BIO: Billy McCaffrey was born in Waynesboro, Virginia (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Billy McCaffrey made his NBL debut with the South East Melbourne Magic at 24 years of age. He scored 15 points in his first game.

In his debut NBL season McCaffrey averaged 17.6 points and 2.8 rebounds, and helped guide the Magic to a second place finish in the regular season with a 19-7 record. In the postseason the Magic first eliminated the North Melbourne Giants in two straight games in the quarter-finals. McCaffrey added 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in game one and 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists in Game 2.

The Magic then eliminated the Adelaide 36ers, again in two straight games, McCaffrey was troubled by Adelaide’s defence in game one limiting him to 12 points and 2 rebounds in game one but in game two he exploded for 21 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists to propel the Magic past Adelaide and onto a Grand Final matchup with crosstown rival the Melbourne Tigers.

Despite McCaffrey continuing to play at a high level (he scored 23 points in the opening game of the grand final) the Tigers would claim Game 1, 100-89 as Andrew Gaze delivered his best game of the series, scoring 35 points and collecting 8 rebounds. 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 McCaffrey adding 24 points, 5 assists and 3 steals.

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.

1998 saw McCaffrey average 10.3 points and 0.4 rebounds, and helped the Magic to a first place finish in the regular season with a 26-4 record. The Magic received a first round bye in the play-offs before meeting the Brisbane Bullets in the semifinals. The Magic would defeat Brisbane 106-98 in game one and 90-84 in game two to see them reach the NBL Grand Final. The Magic would face the Adelaide 36ers in the championship deciding series and lose a narrow game one 93-100 before the 36ers dominated them in game two 90-62 to win the title.

Billy McCaffrey played two seasons the South East Melbourne Magic. He averaged 16.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in 40 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (835 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.