Stat Chat - Round 6, 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 – 0
It’s not often you see a zero be highlighted as a positive unless it was related to turnovers, however this was the +- for Trey Kell III in the loss to Perth. Again, that usually wouldn’t be seen as a good thing, but when you look at the same stat for the rest of the starters for Adelaide, it’s impressive to see Kell’s impact in this game. The others were -24, -17, -5 and -18 and at one stage the 36ers were down 20 points, which further highlights an impressive impact that Kell had in this game.

What’s Not – 1
In the fourth quarter when the game is on the line, Adelaide needed its main players to step up. Unfortunately for the 36ers their starters combined for just one made field goal in the final ten minutes. Granted Jacob Wiley was out and unable to play, but they still had enough weapons to find some points.

Trey Kell III.

What’s Hot – 7
Round 6 was a split round for the Bullets, but there were many positives for Justin Schueller going forward. In their big win on Thursday night Brisbane had seven players score in double figures and put up 108 points on their home floor. Anytime you can put up that number with your main threat and MVP candidate - Nathan Sobey - having just 13 points, it means things are going well.

What’s Not – 15
The Bullets would want that last 15 seconds back against Tasmania, because they ended up with the worst possible result. They were down two points on the road, and after holding the JackJumpers scoreless for two minutes they ripped down the rebound and had 15 seconds to make a play. By worst possible result, I’m not talking about who shot it, because that wasn’t the issue, it was the fact that the shot was taken as the buzzer expired. That needs to be a quick attack at the rim in case of a miss so that you can foul and try extend the game.

Josh Bannan.

What’s Hot – 18
I’m all in on this next evolution of Bul Kuol’s game. Over the last four games he’s averaging 18 points and is looking very aggressive on the offensive end. He is already one of the elite defenders in the league, and we are starting to see that he is destined to be a star in the NBL for a long time if continues this trajectory.

What’s Not – 79.5
It was a rough weekend for Cairns, who have been juggling key players coming in out over the last couple weeks - and will be for the foreseeable future. In NBL24 we are seeing scoring at an incredibly high rate from the top teams around the league. The Taipans averaged just 79.5 points in their two losses, which is just not going to be enough to get many wins with how the league is trending.

Bul Kuol.

What’s Hot – 23
The shining light of late for the Hawks is the play of the import Gary Clark, who has been their most consistent scorer and performer over a tough few weeks. Clark had 23 points on an efficient night and seven rebounds to show why Illawarra were so high on his signing in the offseason.

What’s Not – 64
The offensive struggles are one thing, but every team is going to go through patches of that in a long season. The elite teams still find a way to get better defensively and win games during that stretch. The Hawks gave up 64 points in the second and third quarters against the Kings. 64 points in 20 minutes of basketball is just not going to get it done for a team that is struggling to find their rhythm.

Gary Clark.

What’s Hot – 16
Sometimes there’s silver linings to injuries to key players in a season, and United have found that with Kyle Bowen’s performance in recent weeks. The rookie out of Saint Mary’s is slowly becoming one of Dean Vickerman’s ‘trust guys’ who will just go out on the floor, play hard and not make mistakes. Without Luke Travers, Bowen had 16 rebounds in the game and looked every bit of a dynamic piece that United need going forward. 

What’s Not – 47
That’s all it took for Melbourne United’s first game at full strength to be turned on its head. It was a tough start for United against Perth as Luke Travers sustained a concussion just 47 seconds into the game after accidentally cannoning into Ariel Hukporti's knee - and it left Hukporti worse for wear as well. It could also be a long week for United as they wait on results for Ian Clark, who re-injured his hamstring as well.
Kyle Bowen.

What’s Hot – 14
It might have come in a loss, but Anthony Lamb’s second quarter against the Kings was something special. Lamb had 14 points in eight minutes including two threes, and sparked a huge run the Breakers desperately needed. They fell short in the end, but Lamb has found his feet in the NBL after a 19-point game earlier in the round against Cairns.

What’s Not – 8
They say free throws win games, and whilst it’s not the ultimate factor, when you lose a game by two points and miss eight shots from the stripe, it stings a little more. The Breakers put the clamps on the Kings in the second half, but were left reeling when Shaun Bruce hit a dagger to seal the win.

Anthony Lamb.

What’s Hot – 27
Don’t ever doubt greatness. Bryce Cotton was back at his brilliant best against Adelaide and put Perth in the drivers seat to get a much needed win. Cotton only scored two points in the first quarter before exploding for 27 in the remaining three and looking every bit the multiple MVP we have seen for years.

What’s Not – 20
Perth nearly lost the unlosable against Adelaide after they dominated early on to get a lead out to 20. Jesse Wagstaff was vocal in the post-game huddle about this exact issue, because the Wildcats played too well to have to sweat out a close finish on their home floor.

Bryce Cotton.

What’s Hot – 52
It would be easy to highlight Alan Williams' dominant performance on Sunday against Cairns, but he wasn’t alone. In fact, the Phoenix as a team had multiple players step up, in particular on the glass as they pulled down a whopping 52 rebounds in this game, including 18 offensive! Williams himself had 15 boards as he proved to be a force once again.

What’s Not – 15
Regardless of whether the fouls were there or not Thursday night, the Phoenix had 42 free throw attempts in the game and missed 15. This is becoming a little concerning for Mike Kelly’s squad who lead the league in attempts but shoot the worst percentage at just 70%.

Alan Williams.

What’s Hot – 16
Don’t look now, but the Kings are starting to find their groove. Former MVP Jaylen Adams has been picking and choosing his time to attack early in the season, and I’m still not sure that he has hit top gear yet. What is still promising is his willingness to get everyone involved, as he had 16 assists across the round and came up big once again for the 2-0 weekend.

What’s Not – 43.7
It was a comfortable win for the Kings against their rivals and they’re still yet to find their ultimate groove. In the last quarter Sydney had 43.7% of their total turnovers, at seven, which can be put down to a number of factors. Mainly because it’s hard to play at the sustained level when you have already got a sizeable lead and feel comfortable in getting the win, but it’s no doubt something they’ll look to tighten up.

Jaylen Adams.

What’s Hot – 14
How about the bounce back game from Milton Doyle? In particular the third quarter against the Bullets, where he scored 14 points in just six minutes. He’s one of the smoothest operators in the league and after two slow showings, he was always due to have a big game. You just can’t keep a good man down. He was hitting threes, getting to the rim and took full advantage of every Brisbane breakdown.

What’s Not – 1
Launceston is a beautiful place to play for Tasmania, the fans pack the stands every time and it’s a unique home away from home. However, the rims on the hoops are a little tighter than usual. That’s not a joke, it’s a well known fact from the last few seasons. Usually, we see teams abstain from shooting a lot of threes because of this. The Jackjumpers had no problem in the third quarter where they down seven threes, but they kept letting it fly in the last when it wasn’t falling. In the final 10 minutes they hit just one three from eight attempts.

Milton Doyle.