BIO: Darren Lucas was born in Melbourne (VIC) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Bulleen Boomers and then the Nunawading Spectres before receiving a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 1984. He spent one year there and played for the program’s SEABL league team. There he developed his game alongside other future NBL stars like Shane Froling, David Graham, Graham Kubank, Trevor Torrance, Mark Dalton and NBA star Luc Longley.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Darren Lucas made his NBL debut with the Nunawading Spectres at 19 years of age. He scored 19 points in his first game.

At 20 years of age, he returned from Canberra (AIS) to play for the Nunawading Spectres NBL squad in 1986. He averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in his first season, the Spectres however struggled, finishing 10th on the NBL ladder.

1987
In 1987, Lucas averaged 8.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, playing a key role in the Spectres rotation and helped the team finish reach a eighth place finish in the regular season with a 13-13 record.

1988
After the Spectres chose not to re-sign Barry Barnes (who had been the Spectres head coach since they entered the NBL), former Melbourne Tigers player, Brian Goorjian, who had been coaching Ballarat in the Victorian State League was named as his successor. Goorjian’s arrival wasn’t exactly a warm one. With some team members feeling that Barnes’ assistant coach Colin Cadee should have been given the job, a number of players signed a petition to prevent Goorjian from getting the role.

Once appointed as head coach Goorjian, import Bruce Bolden and Brendan Joyce left for rival club Westside Melbourne and Peter Blight headed to Hobart. Goorjian retained the younger players on the roster, Ron Lemons, Warren Pink, Steve Lunardon, Shane Froling and Darren Lucas and but decided not to re-sign the team’s leading scorer from last season, Vince Hinchen. Instead, he would look to find a import better suited to the new look roster.

Goorjian struggled to find the right US talent to balance out the team. His first import, Kevin Ross (14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds), lasted only two games before being sent back to the US, and his replacement Quentin Anderson (12.0 points, 9.5 rebounds), wasn’t much better and was also given the axe after two games. Goorjian had also signed Harvard University’s leading scorer Arne Duncan to pair with the aforementioned Ross and Anderson. Duncan (24.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.4 assists) was a totally different story. A blue-chip athlete who went on the lead the team in scoring and in fact, packed a suitcase and flew to Australia with just a week’s notice after narrowly missing out on a contract with the Boston Celtics.

Mid-season Goorjian then signed Rick Sharpe (19.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists), who had played for his father Ed Goorjian at the University of Loyola and formed a nice tandem with Dean Uthoff (18.3 points, 17.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists). 22-year-old Lucas would be given the green light in his second season. He saw his minutes almost double (25 per game to 38 per game) and, as a result, saw his numbers skyrocket from 8.8 points to 23.1 points per game while also adding 3.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals. This included his 45-point career-high against the Perth Wildcats.

Alongside local talent Ron Lemons, Warren Pink, Steve Lunardon and Shane Froling the 22-year-old Lucas would be given the green light in his second season. He saw his minutes almost double (25 per game to 38 per game) and, as a result, saw his numbers skyrocket from 8.8 points to 23.1 points per game while also adding 3.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.9 steals. This included his 45-point career-high against the Perth Wildcats. Eastside finished the season with 11 wins, 13 losses, and in the eleventh spot, leading Goorjian to describe the season as a ‘disaster’. Lucas would go on to be named the league’s Most Improved Player that year in one of the few positives of the Spectres season.

1989
After a import merry-go-round and lacklustre season in coach Brian Goorjian’s first year, he looked to create some stability within the franchise. He re-signed import Arne Duncan, last year’s leading scorer and paired him with import Ben Tower, a Michigan native who had been drafted by the Detroit Pistons five years earlier.

The Spectres retained the core group of last season’s roster, team captain Warren Pink, Dean Uthoff, the league’s leading rebounder and the league’s most improved player Darren Lucas. The rest of the roster was built around a bunch of young talent, with Shane Froling, Paul Hotchin and Steve Lunardon all returning with one more season of experienced, 17-year-old Spectres junior player Rupert Sapwell and 24-year-old Wayne Larkins from Westside Melbourne.

During the pre-season, Duncan suffered a injury that saw him miss the first half of the regular season.

