Studs and Duds: Round 2

At the conclusion of each round, NBL Media’s Liam Santamaria lets us know who made the grade and who deserves a little shade.

STUDS

Duop Reath (Illawarra Hawks)

It was an epic weekend of NBL action and we open the studs with a man who balled out in one of the round’s biggest games.

The Grim Reather was simply brilliant in Illawarra’s win over Sydney. Pouring in a game-high 27 points, the Hawks big man tortured the Kings with his versatile offensive skillset.  Pick-and-pop triples, mid-range pull-ups, put-backs... Reath put it all on display as he shot 70 percent from the floor, including 3-of-4 from long range.

“In the first two games Duop’s been instrumental,” Hawks coach Brian Goorjian said.

“He’s inside-out, he can shoot the three, he’s nice around the basket, he defends and he’s a tremendous teammate.”

He’s also the (very) early MVP leader.

Speaking of teammates, Hawks wing Antonius Cleveland also deserves a shout-out in this section. The athletic import was similarly influential on Saturday as he stuffed the stat-sheet with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks.

The Hawks are flying to begin the season and this pair of new additions are a major reason why.

 

Brisbane Bullets

Next up are the Bullets who conquered the Jungle in double OT. 

This was just a wonderful contest as both teams traded blows down the stretchiest of stretches, with the Bullets eventually coming out on top.  

Imports Lamar Patterson and Robert Franks were terrific while Nathan Sobey and Tyrell Harrison toiled hard at both ends.

They were the guys who got numbers but let’s spread the love a little because Anthony Drmic set the tone defensively (before he got hurt) while veteran guard Jason Cadee made a bunch of really smart, winning plays in large moments.

The Bullets are a sneaky good team and will have another swing at the Wildcats in a couple of days.

 

Mitch Creek (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

Creek had a career-high 36 points on New Zealand and then threw down this ferocious dunk on the entire town of Maryborough…

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Things got heated in Australia&#39;s NBL after this dunk on Matthew Dellavedova ?<br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a>)<a href="https://t.co/P3MbF38pKj">pic.twitter.com/P3MbF38pKj</a></p>&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1469879324383735809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

More on all of that a little later.

 

Matthew Dellavedova (Melbourne United)

Delly lands in the studs this week for a couple of reasons. Firstly, his response to THAT play was elite.  

“I don’t really care about getting dunked on,” Delly commented postgame.

“I’ve been dunked on worse than that before. It was a good play by him.”

Secondly, the NBA Champ was inspirational in that game. Coupling his trademark hustle with some big-time play-making, Delly was instrumental in Melbourne fighting back from nearly 20 down to re-take the lead.

They weren’t able to grab the win, United, but Dellavedova’s 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals – as well as everything else he did that doesn’t appear in the box-score – certainly gave them a chance.

 

Zhou Qi (South East Melbourne Phoenix) 

Before we move on from that epic Throwdown, let’s give some props to the Great Wall of China.

Balling out after a foul-plagued hit-out with the Breakers, Zhou was a dominant force against United as he notched up 22 points, 10 rebounds and an enormous 7 blocked shots.

Zhou’s battle with Melbourne big man Jo Lual-Acuil, who had 7 blocks of his own, was an enthralling contest with the Phoenix centre delivering the slightly more polished performance.

“Zhou Qi was fantastic. He had an incredible impact on the game the whole day,” United coach Dean Vickerman said.

“There’s a Bogut-like presence around the rim where he changes things… high-quality player and I thought he was amazing.”

You want to know the scary thing? He’s just getting started.

 

Dusty Hannahs (Adelaide 36ers)

Now this is the real Dusty Hannahs. 

Bouncing back from a rough opening round, Hannahs came up big down the stretch in Tassie and then poured in a highly efficient 25 points as the Sixers overran the Breakers.

Oh, and wasn’t he feeling good about it!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Told you. <a href="https://t.co/MgGgVnI7bk">https://t.co/MgGgVnI7bk</a> <a href="https://t.co/eXO9Tpuu1K">pic.twitter.com/eXO9Tpuu1K</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1469910122000355330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Hugo Besson & Will McDowell-White (New Zealand Breakers)

It was another rough weekend for the Breakers but these two youngsters impressed across their couple of games.

Carrying an extra load in the absence of injured imports, Besson and McDowell-White did all they could to land their squad a victory.

Against the Phoenix, Besson scored a team-high 26 points while WMW captured the soul of SEM’s Tohi Smith-Milner…

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WILL MCDOWELL-WHITE CAUGHT A BODY ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/zGG58ENz75">pic.twitter.com/zGG58ENz75</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1469231645332889603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The backcourt duo followed that up with more impressive play in Adelaide, where they combined for 52 of New Zealand’s 85 points in a loss to the Sixers. 

