Records, records, records: NBL Rd3 Wrap
TweetPRE-CHRISTMAS you half expect a bit of charity and joy around the place but nope, NBL clubs were merciless with more riptide than yuletide on show in Round 3, records falling all over the place.
It started with the most amazing of performances by defending champion Melbourne against Sydney but continued with another double-overtime fixture, a vintage indivdual performance, a first-class rout, the return of a great Aussie player and so much to look forward to as the year winds towards its close.
Can't be too long now though before the spotlight starts to hit a few under-performing imports, and maybe even a coach might be under the gun if the drought doesn't break soon.
In the meantime though, here's how we saw Round 3:
WRAPPING ROUND 3 IN CHRISSIE PAPER
INCREDIBLE, that's what this was. From the very tip-off as Caleb Agada laid in the ball four seconds in to give Melbourne a 2-0 start, it was all United.
And to say "ALL" United is to understate how big "all" actually was. Try 26-0 including a run of seven straight 3-point baskets before Sydney even realised the game started.
Again. To say the Kings were pathetic, weak, mindless and even stupid, is to understate all four words. But worse, it takes away credit from the absolute belting Melbourne dished out, holding the Kings of Comedy to five first quarter points. Five.
Ahead 34-5, this was so over as to be embarrassing. But there was still time for it to get worse as Sydney finished on 47 points, recording its lowest ever score - that's EVER - as United strolled to a 42-point rout. Sydney was shameful.
MELBOURNE UNITED 89 (Agada 21, Goulding 13, Lual-Acuil 11; Lual-Acuil 8 rebs; Dellavedova 5 assts) d SYDNEY KINGS 47 (Cooks 12, Bayles 9, Makur Maker 8; Cooks 6 rebs; Bayles 4 assts) at The UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 4,786
* * *
THE Breakers burst from the blocks - must have watched United on TV - and with Yanni Wetzell delivering a career-best 13-point opening quarter, took exactly that size lead (27-14) into the first break at Wollongong.
Immediately tightening their defence, the Hawks' offence picked up with a 14-point run to take the lead and it was on from there, going down to the wire as Wetzell held sway in the keyway with Duop Reath (19 points, 12 rebounds) working hard for Illawarra.
Down the stretch, Tyler Harvey stroked a triple to give Illawarra a 77-75 lead before Will McDowell-White pulled off a nifty hesitation move, driving to the hoop to tie the game at 77-77.
Justinian Jessup's shot for the win missed and we had an overtime game for the third round in a row. The Breakers stayed composed during the extension while the Hawks largely reverted to solo "hero ball" plays which helped keep New Zealand in the contest.
Eventually that meant another tie at 84-84 with Harvey and Reath making big plays for the Hawks, Hugo Besson stroking two huge threes and Jeremiah Martin also prominent.
Ultimately Harvey pulled off the game-winning shot, NZ with 2.8 seconds to fashion a play but Besson slipping at the critical moment, the Hawks escaping with the win.
ILLAWARRA HAWKS 97 (Harvey 26, Jessup 21, Reath 19, Cleveland 12, Rathan-Mayes 11; Reath 12 rebs; S. Froling, Jessup 4 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 96 (Wetzell 25, Besson 20, McDowell-White 17, Martin 14, Delany 10; Wetzell 16 rebs; Delany 5 assts) in double overtime {77-77} {84-84} at The Sandpit, WIN Entertainment Centre. Crowd: 2,873
* * *
BRISBANE fired the early shots but this one largely was about Jesse Wagstaff (19 points at 57 per cent, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block in 23:55), Vic Law's attempted head butt at Deng Deng, Deng's unbelievably idiotic and late reaction, plus the animosity between the former Bullet and his previous team.
Deng Deng, smashing his fist on the floor in despair after his delayed reaction was Acting 101 at its finest - or ugliest - you be the judge here.
