Christmas is in the books, the NBL’s New Year’s Eve tradition is about to continue in the Illawarra and Cairns while there’s growing angst over the refereeing, a fight is brewing over player spending and the race for playoff positions is heating up in NBL23.
So much for a quiet festive season, things have never been hotter in the NBL with just six rounds of the season remaining and eight teams remaining genuine playoff chances, and no clear challenger to the league-leading Sydney Kings.
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Round 13 in the NBL already got underway in front of a record home crowd for the Adelaide 36ers as they made it four straight wins beating the Brisbane Bullets 84-81.
That all leads into a blockbuster Friday night contest in the second grand final rematch of the season with the Sydney Kings at home to the Tasmania JackJumpers.
There’s then the double-header for New Year’s Eve with Illawarra and Cairns once again getting to play host. The Hawks are first up against the Perth Wildcats giving Michael Frazier II the first chance to play his old team before a terrific contest looms with the Taipans hosting the Adelaide 36ers.
There’s two more games on New Year’s Day with the Tasmania JackJumpers at home to the South East Melbourne Phoenix, and then the Brisbane Bullets playing a desperate Melbourne United.
The round wraps up with another Monday night game for the Illawarra Hawks with them hosting the Cairns Taipans.
NEW BULLETS BOSS WANTS BAYNES, SOBEY TO BE REWARDED
Greg Vanderjagt might only be five games into life as a head coach in the NBL, but his frustration is already at fever pitch over his bewilderment over how his team conceded 73 free-throws this week when he felt they played good defence.
Not only is Vanderjagt worried about the amount of calls that went against the Bullets in Tuesday’s overtime win against the Perth Wildcats and then Thursday night’s loss to the Adelaide 36ers, but he just can’t fathom why especially Aron Baynes and Nathan Sobey aren’t getting the same.
The Bullets beat the Wildcats on Tuesday night despite conceding 40 free-throw attempts, largely on the back of Perth missing 18 of them. There was a definitely frustration with Brisbane over just how they gave up so many trips to the stripe while only getting there 21 times themselves.
That then spilled over in Adelaide on Thursday night with the 36ers attempting 33 free-throws to Brisbane’s 18 when it was all said and done. This time the Sixers took their chances better making 24 of them in the eventual three-point win.
The frustrations the Bullets were feeling spilled over in the final minute when Olympics bronze medallist Sobey collected three fouls in a matter of seconds in a heated patch opposed to Antonius Cleveland, and including a tech.
Throughout the evening, Baynes’ frustration was evident as well with the big man constantly left going uncalled up the offensive end despite the physical attention he copped, and then called for soft fouls up the other.
More than anything, forgetting what Brisbane is getting called for defensively, Vanderjagt just can’t fathom how Sobey and Baynes continue to not get the calls that their opponents do up the other end.
‘Creek freak’ had a field day! | 01:04
Baynes is continually banging away inside and Sobey constantly attacking the rim, but across these two games they only took a combined 19 free-throws – significantly boosted by the 12 for Sobey against Perth.
“We need to go back and work on our foul discipline and how we’re defending, but the frustrating thing for me is that Sobes and Baynes live in the paint, and between them they shoot six free-throws,” Vanderjagt said on Thursday.
“Sobes is on the rim all the time and he’s getting downhill, we shoot 41 shots in the paint and Baynes is around the rim the entire game. I feel for the big fella because he’s down there battling and he’s so strong and such a large human being that the contact doesn’t look like it affects him.
“I feel for the guys because there’s some frustration in the locker room about what’s happening on one side of the ball is different to the other side of the ball. We need to either tidy up what we’re doing defensively or we need to keep playing the same way, and reap our rewards of the pressure on the rim.”
Vanderjagt can’t hide the fact that the discrepancies in the foul calls is having an impact on his group’s morale.
“The inconsistencies in what our guys are being rewarded for is frustrating for them and I feel for them in that respect,” Vanderjagt said.
“I’m not too sure where to go with it, but I’d like to see our guys being rewarded for the work they’re doing on and off the basketball. It’s taking a toll on the group and this week there was 73 free-throws against us in two games.
“Are we that bad defensively? We just held a team to 87 points, we held a team in overtime the other night to 93 so I think we’ve got good athletes, we play with discipline most of the time and it’s confusing is what I’ll say.”
Brisbane’s 360-game veteran guard Jason Cadee didn’t hold back his frustrations either, more so in why there’s been such a change in the last season and-a-half.
JackJumpers outmuscle meek Hawks | 01:06
“There’s been a shift in the last season and-a-half and it’s been different to my previous probably six years,” Cadee added.
“I’ve felt less freedom of movement in the last year and-a-half of basketball than I did the previous six years, and then before that it was like it is now more. It’s just confusing and I don’t understand it at times.
“Sometimes I try wrapping my head around it and start getting used to something, and then it changes game to game.
