Matthew Nielsen
Nielsen in March 2017
San Antonio Spurs
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1978-02-03) 3 February 1978
Sydney, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
Listed height208 cm (6 ft 10 in)
Listed weight105 kg (231 lb)
Career information
High schoolSt Marys
(Sydney, New South Wales)
NBA draft2000: undrafted
Playing career1995–2013
PositionPower forward
Coaching career2015–present
Career history
As player:
1995Sydney Sky
1995Sydney Kings
1996Australian Institute of Sport
1997Sydney Sky
1997–2004Sydney Kings
2000Penrith Panthers
2004–2005PAOK Thessaloniki
2005–2008Lietuvos Rytas
2008–2010Valencia
2010–2011Olympiacos Piraeus
2011–2013Khimki
As coach:
2015–2019Perth Wildcats (assistant)
2019–2020Austin Spurs (assistant)
2020–2021Austin Spurs
2021–presentSan Antonio Spurs (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Medals
Representing Australia
FIBA Oceania Championship
Gold medal – first place 2003 Australia National Team
Gold medal – first place 2005 New Zealand National Team

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

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

Sydney Kings

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

Nielsen in 2009, with Valencia.

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

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]

Coaching career

Clubs

During the 2013–14 NBL season, Nielsen served as a big-man coach for the Perth Wildcats.[18][19]

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.[20][21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

On 5 November 2019, Nielsen was appointed assistant coach of the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League.[24] On 10 November 2020, he was promoted to head coach of the Spurs.[25]

On 8 September 2021, Nielsen was appointed assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs.[26]

National team

On 8 December 2020, Nielsen was named as assistant coach of the Australian senior men's national team under head coach Brian Goorjian.[27] He was still in the position as of May 2023.[28]

EuroLeague career statistics

Legend
  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 191325.8.464.357.7035.21.71.1.312.413.6
2007–08 Lietuvos Rytas 131324.1.495.250.8054.81.5.8.59.912.2
2010–11 Olympiacos Piraeus 14916.0.386.143.7502.9.6.6.14.43.9
2012–13 Khimki 15211.5.462.000.5001.71.6.3.31.73.1
Career 613719.6.459.261.7293.71.4.7.37.48.5

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Matthew Nielsen". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 31 December 2003. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  2. 1 2 The Kings and I: captain Nielsen reaches club record
  3. ↑ "Matthew Nielsen – CBA - EAST MEN (1995)". SEABL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "Matthew Nielsen". NBL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  5. ↑ "Past Athletes". ausport.gov.au. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "Matthew Nielsen – CBA - EAST MEN (1996)". SEABL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  7. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN YOUTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR" (PDF). SEABL.com.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Matthew Nielsen – CBA - EAST MEN (1997)". SEABL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  9. ↑ "Matthew Nielsen – ABA - SOUTH/EAST MEN (2000)". SEABL. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Nielsen takes MVP". NBL.com.au. 8 April 2004. Archived from the original on 10 June 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "All-NBL Team revealed". NBL.com.au. 8 April 2004. Archived from the original on 26 June 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "Nielsen NBA-bound". NBL.com.au. 19 April 2004. Archived from the original on 26 June 2004. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  13. ↑ Player statistics for Matthew Nielsen
  14. ↑ MightyMite Sydney Kings announce 25th Anniversary Team Archived 13 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ "Valencia is Eurocup king!!!". Eurocupbasketall.com. 18 April 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  16. ↑ "BC Khimki lands Nielsen". Euroleague.net. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "Matt Nielsen". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  18. ↑ Damo's Dish: The Black Tape Archived 16 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ The Knightmare a defensive dream for Perth Archived 21 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ NBA: Plenty of Aussies calling San Antonio Spurs home
  21. ↑ Wildcats could sign long-time Boomer
  22. ↑ Matt Nielsen appointed lead assistant coach
  23. ↑ "Matt Nielsen Departing Perth Wildcats". NBL.com.au. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  24. ↑ "AUSTIN SPURS ANNOUNCE 2019-20 COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS". NBA.com. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  25. ↑ "AUSTIN SPURS NAME MATT NIELSEN HEAD COACH AND TYLER SELF GENERAL MANAGER". Austin Spurs. 10 November 2020.
  26. ↑ "Spurs name Matt Nielsen assistant coach". NBA.com. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  27. ↑ "Matt Nielsen Named Boomers Assistant Coach". NBL.com.au. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  28. ↑ "Boomers' Extended Squad Revealed for World Cup". australia.basketball. 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
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