R9 Preview: Brisbane Bullets vs Adelaide 36ers

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Matt Hodgson and the Bullets are the NBL's form team, but can Daniel Johnson and the 36ers produce another gritty display to stay in touch with the top four?

When: 5pm (AEDT), Thursday 11 March

Where: John Cain Arena, Melbourne

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

The last time
Brisbane 93 (Law 27, Sobey 19, Johnson 15) d Adelaide 74 (Johnson 20, Humphries 15), Round 5, Adelaide Entertainment Centre

After the 36ers had opened a can of whoop-ass two nights earlier in Brisbane – leading by as many as 21 in the final term – they raced to a six-point advantage in the opening 150 seconds of the rematch. But in the words of Melvin Udall, that was as good as it gets, the Bullets immediately responding with a Vic Law-inspired 14-2 run to never again be headed, Adelaide shooting a poetic put paltry 36 per cent from the field while Law and Nathan Sobey dominated from inside and out at the other end.

The now
That 48-hour period sums up Adelaide’s season pretty well, their supporters no doubt suffering from whiplash from the unpredictable form swings. Last round the 36ers coughed up a double-figure lead to Illawarra, racing to 70 points in 28 minutes before scoring just 19 in the final 12, while allowing the struggling Hawks to rack up 77 in the final three periods. Connor Henry’s men then bounced back with grinding win over Cairns in which they gave up just 50 after quarter-time, while Daniel Johnson took care of the O in impressive fashion.

Brisbane had a bit of Jekyll and Hyde about them earlier in the season, but a brilliant 4-1 performance over rounds 7 and 8 – soiled only by a costly 2-22 start against New Zealand – has them in equal third place and a chance to claim the NBL Cup with a pair of Round 9 wins. While it was a case of how far Law and Sobey could carry them in the opening six rounds, seven different Bullets have scored in double figures over the past two rounds, while Tanner Krebs has notched 8 and 9-point efforts while shooting 40 per cent from deep.

The stats

- In Brisbane’s opening eight games they averaged 87.9ppg at 44 per cent, but in the past five that has risen to 99ppg at 48 per cent

- In those eight games, Brisbane’s non-Law and Sobey supporting cast averaged 45.4ppg. In the past five outings that has risen to 57.2ppg, while Sobey and Law’s output has only dropped by 0.7ppg

- Before last week’s win over Cairns, Adelaide had been outscored by 32 points in their previous five final quarters, winning just one of those fourth terms

- The 36ers have won just one of their past six opening periods, being outscored by 53 points across those 60 minutes of basketball

The key men

Vic Law – In Brisbane’s win over the 36ers, Law had 27 points at 68 per cent in a dominant display. In their defeat to Adelaide, he managed just 9 points at 28 per cent. While the Bullets are no longer as dependent on the former Magic man, his output is still a game changer, as his 15 boards showed in the upset win over Melbourne.

At the other end, Daniel Johnson posted 41 points at 52 per cent across those two games, while adding 12 boards and 7 assists to be a big factor. With Isaac Humphries out, will Law still be the man to defend DJ in order to allow Tyrell Harrison and Matt Hodgson to defend the paint? Or will Adelaide go smaller to force Brisbane’s big men away from the basket?

Sunday Dech – The man known as Church has been building a defensive reputation for some time, but his efforts are now revered in the City of Churches after his incredible shutdown of Scott Machado. Plenty of teams have thrown plenty of numbers at the NBL’s number one point god, but no one has shut him down in big moments quite like Dech.

Things don’t get any easier in Round 9, with the simmering Sobey on the menu. The former Boomer – who seems hellbent on becoming a current Boomer once again – will receive a steady diet of step-up screens from the Bullets’ bigs early in the offence, but perhaps the biggest challenge for Dech and Adelaide is stopping the Sobey-Law pick-and-pop.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sunday Dech.<br><br>That's it. That's the tweet.<br><br>(Plus this block) <a href="https://t.co/IH5QWgkY7c">pic.twitter.com/IH5QWgkY7c</a></p>— Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1368111962341576705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The quotes

When Adelaide lost Isaac Humphries for an extended period, many predicted doom and gloom, but maybe they forgot the 36ers have one of the best offensive Australian big men in league history on their roster, something he’s shown year after year after year.

