Studs and Duds: Round 1

At the conclusion of each round, NBL Media’s Liam Santamaria lets us know who made the grade and who deserves a little shade.

STUDS

The Hawks

Welcome back, Goorj… we’ve missed you.

The master coach and his new-look Hawks were the standout performers from the opening round as they grabbed a couple of wins on the road.

The Hawks were terrific on Saturday as they snuck past the Bullets and then backed that up with a statement win over the Snakes in Far North Queensland.

Per NBL Facts, it’s the first time in franchise history the Hawks have grabbed two wins in an opening round of a season.

Unsurprisingly, Goorjian had his squad playing with great energy and competing at a high-level at both ends of the floor. Possession after possession after possession.

Offensively, it was Sam Froling (19 points) and Emmett Naar (17) who led the way in their opener while, with Deng Adel (quad) and Cam Bairstow (ankle) both out, it was Tyler Harvey (25) and Justinian Jessup (24) who got off in Cairns.

Down the other end, the Hawks were led superbly by…

Justin Simon (The Hawks)

This rock star deserves his own spot in the studs for his outstanding contributions.

I mean, Simon was all kinds of awesome for the Hawks in the opening round as he set the tone at the defensive end of the floor.

Against Brisbane, he served up a stat-sheet-stuffing performance that saw him become the first player in NBL history to record 5 assists and 5 steals with zero turnovers on debut.

He then carried that form into the Snag Pit, where he notched up a double-double with 3 assists, a steal and 3 blocks.

Make no mistake, Simon is an absolute game-changer defensively. This play, late in the third quarter in Cairns, was just exquisite. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DEFENCE ?? OFFENCE<a href="https://twitter.com/simon_Says_so?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@simon_Says_so</a> can do it ALL.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HWKsatCNS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HWKsatCNS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/Jo6uQGawAb">pic.twitter.com/Jo6uQGawAb</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1351106606793154563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Justin has been a real key (for our defence),” Goorjian said.

“He triggered it against Brisbane and got the defence going. Tonight, his job up the floor (with) those long arms… his defence got the team going.”

Melbourne United

Speaking of defence, the title faves took care of business in the season-opener as they smacked the 36ers by 24 points.

Trailing by a basket at half-time, United shifted up a gear after the break and, when the whips got cracking, Adelaide just couldn’t go with ‘em.

The move of the game came from two-time championship-winning coach Dean Vickerman, who opened the second half with two of his stars – Chris Goulding and Jock Landale – on the bench in an effort to spark his squad.

“I just wanted to send a message to the whole group that there’s going to be groups that we put on the floor that are really high level defensively and they’re going to wear some teams out,” Vickerman explained. 

“Then you bring in a Chris and a Jock and that can be quite deflating to another team if they see those guys coming on after they’ve had to work so hard against a real defensive group.”

That move worked a treat with United’s increased intensity restricting Adelaide to just 26 second-half points as the 36ers frustrated their coach by over-dribbling the rock.

Daniel Johnson (Adelaide 36ers)

Okay, that’s enough about defence… let’s talk about some offence as Daniel Johnson was a scoring machine across the opening round.

I mean, the man simply could not be stopped.

Lighting it up at a remarkably efficient rate, Johnson poured in 27 against United before backing up with a 33-point performance against the Phoenix. 

According to NBL Facts, ‘DJ’ is the first NBL player to score 60 points in the opening round of a season since Steve Woodberry had 64 in round one back in 1998.

What made Johnson’s scoring particularly special though, was his incredible efficiency. Over the course of the weekend the 32-year-old connected on 67 percent of his field goal attempts and hit 19 of his 21 free throws. 

In year thirteen, Johnson just continues to get it done.

Josh Giddey (Adelaide 36ers)

From the vet to the rook… Giddey was the other 36er to impress in the opening round.

Yes, they took an L to United but man, this kid was the story of the game on Sunday as he steered his squad to a double-overtime win.

Giddey’s unique combination of size, skill, basketball IQ and toughness was on full display against the Phoenix as he bounced back from a nasty fall to guide his team to victory.

The teenager finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists off the bench and, while he won’t be playing tomorrow night, it won’t be long before Coach Henry starts him and hands him the keys. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/DraftExpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DraftExpress</a>, you up? Because Josh Giddey should be going all the way ? on that next Mock Draft ?<br><br>16 points<br>11 rebounds<br>7 assists<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/XYsnm7iTXO">pic.twitter.com/XYsnm7iTXO</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1350693373204520961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Oh hey… before we move on… let’s throw some love to Brendan Teys for his clutch buckets on Sunday arvo. I mean… wow! The vet was enormous in the second period of OT as he peeled off ball screens and got buckets from mid-range.

Yanni Wetzell (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

24 and 10 on debut. Not bad. Not bad at all.

DUDS

Brisbane Bullets and South East Melbourne Phoenix

This section is never fun to write but, let’s face it: you can’t have S&D without a quick mention of who underwhelmed in the latest round of action. 

To tip things off, I’ve thrown the Bullets and Phoenix in together because, in my opinion, both let season-opening wins slip through their fingers.

They were frustrating losses for their fans as both Brisbane and SEM snatched defeat from the jaws of victory due to an inability to hit wide open shots.

Against the Hawks, Brisbane shot just 8-of-32 from long range and connected on just 57% of their free throw attempts. You can’t hit everything but a lot of those triples were really good looks for highly-capable shooters, with Vic Law, Nathan Sobey, Harry Froling and Anthony Drmic combining for 4-from-20 from beyond the arc.

For the Phoenix, it was an eerily similar story. They shot 8-for-30 from three-point territory in Adelaide and left 14 freakin’ points at the free throw line! New recruits Cam Gliddon and Reuben Te Rangi combined for 3-for-17 from long range… many of which were wide, wide open looks.

Let’s be honest, that’s a loss that will still be stinging for South East Melbourne, who have now lost 9 games in a row dating back to last season. That said, I suspect they’ll break that streak tomorrow night.

Casper Ware and Didi Louzada (Sydney Kings)

With Xavier Cooks (foot) out and Jarell Martin being eased into the season, Sydney put in a hell of an effort to nearly topple the Snakes on Saturday night.

It wasn’t to be, however, and the Kings will now have another crack at the Taipans in the upcoming round. 

One thing’s for sure, if they’re going to turn that result around they’ll need sharper performances from superstar Casper Ware and talented Brazilian Didi Louzada.

Ware was aggressive off the bounce early – which was great to see – but that dissipated as the game went along and he wound up shooting just 6-of-21 from the field including 1-of-9 from long range.

As for Louzada, the Next Star posted just 7 points in his 25 minutes on the floor, shooting 2-of-10 from the field including 1-of-7 from long range.

The Kings need greater efficiency from those guys right now while they ramp up Martin’s load and wait on Cooks. 

Cairns Taipans

They split their double thanks to that win over Sydney but geez, the Taipans’ D was kinda stinky last night against the Hawks.

Right out of the gate they had crucial breakdowns that led to open looks for knockdown shooters and Goorjian’s crew never really looked back from there.

“The Hawks just came in and did whatever they wanted,” Mike Kelly commented postgame.

“I think they would’ve been a little bit surprised at some of the opportunities they had in that first quarter especially.” 

Worrying signs for the Snakes.

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