NBL wrap - round 21

Its a little later than usual, but here are the numbers that matter from round 21 in the NBL:

Dragons 97 36ers 77

For the Dragons:

Adam Gibson 18 points (6 of 7 from the field, 4 of 4 from downtown), 8 boards, 4 assists
Joe Ingles 18 points (including 4 triples), 4 assists
Mark Worthington 13 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals

For the 36ers:

Paora Winitana 14 points, 3 assists
Jacob Holmes 10 points, 11 boards
Rod Grizzard 10 points, 7 boards

The Dragons jumped the 36ers early and were up 55 - 36 at the half. Full credit to the Dragons defence for keeping Ballinger and Schenscher to just 8 points each and forcing the 36ers in to 23 turnovers (Dragons had just 12). Adelaide, you know you're in trouble when Winitana is your top scorer! Very disappointing result for the 36ers as it show they're just not at the same level as the top teams in the league.

Taipans 89 Spirit 81

For the Taipans:

Martin Cattalini 28 points (11 of 14 from the field, including 4 triples), 10 boards, 6 assists
Aaron Grabeau 18 points, 6 boards, 4 assists
Matt Smith 5 points, 13 boards

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 21 points, 11 boards
Jason Smith 13 points, 6 boards
Blagov Janev 14 points

The Cat (Martin Cattalini) showed he can still put up great numbers. Is this his audition for the Wildcats for next season? Not much to say about the game itself ... two not good teams, Cairns just shot better from the field.

Hawks 103 Breakers 98

For the Hawks:

Dusty Rychart 18 points, 10 boards
Glen Saville 16 points, 4 boards, 4 steals
Kavossy Franklin 11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists

For the Breakers:

Phill Jones 25 points, 7 boards
CJ Bruton 13 points, 7 boards, 5 assists
Oscar Forman 16 points (including 4 triples)

No Kirk Penney for the Breakers and they drop yet another. I would've made the case earlier in the season for CJ being "more valuable" to the team but this stretch is showing that the Breakers struggle when they're not all fully fit. The Breakers dominated the boards 53 - 35 but hit just 39% from the field while the Hawks shot 55%.

Crocs 101 Dragons 98

For the Crocs:

John Rillie 28 points (including 6 triples), 7 boards
Corey Williams 26 points, 5 assists (but 7 turnovers)
Rosell Ellis 17 points, 9 boards, 3 steals

For the Dragons:

Donta Smith 22 points, 5 boards
Mark Worthington 22 points, 4 boards
Joe Ingles 20 points, 4 boards

Very good win for the Crocs against the #1 team. Great to see more heroics from our boy John Rillie. Two Joe Ingles sightings in two games ... what happened to him mid-season?? The Dragons could have won this but shot just 23 of 34 from the line.

36ers 102 Breakers 91

For the 36ers:

Adam Ballinger 19 points, 10 boards
Luke Schenscher 17 points, 7 boards
Brett Maher 17 points, 4 assists

For the Breakers:

Oscar Forman 26 points (including 4 triples), 6 boards
CJ Bruton 14 points (including 4 triples), 6 assists, 5 boards
Dillon Boucher 8 points, 9 assists, 5 boards, 4 steals

This game marked the final regular season home game for Adelaide legend Brett Maher. Still no Kirk Penney for the Breakers and they drop yet another one. Oscar Forman with some "old team rule" action. For some reason, import Rick Rickert came off the bench for the Breakers. NZ again let the opposition shoot 55% from the field while they shot just 43%.

Wildcats 106 Spirit 88

For the Wildcats:

Darnell Hinson 13 points, 8 assists, 6 boards
Shawn Redhage 16 points, 8 boards, 4 assists
Ben Knight 14 points, 9 boards

For the Spirit:

Clint Reed 20 points, 9 boards (but 7 turnovers and 0 assists)
Matthew Knight 11 points, 5 boards, 4 assists
Blagov Janev 14 points

A game of spurts with Perth winning the first quarter by 11, Spirit winning the second quarter by 11 and Perth dominating the third by 16. A very balanced effort from the Wildcats with 7 players in double figures and even youngster Chris "Bubbles"Goulding had 25 minutes of court time.

