R3 Preview: Brisbane Bullets vs Illawarra Hawks

Sunday, December 19, 2021

Robert Franks takes on Duop Reath, while Nathan Sobey faces Tyler Harvey in a pair of marquee match-ups as the Hawks head to Brisbane.

When: 3pm (AEDT), Sunday 19 December 2021

Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; 10 Peach; 10 Play; Sky Sports NZ

Who won last time?
Brisbane 88 (Cadee 22, Froling 21, Sobey 17) d Illawarra 82 (Jessup 19, Harvey 18, Grida 12) - Round 13, 2021, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong

The Hawks dominated this clash to lead by 14 with 150 seconds until half-time, but back-to-back triples from Jason Cadee changed the game. Two more rapid-fire treys from Harry Froling after intermission kept the ball rolling, and eight straight points from Cadee had the Bullets ahead midway through the third. Illawarra charged early in the final stanza, but Cadee and Froling answered again, eight-straight points putting the contest beyond doubt.

What happened last start?

Brisbane were again impressive in the Jungle, leading the Wildcats in the third period behind a red-hot Robert Franks, but an injured Nathan Sobey, an ill-advised love affair with the three-ball and some possession-game woes ultimately sealed their fate.

The Hawks won the o-boards and the turnover count against New Zealand, which was the difference in a double-overtime clash. Brian Goorjian’s men weren’t able to defend the interior as they had in the opening two rounds, but Tyler Harvey’s clutch hand delivered them the W.

Who’s in form?

Robert Franks – His 28 points at 58 per cent and nine boards in Perth was impressive enough, but the first half was just plain scary. In the NBL’s toughest arena, Franks calmly landed 20 points on 7/9 from the field, with three triples. He’s now averaging 22.7ppg and 10.7rpg.

Tyler Harvey – Illawarra’s new stars have received plenty of press, but when the game was there to be one, Harvey won it, scoring 12 points in the final 13 minutes, including the go-ahead three with 25 seconds left in regulation and the uncanny game-winner in 2OT.

Who needs to be?

Illawarra’s bench – The Hawks’ starters scored 84 points against New Zealand with an average plus/minus of +10.8. Their reserves scored just 13 points, with an average plus/minus of -12.3. Illawarra’s bench ranks seventh in the NBL with 15.7ppg, but after a brutal double-overtime clash, AJ Ogilvy, Tim Coenraad and Co need to step up on Sunday.

Lamar Patterson – When Patterson attacked on-balls on the move, Perth had no way of guarding him, the bull-strong forward racking up 44 points in 62 minutes. Lamar only played 27 minutes on Friday, and given he struggled mightily in second-leg games last season, that may be a blessing for the Bullets, as his battle with Antonius Cleveland is set to be pivotal.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="fr" dir="ltr">Lamar Patterson. 1v1 ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BRISBANEBULLETS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BRISBANEBULLETS</a> <a href="https://t.co/Lb5FSXjabm">pic.twitter.com/Lb5FSXjabm</a></p>— Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1471799943371182081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?

- Last season for Brisbane, when backing up within 48 hours, Patterson shot 33 per cent from the field, compared to 43 per cent in games with a longer break

- Eight of Brisbane’s first 16 field-goal attempts after half-time were from outside the arc. Six of those attempts were in the first half of the shot clock, and in that eight-minute stretch the Bullets were outscored 22-13

- Illawarra have committed 27 fewer turnovers than their opposition this season, and taken 25 more field-goal attempts as a result

- The Hawks’ starting five rank first in scoring (74.3), minutes (30.7), steals (9.3), blocks (3.7) and fewest turnovers (5.3), and second in o-boards (9.7), made triples (7.7) and fewest fouls (8.7)

Who’s matching up?

Robert Franks v Duop Reath – This is an intriguing match-up, Reath’s ability to shoot and post-up at 211cm has caused issues. He nailed 5/10 from deep against slower 36er and Sydney power forwards, then went 8/14 from inside against the smaller Finn Delany.

