 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "John Dorge" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1962-10-17)17 October 1962 (age 63) |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Listed height | 209 cm (6 ft 10 in) |
| Listed weight | 118 kg (260 lb) |
| Career information | |
| Playing career | 1985–1998 |
| Position | Centre |
| Career history | |
| 1985–1989 | Brisbane Bullets |
| 1990–1991 | Geelong Supercats |
| 1992–1998 | South East Melbourne Magic |
| Career highlights | |
| |
John Dorge (born 17 October 1962 inToowoomba,Queensland) is a former basketball player from Australia. Dorge played in Australia'sNational Basketball League (NBL) from 1985 to 1998, playing for theBrisbane Bullets,Geelong Supercats and theSouth East Melbourne Magic, winning four NBL championships as well as representingAustralia in international competition.
John Dorge also known as the "towering chicken farmer",[1] a 6-foot-10-inch (208 cm) tallcentre, started his NBL career in1985 playing for the Brian Kerle coached Brisbane Bullets. The Bullets, beaten Grand Finalists in1984, would go one better in Dorge's rookie season when they defeated theAdelaide 36ers 121–95 to win the clubs firstNBL championship. Among Dorge's teammates were the likes of OlympiansLarry Sengstock andDanny Morseu,Leroy Loggins who would go on to be regarded as the best import player in NBL history,Cal Bruton,Ronnie "The Rat" Radliff and Robert Sibley.
The Bullets again made the NBL Grand Final in1986, this time played over a 3-game series for the first time and again they would face the 36ers who had gone through the1986 NBL season with a 24–2 record, including a 13–0 home record. In 1986 the Bullets had moved from the 2,700 capacitySleeman Sports Centre into the 13,500 seatBrisbane Entertainment Centre and a then NBL record crowd of 11,000 saw the first game of the series go intoovertime with the 36ers eventually running out winners 122–119. The Bullets then surprised in Game 2 at theApollo Stadium in Adelaide, winning 104–83 before the 36ers wrapped up the series and their first championship with a 113–91 win in the deciding Game 3. Matched up against 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) 36ers centre and team captainBill Jones (who averaged 19.6 points, 15.6 rebounds and 3 blocks), Dorge averaged 4.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in the series.
Brisbane continued their successful run in1987 and played in their fourth and Dorge's third Grand Final in succession. It was the first and only time in NBL history that a player had played in the Grand Final in his first three seasons in the league. The Bullets would sweep the Cal Bruton coachedPerth Wildcats in two games giving John Dorge his second NBL championship. Dorge averaged 6 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block in the series.
The Bullets run finally ended in1988 when they lost their Elimination final to the Wildcats. They then missed the playoffs altogether in1989 in what would turn out to be Dorge's last season with the club. From1990 he would join the Geelong Supercats for two seasons. The Supercats missed the playoffs in 1990, but in1991 returned for their first post season play since 1984 but they were defeated in the Elimination final by theNorth Melbourne Giants. In the opening game of the 1991 season against North Melbourne, Dorge set the still standing (as of2016–17)NBL record forblocks in a single game with 14.[2]
After signing with new team the South East Melbourne Magic from1992, John Dorge started to play to the potential many thought he had but had only shown glimpses of and he became one of the dominant big men in the NBL. TheBrian Goorjian coached Magic, who boasted players such asRobert Rose,Tony Ronaldson,Bruce Bolden,Andrew Parkinson, Scott Ninnis andAndrej Lemanis, defeated theMelbourne Tigers in three games to win their first and Dorge's third NBL championship. Dorge averaged 11.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in the series.
Dorge would play another 6 NBL seasons with the Magic, including winning the1996 NBL Grand Final over the Tigers, and being selected to theAll-NBL First Team in1995 when he averaged a career best 16.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks for the season. He retired from the NBL following the Magic's two game loss to the Adelaide 36ers in the1998 NBL Grand Final having played in 363 NBL games.[3]
Dorge made hisAustralian Boomers debut in 1987 in a home test series against theSoviet Union where he was matched up against Russia's giant 7 ft 3 in (221 cm)Vladimir Tkachenko.[4] Although he would ultimately miss selection for the1988 Olympics inSeoul (largely due to the emergence of 7 ft 2 in (218 cm) centreLuc Longley), he was part of the squad that finished 6th at the1992 Barcelona and an improved 4th inAtlanta at the1996 Olympic Games. In both tournaments Dorge played as the back up to Longley who by 1996 was the starting centre for theNBA championChicago Bulls.[5]
Dorge played for the Boomers in their 5-game 'exhibition' series against theMagic Johnson All-Stars in March 1995 and counts hitting a skyhook over Magic himself in Game 2 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre as one of his career highlights. Due to the absence of Longley who was playing for theChicago Bulls, and Australia's other big men in 6 ft 10 in (208 cm) playersMark Bradtke andRay Borner (who did play in Game 5 inPerth), Dorge (along with North Melbourne's 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) centrePaul Rees), was the Australian starting centre through the series.[6]
After his playing career, John Dorge took up coaching basketball inNew Zealand, winning theNew Zealand NBL Coach of the Year Award while coaching theHarbour Heat in the2007 NZNBL season.
| NBL career: | 1985–1998 |
| NBL Grand Final appearances: | 7 (1985, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998) |
| NBL Championships: | 4 (1985, 1987, 1992, 1996) |
| NBL Finals appearances: | 11 (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998) |
| Games: | 363 (139 Bris, 53 Geel, 171 Magic) |
| Rebounds: | 8.0 pg |
| Points: | 3,709 (10.2 pg) |
| Free Throws: | 695 / 1,082 (64.2%) |
| Field Goals: | 1,507 / 2,690 (56.0%) |
| 3 Points: | – |
| Steals: | 0.6 pg |
| Assists: | 0.7 pg |
| Blocks: | 0.6 pg |