BIO: Jim Bateman was born in Los Angeles, California (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jim Bateman made his NBL debut with the Newcastle Falcons at 24 years of age. He scored 20 points in his first game.

In Bateman’s debut NBL season he averaged 24.6 points, 9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists as the Falcons finished in fourth place (18-6).

1985
In 1985, Bateman averaged 22.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists, playing a key role in the Falcons rotation with the team finishing in sixth place (16-10).

ILLAWARRA HAWKS
1986
The 1986 season saw Bateman average 20.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists and play a key role in helping the Hawks to a fifth place finish in the regular season with a 15-11 record.

1987
In 1987, the Hawks had their best season to date, finishing in third place (20–6). In the postseason, Illawarra lost a three-game series, again to the eventual league champions, the Brisbane Bullets. Bateman added 19.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.

1988
During the 1988 season, Bateman averaged 17 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 2 assists and was a part of the Hawks squad which finished in a seventh place with a record of 11-13.

GEELONG SUPERCATS
1989
At the end of the 1988 a group of local business men fought together to save the club, injected the team with some much needed financial assistance. The team was rebranded from Cats to Supercats Barry Barnes, who had been replaced by Brian Goorjian at Eastside Melbourne, was named head coach. Barnes had been a mentor to up and coming guard Shane Heal, who after winning Rookie of the Year with Brisbane, joined Barnes in Geelong for the 1989 season. Naturalised big man Jim Bateman (via Illawarra) was also signed to provide some addition scoring punch. The team was led by new import duo Daren Rowe (14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists) and Aubrey Sherrod (14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists). New recruits Bateman (17.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists) and Heal (14.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists) also impressed in their first seasons with the Supercats. Geelong improved from going winless the season prior to a 5-19 record in 1989 despite all of the off-court distractions.

1990
For the second year in a row, coach Barry Barnes was forced to build a new-look roster at the Supercats. John Dorge (via Brisbane) and Vince Hinchen (via Westside Melbourne) were added to the roster. Import forward Brian Vaughans was also brought in to replace Aubrey Sherrod.

The season didn’t start well for the Supercats. Although Vaughns (17.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.3 blocks) put up good numbers across four games, Geelong started the year 0-4 and Vaughns was released. This opened the door for explosive point guard Bobby Locke to join the team, who dropped 50 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 5 steals in his first NBL game. While the addition of Locke brought a new level of excitement for Supercats fans, the team wasn’t able to turn things around, losing the next three games before finally notching up a win against the Adelaide 36ers.

With Locke (31.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.4 steals) leading the team in scoring, 19-year-old Shane Heal (22.4 points, 3.2 rebounds, 8.3 assists) delivering career highs in points, rebounds and assists and Daren Rowe (18.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.4 steals and 3.2 blocks) leading the league in blocks, Geelong were able to win more games this season (11) than they had totaled in the previous two seasons combined (5).

Heal would receive the league’s Most Improved Player award and Bateman would end the year averaging 16.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

1991
Thanks to a financial boost from the Supercats ownership group which was made up of four major owners, all local businessmen and approx. 30 other local shareholders, Geelong were able to return to the playoffs.

Coach Barry Barnes would lead the Supercats to a third place finish (17-9), their best result as a club since 1984. The team’s success a result of the talented starters, Bobby Locke (25.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 3.0 steals), Vince Hinchen (24.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.4 steals), Shane Heal (23.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 7.8 assists, and 1.4 steals), Terry Dozier (22.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.7 steals) and John Dorge (14.3 points, 13.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals, and 4.3 blocks) who would all play a minimum off 33 minutes per game and Jim Bateman (7.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) subbing in for whoever needed a rest.

Geelong’s team of ‘overachievers’ would fall short in the NBL elimination finals, losing to a North Melbourne squad featuring Scott Fisher and Paul Maley in three games.

GOLD COAST ROLLERS
1992
A stroke of luck saw the Rollers able to retain team captain Larry Sengstock who signed a three-year deal (worth $300,000) to play with Westside Melbourne only to see that disintegrate after they merged with Eastside Melbourne (forming South East Melbourne) and had no room on the roster. Sengstock then returned to the Gold Coast who re-signed star imports Mike Mitchell and Andre LaFleur and looked to take things one step further after narrowly missing out on the playoffs in their first season playing together. Nine games into the season, however, the Rollers suffered a huge blow when they lost Mitchell on May 31, 1992, after he suffered a horrific injury after a loss in Illawarra. Mitchell had punched a wire-reinforced glass panel of a locker-room door after Gold Coast narrowly lost to the Illawarra Hawks, which saw his arm almost severed, and his muscle cut from the bone. Mitchell was found slumped on the floor in a pool of blood by Rollers teammate Ron Radliff. Doubt was initially cast over whether Mitchell would ever play again, miraculously he recovered, making his return to the court the following season.

Mitchell (26.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.9 steals) left a huge hole at both ends of the court. Willie Jennette, who had averaged 37.3 points over three seasons in the state league (SEABL) was then signed as his replacement, and the team looked to LaFleur (22.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 9.6 assists, and 2.2 steals) and Sengstock (13.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists) to step things up in Mitchell’s absence.

Bateman also added 6.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, but the Rollers were unable to cover Mitchell’s loss and struggled to generate wins against any of the top team’s. Gold Coast ended the year with a record of 11-13 and a tenth-place finish in a disappointing season for Gold Coast fans.

Bateman (6.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists) would struggle in his one and only season with the Rollers, appearing in 23 games and recorded career lows in points, reobunds and assists.

Jim Bateman played nine seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Newcastle Falcons, Geelong Supercats, Illawarra Hawks and Gold Coast Rollers. He averaged 17 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2 assists in 236 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (823 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.