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 3–0 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 4 , 16 May , @

W 97–69
,

(33) ,

(18) ,

Peter Ali Peter Ali (born 22 May 1956) is an Australian basketball player who played for the Adelaide 36ers in the National Basketball League (NBL). He competed in the men's tournament at the 1980 Summer Olympics. Biography Ali was born in Adelaide in ...

(6) ,

Kingborough Sports Centre The Kingborough Sports Centre (KSC), is a multi-purpose sports venue located in the southern Hobart (Tasmania) suburb of Kingston. The centre was opened on 19 May 1979 and since opening has become a vital part of the Kingborough Community. ...

1,800 , 4–0 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 5 , 17 May , @

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

W 125–97
,

(35) , Bill Jones (18) ,

Darryl Pearce Darryl "The Iceman" Pearce (born 15 October 1960) is an Australian former professional basketball player. He played in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL) for the Adelaide 36ers from 1982 to 1991 before playing four seasons (1992–19 ...

(7) ,

Albert Park Basketball Stadium Albert Park Basketball Stadium was an Australian basketball centre in Albert Park, Victoria. The nine-court arena was the home of NBL side St. Kilda Saints and Melbourne United (formerly Melbourne Tigers). On 10 June 1979, Albert Park hosted t ...

2,000 , 5–0 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 6 , 24 May , Cannons
W 124–91
,

(30) ,

(23) , Bill Jones,

(4) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 6–0 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 7 , 30 May , @ Falcons
W 98–96
,

(26) ,

& Bill Jones (18) ,

(3) , Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium
2,200 , 7–0 , - style="background-color:#ffcccc;" , 8 , 31 May , @ Westars
L 87–89
,

(26) ,

(23) ,

(4) , State Sports Centre
5,006 , 7–1 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 9 , 7 June , Falcons
W 119–92
,

& Bill Jones (28) ,

& Bill Jones (14) ,

(6) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 8–1 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 10 , 14 June , @

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

W 117–85
,

(23) ,

(16) ,

(8) , Perry Lakes Basketball Stadium
1,500 , 9–1 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 11 , 21 June , Spectres
W 124–104
,

(42) ,

(18) ,

(6) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 10–1 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 12 , 12 July ,

W 124–83
,

(35) ,

(18) ,

(7) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 11–1 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 13 , 19 July , @

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

W 109–107
,

(25) ,

(21) ,

(3) , Geelong Arena
2,000 , 12–1 , - style="background-color:#ffcccc;" , 14 , 20 July , @ Giants
L 114–116
,

(30) , Bill Jones (14) ,

(8) , The Glass House
7,200 , 12–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 15 , 26 July , Tigers
W 140–101
,

(33) ,

(16) ,

(5) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 13–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 16 , 2 August ,

Bullets A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. Bullets are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax. Bullets are made in various shapes and con ...

W 120–92
,

(32) , Dwayne Nelson (16) ,

(5) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 14–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 17 , 9 August , Giants
W 137–111
, Dwayne Nelson (24) , Bill Jones (17) ,

(9) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 15–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 18 , 15 August , @

W 100–79
,

(24) ,

(15) ,

(4) , Illawarra Basketball Stadium
2,000 , 16–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 19 , 16 August , @

W 100–75
, Bill Jones (23) , Bill Jones (24) ,

(3) , State Sports Centre
5,006 , 17–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 20 , 30 August ,

W 120–119
, Bill Jones &

(24) , Bill Jones (20) ,

(6) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 18–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 21 , 6 September ,

W 138–98
,

(29) ,

(24) ,

(4) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 19–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 22 , 13 September , @ Cannons
W 118–104
,

(35) ,

(17) ,

(5) , AIS Arena
5,200 , 20–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 23 , 14 September , @

W 124–115
,

(38) ,

(18) ,

(6) , Brisbane Entertainment Centre
8,000 , 21–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 24 , 20 September , Westars
W 124–98
,

