Studs and Duds: Round 17

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

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

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

Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)

Don’t be mistaken: Bryce Cotton is the MVP. He was last year and he should be this year as well.

And for those who were starting to take him for granted, Cotton gave ‘em a good ol’ shake yesterday as he absolutely torched the Breakers.

The league’s best player came out firing in the Jungle, scoring 16 first-quarter points and blasting the Wildcats to an early double-digit lead.

Tom Abercrombie? Hard shows? Doubles? The Kiwis had no answer for Cotton as he piled up 32 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists with zero turnovers in yet another masterful performance.

“He’s a great player,” Breakers coach Dan Shamir stated.

“He finds ways to impact the game and today we had our best defender (on him) and we had our schemes, he just got us.”

According to @nblfacts, yesterday’s effort saw Cotton become the first player in NBL history to have at least 30 points and 10 assists in a non-overtime 40-minute game.

To amass those kinds of numbers at over 50 percent shooting and without a single turnover? Well that’s just ridiculously impressive.

“[Bryce] set the tempo for us,” Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson said.

“He was really aggressive and obviously scored a lot of points in that first quarter. Then they started trapping and he starts facilitating; getting ten dimes and no turnovers. The coach is pretty happy when you do that.”

Just as a reminder: Cotton is a two-time league MVP who is currently averaging CAREER-HIGH scoring and assists numbers on the team placed second on the ladder. He’s the league’s leading scorer (24.1 points per game) and also ranks inside the top three for both assists (6.0) and steals (1.5), while sitting outside the top twenty for turnovers (1.7).

Even by the numbers, you can’t get much more valuable than that.

John Mooney (Perth Wildcats)

Then, of course, there’s Mooney… who is himself having an incredible season.

Fresh off a 30-point, 14-rebound demolition of Melbourne, Mooney was outstanding again yesterday, pouring in 27 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

The big fella was his usual efficient self in this one, shooting 11-of-13 from the field. He even threw down this thunderous put-back as the cherry on top of an impressive home win.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">John Mooney wound it back and SLAMMED it home with authority! ?<br><br>He finished with a HUGE 27 points, 9 boards & 4 assists. <a href="https://t.co/0Eg6g0xRq2">pic.twitter.com/0Eg6g0xRq2</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1391331046193471491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jock Landale (Melbourne United)

Melbourne put the hurt on their cross-town rivals this week and it was Landale who led the way as he delivered a dominant performance.

The big fella overpowered the Phoenix on the offensive glass and then punished their switches with strong rolls and post-ups on the block. From there he took it to the perimeter where he drilled a couple of catch-and-shoot triples that blew SEM away.

When all was said and done, Landale finished with 27 and 11 in only 24 minutes of playing time and on just 13 field goal attempts.

Interestingly, he was nowhere near satisfied with his performance when he spoke to the media postgame, providing a glimpse into his focus on the defending champs out west.

“Offensively tonight I had it rolling but defensively it wasn’t great and I can’t do that against Perth,” Landale said.

“That’s where my head’s at right now. For me to not hold up my end of the bargain defensively wasn’t great and that’s going to hurt us against a really, really good team like Perth.”

The best part about Landale’s big game? He smashed home a number of dunks which means more money going towards providing mental health support to young Australians.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/COcKAIkL1Ku/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/COcKAIkL1Ku/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/COcKAIkL1Ku/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Jock Landale (@jocklandale)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

For more about Landale’s latest fundraising initiative, Giving Rise, and how you can get involved, click here.

Nathan Sobey (Brisbane Bullets)

Right from the opening tip, Sobey was in kill-mode against the Taipans.

The dynamic guard scored 8 points across Brisbane’s first three possessions and from there he never looked back. He had 19 at the major break – helping guide the Bullets to a 12-point half-time lead – and finished with a very tasty line of 25, 9 and 5.

That’s now three games in a row for Sobey with 20 or more points and 5 or more assists. Lock him in for All-NBL First Team.

Adelaide 36ers

Holy heck, that was a BIG-TIME win by Adelaide!

Trailing the Kings by 16 points midway through the third term, the 36ers peeled off an emphatic 24-8 run to tie it up, before blasting to victory in overtime.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/COpLGVOBZW1/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/COpLGVOBZW1/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/COpLGVOBZW1/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Adelaide 36ers (@adelaide36ers)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

It was a gutsy win that gave Adelaide’s slim playoff hopes a significant boost. They’ve now three in a row and if they get over Illawarra tomorrow, the 36ers will find themselves in fifth place on the ladder.

