Stat Chat - Round 10, NBL24 (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 set up, 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 – 6
Trey Kell III was moved to the starting PG and out of the twelve turnovers the team had, he only contributed one, on his way to a team high six assists. Unfortunately he didn’t see the ball much in the crunch time which led to some unfortunate numbers that we’ll address below.

What’s Not – 21
In the final 6:30, the 36ers gave up 21 points to the Taipans and ultimately lost any chance of sneaking out a win. In the fourth quarter they had six turnovers and struggled to get any stops defensively, and in turn sunk to the bottom of the NBL ladder.

Trey Kell III.

What’s Hot – 6
There wasn’t a whole lot to enjoy if you were a Brisbane fan this weekend. What started as a lot of promise in the first quarter quickly fell apart, but let’s take a look at that strong start the Bullets had. In the first term Brisbane had six different players hit the scoreboard, led by Sam McDaniel, on their way to a slight lead after 10 minutes.

What’s Not – 3
It was the opposite story for the fourth quarter for Brisbane where they had just three players score and only managed to add nine points in the 10 minutes. Prior to the fourth, they had shown enough fight to hang around and give themselves a chance of an upset win, but that was quickly squandered with their 4/24 from the field.

Sam McDaniel.

What’s Hot – 15
Count 'em up! Tahjere McCall had 15 assists in the Taipans' big bounce back win over Adelaide, and became the first player in a decade to dish that many dimes in a game. Perhaps even more impressives was he did all of that with just two turnovers. McCall has had his issues with ball security in the past, but he dominated this game from the moment he stepped onto the floor.

What’s Not – 13
Some people may blame the shot clock malfunction for the Taipans' loss to Sydney, but even the team would look back on where it went wrong themselves. It was pretty obvious that the 13 missed free-throws cost this team any chance of getting the win. The Taipans were 12/25 from the charity stripe compared to Sydney’s 24/32 and went down by three in a heartbreaker.

Tahjere McCall.

What’s Hot – 1
What a blistering first quarter from the Hawks on their home floor. The 38 points in the opening term were incredibly impressive, yes, but so was the fact that a team that has been so prone to turning the ball over only gave up possession once in the entire first period to set up a big win.

What’s Not – 52
The Hawks did their job against Perth’s starting unit, but they would be looking back on what they could have done better when the bench subbed into the game. The Wildcats had 52 of their 82 points come from the bench and tried to wrestle back momentum a couple of times before the Hawks put it to bed emphatically.

Gary Clark.

What’s Hot – 9
Brisbane’s downfall was United’s brilliance in that fourth quarter. Yes, the Bullets missed some good looks, but the best defensive team in the league stepped up when they needed too and put the clamps on the Bullets. Giving up just nine points in a final quarter is going to win you a lot of games, no matter how your offence is going.

What’s Not – 4
Everyone knows United’s offence has usually revolved around Chris Goulding from the perimeter, but outside of him their best work comes in the paint. Whether that’s from their big men inside or guards driving the lane, Melbourne’s ability to score inside has had them tick the scoreboard over consistently all season. Brisbane however managed to outscore them in the paint by four in this one, 46 – 42, which isn’t as much of a negative as it is a surprise given the final margin.

Matthew Dellavedova.

What’s Hot – 66
New Zealand needed to respond after the mid-season break and they did that on Thursday night by beating Adelaide by 13 points. The Breakers have struggled to score at times this season, but there was no trouble here for three players in particular. Parker Jackson-Cartwright, Anthony Lamb and Izayah Le’Afa combined for 66 of New Zealand’s 96 points on the night and even though there may have been some nervous moments late, the Breakers were in control of this one throughout.

What’s Not – 8
If you need to look at where it all went wrong for New Zealand against Tasmania, look no further than the second quarter. In the other three periods, they scored 24 points each, which is more than enough to contend for a win. Yet in the second they managed just eight points. In fact they had two more turnovers than field goals that entire 10-minute span and nearly triple the number of fouls.

Anthony Lamb.

What’s Hot – 2
In their blowout loss to the Hawks, the Wildcats had two players who still managed to end with a positive number in the +-. Jesse Wagstaff and Jordan Usher both finished in the positive in their 22 and 29 minutes respectively. Again, this may not sound like much of a takeaway, but when you lose by 20 and have five players in double figure negatives, it’s something to hold onto.

What’s Not – 58
A team that had looked so solid defensively just lost its way in this one, and that showed with the whopping 58 points in the paint from the Hawks. That just hasn’t happened for some time against Perth and they looked lost with it all throughout this tough outing.

Jesse Wagstaff.

What’s Hot – 20
What a second half from Mitch Creek. Just when the Kings started to string some nice patches together, Creek exploded out of the half time break and scored 20 of his game-high 33 points in the second half to lead his team to a much-needed road win against the reigning champions.

What’s Not – 7
It didn’t matter in the end but both Gary Browne and Alan Williams combined to miss seven free throws in this game. Considering the Phoenix managed to get to the line 33 times, it was surprising to see them leave so many points at the line.

Mitch Creek.

What’s Hot – 15
Jonah Bolden had a strong bounce back performance in Sydney's loss to the Phoenix. Bolden struggled against the unique lineup of Cairns but returned to the floor on Sunday with 15 points and 15 rebounds in a losing effort. He also continued his hot form from outside with four threes, and seven of his boards were on the offensive end.

What’s Not – 104                                                                      
Coming into this round the Kings were giving up the most points in the league at 93.6 per game, and they ended the double-header with 104 points allowed to South East Melbourne. They are trying to find their answer on the defensive end but it’s been very patchy and is ultimately costing them games.

Jonah Bolden.

What’s Hot – 1
I called it last week in this piece but Will Magnay is all the way back in NBL24. The big man had a double-double in just 18 minutes of action for Tasmania and he was a major reason for their second quarter destruction of New Zealand.

What’s Not – 60
There weren’t too many negatives to take away from Tasmania’s win over the Breakers, yet they had 60% of their total turnovers for the game in the last quarter. They had a strong lead throughout, which is mighty hard to continue to push on with, but Scott Roth would be looking at how they can continue to keep their foot down.

Will Magnay.