Studs and Duds | Round 7

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

Perth Wildcats

The champs are rolling!

Fresh off back-to-back wins, the ‘Cats stepped out in Round 7 and put the hurt on the Taipans in a much-anticipated semi-final rematch.

It was a bit of a grind offensively, but the Wildcats flexed their defensive muscle in the second half, restricting the Snakes to 69 points, including just 9 in the decisive third period.

The key to shutting down the Taipans, of course, is making life difficult for Scott Machado and Mitch Norton rose to that challenge superbly. With plenty of help from his friends, Norton kept Machado to just 8 points (on 3-of-14 shooting), 8 assists and 5 turnovers.

“We were on point with our scout and how we wanted to defend them. ’Norto’ led the way,” head coach Trevor Gleeson said.

“Anytime you can keep Machado to that kind of score and 5 turnovers… you can’t guard him one-on-one, it’s got to be a team effort out there, but I thought he really set the tone for us early in the game.”

The other man setting the tone was John Mooney (17 points, 12 rebounds) who notched up yet another double-double, his sixth for the season.

The remarkable thing about Mooney hasn’t been his rebounding – he was always going to clean the glass – but rather his incredibly efficient long range shooting. I mean, the man simply cannot miss! Well, okay, he has missed but only four times from fourteen three-point attempts. That’s a thoroughly unsustainable clip from beyond the arc but his ability to step into those looks and knock them down has been massive for that squad.   

 

Mitch McCarron (Melbourne United)

With positive contributions from up and down the roster, Melbourne grabbed two wins in Round 7 including a gutsy come-from-behind victory over Sydney.

Landale, Hopson, Lual-Acuil and others all had solid weekends – including Shea Ili who returned from injury in style – but it was Mitch McCarron who continued to power United at both ends of the floor.

McCarron filled the box score in Melbourne’s win over Adelaide with 18 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block before backing that up against the Kings with 13, 5 and 6 plus a steal and 2 blocks.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mitch McNumbers.<a href="https://twitter.com/MitchMcCarron?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MitchMcCarron</a> STUFFED the stat sheet in <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnitedHQ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MelbUnitedHQ</a>&#39;s two Round 7 wins ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> By the Numbers powered by <a href="https://twitter.com/LaTrobeFin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaTrobeFin</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/3VwRsTl0b8">pic.twitter.com/3VwRsTl0b8</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1366172356922679296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


“He’s been great through this period without Shea (Ili) and Chris (Goudling),” United coach Dean Vickerman said.

“(He’s) taken a real leadership role in the team. (I’m) really pleased with his performance.”

 

Dejan Vasiljevic (Sydney Kings)

The Kings split their double but the league’s most consistent rookie continued to do his thing, putting points on the board with highly-efficient shooting clips.

Against the Breakers, Vasiljevic notched up his first pro double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 boards before torching Melbourne early to finish with a game-high 22.

The kid is relentless though, and after the loss was annoyed with himself for not providing enough.

“I’m disappointed that we lost and I blame myself for a bit of it,” he said.

“I had zero rebounds, I had 10 the other night – I need to help my team there. I had 2 turnovers; I don’t turn the ball over we have a chance to win.

“I don’t care what I did in the first, second or third quarter, we just weren’t able to close it out and I blame myself for that.”

This young man is going to be great.

 

Jordan Hunter (Sydney Kings)

Speaking of Sydney, where the heck did that 24-point explosion from Jordan Hunter come from?

On 100 percent shooting? My goodness!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jordan Hunter&#39;s 24 points was the highest ever score by a <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> player in franchise history on 100% FG shooting. <br> <br>previous highs were 21 by Trey Gilder in Feb 2011 (7/7FG) and 19 by Ben Knight vs Crocs also in Feb 2011 (9/9FG)<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/p4p1IART5T">pic.twitter.com/p4p1IART5T</a></p>&mdash; NBLfacts (@nblfacts) <a href="https://twitter.com/nblfacts/status/1365117887267053570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Brisbane Bullets

With Round 7 wins over Illawarra and Cairns, Brisbane’s moustaches are officially undefeated.

Whether it was the carefully manicured facial hair or something else, the Bullets’ played with tremendous chemistry this week as they returned to .500 and climbed to fifth place on the ladder.