(31) , Bill Jones (15) ,

(3) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 22–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 25 , 27 September , @ Spectres
W 98–94
, Bill Jones (28) ,

(17) ,

(8) , Burwood Stadium
2,000 , 23–2 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , 26 , 28 September , @ Tigers
W 130–117
,

(34) ,

(14) ,

(8) ,

2,000 , 24–2

Finals

''One Game Semi-final, 3 Game Grand Final'' , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , SF , 4 October ,

W 116–92
,

(28) ,

(14) ,

(7) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 1–0 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , GF1 , 11 October , @

W 122–119
(OT) ,

(38) ,

(23) ,

(5) , Brisbane Entertainment Centre
11,000 , 1–0 , - style="background-color:#ffcccc;" , GF2 , 17 October ,

L 83–104
,

(29) , Bill Jones (17) ,

(6) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 1–1 , - style="background-color:#bbffbb;" , GF3 , 19 October ,

W 113–91
,

(27) ,

(25) ,

(2) , Apollo Stadium
3,000 , 2–1

Player statistics

Regular season

Team Leaders

*Points per game: 25.7 -

*Rebounds per game: 15.8 -

*Assists per game: 3.7 -

and

*Steals per game: 1.2 - Bill Jones *Blocks per game: 2.1 - Bill Jones

Finals

Team Leaders

*Points per game: 24.3 -

*Rebounds per game: 18.0 -

*Assists per game: 4.6 -

*Steals per game: 1.8 -

*Blocks per game: 2.5 - Bill Jones

Awards

NBL Award Winners

All-NBL First team –

('' Centre'')
Grand Final MVP –

NBL Coach of the Year The National Basketball League Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1980 NBL season to the best head coach of the regular season. At the season's end, each c ...

– Ken Cole
NBL Leading Rebounder –

(482 @ 16.1 pg)
Adelaide 36ers Club MVP –

Season summary

Regular season

The 1986 Adelaide 36ers were determined to go one better and avenge their Grand Final loss to the Brisbane Bullets in 1985. Former import player in

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and now Australian citizen Dwayne Nelson rejoined the club who were on the lookout for a player who could handle Brisbane's star import Leroy Loggins. Nelson, who had averaged 25.9 points and 10.1 rebounds in 24 games in 1984, adjusted well to his new role as a bench player backing up both Mark Davis and Peter Ali. The 36ers enjoyed their best ever year when they went through the regular season with a league leading 24–2 record which included winning all 13 games played at the Apollo Stadium, the first time in NBL history that a team had gone through a regular season undefeated on their home court. As expected, the team was led by its Twin Towers import front court combination of centre Bill Jones and Power forward Mark Davis and along with the tough defence of

1980 Olympic Games The 1980 Olympics may refer to: * 1980 Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, New York, United States * 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officiall ...

forward Peter Ali and Dwayne Nelson, plus the scoring ability of guards Al Green, Darryl Pearce and Mike McKay, the 36ers emerged as the league's dominant team. Adelaide only lost two games for the season, both away from home and both came from last second shots against the

West Sydney Westars Bankstown Bruins is a NBL1 East club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club fields a team in the Men's NBL1 East. The club is a division of Bankstown Basketball Association (BBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the regi ...

and Coburg Giants respectively. Those two losses ultimately denied Adelaide a perfect season by no more than a couple of seconds, but earned the team the nickname "The Invincibles", given to them by Adelaide's multi-award-winning basketball journalist Boti Nagy. The team generally dominated on his home court at the Apollo Stadium which was regularly sold-out for games. The closest any team came to beating Adelaide at home was on 30 August against the

