Stat Chat: Round 1 (What's Hot and What's Not)

Statistics ... whether you love them or hate them, stats play a huge part in sport.

Whether it's when recruiting a player, how teams prepare, how a starting five is setup, or just about any facet of the game, numbers are crunched and relied upon as fact. 

This year, 2018 NBL Champion and expert commentator Pete Hooley will once again be our resident stats man on NBL.com.au to provide a rundown of all the key numbers heading into a new round of games. 

Keep an eye out after every round for the latest edition of 'Stat Chat'. 

What’s Hot – 15
The 36ers couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season when they rattled off the first 15 points on the road against Brisbane. For a team that struggled bolt out the gates in games last season, this was a very promising sign for Adelaide fans. Led by Isaac Humphries, the 36ers were firing on all cylinders early in this game but ultimately undid all their hard work shortly after.

What’s Not – 6:00
Adelaide fought hard against Melbourne United but cost themselves the game in some crucial moments in the fourth quarter. With six minutes left on the clock immediately after a timeout, Adelaide gave up two offensive rebounds in the same possession when down by five. This resulted in a Dellavedova three that zapped all the momentum away from Adelaide and put the game to bed. 

Isaac Humphries.

What’s Hot – 31
After the horrible start to the game and being down 16 early in the first quarter, the Bullets outscored the 36ers by 31 points for the rest of their opening NBL24 game. Once they woke up Brisbane looked like a team that had been playing together for multiple years already. It was the Bullets' first opening fixture win since 2019 which is a promising sign for all fans who endured a tough last season.

What’s Not – 25
The Bullets have a roster that can certainly light it up from beyond the arc. With the likes of Sobey, Smith, Mitchell, White and even Baynes, knocking down threes will be crucial for their success in NBL24. In their opening game, Brisbane shot 25% from outside - making just 6 of 24 attempts. They’ll be hoping that’s an anomaly going forward.

Nathan Sobey.

What’s Hot – +2
Cairns' season opening clash looked like it could break away from them at multiple points, so it was  impressive to see that rookie Sam Mennenga finished with a +2 in the +- in his near 30 minutes played. He finished with 17 points on an efficient night and was the only starter to finish with the positive result against the Breakers.

What’s Not – 31
The Taipans' success in the last two seasons has been built on being an elite defensive unit all over the floor. The third quarter of their game was a contrasting view to what we are used to seeing from Cairns, giving up 31 points to New Zealand and struggling to string together any defensive stops. Adam Forde wasn’t shy in highlighting this in the press conference, stating that the inability to stay in front of the ball just wasn’t good enough.

Sam Mennenga.

What’s Hot – 4322
It was a beautiful sight to see the sold-out crowd in Illawarra for their rivalry game against the Sydney Kings, where 4322 fans packed the stands to get behind their beloved Hawks. Yes, the result didn’t go their way, but I am still mighty high on the capabilities of this new Hawks outfit going forward. It may take some time to get it all clicking, but the pieces are there for them to have a successful NBL24 season. If you’re thinking of heading to their next home game, there’s nothing more to say, just be there!

What’s Not – 44.1
The Hawks struggled defensively throughout the night, especially guarding the three-point line. Anytime you allow a team to knock down 15 threes at 44%, it’s likely going to be a very tough game to win. In fact, the Kings were one made free throw away from a collective 50%, 40%, 90% shooting game. History will show in any game, at any level, if your opponent is shooting that well from the field, you’re probably not going to win.

Dan Grida.

What’s Hot – 10
United are off to a hot start in NBL24 and their Next Star, Ariel Hukporti, is doing it all. Hukporti had 10 offensive rebounds across the opening round, to go with eight blocks as well. It’s truly remarkable to see how strong and athletic he has returned from his devastating achilles injury. He has already broken into some mock drafts in the last couple of weeks and don’t be surprised if he continues to rise and rise.

What’s Not – 42
United still have the best shooter in the league in Chris Goulding, but it’s been a while since we have seen them attempt 42 threes in a game. In fact, they have only attempted more than 40 threes twice in the last three seasons, one of those being 51 attempts against Sydney in Round 12 last season. It’s not surprising that they are taking a lot, considering the confidence of guys like Dellavedova right now, but now it’s all about finding the perfect balance for them.

