Southern Melbourne Saints
# Southern Melbourne Saints

The Southern Melbourne Saints, previously known as the St. Kilda Saints, the St. Kildas Pumas and Westside Saints, were an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne. The Saints competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) between 1979 and 1991.

## History

St Kilda was one of the ten inaugural, foundation teams of the NBL that competed in the league's first season in 1979, operating out of Albert Park Basketball Stadium at the time. As the St Kilda Pumas, the team was the powerhouse team over the league's first three seasons behind coach Brian Kerle, winning three straight minor premierships and claiming the first two NBL Championships. In 1981, after finishing the regular season in first place, the Saints decided to compete in the FIBA Club World Cup in Brazil rather than contest the NBL finals. The team never regained this level of success, as they failed to qualify for the semi-finals for the rest of their tenure in the NBL.

In 1987, the Saints changed their name to incorporate a wider area of Melbourne rather than just the suburb of St Kilda. For the next three years, the team was known as the "Westside Saints", playing out of the 2,000-seat Keilor Stadium. In 1991, the team changed their name again, this time to the "Southern Melbourne Saints".

Prior to the 1992 season, the Saints merged with the Eastside Spectres to become the South East Melbourne Magic.

## Honour roll

| NBL Championships: | 2 (1979, 1980) |
| - | - |
| NBL finals appearances: | 2 (1980, 1983) |
| NBL Grand Final appearances: | 2 (1979, 1980) |
| NBL Most Valuable Player: | Rocky Smith (1980) |
| NBL Grand Final MVP: | Larry Sengstock (1979), Rocky Smith (1980) |
| All-NBL First Team: | Danny Morseu (1980, 1981), Rocky Smith (1981), Phil Smyth (1982) |
| NBL Coach of the Year: | None |
| NBL Rookie of the Year: | None |
| NBL Most Improved Player: | Andrew Parkinson (1991) |
| NBL Best Defensive Player: | Phil Smyth (1982) |
| NBL Best Sixth Man: | None |

## Season by season

| NBL champions | League champions | Runners-up | Finals berth |
| - | - | - | - |
| Season | Tier | League | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Post-season | Head coach |
| Season | Tier | League | Finish | Played | Wins | Losses | Win % | Post-season | Head coach |
| St. Kilda Saints ||||||||||
| 1979 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 18 | 15 | 3 | .833 | Won NBL final (Canberra) 94–93 | Brian Kerle |
| 1980 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 22 | 17 | 5 | .773 | Won semifinal (Nunawading) 101–77 Won NBL final (West Adelaide) 113–88 | Brian Kerle |
| 1981 | 1 | NBL | 1st | 22 | 17 | 5 | .773 | 1981 FIBA Club World Cup* | Brian Kerle |
| 1982 | 1 | NBL | 6th | 26 | 17 | 9 | .654 | Did not qualify | Brian Kerle |
| 1983 | 1 | NBL | 4th | 22 | 12 | 10 | .545 | Eliminated round robin 0–3 | Brian Kerle |
| 1984 | 1 | NBL | 5th | 23 | 9 | 14 | .391 | Did not qualify | Andris Blicavs |
| 1985 | 1 | NBL | 10th | 26 | 10 | 16 | .385 | Did not qualify | Andris Blicavs |
| 1986 | 1 | NBL | 14th | 26 | 5 | 21 | .192 | Did not qualify | Andris Blicavs |
| Westside Saints ||||||||||
| 1987 | 1 | NBL | 13th | 26 | 4 | 22 | .154 | Did not qualify | Andris Blicavs |
| 1988 | 1 | NBL | 11th | 24 | 9 | 15 | .375 | Did not qualify | Andris Blicavs |
| 1989 | 1 | NBL | 9th | 24 | 8 | 16 | .333 | Did not qualify | Colin Cadee |
| 1990 | 1 | NBL | 14th | 26 | 3 | 23 | .115 | Did not qualify | Dean Templeton |
| Southern Melbourne Saints ||||||||||
| 1991 | 1 | NBL | 11th | 26 | 9 | 17 | .346 | Did not qualify | Gary Fox |
| Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | Regular season record | 311 | 135 | 176 | .434 | 3 regular season champions | 3 regular season champions | 3 regular season champions |
| Finals record | Finals record | Finals record | Finals record | 6 | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2 NBL championships | 2 NBL championships | 2 NBL championships |

As of the end of the 1991 season

*Note: In 1981, the St. Kilda Saints did not compete in the playoffs, choosing to compete at the World Club Championships in Brazil.

*Note: In 1983 and 1984, the NBL was split into Eastern and Western divisions during the regular season.

Source: Southern Melbourne Saints Year by Year

