1979–2002: Canberra Cannons The franchise originated as the
Canberra Cannons from 1979 to 2002, an
Australian team representing the nation's capital city,
Canberra. Initially playing at the Canberra Showgrounds before moving into the 5,200-seat
AIS Arena (nicknamed "The Palace" as it was the largest and most modern arena in the league from 1979 to 1983) in
1980, the Cannons competed in the
National Basketball League and won 3
championships in
1983,
1984 and
1988. The Cannons were one of the original ten NBL clubs, competing in the league's very first season in
1979 where they reached the championship game with a 13–5 record, but fell at the final hurdle, losing to the
St Kilda Saints 94–93 in the Grand Final. The Cannons failed to make the playoffs over the next few seasons but won their first NBL championship in 1983 where they downed the
defending champion West Adelaide Bearcats 75–73 in the
Grand Final.
Australian national team Point guard,
Adelaide born
Phil Smyth, joined the team in 1983 led the NBL in steals and assists. Smyth was also named to his second straight
All-NBL First Team as well as winning his second straight
NBL Best Defensive Player Award while Jamie Kennedy was named as the
NBL's Rookie of the Year. The title was retained in 1984, when the Cannons beat the
Brisbane Bullets 84–82 in the Grand Final. Smyth had another big season, being named to the All-NBL First Team for the third straight year. Canberra made the playoffs for the next three seasons but would fall to the Bullets in the semi-final each time, though Bob Turner did win the club's first
NBL Coach of the Year Award in
1985. Championship glory eluded the Cannons until
1988, when they beat the
North Melbourne Giants 2–1 in a best-of-three championship series. Smyth was once again was named to the All-NBL First Team after leading the league in three-point percentage, free-throw percentage and steals, and was also named NBL's Best Defensive Player for the third time, while 7'0" (213 cm) American import
center Willie Simmons led the league with 3.6 blocks per game. North Melbourne exacted their revenge in
1989, beating the Cannons 2–0 in the
Grand Final series. 1989 would prove to be the last NBL Grand Final the Cannons would appear in. The Cannons failed to make the playoffs again until
1992, where they were eliminated in the first round by the eventual champions, the
South East Melbourne Magic. The club's greatest player Phil Smyth left the team after 10 seasons and returned home to join the
Adelaide 36ers from
1993 and the Cannons would not reach the playoffs again until
1996, making the semi-finals before being eliminated by the Melbourne Tigers 2–1. Canberra again made the finals in
1997, but were eliminated in the first round 2–1 by the North Melbourne Giants. Financial problems dogged the club in the late 1990s and the team finally succumbed to its money woes in December 2002. The club managed to play all its remaining games of the
2002–03 NBL season, but were unable to hold on to their star players, including
C. J. Bruton, the son of then-coach
Cal Bruton and all of their imports. Canberra finished with an 11–19 record and the team was bought by a consortium that moved the team to
Newcastle.
2003–2006: Hunter Pirates After relocating to Newcastle, the new owners renamed the franchise the
Hunter Pirates, keeping with the Cannons' maritime battlers theme. The Pirates played their home games at the 4,658 seat
Newcastle Entertainment Centre. In its
first season as the Pirates, the team came last after winning only two games. The Pirates' coach,
Bruce Palmer who had coached North Melbourne to its 1989 Grand Final win over Canberra, was also controversially fired partway into the season and was replaced by his assistant coach, former Melbourne Tigers championship forward
Dave Simmons. In the
2004–05 NBL season, former
Perth Wildcats,
Australian Boomers and
Australian Institute of Sport coach
Dr. Adrian Hurley was employed as coach. A mostly-retooled team produced much better results, finishing 8th with a 15–17 record. The Pirates made the NBL playoffs only to be eliminated by the
Brisbane Bullets in the opening round. Hurley would quit at the end of the
2005–06 season after the Pirates were beaten by the
Cairns Taipans in the playoffs. The club had plans to move from the Entertainment Centre to a new stadium to be built at the
Stockland Supercentre out at
Glendale in the next few years but this never eventuated. The Pirates withdrew from the NBL at the end of the
2005–06 season due to financial difficulties and their inability to secure a major sponsor, and the club's NBL licence was put up for sale. Pirates snap NBL losing streak It was revealed on
NBN News that, in an effort to remain in the competition, the club had considered turning itself into a non-profit organisation, thereby able to access various grants. In the end, the Pirates' licence was sold to a Singapore consortium, who renamed the club as the Singapore Slingers and began competing in the
2006–07 season NBL > News.
