BIO: Terry Johnson was born in Wollongong (NSW) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Illawarra basketball program.

FAMILY: Terry’s brother, Rod Johnson also played 367 games in the NBL.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Terry Johnson made his NBL debut with the North Melbourne Giants at 22 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.

Johnson, whose brother Rod was playing for Giants, made the move to Melbourne for his rookie NBL season, joined the team in the midst of a major re-structure.

In 1993, the Giants chose not to re-sign long-term head coach Bruce Palmer who, since taking over in 1987, had led them to the semi finals five of six years and to the 1989 championship. His successor would be found in young Melbourne Tigers assistant Brett Brown whose appointment was deemed a cash-saving move by a team beginning to face years of financial uncertainty. Another sign of the Giant’s financial struggles became evident when they lost star import Scott Fisher to the ‘deeper pockets’ of the Perth Wildcats.

Brown began his search for Fisher’s replacement first with import Chuckie White, who failed to cut it during pre-season, before settling on Jason Reese. Reese was known around the league as ‘workhorse’ and dominant inside scorer that had spent the past two seasons with Hobart (1991) and Canberra (1992) and Mark Leader, who had became a naturalised Australian in 1993, replaced Fisher as team captain.

Terry had been playing with the Giants development team, the North East Melbourne Arrows and was added to the roster as a way to both recruit his more established brother Rod to the team. The move worked, with Rod leaving Illawarra to join the Giants, filling out the team’s starting lineup alongside Pat Reidy (16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.0 steals) and Darryl Pearce (11.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.2 steals).

Terry Johnson (2.5 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists) saw minimal playing opportunities that season but was used by Brown as a motivator for his brother. Twice Terry replaced Johnson (6.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.6 steals) in the starting lineup, a move designed to get more production the older brother, that outcome resulted in Rod Johnson dropping 21 points, a season high, the following game against Perth.

Reese went on to lead the team in scoring (26.4 ppg and 8.9 rpg), fellow import Paul Maley led the team in rebounding (22.5 ppg and 9.1 rpg) and Johnson also contributed 2.5 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game.

North Melbourne finished the season (13-13) sneaking into the final playoff spot. There, they would face familiar foes, Scott Fisher and the Perth Wildcats who had finished the season in first place (21-5). Despite winning game one at home (105-101), the Giants would lose games two (98-108) and three (104-117) to Perth to put a end to their season.

ILLAWARRA HAWKS
1995
After a year without a spot in the NBL, Illawarra junior Terry Johnson returned to his hometown of Wollongong and signed to with the Hawks.

After three consecutive years of being eliminated in the first round of the NBL playoffs, head coach Alan Black knew his job was on the line if the team was unable to advance past the Quarterfinals. Black was able to re-sign star import Melvin Thomas and have veterans Chuck Harmison, Mick Corkeron and Dene MacDonald return but lost Butch Hays and Craig Adams, who both signed with Newcastle. Black bolstered his roster by replacing Hays with pass-first point guard Andre LaFleur, who had connected on more assists than any other player in the league over the prior three seasons, former Perth Wildcats star Kendal Pinder and young talent Glen Saville.

Five games into the season, offcourt issues arose surrounding Pinder (9.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists), who was released from the team after facing criminal charges. However, with his absence, the Hawks witnessed the explosion of young point guard Terry Johnson. Johnson, who had failed to make a mark in the NBL with the Giants, was a key part of the team’s success this season. Forced to spend a year playing in the state league competition with no NBL team, making him a offer in 1994, he made sure every team regretted that decision in 1995. He tripled his 1993 numbers to finish with averages of 11.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game and was a key part of Illawarra’s success. He finished as the competition’s leading three point shooter at 48 percent (34 of 71) and runner-up to Tonny Jensen (Newcastle) for the Most Improved Player award.

Melvin Thomas led the team in almost every category, posting 27 points, 10 rebounds, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks and formed quite the duo with LaFleur who finished with averages of 21.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.9 steals.

Illawarra (14-12) finished seventh and faced off against second-placed South East Melbourne in the Quarterfinals. In game one, the Hawks delivered a upset, defeating the Magic behind a 29 point outburst from 37 year old veteran Chuck Harmison (12.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists). The Hawk’s momentum was culled with the series moving to Melbourne, where the Magic claimed victory in both game two (92-89) and three (93-75) to hand the Hawks their fourth Quarterfinals exit in as many years.

At season’s end, Black was not re-signed by Illawarra and promptly took up a role with rival club Sydney for the 1996 season, taking Hawks star Melvin Thomas along with him.

1996
After losing both coach Alan Black and their leading scorer and rebounder from the past four seasons in Melvin Thomas the Hawks looked to rebuild in 1996. Although many felt the void left by Thomas and Black heading to NSW rivals Sydney would be difficult to replace, incoming coach Brendan Joyce had just the player in mind. New arrival Marcus Timmons surprised everyone by being one of the premier forwards in the competition, proving to be a more than adequate replacement for Thomas and led the team in points (21.9 ppg), rebounds, (12.3 rpg), steals (2.3 spg) and blocks (1.0 bpg). Alongside Timmons, Terry Johnson (16.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 4.2 assists) would produced the best numbers of his career, this included a career high 41 points in a win over rival club Sydney (145 def. 121).