Blaze 93 Taipans 88

For the Blaze:

Luke Whitehead 20 points, 24 boards
James Harvey 19 points (including 5 triples), 4 boards
Justin Bowen 18 points, 6 boards

For the Taipans

Martin Cattalini 19 points, 9 boards
Gary Boodnikoff 18 points, 8 boards
Aaron Grabeau 14 points, 4 assists, 3 steals

Another game with 2 bad teams. Blaze essentially shot the ball better (50% - 42%) and outrebounded (48 - 35) the Taipans and would've won by more but had 20 turnovers (Cairns had just 11). Luke Whitehead has had a MASSIVE second half of the season!

Dragons 93 Tigers 83

For the Dragons:

Donta Smith 21 points, 5 boards
Mark Worthington 11 points, 10 boards
Joe Ingles 9 points, 11 boards, 6 assists

For the Tigers:

Chris Anstey 23 points, 11 boards
Ebi Ere 16 points
David Barlow 12 points, 9 boards

Its unfortunate that when these two teams meet its always an arm-wrestle and neither shoot great clips (both were around 40%), credit the defenses for that. Dragons won the game in the second half outscoring the Tigers 49 - 37. It'll be interesting to see what happens when these two teams battle in the play-offs.

At the end of round 21, the NBL ladder sees the Dragons on top and they have secured the minor premiership already. The Tigers are just behind and the Breakers are in third having dropped 5 in a row. The Crocs, Wildcats and 36ers round out the 6 and will fight for vital positions in the final round of the season. Not surprisingly, the Blaze are still at the bottom and will finish there.

Earlier in the week the NBL announced that John Rillie was the Player of the Week for his game-winning performance against the Dragons. Great to see John really find form in the lead up to the playoffs. Last week the NBL gave the award to James Harvey so I was wrong with my first guess of David Barlow but suspected Harvey might get the nod.

Now to the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. The runner-up is Tony Ronaldson from the NZ Breakers (2 of 10 and 3 of 13 from the field in two losses). The Flop of the Week however goes to Ronaldson's team mate Rick Rickert from the Breakers for his 3 of 9 and 1 of 10 from the field in their two losses. When your bigmen are shooting these sort of clips its not surprising the Breakers can't get a win at the moment.

As always our Shooter of the Week is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. There were some great basketball shooting performances and the honourable mentions go to John Rillie from the Crocs (28 points, 9 of 18 from the field, 6 triples, 4 of 4 from the line in a win over the Dragons) and Adam Gibson from the Dragons (6 of 7 from the field, 4 of 4 from downtown and 2 of 2 from the line in a win over the 36ers). The award this week goes to Martin Cattalini (pictured below) from the Cairns Taipans for his performance against the Sydney Spirit. Like JR last week, The Cat showed some of his offensive arsenal that made him almost unguardable a couple of seasons ago. His full line was: 28 points, 11 of 14 from the field, 4 of 5 from downtown, 2 of 2 from the line, 10 boards, 6 assists and 5 turnovers. Martin essentially put his team on his shoulders and carried them to a win and for that we salute him as our Shooter of the Week.

Great basketball shooting technique from The Cat

NBL wrap - round 18

Here are the numbers that matter from round 18 in the NBL:

Tigers 99 Spirit 79

For the Tigers:

Ebi Ere 25 points
David Barlow 20 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals
Chris Anstey 4 points, 11 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals

For the Spirit:

Jason Smith 18 points (including 5 triples), 6 boards
Matthew Knight 14 points, 11 boards
David Gruber 12 points, 13 boards

With scores tied up at half-time the Tigers dominated the second-half 52 - 32. Sydney had way too many turnovers (22 - 10) and shot just 30% from the field after the main break. Chris Anstey only scored 4 points?? Really??

Breakers 95 Crocs 86

For the Breakers:

Kirk Penney 28 points, 9 boards
Rick Rickert 19 points, 9 boards
Phull Jones 17 points, 4 boards

For the Crocs:

Corey Williams 18 points, 4 boards
Rosell Ellis 12 points, 9 boards
Cameron Tovey 10 points, 10 boards, 4 steals (but 2 of 6 from the line with 5 turnovers)

The Crocs scored just 9 points in the 2nd term (Breakers had 24). It was turnover central in this one, the Crocs had 20 turnovers and only 18 assists while the Breakers had 20 turnovers for 20 assists. CJ Bruton had 8 turnovers ... career high maybe? The two teams combined for just 11 of 43 from deep ... John Rillie was 3 of 7 on his own.

