Team-By-Team: Hooyah & Harden Up (Round 11, NBL26)

By Damon Lowery.

Author’s note – “HOOYAH” is the battle cry of the Navy Seals and is given out to celebrate great efforts & achievements.

A “HARDEN UP” is given out when a performance has not been at the expected level.

This is STRICTLY about basketball – it is NEVER personal.

Defeated Brisbane and Perth

HOOYAH RAMBLE ALERT - All of you get this one! I wanna single out some unbelievable fourth quarter plays but before I do …

Bryce Cotton: I can’t begin to imagine what that was like for you to go back to where it all started and stand there watching that emotional video tribute in front of Perth’s biggest crowd ever. A normal man would’ve pissed on himself.

Zylan Cheatham: Your massive block on David Duke Jr was CRAZY. The chemistry between you and ‘Ice’ Humphries is special.

DJ Vasiljevic: You hit the tough corner three where you didn’t bring the ball below your neck when after you received the pass. I don’t know how you contorted your body on that kick out pass to Isaac White for his 3 ball. Then the last play of the game you’re on “Doolittle Island” at the top of the key and got the stop! BANANAS.

Isaac Humphries: 28 points and 8 of those came in the fourth quarter. The chase down block on David Duke Jr in the dying seconds of the game that set up the win.

Flynn Cameron: Scoreless for the first three quarters, you had that massive block on Doolittle, scored 8 points and when all of Australia thought you were going to pass it to Bryce, you keep your dribble alive, attacked the rim, hit the layup and called game. GOD DAMN!

HARDEN UP: Complacency: Take heed of Bryce Cotton’s warning when he said in his post-game interview you “cannot keep waiting to get punched in the mouth” before you act. Be aggressive early and stay aggressive.

Defeated by Adelaide

HOOYAH - Tristan Devers: A development player but I’m really enjoying watching your game develop. 12 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in 18 minutes is rock solid. You got a bright future.

HARDEN UP - Heavy losses: I can’t keep track of who’s in the team with all the ins and outs so far this season, but with that being said - a 35-point shellacking is unacceptable

Defeated Illawarra

DOUBLE HOOYAH ALERT

HOOYAH - Andrew Andrews: Going on the road without your leading scorer, you knew you had to step it up. You played with tremendous poise, scored the ball, got your teammates involved and just ran the show beautifully. That’s “wassup”.

HOOYAH - Heart: Beating the Hawks was the upset of the season. Nothing impresses me more than when a team “Adjusts, Adapts, & Overcomes”. You guys are dead last on the ladder, lost 11 out of your last 12, and went on the road without your leading scorer and embarrassed the Hawks in their house. You epitomised the saying, “It ain't the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog”.

HARDEN UP - Pass.

Defeated South East Melbourne, defeated by Cairns.

HOOYAH - QJ Peterson: WOWWWWWWWWW! What got into you against the Phoenix? You came off the bench and dropped 20 in the first half. You showcased your offensive arsenal, shooting 16/25 FG. You had a 30 piece in the fourth quarter and didn’t stop there piling on 12 more in overtime to finish with a whopping 42! #LilBigMan

HARDEN THE HELL UP - Attitude: Let me get this straight: You were coming off a thrilling overtime win, and 48 hours later, the bottom of the table Cairns comes to town without their best player, Jack McVeigh, and they give you a 17-point beatdown?! You disrespected the Taipans and the game, and paid the price. You need an attitude adjustment

Defeated by Perth and South East Melbourne

HOOYAH - Tanner Krebs: Dean Vickerman said the team played horrible basketball against Perth, but he wasn’t talking about you. Your game was beautiful. It only took you 21 minutes to bringup your career-high, 29. My man.

HARDEN UP - Chris Goulding: In 2018 The Green Book won the Oscar for Best Movie, Golden State Warriors won the NBA title, West Coast Eagles won the AFL premiership - and that was last time you went scoreless. 0/6 in 16 minutes against Perth - highly unlikely that ever happens again.

Defeated Sydney and Tasmania

HOOYAH - Parker Jackson-Cartwright: The Kings held you to three points in the first half but I knew you weren’t going out like that. You exploded for 21 second-half points, knocking down six triples and the last three-ball in the dying seconds to knock the Kings out.

HARDEN UP - Turnovers: You’re making a sneaky run up the ladder which is good to see, but 15 turnovers against Sydney is not good to see. Take care of the rock, fellas.

Defeated Melbourne, defeated by Adelaide

HOOYAH: Kristian Doolittle: Your consistency can be counted on and you were instrumental in that pay-back win over Melbourne. You teased a triple double with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

HARDEN UP: All of you: You had the 36ers on toast - up 20 in the 4^th quarter. You then proceeded to bring panic to the floor. Your offence dried up like a sack of prunes and you gave up 35 to lose the unlosable.

Defeated by Illawarra, defeated Melbourne

HOOYAH - John Brown III: You’ve got the hustle, heart, and work rate of three “normal” people. You had one of the most impressive and unusual double-doubles I’ve seen. 15 points and 10 rebounds - and all of those rebounds were offensive! That’s simply outlandish.

HARDEN UP - Long range shooting: Against the Hawks you broke the record for the most three-pointers shot in the history of the NBL. If you want to shoot 58 threes in a game, that’s fine, but you gotta make more than 16.

Defeated by New Zealand

HOOYAH - Kendric Davis: You didn’t have your backcourt partners with you in (Dellavedova & Bruce), so you upped your distribution and had a nice double-double, dropping 11 dimes to go with your 18 points.

HARDEN UP - Tim Soares: My expectations for 6’11 dudes are kinda high and I’m not gonna lower them. In 25 minutes, you had 1 rebound. C’mon man, you need to make up for that.

Defeated by New Zealand

HOOYAH - Bryce Hamilton: Even though you guys came up short, your game stood tall leading the team in scoring (21), rebounds (8) and assists (6).

‍HARDEN UP - Tyger Campbell: 2 points and 2 assists is not enough productivity, my man - and I need you to adopt a little more aggression.

HOOYAH – All the stories and hype around Cotton’s highly anticipated return to RAC Arena and Perth, plus another “no love lost” bitter Throwdown feud between the two Melbourne sides, in what was billed as a “Super Sunday” had me counting the days to tip off. Whatcha got next?

HARDEN UP – So it was Space Jam Round you say? Then why didn’t any of the teams wear their Space Jam uniform on Sunday? I’m confused. So tell me, “What’s up, Doc?”