Long and short of the NBL revealed
A review of the rosters of all eleven National Basketball league (NBL) clubs as they started the 2005/06
season has revealed just which teams are the biggest, heaviest and have the most experience in the Philips
Championship.
The rosters of all teams were reviewed to reveal the average height, weight and age of each team as well
as identifying the players who are at the extreme ends of these spectrum.
The tallest player in the league is colossal 216cm Hunters Pirates centre Jason Eversteyn, whilst far below
him on the other end of the scale is David Bailey of the Perth Wildcats at just a diminutive 173cm. The
average height of all players in the Philips Championship is 198.1cm.
The Melbourne Tigers, who are currently the only undefeated team in the competition at 3-0, are also the
tallest team with an average height of 199.8cm for their rostered players. Despite adding veteran behemoth
Mark Bradtke in the off-season, the Brisbane Bullets measure up as the smallest team in the Philips
Championship at just 195.5cm on average.
Whilst the Bullets may be the shortest team, they more than make up for it with experience. Brisbane are
the oldest team on average at 29.6 years whilst the West Sydney Razorbacks are the youngsters of the
competition with an average of just 25.6 years on their roster.
Born in 1964, 41-year-old Melbourne Tigers guard Darryl McDonald holds the title as the oldest current
player in the Philips Championship while Perth Wildcats newcomer Jeff Dowdell is the youngster of the league
at present at only 18 years old. The average age for all players in the 2005/06 season is just over 27 years
old.
Holding the title as the heaviest player in the NBL is Brisbane’s Bradtke, who weighs in at 129kg. Deba
George of the Cairns Taipans holds the title for the lightest player in the NBL at just 73kg.
The West Sydney Razorbacks are the heaviest team in the league with an average weight of 101.7kg while the
Townsville Crocodiles are the lightest at 94.4kg. The average weight of an NBL player is 97.2 kg.
Full details of the team averages are listed below.
| Player Height Per Team (cm) |
| Melbourne Tigers |
199.8 |
| Cairns Taipans |
199.0 |
| West Sydney Razorbacks |
198.9 |
| Wollongong Hawks |
198.9 |
| Perth Wildcats |
198.7 |
| New Zealand Breakers |
198.6 |
| Hunter Pirates |
198.3 |
| Adelaide 36ers |
198.2 |
| Townsville Crocodiles |
196.8 |
| Sydney Kings |
196.5 |
| Brisbane Bullets |
195.5 |
| Average League Height |
198.1 |
|
| Player Age Per Team (years) |
| Brisbane Bullets |
29.6 |
| Cairns Taipans |
28.9 |
| Melbourne Tigers |
28.9 |
| Wollongong Hawks |
28.0 |
| Adelaide 36ers |
27.3 |
| Sydney Kings |
26.7 |
| Townsville Crocodiles |
26.7 |
| New Zealand Breakers |
26.3 |
| Hunter Pirates |
25.8 |
| Perth Wildcats |
25.6 |
| West Sydney Razorbacks |
25.6 |
| Average League Age |
27.1 |
|
| Player Weight Per Team (kg) |
| West Sydney Razorbacks |
101.7 |
| Hunter Pirates |
99.2 |
| Wollongong Hawks |
99.0 |
| New Zealand Breakers |
98.0 |
| Cairns Taipans |
97.1 |
| Perth Wildcats |
96.8 |
| Melbourne Tigers |
96.6 |
| Brisbane Bullets |
96.2 |
| Sydney Kings |
95.5 |
| Adelaide 36ers |
95.1 |
| Townsville Crocodiles |
94.4 |
| Average League Weight |
97.2 |
|
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