The 2003–04 NBL season was the 26th season of competition since its establishment in 1979. A total of 12 teams contested the league. This season marked the first NBL season that featured the
New Zealand Breakers
The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...
, the first New Zealand team in the Australian competition. Also, the
Canberra Cannons were replaced by the
Hunter Pirates.
Regular season
The 2003–04 regular season took place over 22 rounds between 1 October 2003 and 29 February 2004.
Round 1
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!width=90, Date
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!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 2
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 3
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 4
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 5
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 6
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 7
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 8
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 9
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 10
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 11
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 12
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 13
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 14
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 15
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 16
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 17
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 18
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 19
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 20
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 21
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Round 22
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Ladder
The NBL tie-breaker system as outlined in the NBL Rules and Regulations states that in the case of an identical win–loss record, the results in games played between the teams will determine order of seeding.
''1West Sydney Razorbacks won Head-to-Head (2-1). ''
Finals
Playoff bracket
Elimination Finals
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!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Semi-finals
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
Grand Final
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!width=90, Date
!width=180, Home
!width=60, Score
!width=180, Away
!width=260, Venue
!width=70, Crowd
!width=70, Boxscore
All Star Game
Most Valuable Player
*
Ebi Ere
Ebikekeme Hasain Fere “Ebi” Ere (; born August 2, 1981) is an American-Nigerian former professional basketball player.
High school and college career
Ere attended McLain High School and played two seasons of junior college basketball for B ...
(
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...
)
Awards
*
NBL Most Valuable Player:
Matthew Nielsen (
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...
)
*
Larry Sengstock Medal (GF MVP):
Matthew Nielsen (
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...
)
*
NBL Coach of the Year:
Joey Wright (
Brisbane Bullets
The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...
)
*
NBL Best Defensive Player: Ben Castle (
Brisbane Bullets
The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...
)
*
NBL Rookie of the Year:
Steven Markovic (
West Sydney Razorbacks)
*
NBL Most Improved Player:
Geordie Cullen (
Hunter Pirates)
*
NBL Best Sixth Man:
Darryl McDonald
Darryl McDonald (born 17 June 1964) is an American-Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Brisbane Bullets of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). Nicknamed "D-Mac", he played co ...
(
Melbourne Tigers
Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Joh ...
)
*
All-NBL First Team:
**
Matthew Nielsen (
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...
)
**
Mark Bradtke (
Melbourne Tigers
Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Joh ...
)
**
Stephen Black (
Brisbane Bullets
The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...
)
**
John Rillie (
West Sydney Razorbacks)
**
Sam Mackinnon (
West Sydney Razorbacks)
Player of the month
* October:
Matthew Nielsen (
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...
)
* November:
Dusty Rychart (
Adelaide 36ers
The Adelaide 36ers are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in the state's capital of Adela ...
)
* December:
Kevin Freeman (
Brisbane Bullets
The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...
)
* January:
Mike Chappell (
New Zealand Breakers
The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Bank of New Zealand, BNZ Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers are the only non-Australian side currently competing in Austral ...
)
* February:
Matthew Nielsen (
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...
)
Coach of the month
* October:
Brian Goorjian
Brian Warwick Goorjian (born 28 July 1953) is an American-Australian professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). In an NBL coaching career spanning over 20 y ...
(
Sydney Kings
The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...
)
* November:
Brendan Joyce
Brendan Joyce (born December 1960) is an Australian professional basketball coach. He has coached all levels of the game. He has been to 3 Olympic Games with both the Australian men's Boomers team 2004, 2008 and women's Opals team 2016 and 2 wor ...
(
Wollongong Hawks
The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) are an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketbal ...
)
* December:
Joey Wright (
Brisbane Bullets
The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to the league in 2016. Brisbane were one of ten NBL ...
)
* January:
Gordon McLeod (
West Sydney Razorbacks)
* February:
Brendan Joyce
Brendan Joyce (born December 1960) is an Australian professional basketball coach. He has coached all levels of the game. He has been to 3 Olympic Games with both the Australian men's Boomers team 2004, 2008 and women's Opals team 2016 and 2 wor ...
(
Wollongong Hawks
The Illawarra Hawks (formerly the Wollongong Hawks and The Hawks) are an Australian professional basketball team based in Wollongong, New South Wales. The Illawarra Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketbal ...
)
All NBL Team
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:NBL,2003-04
Australia,NBL
2003–04 in Australian basketball
2003 in New Zealand basketball
2004 in New Zealand basketball