Geelong Cats The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

. With 13 seconds remaining, a 3-pointer from Cats veteran Boomers forward Ian Davies gave the visitors a 119–118 lead and it appeared might Adelaide would lose at home for the first time. Following a quick inbound pass, Mike McKay brought the ball down court and managed to get a pass through double team defence to an open Darryl Pearce who put up a 3-point shot with only 2 seconds remaining that missed. Captain Bill Jones flew high to grab the rebound and in one motion tip-dunked the ball to give the 36ers a 120–119 win on the buzzer. On their home court, the 36ers had an average score of 123–92 while their average away score was 109–96. This gave the team an average score of 116–94 for the regular season. Despite the on court success, there was controversy at the club late in the season with coach Ken Cole suspended by the club board over his smoking of

marijuana joint A joint (), also commonly referred to as a "doobie" or "doob", is a rolled cannabis cigarette. Unlike commercial tobacco cigarettes, the user ordinarily hand-rolls joints with rolling papers, though in some cases they are machine-rolled ...

during a road trip to Brisbane, a situation that Cole was open about and never denied, stating publicly that he was recommended it by his family doctor as a way of dealing with health problems and physical pain. After the story was broken in one of Adelaide's daily newspaper's at the time, '' The Advertiser'', Cole was suspended by the club for the last two games and the team was coached by his assistant Don Shipway. The story was broken by journalist Andrew Both who was in Shipway's hotel room following their win over the Bullets when Cole asked those present if they minded him smoking the joint since he didn't drink. Also in the room were Shipway and players Peter Ali, Darryl Pearce and Scott Ninnis who were only drinking alcohol. Before the playoffs, the players (who to this day believe that Both was made to write the story) got together and went to the club board demanding Cole's return, going so far as to tell the board that they would refuse to play unless Cole was coaching them. Under immense pressure from not only the players but the general public of Adelaide who supported Cole despite his admitted use of the drug, the club board relented and Cole returned for the 1986 playoffs, though it was known that he would be sacked over the incident at the end of the season regardless of a championship win or not. During the year there had been rumours that the club board had not been happy with Cole despite the team's success, with Cole called before the club board after the tight home win over Geelong (2 weeks before the marijuana incident) to explain why the team wasn't dominating like they had hoped (the 36ers had an 18–2 record following the win over Geelong).

NBL Finals

Semi-finals

Along with the 2nd placed Canberra Cannons, the 36ers were given a bye in the Quarter-finals. In their single game Semi-final against the 4th placed Illawarra Hawks, and with Ken Cole back as coach (when he was introduced to the crowd they gave Cole a 3-minute standing ovation showing their support), the 36ers as expected never gave the Hawks a look-in despite a heroic 28 points and 14 rebounds from their 6'10" (208 cm) Australian Boomers centre

Ray Borner Ray Borner OAM (born 27 May 1962) is an Australian former basketball player who competed in the National Basketball League. He was named as the NBL's Most Valuable Player for the 1985 season, becoming the first Australian born player to win ...

, with the 36ers leading 28–14 at the end of the first 12-minute period. Led by Darryl Pearce with 28 points and 7 assists, Al Green with 27 points and 8 rebounds, and with strong contributions from Mark Davis (17 points and 14 rebounds) and Bill Jones with 12 points and 13 rebounds, Adelaide ran out easy 116–92 winners to book their place in the club's second straight Grand Final.

NBL Grand Final

The 36ers opponents in the 1986 NBL Grand Final would again be the Brisbane Bullets who had come from behind to win their Semi-final 120–100 over the Cannons at the AIS Arena in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. After 7 years with the Grand Final being a single game, in 1986 the NBL decided to follow the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

's model of a playoff series to determine the championship. The Grand Final became a 3-game series with the first game to be held at the Bullets new 1986 home, the 13,500 capacity Brisbane Entertainment Centre (by far the largest and most modern venue in the NBL in 1986, able to hold some 6,300 more than the next largest venue, the 7,200 seat

Glass House The Glass House, or Johnson house, is a historic house museum on Ponus Ridge Road in New Canaan, Connecticut built in 1948–49. It was designed by architect Philip Johnson as his own residence. It has been called his "signature work". The Glas ...

