Stat Chat: Round 2 (What's Hot and 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 set up, 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 once again be our resident stats man on NBL.com.au to provide a rundown of all the key numbers heading into a new round of games. 

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

What’s Hot – 28
It’s been a slow start to the season for Trey Kell, who is still finding his fitness after missing a bunch of the pre-season with injury. Kell had his best game in 36ers colours against Sydney, and dropped 28 points at an efficient 58% from the field. Kell was brought into this team to unlock the offensive side of his game and that’s a good foundation for him to build on.

What’s Not – 109
For all the offensive struggles that Adelaide has had to start the season, it would be disappointing for CJ Bruton that the one time they put up a winning score, they couldn’t get it done defensively. Adelaide had scored in the 70s in three straight games before hitting 100 against the Kings. 100 points should have you winning most games in this league, but not when you give up 109 on the other end.

Trey Kell.

What’s Hot – 17
This new look roster for Brisbane can be tough to score on when they bring the physicality and discipline. The Bullets held the Breakers to 17 points in the fourth to come away with what many thought was a surprising win. Give a lot of credit to the recruiting of Justin Schueller in the off-season for bringing in a guy like Sam McDaniel who has had a massive impact on that end of the floor.

What’s Not – 41
It was a mixed bag for Brisbane across Round 2. There were some outstanding individual performances in both games, but one stat that stood out to me was their bench production. It was a 41-point swing in terms of bench points in each game. Firstly they outscored the Breakers bench by 21 in a win, before being outscored by 20 by the Taipans bench in a loss.

Sam McDaniel.

What’s Hot – 17
What a breakout round for Next Star Bobi Klintman. He looks to have found his feet in the league and in this Taipans team after exploding across their Round 2 double-header. Klintman averaged 17 points and 8.5 rebounds in the two wins for Cairns as he continues to rocket up draft boards. I have a feeling he’s not done yet.

What’s Not – 16
The Taipans had a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter against Brisbane and just managed to hold on to win by three. The bullets outscored them 30-17 to end the game in what would have been a disaster had they managed to lose that game.  

Bobi Klintman.

What’s Hot – 65.9
The South East Melbourne Phoenix were without a true centre and expected to struggle protecting the paint, and that’s exactly what happened. The Hawks shot 65.9% from inside the three point line as they piled on the points against an undermanned Phoenix outfit. Within the first five minutes of this game, you knew it was a race to 100+ as to who would win.

What’s Not – 106
It wasn’t all smiles for Illawarra, who notched up their first win of the season. Defensively they just were nowhere near the level they need to be. With the Phoenix having to rely heavily on their three players for scoring, they did exactly that and put up a whopping 106 points in defeat. Whether it was Creek, Cummings or Browne, it seemed whenever any of them wanted to score, they did. If the Hawks want to be competitive in NBL24, they need to be a lot better defensively than we have seen in the first two games.

Hyunjung Lee.

What’s Hot – 17
Without Jo Lual-Acuil Jr, Melbourne United needed to find someone to come in and fill a very important role in the short term. They found that and more with Rob Loe coming out of retirement. Loe has been a fantastic addition to this team, and perhaps has not looked better than he did on Sunday. Loe had 17 points/rebounds (10 and 7) including four offensive boards to provide a huge spark off the bench. He gives a different look to this offensive unit with his ability to spread the floor and knock down the three.

What’s Not – 8:05
United looked to have this game all but won in the fourth quarter. With 8:05 remaining, they held a 13-point lead over Tasmania on their home floor. What transpired next should not surprise anyone who has seen the way the JackJumpers never give up. Tasmania finished the game on an astonishing 25-7 run, led by Milton Doyle, and snatched victory away from Melbourne.

Rob Loe.