Tigers 116 Blaze 107

For the Tigers:

Ebi Ere 24 points (including 5 triples), 5 boards, 3 assists
Chris Anstey 22 points, 9 boards
David Barlow 17 points, 5 boards

For the Blaze:

Luke Whitehead 22 points, 9 boards, 4 assists
Justin Bowen 17 points, 8 boards
Shane Heal 17 points (5 triples), 6 assists

Blaze shot an impressive 53% from the field but were by too many turnovers (21 - 8). They were also on the wrong side of the foul count (32 - 21) which resulted in the Tigers getting an extra 16 trips to the line. After a few very quiet games, its good to see Anstey troubling the scorers again.

Taipans 79 36ers 70

For the Taipans:

Darnell Mee 19 points, 6 boards
Ian Crosswhite 12 points, 12 boards, 5 assists
Aaron Grabeau 15 points, 6 boards, 4 assists

For the 36ers:

Adam Ballinger 18 points, 13 boards
Brett Maher 15 points
Brad Hill 10 points, 7 boards

Ugly game with both teams shooting at less than 40% from the field. Like I mentioned last week, this style of game obviously gives the Taipans the best chance of winning. Player of the Week Luke Schenscher gets held to just 7 points. Adelaide score just FIVE points in the 3rd quarter.

Wildcats 114 Spirit 84

For the Wildcats:

Shawn Redhage 32 points (11 of 15 from the field), 7 boards
Darnell Hinson 19 points, 7 assists
Peter Crawford 19 points (6 of 8 from the field, 5 of 7 from downtown)

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 20 points, 7 boards
Tony Rampton 17 points, 7 boards
David Gruber 11 points, 7 boards

Perth shot an outstanding 62% from the field and 50% from downtown, Sydney were just 37% for both.

Crocs 128 36ers 105

For the Crocs:

Brad Williamson 22 points (8 of 12 from the field including 6 triples)
Corey Williams 20 points
Rosell Ellis 17 points, 9 boards, 5 assists

For the 36ers:

Luke Schenscher 21 points, 9 boards
Brad Hill 20 points, 4 boards
Brett Maher 7 points, 9 assists

Crocs somehow outrebounded the much taller 36ers (50 - 41) and took much better care of the ball (8 turnovers to 19). The turnovers explain why the 36ers shot 58% from the field in the first half and still found themselves down by 18 points.

Tigers 108 Hawks 94

For the Tigers:

Ebi Ere 36 points (including 7 triples), 6 boards, 4 assists
Chris Anstey 20 points, 9 boards
David Barlow 16 points, 7 boards

For the Hawks:

Cameron Tragardh 24 points, 7 boards
Glen Saville 8 points, 12 boards, 7 assists
Kavossy Franklin 18 points, 6 boards

The Tigers dominated the second half 59 - 37 to come from behind to get their 3rd win for the round. They didn't shoot well from the field but were solid from deep (42%) and accurate from the line (85%). The two teams combined for just 20 turnovers for the game.

At the end of round 18, the Dragons are still on top of the NBL ladder with 18 wins followed by the Breakers on 16 and the Tigers on 15 (4 in a row). Blaze still on the bottom with 5 and the Taipans and Hawks in front of them on 9.

I'm in early again so I get to speculate on who will win this week's NBL Player of the Week. I think Shawn Redhage will get an honourable mention for his performance (32 points, 7 boards) in his team's win over the Spirit. The award (in my opinion) tho will go to Ebi Ere from the Melbourne Tigers for leading his team to 3 wins in a row through this round. Ebi scored 25 points against the Spirit, 24 points against the Blaze and saved his best for last with 36 points (on great clips) against the Hawks.

