Derek Rucker
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 short of their first playoff appearance in 1997 following Clarence Tyson’s late-season knee injury, Townsville entered 1998 with Mark Bragg returning for his sixth season as head coach. Derek Rucker, Simon Kerle, Jason Cameron, Grant Kruger, Keiron Mitchelhill and Travis Lindstrom returned, while Shane Froling (retired) departed and Tyson remained sidelined. Former Geelong import Ray Owes was added to strengthen the frontcourt.
Townsville opened the season with an 89–87 road win over Perth, with Rucker producing 34 points and 6 assists and Owes adding 19 points and 13 rebounds. Lindstrom went scoreless in 6:39 of court time, while Ricky Grace led Perth with 21 points and 8 assists.
Lindstrom (3.5 points across 21 games) moved into a larger role than during his four-game stint with Townsville two years earlier, playing 12.6 minutes per game and recording a season-high 10 points during the campaign.
Rucker (27.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 7.0 assists, and 2.7 steals across 30 games) remained the driving force behind Townsville, leading the NBL in assists and finishing second in scoring. Owes (19.1 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks across 30 games) led the league in rebounding, while Kerle (18.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists across 30 games) provided another major scoring option. Rucker and Owes were both named to the All-NBL First Team, with Rucker also collecting Townsville’s club MVP award.
A three-game losing streak to finish the season left Townsville ninth with a 12–18 record and outside the playoffs. The Suns closed their campaign with a 140–131 loss to Sydney at the Townsville Entertainment Centre.
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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 (2002–2005)
Travis Lindstrom played for Townsville during the 1996 state-league season before later joining Lakeside in Western Australia. Lakeside’s official records show his stint ran from 2002 through 2005, with Lindstrom wearing No. 27 and appearing in 94 games for the club. Across his first two Lakeside seasons, Lindstrom scored 975 points in 50 games, averaging 19.5 points per game. He was also part of Lakeside’s 2005 MSBL championship team, which defeated the Hawks 97–88 in overtime in the grand final.
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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