Martin Cattalini

HTML <h2><strong>No</strong><strong>85 MARTIN CATTALINI</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>6 feet 8 inch (2012cm) forward</strong></h2>

HTML <h2><strong>2000, 2004 Olympic Games</strong></h2>

HTML <p>Martin Peter Cattalini was born October 4th, 1973 in Fremantle, Western Australia. He was a late starter to basketball and only took up the game at the age of fifteen years. At that time his school days were taken up with emulating the stars of the Perth Wildcats in the pick-up games at lunch-time and after school. Trying to do two handed “dunks” was a high priority.</p>

HTML <p>He started playing on Friday nights at Cockburn stadium with his school team CBC Fremantle. Soon he had made his way into the Cockburn State Basketball League team even though he was still a gangly and at times awkward sixteen years old. He remembers, “We had a crazy coach and I spent the whole season sitting on the bench.” But he was watching and learning, and playing with his mates the Farrell brothers.</p>

HTML <p>Martin remembers that he continued to develop. “But my body was still very skinny and weak.” </p>

HTML <p>In 1992 he was invited to train with the National Basketball League (NBL) team the Perth Wildcats by Coach Murray Arnold but did not play NBL. He continued to rapidly progress in basketball and in one particular instance featured on a spectacular dunk photograph for the State Basketball League (SBL) which the 1993 Wildcats Coach Adrian Hurley liked and he signed Martin to a contract in 1993.</p>

HTML <p> “He was awfully raw. I can remember that he didn’t really have a jump-shot as he somehow pushed the shot and he had this great leap. It was simply a matter of teaching him to shoot properly and he was on his way,” recalls Hurley.</p>

HTML <p>His first year (1993) playing for the Wildcats was a great experience for Martin as the team went to the Grand-Final after winning the NBL minor premiership. The next year his basketball developed in leaps and bounds (literally) as he became a regular member of the “top seven” of the Wildcats and was a great back-up for the likes of James Crawford, Scott Fisher and Andrew Vlahov.</p>

HTML <p>In 1995 the Wildcats won the NBL Championships and Martin was a significant player for the Cats. He also played on the Wildcats team that finished in third place in the World ZClub Championships held in London. </p>

HTML <p>Even with this success it was hard for Martin as he was playing behind legends at the Wildcats, and court time was very competitive. The Wildcats salary cap limitation was also a big factor and it wasnosurprise when Martin left the Wildcats and joined the Adelaide 36ers for the 1996 season. </p>

HTML <p>His signing with Adelaide was a great coup for the Adelaide Club as Martin was now an excellent scorer, defender and rebounder. He greatly assisted Adelaide to NBL titles in 1998 and 1999.</p>

HTML <p>In 1998 Martin was selected to the Australian Men’s Team (Boomers) Camp by Coach Barry Barnes. He was not to make the World Championship team that year.</p>

HTML <p>However his form in winning two titles with Adelaide could not be ignored. In1999 he was selected for the Boomers to play in the series in Australia against Russia and then he was selected to tour with the Boomers to Germany and Greece for the Berlin Super Cup and the Acropolis Tournament. That same year he played in the series against the touring Canadian National Team.</p>

HTML <p>In 2000 it was for Martin all about making the Sydney 2000 Olympic Team. After games for the Boomers against Russia in Australia and a tour to Europe for games in Italy and France Martin established himself in the team and was awarded with the biggest prize of all...selection in the team for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. </p>

HTML <p>He remembers his Olympic selection vividly. “I was working out in the gym in Adelaide when I received a call from Barry Barnes and my heart was racing. I actually felt sick during the small talk. He then told me I was in the team and I was in shock for a few minutes and I just sat there taking it in. My Mum had recently passed away and I became very emotional. I was crying in the middle of this busy gym and I called my Dad. He cried and I cried more. It was a very bright ray of sun shine in a very dark period of mine and my family’s life. I will never forget that moment and what it meant to not only me but my wifeand my family.”</p>

HTML <p>Leading into the Games, Martin played games for the Boomers in the FIBA Diamond Ball in Hong Kong, against the USA in Melbourne and against Lithuania in Melbourne.</p>

