View source for South Dragons

{{Short description|Defunct professional basketball team from Melbourne, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{infobox basketball club
| name            = South Dragons
| logo            = South Dragons.png
| nickname        = 
| leagues         = [[National Basketball League (Australia)|NBL]]
| conference      = 
| division        = 
| founded         = 2006
| dissolved       = 2009
| history         = '''South Dragons'''<br />2006–2009
| arena           = [[Melbourne Arena]]
| capacity        = 10,500
| location        = [[Melbourne]], [[Victoria, Australia]]
| colors          = Red, black, white<br /> {{Color box|red}} {{Color box|#000000}} {{Color box|#FFFFFF}}
| current         = 
| sponsor         = 
| president       = 
| vice-presidents = 
| manager         = 
| coach           = 
| captain         = 
| ownership       = 
| championships   = '''1''' ([[2008–09 NBL season|2009]])
| conf_champs     = 
| div_champs      = 
| website         = 
| h_body          = 000000
| h_pattern_b     = _thinredsides
| h_shorts        = 000000
| h_pattern_s     = _redstripes
| a_body          = FFFFFF
| a_pattern_b     = _thinblacksides
| a_shorts        = FFFFFF
| a_pattern_s     = _blacksides
}}

The '''South Dragons''' was an [[Australia]]n professional men's [[basketball]] team in the [[National Basketball League (Australia)|National Basketball League]] (NBL). It debuted in the 2006/07 season and played its final season in 2008/09. The club was based at [[Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre|MSAC]] in [[Melbourne]]'s inner south-eastern suburbs, and was one of the city's two NBL teams; the other was the [[Melbourne United|Melbourne Tigers]], which entered the league in 1984.

==History==
On 13 October 2005, Mark Cowan, a graphic designer and owner of Cowan Basketball, and [[Raphael Geminder]], chairman of [[Visy]], bought the license of the former [[Victoria Titans|Victoria 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 playing [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] college basketball in the [[United States]]. The team's first signing was [[Joe 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 former [[National Basketball Association|NBA]] All-Star [[Mark 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.<ref>{{cite news | last=Hand | first=Guy | title=NBL Dragons confirm coach | date=1 March 2006 | publisher=[[The Australian]]| url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18311879%255E23769,00.html}}</ref> 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 former [[Women's National Basketball Association|WNBA]] player and [[Australia women's national basketball team|Australian team]] captain [[Michele Timms]] as basketball development officer.

The team played its first NBL championship season game on 26 September 2006 against the [[New Zealand Breakers]] at the [[Eventfinda Stadium|North Shore Events Centre]] in [[Auckland]], [[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 by [[Shane Heal]], who was appointed as captain and interim coach for the remainder of the season,<ref>South Dragons (2006). [http://www.southdragons.com.au/default.aspx?s=dragonsnews&id=598 Price resigns, Heal new head coach] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312084328/http://www.southdragons.com.au/default.aspx?s=dragonsnews&id=598 |date=12 March 2007 }} thus becoming the league's first player-coach since [[Cal Bruton]] with [[Hobart Devils]] in 1992. Retrieved 23 October 2006.</ref> 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."<ref>Sportal (2006). [http://www.sportal.com.au/basketball.asp?i=news&id=90159 Price blasts Heal]. Retrieved 24 October 2006.</ref>

The team won its first NBL game on 29 October 2006 against the [[Cairns Taipans]] 96–86, having lost its first six games.

On [[Boxing Day]], 2006, the South Dragons claimed a memorable victory over their cross-town rivals, the [[Melbourne Tigers]] 107–94, leaving its mark on this newly formed rivalry in front of 9175 fans at [[Melbourne Park Multi-Purpose Venue|Vodafone 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<ref>{{cite news | title=Dragons sack Heal | date=1 February 2008 | publisher=[[Fox Sports Australia]]| url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23143562-23769,00.html}}</ref> and the sacking of star player/coach [[Shane Heal]].<ref>{{cite news | title=Dragons and Heal part ways | date=1 February 2008 | publisher=South Dragons | url=http://southdragons.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=74112}}</ref> 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.

