If the Adelaide 36ers, Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United want to press their cases to be contenders this NBL season, then Round 9 is when they have to make a move as they all take on the teams anchored in the top four positions.
After eight rounds of NBL23, it’s hard to imagine the top four teams in the New Zealand Breakers, Sydney Kings, Cairns Taipans and South East Melbourne Phoenix not finishing in those positions, and fighting out for the championship.
However, you would never write off the Tasmania JackJumpers and there’s great expectations on Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne who have a chance throughout Round 9 to send a reminder they deserve to be in that in discussion.
Watch every game live of the 2022/23 NBL Season on ESPN on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
In contrast, should they come up short and they could fall completely from those talks with United needing to win the Throwdown to avoid going 5-9 while the Wildcats need to win on the road to stop slipping to 5-8 and the Sixers lock horns with two of the top three sides.
That all sets the stage for tantalising round of NBL action. If you throw in the fact that things continue to fall off the rails at the Brisbane Bullets, the 36ers are still yet to nail a new import and there‘s question marks over other teams, and we’ll discover plenty this week.
Close encounter as Jackjumpers beat Melb | 01:13
Round 9 gets underway with what is potentially the game of the round in Christchurch with the league-leading New Zealand Breakers hosting the only team to really get hold of them this season, the South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Second up is a Brisbane Bullets team with a caretaker coach and with no new import and without Aron Baynes, Ty Harrison, DJ Mitchell and Kody Stattmann hosting a Perth Wildcats team who can‘t afford to lose.
That leads into Friday night with the Adelaide 36ers back home for the first time in almost a month against the Cairns Taipans.
Two more games on Saturday starts off with the New Zealand Breakers hosting the Perth Wildcats in the first clash of the season between the two old foes. It’s then the Throwdown between the South East Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne United.
It‘s another double-header on Sunday beginning with the Sydney Kings hosting the Adelaide 36ers before the Brisbane Bullets remain at home to play host to the Tasmania JackJumpers.
Last game of the round sees the Illawarra Hawks saddled with another Monday night home game trying to snap a nine-game losing skid against Melbourne United.
VERSATILITY ONE OF SECRETS TO BREAKERS SUCCESS
New Zealand Breakers forward Jarrell Brantley has all the tools to be the best player in the NBL. However, this Breakers team isn’t interested in personal glory, they have the best team chemistry in the league and that‘s exactly why they are the best team in it right now.
Settling into the power forward spot and Brantley is quite the force. He is big enough to battle with the big men he comes up against, but he is agile, athletic and quick along with being a good shooter so he‘s quite the unstoppable force.
Add in the fact that he‘s a more than handy defender who can guard anyone on the floor from the point guards to centres and everyone in between, and he’s an impressive specimen the Breakers have found.
His numbers are good too averaging 15.2 points and 6.5 rebounds a game, including a season-best 29 points, eight boards and five assists in Sunday‘s 37-point hammering of the Brisbane Bullets.
Clearly Brantley is capable of more and of putting up MVP contending numbers, but what every member of this Breakers team has done is show full buy-in to do what‘s best for the team, and that has to be admired.
It‘s not just Brantley who is playing the ultimate team role. Dererk Pardon is just about the most important player in the league, Barry Brown Jr is being that lethal scorer and Will McDowell-White, Izayah Le’afa, Tom Abercrombie, Cam Gliddon and Tom Vodanovich are all contributing strongly.
Each of them are capable of bigger individual numbers, but that‘s not what it’s about. It’s about making the Breakers as a whole the best they can be. Right now they sit atop the table, and deserve to be championship favourites.
For Brantley, it‘’s all about the bigger picture and the way he has been embraced by the entire Breakers organisation on and off the court.
“It‘s been special,” Brantley said.
“From the first day I got here, Mody (coach Maor) set the table by showing what he expected from me but to also allow my family to be part of.
“From top to bottom in this organisation right now something special is going on. I know you all see our wins and losses, but for me it‘s been special to be part of and I’m just doing everything I can to enjoy it.”
Brantley is just enjoying part of a team that has pulled together and despite the toughest schedule still in the league, they make no excuses and his versatility means that he backs himself against any opponent, including Mitch Creek and the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday night in Christchurch.
“We‘re doing well and playing together, but I think beyond the wins and losses, it’s how we attack adversity,” Brantley said.
“Obviously the travel has been kinda crazy and I think us being focused and disciplined has been a good challenge for us to deal with.
“I might play the four spot, but at the same time I guard just about every position out there. We‘ve got fours to come up against but good ones, twos and fives too that I’ve got to deal with. Yes, Mitch Creek is tough and there’s a lot of fours that are tough, but really it’s me against me out there respectfully.”
ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR A PHOENIX CORNERSTONE
The cornerstones of the South East Melbourne Phoenix since their inception have been Kyle Adnam and Mitch Creek, and now 500 games into their NBL careers and their team looks ready to make a run at the championship.
Creek was the first ever signing at the Phoenix on the back of his time in the NBA and previously being a captain at the Adelaide 36ers while Adnam was a championship winner with Melbourne United having started in the league as a development player.
Now in their third season, South East Melbourne looks a genuine championship threat this season and on the back of Creek‘s 300-game milestone last Sunday, Adnam will bring up 200 this Thursday night.
Creek‘s 300th game in the NBL was a memorable one for the Phoenix as they dominated the Illawarra Hawks with the milestone man at the forefront of it all finishing with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists.
He is right at the peak of his powers right now 300 games into his career and could very well be leading the MVP race in the league on the back of averaging 22.7 points, 6.4 boards and 2.3 assists a game.
Then there is Adnam. He is a remarkable story in his own right to now reach 200 NBL games having defied the odds in a lot of ways to turn himself into a leader on a championship contending team.
Earlier this season with the Phoenix shorthanded, he stepped up including a career-best 30 points against the JackJumpers and now he‘s settled back into a team role with the stars up and firing.
He missed Sunday‘s 34-point win over the Hawks but will be back on Thursday night to celebrate his 200th game.
It looms as a massive challenge for the Phoenix too taking on the league-leading New Zealand Breakers in Christchurch.
However, with a strong record against the Breakers including beating them by 22 earlier this season in Auckland, coach Simon Mitchell is looking forward to the test but has faith in his team getting the job done on the back of winning six of the last eight, and the last two by a combined 49 points.
“We‘re looking forward to it. We’re both coming off pretty big wins and they’re a team we’ve had a lot of success against,” Mitchell said.
“Including practice games, I think we‘ve won 14 of our last 15 games against them so we have a level of confidence when we go up against New Zealand to do well.
“We‘re also very respectful and mindful that they are having one hell of a season. I look forward to the challenge of going over there and travelling, and familiarising ourselves with the wonderful people of Christchurch.”
WILDCATS HAVE TO MAKE A PHYSICAL STAND
Everything the Perth Wildcats are struggling with this season was on show a week ago as they prepare to hit the road with a club legend just wanting them to get back to basics and turn around their rebounding and being tough to play against.
The Wildcats won six NBL championships between 2010 and 2020 while making themselves the hardest team to play against in that period. They would crash the boards, hurt you on the offensive glass, take charges, set screens and just make themselves generally tough to play, and score against.
However, that identity hasn’t been there so far this season and it‘s something they need to find starting this week if they want to push themselves into playoff contention currently sitting at 5-6 in seventh position.
All the concerns over this Perth team was on show at home in a 14-point loss last Thursday night to the Adelaide 36ers.
By the end of the night, the ‘Cats lost yet another rebound count by 11, they conceded 60 points in the paint to Adelaide and allowed the 36ers to shoot 55 per cent from the floor and get to the foul line 21 times.
Now the Wildcats hit the road to firstly play the struggling Brisbane Bullets on Thursday night.
With no Aron Baynes, DJ Mitchell, Kody Stattmann and Ty Harrison, it‘s a chance for the Wildcats to show everything they need to before the biggest challenge in the league right now on Saturday against the New Zealand Breakers.
At the centre of everything the Wildcats did in that remarkably successful era was the defensive legend and six-time champion Damian Martin.
He took great pride in the trademarks of that Wildcats team and he wants this current group to get back to those basics. In fact, he says they have to or they won‘t be going anywhere this season.
“I think it‘s now just about pack rebounding. The olden days of turn around, box out and putting your bum down and spreading your hands out isn’t working,” Martin said on SEN.
“The olden days of three rebounders with two guys back on d-trans, isn‘t working. Defensively you have to see five Wildcats crashing the boards and they just have to go all in now.
“Nobody can stay on the three-point line, everybody has to go in there and if there is a long rebound, at least you know you gave it up because you were trying to crash the boards.
“Offensive rebounds used to be such a strength of the Wildcats. I would be giving Luke Travers the green light to go after every single o-board. I‘ll give that to one or two others, and tell Mitch Norton to make a read to swoop through even as the point guard.
“Outside of that, I‘ll be sending two as a minimum and a third sometimes in defensive transition to try and limit those points in transition they are giving up. You have to pick your weaknesses and work out how to change it, and I would be challenging them this week to change it.”
BIG CHALLENGES TO DETERMINE ADELAIDE’S FATE
The Adelaide 36ers are now clicking the best they have this NBL season, but with two matches against top three teams in Round 9 the results could determine the direction they take with a new import.
