The Greatest NBL Players at Every Age
April 11, 2021
Vince Hinchen
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth: 2/09/63
- Place of Birth: California (USA)
- Position: G/F
- Height (CM): 195
- Weight (KG): 90
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: Oregon (1979-1980) / Boise State University (1980-1984)
- NBL DEBUT: 13/04/85
- AGE AT DEBUT: 21
- LAST NBL GAME: 3/11/96
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 33
- NBL History: Bankstown 1984 | Nunawading 1985 | Eastside 1987 | Westside Melbourne 1989 | Geelong 1990-91, 1993-94 | Perth 1992 | Melbourne 1996
- Championships: 0
- None
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
In 1990, Hinchen averaged 12.8 points and 2.6 rebounds, and helped guide the Supercats to a tenth place finish in the regular season with a 11-15 record.
1991
In 1991, Hinchen would average 24.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.2 assists as the Supercats finished in third place with a record of 17-9, their best result as a club since 1984. Playing alongside stars Bobby Locke, Daren Rowe, John Dorge and a young Shane Heal.
The team of ‘overachievers’ would fall short in the NBL elimination finals, losing to a North Melbourne squad featuring Scott Fisher and Paul Maley in three games.
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 semi finals, 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 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 33 | Melbourne | 21-5 (1) | 10 | 63.5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 12 | 8% | 1 | 2 | 50.0% | 2 | 2 | 100% | 19% | 13% | 3 |
| 1994 | 31 | Geelong | 7-19 (11) | 25 | 1,036.8 | 628 | 86 | 56 | 39 | 47 | 28 | 16 | 81 | 64 | 235 | 512 | 46% | 40 | 118 | 33.9% | 118 | 145 | 81.4% | 54% | 50% | 37 |
| 1993 | 30 | Geelong | 7-19 (12) | 21 | 722.6 | 300 | 61 | 44 | 20 | 41 | 23 | 4 | 69 | 35 | 117 | 263 | 44% | 6 | 23 | 26.1% | 60 | 73 | 82.2% | 50% | 46% | 26 |
| 1992 | 29 | Perth | 12-12 (6) | 23 | 778.2 | 388 | 95 | 82 | 33 | 62 | 19 | 6 | 42 | 75 | 151 | 351 | 43% | 33 | 77 | 42.9% | 53 | 62 | 85.5% | 51% | 48% | 38 |
| 1991 | 28 | Geelong | 17-9 (3) | 28 | 1,079.7 | 674 | 143 | 146 | 55 | 88 | 38 | 20 | 91 | 94 | 255 | 499 | 51% | 58 | 124 | 46.8% | 106 | 140 | 75.7% | 60% | 57% | 47 |
| 1990 | 27 | Geelong | 11-15 (10) | 10 | 263.8 | 128 | 26 | 38 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 26 | 30 | 49 | 108 | 45% | 15 | 36 | 41.7% | 15 | 17 | 88.2% | 55% | 52% | 26 |
| 1989 | 26 | Westside Melbourne | 8-16 (9) | 8 | 276.7 | 135 | 37 | 29 | 16 | 21 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 20 | 49 | 123 | 40% | 7 | 22 | 31.8% | 30 | 44 | 68.2% | 47% | 43% | 26 |
| 1987 | 24 | Eastside Melbourne | 13-13 (8) | 25 | 1,096.0 | 726 | 165 | 107 | 89 | 76 | 35 | 8 | 108 | 76 | 288 | 604 | 48% | 5 | 20 | 25.0% | 145 | 183 | 79.2% | 53% | 48% | 52 |
| 1986 | 23 | Nunawading | 12-14 (9) | 24 | 0.0 | 623 | 171 | 65 | 84 | 87 | 31 | 10 | 100 | 69 | 254 | 515 | 49% | 0 | 3 | 0.0% | 115 | 156 | 73.7% | 53% | 49% | 43 |
| 1985 | 22 | Bankstown | 6-20 (12) | 14 | 0.0 | 432 | 87 | 37 | 49 | 38 | 14 | 7 | 60 | 46 | 175 | 371 | 47% | 3 | 16 | 18.8% | 79 | 108 | 73.1% | 51% | 48% | 45 | Totals | 188 | 5317 | 4039 | 873 | 607 | 397 | 476 | 202 | 80 | 607 | 516 | 1574 | 3358 | 46.9% | 168 | 441 | 38.1% | 723 | 930 | 77.7% | 54% | 49% | 52 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 33 | Melbourne | 21-5 (1) | 10 | 6.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 8% | 0.1 | 0.2 | 50.0% | 0.2 | 0.2 | 100% | 19% | 13% | 3 |
| 1994 | 31 | Geelong | 7-19 (11) | 25 | 41.5 | 25.1 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 9.4 | 20.5 | 46% | 1.6 | 4.7 | 33.9% | 4.7 | 5.8 | 81.4% | 54% | 50% | 37 |
| 1993 | 30 | Geelong | 7-19 (12) | 21 | 34.4 | 14.3 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 5.6 | 12.5 | 44% | 0.3 | 1.1 | 26.1% | 2.9 | 3.5 | 82.2% | 50% | 46% | 26 |
| 1992 | 29 | Perth | 12-12 (6) | 23 | 33.8 | 16.9 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 6.6 | 15.3 | 43% | 1.4 | 3.3 | 42.9% | 2.3 | 2.7 | 85.5% | 51% | 48% | 38 |
| 1991 | 28 | Geelong | 17-9 (3) | 28 | 38.6 | 24.1 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 9.1 | 17.8 | 51% | 2.1 | 4.4 | 46.8% | 3.8 | 5.0 | 75.7% | 60% | 57% | 47 |
| 1990 | 27 | Geelong | 11-15 (10) | 10 | 26.4 | 12.8 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 4.9 | 10.8 | 45% | 1.5 | 3.6 | 41.7% | 1.5 | 1.7 | 88.2% | 55% | 52% | 26 |
| 1989 | 26 | Westside Melbourne | 8-16 (9) | 8 | 34.6 | 16.9 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 6.1 | 15.4 | 40% | 0.9 | 2.8 | 31.8% | 3.8 | 5.5 | 68.2% | 47% | 43% | 26 |
| 1987 | 24 | Eastside Melbourne | 13-13 (8) | 25 | 43.8 | 29.0 | 6.6 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 3.0 | 11.5 | 24.2 | 48% | 0.2 | 0.8 | 25.0% | 5.8 | 7.3 | 79.2% | 53% | 48% | 52 |
| 1986 | 23 | Nunawading | 12-14 (9) | 24 | 0.0 | 26.0 | 7.1 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 4.2 | 2.9 | 10.6 | 21.5 | 49% | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0% | 4.8 | 6.5 | 73.7% | 53% | 49% | 43 |
| 1985 | 22 | Bankstown | 6-20 (12) | 14 | 0.0 | 30.9 | 6.2 | 2.6 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 4.3 | 3.3 | 12.5 | 26.5 | 47% | 0.2 | 1.1 | 18.8% | 5.6 | 7.7 | 73.1% | 51% | 48% | 45 | Total | 188 | 28.3 | 21.5 | 4.6 | 3.2 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 8.4 | 17.9 | 46.9% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 38.1% | 0.9 | 2.3 | 77.7% | 54% | 49% | 52 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 52 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
|---|
NBA EXPERIENCE
Vince Hinchen was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with pick #96 in the 1984 NBA Draft.
AWARDS
- 1x All-NBL Second Team
Related
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