The big numbers delivered by Timmons and Johnson were offset however by the decline of import point guard Andre LaFleur (18.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 6.9 assists) who had shown clear signs of slowing down in his sixth season, averaging career lows in points, rebounds and assists. Hawks legend Greg Hubbard also struggled to overcome a back injury which saw him average 6.0 points in 16 minutes per game (lowest minutes of career) and retire at the end of the season. As a result, the Hawks struggled to find wins during the year and finished in tenth place (9-17).

1997
After another season missing out on the NBL playoffs in 1996, the Hawks were unable to retain their scoring and rebounding leader Marcus Timmons (who would end up leading the Melbourne Tigers to the championship that season) and were forced to move into a rebuilding phase for this season. Illawarra would focus on the continued development of Hawks big man Matt Zauner, who was named team captain at the start of the season, and young stars Glen Saville and Mat Campbell. Eric Cooks, who had played under head coach Brendan Joyce, and alongside Campbell and Saville with the Ballarat Miners in state league competition, was added for veteran leadership. The Hawks then decided not to re-sign 31-year-old Andre LaFleur and signed two young imports in guard Bryan Edwards and big man Clayton Ritter to replace the scoring and rebounding of Timmons.

Johnson contributed 9.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists during the 1997 season but with Edwards not being the fit needed at point guard and off-court issues between Zauner and Joyce stemming from a contract dispute the Hawks struggled. Edwards was replaced by Dylan Rigdon mid-season and the Hawks (7-23) failed to make the playoffs yet again.

NEWCASTLE FALCONS
1998
After losing up and coming talent Scott McGregor (to Sydney) and Ben Pepper (to North Melbourne), coach Shawn Dennis made several changes to the roster, including moving on from aging imports Dave Simmons and Butch Hays. Dennis chose to replace Hays with Terry Johnson (via Illawarra), who, after delivering a number of productive seasons as a shooting guard, believed he could also make a import at the point guard spot. After the Hawks told him that he wasn’t a ‘point guards bootlace’ he headed to Newcastle, who were willing to give him a season running the point.

Newcastle added Tonny Jensen (via Townsville) and Marc Brandon (via Illawarra) to replace their local talent and then rounded out the roster by adding former Sydney Kings fan favourite Isaac Burton and highly credentialled NBA big man Todd Mundt as imports.

Newcastle lost their opening game to South East Melbourne (73–93) and went on to suffer defeats to Illawarra (92-96), Sydney (90–105) and Brisbane (90-92) before they chalked up their first win against Townsville (110–96).

While the loses continued to rack up, the unearthed a future star with Newcastle local Ben Melmeth lifting his production from 12.3 points and 8.0 rebounds to 21.6 points and 12.4 rebounds. As a result, Melmeth was selected to the All-NBL First Team and named Most Improved Player at the end of the season.

Johnson (10.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists) fared well in his new role, his play gaining him a spot at this years Boomers selection camp and Burton (19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.2 steals), Todd Mundt (13.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) and returning star Tonny Jensen (18.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.3 steals) delivered quality numbers as well. The lack of production came from the team’s bench, who combined to deliver 12 points per game in total, with new recruit Brandon (3.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.7 assists) the highest scoring player off the bench. As a result, the Falcons struggled to stay in front during any game during times they rested their starting lineup and finished the season in tenth place (9-21).

1998/99
Entering the 1998/99 season, the Falcons were in dire financial trouble, but on the brink of the season starting, they secured funds from a group of investors from Albury. As a result, the Falcons were able to retain local talent Ben Melmeth, Terry Johnson and import Todd Mundt but were forced to build the rest of the team on a shoestring budget. Somewhat luckily, Newcastle benefitted from the merger of South East Melbourne and North Melbourne, which saw Pat Reidy and import Butch Hays both former Giants players, without a team. With few NBL team’s having any space on their rosters at this stage, the Falcons were able to sign both at budget prices. Dean Brogan (via Adelaide), Rod Johnson (via Canberra) and legendary shot blocker Willie Simmons was lured out of retirement to play another season.

While obvious favourites to finish on the bottom of the ladder, the Falcons surprised everyone by winning five of their first six games.

Shortly after, reports of players not being paid their salaries surfaced, and the focus, motivation and production among the players began to wane. Mundt exited the team as a result of not getting paid on time and was replaced with Simmons (14.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.2 steals) who after a season playing with Sydney was sitting at home after being unable to find another new deal.

The remainder of the season then saw Newcastle record three wins from their next nineteen games before finally beating Perth (113–111) in their final game of the year.

Pat Reidy (17.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals) led the team in scoring, Ben Melmeth (17.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.1 steals) led the team in rebounds while Terry Johnson (14.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.1 steals) delivered his best season at the point guard position and his brother Rod Johnson (11.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists) rounded out the team’s leading scorers.

After narrowly surviving the season before, this would prove to be the death knell for Newcastle, with the league stepping in to address their financial situation and its result being the removal of their NBL licence and the Falcons being forced out of the league.

CAIRNS TAIPANS
1999/00
In 1999/00, Johnson averaged 16.7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists as the Taipans finished with a record of 2-26 and in first place during the regular season.

SYDNEY KINGS
2000/01
In 2000/01, Johnson averaged 8.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists as the Kings finished with a record of 17-11 and in fifth place during the regular season.

2001/02
In 2001/02, Johnson averaged 2.2 points and 1.2 rebounds, and helped guide the Kings to a eighth place finish in the regular season with a 14-16 record.

Terry Johnson played nine seasons across five NBL teams. This included the North Melbourne Giants, Newcastle Falcons, Illawarra Hawks, Cairns Taipans and Sydney Kings. He averaged 11.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 200 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.