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Round About: NBL 1/WNBL 2
TweetINTERESTING move by the NBL to abandon its Player of the Week award in favor of a "Bring It" best performances recognition by a weekly league legend.
Must confess to a moment of melancholy not being able to read the weekly array of "honorable mentions" for anyone who managed a single stat in double figures so, in a fit of pique - possibly the polar opposite of peak fitness - I have unilaterally decided to continue the unofficial PotW award here each round.
And this week's winner? (Drum roll please...)
Is Daniel Johnson of the Adelaide 36ers!
Yes, I know DJ's 28 points on 9-of13 shooting, with 10-of-10 free throws didn't even warrant a mention in Cal Bruton's first "Bring It" decision but every player he plumped for played on a winning team.
Let's be honest here. Who expected the 36ers to even be competitive with the Wildcats at the hotbed of Perth Arena when they went into the game minus Adam Gibson and Jarrid Frye?
Exactly.
Hardly anyone.
So to be in the game right upto the last shot - a chance to tie which went awry - was a fabulous effort for the Sixers and DJ was the main reason.
In MVP voting, I'm betting he picked up more than James Ennis, who was the story out of this game.
If you saw this match, you saw a young man on the threshold of greatness who was measured, deadly and committed in his approach and did it for four quarters.
At the risk of accusations of pro-Adelaide bias, I felt Johnson stood out among the individual efforts of the round and is the B.O.T.I. (that's "Basketball On The Internet" ... it's the name of this site. You never knew that? Geez. I must talk again with my marketing people...) Player of the Week for the NBL.
For the WNBL, again I am ducking pro-Adelaide bias accusations because Tess Madgen is a no-brainer.
She's only FROM Adelaide, OK? But her 34 points against Logan and 24 against Fire for two key road wins by her Melbourne Boomers stand out as the women's performance of the round.
And, as we cyberspeak, the WNBL has confirmed that one.
Reviews
Breakers v Hawks (M)
DARYL Corletto, clearly hating the officiating regime, went off for 21 points with 4-of-5 3-pointers for New Zealand as it rode roughshod over Wollongong 92-73.
Down an import and with Oscar Forman taking an early shower, the Hawks weren't in this after a strong first quarter showing.
Spirit v Lightning (W)
Pretty sure a 17-4 last quarter is going to win you a lot of ballgames and that's what the champs produced against Adelaide, the usual suspects stepping up for a 65-59 win.
The Lightning led for long stretches but could muster one field goal (a three by Jess Foley) and one free throw (by Ang Marino) in the final period to watch their season shrink to the brink.
Rangers v Flames (W)
Sydney pushed this to the edge and very nearly parked the Rangers, Kathleen Scheer's 20 points at 62 per cent and Ro Cox's 19 at 64.
But Jenna O'Hea led Dandenong with 29 and Leilani Mitchell compiled 12 points at 63 per cent with 5 rebounds and 5 assists for an 85-79 road win.
Wildcats v 36ers (M)
It all came down to Shawn Redhage sticking a jumper with 20.5 seconds left in a quality game made moreso by Daniel Johnson's heroics for the 36ers and a strong showing by Luke Schenscher.
James Ennis opened with a 12-point first period and was deadly from range and tougher on the move, his 25 points the most by any player making his NBL debut with the Wildcats.
(Check that wording again, anyone who wants to mention James Crawford's 33 for Perth in 1987. He wasn't making his NBL debut with the Wildcats. Ah. You see what we did there?)
Capitals v Waves (W)
Jessica Bibby is off-and-running again, nailing 26 points as Canberra held off West Coast 78-69, denying the Waves their first winning streak this century.
Abby Bishop had a 16-point, 15-rebound double, Deanna Smith leading the home team with 14. But a 10-point final quarter dumped the Waves' on the sand.
Boomers v Thunder (W)
Down 15 on the road in the last quarter, Melbourne pulled out a sizzling 62-57 upset over Logan with Tess Madgen bagging 34 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including nine points in a 70-second avalanche to close the contest.