What’s Hot – 39
It could go down as the best hyphenated backcourt we have ever seen, and we are only at the beginning of the season. Will McDowell-White was back in action in Round 2 and suited up alongside Parker Jackson-Cartwright to give a glimpse to the rest of the league of how potent they can be together. They put up 39 points combined at an efficient 16 of 31 from the field. Yes, they didn’t get the win, but it’s a good place to build from if you’re Mody Maor.

What’s Not – 21
This Breakers team has a lot of pieces that still need to fit into their championship-contending puzzle, as we saw by their loss on Thursday night. On Thursday they were outscored by 21 points in bench production to the Bullets. I expect to see some shuffling with the starting unit in the next few weeks, which will help bolster their bench scoring.

Parker Jackson-Cartwright.

What’s Hot – 40
Forty seconds. That’s all it took in the clutch for Alex Sarr to drive the dagger into the 36ers. It started with the first big knockdown three with two minutes to go, to put the Wildcats up six. Then Perth got the rebound off an Adelaide miss and ran the same set to give Sarr another look at a three that would set the Red Army going bonkers. Timeout Adelaide. All of a sudden the game was over and this teenage phenom has NBA eyes glistening.

What’s Not – 2
It sounds like a broken record when talking about rebounding and Perth over the past two seasons, but something has to change. The Wildcats lost the rebound count to Adelaide by two, which if you’re looking at the matchups on paper, really shouldn’t happen. Between Pinder, Sarr, Doolittle and even Jordan Usher, Perth should be controlling the glass a lot better than they are. They gave up 10 offensive rebounds to the 36ers which led to 12 second-chance points.

Alexandre Sarr.

What’s Hot – 40.4
With all the injuries the Phoenix have had to deal with early in NBL24, Mike Kelly can take some positives away from the fact that they’ve shot the ball incredibly well. They sit second in the league for 3% at 40.4%, trailing only New Zealand who have played two less games. That number is even more impressive when you realize Will Cummings started 1-11 from beyond the arc.

What’s Not – 10.3
All things considered, South East Melbourne have done very well to continue to put up competitive scores with key pieces missing. Unfortunately, the offence seems to be coming off a lot of individual excellence, as the Phoenix sit last in the league for assists at just 10.3 per game. They had six in the loss to Cairns and 13 in the loss to Illawarra two days later. The ninth lowest assists per game is currently Brisbane at an average of 15, so it’s a significant gap at the bottom.

Will Cummings.

What’s Hot – 27
What I mentioned above for the Phoenix is the opposite to what the Kings are currently producing. Everyone knows how deep this team runs, and the 27 assists against Adelaide showed this team is willing to share the ball and have everyone chime in. Sydney currently leads the league with 21 assists per game on 33 made field goals. Now that’s an impressive ratio.

What’s Not – 9
It might not seem like much right now, but it had head coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah annoyed enough to call timeouts late in a game that was already in the books on Sunday. Sydney allowed Adelaide to score nine points in the final minute of the game after being up 16, to end up winning by just nine. If you’re new the NBL and how it works at the business end, percentage matters. Last season Melbourne United missed a finals berth by one field goal… one. Every moment truly matters.

Denzel Valentine.

What’s Hot - 14
What else could it be? Milton Doyle is a flat out superstar of this league and he might just be the best closer going around at this current point in time. That says a lot for a league that has Bryce Cotton and Jaylen Adams in it, but Milton Doyle consistently shows that he has what it takes to bring a team home in the fourth quarter. It’s not just his scoring, but his poise and ability to make the correct read in such high-pressure circumstances. In this game though, it was Doyle’s 14 fourth-quarter points, including the dagger from deep, that dragged Tasmania over the line once again.

What’s Not – 4
Without Will Magnay healthy, Marcus Lee needs to find a way to stay out of foul trouble and be on the floor when Scott Roth needs him the most. Lee had four fouls in both games across the weekend, which limited him to playing just 8 and 18 minutes across the double header. Lee’s length around the rim is crucial to the defensive strategy that Tasmania play with, so he needs to make sure he keeps himself available when called upon.

Marcus Lee.