The Spectres then signed Kent Lockhart, who had been playing in the state league for Sandringham, as an injury replacement for Duncan. Goorjian, who had been playing pickup basketball games against state league players during the offseason, was impressed by his ability to play both sides of the ball.

Lockhart (28.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists) led the team in scoring, and made such a impact on the team that when Duncan returned from injury, the team released Ben Tower and signed Lockhart to the full-time roster. With Duncan putting up big numbers again (28.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.6 assists), Dean Uthoff (18.6 points, 17.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists) leading the league in rebounding for a second consecutive year and Lucas averaging 12 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game, the Specres finished the year on a four-game winning streak. Lockhart, who posted a incredible 47 points against the Newcastle Falcons in Round 18, was named to the All-NBL First Team, and with Eastside Melbourne improved from a 11-13 to 14-12 record, leaving Spectres’ fans very optimistic for next season.

1990
In 1990, Lucas averaged 11.9 points, 3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists as the Spectres finished with a record of 18-8 and in second place during the regular season.

1991
After making the playoffs for the first time in three years, coach Brian Goorjian was able to bring back almost the entire squad for another shot at the championship, the team’s only key loss being bruising forward Shane Froling, who was replaced with Scott Ninnis.

Behind Eastside’s formidable frontcourt, led by Bruce Bolden (27.2 points and 10.4 rebounds), Kent Lockhart (18.6 points and 5.7 rebounds) and Dean Uthoff (16.8 points and 13.6 rebounds) the Spectres finished the season with a 17-9 record. Lucas contributed 13.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists as Eastside finished in second place, earning them a first-round bye in the playoffs. Eastside would then eliminate North Melbourne, 2–0 in the semifinals before facing off against the Perth Wildcats, who had finished the season in first place (22-4) and eliminated the Adelaide 36ers in their semi-final matchup. The Grand Final series would see Perth come away victorious with a 109-83 win in game one before the Spectres evened things up with a 86-81 win in game two. Behind the stellar play from Perth imports Ricky Grace and Pete Hanson, who would be awarded the Grand Final MVP, Perth defeated Eastside in the deciding game, 90-80.

1992 – ONE MAGIC YEAR
Things really changed for Lucas in 1992 however, when the Spectres (now named the Eastside Melbourne Spectres) merged with the Southern Melbourne Saints to become the South East Melbourne Magic. Bruce Bolden, Tony Ronaldson, Scott Ninnis, Darren Perry and Lucas were joined by John Dorge via the Geelong Supercats and import Milt Newton to finalise the roster for the team’s NBL debut, a campaign coined by the media as that ‘Magic Season’.

???? THROWBACK THURSDAY ????

Did you believe in Magic? How could you not with this old tune! Before the days of @SEMelbPhoenix we had the South East Melbourne Magic. Do you remember how many NBL Championships Magic had to their name? Read more – https://t.co/OezFZFpFDS #HoopsAtHome pic.twitter.com/mQfmy7kiG4

— Basketball Victoria (@Basketball_Vic) April 16, 2020

The team got off to a strong start to the year, winning six of their first seven games but felt a change was needed and released Newton, replacing him with LA Clippers guard Rob Rose. From there, the Magic rarely missed a beat, winning all 12 of their home games and losing only four games for the regular season. Lucas would average 10 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.1 assists that season, remarkably while working a full-time job at the same time. Throughout his NBL career, Lucas had permission from his coaches to avoid the early morning training sessions while he worked for Xerox and then join the team in their afternoon training sessions. Lucas would then return to his full-time work for another two-three hours before finishing for the day.

The Magic’s strong finish to the season would see head coach Brian Goorjian win the league’s coach of the year award for the first time and set up a playoffs matchup against the Canberra Cannons. The Magic would make short work of the Cannons, defeating them in two straight games. This set-up a semi-final series against the North Melbourne Giants whom they would also elimate with two straight games. The win set up a NBL Grand Final against their crosstown rival Melbourne Tigers (15-9), who had finished third on the ladder.