Besson, in particular, has been very impressive. It was a big move from the 20-year-old to leave the comfort of his homeland and come to the NBL and it’s paying off in spades right now as his draft stock appears set to rise.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">25 points on 14 shots for Hugo Besson in just his third NBL game after putting up 26 points less than 48 hours ago. The 6&#39;5 French guard is making his transition to Australia look easy thanks to his exceptional scoring instincts. Looks like a potential riser in this class. <a href="https://t.co/qMUdwccjoj">pic.twitter.com/qMUdwccjoj</a></p>&mdash; Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1470111458356875269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Tahjere McCall (Cairns Taipans)

The Taipans lost their star point guard, early in their home opener but scraped over the line thanks to the unrelenting efforts of Tahjere McCall.

The versatile import took over ball-handling responsibilities after Scott Machado went down and, while he struggled with his stroke (0/6 3PT) and had a number of turnovers (6), his ability to make plays really was the difference against the JackJumpers.

When all was said and done, McCall finished with 20 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks in an impressive, player of the game performance.

“Tahj led the way and the boys followed him,” Cairns coach Adam Forde said.

“I was finding it hard to sub him out so we used a couple of time-outs and a couple of breaks in the game (to get him some rest). It was an inspiring effort.”

DUDS

Mason Peatling (Melbourne United)

Let me start by saying that I completely understand what Peatling was trying to do. I get it. You’ve got to stand up for your teammates. 

It’s part of being a successful team. In the heat of battle you have to show a level of toughness that shows you won’t be intimidated and that you’ll always look after your teammates. Peatling just failed in his execution.

He also misread the moment a little. After all, the first instant of Creek’s post-dunk celebration involved him looking down at Dellavadova but that moment was brief as he then started screaming into the ether. Peatling didn’t make the adjustment. 

The United forward clearly caught a glimpse of that initial stare-down and felt his point guard was being disrespected – something he explained to his head coach straight after the game. At that point you can understand what he was thinking: ‘I have to stand up for my guy’. 

What he needed to do, however, was to sprint to Delly’s aid, hoist him back onto his feet and get on with the play. If you desperately want to take it a little further, ok… fair enough. Make it clear to Creek that you’re there for your guy without barging into him and knocking him to the deck. To be honest, that just has no place in our game.

Here’s the thing though: Peatling’s a really impressive young man. He’s intelligent, articulate, hard-working and approaches the game with the type of selflessness that is a much-loved trademark of Aussie ballers. I’ve no doubt he’ll learn from this experience. And while I get the sense he’ll always stand up for his guys, I’m sure he’ll be smarter about how he handles it next time. 

 

Angus Glover (Sydney Kings)

Again, I love the passion and I love the intensity. In fact, I’m a big supporter of Angus Glover overall.

But nah, that just ain’t it.

I mean, Sam Froling spiked your shot into the front row, Gus. The knee-dropping step-over was far from the right response. Unfortunately, that momentary lack of discipline somewhat overshadowed a really impressive performance from one of the feel-good stories of the season so far.

 

Cairns Taipans vs Tasmania JackJumpers

Let’s be honest: that was a rough one.

In fact, I think Tassie coach Scott Roth described things perfectly when he said: “That was like going to the dentist and getting a cavity removed but they didn’t give you Novocaine.”

 

Will Magnay (Tasmania JackJumpers)

The JackJumpers crashed back to earth this week with a couple of losses and a lack of production from star centre Will Magnay didn’t help the cause.

After registering a double-double in Tassie’s opening night win, Magnay notched up a grand total of 7 points and 5 rebounds across his team’s two games this week.

According to Roth, this is all part of the process of his big man’s recovery from off-season surgery.

“The reality is Will’s probably three or four weeks away, in my opinion, to be being in actual basketball shape,” Roth explained to the media.

“We’re taking it very slow with him. I think he’s probably three or four weeks away from getting most of the rust off and getting his conditioning level to where he knows it has to get to. 

“He’s a hard worker and there is tonnes of room there for him to grow. We just have to be patient with him.”

 

Injury Bug

Finally, there was waaaay too much high-level talent sitting on the sidelines this week. Peyton Siva and Jeremiah Martin for the Breakers, Jaylen Adams and RJ Hunter for the Kings, Frazier, Machado, Goulding… let’s get these guys back on the floor!

That said, can anyone remember a more entertaining round of hoops? And with a number of those big names set to return in the upcoming week, this thing truly is going to the NEXT LEVEL.

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