HTML <p>“Sydney was a bitter sweet experience. I was firmly planted to the end of the bench and my playing was very minimal. This was hard to take but the experience of playing, training and living alongside the biggest names in Australian Basketball was life changing. Not Only was I apart of a team that had Andrew Gaze, Mark Bradtke, Shane Heal, Luc Longley, Andrew Vlahov, Ricky Grace and so on, I got to see the best players in the world and how coaches and players try to combat against their talents. I had never seen players that big, that quick or that talented before. It changed the way I went about playing from then on,” remembers Martin.</p>

HTML <p>He continues, “My greatest Olympic experience was when we played Italy in the cross over round. Italy was a powerhouse in International Basketball and no one gave us a chance of winning. I witnessed some of the greatest individual performances from several players. Andrew gaze was unstoppable, nailing huge shots time and time again. Sammy Mac (Mackinnon) was huge stopping Italy’s most dangerous player Menegin and grabbing huge boards, and big Luc was picking blokes out with unbelievable passes from the post. I was so proud to be a part of that team. I never played a second in the game but being in the Boomers is like being part of a family and as a family we all enjoyed that victory like we were all Andrew Gaze knocking down game winners. In the change-room after the game we all sang the team’s song so loud. It’s something I will take with me for the rest of my life.” </p>

HTML <p>The Boomers played exceptionally well in Sydney but unfortunately they were pushed back to 4th position which was an excellent result and an equal best result for the Boomers (along with 1988 and 1996).</p>

HTML <p>In 2001 Martin decided to try his luck in Europe and was signed by DeportivoSevilla, Spain and the next year for Spanish Club Caja San Fernando Sevilla. He played very solidly in Spain and continued to gain experience and skills. His absence in Europe meant that he did not play for Australia in that two year period (2001-02).</p>

HTML <p>He returned to the Adelaide 36ers in 2003 and was immediately selected for the Boomers in preparation and selection for the 2004 Athens Olympics. Martin played games for the Boomers against the Czechoslovakian National Team in 2003 and the “Four Nations Tournament”, the New Zealand Series, the FIBA Diamond Ball in Belgrade and the “Italy International Tournament” in Italy in 2004.</p>

HTML <p>He was selected to the Boomers Team for the 2004 Athens Olympics. “I had worked very hard over the years to get to this point and being rewarded with the selection of my second Olympics was a satisfying feeling,” recalls Martin.“I was so excited about playing in Athens. I felt I was a big part of the team. Not a star by any means but a role player. I played well in the leading up to the Olympics and couldn’t wait for the opportunity to play against the biggest names in the basketball world,” he adds.</p>

HTML <p>It was another great experience for Martin however the Boomers had an up and down tournament in Athens and finished equal 9th (positions 9 to 12).</p>

HTML <p>After the 2004 Olympics Martin moved back to play in Europe for another two years where he played for DKV Joventut Club in Spainbefore returning to Australian and the NBL in 2006 to play with the Cairns Taipans. He was to become an integral part of that young Club’s rise to prominence in the NBL.In 2007 he averaged a career high 24.4 points per game. One on one he was one of the most difficult players in the NBL to defend. Martin played with the Taipans until 2009. He was still a dominant player in the NBL but injuries were taking their toll. In a last effort to win another NBL title Martin returned to the Perth Wildcats in 2010 and assisted them to an NBL title. This was his fourth title (1995, 1998/1999, 1999/2000 and 2009/2010).</p>

HTML <p>He retired from basketball after the 2009/10 NBL season. In his NBL career he played over 400 games. He was named in the 2006 NBL Australian Players All Star Team, the 2003 and 2006 All NBL Third Team, and to the 2000, 2003 and 2004 All NBL Second Teams. In the NBL he averaged 14.8 points per game and took 2,110 rebounds in fifteen seasons and played for three Clubs.</p>

HTML <p>“The Cat” had played 63 games for Australia and had played in two Olympic Games.</p>

HTML <p>After retiring from basketball Martin returned to Adelaide and while he stayed involved with some basketball and established business interests.</p>

HTML <p>Martin Cattalini had come from a late start in the game to be a dual Olympian, four time NBL title winner and a player good enough to play in the tough European Leagues. “The Cat” leaves his fans with many wonderful memories.</p>

HTML <p>Martin Cattalini in action (Sport the Library/Andy Lyons)</p>

HTML <p>Martin Cattalini playing for the Perth Wildcats in the NBL (National Basketball League)</p>

HTML <p>Martin Cattalini (National Basketball League)</p>