Matt Garrison on Winning Back-to-Back Titles with Multiple NBL Teams, NBA Opportunities and Aussie Hoops impact overseas

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Two-time NBL champion Matt Garrison joins the podcast to reflect on winning back-to-back championships with two different teams, helping the Wollongong Hawks claim their first NBL title in 2001 before joining the Adelaide 36ers and winning it all again in 2002.

Host Dan Boyce chats with Garrison about arriving in Wollongong as a mid-season import, accepting an unusual role coming off the bench, the Hawks' controversial 2001 semi-final win over Adelaide and the championship run that followed. Garrison also discusses leaving Wollongong for Cairns, being released by the Taipans after only 10 games, joining the very Adelaide team he had eliminated the previous season and becoming the first player in NBL history to win consecutive championships with different clubs.

The episode also covers his college career, playing professionally around the world, his opportunity with the Los Angeles Clippers, returning to Wollongong and his later success playing and coaching in Japan.

Topics include:

• What Matt Garrison is doing today
• Growing up in Montana and his college basketball career
• Beginning his professional career overseas
• Arriving in Australia as a mid-season replacement for Wollongong
• Scoring 24 points in his first NBL game
• Going from a high-scoring import to coming off the bench for the Hawks
• Playing alongside Glen Saville, Mat Campbell, Melvin Thomas and Damon Lowery
• The controversial Damon Lowery foul that sent Wollongong to the 2001 Grand Final
• Winning Wollongong's first NBL championship
• Why he left the Hawks for Cairns after winning the title
• Being released by the Taipans after only 10 games
• How quickly Adelaide came calling after his Cairns exit
• Joining the same 36ers players he had controversially eliminated the previous season
• Playing for Brendan Joyce compared with Phil Smyth
• Playing alongside Brett Maher and Willie Farley
• Winning the 2002 NBL championship with Adelaide
• Becoming the first player to win consecutive NBL titles with different clubs
• Which championship meant more: Wollongong or Adelaide
• Returning to Wollongong for the 2002/03 season
• His final NBL season and career-high 29-point game
• Earning an opportunity with the Los Angeles Clippers
• Playing in Lebanon and Japan after leaving the NBL
• Winning back-to-back three-point contests in Japan
• Returning to Japan as a head coach and winning Coach of the Year
• Highlights and hurdles from his basketball career

All of this and a whole lot more...