BIO: Growing up in Bell Block, a small township just outside of New Plymouth, Boucher picked up basketball in his final year at Bell Block Primary School, thanks in large part to his older brothers.

Boucher continued to play the sport through high school, spending his third-form year at New Plymouth Spotswood College in 1989 before relocating to Auckland in 1990 and attending Papatoetoe High School.

While he enjoyed playing basketball, it was when he was selected for his first New Zealand age-group squad, around the age of 17, he saw the potential to make a career out of it.

His 13 combined career championships is the most in ANBL/NZNBL history.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Dillon Boucher made his NBL debut with the New Zealand Breakers at 27 years of age. He scored six points in his first game.

In March 2003, Three Waikato businessmen, Michael Redman, Dallas Fisher and Keith Ward, acquired a NBL licence for a team based in New Zealand. The inaugural Breakers roster was built from the core playing group of New Zealand’s national team, which had finished in fourth place at the FIBA World Championships six months prior.

Phill Jones, who had been the Tall Blacks leading scorer (18.2 ppg) at the World Champs, Paul Henare, Dillon Boucher, Paora Winitana and Pero Cameron (who was named team captain) formed the Breakers’ local core. The roster was then filled out with up and coming New Zealand talent like Aaron Olsen and Lindsey Tait and some Australian NBL veterans like Ben Melmeth and Brad Williams to add leadership. Lastly, Casey Frank, a long-time import in the New Zealand national league, was signed as the team’s second import.

Jeff Green was implemented as the team’s first coach and, despite the Breakers being picked by many to finish dead last, they pulled out a win in their very first NBL game against Adelaide (111-110).

After initial success, the Breakers went on to lose ten of their next eleven games (proving the pundits right) to languish near the bottom of the NBL ladder for the remainder of the season.

Twelve games into the season (2-10), Green was fired and succeeded by the team’s assistant coach Frank Arsego, who had also headed up the basketball program at the Australian Institute of Sport for the past five years. Arsego would then bring in Mike Chappell (22.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.7 assists), who finished top five in the league in both points and three-point shooting while playing in Canberra the season before. Both Casey Frank and Brad Williams would be released to make way for Chappell, who went on to lead the team in scoring and named Breakers club MVP.

Chappell’s presence delivered a mid-season resurgence where a five game winning streak towards the end of the season gave the Breakers a realistic shot of qualifying for the playoffs. Needing to win both of their final games in the final round to claim a playoff berth, the Breakers instead went winless and finished in tenth place (12–21).

Boucher averaged 5.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists alongside teammates Jones (13.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.1 steals) and Ben Melmeth (13.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) who were the best among the team’s local talent.

2004/05
The Breakers entered their second NBL season looking to improve on their tenth-place finish in their first year during their debut season. The Breakers moved Frank Arsego, who had replaced Jeff Green mid-season, into a permanent position as the team’s head coach. The next move was locking in the Breakers’ leading scorer and MVP from the previous season, Mike Chappell, and replacing import Casey Frank with Shawn Redhage, who had been dominating the state league (SEABL).

Ben Melmeth would return to his hometown of Newcastle to play for the Hunter Pirates. He was replaced with fellow Aussie big man Ben Pepper, whose former team, the Victoria Giants, had vacated the league due to financial issues.

To begin the season, Paul Henare was made co-captain, alongside last year’s ‘skipper’ Pero Cameron, and despite falling short in their opening game (a re-match of the team’s first ever game against Adelaide, which they lost 94-106) they started the season by splitting the first games six games and sit within the middle of the were pack with a 3-3 record.

Although Redhage (12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists) made a impressive start to the season, a form slump in November, which saw the team lose six of its seven games, led to Redhage’s court time being reduced and eventually his release after 13 games.

While Redhage would go on to sign with Perth and become one of the NBL’s all-time greats, his replacement came in the form of Marcus Timmons (9.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.5 steals). A clear mistake had been made there, however, as shortly after taking the court, it was clear Timmons was no longer the player he was back when he joined the Melbourne Tigers mid-season in 1997 and led them to a championship.

Chappell (18 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists) would lead the team in scoring for a second consecutive season, while Aaron Olson would boost his scoring from 10.8 points per game to 15.5 points per game and win the club’s MVP award at the end of the season.

Boucher appeared in 30 games and averaged 4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, while the Breakers finished in eleventh place (9-23), failing to improve on their debut season.

