West Sydney Razorbacks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| West Sydney Razorbacks | |
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| Established | 1998/99 |
| Team Colours | Navy, Orange, Red and White |
| Home Venue | Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre, Sydney |
| Major Sponsor | Westbus |
| Championships | None |
| Team History | West Sydney Razorbacks (1998/99-Present) |
| Chief Executive | Robbie Cadee |
| Coach | Cal Bruton |
| Captain | Scott McGregor |
| Website | www.razorbacks.com.au |
The West Sydney Razorbacks are a professional basketball team competing in Australia's National Basketball League. The club is based in the city of Sydney.
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[edit] History
Before joining the NBL, the club played as the West Sydney Slammers, representing Liverpool, NSW in the Continental Basketball Association. In 1996 the club submitted an application to join the NBL and after receiving strong opposition from the Sydney Kings [1] the NBL granted them the license in 1997.
Adopting the name West Sydney Razorbacks the team debuted in the 1998/99 season and won their first match against home town rivals the Kings. After playing their first seasons at the Whitlam Centre in Liverpool the Razorbacks moved to the 4,500 seat Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre in Homebush Bay in 2000. Only a few years after their debut in the NBL, the club made history by becoming the first Sydney-based team to contest the NBL Grand Finals in 2002 (losing to the Adelaide 36ers 2-1 in a best-of-three final series).
Three years later, in 2005, they would again make the grand final, this time against cross-town rivals Sydney Kings. Again they took the series to a deciding match (this time a fifth in the best-of-five series), before eventually losing.
They signed shooting guard James Harvey from overseas in preparation for the 2005/06 season, but everything went downhill from there. Club legend Simon Dwight retired weeks prior to the season due to injury, point guard Steve Markovic left for Europe without taking the time to confer with club officials, and power forward Nick Horvath went down to a knee injury in the first week. James Harvey suffered a recurrence of a shoulder injury about halfway through the season. Up until that time he led the league in scoring. The Razorbacks failed to even make the playoffs, finishing last with a 5-27 record.
2006/7 season: again one of the bottom teams. New import Peter Cornell was injured before the season and was replaced with center Cheikh Ya Ya Dia alongside fellow import Justin Bailey.
Star player - James Harvey: a 6'4" shooting guard currently averaging 23 points per game for 2006.
[edit] Honour Roll
| NBL Championships: | 0 |
| NBL Finals Appearances: | 2000, 2002, 2004 |
| NBL Grand Final appearances: | 2 (2002, 2004) |
| All-NBL First Team: | John Rillie (2004), Sam Mackinnon (2004) |
| NBL Rookie of the Year: | Steven Markovic (2004) |
| NBL Best Defensive Player: | Simon Dwight (2002) |
| NBL Best Sixth Man: | Bruce Bolden (1999) |
Source: www.nbl.com.au
[edit] Current roster
| West Sydney Razorbacks Current Roster |
||||
| Head Coach: Cal Bruton | Edit | |||
| G | 1 |  |
Rhys Carter | (VIC; AIS) |
| G | 3 | |
James Harvey | (WA) |
| G | 4 |  |
Justin Bailey* | (New Jersey; University of Hartford) |
| G | 5 | |
Graeme Dann | (NSW; AIS) |
| C | 6 | |
Julian Khazzouh | (NSW) |
| G/F | 8 | |
Clint Reed | (NSW) |
| F | 10 | |
Scott McGregor - Captain | (NSW; AIS) |
| G/F | 13 | |
Liam Rush | (WA) |
| F | 15 | |
Cam Rigby | (VIC) |
| G | 23 | |
Matt Unicomb# | (NSW) |
| C | 42 |  |
Cheikh Ya Ya Dia* | (Senegal; Georgetown University) |
| * = Import, # = Development Player | West Sydney Razorbacks | |||
[edit] External links
| Clubs in the National Basketball League |
|
Adelaide 36ers | Brisbane Bullets | Cairns Taipans | Melbourne Tigers | New Zealand Breakers | Perth Wildcats | Singapore Slingers | South Dragons | Sydney Kings | Townsville Crocodiles | West Sydney Razorbacks | Wollongong Hawks |