In game one of the series, South East Melbourne’s starting point guard Darren Perry suffered a torn ACL and would miss the next nine months due to injury and the remainder of the Grand Final. The injury rattled the Magic, with the Tigers guards Lanard Copeland (34 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks) and Andrew Gaze (26 points) capitalising, taking home a 18 point win (116-98).

Lucas, along with up and coming guard Scott Ninnis, would be tasked with filling the void caused by Perry’s injury. Lucas made the most of the opportunity, scoring a season-high 19 points in the second game of the series and handcuffed Copeland on defence with the Tigers star guard only about to score 14 points (6/19 shooting) this time round. Robert Rose (20 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals) controlled the point guard spot at the offensive end and Bruce Bolden (22 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 4 blocks) dominated inside, giving the Magic a 115-93 win to even up the series.

The Tigers had been taken by surprise by the Magic’s ability to bounce back without Perry, and although Melbourne battled valiantly in game three, the Magic seemed to have won the mental game with the previous victory. The Magic’s backcourt stepped up once again, forcing Gaze into a horrible shooting night (18 points on 5-19 shooting) and holding Copeland below his season average (24 points) and ground out a 95-88 win in the deciding game. The Magic’s import duo of Rose (26 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks) and Bolden (21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks) were at their very best and at the conclusion of the game Bolden was awarded the NBL Finals MVP award by NBA Commissioner David Stern who was visiting Australia at the time.

1993
With the Magic coming off a NBL championship in their first year in the league, many pondered what they could do in their second. Coach Brian Goorjian was able to return with the majority of the roster intact. Even Darren Perry, who suffered a ACL injury that saw him miss nine months of action, made it back to the court. The only major additions to the roster being David Graham (via North Melbourne) and Simon Kerle (via Brisbane) to cover the loss of Scott Ninnis (to Adelaide).

Lucas would average 14 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists for the season alongside the dominant inside play of Bruce Bolden (21.6 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists), a breakout season from 21-year-old Tony Ronaldson (20.2 points and 6.3 rebounds) and the all-around brilliance of Robert Rose (18.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 3.0 steals), who would lead the league in steals and win the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

In the playoffs, the South East Melbourne would eliminate the seventh-placed Adelaide 36ers in two games during the quarterfinals to set up a rematch of last year’s grand final, a semi-final showdown against the Melbourne Tigers. South East Melbourne’s run was then halted by Australian Boomers star Mark Bradtke, who had shifted to Melbourne from Adelaide during the pre-season, dominated the series. He delivered 21 points and 9 rebounds in the Tiger’s 108-106 win in game one and then backed it up with 28 points and 15 rebounds in their 89-72 win in game two, ending the Magic’s season in two games.

1994
After losing to heated rivals, the Melbourne Tigers head coach Brian Goorjian decided the Magic needed to go younger and chose not to re-sign veteran guards, Darren Perry and Robert Rose, replacing them with younger talent. 18-year-old Sam MacKinnon and Rupert Sapwell, who had just returned from playing college basketball, were added to the roster, and Adonis Jordan, who had led the Kansas Jayhawks to the 1993 NCAA Final Four only six months prior, became the Magic’s sole import.

Jordan (19.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 2.6 steals) would lead the team in scoring and assists, alongside frontcourt duo Tony Ronaldson (19.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.1 steals) and Bruce Bolden (16.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals) doing the damage inside. Lucas would also add 12.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists during the season and Sam MacKinnon (5.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.8) would also make a immediate impact, earning his way into the team’s regular rotation (19.2 minutes per game) and delivering one of the greatest seasons ever by a 18-year-old which made him a easy choice for the league’s Rookie Of The Year Award.

In a interesting nod to the future, due to injury the Magic replaced him with state league star Mike Kelly who would become a major part of the Magic roster in 1997.

South East Melbourne was unbeatable at home all season (11-2) butcould never replicate that on the road, losing half their away games and finishing third on the ladder (18-18).

In the postseason, South East swept Perth in two games to set up a semi-finals matchup against crosstown rival North Melbourne. The Giants delivered a major upset in game one, convincingly defeating the Magic (108-87). In game two, it was much closer. In fact, the game was only decided in the final minute (76-79), and if Adonis Jordan hadn’t missed a three-point heave at the buzzer (many thought he could have made a extra pass to a open David Graham for a better shot), the Magic might have been able to force a third game. Instead, the South East Melbourne’s season came to a end.