2006–2008: Singapore Slingers in the NBL Although the Slingers had relocated to
Singapore before the start of the
2006–07 NBL season, they still played occasional home games in Newcastle. The Slingers home venue would be the 12,000 seat
Singapore Indoor Stadium. The re-branding of the club was the brainchild of NBL stalwart and former Canberra dual-championship winning coach Bob Turner who took over as the Slingers' CEO after the handover. The NBL believed the club would open the league to wider audiences and greater revenue. However, due to the distance involved, the team agreed to cover the travel expenses of all the teams which played them in Singapore. The club averaged crowds of only 3,500 at its home games during the season. In July 2008, following their second season in the NBL, the Slingers withdrew from the league due to the dramatic increase in international travel costs. The Slingers determined that the future focus of the team needed to be on participating in competitions within its local region in Asia rather than weekly games in Australia and New Zealand.
2008–2009: First Singapore Challenge Series Following their exit from the NBL, the Slingers organised and took part in the Singapore Challenge Series, a round of friendly matches played at the
Singapore Indoor Stadium against a number of
Pan-Asia Pacific basketball clubs such as
Indonesian Basketball League champions
Satria Muda Britama, the Darwin All-Stars, a team made up of a majority of professional players originating from
Darwin as well as
Air21 Express from the
PBA. The series ended in January 2009.
Formation of the ASEAN Basketball League in an
ABL match on 10 August 2014.On 1 September 2009, it was announced that the Slingers would be one of six founding teams of the new
ASEAN Basketball League which tipped off on 10 October 2009. The other five teams were the
Brunei Barracudas, the
Kuala Lumpur Dragons, the
Philippine Patriots,
Satria Muda BritAma from
Indonesia and the
Thailand Tigers. It was also revealed that the driving force behind the realisation of the league was
Tony Fernandes, the founder of
AirAsia. Upon their confirmation of entry in the inaugural ABL season, the Slingers announced that they had secured contracts with
Singaporean players
Pathman Matialakan and
Hong Wei Jian for the new season, as well as
Filipino point guard Al Vergara.
2009: Second Singapore Challenge Series As part of their pre-season training for the ABL, the Slingers organised a second edition of the Singapore Challenge in September 2009, choosing to play four single-match games against
PBA sides
Coca-Cola Tigers,
Ginebra Kings and
San Miguel Beermen, as well as
Smart Gilas Pilipinas, the national basketball team of the
Philippines. The 2009 Singapore Challenge saw the Slingers come away with a 2–2 record, beating the Tigers and the Beermen while falling to Smart Gilas and Ginebra.
2009–2011: Competing in the ABL (in white) attempts a lay-up. Prior to their first game in the ABL, the Slingers' import player Kyle Jeffers was named as the co-captain for the team's maiden ASEAN Basketball League season, alongside local player Michael Wong. The opening night of the Slingers'
ABL campaign saw them beat the
Brunei Barracudas 87–69 on 18 October 2009. Homegrown talent
Wong Wei Long scored a season high of 14 points in that game, sinking 4
three-pointers.
Pathman Matialakan, the first Asian and Singaporean to ever play in the
NBL when the Slingers were still competing in
Australia, became the first local Slinger to score in the
ABL with a
layup. Kyle Jeffers also collected a record 20 rebounds in the same game while
Hong Wei Jian wowed the crowd with two dunks in the 4th quarter. The Slingers did well in the
first season of the
ABL, finishing in 2nd place with a 15–10 record behind the
Philippine Patriots. The team also managed to reach the semi-finals of the
2010 ABL playoffs but were beaten 2–1 by
Satria Muda BritAma. After the
2009–10 ABL Season concluded, coach Frank Arsego announced that he would be departing the club after spending two years in Singapore.
Singaporean
Neo Beng Siang, who was assistant coach to Arsego during the
2009–10 ABL Season, was chosen to take charge of the team from the
2010–11 ABL Season onwards. Finishing the
2010–11 regular season in 4th place with a 7–8 record, the Slingers managed to reach the semi-finals of the
2011 ABL playoffs for the second season straight but lost 2–1 to eventual champions
Chang Thailand Slammers. The 2010–10 season also saw local star
Hong Wei Jian retiring from professional basketball after tearing his
anterior cruciate ligament and fracturing his knee. The formulative years of the ABL saw local players such as
Wong Wei Long,
Desmond Oh and
Lim Shengyu rising to prominence. While fans saw numerous changes in the Slingers' foreign import roster,
American centre Kyle Jeffers and
Filipino point guard Al Vergara were regulars in the team, re-contracting with the Slingers on several occasions. The Slingers became the first team to cross the 100-point mark in
ABL history when they beat the
Brunei Barracudas 102–61 on 9 January 2011. All players from the Slingers squad managed to get onto the scoreboard with
Leo Avenido leading with 23 points and 4 assists.
