Chris Sneed
July 23, 2020
Travis Lindstrom
- Nationality: USA/AUS
- Date of Birth: 6/03/77
- Place of Birth: Tacoma, Washington (USA)
- Position: G/F
- Height (CM): 198
- Weight (KG): 98
- Junior Assoc: NSW - Illawarra
- College: Hawai‘i–Hilo (1997) / Point Loma Nazarene (2000)
- NBL DEBUT: 19/04/96
- AGE AT DEBUT: 19
- LAST NBL GAME: 29/02/04
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 26
- NBL History: Townsville 1996, 1998 | West Sydney 2001 | Perth 2003 | Hunter 2004
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Travis Lindstrom was born in Tacoma, Washington (USA).
NBL EXPERIENCE
Travis Lindstrom made his NBL debut with the Townsville Suns at 19 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.
The Suns kept almost the entire 1995 roster intact, the only change seeing Grant Kruger (via Newcastle) step in for Lucas Agrums (released). With Derek Rucker, Clarence Tyson, and Cameron Dickinson again forming the spine of the team, expectations remained high, and Rucker’s role was clear—control tempo, generate offense, and close out games.
The season started with heavy defeats to Perth (89–103) and Adelaide (77–117) before Townsville struck back in style against Hobart (123–94), where Rucker filled the box score (28 points, 8 rebounds, and 13 assists). A three-game skid followed—narrowly falling to Gold Coast (99–102) and dropping two to Melbourne—before the group rebounded with tight wins over North Melbourne (97–95) and Brisbane (104–89). Rucker dominated the Bullets matchup, torching them with (35 points and 16 assists). The campaign closed on a strong note as Townsville strung together victories over Illawarra (130–122), Newcastle (114–100), and playoff-bound Canberra (103–100) to finish at (9–17).
On the stat sheet, Rucker (26.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 8.2 assists, and 2.6 steals) ranked third in league scoring and second in assists. Tyson (22.8 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks) was the interior anchor and collected club MVP, while Dickinson (20.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.4 steals) provided steady scoring from the perimeter. The supporting cast featured Keiron Mitchelhill (7.2 ppg), Shane Froling (7.2 ppg), and Kruger (5.8 ppg). Carl Ward chipped in across nine appearances, offering bench stability, highlighted by (6 points in 20:35 with 4-of-4 free throws) in the Illawarra shootout, a made three and hustle minutes against Newcastle (3 points in 9:25), and key late defense versus Canberra. Travis Lindstrom (0.3 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, and 0.3 blocks across 4 games) also logged limited opportunities, adding depth during the mid-season stretch.
1998
After falling one win shy of a maiden playoff berth in 1997 when Clarence Tyson went down late, Townsville entered 1998 intent on breaking through under sixth-year coach Mark Bragg, retaining Derek Rucker, Simon Kerle, Jason Cameron, Grant Kruger, Keiron Mitchelhill, and Travis Lindstrom while veteran Shane Froling exited (retired) and Tyson remained sidelined, with Ray Owes (via Geelong) added up front and Tony De Ambrosis (via Gold Coast) joining during the season alongside rookie Travis Lindstrom to deepen the rotation.
Townsville opened with a statement road win over Perth (89–87) as Derek Rucker (34 points and 6 assists) controlled proceedings, Ray Owes (19 points and 13 rebounds) impressed first-up, and Simon Kerle (14 points and 38 minutes) balanced the perimeter while Travis Lindstrom (0 points and 6:39 minutes) saw minimal court time, with Ricky Grace (21 points and 8 assists) the Wildcats’ best before the Suns slipped to 2–6 by early March.
Rucker’s fireworks headlined the first half when he detonated against Brisbane (116–98) with Derek Rucker (51 points and 11 threes) supported by Simon Kerle (26 points and 7 threes) and Ray Owes (12 points and 11 rebounds) as Travis Lindstrom (0 points and 5:52 minutes) featured in a brief stint while Leroy Loggins (39 points and 5 threes) powered the Bullets, then Townsville flipped the script in the rematch with Brisbane (103–102) thanks to the firepower of Derek Rucker (23 points and 10 assists) and Simon Kerle (20 points and 3 threes).
Streaky form ultimately proved decisive as a three-game slide to close the regular season left Townsville ninth at 12–18, with Derek Rucker (27.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 2.7 steals) leading the league in assists and finishing second in both scoring and steals, Ray Owes (19.1 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks) topping the NBL in rebounding and ranking third in blocks, both imports earning All-NBL First Team honours with Rucker also taking club MVP, and support coming from Simon Kerle (18.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists), Jason Cameron (7.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists), Grant Kruger (7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds), Tony De Ambrosis (7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds), with Travis Lindstrom (3.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists) making the most of his opportunities.
HUNTER PIRATES
2003/04
As a result of Canberra’s NBL licence moving to Newcastle, former Cannons players Brendan Mann, Matthew Shanahan and Cameron Rigby all came across to the Pirates to form the beginnings of the Pirates roster. Hunter chose not to retain Cannons coach Cal Bruton and signed Bruce Palmer as their first head coach.
