NBL wrap - round 16

Believe it or not, I'm STILL waiting for the videos from the Blaze to properly upload. Its been 36 hours and still no luck ... groan ...

Here are the numbers that matter from round 16 of the NBL:

Hawks 112 Taipans 105

For the Hawks:

Cameron Tragardh 28 points (12 of 16 from the field), 9 boards
Glen Saville 20 points, 6 boards, 6 assists
Dusty Rychart 17 points, 9 boards

For the Taipans:

Ian Crosswhite 27 points, 11 boards
Darnell Mee 14 points, 6 boards, 7 assists
Martin Cattalini 16 points, 5 boards

The Hawks shot an impressive 59% from the field while Cairns weren't too far behind at 48%. My guess is there wasn't too much defence being played. Cairns shot just 13 of 24 from the line. Is that a career high boards for Tragradh??

Blaze 103 36ers 94

For the Blaze:

Justin Bowen 35 points, 8 boards, 8 steals
Luke Whitehead 23 points, 17 boards, 4 assists
James Harvey 17 points

For the 36ers:

Julius Hodge 29 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals
Jacob Holmes 18 points, 9 boards
Adam Ballinger 15 points, 7 boards

Adelaide have been strong lately so this win for the Blaze definitely came as a surprise. The foul count favoured the Blaze 27 - 17 and from it they had almost 3 times as many trips to the lines as the 36ers. Bowen was awful last week so not a surprise to see him bounce back strong ... he's inconsistent to say the least. The lack of numbers from Schenscher seems to have cost Adelaide.

Crocs 105 Dragons 95

For the Crocs:

Rosell Ellis 19 points (8 of 8 from the field), 11 boards
Brad Williamson 16 points (including 4 triples), 4 assists
Corey Williams 15 points, 5 assists

For the Dragons:

Donta Smith 14 points, 5 boards
Adam Gibson 13 points, 4 assists
Tremell Darden 11 points, 9 boards

Mark Worthington shot just 1 of 8 from the field and had a game high 4 turnovers. Crocs dominated the second quarter 28 - 13 to set up the win. Balanced scoring from the Dragons with 6 players in double figures but no one scored more than 14. Dragons shot just 6 of 24 from deep.

Hawks 111 Breakers 94

For the Hawks:

Kavossy Franklin 26 points, 7 boards, 4 assists
Dusty Rychart 16 points, 13 boards
Glen Saville 13 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals

For the Breakers:

Kirk Penney 30 points, 5 boards
Rick Rickert 15 points, 12 boards, 4 assists
Oscar Forman 17 points (including 5 triples), 4 boards

No CJ Bruton for the Breakers and they are a different team without him running the show. Ronaldson and Phull Jones combined for just 4 of 20 shooting. After losing 8 straight, this upset takes the Hawks to 3 wins in a row.

Spirit 86 Breakers 85

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 18 points, 8 boards
Jason Smith 16 points, 6 boards, 5 assists
Drew Williamson 12 points, 5 boards, 4 assists

For the Breakers:

Rick Rickert 19 points, 10 boards
Kirk Penney 23 points but 8 turnovers
Oscar Forman 10 points, 7 boards

Breakers were better from the field than the last game but were just 14 of 21 from the line, not good for them. Again, struggled badly without CJ Bruton and had to back up the next night after their loss to the Hawks. Sydney controlled the boards 46 - 33.

Wildcats 99 Dragons 90

For the Wildcats:

Isiah Victor 25 points, 12 boards
Darnell Hinson 17 points, 12 boards
Shawn Redhage 15 points, 9 boards, 6 assists

For the Dragons:

Tremmell Darden 19 points
Mark Worthington 16 points, 7 boards
Adam Gibson 16 points, 4 boards, 3 assists

Wildcats shot 48% (Dragons 38%) from the field and 50 rebounds (Dragons 37). Victor should've had 30 points but shot just 6 of 14 from the line. Strangely, Wildcats had twice as many turnovers (20 - 9) but still controlled the game.

Crocs 105 Blaze 88

For the Crocs:

Corey Williams 25 points, 5 boards
Cameron Tovey 17 points, 10 boards
Rosell Ellis 17 points, 9 boards

For the Blaze:

James Harvey 27 points (including 5 triples), 4 boards
Justin Bowen 16 points, 6 boards
Luke Whitehead 14 points, 12 boards but 9 turnovers

For the recap of the game, check out my last post here.

Not a good week for the teams at the top of the NBL ladder with both the Dragons and the Breakers losing 2 from 2. Dragons are still 1st and Breakers are 2 wins behind in 2nd with the Tigers and Wildcats not far behind. Blaze got a win but their still 2 behind the Taipans.

The Player of the Week went to Isiah Victor for his dominant performance off the bench to lead his team to a win against the league-leading Dragons. His full line was: 25 points, 9 of 16 from the field, 1 of 4 from downtown and 6 of 14 from the line, 12 boards, 4 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block. Victor has really stepped up his game over the last month but he won't be getting our Shooter of the Week award with free-throw shooting like that!

