Studs and Duds: Round 11

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

Jaylen Adams (Sydney Kings)

There’s no other place to tip off than with Jaylen Adams and that unbelievable finish in Sydney.

What an outrageous play to make in that moment! Down a bucket with time winding down, Adams unleashed the fury as he threw down an almighty dunk on the entire city of Brisbane. There was no pull-up, no floater, no high-arching finger roll… nope, with the game on the line Adams attacked the rim with a vengeance so as not to die wondering.

But wait, like Tim Shaw from Demtel, there’s more! After missing the free throw to put his team up one, Adams came up with another spectacular play – this time grabbing the loose ball (shout-out Angus Glover!) to skilfully find Jarell Martin for the game-winning bucket.

It was one of the most remarkable finishes you’re ever likely to see. And, while the entire sequence caused heartbreak for the Bullets (more on that later), it delivered a really important win for the purple and gold. That’s a squad that has won five of their last six games and is currently steamrolling towards the top four.

Oh, and in regard to Adams: he’s now 4^th in scoring and 3^rd in assists. Bryce Cotton, Mitch Creek and Ju Lual-Acuil have been elite, but when it comes to MVP conversations, Adams has officially entered the chat.

 

Melbourne United

Speaking of JLA, another dominant performance from Melbourne’s star centre paved the way for an impressive win over the Wildcats.

It wasn’t looking good for United early, trailing by 15 during the opening quarter, but a blistering second term from Chris Goulding, some lockdown D from Shea Ili and Lual-Acuil’s stat-stuffing presence helped turn the game around.

Melbourne 37-point second quarter is the new highest scoring period by any team this season and, when they followed that with a third term in which they doubled Perth’s score, the game appeared over with a quarter to play.

Of course, this is the NBL so another twist was just around the corner and the ‘Cats came storming back thanks to a junky box-and-1 that halted United’s momentum. In the end, however, the champs held on to spoil Perth’s celebration of their captain’s milestone game.

Lual-Acuil (22 points, 13 boards and 4 blocked shots) was spectacular, Caleb Agada (15 and 13) also filled the box score, while Matthew Dellavedova scored 11 of his 18 points during a clutch fourth quarter performance.

However, despite all those eye-popping numbers, it was the influence of Shea Ili in the mid-part of the game that earned him player of the game honours. His D on Bryce Cotton during that stretch was game-changing and, as JLA noted to the media, really was the key to their victory.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The game changer - Shea Ili&#39;s defense ?<br><br>Be there on Thursday night to see him do it all again. <br>?: <a href="https://t.co/z3V9iNdFlt">https://t.co/z3V9iNdFlt</a> <a href="https://t.co/oy9dG5UC8a">pic.twitter.com/oy9dG5UC8a</a></p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1493140454971486215?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)

What’s crazy is that the guy Ili was guarding still ended up with 31 points!

That’s how good Bryce Cotton is… even shutting him down for a section of the game can sometimes get you over the top.

I mean, Cotton was running rings around United early in that game. Sticking jumpers, scoring at the rim, drawing fouls… he was getting whatever he wanted and had 16 points on the board just two minutes into the second quarter!

Unfortunately for Perth, Ili’s influence helped curb that enthusiasm and Cotton’s next score came midway through the third when Melbourne had established a double-digit lead. He warmed back up, of course, and his final tally equalled his highest scoring game against United since he arrived on Aussie shores.

Cotton is the league’s leading scorer, the captain of the Studs and still the best player we have in this league.

 

Yanni Wetzell (New Zealand Breakers)

Yanni Wetzell was in full beast mode in Cairns last night.

It was a roller-coaster ride of a game but when the when the dust had cleared, Wetzell had finished with an almighty stat line and the Breakers had claimed a much-needed one-point win.

Following the stat review, the Big Kiwi was credited with 23 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 6 steals and a block; becoming the first Breakers player to record a double-double with 6 steals.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The BIG ? put some BIG numbers on the board in the <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a>&#39; win over the Snakes.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> By the Numbers powered by <a href="https://twitter.com/LaTrobeFin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaTrobeFin</a> <a href="https://t.co/cgDvdAMxb5">pic.twitter.com/cgDvdAMxb5</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1493369650780192771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


It was a massive performance from the Pretzel, but one that just left his head coach feeling thirsty for me.

“Huge game from Yanni,” Dan Shamir said.

“That stat line is amazing but in all honesty he needs to bring that every day. That’s something that needs to be his baseline.”

 

Duop Reath (Illawarra Hawks)

Brian Goorjian feels similarly about Duop Reath, who recorded his second double-double of the season this week in a win over the Taipans.

