BIO: Vince Hinchen was born in California (USA).

NBL EXPERIENCE

Vince Hinchen made his NBL debut with the Bankstown Bruins at 21 years of age. He scored 36 points in his first game.

Vince Hinchen, in his debut season, was explosive, to say the least. After being drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1984 and narrowly missing the cut, he dominated the NBL recording 30.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.6 assists across 14 games for Bankstown who finished twelfth on the ladder with a record of 6-20.

NUNAWADING SPECTRES
1986
In 1986, Hinchen averaged 26 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists, playing a key role in the Spectres rotation, helping the team finish reach a ninth place finish in the regular season with a 12-14 record.

1987
The 1987 season saw Hinchen average 29 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.3 assists and play a key role in helping the Spectres to a eighth place finish in the regular season with a 13-13 record.

WESTSIDE MELBOURNE SAINTS
1989
During the 1989 season, Hinchen averaged 16.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists and was a part of the Saints squad, which finished in ninthplace with a record of 8-16.

GEELONG SUPERCATS
1990
Vince Hinchen joined the Geelong Supercats for the 1990 NBL season after a stint with Westside Melbourne, becoming one of several key additions in a major roster overhaul led by head coach Barry Barnes. Alongside fellow recruits John Dorge and import Brian Vaughns, Hinchen was brought in to provide playmaking and scoring depth as the Supercats looked to bounce back from consecutive losing seasons.

Hinchen (12.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 0.8 steals across 10 games) made an immediate impression, offering valuable offensive versatility and veteran poise. He was effective both as a scorer and facilitator, helping the team through a turbulent early stretch that saw them start the year 0–4. Unfortunately, Hinchen’s season was cut short, limiting him to just 10 appearances, but his presence was felt during his time on court.

The Supercats reshuffled their roster early, replacing Vaughns with high-scoring guard Bobby Locke, whose 50-point debut became one of the league’s most talked-about performances. With Locke (31.6 points per game), 19-year-old Shane Heal (22.4 points, 8.3 assists), and Daren Rowe (18.3 points, league-leading 3.2 blocks) driving the offense, Geelong began to find their rhythm and won 11 games—more than they had in the previous two seasons combined.

Although injuries kept Hinchen from fully establishing himself in the rotation, his production in limited minutes demonstrated his potential value to the group. Geelong finished 10th with an 11–15 record and missed the playoffs, but the improvement was clear.

1991
After three straight losing seasons and only 16 wins combined from 1988 to 1990, the 1991 Geelong Supercats entered the NBL season as a team looking to regain respect. What followed was a stunning campaign, driven by a revitalised team culture, elite starting five, and a financial injection from a passionate local ownership group made up of four key stakeholders and roughly 30 shareholders. By season’s end, Geelong had gone 17–9, secured third place, and reached the playoffs for the first time since 1984.

The offseason brought key roster moves. Import forward Daren Rowe was replaced by athletic defender Terry Dozier, who would later be crowned NBL Best Defensive Player. The departure of Andrew Parkinson to Southern Melbourne also opened the door for rookie Leigh Cleary to join the rotation. But it was the returning core—including Vince Hinchen—that laid the foundation for Geelong’s success.

The Supercats opened the season with three losses—falling to North Melbourne (109–112), Eastside Spectres (100–119), and Perth (105–110)—before securing a breakthrough 126–106 win on the road against Brisbane. That victory marked a turning point, sparking a red-hot run in which Geelong won 16 of their final 22 games and climbed into the upper tier of the league.

At the heart of that success was Vince Hinchen. The 6’5″ swingman delivered a career-best season, averaging 24.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 1.4 steals while consistently playing over 33 minutes a night. Hinchen’s ability to score in isolation, create for teammates, and defend multiple positions made him one of the most complete players in the competition. Whether as a secondary ball-handler or spot-up threat, Hinchen complemented Geelong’s dynamic guard play and brought balance to the offense.

Hinchen teamed with sharpshooter Bobby Locke (25.7 points, 6.4 assists, and 3.0 steals), young star Shane Heal (23.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 7.8 assists), and newcomers Terry Dozier (22.0 points, 9.7 rebounds) and John Dorge (14.3 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 4.3 blocks), forming one of the strongest starting groups in the league. Together, they averaged over 33 minutes per game and did the bulk of the heavy lifting for coach Barry Barnes.

Veteran Jim Bateman (7.5 points, 5.1 rebounds) anchored the bench unit, with support from Bruce Hultgren, Leigh Cleary, Mark Griffin, and Shane Crothers. The team leaned into a tight rotation built around chemistry, hustle, and defensive grit.

Geelong’s 17–9 finish tied them with Eastside for second spot, but the NBL’s head-to-head tiebreaker rule dropped them to third. Although both teams split their season series 1–1, Eastside claimed the tiebreaker by a single point in overall margin (+1).

The Supercats opened the Elimination Finals with a dominant 139–119 win at The Arena over North Melbourne. Hinchen was sensational, scoring 31 points on 10-of-18 shooting while adding 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Shane Heal torched the Giants for 36 points and 11 assists with nine threes, and Dozier delivered 17 points and 13 rebounds in an explosive team performance.

North Melbourne bounced back in Game 2, holding serve at home with a 136–116 win. In Game 3, played back in Geelong, the Supercats fell short 125–113. Hinchen again delivered with 23 points and 7 rebounds, but the Giants had too much firepower. Scott Fisher (30 points) and Paul Maley (24 points, 12 rebounds) led the visitors to victory, ending Geelong’s finals run.

PERTH WILDCATS
1992
In 1992, Hinchen averaged 16.9 points and 4.1 rebounds, and helped guide the Wildcat’s to a seventh-place finish during the regular season with a 12-12 record.