Hanna Zavecz had a 12-point, 11-rebound double for the Thunder but they simply could not resist Madgen's 18-point last quarter onslaught.
Taipans v Crocodiles (M)
Jamar Wilson came off the bench for 13 first-quarter points to put Cairns out of Townsville's reach, where they stayed the rest of the route for a 103-92 victory.
Wilson finished with a career-high 27 as the Crocs fell foul of the officials and the Taipans slithered over the ton for the first time in a regulation game since Aaron Fearne first took the clipboard.
By the way, last season no team scored 92 in regulation and lost so the Crocs can take something out of this.
Lightning v Capitals (W)
Having twice faded out of games with 12 and 4-point last quarters, Adelaide literally saved its best for last with a season-best 25-point haul as it lower-cased the Caps 84-73.
For all its vaunted size, Canberra was outrebounded 50-18 with Lightning's 18-offensive rebounds matching the Caps' total. How is that even possible?
Kings v Tigers (M)
It wasn't the first round's tidiest game but after Wortho shook off his first-half foul blues, he jazzed up the Tigers with 17 points in the second half.
They swept from 31-44 behind to 63-53 ahead. Then it was Harvey-Time as James cut loose with 10 of his 19 in the last quarter as Sydney took the lead late and held it to the siren for a 73-69 escape.
Boomers v Fire (W)
Very few predicted a 2-0 Queensland road sweep by Melbourne but history does show the Boomers did exactly that last season too!
This time Ms Madge said: "This is how we do it," and finished with 24 points in another come-from-behind victory, this time 67-63 over Townsville.
Bec Allen's 14-point, 90-rebound haul was pretty impressive, but if I remove that crazy "0" that my little fat fingers whacked in there, her 9 boards weren't bad either.
BEEF of the WEEK
My beef this week is with Cairns coach Aaron Fearne for his diatribe about the officiating in a Townsville Bulletin report after his Taipans had just won and scored over a century for the only time (in regulation) during his coaching tenure.
"It's frustrating," Fearne said. "I watched the Women's NBL (Saturday) and I think they're allowed to play more physical than what we are.
"It's tough and I find it tough to coach and instruct the guys on what they can really do."
He went on for a few more paragraphs but you get the idea.
Let me preface my beef by saying I think it is great the NBL has eased off muzzling its coaches and their comments. We want to hear what they have to say.
But when the clubs - Cairns clearly included - are united in wanting to showcase the best of our sport, which, gloriously excludes 64-58 final scorelines unless there has been some truly remarkable and ENJOYABLY tough defence played, then pull your head in, take your 100-point plus score AND double-figure victory and maybe in your own time, watch the video again on how the game is being called.
Is it really this hard to adjust?
BIGGEST WINNERS/LOSERS
SYDNEY was the biggest men's winner this round, squandering a double-digit lead to Melbourne, then coming back from a double-digit deficit to win. That came on top of huge 25th anniversary celebrations topped off in the best imaginable way.
Townsville was my biggest loser this week, blowing a chance against its oldest rival. The Crocodiles, after such a chequered but ultimately successful off-season, playing at home at The Swamp to open 2013-14 in front of their loyal supporters, then losing, had to be the week's biggest disappointment.
MELBOURNE was the WNBL's biggest winner, taking its record to 3-0 without Rachel Jarry, collecting two key road wins against Logan and Townsville and having star guard/forward Tess Madgen score a career-high and grab Player of the Week honors. The only thing missing was a Veneto Club Christmas ham!
It was a toss up for the round's biggest loser between Townsville, who at home should have had Melbourne on toast after the Boomers had to battle back so hard to beat Logan, and West Coast, which had a genuine shot at a rare 2-0 start to the year but blew it against Canberra. At the risk of being accused of an anti-Townsville bias, it is probably the Fire which bungled the better opportunity.
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PS
Sydney Kings coach Shane Heal is on the record saying of import Jesse Sanders: “I think Jesse rebounds and defends like Damian Martin.” Did he maybe mean Luke Martin?