Nathan Sobey nursing a rib or lower pec injury for half the game also was a factor, as was Todd Blanchfield departing early with a knee injury.
But from quarter-time onward as the Wildcats first caught up, then steadily pulled further away, the best efforts of Bullets duo Robert Franks and Lamar Patterson would be left unrequited.
Franks was particularly good but Bryce Cotton (29 points at 57 per cent) had stretches where he was simply unguardable.
Law stepping up to Deng after a foul in Brisbane's frontcourt and nuzzling his face with an attempted but slight head butt, was a serious failure in judgment.
But Deng's reaction was worse and very much in the "delayed reaction" league of former Townsville Croc Mick Pennisi with his infamous stunt at this link a few years ago. You have access to the vision of both now - you be the judge.
PERTH WILDCATS 83 (Cotton 29, Wagstaff 19, Blanchfield, Law 9; Law 9 rebs; Travers 4 assts) d BRISBANE BULLETS 70 (Franks 28, Patterson 17, Sobey 7; Franks 9 rebs; Sobey 4 assts) at The Jungle, RAC Arena. Crowd: 11,745
* * *
AFTER the humiliation in Melbourne, the Kings had the opportunity to show their true colours hosting South East Melbourne and did just that, revealing their intentions from tip-off with a 5-0 start.
OK, it wasn't 26-0 but Sydney was fired up to erase that abomination, Xavier Cooks with a season-high 19 points with 11 rebounds, a pair of assists and two steals as it left the Phoenix back at 29-14 after one period.
They pulled it out still further to an 18-point buffer at one stage as SEM struggled to find winners.
Still ahead by 11 at the last break, Sydney pushed that out to 19 before a Simon Mitchell time-out stalled the inevitable and the Phoenix started to show some fight.
Mitch Creek's 13-point quarter helped SEM get the deficit back to nine with enough time for a miracle. But the only miracle of this night at Qudos Bank Arena was how much Sydney again looked as if it had a basketball team and not a team of phonies.
SYDNEY KINGS 84 (Cooks 19, Glover 15, Martin 12; Martin 13 rebs; Bayles, Cooks, Bruce 2 assts) d SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX 73 (Creek 22, Qi 17, Le'Afa 13; Qi 13 rebs; Le'Afa 4 assts) at The Kingdome, Qudos Bank Arena. Crowd: 6,379
* * *
ADELAIDE assuredly expected to settle down into a yoga squat in Cairns, produce a flute and play snake charmer to a groggy Taipan, smack it aside, slam the basket lid on it and walk out with a W.
Except in this case, the W stood for Wrong.
While CJ Bruton needed a search party to find a heart amongst his 36ers' team, Cairns delighted its home faithful with a thoroughly convincing all-the-way rout of a feeble foe.
Ex-36ers Majok Deng and Keanu Pinder relished playing their old club, thriving in different ways. Deng enjoyed a career-high 23 points with a career-best 5-of-7 threes.
Pinder threw down a massive dunk and had his best game in the Orange with 15 points, six rebounds, two steals and a block.
The Sixers were well south of pathetic, the shallow ordinary nature of imports Dusty Hannahs and Todd Withers - he sure does - exposed yet again, despite the former padding his stats with late baskets after Cairns packed up and went home.
The duo have had their chance to shine and to "settle in" and they just don't cut it. Cut them.
Not that it was the imports per se in this one. The entire roster sucked. If Mitch McCarron is going to only take five shots and the only highlight of the game is Kai Sotto blocking Nate Jawai, Adelaide fans can expect another long, long season.
Tell you what though. You have to love livewire Taipans' Energizer bunny import Tahjere McCall. He was everywhere and in everything. Keep an eye on this young man.
CAIRNS TAIPANS 93 (Deng 23, Zimmerman 18, Pinder 15, McCall 13; Zimmerman 9 rebs; McCall 10 assts) d ADELAIDE 36ERS 67 (Hannahs 20, Humphries, Johnson 12; Humphries 10 rebs; McCarron 4 assts) at the Orange Spot, Cairns Convention Centre. Crowd: 3,314
* * *
IT was going to take something special for Melbourne to top its rout of Sydney, but containing New Zealand to 60 points at 33 per cent, with 4-of-22 threes, was a fairly satisfying day's work for United.
Chris Goulding was devastating for his 21 points off 7-of-13 threes but the biggest team thrill here was the successful return from injury of Jack White.
The genuine goodwill toward White's return - six points, eight rebounds, a steal and two blocks in 17:55 - was evident and gave Dean Vickerman's men another positive on which to focus.
Said it weeks ago after that 0-2 start - don't worry for Melbourne. It will be just fine.
Meanwhile despite its depth of talent but sour run of injuries, it is time to worry about the Breakers. We know their circumstances are diabolical and particularly challenging, mentally and physically.
But this hole they are digging just gets bigger and by the time they can climb out, who knows if they will still retain the belief to be able to do so.
MELBOURNE UNITED 83 (Goulding 21, Agada 20, Lual-Acuil 12, Hukporti 11; Lual-Acuil 9 rebs; Dellavedova 7 assts) d NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 60 (Delany 14, Wetzell 12, 3 with 7; Delany 9 rebs; Delany, Martin 4 assts) at the UN, John Cain Arena. Crowd: 5,479
* * *
ONE of the few teams to seemingly "have the wood" over Illawarra, tipping the Bullets to succeed in their home opener wasn't a huge stretch. The Hawks coming off a double-overtime win added to the fact they looked ripe for the plucking.
And pluck Brisbane did, scoring 30 in the first period while holding Illawarra's offensive arsenal to 20. It was the perfect scenario in which Hawk Harry Froling, the ex-Bullet, could flourish and he did, producing his best game since swapping uniforms with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting (3-of-3 from three) and four assists.
Illawarra was never out of the game, coming back from 15 down but Robert Franks' 3-pointer to close the third meant Brisbane enjoyed a 75-67 edge going into the last.
Sam Froling tied it at 86-86, completing a three-point play but now it was Nathan Sobey time.
He followed a triple with a defensive board and a driving layup. Two free throws later he was on a personal 7-0 run and Brisbane ahead 93-86.
Sobey had two more as the Bullets pulled away, Tyler Harvey missing many late shots and Duop Reath handling the ball when he threw down a put-back dunk off a Harvey miss. (Harvey was 4-of-16, 1-of-9 from deep, so there were plenty of those.)
BRISBANE BULLETS 96 (Sobey 17, Cadee, Franks 16, Harrison 14, Patterson 11; Harrison 8 rebs; Sobey 5 assts) d ILLAWARRA HAWKS 92 (H Froling, Reath 15, Cleveland 13, Jessup, S Froling 11; S Froling 11 rebs; H Froling, Jessup 4 assts) at The Armoury, Nissan Arena. Crowd: 3,584
* * *
NOTHING to see here. Move along people. Just the Law taking charge, standing around the chalk outline of the JackJumpers.
It was a standard Vic Law assault, pairing 32 points with 12 boards. Guess that head-butt fine fired Law up because he was head-and-shoulders ahead in this one. (No Tassie head jokes please. You're better than that.)
The seasoned Wildcats won every quarter to steadily compile their winning score, Perth PM Scott Morrison with the luxury of clearing his entire bench in front of a rabid, excited record home crowd.
That's right. A Perth record attendance of 13,615 turned up to watch this stomping of the Tassie Ants. They're a blood-thirsty mob out west.
PERTH WILDCATS 101 (Law 32, Cotton 23, Frazier 13; Law 12 rebs; White, Cotton 6 assts) d TASMANIA JACK JUMPERS 83 (Magette 17, Adams 15, 3 with 7; Magette 7 rebs; Magette 6 assts) at The Jungle, RAC Arena. Crowd: 13,615
* * *
READY to add Win #2 and their historic first road victory to their inaugural NBL campaign, the JackJumpers had a 13-point lead in Sydney as the Kings fumbled and bumbled about, clearly having already pencilled this one in as a win.
