Matthew Nielsen
![]() Nielsen in March 2017 | |
San Antonio Spurs | |
---|---|
Position | Assistant coach |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Sydney, New South Wales | 3 February 1978
Nationality | Australian |
Listed height | 208 cm (6 ft 10 in) |
Listed weight | 105 kg (231 lb) |
Career information | |
High school | St Marys (Sydney, New South Wales) |
NBA draft | 2000: undrafted |
Playing career | 1995–2013 |
Position | Power forward |
Coaching career | 2015–present |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1995 | Sydney Sky |
1995 | Sydney Kings |
1996 | Australian Institute of Sport |
1997 | Sydney Sky |
1997–2004 | Sydney Kings |
2000 | Penrith Panthers |
2004–2005 | PAOK Thessaloniki |
2005–2008 | Lietuvos Rytas |
2008–2010 | Valencia |
2010–2011 | Olympiacos Piraeus |
2011–2013 | Khimki |
As coach: | |
2015–2019 | Perth Wildcats (assistant) |
2019–2020 | Austin Spurs (assistant) |
2020–2021 | Austin Spurs |
2021–present | San Antonio Spurs (assistant) |
Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
| |
Medals |
Matthew Peter Nielsen (born 3 February 1978) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player who currently serves as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He served as an assistant coach for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL) from 2015 to 2019.
Early life and career
[edit]Nielsen was born in the Sydney suburb of Penrith.[1] He played as a junior for Newcastle Basketball Association[1] and attended St Marys Senior High School.[2]
In 1995, Nielsen played for the Sydney Sky in the SEABL[3] and made his NBL debut with the Sydney Kings as a development player.[2][4] In 1996, he moved to Canberra to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).[5] He played for the AIS in the SEABL.[6] He was named SEABL East Youth Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996.[7] He played six games for the Sky in 1997[8] and played for the Penrith Panthers in the SEABL in 2000.[9]
Professional career
[edit]Sydney Kings
[edit]For the 1997 NBL season, Nielsen returned to the Sydney Kings and won the NBL Rookie of the Year Award.[1] He played in the NBL Future Forces Game and finished third in the NBL Best Sixth Man Award in 1997.[1] He was named in the All-NBL Second Team in 2001 and 2003 and won his first NBL championship in 2003.[1] In the 2003–04 NBL season, Nielsen was named league MVP, All-NBL First Team, grand final MVP and captained the Kings to back-to-back championships. He also led the league in scoring with an average of 23.5 points per game, was second in rebounds (10.1) and second in blocked shots (2.7).[10][11][12]
In 244 games for the Kings over nine seasons, Nielsen averaged 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.[13] In 2013, he was named in the Sydney Kings 25th Anniversary Team.[14]
Europe
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/MNielsen.jpg/170px-MNielsen.jpg)
In 2004, Nielsen began a decorated European career playing for PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece, Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania, Valencia in Spain,[15] Olympiacos Piraeus also in Greece, and Khimki in Russia.[16]
National team career
[edit]Nielsen won the gold medal at the 1997 FIBA Under-21 World Championship with Australia's junior national team. He was also a member of the senior men's Australian national basketball team. With Australia's senior national team, he won gold medals at the 2001 Goodwill Games, the 2003 FIBA Oceanian Championship, and the 2005 FIBA Oceania Championship. He represented Australia at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.[17]
In July 2024, Nielsen was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.[18]
Coaching career
[edit]Clubs
[edit]During the 2013–14 NBL season, Nielsen served as a big-man coach for the Perth Wildcats.[19][20]
In 2014, Nielsen joined the San Antonio Spurs coaching staff in a player development role, on a contract that ran through to the end of the 2015 NBA Summer League.[21][22]
On 29 July 2015, Nielsen returned to the Perth Wildcats, signing with the club as an assistant coach ahead of the 2015–16 NBL season.[23] On 10 April 2019, after three championships in four seasons, Nielsen parted ways with the Wildcats in order to pursue coaching opportunities in the United States.[24]
On 5 November 2019, Nielsen was appointed assistant coach of the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League.[25] On 10 November 2020, he was promoted to head coach of the Spurs.[26]
On 8 September 2021, Nielsen was appointed assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs.[27]
