Studs and Duds: Round 20

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

Adelaide 36ers

It has been a disappointing year for Adelaide overall but credit to the 36ers for a spectacular Easter weekend.

You know how it goes: if you can’t make the playoffs, help shape them and that’s exactly what CJ Bruton and his crew did in Round 20. After all, that win in the Jungle has placed Perth’s finals streak in jeopardy and their streak-snapping victory in Sydney robbed the Kings of a shot at top spot.

Of course, the pressure is off the 36ers now, so guys are playing with a little less weight on their shoulders. Nonetheless, credit goes to Bruton and his squad for staying focused and closing the season out right.

 

Tasmania JackJumpers

It really is impossible to heap enough praise on this team for what they’ve achieved this year.

For an expansion franchise to beat every single team in the league in their inaugural season is absolutely remarkable. But to compete with enough consistency to win 16 games – possibly 17 – I mean, that’s almost unfathomable. If I hadn’t watched it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn’t believe it.

Yet here we are. With just one week remaining in the NBL22 regular season the JJs remain a chance to qualify for the finals. To everyone involved in that brand new organisation – particularly the Coach of the Year, his staff and the players - stand up and take a bow. No matter what happens from here, you have been a wonderful example of all that can be achieved through determination, teamwork and unwavering self-belief. Well done.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This one meant plenty to the Coach…<br><br>From 2-6 to 16-11… what a remarkable season.<br><br>And… they ain’t done with yet…<a href="https://twitter.com/JackJumpers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JackJumpers</a> <a href="https://t.co/S6U27pKZJZ">pic.twitter.com/S6U27pKZJZ</a></p>&mdash; Brent Costelloe (@brentcostelloe) <a href="https://twitter.com/brentcostelloe/status/1515602070426230790?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


 

Jack McVeigh (Tasmania JackJumpers)

Before we jump off the Jackies, let’s throw a special shout-out to Most Improved Player candidate Jack McVeigh.

This dude has elevated his game magnificently this season. In fact, here’s a request to the coaches and captains when they go to cast their votes: look closely at McVeigh’s improvement. His overall numbers won’t show it, as he wasn’t involved anywhere near enough across Tassie’s first eight games, but the jump in his production correlates perfectly with the 14 wins the Ants have amassed over their past 19 games.

Over that stretch, McVeigh has averaged 14.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game at a very solid 37 percent clip from long range (on 6 attempts per game). But those numbers only tell some of the story. That’s because some of McVeigh’s biggest leaps have taken place at the defensive end of the floor. His ability to defend pick-and-rolls has improved dramatically and his work at that end has helped Tassie hold their spot as a top three defence (across the entire season) despite the absence of rim-protecting powerhouse Will Magnay.

I’m not saying he should win it. Heck, there are a number of other very worthy candidates, including Jo Lual-Acuil, Yanni Wetzell, Xavier Cooks, Keanu Pinder and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk. I tell you what, though… McVeigh definitely deserves some votes.

 

Melbourne United

Props to the defending champs who clinched their second straight regular season title over the weekend, with victories over Brisbane and Cairns.

Shea Ili strengthened his candidacy for the Damian Martin Trophy this week while Chris Goulding continued to display his game-breaking talents. With all the attention on the various award chances across the league, CG43 is quietly poised for another large finals campaign.

 

Xavier Cooks (Sydney Kings)

The Kings split their results in Round 20, as their historic winning streak was halted at thirteen.

Dejan Vasiljevic was brilliant in Wollongong, posting a career high 33 points, while Jaylen Adams scored a game-high 28 in the loss to the 36ers.

One man who played big across both games, though, was Xavier Cooks who further strengthened his case for a spot in the All-NBL First Team.

Cooks racked up back-to-back double-doubles over the weekend, as he averaged 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocks across the two games. He’s also ready to tear up the playoffs.