Hunter signed rookie point guard Chris Harriman (via Augusta State) straight out of college and filled the remainder of the roster with low-cost imports Kevin Brooks and Chris Brown, local players Josh Morgan and Adam Melmeth, and a number of players who had been discarded by their former clubs like Geordie Cullen (via Wollongong), Michael Kingma (via Sydney) and Travis Lindstrom (via Perth) who were all unable to secure deals elsewhere.
It took six games before the Pirates won their first game, a four-point victory over Adelaide at home (103–99) and then managed to win only one more, a home win against Cairns (109–103) and ended their first season on a 15-game losing streak. Their two win season was the second worst in NBL history (outside of Geelong’s zero win season in 1988).
Initial coach Bruce Palmer was controversially fired partway into the season and was replaced by assistant coach David Simmons but that made little difference to the team’s success.
Cullen (17.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists) would lead the team in scoring and win the league’s Most Improved Player award at the end of the season. Kevin Brooks (16.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists), Matthew Shanahan (15.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists) and Chris Brown (10.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists) would lead the team in scoring. Starting point guard Brendan Mann (9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.3 steals) suffered a season ending injury only three games into the season, resulting in rookie Chris Harriman (7.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4 assists) stepping into the starting lineup. Harriman would narrowly miss out of winning the Rookie of the Year award, finishing second to West Sydney’s Steven Markovic.
Lindstrom would play in all 32 games for the Pirates and deliver the best numbers of his career, averaging 7.0 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals.
Travis Lindstrom played five seasons across four NBL teams. This included the Townsville Suns, West Sydney Razorbacks, Perth Wildcats and Hunter Pirates. He averaged 4.8 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 65 NBL games.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 27 | Hunter | 2-31 (12) | 32 | 760.0 | 223 | 84 | 66 | 29 | 55 | 34 | 11 | 37 | 93 | 76 | 217 | 35% | 35 | 118 | 30% | 36 | 43 | 84% | 47% | 43% | 24 |
| 2002-03 | 26 | Perth | 22-8 (2) | 1 | 10.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 50% | 1 | 2 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 75% | 0% | 3 |
| 2000-01 | 24 | West Sydney | 9-19 (8) | 7 | 52.0 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 40% | 2 | 7 | 29% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 45% | 45% | 8 |
| 1998 | 21 | Townsville | 12-18 (9) | 21 | 264.0 | 73 | 40 | 20 | 18 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 9 | 25 | 24 | 64 | 38% | 13 | 35 | 37% | 12 | 17 | 71% | 51% | 48% | 10 |
| 1996 | 19 | Townsville | 9-17 (11) | 4 | 43.0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 2 | 50% | 17% | 0% | 1 | Totals | 65 | 1129 | 318 | 135 | 92 | 49 | 86 | 47 | 14 | 49 | 125 | 109 | 305 | 35.7% | 51 | 162 | 31.5% | 49 | 62 | 79.0% | 48% | 44% | 24 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-04 | 27 | Hunter | 2-31 (12) | 32 | 23.8 | 7.0 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 6.8 | 35% | 1.1 | 3.7 | 30% | 1.1 | 1.3 | 84% | 47% | 43% | 24 |
| 2002-03 | 26 | Perth | 22-8 (2) | 1 | 10.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 50% | 1.0 | 2.0 | 50% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 75% | 0% | 3 |
| 2000-01 | 24 | West Sydney | 9-19 (8) | 7 | 7.4 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 40% | 0.3 | 1.0 | 29% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 45% | 45% | 8 |
| 1998 | 21 | Townsville | 12-18 (9) | 21 | 12.6 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 38% | 0.6 | 1.7 | 37% | 0.6 | 0.8 | 71% | 51% | 48% | 10 |
| 1996 | 19 | Townsville | 9-17 (11) | 4 | 10.8 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 0.3 | 0.5 | 50% | 17% | 0% | 1 | Total | 65 | 17.4 | 4.9 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 4.7 | 35.7% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 31.5% | 0.8 | 2.5 | 79.0% | 48% | 44% | 24 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 24 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
|---|
STATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE
- Townsville 1996 | Lakeside 2002-2003
Lakeside 2002-2003, 50g, 975pt @ 19.5
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
- England - London Towers (2001)
Lindstrom joined London Towers for the 2001 NEBL season.
COLLEGE
Lindstrom played college basketball at Hawai‘i–Hilo during the 1996–97 season before transferring to Point Loma Nazarene, where he competed from 1998 to 2000.
He appeared for Hawai‘i–Hilo in 1997, and a December 1997 Honolulu scoreboard listed him among the statistical leaders in free-throw percentage after going 9-of-10 at the line (.900).
At Point Loma Nazarene, he was part of the Sea Lions’ 1999–00 team that went 28–7 under head coach John Block, and he shared team MVP honours that season with B.J. Foster.
In 1999–00, he scored 597 points, which ranks 15th on Point Loma’s single-season points list in the program record book.
He also finished 1998–99 with 60 steals, a mark that sits on Point Loma’s year-by-year leaders list for single-season steals, and he reached 60 steals again in 1999–00, appearing in the program’s single-season steals records both years.
One documented scoring highlight from the 1999–00 season came on January 8, 2000, when he led Point Loma with 21 points against Azusa Pacific in a road game recap that also noted Foster had 19 points in 24 minutes.
Related
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