Matthew Nielsen

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For the American urologist, oncologist and health services researcher, see Matthew Nielsen (urologist).

Matthew Nielsen
Matthew Nielsen 2017.jpg
Nielsen in March 2017
San Antonio Spurs
PositionAssistant Coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1978-02-03) 3 February 1978 (age 43)
Sydney, New South Wales
NationalityAustralian
Listed height208 cm (6 ft 10 in)
Listed weight106 kg (234 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:
1995–2004Sydney Kings
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:

hide
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[]

Born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Penrith, Nielsen attended St Marys Senior High School where, three times a week, he needed permission to leave early in order to train with the Sydney Kings as a development player.[1] As a 17-year-old in 1995, Nielsen appeared in two games for the Kings before moving to Canberra in 1996 to attend the Australian Institute of Sport.[2]

Professional career[]

Nielsen in 2009, with Valencia.

In 1997, Nielsen returned to the Sydney Kings and won the NBL Rookie of the Year Award. He played a further seven seasons with the Kings and helped the club win championships in 2003 and 2004. In 244 career games for the Kings over nine seasons, he averaged 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.[3]

In 2004, Nielsen began a decorated European career playing for PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece, Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuania, Valencia in Spain,[4] Olympiacos Piraeus also in Greece, and Khimki in Russia.[5]

On 10 October 2013, Nielsen was named in the Sydney Kings 25th Anniversary Team.[6]

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.[7]

Coaching career[]

Clubs[]

During the 2013–14 NBL season, Nielsen served as a big-man coach for the Perth Wildcats.[8][9]

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.[10][11]

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.[12] 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.[13]

On 5 November 2019, Nielsen was appointed assistant coach of the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League.[14] On 10 November 2020, he was promoted to head coach of the Spurs.[15]

On 8 September 2021, Nielsen was appointed assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs.[16]

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.[17]

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 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[]

  1. ^ The Kings and I: captain Nielsen reaches club record
  2. ^ "Past Athletes". ausport.gov.au. Archived from the original on 12 February 2014.
  3. ^ Player statistics for Matthew Nielsen
  4. ^ "Valencia is Eurocup king!!!". Eurocupbasketall.com. 18 April 2010. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  5. ^ "BC Khimki lands Nielsen". Euroleague.net. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  6. ^ MightyMite Sydney Kings announce 25th Anniversary Team Archived 13 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Matt Nielsen". archive.fiba.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  8. ^ Damo's Dish: The Black Tape Archived 16 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ The Knightmare a defensive dream for Perth Archived 21 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ NBA: Plenty of Aussies calling San Antonio Spurs home
  11. ^ Wildcats could sign long-time Boomer
  12. ^ Matt Nielsen appointed lead assistant coach[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Matt Nielsen Departing Perth Wildcats". NBL.com.au. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  14. ^ "AUSTIN SPURS ANNOUNCE 2019-20 COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS". NBA.com. 5 November 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  15. ^ "AUSTIN SPURS NAME MATT NIELSEN HEAD COACH AND TYLER SELF GENERAL MANAGER". Austin Spurs. 10 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Spurs name Matt Nielsen assistant coach". NBA.com. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  17. ^ "Matt Nielsen Named Boomers Assistant Coach". NBL.com.au. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.

External links[]

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