“Clearly the last two games, it’s not the reason we lost but it plays a big part when you’re battling your arse off with finally getting some guys back, and then to not get much go your way it really builds up.
“Frustration starts to add and you’ve seen that with Sobes and a few of us because it’s just starting to add up.”
KINGS SHARPSHOOTER BACKS HIMSELF TO FIND SHOOTING TOUCH
DJ Vasiljevic never lacks confidence and the Sydney Kings championship winning guard is sure that his shots are going to start falling at a higher clip potentially starting in Friday night’s grand final rematch with the Tasmania JackJumpers.
Vasiljevic was instrumental in Sydney winning last season’s NBL championship. He is still having a good season with 12.5 points a game, but his shooting isn’t where he’d like especially with his three-point percentage at 28.8.
He shot the three ball at 35.6 per cent a season so it is a significant drop off and he is fully aware of it but it’s not going to stop him from trying to shoot out of what he has self diagnosed as a slump.
There would be no better chance than to light it up on Friday night against Tasmania at Qudos Bank Arena.
While the Kings won the grand final against the JackJumpers, Sydney has a bad taste in its mouth after losing to Tasmania back on December 11 after leading by 14 points at the start of the fourth quarter.
Vasiljevic is confident a good shooting performance is just around the corner.
“I am in a slump at the moment, which has gone on for about a month, but the best way to get out of it is to keep shooting and being aggressive,” Vasiljevic said.
“I’m just trying to stay confident in myself, as I know I’m doing the work – so I know the results are just around the corner.”
As for the bigger picture, Vasiljevic is looking for the Kings to keep building after their Christmas Day win against Melbourne United up against the JackJumpers.
“As good as we were against Melbourne, we still need to work on getting up and into people defensively,” he said.
“We’re good defensively right now but not where we need to be – I know Chase is going to keep pushing us to get to that level.
“Offensively, it’s up to us to do the little things and create open looks, as we only managed six points in the fourth quarter last time we played them.”
WILDCATS READY THEMSELVES FOR FIRED UP FRAZIER
Perth Wildcats coach John Rillie knows all about how it feels playing his former team so he expects a potential 40-point outburst from Michael Frazier II for the Illawarra Hawks against his old team on New Year’s Eve.
The Wildcats have their own things to focus directly on following Tuesday night’s frustrating road loss to the Brisbane Bullets where they let slip the chance to make it five wins in-a-row and stay in touch with the top four teams.
Rillie focused his attention on the clock issues from the bench in Brisbane afterwards, and you can clearly see he had a good point, but also his own team can take a lot of the blame for missing 18 free-throws throughout the game, including 10 from sharpshooters Corey Webster and Bryce Cotton.
The ‘Cats now remain on the road for the next three games too with the United Cup tennis inside RAC Arena starting on New Year’s Eve on what is becoming a regular occasion for them to take on the Illawarra Hawks.
What that sets up is a match up with Frazier who spent quite the tumultuous season at the Wildcats in NBL22. Frazier showed great character to keep his head held high and remain professional despite the way he was treated.
It’s almost baffling to comprehend looking back, but the Wildcats made no secret of wanting to replace Frazier, they even found his replacement and flew John Brown III to Perth and he began training with the team – with Frazier still part of it.
Then when Brown’s clearance took longer than anticipated, the Wildcats never ended up signing him because he wouldn’t qualify for playoffs and Frazier finished out the season – while knowing his club hadn’t wanted him anymore.
You can only imagine how Frazier felt in that moment and the motivation he will now be feeling while wearing a Hawks uniform this Saturday night in his first chance to play against the Wildcats.
Frazier missed Illawarra’s last game through illness but prior to that he had been putting up 19.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists a game including 27 points against Melbourne, and 26 against Cairns.
Rillie might not have been involved at the Wildcats last season so has nothing to do with any motivation Frazier might be feeling, but when he reflects on his own career he has some idea how he’ll approach the game.
Rillie experienced playing against the Townsville Crocodiles, West Sydney Razorbacks, Adelaide 36ers and Brisbane Bullets during his own 481-game playing career, so knows the Wildcats have to be ready for a fired up Frazier.
“He’s come out here and he’s played really well with his time with Wollongong. He’s brought a great dimension to their team,” Rillie said.
“There’s a lot of dynamic in this game and I always preach that it’s about how we approach the game more than anything. Throw in the dynamic that there’s a former Wildcat playing for them that’ll probably want to put about 40 points on us.
“I just reflect on my own experiences like any player that plays against their former club especially one when it doesn’t go to plan, they are out to a prove a point. If you got fired from your job and someone else picked you up, you’re going to try and make a point. It’s just the way that it goes.”
