You couldn’t have asked for much more from the opening six rounds of the NBL season so let’s take stock with the break this week to look back on how all the teams are performing, and hand out some awards.
The NBL is taking a break this week with the FIBA window for international matches which will see the Australian Boomers play two more World Cup Asian Qualifiers against Kazakhstan on Friday night and Iran on Monday.
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It’s been quite the dramatic opening six weeks with the Sydney Kings sitting on top defending their championship, the Illawarra Hawks last on a seven-game losing run, and plenty of fascination with all the teams in between.
Already we’ve seen a host of imports moved on either through injury or teams making the big calls highlighted by the Adelaide 36ers cutting Craig Randall while superstars are delivering, and others need to step up.
Let’s take a look at how it’s all played out so far with an eye to the rest of the season when it resumes next Thursday.
Williams tees off on Randall II | 01:53
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TEAM BY TEAM REVIEW
SYDNEY KINGS
Current Record: 7-2, 1st
Who’s firing: Xavier Cooks
Who needs to lift: Nobody stands out
What’s working: They are doing most things right, including shooting far and away the best from the field at 48.5 per cent and being the best rebounding team in the league collecting 40.0 per game led by Xavier Cooks with 8.3 along with his 16.3 points. Their offence is flowing nicely scoring 93.2 points a game to be nearly seven points more than the next best while playing at the highest pace. They have the best offensive rating in the league at 115.1, almost 20 more than the Illawarra Hawks. Their defence has been good too as they’ve kept their opponents to shooting 40.3 per cent
What’s not: Free-throw shooting. It’s their one and only glaring weakness and right now and it could prove costly if they can’t fix it especially down the stretches of games as was evident on Sunday against the New Zealand Breakers. They are getting to the line more than any other team with 23.3 free-throw attempts a game, but then shooting the league-low 63 per cent.
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS
Current Record: 6-3, 2nd
Who’s firing: Dererk Pardon
Who needs to lift: Will McDowell-White
What’s working: Their defence has been outstanding with their opponents shooting just 40.3 per cent from the field and averaging only 75.7 points a game to be the only team holding their opponents below 80 points. Their defence is ranked best in the league with a 101.6 rating. They have made a conscious effort to play at a slower style to be playing at the second lowest pace which is suiting them perfectly. Their biggest strength is how well they’ve come together as a team, they have all bought in to the system, have terrific chemistry and are sacrificing for each other for the overall good.
What’s not: It’s hard to pinpoint too much that they aren’t doing right. Their offence remains a work in progress but their defence is working so well that it’s giving them a chance to win even if their offence isn’t quite clicking on all cylinders.
CAIRNS TAIPANS
Current Record: 5-3, 3rd
Who’s firing: Keanu Pinder
Who needs to lift: Tahjere McCall (when healthy)
What’s working: It’s the energy they are playing with that has shown the biggest growth from last year. They are pushing the pace, being aggressive defensively and then getting out and running on the back of that, which is perfect for the team coach Adam Forde has put together. He said from the start he wanted his team to get up as many threes as they can and that’s what they are doing, attempting 34.9 a game and they are doing a solid job of them going at 33.7 per cent. Their defence has been strong too forcing their opponents into 16.0 turnovers a game and conceding just 83.3 points.
What’s not: Quite simply they just have had no lucky health-wise and given that they have done a terrific job to win five of their eight matches. Of their eight matches so far this season, Tahjere McCall has played just the three, Lat Mayen three, Mirko Djeric five and Jonah Antonio six while Sam Waardenburg missed their last game against Melbourne. That means they are yet to fully click with their full squad available.
SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX
Current Record: 5-4, 4th
Who’s firing: Mitch Creek
Who needs to lift: Zhou Qi
What’s working: The front court combination of Mitch Creek and Alan Williams is finding its groove together along with having point guard Gary Browne settling in and showing he can run a team effectively. They are the best offensive rebounding team in the league with 11.4 a game and while attempting the least three-pointers in the league, they are getting to the foul line the second most to take advantage of their strengths inside and being aggressive.
What’s not: They just haven’t been able to get a good look at it for long enough with their full squad available. With everyone playing, they won four straight games but then just as they were building momentum, suddenly they were without Zhou Qi, Ryan Broekhoff and Kyle Adnam for the Throwdown. Having their full squad available is going to make or break them the longer this season goes.
TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS
Current Record: 5-5, 5th
Who’s firing: Jack McVeigh
Who needs to lift: Clint Steindl, Will Magnay (when healthy)
What’s working: Aside from two hefty losses, they have largely got back to their trademarks that made them so successful last season which is playing high pressure, intense and physical defence for 40 minutes, crashing the boards and just making themselves hard to play against, and score against. Their opponents are only managing 7.5 offensive rebounds a game, only scoring 80.0 points against them and they’ve made a conscious effort to play at the slowest pace in the league.
What’s not: One thing that didn’t happen a lot last season was getting blown out, but twice already this season they’ve suffered hefty losses at home to the Cairns Taipans by 22 points, and then the New Zealand Breakers away by 32. They won’t want too many more of those.
MELBOURNE UNITED
Current Record: 5-5, 6th
Who’s firing: Xavier Rathan-Mayes
Who needs to lift: Rayjon Tucker
What’s working: They showed what they are capable of beating the Phoenix by 25 points on Sunday, but that was four days after being blown out by Cairns by 25. Xavier Rathan-Mayes is doing a terrific job as a playmaker and scorer, Isaac Humphries is doing what he can up front while young big David Okwera is doing what he can and Shea Ili is settling after a long lay-off.
What’s not: They have been far too inconsistent so far with a huge gap between their best and worst, which is very unlike this team under Dean Vickerman. Clearly they need to find an import power forward to help Humphries up front, but they go through real struggles scoring as well and that’s where Rayjon Tucker needs to provide the spark or he might not last much longer.
PERTH WILDCATS
Current Record: 4-5, 7th
Who’s firing: Bryce Cotton
Who needs to lift: Todd Blanchfield
What’s working: The Wildcats can’t ask more from three-time MVP Bryce Cotton who is averaging a league-high 21.4 points a game to go with 4.6 assists and shooting 41.8 per cent from the field, 35.6 from downtown and 95.7 per cent at the foul line. Overall as a team, not a lot has been where they want it to be but going into the FIBA break on a one-game winning streak is much better than the alternative of a six-game losing one.
What’s not: Their win to break a five-game losing streak eased some of the pain, but it won’t count for much if they don’t build on it after the break. Their rebounding has been poor with a league-low 31.7 a game, the defence has been leaking giving up a league-high of 46.9 field goal percentage and their offence has relied way too much on Cotton. All three areas were better against the Sixers while their import front court of TaShawn Thomas and Brady Manek had their best games. Now they need to continue all of that to turn things around.
ADELAIDE 36ERS
Current Record: 3-7, 8th
Who’s firing: Robert Franks
Who needs to lift: Whoever replaces Craig Randall
What’s working: What a rollercoaster ride it’s been. The Sixers went and beat the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, came home and lost at home to Tasmania by 25 and it’s been a rocky ride side. However, how they looked without Craig Randall can’t be ignored with Robert Franks and Daniel Johnson dominant, and Mitch McCarron, Anthony Drmic and Sunday Dech stepping up. That game against the Hawks provides the blueprint of how to capitalise on their talent moving forward with a playmaking import point guard, not a shooting dominant one.
What’s not: The Craig Randall experiment proved a disaster. He turned out the ultimate example of someone who can be a standout individual player, but a poor teammate and someone who doesn’t help anyone around him play well or ultimately to help his team win. This Adelaide team is enormously talented, but they need a point guard who can get everyone involved and not worry about his own numbers. That’s what didn’t work with Randall and ironically his 35 points against the Phoenix Suns probably only made that worse. The defensive end is where more problems lie with them ranked the worst team defensively.
BRISBANE BULLETS
Current Record: 3-5, 9th
Who’s firing: Aron Baynes
Who needs to lift: Nathan Sobey
What’s working: Five games in and things were looking disastrous with them winless. They’ve now strung three wins together and most importantly, superstar Boomers pair Aron Baynes and Nathan Sobey are finding their groove, and showing they can be a matchwinning duo with good role players around them. Jason Cadee and Tyler Johnson are doing well in the back court with Sobey while DJ Mitchell, Harry Froling and Ty Harrison are working well with Baynes up front. They now have a fascinating decision over the type of import they want to bring in to replace Devondrick Walker.
What’s not: Everything they weren’t doing well in their first five losses has dramatically improved in the last three wins. Their defence has rapidly got better, their offence looks more dangerous with Sobey and Johnson finding their groove especially, but there’s still plenty of improvement they can make on their chemistry and working out everyone’s proper roles to be successful. They likely either need an import point guard or a three/four man to bring in, but then he needs to fit in immediately because this Bullets group has shown it can be temperamental. They are starting to take better care of the ball too but 17.1 turnovers a game is far too many.
