Stat Chat: Playoff Series (What's Hot & What's Not)

Statistics ... whether you love them or hate them, stats play a huge part in sport.

Whether it's when recruiting a player, how teams prepare, how a starting five is setup, or just about any facet of the game, numbers are crunched and relied upon as fact. 

This year, 2018 NBL Champion and expert commentator Pete Hooley will be our resident stats man on NBL.com.au, providing a rundown of all the key numbers from the weekend's games. 

Keep an eye out after every round for the latest edition of 'Stat Chat'. 

What’s Hot – 135:58

Up until Round 17, Lat Mayen had only played 48:55 total across the course of the NBL23 season. Then in the remaining six games, which were the biggest of them all for Cairns, he logged 135:58 minutes and came up big when his team needed it most. With McCall and Scott out, Forde turned to his young rookie and asked for a spark – and he got a lot more than that. Talk about taking advantage of an opportunity.

What’s Not – 6

Injuries decimated the Taipans late in the season and it came at the worst time in this series. Across the three games, six starters were missing in action. That’s Keanu Pinder for all three games, Tahjere McCall for one game and Shannon Scott for the last two. Credit Adam Forde for the way he instilled confidence in each and every player to step up when needed, like Lat Mayen and Ben Ayre, but it was always going to be a tough task to win it all when you’re missing such important pieces.

Lat Mayen.

What’s Hot – 1

Only one other team in NBL history has gone from worst to first in consecutive seasons. Back in 2009, the South Dragons were champions after finishing the previous season on the bottom of the table with a 5-25 record. The Breakers won the same number of games last season and now find themselves three wins away from what would be a monumental turnaround for the club.

What’s Not – 23

The physicality that New Zealand play with has been a trademark of their success all season long. However, across the three clashes against Tasmania, they averaged 23 fouls per game. The JackJumpers are a similar team as the Breakers in terms of slowing it down on the offensive end, now they will find themselves matching up against one of the quickest teams the league.

Tom Abercrombie.

What’s Hot - 27.3

Across the three games the Kings bench averaged 27.3 points per game - including two games over 30. Look no further than Game 3 when Sydney went on their run to break the game open, it was bench players making big plays and helping spark the squad. Once this Sydney team is up and about they’re awfully hard to stop. The depth of this team is a major reason for their success, as they bring the energy when it’s needed and that can even spark starters like DJ Vasiljevic to begin to get hot.

What’s Not 59 & 54

In the first two games the Kings gave up 59 points and 54 points in the first halves to Cairns. Thankfully, they were able to claw their way back in one of those outings, but how will that go against a team like New Zealand who likes to slow the game down? That fast-paced style Cairns has played with all season was always going to allow Sydney a chance to get back into games after slow starts.

Jaylin Galloway

What’s Hot – 12.3

Without their floor general and leader, Josh Magette, Tasmania still managed to average 12.3 assists per game across the series. Whilst it might not look like a lot, when you factor in the magnitude of removing Magette from this offence it’s a big credit to other players stepping up. Up until Game 1 Magette had never missed a game for Tasmania, so there had never been a need for anyone else to log major minutes in that point guard role and set up the team. It was pretty evident throughout though how much this team missed his on-court presence and leadership when they needed him the most.

What’s Not – 26.3

Following up on the above point, the loss of Magette meant that All-NBL First Team guard Milton Doyle’s role had to change a bit. In both losses for Tasmania, Doyle shot just 26.3% and scored a total of 22 points. It was clear that New Zealand wanted to make him work for every single touch on the floor, and it was always going to be a tough series for him to find his spots in the offence without his point guard. P.S. Please lock that man in for NBL24 and beyond, Scott Roth.

Josh Magette.