Todd Blanchfield

Todd Blanchfield (born 11 July 1991) is an Australian professional basketball player for Melbourne United of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). The 200 cm swingman rose up the ranks of Mackay basketball before attending the Australian Institute of Sport and representing Australia in international competition.

Early life and career

Born and raised in Mackay, Blanchfield attended Mackay State High School where he had success with schoolboys basketball, being selected in his first state team when he was in Year 7 and was part of Mackay representative teams from under 12s. In 2007, Blanchfield played his first season with the QBL's Mackay Meteors and was a valuable part of the team, despite being just 15 years old.^[1]

In January 2008, Blanchfield's career began to flourish as he travelled to North Carolina on an Australian schoolboys tour, and attended an AIS development camp for the under 19 Australian Emus squad.^[1] He made the final Emus squad and travelled to Germany in March 2008 for the Albert Schweitzer Tournament, going on to help the team defeat the United States to claim bronze.^[2] Following the tournament, he started playing in the SEABL for the AIS,^[3] and in 12 total games, he averaged five points and two rebounds per game.^[4] He later re-joined the Emus for the 2008 William Jones Cup, where the team again captured bronze.^[2]

Blanchfield returned to the Mackay Meteors for the 2009 QBL season and was very impressive in recording averages of 20.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 19 games, and earning the QBL U23 Youth Player of the Year award. He subsequently earned himself a development player spot on the Townsville Crocodiles, signing a 12-month contract with the team in July 2009.^[5]

Professional career

Townsville Crocodiles (2009–2015)

While he played sparingly in his first season with the Townsville Crocodiles, Blanchfield did show signs of potential when he got the chance, finishing the season with averages of 1.1 points and 0.7 rebounds in 10 games.^[6] Following the Crocodiles' semi-final loss to the Wollongong Hawks, Blanchfield re-joined the Mackay Meteors for the 2010 QBL season,^[7] where in 21 games, he averaged 18.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

Blanchfield was rewarded on 3 June 2010 with a three-year contract offer from the Crocodiles, signing with the club as a full-time player and realising a lifelong ambition.^[8] In his first full season with the Crocs, Blanchfield averaged 2.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 27 games.^[6] His full-time commitment to the Crocodiles coincided with his move to the Townsville Heat for the 2011 QBL season in order to be closer to the club and coaches during the NBL off-season. He was considered the Heat's most consistent player by head coach Liam Flynn and it was evident in his production,^[9] finishing the season with averages of 18.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 18 games, and was named in the QBL All-League team.^[10]

After a great season in the QBL and having gotten more stronger and mature, Blanchfield had a very productive season for the Crocs in 2011–12 playing a back-up role for starting small forward Elvin Mims. In 31 games, he averaged 7.2 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.^[6] On 3 May 2012, he signed a two-year contract extension with the club, keeping him under contract until the end of the 2014–15 season.^[11][12] Playing for the Townsville Heat in 2012, he earned QBL All-League team honours for a second straight year^[10] after averaging 19.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.8 steals in 13 games.

Blanchfield finally cracked the starting small forward spot in 2012–13 and subsequently set career-highs in points, rebounds and field goal percentage. Townsville started the season at 0–10 before defeating the Adelaide 36ers on 30 November for their first win of the season and Blanchfield's play was the only real bright spark for the Crocs during this time, as he scored double figures in 14 of his first 22 games. However, a late season slump saw him score double digits just once in his last six games. On the season, he averaged 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 28 games.^[6] He returned once again to the Townsville Heat following the NBL season, and in 13 games during the 2013 QBL season, he averaged 17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

With the decline of Crocs star Peter Crawford, Blanchfield's role increased once again in 2013–14 as he scored a then career-high 23 points against the New Zealand Breakers on 18 October. Whilst the Crocs stayed in playoff contention during the first half of the season, a mid-season slump saw them drop out of the top four race. Blanchfield once again put up career-highs in points (11.0), rebounds (5.3) and assists (1.5).^[6] On 31 January 2014, the announcement of Blanchfield's return to Mackay for the 2014 QBL season was a welcome one to the club and fans.^[13] Playing for his hometown team again, Blanchfield dominated the competition, leading his team to the Grand Final^[14] and earning all-league honours for a third time.^[15][16] In 18 games, he averaged 19.3 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Blanchfield improved once again in 2014–15 as his move to an off-guard position allowed him to carry and control the ball more often on offence. With the departure of both Josh Pace and Peter Crawford, Blanchfield was the main wing focus for the Crocodiles and it showed with his stellar season averages of 14.6 points and six rebounds per game, while shooting at 44.8% from the field and 34.6% from beyond the arc. He was named Player of the Week twice during the season,^[17][18] twice scored a career-high 27 points, was awarded the NBL's Most Improved Player,^[19] and earned All-NBL second team honours.^[20]

Southland Sharks (2015)

On 9 January 2015, Blanchfield signed with the Southland Sharks as an import for the 2015 New Zealand NBL season.^[21][22] He made his debut for the Sharks in the team's season opener against the Manawatu Jets on 1 April and recorded a game-high 28 points and a team-high 9 rebounds in a 100–74 win.^[23][24] On 26 May, he was named Player of the Week for Round 8 after scoring 13 points against Manawatu on 22 May and a season-high 37 points against Taranaki on 23 May.^[25] On 5 July, the Sharks defeated the Wellington Saints in the grand final with a tough 72–68 win. After scoring just six points in their semi-final win over the Super City Rangers the day before, Blanchfield led his team to victory over the Saints with a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds to claim his first championship.^[26] In 20 games for Southland, he averaged 21.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and earned All-Star Five honours.^[27]

Melbourne United (2015–present)

On 22 May 2015, Blanchfield signed a two-year deal with Melbourne United.^[28][29] In his debut for United on 9 October 2015 in the team's season opener, Blanchfield scored a career-high 29 points in a 99–84 win over his former team, the Townsville Crocodiles.^[30] He also hit a career-high seven three-pointers to earn Player of the Game honours.^[31] In United's next game on 11 October, he recorded 15 points and 15 rebounds in a 93–81 win over the Illawarra Hawks.^[32] He helped United start the season with a 9–0 record, and averaged 12.3 points per game over that stretch. However, United fell to 11–5 following their league-best start, and with that came a decline in Blanchfield's production. Over their seven-game stretch of going 2–5, Blanchfield averaged a mere 7.1 points per game. He went on to help United earn the minor premiership after finishing the regular season in first place on the ladder with an 18–10 win/loss record. However, in their semi-final series against the fourth-seeded New Zealand Breakers, United were swept 2–0 to bow out of the playoffs.^[33] Blanchfield appeared in all 30 games for United in 2015–16, averaging 9.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

On 16 October 2016, in United's fourth game of the 2016–17 season, Blanchfield hit eight three-pointers and scored 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting in a 95–83 win over the Illawarra Hawks, taking United's season tally to 2–2.^[34][35] He was ruled out for two games with a groin injury on 4 November,^[36] but that timeline was later increased to three weeks.^[37]

International career

In July 2012, Blanchfield was named in the 2012 Australian Stanković Cup squad^[38] that went on to finish in second place.^[39]

In June 2013, Blanchfield was named in the Australian squad for the 2013 Stanković Cup^[40] and World University Games.^[41] Australia went on to win gold and silver respectively.^[42]

References

External links

• Melbourne United profile
• Take 40: Todd Blanchfield
• Doing the hard yars
• NBL stats
• QBL stats