Now, to the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. Dishonourable mention goes to the Crocs starting back-court of Michael Cedar and Brad Williamson for their combined 0 of 11 from the field with 5 turnovers in their team's loss to the Breakers. The award this week goes to 36ers duo of Jacob Holmes and Aaron Bruce for their combined 2 of 14 performance from the field in their team's loss to the Taipans and they then backed it up with a combined 4 of 12 from the field and 8 turnovers in a loss to the Crocs.

Our Shooter of the Week as always is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. Runner up this week is Brad Williamson from the Townsville Crocodiles, not for his goose egg against the Breakers but he bounced back (8 of 12 from the field, 6 of 8 from deep) in a win over the 36ers. The Shooter of the Week award goes to Ebi Ere (pictured below) from the Melbourne Tigers for his outstanding weekend but mainly for the show he put on against the Hawks. Ebi was rolling with 36 points, 13 of 19 from the field, 7 of 10 from downtown, 3 of 3 from the line, 6 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, zero turnovers. Having watched on during his time with the Bullets, when Ebi is on a roll there's not much the opposition can do but try and keep the ball out of his hands.

NBL wrap - round 17

I had a very social weekend and wasn't in front of the computer at all. It now feels strange not posting or knowing what happened in the NBA and NBL for 2 or 3 days!

Here are the numbers that matter from a full round in the NBL:

36ers 106 Hawks 99

For the 36ers:

Luke Schenscher 25 points, 13 boards
Adam Ballinger 23 points, 10 boards
Brett Maher 20 points, 4 assists

For the Hawks:

Dusty Rychart 20 points, 13 boards
Glen Saville 20 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals
Cameron Tragardh 20 points, 5 boards

A great crowd of 6300 on hand to see Julius Hodge not turn up for the game. The 36ers bigs (Schenscher and Ballinger) dominated without him but the Hawks hung tough on the road to keep it close. 36ers had just 8 turnovers for the game and 23 offensive boards that helped get them 25 more shots than the Hawks.

Taipans 81 Wildcats 77

For the Taipans:

Darnell Mee 15 points, 3 assists, 3 steals
Gary Boodnikoff 13 points, 6 boards
Ian Crosswhite 11 points, 9 boards

For the Wildcats:

Shawn Redhage 26 points, 7 boards
Peter Crawford 15 points, 7 assists, 5 boards
Isiah Victor 12 points, 9 boards

Ugly game on paper, which obviously suits the Taipans more. Cairns shot 36% from the field, Perth shot 35%. They won without many decent individual numbers. Hinson stunk it up going 1 of 13 from the field with 4 turnovers ... looking good for the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week! Wildcats are like the Crocs ... sometimes they're good, sometimes they're far from it.

36ers 107 Taipans 86

For the 36ers:

Luke Schenscher 24 points, 16 boards
Aaron Bruce 12 points, 8 assists, 5 boards, 4 steals
Adam Ballinger 11 points, 7 boards

For the Taipans:

Aaron Grabeau 16 points, 9 boards
Martin Cattalini 10 points, 7 boards

Balanced effort from the 36ers with 7 players scoring in double figures. Schenscher is putting up (Chris) Anstey style numbers! Tough for the Taipans to back up after their surprising win the night before against the Wildcats.

Spirit 88 Hawks 79

For the Spirit:

David Gruber 26 points
Matthew Knight 20 points, 10 boards

For the Hawks:

Dusty Rychart 21 points
Kavossy Franklin 19 points

Issues with the NBL boxscore link

Dragons 115 Breakers 112 in OT

For the Dragons:

Mark Worthington 27 points, 6 boards
Rhys Carter 25 points (including 6 triples), 4 assists
Adam Gibson 18 points (6 of 7 from the field), 3 boards

For the Breakers:

Kirk Penney 32 points (including 6 triples), 6 assists, 6 boards
Oscar Forman 20 points (including 6 triples), 8 boards
Rick Rickert 12 points, 10 boards

This was the blockbuster that everyone hoped for last time these two teams met. CJ Bruton returned to the line-up but obviously wasn't 100% playing just 19 minutes. Rhys Carter was the surprise hero for the Dragons ... before this game I couldn't tell you how he was still in the league! Full credit to coach Brian Goorjian, he's very good with young talent. Speaking of which, another no-show from Joe Ingles (5 points, 5 boards). Dragons had just 8 turnovers, Breakers had 22.

Crocs 115 Blaze 92

For the Crocs:

Corey Williams 25 points (8 of 10 from the field, 9 of 10 from the line)
Michael Cedar 22 points (including 5 triples), 5 assists, 5 boards
John Rillie 17 points (6 of 8 from the field, 5 of 7 from downtown), 6 boards

For the Blaze:

Luke Whitehead 30 points, 10 boards
James Harvey 18 points, 7 boards

The Crocs started the game with an incredible 19 - 0 run. Townsville won the boards (which is rare for them due to their lack of height) 45 - 29. Justin Bowen for the Blaze was playing ill and was a non-factor playing very limited minutes.

Tigers 108 Wildcats 81

For the Tigers:

Ebi Ere 32 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals
Chris Anstey 16 points, 7 boards, 4 steals
Luke Kendall 16 points (5 of 7 shooting)

For the Wildcats:

Alex Loughton 21 points, 4 boards
Paul Rogers 18 points, 7 boards
Shawn Redhage 13 points, 6 boards

The Tigers won the boards 50 - 39 and the turnovers 13 - 25. The Wildcats were held to just 36% from the field (Tigers 49%). Melbourne dominated the final term 32 - 13.

At the end of round 17, the Dragons have moved clear of the Breakers (on a 3 game losing streak) in 2nd. The Melbourne Tigers are 3rd and the Crocs move in to 4th on the back of a 3 game winning streak. The Blaze are still in last place with the Taipans 3 wins in front of them.

In news just to hand, Luke Schenscher has been named the NBL Player of the Week. Big Red had two big double-doubles this week ... 25 and 13 against the Hawks and 24 and 16 against the Taipans. JR will appreciate him delivering in two wins (albeit not against strong opposition) and I'm just pleased that the NBL have spelt his name right this week!

Now, to the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. The runner up is Taipan Ian Crosswhite for his 3/15 from the field, 3 of 6 from the line and 3 turnovers performance against the 36ers. Crosswhite has had some big games this season but this wasn't one and he has been quite inconsistent. The hands-down winner/loser of the award this week is Darnell Hinson from the Perth Wildcats who shot 1 of 13 from the field and had 4 turnovers in a surprising loss to the lowly Taipans. 1 of 13 ... Darnell should've taken his finger off the trigger long before he got to double figure attempts!

Our Shooter of the Week as always is brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. We didn't give the award out last week because there weren't any outstanding performances, this week there were plenty. Nominations were Adam Gibson from the Dragons (6 of 7 from the field, 2 of 2 from downtown and 4 of 4 from the line in a win against the Breakers), Oscar Forman from the Breakers (7 of 12 from the line, 6 of 9 from downtown in a loss to the Dragons), Kirk Penney from the Breakers (32 points including 6 triples in a loss to the Dragons) and last but not least John Rillie from the Crocs (6 of 8 from the field, 5 of 7 from downtown in a win against the Blaze). The winner this week tho is Rhys Carter (pictured right) from the Dragons for his 25 points (in just 24 minutes), 8 of 13 from the field, 6 of 10 from downtown including the match-winner in overtime in the blockbuster against the Breakers. I'm not a fan of Rhys because he usually does very little and in the past has taken court-time off a few players I like and rate much higher than him. For his basketball shooting performance on the "big stage" against the Breakers tho, credit where credit is due. Nice shooting! If, like most, you've never heard of Rhys and want to find out more, click here.

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.

NBL wrap - round 14

Here are the numbers that matter from a big round in the NBL:

Tigers 69 Taipans 63

For the Tigers:

Ebi Ere 19 points, 14 boards
Chris Anstey 18 points, 13 boards

For the Taipans:

Martin Cattalini 16 points, 9 boards
Ian Crosswhite 10 points, 9 boards

This is the lowest scoring game in NBL history and both teams shot under 35% from the field ... ugly. Both teams around 20% from downtown. Ian Crosswhite was the only player in the game to shoot 50% (or better) from the field. The less said about this one the better.

Blaze 91 Hawks 88

For the Blaze:

James Harvey 37 points (including 8 triples), 5 boards
Luke Whitehead 20 points, 14 boards
Justin Bowen 15 points, 4 boards, 3 steals

For the Hawks:

Anthony Petrie 21 points, 5 boards
Dusty Rychart 16 points, 9 boards
Glen Saville 12 points, 13 boards, 4 assists

No Heal, no problems for the Blaze. Harvey shoots a red-hot 8 of 13 from downtown. Harvey's 37 points is the most by a Blaze.

Breakers 114 Spirit 70

For the Breakers:

Phull Jones 24 points, 3 boards, 3 assists
Kirk Penney 19 points, 8 boards
Tony Ronaldson 18 points, 7 boards, 4 assists

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 14 points, 6 boards
Jason Smith 14 points, 5 assists

Breakers smashed the Spirit in the second half 68 - 29. Breakers hit 14 of 25 from downtown while the Spirit made just 2 of 21. Spirit shot less than 30% from the field.

Breakers 118 Wildcats 94

For the Breakers:

Kirk Penney 32 points (including 6 triples)
Tony Ronaldson 31 points (including 4 triples)
Rick Rickert 20 points, 7 boards

For the Wildcats:

Shawn Redhage 30 points (8 of 10 from the field, 12 of 12 from the line), 7 boards
Peter Crawford 29 points (including 7 triples)
Darnell Hinson 12 points, 8 assists, 6 boards

The Breakers again smashed up the second half 67 - 33 and held Perth to just 9 points in the 3rd term. The teams combined to shoot 29 of 65 from downtown and the Wildcats shot an un-Perth like 20 of 21 from the line.

36ers 107 Blaze 104

For the 36ers:

Julius Hodge 31 points, 10 assists, 4 boards
Adam Ballinger 22 points, 12 boards
Luke Schenscher 16 points, 8 boards

For the Blaze:

James Harvey 23 points (including 4 triples)
Daniel Joyce 22 points (including 4 triples), 4 boards
Luke Whitehead 14 points, 15 boards, 6 assists

Sixers come from behind at home to get the win. Again, no Heal for the Blaze and they almost win the game. Both teams shot just 60% from the free-throw line.

Tigers 128 Hawks 101

For the Tigers:

Ebi Ere 28 points (10 of 13 from the field, including 8 triples), 4 boards
Daryl Corletto 17 points, 7 boards
Chris Anstey 12 points, 9 boards

For the Hawks:

Glen Saville 25 points (including 4 triples), 4 boards
Kavossy Franklin 20 points, 7 boards
Cameron Tragardh 19 points

Tigers shoot a solid 14 of 29 from downtown and dominate the boards 49 - 27. Hawks slip-sliding away and have now lost 8 straight.

Dragons 88 Crocs 84

For the Dragons:

Mark Worthington 22 points, 10 boards, 4 assists
Tremell Darden 16 points, 7 assists
Joe Ingles 17 points

For the Crocs:

Corey Williams 27 points, 11 boards
Rosell Ellis 10 points, 12 boards

Crocs led by 8 after the first quarter but lost the next 3. Townsville shot just 13 of 22 from the line. I'm not sure what is more surprising, Corey Williams hit a 3 pointer or that he attempted 3 of them.

Spirit 101 Crocs 90

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 22 points, 11 boards
Jason Smith 20 points (including 6 triples), 8 boards, 4 assists
David Gruber 12 points, 5 boards, 4 blocks

For the Crocs:

Michael Cedar 27 points (including 7 triples)
Cameron Tovey 8 points, 9 boards, 3 blocks
Daniel Egan 13 points, 4 boards

Tough for the Crocs to back-up after the close loss to the Dragons the night before. Sydney dominated the boards 54 to 35. The teams combined for 42 turnovers. If Michael Cedar keeps this up he will be hard pushed not to win most improved player.

After round 14 in the NBL, the Dragons are still number 1, 1/2 a game ahead of the Breakers. The Tigers are in 3rd with Perth and Townsville tied in 4th. Blaze are still bottom with 4 wins and the Hawks have dropped 8 in a row and are 2nd last.

Player of the Week was announced earlier today as "The Bear", Tony Ronaldson from the Breakers. He averaged 24.5 points, 5 boards and 3.5 assists in two big wins for NZ. He shot 53% from the field and 55% from downtown. Runners up were apparently Julius Hodge and James Harvey.