Tan Chin Hong was the player who scored the Slingers' 100th point.
2014 season The
2014 ABL pre-season saw the Slingers secure a big name in the form of ex-
NBA player
Hassan Adams, who turned out for the
New Jersey Nets in the
2006–07 NBA Season and the
Toronto Raptors in the
2008–09 NBA Season. Adams impressed the crowd with a game-high 21 points in the Slingers' season opening game against new entrant Laskar Dreya South Sumatra at the
OCBC Arena but struggled with his fitness and health and played sparingly after that. After he sustained a hip injury in a road game loss to Hi-Tech Bangkok City in
Bangkok, Adams sat out of the Slingers' next three games, watching from the sidelines as the Slingers went on to win all three against
Saigon Heat, Laskar Dreya and
Indonesia Warriors. Adams was then officially released on 11 August 2014 after it was confirmed by the team's medical staff that he would be sidelined for 4 to 8 weeks due to his injury. The Slingers played their following game against the
Westports Malaysia Dragons without a replacement for Adams in the foreign import slot and fell to a 59–85 defeat at the MABA Stadium in
Kuala Lumpur. The following game saw the Slingers exacting revenge on the Dragons with a 77–68 scoreline in
Singapore, a match which also saw
Australian import Adam Becis turning out for the Slingers on a one match contract. Becis, who plays for the Singapore Supras in the
Pro-Am Singapore Basketball League, turned out to be a shrewd signing as he scored 12 points during the game, including a
three-pointer which overturned the score to 54–52 in the Slingers' favour at the end of the third period. making his first appearance in a Slingers shirt on 22 August 2014.On 19 August 2014, the Slingers announced that they had signed former
Saigon Heat and
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel forward
Dior Lowhorn to fill up the empty world import slot. Lowhorn led the Slingers with 18 points in his first game but failed to stop the team from falling 54–65 to the
Indonesia Warriors at home in a game which also saw rookie Russell Low score 10 points for the Slingers. A key player for the
Singapore Youth National Team during the inaugural
Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore in 2010, as well as the
Singapore Men's National Team which won the bronze medal at the
2013 Southeast Asian Games, Low was drafted into the team after completing his
National Service. The next game saw the Slingers bounce back from defeat with a 77–62 win against Laskar Dreya at the Hi-Test Arena in
Batam on 25 August 2014.
Lowhorn chalked up an impressive 28 points and 10 rebounds while Kyle Jeffers posted 19 points.
Wong Wei Long added a further 14 points for the Slingers to top off a performance which improved the Slingers' record to 6-4 and allowing them to climb up to third position in the league standings. On 31 August 2014, the Slingers ended Hi-Tech Bangkok City's undefeated run with a dramatic 78–75 victory in overtime. The game saw
Dior Lowhorn score a season high 35 big points which included a
three-pointer from the baseline in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter that sent the game into
overtime. The game also saw
Wong Wei Long finish with 16 points while
Al Vergara added 11 points and 9 assists off the Slingers' bench. Team captain Kyle Jeffers was injured in the same match when he fell awkwardly while competing for a rebound in the third quarter and had to be stretchered off. The Slingers subsequently announced on 9 September 2014 that Jeffers had been placed on the injured reserve list while former
Saigon Heat centre Justin Howard had been brought in as a replacement. Prior to signing for the Slingers, Howard played two games in August 2014 for the Indonesia Warriors as a temporary replacement for the injured
Chris Ellis. A 79–65 victory over the Saigon Heat in Singapore on 1 October 2014 saw the Slingers inch closer to a playoff berth with Howard putting in a big performance, finishing with 24 points and 20 rebounds.
Lowhorn added 20 points and 9 rebounds while
Wong added 14 points.
Desmond Oh, who started at
point guard also contributed 7 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to help the Slingers improve to an 11–6 record. The game was also notable as the Slingers were dressed in a one-off, all pink ensemble for their 3rd annual Cancer Awareness Game. The pink jerseys were later auctioned off with 100% of the proceeds donated directly to the Singapore Cancer Society. == Home arenas ==