R1 Preview: Brisbane Bullets vs The Hawks

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Magic man Vic Law and a Brisbane team minus their NBL20 frontcourt faces a tough home opener against Deng Adel and the athletic Hawks.

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Saturday 16 January

Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Broadcast: SBS Viceland; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Brisbane 106 (Patterson 20, Gliddon 16, Hodgson 16, Sobey 16) d Illawarra 77 (Glover 18, Blanchfield 17), Round 16, 2019/20, Nissan Arena

After the struggling Hawks put up a fight in the first half, the surging Bullets unleashed an emphatic 36-17 third term to put this one beyond doubt. As was their way in the second half of last season, Andrej Lemanis’ men dished 22 dimes and dropped 13 long-range bombs – Jason Cadee, Cam Gliddon and Nathan Sobey hitting 11-of-20 between them – while finishing at an ultra-impressive 70 per cent from inside the arc, with Matt Hodgson, Will Magnay and Lamar Patterson going a combined 19-of-21.

The now
There is no Magnay, no Patterson and no Gliddon for the Bullets, who also shed Mika Vukona, Taylor Braun, Reuben Te Rangi and the underrated EJ Singler in the off-season. While Hodgson, Sobey and Cadee are all key returning pieces, that level of turnover makes this very much a new-look team, especially with Matt Hodgson ruled out for opening night.

Well-credentialed import duo Vic Law and Orlando Johnson will obviously be important pieces, but it’s perhaps the ability of former 36ers duo Harry Froling and Anthony Drmic to reach their potential in blue and gold that will determine whether the Bullets have the depth to match the top teams in the Hungry Jack’s NBL.

How the Hawks will fare is even more unpredictable, with a change of name, change of ownership, change of coach and eight new players rocking into the ‘Gong. The roster has plenty of youth, athleticism, quality shooting and x-factor – with Deng Adel, Justinian Jessup and Tyler Harvey all a defensive handful – giving them the capability of beating any opponent on any given night.

Of course, many will see Brian Goorjian as the Hawks’ best recruit. His teams’ trademarks are consistently being amongst the most professional, disciplined, athletic and fittest in the competition. The NBL has progressed significantly in these areas in recent years, however, so just how much of an advantage that will be in the modern era remains to be seen.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Deng Adel with the THROW DOWN! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> <a href="https://t.co/nTseu3UXC9">pic.twitter.com/nTseu3UXC9</a></p>— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) <a href="https://twitter.com/marchmadness/status/843504628163518464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The key men

Vic Law – This is one of the most fascinating signings of NBL21. There is no doubting Law’s talent, but there is also no proof in the pudding just yet that he can consistently be an elite-level talent in an international league. Unlike the Lamar Pattersons, Scotty Hopsons and Bryce Cottons of this world, Law is experiencing his first real taste of hoops outside the USA and has only shown short bursts of brilliance in his home country.

The Northwestern graduate, who had a solid college career, burst onto the scene in the G-League last year, scoring 20-plus points in 13 of his final 17 games to earn himself an NBA call-up with Orlando. The good news for Bullets fans is Law swung between both forward spots for the G-League Magic, pulled in rebounds with aggression, hit from the outside and scored off the bounce – all characteristics their team needs in spades.

Justin Simon – Brian Goorjian’s coaching trademarks have allowed his teams to play harder for longer at both ends – and in the open court – for the full four quarters. This allows them to wear opponents down and turn defence into offence, and the Hawks found the man who typifies that approach in Simon, a 24-year-old hungry to prove himself in the professional world.

His appetite for hard work, physicality and defence possibly won’t be bettered in NBL21, especially with Damian Martin now in the commentary box and Vukona retired. Simon’s eight-steal performance in a practice game against Perth highlighted his worth, and if he can generate regular scoring chances in the open floor this Hawks line-up will be very hard to beat.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Will <a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thehawks</a> have a few highlights in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a>? Simon says so.<br><br>Justin Simon (<a href="https://twitter.com/simon_Says_so?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@simon_Says_so</a>) is bringing some serious energy and athleticism to the WEC ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MondayMixtape?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MondayMixtape</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/bbfnbarDwA">pic.twitter.com/bbfnbarDwA</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1295148706325344256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The stats
- The Hawks were 1^st in steals last season, but also ranked 8^th in defensive field-goal percentage and three-point percentage, and 9^th in opposition three-point makes

- In 22 seasons, Goorjian-coached teams have made 20 semi-final appearances, played in 13 grand finals and won six championships. His only playoff misses were his first two NBL seasons

- Brisbane were 9-2 last season when they held opponents below 90 points. Those two defeats were at the hands of Perth at RAC Arena

- Magnay and Hodgson had the Bullets’ best defensive ratings of 109.2 and 109.8 respectively in NBL20. When Hodgson played 20 or more minutes his team was 9-2, and they were 9-5 when Magnay passed that mark

The quotes
New Brisbane star import Vic Law likes to keep things simple.

“I think power forward,” he said, when asked what position he would play for the Bullets.

“But I've been taught something very well, there are only two positions in basketball, on the court and on the bench, so as long as I'm helping in some way I’ll be alright.”

Law said his new coach, Andrej Lemanis, had also kept the instructions straight forward for the versatile 201cm forward.

“To help win, to get them back in the playoffs, get the Bullets’ tradition back to where it was, and keep this team rolling,” Law said.

“Over the last couple of years they’ve been on an upward trajectory towards being really good, and hopefully this year me and Orlando can help take them over the top.”

There were promising signs of that in the Bullets’ practice game against Perth last week, with the new import duo combining for 32 points in a 96-90 victory.

While Law thought there was “room for improvement” on his 18-point performance, he loved the service he received from established Bullets guards Jason Cadee and Nathan Sobey.

“I think we've got a lot of good guys on the team that’ll help me be better,” he said.

“They definitely gave me a few good open looks and I like the flow of their game in offence. I’m thankful for them and thankful they keep leading me.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Public Service Announcement: <br><br>Don't let Vic Law go baseline. He will make you pay. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/B1GCats?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#B1GCats</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PoundTheRock?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PoundTheRock</a> <a href="https://t.co/NOEAX2dDh4">pic.twitter.com/NOEAX2dDh4</a></p>— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) <a href="https://twitter.com/NUMensBball/status/929432718391341056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
So while Law and Johnson are the headliners, don’t be surprised if coach Goorjian unleashes the defensive dogs onto Brisbane’s backcourt, given their importance in executing Lemanis’ slick system.

The Hawk with the most bite is Justin Simon, the 2019 Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

“I'm a blue-collar guy who is always trying to get after it and I'm always going to play with a lot of energy. I like to hang my hat on my defence,” Simon said.

“I'm gonna be guarding anybody on the floor. The biggest thing is though, scoring doesn't define me as a player. I do so many things on the floor that won't have a statistic - screens, chasing down 50-50 balls, deflections and I'm gonna be disruptive as hell.”

Those are exactly the characteristics Goorjian sought when putting together his first NBL roster in 12 years.

“The one things I have that’s unusual is that I've never come to a team where I get to pick every player,” Goorjian told the Illawarra Mercury.

“I decided not to go on the free agents list and guys that were on other teams, 27-28 year-old guys.

“I didn’t re-sign guys like that and I didn’t go for those players on Perth’s list or United’s list.

“I went young and long term. They're hungry, they're excited, they want to prove themselves and there’s that element to a lot of guys I've picked.”