ILLAWARRA HAWKS
Current Record: 1-8, 10th
Who’s firing: Peyton Siva
Who needs to lift: George King
What’s working: It’s hard to say anything is to be honest. Peyton Siva has been solid since arriving to replace Justin Robinson, but that’s meant that their early shining light Lachie Dent isn’t getting court time. Sam Froling is battling hard up front against the tide but precious little is working which is the case when you’ve lost seven straight by an average of 16.4 points.
What’s not: Well just about everything. The defence has been porous, their offence has no rhythm to it and they are putting up just 76.9 points a game while shooting a league low 40.1 per cent and averaging the lowest assists with 14.1 a game, and getting called for the most fouls. Their offensive rating is just 96.1 to see them be the only team sitting under 100. Their opponents are managing 41.8 rebounds a game against them and dishing out 18.9 assists. Tyler Harvey is struggling to recapture his best form, George King is giving precious little and they need three imports to all be superstars on this largely young and local team to succeed. More than anything, they are easy to play against right now and aren’t making any sort of statements to let their opponents know they mean business. How to find that competitiveness is going to be quite a task for rookie coach Jacob Jackomas.
AWARD WINNERS
Predicted champions – Sydney Kings
Predicted Top 6 – Sydney Kings, South East Melbourne Phoenix, Tasmania JackJumpers, Cairns Taipans, Perth Wildcats, New Zealand Breakers
MVP – Mitch Creek
This was a tough one and there was no one standout pick after six rounds, but Creek has been the consistent force for a South East Melbourne Phoenix team that has had a constant change in player availability through their first nine games. Creek has put up 21.1 points and 6.0 per game while shooting at 51.9 per cent, and is playing at a consistently high level despite battling a foot complaint. His biggest challengers are Wildcat Bryce Cotton, Sydney pair Xavier Cooks and Derrick Walton Jr, and Taipans rising star Keanu Pinder.
All-First Team – Xavier Rathan-Mayes/Bryce Cotton/Mitch Creek/Keanu Pinder/Xavier Cooks
Rathan-Mayes has been Melbourne’s shining light this season as a combo guard showing he can both run the offence and score, going for 17.5 points, 7. 4 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Cotton has been his usual self and carrying a significant load for the Wildcats and is going for 21.4 points. Creek has been outstanding and the consistent force for the Phoenix despite a nagging foot injury. Pinder has been phenomenal leading the way for Cairns with his energy and production with 17.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Then there’s last season’s Grand Final MVP Cooks who is putting up 16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists and leading Sydney’s charge. The unluckiest players to not get a spot would be Sydney’s Derrick Walton Jr, Cairns forward DJ Hogg, New Zealand pair Dererk Pardon and Barry Brown Jr, and Tasmania forward Jack McVeigh.
Rookie of the Year – Sam Waardenburg
The young Kiwi big man has settled in nicely in his rookie season at the Cairns Taipans averaging 9.9 points and 3.0 rebounds a game, and likely is helping form the best front court in the league alongside Keanu Pinder, DJ Hogg and Majok Deng. His biggest rival was New Zealand Next Star Rayan Rupert but his season could be done through injury now and then there’s Tasmania development player Sean Macdonald who’s putting up 5.3 points and shooting 44.8 per cent from three-point land.
Best Defensive Player – Dererk Pardon
There is just something about an imposing big man presence that makes their teammates walk taller, and that’s exactly what is happening at the New Zealand Breakers. Pardon provides that anchor inside at the defensive end where he is rebounding strongly at 7.9 per game and being a rim protector with 1.2 blocks a game. He’s then provided an inside target offensively too and his screen setting has been a huge part of New Zealand’s success. His greatest threats for the Damian Martin Trophy would be Sydney Kings’ pair Justin Simon and Xavier Cooks, and Tasmania’s Matt Kenyon.
Coach of the Year – Mody Maor
You would have to say the New Zealand Breakers have surpassed expectations nine games into the season and it’s not just because of the 6-3 record, but because of how they are performing. They appear to have the best team chemistry in the league and have been outstanding at the defensive end, which they’ve then been able to translate into their offence. Bringing a new group together means their coach deserves enormous credit. You can say almost all the same things for Adam Forde at the Cairns Taipans too to be his closest rival.
Most Improved Player – Keanu Pinder
It’s quite remarkable to think that he is the leading candidate for this award for the second year running, but it’s impossible to ignore. He went from 4.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in his first NBL season in Adelaide to delivering 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in Cairns last season. Now he’s taken that up to this season to be a genuine superstar with 17.1 points and 10.0 rebounds a game. His main threats would be Melbourne’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes or New Zealand’s Izayah Le’afa.