The secret was in the way they played together; helping each other defensively and then moving the ball through hands at the offensive end, throwing 23 assists in their win over Illawarra and then, remarkably, improving on that number against the Taipans.

“Early games that certainly wasn’t the case,” head coach Andrej Lemanis said, in reference to his team’s dime numbers.

“That comes with trust, team unity and sharing the ball. Trusting that if I make the right play the next time my teammate’s going to make the right play. Not worrying about my own stats but worrying about playing in the best interests of the team.”

Vic Law led Brisbane’s scoring against the Hawks with 29 while Nathan Sobey, the league’s second-leading scorer, had another 30 piece against the Snakes. But it was the fact that five guys had multiple assists in one game and six guys hit that mark in the other that was the biggest key for the Bullets.

Definitely something for them to build on with three games in six days up next on their schedule.

 

Kyle Adnam (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

No Sykes, no problems for the Phoenix on Sunday as ‘Wild’ Kyle Adnam stepped in brilliantly as SEM’s starting PG.

The early leader for this year’s Best Sixth Man, Adnam worked his butt off against Tyler Harvey and then tore Illawarra’s defence apart, finishing with 9 points, 5 rebounds, a career-high 13 assists and 4 steals.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Franchise record and career-high 1??3?? assists in an all-round wild performance yesterday! ? <a href="https://twitter.com/KyleAdnam?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KyleAdnam</a> <a href="https://t.co/AyzA1sGFz3">pic.twitter.com/AyzA1sGFz3</a></p>&mdash; South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1366195131427155968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 1, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Hawks went at Adnam with their pick-and-roll D and the crafty guard put his growth on display by making great reads that created scoring opportunities.

“Their hard shows on the pick-and-rolls tonight, that’s probably been an issue for him in the past in his NBL career,” Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell said.

“Tonight he sliced those hard shows to death. His passing was really crafty, he got rid of the ball early and it plays not just to his assists but also to giving us advantages and us being a 4-on-3 team from there.

“All the credit to Kyle. He’s made progress all this season in that aspect.”

Oh, and before we move on from the Phoenix: Mitch Creek is balling!

 

The Webster Bros (New Zealand Breakers)

New Zealand’s loss to Sydney was a bad one but don’t let that distract you from the fact that THEY BEAT ADELAIDE BY 44 FREAKIN’ POINTS!

I mean, in the name of all things Kiwi that was an absolute demolition. The equal biggest winning margin in franchise history!

It was much-needed too, especially after the Breakers had lost four in a row, all by double-digits.

So, what changed?

Well, a couple of things. Firstly, Adelaide are no good right now. Especially with Isaac Humphries (foot) on the sidelines. Secondly – and very, very importantly – Tai Webster opened the game by creating for others. Tai was dropping dimes left, right and centre off the opening tip, throwing 7 of his season-high 12 assists in quarter number one. Every Breakers starter got open looks in the contest’s first few minutes and the Kiwis never looked back from there.

Of course, having set the table for his teammates, Tai’s own scoring game then opened up and he took full advantage, posting 29 points at efficient clips from both the field (57%) and outside the arc (60%).

“Tai is a very high-level player (who has been) a little inconsistent,” Breakers coach Dan Shamir said.

“Not every game is going to be like that, obviously, but we expect a lot from him and today he delivered. Hopefully he will do it again in many more games.”

You know who else is a high-level player? Tai’s big bro.

C-Web averaged 26.5 points per game across NZ’s two outings this week, on highly-efficient clips of his own. That’s four-straight games with 22 or more for Webster. Like Hansel, he’s so hot right now.

 

DUDS

Cairns Taipans

Ummm, yeah… that was a rough weekend for the Snakes.

Back-to-back 20-point losses is never very fun.

Against Perth, the Taipans couldn’t throw a pea in the ocean; finishing with a season-low 69 points after a bone-dry 9-point quarter coming out of the sheds.

Thankfully they shot the ball much better yesterday however they didn’t play a lick of D, giving up 115 to Brisbane – the highest score by any team this season in a non-overtime game.

It will surprise no-one to hear that the Snakes rank last in the league for defensive efficiency (per spatialjam.com), on the back of league-worst rankings for defensive rebounding percentage, steal percentage and opponent turnover percentage.

