No79 TONNY JENSEN
6 feet 5 inch (195cm) Guard
1996 Olympic Games
TonnyKajJensen was born September 7th 1971 in Wagga Wagga, NSW.
He played junior basketball in Queanbeyan and was selected to play for NSW in the Australian Under 18 Men’s Championships in 1988. He is remembered by High School schoolmates as being a youngster who was constantly dribbling a basketball and telling friends that one day he would play for Australia in basketball.
Tonny was determined to play in the National Basketball League (NBL). However he found the task a difficult one as he struggled to make an impact at that level.
He left Queanbeyan for Wollongong where he played with the Illawarra Seahawks in the CBA and with the Sydney Slammers in the CBA.He first played in the NBL with the Sydney Kings in 1991 (one game) but was unable to sustain a position on the Kings roster. It seemed that perhaps he would not make it as a player in the NBL. He trialled with the North Melbourne Giants but once again he was denied an NBL spot and he moved to Albury- Wodonga to play with the Bandits in the CBA.
In1993 he was given an opportunity to play NBL with the Townsville Suns. He soon displayed with the Suns that he was an NBL player and he averaged almost ten points a game for the NBL season. However Tonny admits that he struggled with the lifestyle and work (non-basketball) in Townsville and was released by the Suns mid-season. “I just didn’t know how to handle that year...I was worrying about other things...having fun and not concentrating on basketball,” he recalls. “When I look back it was a big learning year.”
The Newcastle Falcons then threw Tonny a lifeline for the 1994 NBL season.The Falcons Coach Tom Wisman signed Tonny after doing due diligence by talking to the coaches of Tonny’s previous clubs. Wisman says, “I found out that Tonny was just impatient. He had come in and challenged at each of those Clubs. He was an upstart kid...he challenged the established players in each situation.” Shawn Dennis, a coach and a player with Tonny at the Newcastle Falcons comments, “Tonny Jensen came to the Falcons in 1994 virtually on his last chance to make the NBL. His inner drive to be an Olympian was astronomical. His willingness to work on his development was as good as I have seen. Two years after being on the scrapheap Tonny was at the Atlanta Olympic Games playing for Australia. His story is one of hard work and discipline, coupled with an inner drive second to none.”
Tonny repaid the faith the Falcons had in him by averaging over eleven points and three assists a game in his first year at the Club. He played for the Falcons for two years (1994, 1995). His combination with Americans Butch Hays and Reggie Smith, and Australian representative player Michael Johnson made the Falcons a tough opponent for any team in the NBL. In 1995 the Falcons reached the NBL playoffs. That year Tonny was selected for the NBL All Star Game and was named the Most Improved Player in the NBL.
In the 1995 season with the Falcons Jensen averaged over 20 points and 4 assists per game. Despite his success in Newcastle with the Falcons Tonny was recruited in 1996 to the North Melbourne Giants NBL Club which had won the NBL Championships in 1995.
At North Melbourne Jensen was coached by future Australian National Team Coach Brett Brown. Tonny played for North Melbourne for only the one season (1996). He averaged just over 14 points and one assist per game for the Giants.
Tonny Jensen first represented Australia when he was selected in 1995 to play for the Australian Men’s Team (Boomers) against the touring University of Missouri. At that time Tonny had a reputation in the NBL as being a “cocky” player and one who often clashed with other NBL players. Tonny remembers, “Coach Barry Barnes took me aside and told me,you’re going to have to cast aside all your problems in the NBL. When it comes to wearing the Green and Gold we are all on one team.”
Tonnyadds, “Just to finally have those colours on...everything changes. Your whole perspective on basketball, and everything else, changes. It is a fantastic experience and an honour more than anything else.”
In 1995 he also played for the Boomers against the touring Korean National Team and was then selected on the Boomers team that toured to Europe to play in Portugal, Spain and Holland.
1996 was to a big basketball year for Tonny. The Atlanta Olympic Games were looming and his meteoric rise to the Boomers squad in 1995 meant that he was a chance to be selected to play for the Boomers in Atlanta. He played in a charity game (Tynan and Eyre) for the Boomers at the beginning of 1996 and then played in three games against the NBA Legends on their tour of Australia. His play was impressive and Tonny was selected to the Australian Men’s Basketball Team for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Tonny’s Olympic selection was a surprise to some. However his outstanding play in 1995 for the Newcastle Falcons, his good form for the Boomers and his form in 1996 with the North Melbourne Giants in the NBL catapulted him into the Boomers Team for the Olympic Games.
Tonny played for the Boomers in Australia when they played the Italian National Team.
On the way to the Atlanta Olympics Tonny played for the Boomers against the USA Dream Team in Salt Lake City. Tonny’s role on the Olympic Team was as a back-up guard to the dynamic duo of Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal. The Boomers won their way through to the semi-finals of the Olympic Tournament. In what was a brilliant performance the Boomers finished the Tournament in 4th position. This was an outstanding result for the Boomers and Australian Basketball.
In 1997 Tonny returned to the Newcastle Falcons and played for the Falcons for three years (1997, 1998, and 1999). He was selected to play in the NBL All Star Game in 1997. In his first season back with the Falcons he averaged over 22 points a game. However Tonny contracted a debilitating illness (Crohn’s Disease) and in the 1999 season he played only twenty games for the Falcons at an average of just over seven points per game. The Newcastle Falcons Club folded after the 1999 season.
His illness continued and Tonny did not play in the NBL in 2000. He did play with the Newcastle Association Representative team that won the 2000 NSW Men’s Championships. In 2001 he returned to the NBL when he played for the Canberra Cannons in 26 games and averaged just over eight points a game. That season was his last in the NBL. In all Tonny Jensen played in 209 games in the NBL and averaged 14 points per game over his NBL career.
Tonny Jensen was an outstanding athlete. His quickness up and down the basketball court made him extremely difficult to defend. His athleticism allowed him to drive to the basket and score against strong defence. He possessed an outstanding pull-up jump-shot and could shoot from range. In all he was an outstanding skilled basketball player.
In 1997 Tonny played for Australia against the Croatian National Team. He also played for the Boomers when they won the Oceania 1998 World Championships Qualification Tournament. He completed 1997 with games for the Boomers on a tour to the USA to play against Division One Colleges. The 1997 tour to the USA was the last time Tonny was to play for the Boomers.
Tonny Jensen played 48 games for Australia and played for the Boomers at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He had an outstanding NBL career where he played in two NBL All Star Games and was named the 1995 NBL Most Improved Player. He battled setbacks throughout his career but through perseverance, hard work, belief and talent he was able to represent his country at the highest level.
Tonny Jensen in Australian gear (Newcastle Herald)
Tonny Jensen playing in the NBL with Newcastle (Newcastle Herald)