GEELONG SUPERCATS
1993
After the team was gutted in 1992, a move which resulted in Geelong finishing with just two wins for the season, the Supercats were able to regroup and add to their wafer-thin roster of last season. Vince Hinchen (via Melbourne) would return after a season playing with the Tigers, and Ray Borner (via North Melbourne) was signed to help fill a gaping hole inside. Imports Bobby Locke and Chris Williams were replaced by Adrian Branch, who had won a NBA championship with the Lakers in 1987, and Mike Morrison, who had just finished up a stint with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns.

Six games into the season, the Supercats received a letter from coach Steve Breheny, which outlined he felt he did not have the support of the club. It was reported that he did not want Branch as part of the team, but the club chose to sign him to a two-year deal anyways. After a loss to Melbourne, Breheny brought Branch off the bench in their next game against Adelaide, feeling he cared more about stats than winning (a sentiment echoed by his former Brisbane coach Brian Kerle). Geelong would win this game (113-100), with Branch playing 36 minutes and scoring 30 points. Branch then skipped trainings, prompting Breheny to pen a letter to management asking for their support or agreeing to re-sign. The Supercats (2-4) accepted his resignation and continued the season under interim coach Terry Kealey. Jim Calvin was hired as a permanent solution shortly after.

Branch (26.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.9 steals) would go on to lead the team statistically, with Morrison (22.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 2.2 steals), Cecil Exum (16.6 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals), Borner (16.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks) and Vince Hinchen (14.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals) adding support. The team saw very little support from the bench, with its starting five all playing a minimum of 35 minutes a game and only Wayne Larkins (6.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.2 steals) playing meaningful minutes off the bench. The team basically played with six players for the entire season.

With three rounds left, Geelong sat equal last alongside Hobart and Townsville, all three team’s sitting on four wins. Geelong, however, reeled off three wins in a row to end the season, knocking off Sydney (126–115), Gold Coast (113–108) and fourth-placed Brisbane (118–115) to end the season on a high note.

MELBOURNE TIGERS
1996
With the Tigers having Mark Bradtke back full-time and able to retain all of their core group except for Stephen Whitehead (to Sydney) Melbourne were able to return to their winning ways after their posting their worst season in eight years. Hinchen was added to help fill the void of Whitehead but would see minimal court time, appearing in only ten games and scoring a total of five points.

Gaze (31.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 1.7 steals) delivered another MVP season, winning the award for the sixth time, alongside Copeland (21.4 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals) and a rejuvenated Bradtke (22.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.6 blocks) as they churned through the competition like a well-oiled machine. Melbourne would finish in first place (21-5), recording their best regular season record in franchise history.

Melbourne would ride the coattails of their ‘Big Three’ through the playoffs, first facing off against the eight seed Brisbane (14-12). Despite losing game one by 21 points (97-118), the Tigers would return to Melbourne and win game two (96-87) thanks to big games from Gaze (30 points, 4 rebounds and 7 assists) and Bradtke (24 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists) and game three (111-93) with Gaze (29 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists) and Bradtke (29 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 blocks) again leading the team in scoring.

The Tigers would then meet Canberra in the semifinals, again losing the first game (98-87) with Robert Rose (22 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists), Darnell Mee (21 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks), and Simon Dwight (20 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks) proving too good. Melbourne rebounded with Gaze (30 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals), narrowly missing out on a triple-double in their game two win (100-82), and then in game three (91-87), Gaze (29 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks) and Bradtke (26 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks) combined to score half of the Tigers points, eliminating the Cannons in a tightly fought four-point win.

Moving on to the grand final series, Melbourne would face South East Melbourne (19-7) who finished in second place during the regular season. Melbourne was too good in game one (100-89), with Gaze (35 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists) delivering his best game of the series in front of a packed Melbourne crowd. Mark Bradtke (24 points and 15 rebounds) and Lanard Copeland (23 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists) were also brilliant, scoring whenever Gaze didn’t, and the Tigers ‘Big Three’ combining for 82 points.

The Magic would then bounce back and win game two (88-84) in front of a Grand Final record crowd of 15,064 at the National Tennis Centre at Flinders Park, which still stands as Melbourne’s highest-attended NBL game ever. Gaze (21 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assists) led the Tigers in scoring in the loss, while the Magic were led by Tony Ronaldson (28 points) and Mike Kelly (19 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals).

The third and deciding game was held less than 48 hours later, a scenario that benefited the younger legs of the Magic and allowed them to deliver the final blow (107-70). Billy McCaffrey (24 points and 5 assists) and the incredibly efficient performances from Sam MacKinnon (18 points and 9 rebounds), who shot 9/10 from the field, and John Dorge (16 points and 8 rebounds) who made 8 of his 11 shots saw South East Melbourne’s field goal percentage be the game’s deciding factor. The Tigers made only 23 of 60 shots (38%) compared to the Magic, hitting 46 of their 85 shots (54%) in the 30-point blowout. Hinchen played in all three games of the Grand Final series but failed to score any points.

The 1996 NBL Grand Final series drew a aggregate attendance record of 43,605 (average 14,535), the largest crowd ever for a three-game NBL series. Magic guard Mike Kelly was awarded the Finals MVP award after averaging 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.3 steals across the three-game series.

Vince Hinchen played ten seasons across seven NBL teams. This included the Bankstown Bruins, Nunawading Spectres, Westside Melbourne Saints, Eastside Melbourne Spectres, Geelong Supercats, Perth Wildcats and Melbourne Tigers. He averaged 21.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists in 188 NBL games.

Dan Boyce (835 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.