“The defence is a huge concern and if we don’t fix it the season will slip away,” head coach Mike Kelly said.

“It’s definitely something we’re trying to address urgently. The guys know what needs to be done so we’ll keep pressing and try to be better defensively.”

One guy, in particular, who could really improve in that department is…

 

Cam Oliver (Cairns Taipans)

Space Cam is a highlight-reel play waiting to happen but right now he’s just not playing with enough energy, effort, focus and intensity at the defensive end.

It’s an issue that was glaringly obvious against Perth when John Mooney thoroughly out-worked and out-played the star big man despite Oliver posting healthy numbers in the box score.

Then, against Brisbane, it was only further magnified as Oliver died on screens, lacked communication and was inconsistent with his effort on both box-outs and pick-and-roll coverages.

“Cam’s going to get numbers because he can shoot the ball and he can attack the basket and he’s good with Scott (Machado) in pick-and-roll,” Kelly said.

“I wasn’t concerned at all (about our offence), I was more concerned about the way we were playing defence and the offensive boards that we gave up,”

The thing is: this is not Oliver’s problem alone.

Firstly, he needs to see more of the rock. That will help get him feeling good and will energise his play down the other end. Secondly, every single Taipan needs to step things up defensively.

Take this play, for example…

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Has to be nice having your 2 guards connect like this ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CNSatBNE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CNSatBNE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/iPk6ROR7Nf">pic.twitter.com/iPk6ROR7Nf</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1365920182556712961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


There’s so much not happening for Cairns on this play it’s hard to even know where to start. Sure, Oliver didn’t communicate the screen and provided zero help to his teammate. But what kind of effort is that from Jarrod Kenny? And where’s the pressure on the ball? And why is Nate Jawai so blissfully unaware?

Oh and Kouat Noi, when you get beat on the perimeter, you want your big fella to step up and help you, right? Well, the same applies when the shoe’s on the other foot…

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">??????<br><br>Can we get some more of that OJ?<br><br>That was tasty.<a href="https://twitter.com/OrlandoVJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OrlandoVJohnson</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CNSatBNE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CNSatBNE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/YUKGhYoVep">pic.twitter.com/YUKGhYoVep</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1365910428673396738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 28, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


The Snakes have way too many of these possessions and that’s a major reason why they’re on the bottom of the ladder. BIG improvements needed.

 

Justin Simon (Illawarra Hawks)

Anyone got a DeLorean?

Hawks import Justin Simon would love to get his hands on one of those bad boys (especially if it’s kitted out with a flux capacitor), after messing up the final moments of Friday’s game against the Bullets.

With the scores tied and the shot clock turned off, Simon attacked in transition instead of holding the ball for a final shot. The result? A frustrating 6-point loss in regulation for the Hawks.

“Our decision-making was horrendous and the deciding factor was the last possession,” head coach Brian Goorjian stated.

“I was just shocked. Everybody knows: 15 seconds to go you pull that thing out and get the last shot of the game.

“I think that typified us on the run tonight.”

 

Adelaide 36ers

I’ve saved the Sixers till last this week because, well, they were a mess.

That squad just wasn’t ready to go on Thursday night, with United taking advantage to build a 26-point first-half lead.

Conner Henry’s men did fight back, which was encouraging, but sadly the same thing happened on Saturday when New Zealand blew the 36ers off the court in the opening 10 minutes.

“We’re not in a good spot,” Henry said, following their massive 44-point defeat.

“We discussed this scenario about making sure we’re ready to go and battling through fatigue.”

Those messages clearly didn’t sink in. The Sixers just weren’t competitive at either end for long stretches against the Breakers and, as a result, things quickly spiralled out of control.

NBA prospect Josh Giddey threw just one assist across the weekend’s two games and the Sixers need to get more out of import wing Tony Crocker, who is a good defender but needs to be more productive offensively.

Brandon Paul is not too far away, which is good, but unfortunately things aren’t looking positive regarding Isaac Humphries. The towering centre is dealing with a foot issue which, according to Henry on SA radio this morning, may keep him out for some time.

One easy change Henry will certainly make in the short term will be to give back-up forward Jack McVeigh some more minutes. He’s earned them.

 

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