Stat Chat: Round 10 (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 – 9

He might be a point guard, but Mitch McCarron stood taller than most in the 36ers lost to Perth in round 10. The captain pulled down a staggering nine offensive rebounds in an effort to help will his team to victory. He is the first starting point guard to have that number since Steve Woodberry did it for the Bullets in 1999. It is also no surprise that it is the most of any guard in the 40-minute era.

What’s Not – 100

It wasn’t the ideal round for Adelaide, as they dropped to key games that could have catapulted their season in a big way. It’s been widely spoken about their defensive efforts and across both games they gave up an average of 100 points to their opposition. Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how good a team is offensively, those numbers are always going to be hard to beat consistently.

Mitch McCarron.

What’s Hot – 15 & 6

For a team that’s looking for any positives they can build upon, they need to look no further than the previous performances of young gun Gorjok Gak. After taking his opportunities with injuries to regular big men, Gak put up 15 points and six rebounds in the loss to United. It is perhaps his activity on both ends that shows such promise for the Bullets. His non stop movement and getting to the right places to impact the game. The future is bright.

What’s Not – 104

Defensively is where the Bullets really hurt themselves against United, giving up 104 points to a team that has struggled to find consistency all season on that end of the floor. Further to that, United shot 58% from the field, 43% from three and 86% from the line. If your opposition is putting up those kind of efficient numbers offensively, it’s going to be tough to claw out a win.

Gorjok Gak.

What’s Hot – 2

For the first time in Cairn’s history they have won consecutive overtime games at home. Looking even deeper, the last time Cairns played a double overtime game was back in 2015 - also against the Illawarra Hawks. We nearly had an incredible numerology as that game seven years ago finished at 103 to 101, which was one point off Cairn’s 102-101 win Saturday.

What’s Not – 5 in 5

Clutch time is defined as the minutes when the scoring margin is less than five points with under five minutes remaining. Cairns would want a few of those clutch moments back in this game where they had numerous chances to end the game in both regulation and the first overtime, but failed to execute a decent offensive possession. DJ Hogg stood up with some big shots, as did Tahjere McCall, but they left the door open numerous times for the Hawks.

Shannon Scott.

What’s Hot – 48.6

What a shooting performance from Illawarra in their heartbreaking loss in Cairns. The Hawks shot a sizzling 48.6% from deep and knocked down 7 threes on their way to putting up 101 points. Michael Frazier was a standout with his six threes, but it was Tyler Harvey and Peyton Siva who delivered some incredibly tough threes to help force overtime twice.

What’s Not – 3

Turnovers were costly for both teams in this one, but it was the three turnovers in the second overtime period that proved to really hurt Illawarra. In fact they had more turnovers than made field goals in the second overtime and in the end suffered yet another heartbreaking loss they’ll think they gave away.

Michael Frazier II and Tyler Harvey.

What’s Hot – 3

Coming back from an ACL is an incredibly tough and emotional moment. But how about returning to the floor against your former club after nine months of extensive rehab, and knocking down your first ever career NBL three. Well, enter Callum Dalton. As Dean Vickerman emptied his bench with two minutes remaining Xavier Rathan-Mayes unselfishly found the big fella open at the top of the key to which he let his three ball fly. The perfect moment. 

What’s Not – 8

Where do you begin? The likelihood of walking away with a win when you’re up eight with 45 seconds to go is pretty high. But what about when you’re up five with 8 seconds to go? The turnover on the inbound. The failed follow up on that breakaway miss. The fouling of a three point shooter. The missed boxout on the free throw. United had to basically make numerous mistakes to lose this game and Perth had to capitalize on each of them – and they did just that.  

Callum Dalton.

What’s Hot – 8

Will McDowell-White just continues to get better with every game he plays and has proven himself to be the key leader in this Breakers team. His offensive numbers continue to grow, and he dished out eight assists with zero turnovers in this top of the table clash. His poise and leadership offensively has been vital for the success so far for New Zealand.

What’s Not – 2

It was tipped as game of the round, and in the end it didn’t disappoint. After holding the Kings to just nine points in the fourth, it ultimately wasn’t enough as the Breakers drop consecutive games for the first time in NBL23. This is unfamiliar territory for them, so let’s see how they respond.

Will McDowell-White.

What’s Hot – 7

What a roll the Phoenix are on. With their big win over Adelaide, South East Melbourne have now won seven straight games on their home floor and continue to get better with every passing round. At full strength they’re one of the most talented teams in the league and they’re starting to put it all together. Back-to-back 100+ scoring games has them rolling right now. Can anyone slow them down?

What’s Not – 53.6

Somewhat uncharacteristically, the Phoenix shot just 53.6% from the freethrow line in their win against Adelaide. Thankfully they shot almost 50% from the field which was more than enough to get the job done, but their 13 missed free throws was a strange sight for a team that shoots it so well, considering how often they find themselves there.

Zhou Qi.

What’s Hot – 3

For the first time since 1999, the Wildcats have won three consecutive games in Adelaide. It’s one of the oldest and best rivalries in NBL history and these games always deliver the goods. Bryce Cotton was en fuego in this one, with his first ever 30-point night in the city of churches out of the 12 times he has played there.

What’s Not – 19

What a win it was for Perth on their home floor, just snatching it at the death. They left themselves quite the task throughout this one, though, giving up 19 offensive boards to United. When you give a team that many second opportunities, they’re going to make you pay more often that not. Thankfully, it will feel better to learn from a win than a loss.

Corey Webster and Bryce Cotton.

What’s Hot – 50

When it comes to records under Chase Buford, the Kings are 10-0 when they score 50 or more in the first half of games. Sydney has contributors the entire way down their roster, which makes them so tough to defend when they play with the pace they did in New Zealand. The starters are having their usual productions, but it’s the bench for Sydney which has been incredibly consistent.

What’s not – 7.5

Two final quarters to forget for the Kings in round 10 as they averaged just 7.5 points across both games played. Thankfully they managed to hold off a fast finishing New Zealand in their first game when they scored just nine in the last quarter. It wasn’t quite the same when it came to the grand final rematch, as the Kings managed just six points whilst giving up 26 to Tasmania who clawed out an improbable win.

Justin Simon.

What’s Hot – 14

Early in the fourth quarter Tasmania were staring down a 14-point deficit against Sydney. When most teams may struggle to lock in enough defensively to bring that margin back, not these JackJumpers. Their grit and grind was out in force as possession by possession they managed to get within striking distance and then give the ball to their silent assassin to finish the job Motal Kombat style.

What's Not - 50

When you hold such a potent offensive team to 3/16 from three, you’d put yourself in a great position to win the game. However, the JackJumpers gave up 50 points in the paint to the Kings, which had them rolling along nicely until 3/4 time. When you consider the Kings had just six points total in the fourth quarter, that’s a whole lot of points in the paint in three quarters. 

Isaac White.