NBL Player of the week

Thanks to my early NBL wrap yesterday, I had a chance to make my prediction for Player of the Week but boy was I wrong ... apparently. Matthew Knight (pictured below) gets the official nod and Phull Jones (see yesterday's report as to why he is now Phull) wasn't even in the top 4 or 5 possibilities. First Goorjian's Dragons go easy on the troubled Sydney Spirit and now the head office does the same.

Obviously the NBL don't place the same importance on a player's team winning as much as John Rillie and perhaps I do. Sure, Knight had a good game and definitely should be in contention but runner-up Anstey went 1 win out of 2 on the weekend (and shot less than 40% from the field), Heal did play well in the first half against the Breakers but his team got DONE and Ebi also only won 1 of 2.

Phull's team on the other hand won both their games, went to top of the league ladder and he shot the lights out in both matches. Sorry Phull, the league must be tired of the award heading over the ditch this season.

NBL > News

Knight named Round 11's best

The National Basketball League has named Sydney Spirit star forward Matthew Knight as Player of the Week for Round 11 after leading his in team to a stunning upset victory against the South Dragons.

Knight and his Spirit teammates put a week of off-court turmoil behind them to score a thrilling 104-93 win over the previously top-of-the-table Dragons. Knight scored a double-double with a career high 27 points and eleven rebounds, as well as dishing off two assists at the Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre on Friday night.

The Tasmanian was the leading scorer in the game, making 83% of his free throws (5-of-6) and 61% of his overall shots from the field (11-of-18) despite suffering an ankle injury. Knight becomes the first Spirit to win the Player of the Week award this season.

Melbourne Tigers behemoth Chris Anstey was narrowly edged for the NBL’s weekly honour by Knight. Anstey averaged 20.0 points, 15.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and one steal in two games against the Townsville Crocodiles and the Perth Wildcats for the week.

Another leading contender for Player of the Week was Gold Coast Blaze’s Shane Heal, who scored 27 points as well as having five rebounds, and five assists against the New Zealand Breakers.

Others in consideration for Player of the Week included Ebi Ere (Melbourne), Phill Jones (New Zealand), Oscar Forman (New Zealand), Adam Ballinger (Adelaide), Brett Maher (Adelaide), Julius Hodge (Adelaide), Cameron Tragardh (Wollongong), Isiah Victor (Perth), Martin Cattalini (Cairns), Corey Williams (Townsville), Rosell Ellis (Townsville) and John Rillie (Townsville).