“He's our main piece, and since I've gotten here DJ has shown the ability to train every day at his age, rock up every day with a great attitude, stick with the plan when things may not be going exactly (right) on the court and he’s just an elite player and a great person,” coach Connor Henry said.

No one would be surprised that Johnson is averaging 20.1ppg, shooting 47 per cent from the floor and 40 per cent from deep, and only trailing Bryce Cotton on free-throw attempts.

Where he has been particularly important for an Adelaide team lacking experience in the backcourt experience has been his playmaking, averaging 3 assists per night, with only one outing where he’s failed to dish multiple dimes.

“Having an experience player like DJ allows us to put the ball in his hands and make decisions,” Henry added.

“He doesn’t always have to score the basketball, although that’s his strongest skill, he sees the game well, he’s a very good passer, and all of those things rub off on our young players.

“Trying to get him in decision-making positions with Josh (Giddey), helping Josh, helping everybody else is a big key to our success.”

In the win over Cairns, Johnson also played an important defensive role, belying the scout, as Adelaide regularly forced the Taipans’ into a two-man game, rather than allowing Scott Machado to find the open man against rotations.

“Tonight’s game a couple of things stood out to me, specifically our on-ball defence (where) DJ, Jack, Kaz, our bigs did a really good job in guarding their pick-and-roll and making it hard for Machado, and I felt we also did a really good job of taking away their threes,” Henry said.

“They're a really good three-point shooting team when they get guys’ feet set, we were able to stay close to shooters for the most part, so those are the two defensive aspects that I was really proud of.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">D?a?v?i?d? ?a?n?d? ?G?o?l?i?a?t?h? Josh and Nate. <a href="https://t.co/GlLUnqkwMv">pic.twitter.com/GlLUnqkwMv</a></p>— Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1368099145534164994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Bullets were in love with the three-ball earlier in the season, mainly because a lack of contributors allowed opposition teams to pack the paint, but they're a very different proposition now.

“It was good fun to play in an environment with the crowd that was going like that,” coach Andrej Lemanis said after their win over Melbourne.

“I thought we showed some nice poise down the stretch to be able to overcome that – got some stops, rebounded well and then offensively did a nice job of attacking the basket.”

The Bullets outscored United 69-52 on scores from ‘ones and twos’, with only Sobey and Jason Cadee attempting more than a brace of three-balls, and Matt Hodgson going 10-of-15 inside the paint.

“A great example tonight of understanding where our strengths lie and everybody contributing their piece of the puzzle,” Lemanis said.

“(Hodgson) has been playing great and I think it’s a pretty telling statistic that in games where Hodgy doesn’t play for us we’re 0-4.

“A nice performance from him, it’s nice to be able to play through him, his presence on the glass, his defensive presence to change shots, and his pick-and-roll defence, his skill in executing what we do in pick-and-roll defence, and all that has a positive influence for us.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WITH ZERO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE. MATTHEW HODGSON.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrisbaneBullets</a> <a href="https://t.co/i7FmnCyVYH">pic.twitter.com/i7FmnCyVYH</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1368424055087407111?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Perhaps the biggest question for Brisbane ahead Thursday’s meeting is whether new 36er Brandon Paul will be in uniform after clearing quarantine?

Regardless, Sixers boss Connor Henry will be wondering which version of his team will show up, and he’s hoping it’s the gritty version that prepared perfectly for the Taipans and then shut them down ruthlessly.

“We needed to get a win. We don’t have two of our main major pieces and we've lost three in a row, this was a big game for us. The guys played really hard last game and then the previous training sessions we really came to work.,” he said.

“Our mentality is exceptional. Since I've gotten here the guys come to work every day. We take the losses hard and rightly so we should, but we continue to bounce back.”