At the request of my fellow host of the TO – The Official Podcast of the TO, my next NBL legends feature will be on Dwayne McClain.  Dwayne was a very athletic 2/3 man who took the league by storm when he first arrived in 1991  He was everything that the Sydney Kings needed him to be at that time – an awesome basketball player, African American, super cool and could talk (marketable)  He was the face of a national advertising campagain for Diet Coke which was a first (and still only) for our sport in this country.

Dwayne was a 6″6′ shooting guard who played his college ball at Villanova.  He was also a member of Villanova’s championship team in 1985 against Georgetown.   I ordered that tape from Pontel in 2002 and didn’t even think about it.  My goals was to get as many NCAA championship games as I possibly could.  Anyway, I was watching the introductions to the game and not really paying to much attention and who should run out but a young Dwayne McClain.  It was bloody awesome.

After his college career, Dwayne played in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers averaging 3.5 points per game in the 45 games that he played in.  Dwayne also played professionally in France, Canada, The Philippines, Indonesia and Greece before coming to Australia.  The turning point was when he joined Magic Johnson’s Touring Dadells Veteran Team.  Dwayne was the young leagues in the squad.  I remember him throwing down a huge reverse jam in one of the games. 

His impact on the Sydney Kings was immediate.  He was confident with the ball and backed himself in most occasions.  He wasn’t the greatest shooter but he could get to the rack and was pretty bloody hard to stop.  He came 3rd in the league MVP voting in 1993, was named to the All NBL first team in 1992 and was selected as a NBL All Star in 1991 and 1997.

Whilst everybody loved the Dwayne McClain from the Sydney era, I actually preferred the one who finished his playing career with the Brisbane Bullets.  In the 1996 season, he started out like a house on fire for the Gold Coast Rollers.  After six games, he he tore up his knee and was unable to see out the season.  The Bullets took a punt and recruited him in the 1997 season and teamed up with Steve Woodberry as the imports for the Bullets.  A lot of his athleticism had deserted him by then, so he relied more on his smarts to get the job done.  It was clinical to watch and proved how good of a player the guy actually was.

The NBL was a better place when Dwayne McClain was in it.  He was awesome, had a NBA type game and was extremely marketable.  Schibz Spiel recently had an article titled ‘Hip Hop Hoops’ and it talked about making the NBL marketable again by attracting marquee American guys.  Dwayne certainly would have fitted into that category. 

Tim Dillon was one of my favourite imports to ever grace a NBL floor.  I know that I seem to say that  a fair bit, but this guy was the real deal and could flat out get it done.  If you read my article on Brian Goorjian, you will know that I was a huge North Melbourne Giants fan who turned to the darkside when the Magic was formed.  I loved the Giants and one of the main reasons was this guy.  When I was a youngster, his brother Mike, played for the Dandenong Rangers in the SEABL (or whatever it was called then) and he held a clinic.  Both Tim and Scott Fisher turned up and this was the highlight of my week for around 6 weeks. 

A bit of background information – Tim only played two years in the NBL for the Giants.  In those two years he averaged 31.08ppg, 10.47rpg, 2.36apg and 1.47spg.  He shot 55% from the field, 34% from the 3 point line and a suprisingly low 69% from the Free Throw line.  But for me it was more than his numbers.  It was the way that he got his numbers.  He was listed at 203cms and I remember in the 1988 season, both he and Scott Fisher were the starting 4 and 5 men for the Giants.  In 1989, Ray Borner joined the Giants program and he was allowed to play more of his natural game which allowed him to step out to the perimeter sometimes.  Prior to that, Tim attended the Northen Illinois Unversity and was drafted with pick 49 by Chicago in the 1984 NBA Draft (the same draft as Jordan and Hakeem)  In this article, Adam Ballinger is compared to Tim Dillion which I think it a pretty fair comparison.  I think that Tim could get it done more off the dribble than Ballinger but both have good size and good shooting touch.   

I searched and searched Google for some images of him as a player, but I couldn’t find a single one.  Don’t ask me what the above image has to do with him.  I guess he was in the NBA draft but not in the lottery!    In the latest edition of The OT with DJ Rod and JR, they discuss imports from the past and how they would have went in the modern game.  I think that he would be tough as in the 2008-09 NBL season.  In my opinion, Adam Ballinger is a very good import and in his prime, Tim Dillion was better. 

Got to love the memories!  It was sad that he only played two seasons in our league.  I can’t remember the reasons why.  I had a conversation with Bruce Palmer about this once but I just can’t put my finger on the reason that he was only here for a short time.  So there you go!  Hopefully others have just as fond memories of Tim Dillion as I do!

How could any basketball fan from the 80’s and 90’s forget Ray Borner?  For those who don’t know, Ray Borner was a institution on the Australian basketball scene and played 518 games over 22 years in the NBL.  He also represented Australia in four Olympic Games (84, 88, 92 and 96) and various world championships (82, 86, 90 and 94).  Ray grew up in Ballart and since that he was the perfect combination for Australian basketball players (big and talented) he represented Australia on many different occasions throughout his junior career as well.  For a full analysis of his olympic career click here. 

When he was named league MVP in 1985, he became the first-ever Australian to win the award in a major breakthrough for local basketballers. He won an NBL title in 1989 with North Melbourne and was a five-time NBL All-Star (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995).  When he joined North Melbourne from Illawara, he was the final piece to the championship puzzle for coach Bruce Palmer.  I still remember reading a story about how Ray had a knee injury and he had to be driven from NSW to Victoria in the back of the car.  I was a huge Giants fan in the late 80’s and was right into the whole Scott Fisher / Tim Dillion (god that guy was good!) thing.  Borner was the final piece to the puzzle that lead us to the promised land and he helped us defeat the evil empire of the Canberra Cannons and their huge monster centre Willie Simmons. 

Obviously he started to slow down later in his career but he coached Ballarat in the SEABL.  I remeber that there was a bit of controversy when he left and this article indicates that.  He is still involved in the Big V as a board member   along with another legend (Larry Sengstock).  If you are keen you can still get his playing card which is exciting to say the least!

My friend Grandmaster Funk from League 4 FNBL fame, thinks that Ray Borner looks like Alf Stewart from Home and Away.  You be the judge: