Five shooters to watch this season

Damn you JR, I had this idea on the weekend but hadn't got around to blogging it yet and then on Monday he releases his "Five I watch with interest". Sort of me reminds me of this.

Anyway, since our blog focusses more on the shooting aspect of the game, its time to have a look at the five shooters to keep an eye on this NBL season. Unlike JR, I didn't have the benefit of seeing any of the new imports in action in Darwin, so I'm going to stick with the local talent.

1. Kirk Penney - NZ Breakers
No surprise here, Kirk led the league in scoring last season and was regularly talked about in our blog. This season, the Breakers have been tipped as the favourites after getting knocked out in the semis last year and if they are to have any hope they'll need Penney to be at the same level as he was last season.

2. James Harvey - Gold Coast Blaze
Harvey (pictured right) had his moments last season but due to injuries missed a number of games. His team wasn't good and his frustration was evident. I know firsthand Harvey has put in plenty of work in the off-season and the experience he got with the Boomers should pay off this year. With a new coach and much better ensemble cast around him, look for Harvey to put up good numbers for the Blaze.

3. Michael Cedar - Townsville Crocs
Cedar had a break-out season of sorts last year. He's been in the league for a number of years but never seen enough minutes to really show what he can do. Last season he got that shot and delivered on a number of occasions. The Crocs cleared out veteran leader John Rillie to make room for the young guards in Michael Cedar and Brad Williamson and if they don't really step up and deliver there will be many disappointed people.

4. Tim Coenraad - Wollongong Hawks
I've mentioned him numerous times this off-season for his play with the Northside Wizards and also his strong start in the Top End Challenge. He might not see consistent minutes in the early rounds so look to him to provide a scoring spark off the bench for the Hawks. He's playing with old friends Rhys Martin and Cameron Tragardh so hopefully their off-court mateship will provide some good on-court chemistry.

5. Nathan Herbert - Adelaide 36'ers
I've rounded out the top 5 with a youngster who showed glimpses of shooting greatness last season. Herbert was a spark-plug off the bench for the champion Dragons but with that club no longer around he finds himself in Adelaide. The 36'ers have lost sharp-shooter Brett Maher and will need Herbert to be a threat from deep. If he gets consistent minutes, Herbert could be a candidate for Most Improved Player.

Now, I'm not saying these are the 5 best shooters in the league but these are 5 that could have a big impact on their team's fortunes. At the moment, I'd say the top 5 shooters in the league are: Kirk Penney, James Harvey, CJ Bruton, Phill Jones and maybe Oscar Forman. The last spot could go to Cedar, Williamson, Crawford, Kendall or a few others.

Let me know what you think of the five shooters to watch or even the my pick as the top five shooters in the league right now.

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

NZ basketball day

With the surprising sight of New Zealand basketballer Sean Marks starting for the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA today (unfortunately for Sean, he wasn't overly active in his 17 minutes of court-time), it seemed like a good opportunity to focus on basketball news from across the ditch.

Click on the titles below to read the full stories ... choice bro

Hornets beat Pacers on Paul's late 3 - NBA - Yahoo! Sports
Sean Marks (2 points, 3 rebounds) started for West.


'Money time' for Penney in MVP drive - New Zealand's source for sport, rugby, cricket & league news on Stuff.co.nz
By MARC HINTON - Sunday Star Times

The smart money around the Australian National Basketball League is that by season's end the New Zealand Breakers shooting guard, known rather obviously as KP, will have a new name - MVP.

Kirk Penney, say the pundits, is a short-priced favourite to succeed Melbourne Tigers big man Chris Anstey as the league's premier player. Already the Kiwi has won two of the three player of the month awards up for grabs, and looks unlikely to be pipped in the contest for the season's top individual honour.

Yet if the Breakers don't push on and finish off their groundbreaking NBL season with at least an appearance in the best-of-five final series, the game's highest individual accolade will likely go elsewhere.

MVPs get their team to finals: that's a given.


Breakers ready and waiting for Tigers - New Zealand's source for sport, rugby, cricket & league news on Stuff.co.nz
By MARC HINTON - Fairfax Media

Oscar Forman says the Breakers have nothing to fear against the Melbourne Tigers despite the high stakes of this week's back-to-back matchup against the red-hot defending NBL champions.

The Tigers, who have won four straight games since undergoing a personnel makeover, meet the Breakers at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday night, then host the Kiwis just 48 hours later in a double-header that has major playoff repercussions.

The Breakers (16-7) are one loss behind the table-topping South Dragons (18-6) and in turn are one better than the advancing Tigers (15-8). With all three teams playing each other over the next week or so, that scenario could change markedly as the regular season hits the business end.

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 6

Another big/busy weekend (fantasy draft Friday night, buck's day/night on Saturday, cash poker game all day Sunday) so I'm only catching up on all things NBL today.

Here are the results and the numbers that matter from round 6 in the NBL:

Crocodiles 103 Spirit 101

For the Crocs:
Homicide Williams 35 points (13 of 16 from the field), 7 assists
Russell Hinder 20 points (including 5 triples??!!), 5 boards
Rosell Ellis 14 points, 10 boards, 5 steals, 3 blocks, 3 assists

For the Spirit:
Julian Khazzouh 18 points, 14 boards
Derrick Low 18 points, 4 boards

I had to look twice, did Hinder really hit 5 triples in a game?? That's more than JR, B-Rad and Kelvin Robertson combined! Hang your head in shame Croc shooters. Low-lights from the game was Kelvin shooting just 2 of 12 from the field and youngster Cameron Tovey going 2 of 8 from the line.

Taipans 101 Breakers 92 (in OT)

For the Taipans:
Ian Crosswhite 19 points, 10 boards
Dave Thomas 17 points, 7 boards, 3 steals
Larry Abney 13 points, 8 boards

For the Breakers:
Kirk Penney 21 points
CJ Bruton 15 points, 7 assists, 6 boards

The foul count went against the Breakers 28 to 11, giving the Taipans 34 shots from the line compared to just 6 for NZ.

Hawks 98 Blaze 96

For the Hawks:
Kavossy Franklin 26 points, 9 assists
Cameron Tragardh 22 points (8 of 11 from the field)
Dusty Rychart 21 points, 13 boards

For the Blaze:
Greg Vanderjagt 23 points, 12 boards
Shane Heal 20 points (on 6 of 20 shooting), 8 assists

The Blaze dominated the last quarter 28 - 15 but it looks like it was too little too late (just).

Wildcats 104 36ers 93

For the Wildcats:
Shawn Redhage 25 points, 10 boards, 4 assists
Darnell Hinson 21 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals

For the 36ers
Luke Schenscher 33 points, 20 boards!!
Jacob Holmes 16 points, 10 boards

Tigers 110 Crocs 97

For the Tigers:
Ebi Ere 32 points, 9 boards
Chris Anstey 29 points, 16 boards
David Barlow 13 points, 10 boards

For the Crocs:
Homicide Williams 21 points, 7 boards, 4 assists
John Rillie (WELCOME BACK!!) 18 points, 4 assists
Rosell Ellis 12 points, 10 boards
Kelvin Robertson 17 points (including 5 triples), 6 assists

Tigers dominated the boards 59 - 43. Low-lights, Townsville shot just 12 of 27 from the line, Cam Tovey repeated his performance from earlier in the week again going just 2 of 8 from the stripe. Free-throw expert John Rillie was 0 of 2 ... very un-Rillie like ... but he had 18 points (his season high) so we'll not focus on the negative.

Dragons 94 Taipans 65

For the Dragons:
Tremmell Darden 19 points, 6 boards
Matt Burston 16 points, 16 boards

For the Taipans
Larry Abney 14 points, 10 boards
Dave Thomas 11 points, 11 boards

Low-lights ... umm, the Taipans final score? Cairns shot just 33% from the field and 15% from downtown.

Breakers 116 Blaze 113

For the Breakers:
Kirk Penney 30 points, 7 boards
Oscar Forman 24 points (including 6 of 8 from deep), 5 boards
CJ Bruton 17 points (including 12 of 12 from the line), 6 assists

For the Blaze:
James Harvey 30 points, 6 boards, 4 assists
Casey Frank 18 points, 6 boards
Shane Heal 16 points, 8 assists

Breakers win on the road ... but against the winless Blaze does a 3 point victory really count as a W? Blaze are 0 - 9 this season but are getting close to winning their first game (2 point loss to the Hawks, 3 point loss to the Breakers).

Spirit 99 Hawks 86

For the Spirit:
Derrick Low 24 points, 4 assists
Liam Rush 22 points, 7 boards
Matthew Knight 15 points, 10 boards
Julian Khazzouh 13 points, 7 boards

For the Hawks:
Dusty Rychart 22 points, 11 boards
Kavossy Franklin 15 points, 7 assists


At the end of round 6 in the NBL the Dragons are in first spot with 7 wins 2 losses followed by the Breakers with 5 wins 2 losses. Everyone's pick for the title, the Melbourne Tigers are currently 3rd with 5 wins 3 losses. The current streaks in the league ... Dragons have won 5 in a row, Perth 3 ... 36ers have lost 5 in a row and obviously the Blaze 9.

Before we get to our Shooter of the Week, we're going to name and shame the Vlade Divac Flops of the Week. There are two recipients this week, Cameron Tovey for shooting 2 of 8 from the line TWICE in one week and "shooter" Mat Campbell for going 1 of 11 from the field against the Spirit.

Now, Shooter of the Week was close to going to bigman Russell Hinder for shooting a surprising 5 of 7 from downtown but the winner this week is Breakers forward Oscar Forman (below). Forman gets the nod mainly for his 6 of 8 from downtown against the Blaze but he also had 4 triples against the Taipans earlier in the week.

(Yes, I couldn't find a decent action photo of Oscar)