There was great excitement over the 36ers coming into the season with the talent they added and then beating the NBA‘s Phoenix Suns, but the truth was with import point guard Craig Randall, much of that talent wasn’t being put to proper use.
That has changed with them winning three of the four games without Randall with the lone loss a tight one to the league-leading New Zealand Breakers.
The chemistry now looks good in the team, everyone looks happy and the defence is on the improve.
With Mitch McCarron in the point guard spot, Anthony Drmic, Sunday Dech and Antonius Cleveland more involved, and Daniel Johnson and Robert Franks allowed to thrive upfront, this looks a 36ers team capable of being the team many expected them to be.
However, this weekend provides them with a challenge to really prove their worth firstly at home to Keanu Pinder and the Cairns Taipans on Friday night, and then on the road to the defending champion Sydney Kings on Sunday.
The 36ers are yet to announce a replacement for Randall and there must be at least some concern of upsetting the growing chemistry by bringing in a new piece to a team already loaded with talent.
What these games against the Taipans and Kings will show is the type of import the Sixers need to bring in or if they need one at all.
Adelaide Hall of Famer, championship winner and former head coach Scott Ninnis isn’t sure of what they need, but knows they will get the answers in Round 9.
“These really are two crucial matches. I love the way Cairns are going about their business so we will have to match their intensity,” Ninnis told Hoops Heaven‘s Basketball Hustle podcast.
“They will come in full of confidence and playing really good basketball, and we know what the Kings are capable of. But it‘s a great chance to make a statement in these two games and you win them both, and suddenly the rest of the league is really taking notice of the 36ers.
“The chemistry is great at the moment so anybody they bring in has to be a complimentary fit for that so I‘m pretty sure there’ll be some pretty serious background checks for the imports they are looking at.
“You would hate for them to just start getting rolling and bring in someone who is going to cause problems with that chemistry. I don’t think there‘s a desperate hurry to bring someone in and I think that was a fantastic move to get guys settle, and get guys used to playing with each other.”
UNITED CHALLENGE XRM TO BE MORE LIKE SHEA ILI
Xavier Rathan-Mayes has been a key reason why Melbourne United has just stayed afloat this season, but the import guard is also a reason the ball doesn’t always move to get enough people involved.
It‘s a similar issue identified last season at the Illawarra Hawks in Rathan-Mayes’ first season in the NBL where Brian Goorjian now famously told his guard that he couldn’t take more than two dribbles on a possession.
Rathan-Mayes himself denied that ever took place, but the message remained the same that the team‘s offence flowed better when Rathan-Mayes was getting his teammates involved, and not trying to do it all himself.
Now you can understand why Rathan-Mayes does like to keep hold of the ball. After all, he‘s got incredible scoring gifts and is putting up a team-high 17.2 points to go with 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists a game this season.
He deserves to be in the discussion to be an All-First NBL Team member, but now that United are trying to adjust to life without the inspirational Shea Ili who is their main playmaker and still out with concussion symptoms, it‘s harder to hide the deficiencies of Rathan-Mayes dominating the ball handling.
It does seem harsh to say, but it‘s nothing United coach Dean Vickerman hasn’t told Rathan-Mayes in their own discussions. Following Saturday’s loss to the Tasmania JackJumpers, the coach laid bare that they need their makeshift point guard to share the ball better.
He had another good game himself with 20 points and six assists. Rayjon Tucker also scored 23 points and Chris Goulding 21, but it was the fact that a hot Goulding rarely saw the ball after a hot first quarter that left those inside the walls at United frustrated.
When Vickerman talks about Goulding, and others, not being found enough, it‘s Rathan-Mayes who has been largely responsible for that.
“CG got off to a great start and we just didn’t find him in that second quarter, and that was disappointing when a guy was so hot and we didn’t find enough looks for him,” Vickerman said.
“There was some really big improvements in us, but winning basketball games in the last three minutes there‘s so many things we’ll look back on to say we’re just not ready to win a game like that.
“There were some steps forward, but there was also steps in massive moments that just weren’t good enough as a group right now.”
Now in defence of Rathan-Mayes, he was brought in to Melbourne to be a scoring first guard with Ili running the point. He‘s doing that brilliantly and he’s also doing a good job as a playmaker for the most part.
Vickerman will continue to back him in, but trying to turn him into Ili is going to be easier said than done.
“When we recruited this team, we recruited him as that sixth man scorer and guy who can really have an impact on the game,” Vickerman added.
“We‘re trying to change him in a lot of different ways right now and he’s making some progress in some areas, and there’s still moments where that scoring mentality in him takes over him.
“It‘s difficult to change people and we’re trying to make him Shea Ili, but we know we’re never going to get him to be Shea Ili. It’s about where we can find that happy medium, and at times we have and at times we haven’t.”