Josh Giddey was brilliant again as he amassed another TD, Brandon Paul continued to impress and Sunday Dech brought all kinds of hustle at both ends of the floor.

As for the bigs, well Isaac Humphries was an inside-outside presence with 3-of-3 triples and 6 blocks while Daniel Johnson dropped a trio of long range bombs in overtime to finish with 20 and 9.

“We’re trying to make a finals push,” Giddey commented postgame.

“There are four or five teams in that middle pack that are trying to crack into the top four so stats don’t matter to me, it’s about the Ws and we’ve strung three in a row together.

“(We’ve got) a tough one on Tuesday against Illawarra, who are in a similar position to us, so if we can back it up and make it four in a row we’re going to be full of momentum and we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”

Majok Deng (Cairns Taipans)

With the Taipans doing everything they can to finish the year positively, the return of Majok Deng has given them a welcome late-season boost.

Deng, who missed 16 games due to a knee injury sustained at the NBL Cup, scored 16 points in his comeback game last week and then backed that up with another impressive performance this week.

Up against a switched-on Brisbane team looking to make some noise, Deng put up 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block in a high-energy display.

“[Majok] loves to play. He’s happy to be out there playing again and we love having him,” Cairns coach Mike Kelly said.

“He’s a big part of our group, personality-wise and also basketball-wise, so it’s good to see him firing.”

Claude Nelson (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

I know, I know… the Phoenix have not been good recently.

But much love to that club, off the court, for the short-term signing of this outstanding young man.

Back on his feet after recently undergoing open heart surgery, I’m told Nelson handled himself brilliantly during his time with SEM in the lead-up to Saturday’s Throwdown.

Hats off to all involved.

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DUDS

South East Melbourne Phoenix

Okay… now it’s time to give the Phoenix a whack.

In fact, this is a fourth straight appearance in the duds for the boys in green which, come to think of it, may well be record-breaking stuff.

The bottom line: they’ve been really disappointing.

I mean, a few weeks ago this squad was 13-9 and appeared to be motoring towards a certain trip to the postseason. All they needed to do was, in the immortal words of Gold 5, stay on target. Well, since that time the Phoenix have lost 5 of their last 6 with their only win coming against the bottom-placed Taipans.

And it’s not just the wins and losses, either. It’s how they’re going about their business.

“We’ve had a fairly big fall from grace in the last three weeks,” head coach Simon Mitchell said.

“I don’t think we’ve had anywhere near the levels of competency to compete in a playoff series but there’s still games to go and form is fluctuating across the league… we need an injection of form and confidence.”

They also, it must be said, need a little bit of luck. After all, this is a team who has been without Dane Pineau, a key piece of their roster, the entire year and, just as they bring Keifer Sykes back from injury, they lose sharpshooters Ryan Broekhoff (fractured eye socket) and Cam Gliddon (hip). The impact of all that disruption shouldn’t be overlooked.

That being said, the most important thing they need is to get back to playing with a sense of urgency, especially at the defensive end.

Since the beginning of Round 14 the Phoenix have given up 90 points per game while allowing opponents to connect on nearly half of their field goal attempts and giving up over 20 free throw attempts per game.

They just continue to give teams a constant flow of high-percentage looks.

That’s a result of a number of things but, most worryingly, there’s been a lack of spirit and desperation within that group in recent games.

Of course, that all starts with your spiritual leader. Which, in South East Melbourne’s case is…

Mitch Creek (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

It has been a tumultuous season for Creek, to say the least, but his on-court impact plummeted this week when he served up his first donut since December, 2017 (when he only played a minute for Adelaide in the Jungle).

Creek was uncharacteristically passive against United, finishing with just 4 rebounds and 3 assists while going 0-for-6 from the field in 29 minutes on the floor.

I’ve got to say: I never thought I’d use the word ‘passive’ when writing about Mitch Creek but here we are.

“I think he needs to get himself going a little bit more,” Simon Mitchell said, when asked about Creek.

“We ran a whole bunch of plays for him, his teammates were trying to get him some looks. He just didn’t have his aggression with him.

“We’ll sit down and have a chat about it and find out how we can get him better looks because that’s not the Mitch Creek we’ve all come to know.”

Interestingly, Creek is set to play his 250th NBL game this week. He’s had a lot on his mind in recent times... perhaps a milestone like that will help focus his energies and fire his game back up.

The views on this page are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBL, its Clubs or partners.