PERTH WILDCATS
2005/06
After Ricky Grace retired in 2005, veteran Tony Ronaldson was elevated to team captain of the Wildcats. While the team looked to build on its disappointing seventh place finish last season, they kept the majority of their local intact, the only major change being the departures of Grace, Adrian Majstrovich (New Zealand), and seldom used Braith Cox (Melbourne), while replacing them with Paul Rogers (via Spain), Dillon Boucher (via New Zealand) and rookie swingman Cameron Tovey.

the Wildcat’s did clean house when it came to imports, however. The departing Rosell Ellis (to South) and Rashad Tucker (to Melbourne) would be replaced by point guard David Bailey and Shawn Redhage, who joined the team after being unceremoniously cut by New Zealand in 2004.

In his first season at Perth, Redhage (20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.1 assists), perhaps motivated by his Breakers’ experience, led the team in scoring alongside Bailey (17.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, and 2.0 steals), who proved to be a competent replacement for Grace.

With their two imports delivering, Tony Ronaldson (14.9 points, 5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists), Peter Crawford (14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals) would add additional scoring with veteran Matthew Shanahan (11.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists) produced the best season of his career coming off the bench.

Despite the reshuffled roster, Perth would finish seventh for the second season in a row.

Despite not having a winning record (16-16), the team qualified for the playoffs, with the league allowing the top eight team’s to proceed to the postseason.

There, things all began to click for the Wildcats, and after upset victories over both the sixth-ranked Brisbane (96-91) and third-ranked Wollongong (101-121), the team found themselves in a unlikely semi final appearance, facing off against a powerhouse Melbourne squad.

Behind the NBL MVP Chris Anstey and former Wildcat Rashad Tucker, the Tigers would prove too strong. Anstey (28 points and 11 rebounds) and Tucker (10 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals) delivered a comfortable 94-78 Melbourne win at home in game one. Then backing it in Perth, winning 106-101, with Anstey (29 points and 6 rebounds) and Tucker (9 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists), ending Perth’s ‘Cinderella’ playoff run and going on to win the NBL championship.

Boucher would appear in 35 games and averaged 3.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, while Redhage’s first year in Perth saw him finish runner-up in league MVP voting.

In February 2006, West Australian businessman Jack Bendat became the chairman and majority shareholder of the franchise. Although no longer the majority shareholder, Andrew Vlahov remained in control of the team as managing director. Bendat then assumed full control in 2007.

BRISBANE BULLETS
2006/07 – THE GREATEST NBL TEAM OF ALL-TIME?
Brisbane continued to develop its roster in 2007, adding the country’s best backcourt player in CJ Bruton (via Sydney) to the existing combo of two of Australia’s greatest frontcourt talents, Sam MacKinnon and Mark Bradtke. Signing Bruton also led to the Bullets moving on from long-term import duo Derek Rucker and Bobby Brannen. Ebi Ere, Bruton’s backcourt partner for the Kings championship in 2004, and do-it-all forward Dusty Rychart (via Adelaide) were signed as import replacements and, with the roster having a number of scoring options, chose not to re-sign Lanard Copeland (to Adelaide) and Daniel Egan (to Townsville) and brought in defensive stopper Dillon Boucher (via Perth) who Bullets front office felt was responsible for the Wildcats eliminating the team from the playoffs the previous season, after shutting down leading scorer Stephen Black.

The Bullets began the season by winning the NBL Preseason Blitz (Coffs Harbour), with Bruton being named MVP of the tournament. In contrast, Brisbane began the regular season with a largely indifferent record (3-3), which by the season’s mid-way point was a respectable, but not at all earth-shattering 10 wins and 5 losses. Reigning champions Melbourne (11-4) sat on top of the ladder, although Brisbane had managed to defeat them in their first matchup of the season (98-85). From here, the Bullets reached a level that has many considering this team to be the greatest of all time. Brisbane wouldn’t lose for the remainder of the regular season, heading into the playoffs on a 18 game winning streak. During this time, seven of the team’s victories come in wins by 30 points or more, including a run of three games against Adelaide, New Zealand and Singapore, where they won by 32, 34, and 32, respectively.

Mackinnon (18.9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks) would deliver perhaps the greatest season of all time, becoming the first player in NBL history to win both the Best Defensive Player and Most Valuable Player award in the same season. Making Brisbane even tougher to stop is the fact that besides MacKinnon, they had five guys who could take over a game at any time in Ere (17.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists), Rychart (15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.0 steals), Bruton (14 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.5 assists), Black (13.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists) and Bradtke (10.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists).

Joey Wright would be named coach of the year before leading Brisbane to a seven-point win over Sydney (91-84) in the first game of the semi-finals. Ere (22 points) led the Bullets in scoring. Game two moved to Sydney, where Ere (23 points) would again finish as the game-high scorer, but it was Bruton (21 points) that sealed the series, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter to eliminate his former club from the playoffs (93-86).