National team
[edit]On 8 December 2020, Nielsen was named as assistant coach of the Australian senior men's national team under head coach Brian Goorjian.[28] He was still in the position as of May 2023.[29]
EuroLeague career statistics
[edit]GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating |
Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005–06 | Lietuvos Rytas | 19 | 13 | 25.8 | .464 | .357 | .703 | 5.2 | 1.7 | 1.1 | .3 | 12.4 | 13.6 |
2007–08 | Lietuvos Rytas | 13 | 13 | 24.1 | .495 | .250 | .805 | 4.8 | 1.5 | .8 | .5 | 9.9 | 12.2 |
2010–11 | Olympiacos Piraeus | 14 | 9 | 16.0 | .386 | .143 | .750 | 2.9 | .6 | .6 | .1 | 4.4 | 3.9 |
2012–13 | Khimki | 15 | 2 | 11.5 | .462 | .000 | .500 | 1.7 | 1.6 | .3 | .3 | 1.7 | 3.1 |
Career | 61 | 37 | 19.6 | .459 | .261 | .729 | 3.7 | 1.4 | .7 | .3 | 7.4 | 8.5 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Matthew Nielsen". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 31 December 2003. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ a b The Kings and I: captain Nielsen reaches club record
- ^ "Matthew Nielsen – CBA - EAST MEN (1995)". SEABL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "Matthew Nielsen". NBL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "Past Athletes". ausport.gov.au. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
- ^ "Matthew Nielsen – CBA - EAST MEN (1996)". SEABL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "AUSTRALIAN YOUTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR" (PDF). SEABL.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
- ^ "Matthew Nielsen – CBA - EAST MEN (1997)". SEABL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "Matthew Nielsen – ABA - SOUTH/EAST MEN (2000)". SEABL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "Nielsen takes MVP". NBL.com.au. 8 April 2004. Archived from the original on 10 June 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "All-NBL Team revealed". NBL.com.au. 8 April 2004. Archived from the original on 26 June 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ "Nielsen NBA-bound". NBL.com.au. 19 April 2004. Archived from the original on 26 June 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- ^ Player statistics for Matthew Nielsen
- ^ MightyMite Sydney Kings announce 25th Anniversary Team Archived 13 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Valencia is Eurocup king!!!". Eurocupbasketall.com. 18 April 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "BC Khimki lands Nielsen". Euroleague.net. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ "Matt Nielsen". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
- ^ "NBL champions' ultimate honour". NBL.com.au. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ Damo's Dish: The Black Tape Archived 16 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Knightmare a defensive dream for Perth Archived 21 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ NBA: Plenty of Aussies calling San Antonio Spurs home
- ^ Wildcats could sign long-time Boomer
- ^ Matt Nielsen appointed lead assistant coach[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Matt Nielsen Departing Perth Wildcats". NBL.com.au. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- ^ "AUSTIN SPURS ANNOUNCE 2019-20 COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS". NBA.com. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
- ^ "AUSTIN SPURS NAME MATT NIELSEN HEAD COACH AND TYLER SELF GENERAL MANAGER". Austin Spurs. 10 November 2020.
- ^ "Spurs name Matt Nielsen assistant coach". NBA.com. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
- ^ "Matt Nielsen Named Boomers Assistant Coach". NBL.com.au. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
- ^ "Boomers' Extended Squad Revealed for World Cup". australia.basketball. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 1978 births
- Living people
- Australian expatriate basketball people in Greece
- Australian expatriate basketball people in Spain
- Australian men's basketball players
- Australian Institute of Sport basketball players
- Australian people of Danish descent
- Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
- BC Khimki players
- BC Rytas players
- Liga ACB players
- Olympiacos B.C. players
- Olympic basketball players for Australia
- P.A.O.K. BC players
- Power forwards
- Sydney Kings players
- Valencia Basket players
- 2010 FIBA World Championship players
- Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games
- Basketball players from Sydney
- Sportsmen from New South Wales
- Coaches at the 2024 Summer Olympics