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Terry Johnson (200 NBL Games) talks 1990s Illawarra Hawks and the Cairns Taipans first NBL season

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.

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He joins the podcast to chat with Dan Boyce about his career highs and lows, his approach to coaching, and growing up playing basketball in the Illawarra region.

We also touch on his time and role with the very first Cairns Taipans team that entered the league in 1999.

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Podcast Topics include…

  • Terry explains what he’s been doing since playing in the NBL  (2:00)
  • Growing up with his brother (and future NBL star) Rod Johnson (5:00)
  • Why the Illawarra region is able to develop so many NBL players (7:00)
  • His rookie NBL season with North Melbourne (9:00)
  • Returning home to play with the Hawks (12:00)
  • What he saw in a young Glen Saville (18:00)
  • A second season in Wollongong (20:00)
  • His coaching style and what he learned from NBL coaches like Bruce Palmer, Brett Brown, Brendan Joyce and others (21:30)
  • Leaving Illawarra to become an NBL point guard (24:00)
  • What year did Terry think was his best season (26:00)
  • A chance to play for the Boomers (27:00)
  • The Johnson brothers team up in Newcastle (29:00)
  • Being a part of the Cairns Taipans inaugural season (31:00)
  • Playing for the Sydney Kings (35:00)
  • Retiring from the game and the biggest learnings from his career (40:00)

All of this and a whole lot more…

Dan Boyce (798 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.


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