Now to the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. Dishonourable mentions go to Rod Grizzard from the Tigers (for shooting 1 of 7 against the Taipans), Dwayne Vale from Cairns (for shooting 1 of 7 from the field and 0 of 2 from the line against the Tigers) and Kelvin Robertson from the Crocs (for shooting 0 of 6 against the Dragons). The award however goes to funny-man Russell Hinder from the Crocs for his 1 of 7 from the field, 3 of 6 from the line and 6 turnovers in his return to Sydney. "That's what I do!"

Finally, our Shooter of the Week brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips. There were a number of outstanding shooting performances this week:
* Peter Crawford (Perth) for his 29 points including 7 triples
* Shawn Redhage (Perth) for his 30 points, 8 of 10 from the field, 2 of 3 from downtown and 12 of 12 from downtown
* Ebi Ere (Melbourne) for his 28 points, 10 of 13 from the field, 8 of 10 from downtown
* Michael Cedar (Townsville) 27 points including 7 triples
The winner tho is James Harvey (pictured below) from the Gold Coast Blaze for leading his team to a very rare win against the Hawks with 37 points including 8 of 13 from downtown. He also had 23 points with 4 triples in their narrow loss to Adelaide.

New Zealand Pair Sweep NBL Monthly Awards

Its just been announced that one of our favourites here, Kirk Penney has again taken out Player of the Month in the NBL. Kirk also won the previous month's award but is this time joined by his Breaker's coach Andrej Lemanis who won Coach of the Month.

As I'm still on the NBL's media list, I was able to vote. Surprisingly, I didn't actually vote for Kirk ... here is who I gave the points to:

3 votes: Ballinger (Adelaide)
2 votes: Anstey (Tigers)
1 vote: Matthew Knight (Sydney)

And for the coaches:

3 votes: Lemanis (NZ)
2 votes: Beveridge (Sydney)
1 vote: Goorjian (Dragons)

Click on the title below to read the full story about why the Kiwis won and who else received votes. I'm SHOCKED to see that I was the only one that gave any points to Anstey. His fg% wasn't great but the rest of his numbers were stellar ... I guess the rest of the league takes his numbers for granted.

NBL > News

New Zealand Pair Sweep NBL Monthly Awards

New Zealand Breakers shooting star Kirk Penney has won his second consecutive National Basketball League (NBL) Player of the Month award, while Breakers mentor Andrej Lemanis has taken out the Coach of the Month honour for November.

In seven games for the month of November, Penney averaged 20.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists. The former NBA player shot the ball at 42% from the field and 42% from three-point range, while connecting on 78% of his free-throw attempts.

Most importantly, Penney led his team to a league-best 6-1 record for the month as the Breakers established themselves as a legitimate title contender in the NBL. Penney has also firmly established himself as an early favourite to take out the Andrew Gaze Trophy for the NBL’s Most Valuable Player at the end of the season.

Penney polled a total of 48 votes to take out the award from Sydney Spirit big man Matt Knight on 39. Adelaide duo Adam Ballinger (38) and Julius Hodge (33) finished third and fourth respectively. In all 14 players received votes for the November award.

NBL wrap - round 12

Better late than never, here are the number that matter from round 12 in the NBL:

Dragons 112 Hawks 78

For the Dragons:

Joe Ingles 23 points (including 5 triples), 6 boards 4 steals
Mark Worthington 20 points, 4 boards, 5 turnovers
Adam Gibson 12 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals

For the Hawks:

Cameron Tragardh 21 points
Dusty Rychart 16 points, 9 boards

The game was never close ... Dragons dominated from the get-go. Nice to see Gibbo now consistently putting up solid numbers for the Dragons.

Crocs 104 Breakers 88

For the Crocs:

John Rillie 18 points (including 4 triples), 5 boards
Brad Williamson 18 points (including 4 triples), 4 boards
Rosell Ellis 14 points, 12 boards

For the Breakers:

Kirk Penney 26 points, 7 boards
Oscar Forman 16 points (including 4 triples), 4 boards
Rick Rickert 13 points, 11 boards

The hot-shooting Breakers shot just 33% from the field and were always going to find it hard to win when CJ shot 1 of 10 and Phull Jones was 1 of 9 from the field. Crocs shot a very nice 13 of 25 from downtown (Breakers were just 5 of 25).