1995
Brian Goorjian’s youth movement continued in 1995. After moving on from star import Robert Rose the season prior, veteran big man Bruce Bolden would not be offered a chance to return (he would move on to sign with the Sydney Kings), with his replacement coming in the form of young 7-footer Chris Anstey from the Melbourne Tigers.

Anstey’s move to the Magic was one of huge controversy when Melbourne coach Lindsey Gaze appealed the signing via the NBL tribunal. The NBL decided that Anstey could not leave the Tigers and would have to play for Melbourne as long as the Tigers could match the contract, which they did.

After some extremely creative salary tweaking where Magic CEO Graham McNaney and Goorjian convinced all of the Magic players to sign for less so they could offer Anstey a larger contract (which also fit within the NBL salary cap) that the Tigers couldn’t match. Once Anstey had signed with the Magic, all of the team’s players were reinstated to their previous contracts.

After the Anstey deal was done, the Magic rounded out the roster by adding Nunawading junior Jason Smith, re-signing import Adonis Jordan and pairing him with Richard ‘Scooter’ Barry, son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Unfortunately, Barry (14.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.3 steals) didn’t quite make the impact in the NBL that his father had in the NBA and was shown the door after four games. Goorjian chose to elevate 23-year-old development player Shane Bright (0.3 points, 0.4 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) for the remaining games instead of bringing in another import, aiming to give his young local core of MacKinnon, Anstey and Smith as much playing time as possible.

The Magic went on to finish second on the ladder (18-8), with Tony Ronaldson (21.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.0 steals) leading the team in scoring and Jordan (20 points, 2.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.8 steals) leading the Magic in assists.

Additionally, 33-year-old big man John Dorge (16.1 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and 3.0 blocks) turned the clock back and delivered a breakout season, leading the league in blocked shots. Dorge’s improved play saw him selected to the All-NBL first team at the end of the season. Lucas also averaged 9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists and backup guard Darren Lucas (9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.8 steals) took home the league’s Best Defensive Player award.

In the postseason, the Magic lost game one of their quarterfinal matchup with the Illawarra (108-113), then returned to Melbourne to win both games two (92-89) and three (93-75). Moving onto the semi-finals, South East Melbourne would face North Melbourne and saw their season end early thanks to losses in both games one (77-98) and game three (92-107).

1996
In 1996 Lucas averaged 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds as the Magic’s best perimeter defender off the bench. He was effective in his role and helped guide the Magic to a second place finish on the ladder with a 19-7 record. The Magic then got revenge on the North Melbourne Giants who had ended their season in 1995, eliminating them easily in two straight games in the quarter-finals.

The Magic then eliminated the Adelaide 36ers in two straight games, Lucas had his best games of the postseason against the 36ers, scoring only 8 points in game one and 6 points in game two which helped propel the Magic past Adelaide and onto a Grand Final matchup with crosstown rival the Melbourne Tigers.

The Tigers would claim game one Andrew as Andrew Gaze delivered his best game of the series, scoring 35 points and collecting 8 rebounds. Lucas added 2 points and 4 rebounds in the opening game. The Magic would then bounce back and win game two (88-84) in front of a Grand Final record crowd of 15,064 at the National Tennis Centre at Flinders Park, which still stands as Melbourne’s highest-attended NBL game ever.

In the third and deciding game the Magic delivered the final blow a 30 point blowout victory, 107-70 with Lucas contributing 4 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists.

The 1996 NBL Grand Final series drew a aggregate attendance record of 43,605 (average 14,535), the largest crowd ever for a three game NBL series. Magic guard Mike Kelly was awarded the Finals MVP award after averaging 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.3 steals across the three game series.

Lucas would retire at seasons end having played in 313 NBL games, winning two defensive player of the year awards (1994-95), a most improved player award (1988) and career averages of 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Darren Lucas played eleven seasons across three NBL teams. This included the Nunawading Spectres, Eastside Melbourne Spectres and South East Melbourne Magic. He averaged 11.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 313 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 47th in total steals

Dan Boyce (820 Posts)

Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.