Big mistake. Huge. It wasn't really until Jarell Martin went down the floor and past traffic to throw down a hammer that the Kings sparked to some semblance of life, at which point Tasmania's puckers tightened and they could no longer run with the Kings.
Sydney's 29-8 final period was magical, Tasmania reduced to hero ball - Josh Magette, Josh Adams and MiKyle McIntosh a combined 12-of-38 - as its game disintegrated and all the trust and teamwork built over three quarters, evaporated in record time.
Wani Swaka Lo Buluk threw down a thundering slam dunk as the final punctuation point on a super Sydney success as the JackJumpers slunk off in single file, still wondering what the hell just happened?
SYDNEY KINGS 83 (Martin 24, Bayles, Cooks 12, Bruce 11; Martin 11 rebs; Bruce 5 assts) d TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 71 (Steindl 15, Magette 13, McIntosh 11; Krslovic, Magnay 7 rebs; Krslovic, Magette 3 assts) at The Kingdome, Qudos Bank Arena. Crowd: 4,612
* * *
WHAT WE LEARNT
*Sydney Kings’ effort – and to use the word “effort" is an overstatement – against Melbourne provided the following records:
Lowest ever single game point total (47)
Lowest ever three quarter-time score (36)
Second lowest ever halftime score (21)
Lowest ever first quarter score (5)
Equal lowest ever score in any quarter (5)
Biggest deficit after a first quarter in any game (29 - also an NBL record)
Fewest field goals ever made in a game (15 - also an NBL record)
Lowest field goal percentage ever in a game (21.1 per cent - also an NBL record)
Sixth worst margin of defeat ever in any game (42 points)
Sixth worst margin of defeat ever in any road game (42 points)
*Kings historian Matt McQuade needed a Scotch after recalling all those ugly numbers;
*Kings coach Chase Buford should maybe not be as keen to warm up with his players and focus more on that pre-game address;
*And maybe NEVER revisit the psyche-up for that game against United;
*So Sydney produced the worst single game performance of the round, did it? Adelaide 36ers: “Hold my beer;”
*The Taipans were ruthlessly efficient from the get-go but in all fairness, they were playing a team of zombies, the 36ers missing any semblance of a heart;
*Cairns led by as many as 40 points against the 36ers, en route to its biggest ever win over Adelaide;
*Down the stretch of any tight game involving Illawarra, opponents know they do not need to defend anyone except Tyler Harvey. He will not be giving the ball up at any stage and will shoot and keep on shooting. Offensive boards is the only way for a fellow Hawk to get a touch in any close end-game. May eventually have paid against NZ but sure didn’t against Brisbane;
*“Oh my” said slowly or “Oh. My. Goodness.” said with punctuated effect for gravity, STILL remains the sadly unimaginative staples of too many TV callers.
*It might still just be me but I could listen to Andrew Gaze and Lanard Copeland all night. No other combination comes close.
* * *
GLAZED STATEMENT of the WEEK
“He’s looking like a fine wine out there.”
TV caller Peter Hooley describing Perth warrior Jesse Wagstaff.
A fine wine, left, and Jesse Wagstaff, above, in case you had trouble telling them apart.
UNLIKELY QUOTE of the WEEK
“Oh obviously. The moment I sat down I thought I was looking into a mirror.”
- Jesse Wagstaff at the dinner table looking at a bottle of red and immediately paraphrasing Danny DeVito’s character Vincent when he first meets his long lost twin brother Julius, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, in “Twins”. PS Peter ... he's ageing like a fine wine...
READY! SET! GO! The Annual Great Taipan Foot Race. (Who knew snakes had legs?)