Spirit 92 Taipans 78

For the Spirit:

Matthew Knight 25 points, 13 boards
David Gruber 20 points, 11 boards

For the Taipans:

Larry Abney 19 points, 7 boards
Martin Cattalini 12 points, 6 boards, 4 steals

The match-up of two teams on the brink. Matthew Knight has had a massive last few weeks. David Gruber is really stepping up without Low and Khazzouh in the line-up. For the Taipans ... not much to say after the events of this week, its not pretty.

36ers 102 Tigers 94

For the 36ers:

Luke Schenscher 17 points, 22 boards
Julius Hodge 21 points, 8 assists, 4 boards
Brad Hill 19 points, 6 boards

For the Tigers:

Chris Anstey 23 points, 5 boards
Rod Gizzard 18 points, 7 boards
David Barlow 16 points, 5 assists

With Hodge in the line-up, the Sixers are starting to roll. Tigers looking much more human than everyone thought at the start of the season. Adelaide dominated the boards 51 - 37.

Crocs 92 Spirit 87

For the Crocs:

Rosell Ellis 18 points, 10 boards
Brad Williamson 17 points, 5 boards
Corey Williams 5 points, 12 assists, 6 boards

For the Spirit:

David Gruber 18 points (9 of 12 from the field), 10 boards
Matthew Knight 15 points, 10 boards

The Spirit made a run in the second half (55 - 43) but it was too little too late. They committed 23 turnovers (Crocs 16) and shot just 2 of 17 from downtown.

Dragons 101 Hawks 83

For the Dragons:

Mark Worthington 19 points, 10 boards, 7 assists
Mika Vukona 10 points, 12 boards
Joe Ingles 14 points, 8 assists

For the Hawks:

Glen Saville 20 points, 12 boards but 6 turnovers
Lindsay Tait 11 points, 5 boards, 5 steals

Dragons dominated the second half 56 - 35 and the boards 49 - 33. Dragons had 7 players score in double figures.

Blaze 129 Wildcats 97

For the Blaze:

Justin Bowen 35 points (12 of 17 from the field), 5 boards
Luke Whitehead 24 points, 9 boards
Ben Melmeth 17 points, 8 boards

For the Wildcats:

Shawn Redhage 21 points, 13 boards
Alex Loughton 20 points (8 of 11 from the field)
Isiah Victor 11 points, 8 boards

Yes, you read that score right ... Blaze KILLED them. Blaze outscored the Cats 45 - 17 in the 3rd term. Wildcats lost the boards (39 - 52) and the turnovers (25 - 18).

After round 12 in the NBL, the Dragons are back on top with 14 wins just ahead of the Breakers on 13. Tigers, Crocs and Wildcats are all on 9 wins. Blaze are still on the bottom but now have 3 wins, Cairns and Hawks are ahead of them on 6.

Player of the Week went to Justin Bowen of the Gold Coast Blaze for his performance against the Wildcats. His stat line was 35 points, 12 of 17 shooting, 3 of 4 from downtown, 8 of 8 from the line, 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals, 2 turnovers. Impressive game!

Now to the Vlade Divac Flop of the Week. The award could go to the Hawks team for losing their games by 35 and 18 points respectively but instead they are the runners up. The award this week goes to two NZ Breakers ... Phull Jones and CJ Bruton for their combined 2 of 19 "shooting performance" against the Crocs ... even Paul Henare managed to shoot 2 of 5 in that game!

Finally, our Shooter of the Week brought to you by Shooting Basketball Tips was a tough one this round. Honourable mentions go to Joe Ingles for his 5 triples against the Hawks and Brad Hill from Adelaide for his 8 of 11 shooting off the bench against the Tigers. Justin Bowen, Player of the Week is unlucky not to get the nod but I know from watching him ... he's not a shooter. This week the award goes to much-improved Spirit import, David Gruber (pictured below). Now, I haven't seen him play but I think he's a hard-working banger rather than a shooter ... but his clips this round were outstanding, 9 of 14 against Cairns and 9 of 12 against the Crocs.

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).