==Recruiting process for first season==
At the team's 15 December launch, Cowan said, "If you're Victorian and you're in [[college basketball|college]] and coming home, you're on our list." It was believed the team was looking to sign [[Luke Schenscher]] – a member of the 2004 [[Georgia Institute of Technology|Georgia Tech]] team which went to the [[2004 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament|NCAA championship game]] against the [[University of Connecticut]], and at the time an [[NBA Development League]] player – as its first marquee player.<ref>{{cite news | last=Howell | first=Stephen | title=South Dragons fire up to sign new talent | date=15 December 2005 | publisher=The Age | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/basketball/south-dragons-fire-up-to-sign-new-talent/2005/12/15/1134500960486.html}}</ref>

On 3 March 2006, it was reported by Melbourne's ''[[Herald Sun]]'' newspaper that former Australian star [[Shane 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.<ref>{{cite news | last=Bernard | first=Grantley | title=Heal weighs up Dragons captaincy | date=3 March 2006 | publisher=Herald Sun | url=http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18328459%255E10914,00.html}}</ref> He officially signed with the team on 6 April as the Dragons' inaugural captain.<ref>South Dragons (2005). [http://www.southdragons.com.au/default.aspx?s=dragonsnews&id=129 Heal back in black] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821151912/http://www.southdragons.com.au/default.aspx?s=dragonsnews&id=129 |date=21 August 2006 }}. Retrieved 6 April 2006.</ref>

On 17 March 2006, 18-year-old [[Australian Institute of Sport]] graduate [[Joe Ingles]] became the team's first signed player.<ref>South Dragons (2005). [http://www.southdragons.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=87 Meet Joe Ingles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904124255/http://www.southdragons.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=87 |date=4 September 2006 }}. Retrieved 17 March 2006.</ref> The Dragons were unable to sign Schenscher because the [[Chicago Bulls]] called him up to fill a roster vacancy earlier that month.

==2008–09 – "Our Time Is Now"==
After a disastrous [[2007–08 NBL season]], in which the team only won a handful of games, the Dragons looked set to try to rebuild quickly. Captain-Coach [[Shane Heal]] was sacked along with multiple players. The Dragons signed on former [[Sydney Kings]] coach [[Brian Goorjian]] as their head coach. From there the Dragons signed on [[Nick Horvath]] as their starting centre, [[Mika Vukona]] from the [[New Zealand Breakers]], former Sydney Kings player [[Mark Worthington]], former Brisbane Bullets point guard [[Adam Gibson (basketball)|Adam Gibson]], and former [[West Sydney Razorbacks]] point guard [[Rhys Carter]]. The team were believed to have signed star [[National Basketball League (Australasia)|NBL]] player [[Ebi Ere]] but he decided to sign on with the Dragons' crosstown rivals the [[Melbourne Tigers]]. Instead the Dragons signed on high-flying American [[Tremmell Darden]] as their second import alongside [[Cortez Groves]].

The team started the season with a 6-point loss to the [[Cairns Taipans]]. The Dragons rebounded by beating the [[Perth Wildcats]] twice. Next the Dragons lost a close match against the [[Townsville 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 the [[Gold Coast Blaze]] by 17 points, the [[Wollongong Hawks]] by 19 points and the [[Sydney 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 of [[Hisense 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.<ref>http://www.nbl.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=76375 {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref> The Dragons followed this up with their fifth straight win against the [[Cairns 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 signing [[Donta 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.

==Honour Roll ==
{| class="wikitable"
|- align=left
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Championships: 
| 1 (2008/09)
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Finals Appearances: 
| 2 (2006/07, 2008/09)
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Grand Final Appearances: 
| 1 (2008/09)
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Most Valuable Players: 
| –
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Grand Final MVPs: 
| [[Donta Smith]] (2009)
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | All-NBL First Team: 
| [[Mark Worthington]] (2008/09)
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | All-NBL Second Team: 
| –
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | All-NBL Third Team: 
| [[Kavossy Franklin]] (2006/07), [[Adam Gibson (basketball)|Adam Gibson]] (2008/09), [[Joe Ingles]] (2008/09)
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Rookie of the Year: 
| [[Joe Ingles]] (2006/07)
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Most Improved Player: 
| –
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Best Defensive Player: 
| [[Adam Gibson (basketball)|Adam Gibson]] (2008/09)
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Best Sixth Man: 
| –
|-
| style="background:#efefef;" | NBL Coach of the Year: 
| [[Brian Goorjian]] (2008/09)
|}

==Season by season==

{{South Dragons Season by season}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

{{South Dragons 2008–09 NBL champions}}
{{NBLdefunct}}

[[Category:South Dragons| ]]
[[Category:Basketball teams in Melbourne]]
[[Category:Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) teams]]
[[Category:Basketball teams established in 2006]]
[[Category:Basketball teams disestablished in 2009]]