Melbourne (25-8) had finished second on the ladder and defeated Cairns (2-0) to meet Brisbane in the Grand Final. Playing at home, Brisbane extended their winning streak to 21, narrowly defeating Melbourne by three points (98-95). Stephen Black (24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists) top scoring, alongside Sam Mackinnon (18 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 blocks), who came close to racking up a triple-double. Chris Anstey (21 points and 9 rebounds) would lead the Tigers in the loss.

Melbourne would end the streak in game two, defeating Brisbane (105-91) thanks to a huge game from Anstey (31 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks) and the Tigers dominating the Bullets on the glass (59 to 44 rebounds).

Brisbane returned home for game three where they had only lost one game for the entire season and made sure Anstey (9 points and 13 rebounds) wouldn’t have a repeat performance. MacKinnon, Bradtke and Rychart were instrumental in keeping him off the scoreboard, limiting him to 4 of 15 shooting. Black (22 points) again finished as the game’s high scorer, with MacKinnon (19 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals) filling every other column of the stat sheet to give the Bullets a 20 point victory (113-93).

In game four, Brisbane defied the odds and defeated Melbourne by nine points (103-94), despite the Tigers shooting a better percentage from the field, beyond the arc and winning the rebound battle. However, Melbourne finishing with 26 turnovers, compared to Brisbane’s 14 was the true indicator of the championship. Rashad Tucker (17 points and 12 rebounds) would lead the Tigers in scoring, while the Bullets held Anstey (16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks) well below his usual scoring averages again, making him shoot 6 from 15 from the field. Bruton (22 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals) and Dusty Rychart (21 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals) were instrumental at both ends of the floor, while MacKinnon (13 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 steals), who may have had his quietest game of the series, was awarded the Finals MVP.

MacKinnon would become the first player to ever be selected to the All-NBL First team, win the regular season and finals MVP awards, be the defensive player of the year and win a championship in the same season (Until Chris Anstey would repeat the effort in the following season). Boucher would appear in 39 games and average 4.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists for the season.

2007/08
In the 2007/08 NBL season, Bruton (19.1 points and 3.2 rebounds, and 4.7 assists) took on a increased role on offence as the Bullets finished the regular season in third position with a 20-10 record.

Their postseason run would finish abruptly after losing to eventual champions, the Melbourne Tigers, in the semifinals. Bruton was named in the All-NBL Second Team.

Following the 2007/08 season, the Bullets’ childcare-centre mogul owner Eddy Groves – who had run into financial strife with his ABC Learning Centres empire – announced he would be forced to sell the club. On 16 April 2008, Logan businessman David Kemp was officially announced as the new owner. However, Kemp pulled out of the sale and attempts to find a new ownership group were unsuccessful. On 30 June 2008, it was announced that the Bullets’ license had been returned to the NBL.

Boucher appeared in 31 games across the season and averaged 3.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
2008/09
After the Brisbane Bullets fell into financial hardship and withdrew from the league, head coach Andrej Lemanis recruited free agent pair CJ Bruton (two-year deal) and former Breaker Dillon Boucher (three-year deal) to play for the Breakers with the explicit intentions to win a championship that season.

“The Breakers have proved they’re a playoff team and I’d like to help take them up to that next level,” Bruton said upon signing with New Zealand.

“I’ve seen the Breakers change their team and their culture to become more competitive. They’re serious about becoming number one and I want to be a part of New Zealand’s first championship. You don’t play this sport just to be in it.”

The duo joined the existing roster of Paul Henare, Kirk Penney, Phill Jones, Oscar Forman, Tony Ronaldson and Tim Behrendorff. The Breakers later signed import Rick Rickert and elevated development player Thomas Abercrombie into the full squad to finalise their roster.

Bruton’s signing gave the Breakers’ stability and direction at the point guard position, something that had previously been missing. Behind Bruton (16.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.7 steals) and sharp-shooting Kirk Penney (24.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists), the Breakers started the season off firing with 15 wins and 4 losses. But, the loss of Bruton to a high-ankle sprain in late December saw the Breakers stumbled through January to lose eight of their next nine games.

Heading into the playoffs with a win in their last game regular season game, the Breakers finished with a 18–12 record, setting the team up with their first ever home playoff game. New Zealand went on to win their elimination playoff, routing Adelaide (131–101) to set up a best-of-three semi final series with the defending champions Melbourne. In their first-ever semi finals appearance, the Breakers were beaten 2–0.

Boucher would average 4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists over the course of the Breakers’ season.