 

Tyler Harvey (Illawarra Hawks)

The best floatation device in the game was on full display on Thursday as Tyler Harvey caught fire at the Win Entertainment Centre.

The explosive guard scored a season-high 35 points against the Kings, while only making two threes and shooting one-of-one from the free throw line. The other 28? They came from a series of beautiful floaters that had the home crowd – and everyone watching on from home – enjoying the show.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tyler Harvey aka a ?<a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> tied a career high with 35 points in the Hawks Round 20 loss to the Kings.<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/81J5beBfRd">pic.twitter.com/81J5beBfRd</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1516229568574935041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Bul Kuol (Cairns Taipans)

Any time you grab an all-time three-point shooting record off Shane Heal, you’ve clearly hit a heck of a lot of shots. Well played, rook!

 

Ben Ayre (Cairns Taipans)

I know it wasn’t the Garden and I know it wasn’t the Knicks. I also know the Taipans didn’t get the win, but there were shades of Linsanity about Ben Ayre’s performance at John Cain Arena last night.

I mean, that was big-hearted stuff.

Handed a starting role by Adam Forde to close out the season, Ayre has played with tremendous energy and it all bubbled to the surface yesterday as he put up 20 points and 10 assists against United.

That’s right… 20 and 10! Ayre joins the two MVP candidates, Bryce Cotton and Jaylen Adams, as the only guys this season to post those kinds of numbers and he did it against the best defensive backcourt in the competition. How do you like them apples?

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">OK, BEN AYRE.<br><br>2?0? PTS<br>4? 3PT<br>4? REB<br>1?0? AST<br>3? STL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> <a href="https://t.co/bkOYmEG4W6">pic.twitter.com/bkOYmEG4W6</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1516288537007910912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Rob Loe (New Zealand Breakers)

Just quickly, shout-out to Breakers veteran Rob Loe on his high-scoring performance down in Tassie this week.

The Tall Black has been out of the rotation this season but stepped up in the absence of Yanni Wetzell to score a career-high 27 points on Good Friday, shooting 11-of-14 from the field.

 

DUDS

Perth Wildcats

The Wildcats managed to split their home double across Round 20 but nah, that win over Cairns wasn’t enough to escape the duds.

Not after that insipid performance they dished up on Thursday night. I mean, c’mon man. Given the circumstances, right in amongst the race to the playoffs, I can’t recall many worse showings from the league’s greatest franchise across the past… well, ever.

“In any shoving match, one person’s doing the shoving and one person’s getting shoved,” head coach Scott Morrison stated postgame.

“I don’t mean that there was anything dirty, I mean that one team came out tough – to play hard and to play to win – and one team came out soft.”

Of course, it was great to see Morrison’s group respond with a bounce-back win over Cairns. But geez, a stronger effort against Adelaide and who knows, the ‘Cats may have already locked in their spot in the finals. Instead, they’ve now set the wheels in motion... I can feel it, it’s rising like a storm.

 

Bryce Cotton’s Headband

Ummm, yeah… that didn’t go well.

The three-time MVP rocked new look on Thursday against Adelaide and turned in his first single-digit scoring performance for over two years.

Needless to say, the headband was nowhere to be seen a couple of days later when he put 22 points and 10 assists on the Taipans.

“I’m a superstitious person so I gave it a shot, we saw how the game went and I don’t think you’ll ever see it again,” Bryce said with a smile.

 

South East Melbourne Phoenix

Another week, another second-half collapse from South East Melbourne and that’s officially that for their playoff aspirations.

The Phoenix led Tassie by 15 right before halftime but were run over by a team who came up with all the big plays down the stretch.

Unfortunately for SEM and their fans, it really has been the story of their season. It’s ironic really. After all, that blown lead from Game 3 of last year’s Semi-Final series was supposed to be the chip on this group's shoulder. The motivation for them to achieve great things. Instead, it continues to hang over their heads like the Ghost of Phoenix Past.

 

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