However, despite being listed as 201cm, Franks is a long and strong athlete who can challenge Reath inside and out. He also has the ability to score from all parts of the floor and to dominate the o-boards, so this could be Duop’s toughest defensive assignment yet.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We're off, and Robo continues to be lethal from 3 ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BRISBANEBULLETS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BRISBANEBULLETS</a> <a href="https://t.co/OYYjhjcj3S">pic.twitter.com/OYYjhjcj3S</a></p>— Brisbane Bullets (@BrisbaneBullets) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets/status/1471796709026009096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

Tyler Harvey may have deservedly been in the headlines after Friday’s incredible win over the Breakers, but for Hawks coach Brian Goorjian, back-up point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes was also a match-winner.

“It’s a big recruit, a really important piece if we’re going to go anywhere,” Goorjian said.

“Tyler had some zip at the end of the game and you could put the ball in his hand and decide the game because you got 23-24 good minutes out of Xavier.

“You take the ball out of Tyler’s hand and it gave him the opportunity to play better on defence, he had more energy in the last five or six minutes of the game because he wasn’t under that dog pressure full court like he was last year.

“You look at Mitch Norton, what he does for Bryce Cotton, were looking for a similar situation with Xavier.”

True to that analogy, Harvey was Bryce-like down the stretch.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> called game ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreIllawarra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreIllawarra</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/DhdAVoY7aw">pic.twitter.com/DhdAVoY7aw</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1471794121211740165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“He was superb tonight, at both ends of the floor. We’ve got six or seven guys going, playing well together for this time of the year and are going to get better,” Goorjian said.

“I thought we got a great game again out of Duop, I thought Justinian Jessup is up a level from what he was last year, he’s got more freedom, you can’t focus on him with the group we've got out there now.”

But with the Hawks coming off a 50-minute clash, and Brisbane traversing the continent after falling to the Wildcats, it’s going to take more than the stars to get a W on Sunday afternoon.

“It’s getting Harry Froing, Isaac (White), Xavier, Tim Coenraad, that group involved in this,” Goorjian said.

“We’ve played a double-overtime game, we’re on the road playing the following afternoon, the bench is going to become important in this thing, that’s the next step.”

It's a similar challenge for Brisbane, who are without import guard Isaiah Moss, and have Nathan Sobey and Anthony Drmic playing under injury clouds.

That clearly took its toll on Friday night in Perth, the Bullets scoring just 10 points in the final nine minutes, Sobey, Lamar Patterson and Robert Franks shooting a combined 2-of-10 in that stretch.

Given Sobey’s injury and Patterson’s past struggles in back-to-backs, James Duncan’s men need another huge performance from Franks in his battle with Duop Reath, but also plenty from their supporting cast.

Brisbane only got 14 points from the bench on Friday, half of Franks’ contribution.

“Rob has been growing and growing and understanding how the league is calling things with him,” coach Duncan said.

“He’s feeling more comfortable and he had nine rebounds, 28 points, I'm happy for him, this is part of what we saw when we were looking at Rob to bring him onto our group.

“But at the same time I believe in everybody contributing and making teams pick their poison, so I feel when we do that we’re a stronger team and better that way.

“We need other guys to get a little bit more relaxed.”

For Franks, it has been quite an adjustment to how NBL defenders are able to ride cutters and push screeners, while also getting used to the charge-friendly nature of the game down under.

“We’ve had a lot of talks going into pre-season and the season, this is definitely something new to me, the physicality and how the refs call things,” he said.

“I'm just trusting JD’s offence and my teammates give me great confidence, and my biggest thing is consistency, try to play this way for this team every night.”

Yet while his team made significant progress during their road double in Perth, Franks knows it means little if they drop their home opener on Sunday and fall to 1-3.

“I'm not satisfied, and I know the boys in there aren't satisfied because we need to do better, we know we can do better,” he said.

“It’s going to feel very nice to go to the homecourt on Sunday and have the fans back us up. It’s going to be a tough one, but we’re very, very excited.”