Now to our Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. There are a few honourable mentions as always. Mark Worthington from the Dragons (1 of 8, 4 turnovers in a loss to the Crocs), Tony Ronaldson and Phull Jones from the Breakers (both shot 2 of 10 from the field in a loss to the Hawks). The winner this week is Joe Ingles (pictured below) from Dragons for going M.I.A (missing in action) in his team's two losses over the weekend. He averaged just 5.5 points (on 26% shooting), 3.5 boards, 2 assists and 2.5 turnovers per game. Far from good enough when you're a young star in the league with supposed hopes of wowing NBA scouts.

There weren't any "outstanding" basketball shooting displays in the league this week ... other than Rosell Ellis' 8 of 8 from the field. If you've seen Rosell shoot a free-throw, you'll know why I can't give him the award. So we'll respect the integrity and the honour of the Shooter of the Week title and hold off until next round.

Have you seen this man? He failed to show up for the Dragons on the weekend and we NEED to talk to him about that horrible shooting form.

NBL wrap - round 15

Not surprisingly being the festive season, round 15 in the NBL was one of the shortest you're likely to see. Here are the numbers that matter:

Dragons 117 Blaze 87

For the Dragons:

Adam Gibson 18 points
Nick Horvath 16 points, 5 boards
Joe Ingles 17 points (6 of 8 from the field including 4 triples)

For the Blaze:

James Harvey 25 points (including 6 triples), 7 boards
Luke Whitehead 19 points, 8 boards

This game wasn't ever close with the Dragons up by 15 at the first break and then 29 at the half. All 12 Dragons that stepped on court scored ... even Tariq Naqqash (development player maybe?) who played less than 4 minutes but scored 5 points. Dragons welcomed new import Donta Smith. Shane Heal returned for the Blaze ... it didn't help.

Wildcats 97 Crocodiles 76

For the Wildcats:

Isiah Victor 23 points, 6 boards (in just 25 minutes off the bench)
Peter Crawford 19 points, 7 boards
Shawn Redhage 15 points, 11 boards

For the Crocs:

Corey Williams 21 points (8 of 11 from the field)
Cameron Tovey 13 points, 6 boards

When things go bad for the Crocs they go very bad. Townsville shot just 36% from the field, 10% from downtown and 57% from the line. The foul count favoured the Wildcats 23 - 35.

36ers 109 Tigers 91

For the 36ers:

Julius Hodge 31 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
Luke Schenscher 21 points, 15 boards, 4 blocks
Brett Maher 19 points, 7 assists
Adam Ballinger 18 points, 7 boards
Jacob Holmes 13 points, 13 boards

For the Tigers:

Rod Grizzard 25 points, 6 boards, 3 blocks
Ebi Ere 20 points, 10 boards
Chris Anstey 12 points, 12 boards

Adelaide jumped Melbourne early leading 62 - 38 at the half. 36ers shot 50% from the field while holding the Tigers to less than 40%. This win on the road stamps the 36ers as serious contenders in the league.

Hawks 121 Spirit 117

For the Hawks:

Cameron Tragardh 25 points, 4 boards
Glen Saville 22 points (including 6 triples), 7 assists, 6 boards
Lindsay Tait 20 points, 5 assists

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 23 points, 12 boards
Blagov Jenov 21 points, 4 boards (in just 19 minutes off the bench)
Jason Smith 15 points, 7 boards

The Spirit stormed home in the final quarter but it was too little too late. In a high-scoring game, both teams shot above 50% from the field. Good to see the Hawks finally get a win again.

After round 15 in the NBL, the Dragons still lead the league 2 wins (having played 2 more games) ahead of the Breakers in 2nd place with 3rd to 7th pretty tight. Blaze still stuck on the bottom.

I'm in early again so my pick for Player of the Week (if they have one for such a small round) is Julius Hodge for his game against the Tigers. If you picked him up in your fantasy league you must be killing it now!

Now to the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. The nominations this week go to David Barlow from the Tigers (3 of 14 from the field in the loss to the 36ers), Jason Smith from Sydney (4 of 15 from the field and 5 turnovers in the loss to the Hawks) and I hate to say it ... my boy John Rillie from Townsville (1 of 9 from the field in the loss to the Wildcats). The award however goes to Justin Bowen from the Gold Coast for his 0 of 10 from the field and 3 turnovers in their flogging by the Dragons. Yes, Bowen has won this award before and his 0 of 5 from downtown proves that he still thinks he has an outside shot.

Our Shooter of the Week as always is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. The runner-up on a countback is the red-hot James Harvey from the Blaze. Harvey shot 50% from the field including 6 of 10 from downtown but his team lost and he only hit 3 of 6 from the line. Honourable mention goes to Blagov Jenov from the Spirit from his shooting explosion off the bench against the Hawks (6 of 7 from the field, including 4 of 4 from downtown). But the winner is Glen Saville from the Hawks (pictured below when he played for the Sydney Kings) for leading his team to their first win in 9 games thanks to his 22 points, 7 of 14 from the field, 6 of 9 from downtown and 2 of 2 from the line. As a shooter, Glen is streaky to say the least ... he can either be good or very bad at times. Thankfully for the Hawks, this week he was on, especially from downtown.