BRUTON DEFENDS TALK OVER SIXERS’ SPENDING
Andrew Bogut has again lit the fuse accusing the Adelaide 36ers of overspending in the push to win that elusive championship, but the Sixers have hit back in response and coach CJ Bruton feels everyone would be surprised if they saw the reality of their spending in NBL23.
There has been plenty of talk all season long about the spending of all teams after the raw numbers were released from NBL22.
While they didn’t exactly paint a clear picture, what it showed was that the Perth Wildcats spent a lot more over the salary cap than any other team and the Sydney Kings took the chance to take the moral high ground after winning the championship while sitting middle of the pack.
What those numbers didn’t take into account was the fact that Perth’s number was inflated because they were relying on Cotton’s citizenship coming through which would have allowed much of his salary to come outside the cap as a marquee player.
It also didn’t factor in that the Kings had Biwali Bayles and Makur Maker not part of the salary spending, and Xavier Cooks as their marquee, but that’s besides the point now and is all history.
36ers hold off undermanned Phoenix | 00:53
What it has done is given Kings management the feeling that they can cast judgment on the rest of the league spending more than them and not getting the same results, and the 36ers have become their target in recent times.
Having already signed gun imports Robert Franks and Antonius Cleveland to join a team where Mitch McCarron and Daniel Johnson are especially well paid, the ire of the Kings was raised with the recent signing from Adelaide of NBL and NBA championship winner Ian Clark.
Clark was instrumental in Sydney winning last season’s championship and is also a Golden State Warriors championship teammate of Bogut, so Bogut felt well placed to call the Sixers out for what he felt was over spending to try and dethrone the Kings.
Adelaide hasn’t been shy in hitting back at the comments and coach CJ Bruton made it clear that as far as he understands, the 36ers aren’t spending much more than last season and nowhere near what the highest spending teams are
“I’ve been on many teams and you can talk about who’s spending what money, and from last year looking at where teams were at, I can clearly tell you that while you can say what you want to say about our roster, but when it comes out, you can come back to me and I’ll be smiling,” Bruton said.
“From our roster to where it was to where it is now, it ain’t much different with our spending and that is true. I like to pride myself on being open and honest, and yes we’ve got some talent now and we are still not the highest spending team in this competition.
“The teams that are high are supposed to win and if you saw where everyone sits with their spending for a reason.
“We all know you can under or overachieve no matter what you spend, but we all know there are certain teams that should be in the top four who are not there, so look at them before you come looking at anyone else.
“We are here to compete for a championship like every team and I think Cairns and New Zealand have done an amazing job to be where they are, but everyone else who is in the mix is supposed to be there.”
NEW YEAR’S EVE TRADITION CONTINUES IN REGIONAL CENTRES
Christmas Day might be a new tradition the NBL is looking to create, but playing on New Year’s Eve has now been in place for a while and particularly in Cairns and Illawarra it’s always a big hit, and that’s again the case this year with a double-header to close 2022.
The NBL broke ground going back nearly two decades beginning the tradition of playing New Year’s Eve. Two of the most popular places to host those games have been in Cairns and Wollongong, which is continuing.
Having a game in a community like Cairns and Wollongong brings everyone together, and becomes quite the event where a high proportion of the cities attend the game, and then bring in the New Year together afterwards.
Cleveland crushes JackJumpers | 00:58
It becomes quite the event and so much so that there was unbridled anger from the Cairns Taipans when they were scheduled to play away on New Year’s Eve in the 2016/17 season.
That’s the only time in the last 15 years that the Taipans haven’t hosted a New Year’s Eve game, and it’s annually their biggest game of any regular season and quickly sells out.
Cairns has now played on New Year’s Eve every season dating back to 2006/07, and in 14 of the 15 past seasons aside from NBL21 when it didn’t commence until January thanks to COVID, the Taipans have hosted the last game of that year.
It’s a similar story for the Hawks. They have played on 13 of the past 15 New Year’s Eves where the league has been going with 10 of those at home.
Now this Saturday night, the last games of 2022 will see Cairns and Illawarra as the home teams with the Taipans at home to the Adelaide 36ers and the Hawks playing host to the Perth Wildcats.
They will be two fascinating match ups for different reasons and it’s always a fun occasion especially in regional centres like Cairns and Wollongong where the communities really get out and support them.
Former Hawks and Sydney Kings forward Cody Ellis played four times on New Year’s Eve during his NBL career, and experienced both in Cairns and the Illawarra, and feels it’s always a great celebration for the league.
“It’s really good for those two teams and they usually draw bigger crowds than normal so hopefully they can do that again,” Ellis said on Hoops Heaven’s Basketball Hustle podcast.
“I think I played in Cairns for three of the five years I played, and had one in Illawarra as well so all but one year I played on New Year’s Eve and that was when the Kings didn’t play.
“It’s always a bit of fun. You play a game, go shower, get some food and go watch the fireworks. It’s always good, certainly a lot more relaxed than what playing on Christmas Day would be.”