2009/10
The Breakers were dealt a blow early on in the 2009/10 season with Penney suffering a back injury that sidelined him for nine games. The mid-season addition of import Kevin Braswell sparked a late-season flurry, with the Breakers winning their last six matches to finish with a 15–13 record. New Zealand’s late-season surge proved to be in vain however, as the Breakers missed the playoffs during one of the closest NBL seasons of all-time. Despite New Zealand being only two games behind league leaders Perth, they would finish in fifth place and miss the playoffs. Boucher would average 4.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists for the season.

2010/11
In 2010, Mika Vukona returned to the Breakers after winning a championship with the South Dragons in 2009 and spending the season prior with Gold Coast. He was named team captain, taking over from Paul Henare who had assumed the role for the past six seasons. The Breakers also replaced import Rick Rickert with former Utah State standout Gary Wilkinson and re-signed point guard Kevin Braswell, who had impressed coach Lemanis after being added to the roster in the middle of the season prior. This season saw Kevin Braswell (10.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.2 steals) and 22-year-old Corey Webster, who was elevated into the Breakers’ full-time roster, eat into point guard CJ Bruton’s playing time. Bruton (11 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) saw his role reduced, his minutes dropping from 32 to 25 per game, while the team became a much deeper squad.

The season began with Kirk Penney missing the start of the season while he attempted to earn a NBA contract. Failing to do that, he re-joined the Breakers after the season’s first month. Despite missing Penney, the Breakers won their first five games of the season before losing 114–74 to the Wildcat’s in Perth.

Kirk Penney (20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game) would finish as the team’s leading scorer, with the Breakers finishing the regular season with a 22–6 record and Boucher averaging 2.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists.

The Breakers finishing on top of the ladder saw them meet fourth-placed Perth in the semifinals. The Breakers lost game one to the Perth Wildcats at home before recovering to win the series 2–1, qualifying for their first-ever NBL Grand Final.

There, the Breakers met the Cairns Taipans in the championship series and coasted to a 85–67 win in game one after leading by as much as 31 in the third quarter. The team’s then fought out a gripping game two in Cairns. Tied 60–60 at the end of regulation and 73–73 at the end of the first overtime, it was Cairns who prevailed 85–81 to send the series to a third and deciding game. Back at home for game three on 29 April 2011, the Breakers recorded a comfortable 71–53 win to claim their maiden NBL title, becoming the first New Zealand side to win a major Australian championship. Bruton etched his name into Breakers folklore when he nailed two three-pointers in the fourth quarter of the championship-deciding game to seal the game against the Cairns Taipans, while Thomas Abercrombie collected Grand Final MVP honours.

2011/12
In 2011/12, Boucher averaged 2.3 points and 3.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, as the Breakers finished in first place with a 21-7 record.

2012/13
In 2012, the Breakers looked to become the second team in league history to record a three-peat. While Cedric Jackson, Leon Henry, Thomas Abercrombie, Dillon Boucher, Mika Vukona, CJ Bruton, and Daryl Corletto all re-signed, a major decision made this off-season was to not re-sign leading scorer Gary Wilkinson (to Europe) in favour of elevating promising Kiwi centre Alex Pledger into the starting lineup. Import forward Will Hudson (via Gold Coast) signed as his replacement, while Corey Webster, who had sat out the previous season due to a 12-month suspension for the use of banned substances.

The Breakers recorded a number of historic moments this season, beginning with Jackson recording his first career triple-double with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Melbourne Tigers (November 30, 2012). It was only the second triple-double recorded since the NBL went to 40-minute games at the start of the 2009/10 season.

By February, the Breakers extended their longest winning streak record to 11, a record that by mid-March had been extended to fifteen straight games.

On March 24, Jackson (14.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6.8 assists, and 2.8 steals) was selected to the All-NBL First Team and awarded the NBL Most Valuable Player award after leading the league in assists and steals for the second straight season.

Boucher would average 2.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists with New Zealand finished on top of the ladder for a second season (24-4) facing off against Perth in a Grand Final re-match of the previous year. The Wildcats entered the series shorthanded, having lost starting guard Damian Martin to a Achilles injury prior to the playoffs. To cover his absence Brad Robbins had been signed on to take Martin’s place, but with the team missing Martin, the Breakers defeated Perth in two straight games. The Breakers made history by delivering a clean sweep of the postseason, capping it all off with a dramatic 70–66 victory over the Wildcat’s in game two.

Jackson was subsequently named Grand Final MVP as the team delivered a historic three-peat win.

Dillon Boucher played ten seasons in the NBL. He averaged 3.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 325 NBL games.

CAREER RANKINGS:
– 38th in total steals

Dan Boyce (815 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.