Ariel Hukporti.

What’s Hot – 2016
Last season’s runners-up got off to a strong start in their revenge season by putting away an undermanned Cairns side in front of a bumper home crowd. The last time that New Zealand won their opener was way back in 2016, which is hopefully a sign of good things to come for Breakers fans. Still without their leading man, Will McDowell-White, fresh face Parker Jackson-Cartwright certainly lived up to the hype in his debut. 

What’s Not – 4
Both teams shot the ball pretty efficiently in this game, so there weren’t too many rebounds to go around. However, the Breakers lost the battle of the boards by four to a Cairns team that is much younger and less athletic in the front court. The Taipans had 10 offensive rebounds which led to 12 second-chance points, compared to just seven offensive rebounds and five second-chance points for the home side.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright.

What’s Hot – 35 & 24
Let’s just take a moment to highlight two of the best individual debuts you’ll see for a long time. Firstly, it was Jordan Usher on Friday night exploding for 35 points in front of a packed RAC Arena. Usher was everywhere in this one, knocking down threes, getting on the rim and inspiring his team to come away with the win. Then, after a DNP in this game, rookie Ben Henshall showcased exactly why he has NBA eyes on him against the Phoenix. Henshall scored 24 points in 24 minutes off the bench for Perth and will likely never see a “DNP” next to his name again.

What’s Not – 19
With all the positive signs for Perth this season, the Red Army will be hoping that opening weekend wasn’t a sign of things to come in terms of defence and rebounding. The two things that have really hindered the Wildcats' success over the last two seasons were haunting them again across Round 1. Perth was outrebounded by 19 across both games, while also giving up 110 points to SEM and 95 to Tasmania. Rebounding issues alone don’t cost wins, but they have too much size this season to be getting outrebounded by 12 boards in a single game.

Ben Henshall.

What’s Hot – 38
After going back and forth in the first half against Perth, the Phoenix exploded in the third quarter and scored 38 points while holding the Wildcats to just 12. In the end the final score probably flattered Perth, who were down by as many as 30, before they themselves scored 38 in the fourth to make the margin respectable. Ironically, it will probably be the 12 points allowed that Mike Kelly praises his team for, more so than the 38 scored, because the defensive end is exactly what he is trying to build this season.

What’s Not – 19
Free points. That’s why they're called free throws, because they are just so important to knock down at a high rate. South East Melbourne missed 19 free throws across their opening two games. Whilst this probably didn’t have any impact on both of these results, if that trend were to continue it would no doubt end up costing them important wins in NBL24. 

Ben Ayre.

What’s Hot – 23
It’s easy to get caught up in the big names that have dominated for Sydney over their past two seasons. However, the more you look back, the more you’ll see that it’s their bench who have been instrumental in their success. Kouat Noi is a man who has never been shy on confidence on or off the floor. We saw that first hand Saturday night, when he dropped 23 points in just 17 minutes, including 6-8 from deep.

What’s Not – 21
The Kings have some elite athletes throughout their roster, like Jaylin Galloway for example, which will help them become an elite defensive team. Because of this, it was somewhat surprising to see the Hawks have the success they did in transition by scoring 21 fast break points. Being a great defensive team in the half-court is just half of the challenge, and there’s no reason that a team like Sydney who plays fast on one end can’t be elite in defensive transition.

Kouat Noi.

What’s Hot - 15
The JackJumpers truly never say die, even when it looks like they’re about to be blown off the floor. At one point in the fourth quarter Perth had completely taken over and looked set for a massive win on their home court. Scott Roth called a timeout and said get the ball to Milton Doyle, who then took over with his decision and play making. However, it was Jack McVeigh who really stood up for Tasmania with 15 points in the last quarter, including three triples and dishing two assists. 

What’s Not – 3
Tasmania started the game on fire against Perth by rattling off the first 12 points unanswered and forcing John Rillie to call a timeout. You can't ask for a better start on an opponent’s home floor in front of a raucous crowd. Unfortunately for them they quickly squandered that lead in the next three minutes and all of a sudden it was a two-point ball game, and Perth had all the momentum.

Jack McVeigh.