in Melbourne) with Games 2 and 3 (if required) at the Apollo Stadium. To the NBL's delight, the series went the full 3 games with the opening game in Brisbane attracting an Australian record indoor sporting attendance of 11,000. Game 1 in Brisbane was hailed as one of the best games of basketball ever seen in Australia. The Bullets led early, but a 28–15 second period with Davis leading the scoring and rebounding saw Adelaide shoot to a 52–41 half time lead. After sitting out most of the 2nd with foul trouble, Leroy Loggins lit up in the 3rd to drag Brisbane back into the game and Adelaide's lead was cut to 76–73 with one period remaining. Late in the last, Bill Jones pulled off the play of the series when he stepped in front of Loggins to take a charge which saw Brisbane's leading man foul out of the game, though Brisbane rallied and the score was tied at 111–111 at the end of regulation time. In overtime the 36ers finally overcame the Bullets to win 122–119 and take a 1–0 series lead. Mark Davis led the way for the 36ers with 38 points, 23 rebounds and 5 assists. He was well supported by Bill Jones (30 pts, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks), Mike McKay with 16 points and Darryl Pearce with 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. For the Bullets, Loggins had 38 points, 6 blocks and 4 assists. Adelaide were expected to wrap up the series in Game 2 at the Apollo where they had not lost all season. However, Cal Bruton refused to let the defending champions be swept. The Black Pearl scored 38 points and with Mark Davis restricted due to an elbow injury suffered early in the game, the Bullets ran out shock 104–83 winners and handing Adelaide their first loss at home since 15 June 1985 ending a streak of 20 straight home wins. Game 3, played on 19 October, saw a 43-point turn around with the Adelaide 36ers winning their first NBL Championship with a hard-fought 113–91 win, though the scoreline didn't tell how close the game was for the first three periods with Adelaide only leading 80–76 going into the final period of play. Leading the way for the 36ers was Darryl Pearce with 27 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Mark Davis scored 22 points but dominated the boards, grabbing 25 rebounds, while Al Green finally put together a good Grand Final performance after relatively poor games (by his standards) for West Adelaide in

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

(where he fouled out), and again for the 36ers in 1985 where he again fouled out of the game, scoring only 15 points (well below his 1985 season average of 31.0 ppg). Green scored 22 points and grabbed 3 rebounds. The pivotal moment of the game came when Leroy Loggins fouled out in just the 3rd period. To that point of the game he had been closely checked by Peter Ali, Dwayne Nelson and Mike McKay in a great defensive performance which restricted a frustrated Loggins (who in 1986 averaged 29.8 points per game which won him his second straight NBL MVP award) to just 6 points. Mark Davis with an average of 24.3 points, 19.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists over the 3 games was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

for the Grand Final series. Davis, who averaged 25.3 points and a league leading 16.1 rebounds for the year, was also named as the 36ers Club MVP winner for the second straight year and was also named at centre in the All-NBL First team.

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Accolades

Although debate still rages among fans of the National Basketball League, in 2012 the 1986 Adelaide 36ers were named by the NBL as the greatest single season team in league history. In 2016, the 1986 NBL champion 36ers had their 30th anniversary in an official function held by the club in the Scouts Deck restaurant located in the 36ers home venue (since 1992), the

Titanium Security Arena Adelaide Arena (known commercially as Adelaide 36ers Arena) is a multipurpose indoor sports stadium located in Findon, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the former home arena for the Adelaide 36ers of the NBL and th ...

.36ers Championship Anniversary , 9 News Adelaide
/ref>

References

External links

THE GOLDEN ERA - Adelaide 36ers in the 1980's

External links

Official website of the Adelaide 36ersOfficial website of the NBL
{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 Adelaide 36ers Season Adelaide 36ers seasons 1986 NBL season by team 1986 NBL season

Off-season

Additions

Subtractions

Roster

Depth chart

1986 NBL clubs

Regular season

Ladder

Game log

Regular season

Finals

Player statistics

Regular season

Team Leaders

Finals

Team Leaders

Awards

NBL Award Winners

Season summary

Regular season

NBL Finals

Semi-finals

NBL Grand Final

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Accolades

See also

References

External links

External links