Entering that game, Reath was ranked 18^th in the league for rebounds per game which is way too low for a big man of his quality.

To his credit, though, he got after it on Saturday as he notched up 18 points, 10 boards, 2 blocks and 2 steals in a player of the game performance.

Let’s also throw some love towards Xavier Rathan-Mayes for the way in which he closed out that game.

Illawarra’s import PG may not have put up huge numbers – he finished with 9 points and 5 assists – but, as Goorjian stated postgame, his play making down the stretch was the perfect example of what he’s been brought in to do.

“That’s the role,” the Hawks coach said.

“Each time he came in, he settled us. And then the finish… that’s one that gets away from us if he’s not there.”

 

Scott Machado (Cairns Taipans)

Welcome back, Scott! It’s bloody great to have you back on the hardwood.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome back Scott Machado ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> on <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/vyNvRP1g8N">pic.twitter.com/vyNvRP1g8N</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1492392040017002497?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


 

Ryan Broekhoff (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

The Phoenix split their double in Round 11 but Broekhoff was terrific across both games with his all-court contributions.

‘Rowdy’ scored a game-high 25 against Sydney and then backed that up with 18 points, 8 boards and a massive 5 steals in SEM’s win over Tassie.

What was particularly impressive about Broekhoff this week was that only 6 of his 43 total points came from three-point makes. Instead, the former NBA wing punished the D for running him off the line by attacking off the bounce and drawing fouls, shooting 21-for-23 from the line across the round.

“He’s been amazing, all year long,” Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell said, when asked about Broekhoff.

“His rebounding is impressive and his defence has been sublime.”

The question is: can Broekhoff keep it rolling this week in the Throwdown? The Phoenix will need him to be at his best as they take on the league’s number one defensive team..

 

DUDS

Brisbane Bullets

Oh man… these guys were SO close to being studs! Like, literally seconds away.

With time running down in Sydney on Saturday, the Bullets were one stop away from closing out a 2-0 weekend. They’d taken care of Adelaide earlier in the round and then had kept the Kings to less than 70 points on the home court… all they needed was to close that thing out.

Now, let’s start by saying they copped a couple of really rough calls. Firstly, the ‘take’ foul on Shaun Bruce with 18 seconds left was a strange one. Does he even make contact? What should’ve been blown instead was an unsportsmanlike on Glover that would’ve sent Jason Cadee to the stripe, with a chance to extend Brisbane’s lead to four (plus possession). Secondly, I still can’t work out how that wasn’t out of bounds on Adams with 8 seconds left. It seemed pretty clear to me. Now, Kings fans will point to non-calls for Martin and Cooks in the game’s final few possessions but, as the broadcast crew stated at the time, they actually looked like pretty good decisions.

Nonetheless, the Bullets also have themselves to blame. After all, that final minute was riddled with moments they’d desperately love to have over. A costly turnover, a defensive lapse on the pick-and-roll and a missed block-out all came back to bite them. Not only that, but head coach James Duncan noted postgame that he should’ve had bigger bodies on the lane line to secure that board.

In the end, the Bullets are left to process the whole ordeal as a learning experience. They nearly went 2-0 without Nathan Sobey and their defence was solid throughout most of those games. That’s definitely something to build on.

 

Cairns Taipans

The Snakes showed plenty of heart at stages in ound 11 but after falling behind by double-digits, neither of their comebacks wound up resulting in wins.

The big letdown was in the first half against the Breakers, where their energy just wasn’t at the level and they fell down by as much as 26 points.

“What half time adjustments can we make?” head coach Adam Forde asked the broadcast.

“We’re getting out-rebounded, 12 turnovers, terrible shot-selection, we’ve got no answer for Yanni (Wetzell)… It’s just a good old-fashioned ass-whopping.”

Well said.

Incredibly, the Snakes almost completely erased New Zealand’s half-time lead in the third quarter and things went down to the wire. Bottom line: Had they brought that kind of energy from the tip, they’d likely have won that game.

 

Finn Delany (New Zealand Breakers)

Like most, I’m a massive fan of Finn Diesel and how he goes about it.

Last year’s All-NBL Second Team selection is set to become hot property in this year’s free agent market but for right now, he’s struggling to have his usual impact. Delany has scored in single digits in five of his past seven games and last night fouled out against the Taipans with 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal and 5 turnovers next to his name.

The great thing about Delany is that he won’t care about his numbers – he’ll just be stoked that his team grabbed the win. But the reality for the Breakers is that they need Finn playing well if they’re going to string a few wins together. Time for another breakout performance.

 

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