Stat Chat - Round 8, NBL24 (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 – 20
What a comeback and second half from the 36ers against the Phoenix. As a team they put up 61 points in the last 20 minutes, but it was DJ Vasiljevic who was the star. Vasiljevic had 20 points in the second half, including three threes and seven free-throws. The 36ers had eight threes in that half as they came all the way back to stun South East Melbourne.

What’s not – 70
The first quarter was one to forget for Adelaide as the Phoenix shot a blistering 70 per cent in the period to put up 35 points. They hit three threes and had 20 points in the paint and looked in complete control. It wasn’t that much better in the second quarter either for Adelaide, who faced a huge deficit as they went to the locker room at halftime.

DJ Vasiljevic.

What’s hot – 23
It’s been a quiet season so far for Chris Smith, but the import guard exploded off the bench for 23 points in their loss to Perth. Smith looked ultra aggressive in this one and shot 10-15 from the field and 7-8 from the charity stripe. With the opposition heavily focused on the likes of Nathan Sobey, Brisbane needs Smith to be a consistent scorer going forward.

What’s not – 2
The game was tied with under 30 seconds left and Brisbane gave up two offensive rebounds that ultimately ended their chance of winning. The first was to Keanu Pinder off a Bryce Cotton miss, on which he was fouled and sent to the line to knock down two and put Perth up by the same. After Chris Smith missed a three, Brisbane sent Bryce Cotton to the line and he hit the first free throw to put the Wildcats up three. Shockingly he missed the second, which still would have given Brisbane a chance, but he got his own offensive rebound and then iced the game with two more points.

Chris Smith.

What’s hot – 5
It’s time to give some love to Lat Mayen, who has undoubtedly put himself right in the mix for the Most Improved Player award. Mayen hit five threes agianst Perth on seven attempts and continues to step up when called upon for Adam Forde. The Taipans overall are struggling to shoot the three, but Mayen is shooting it at almost 50 per cent as a lone hand in that aspect of their offence.

What’s not – 10
Cairns are the second best defensively rated team in the NBL, but couldn’t showcase that in overtime against Tasmania. The Taipans scored 10 points themselves in that period and had no answer for Jordon Crawford, who scored 10 on his own to set the JackJumpers up for their hail mary buzzer beater from Jack McVeigh.

Lat Mayen.

What’s hot – 6
With everything that happened last week for the Hawks, it was important for them to get off to a good start. One of the more impressive factors in their opening quarter was the six assists they had on seven made field goals. It showed that the team was willing to get everyone involved but also execute under their new coach.

What’s not – 3
The Hawks managed to win a game scoring just 69 points, which no one will remember because the win is all that counts. What will be interesting to keep an eye on is where the offensive output comes from. The Hawks had just three players make more than three field goals on the night. Tyler Harvey, Sam Froling and Gary Clark did the heavy lifting scoring wise and were also the only three Hawks to finish the game in double figures.

Tyler Harvey.

What’s hot – 25
Chris Goulding. That’s it, that’s what’s hot. Goulding has been phenomenal all season but in particular in the last four games where he has hit 25 threes, including 8-15 on Sunday! In fact, his 25-58 across those games just further solidifies him as the best shooter we have seen for some time. Goulding has United humming and if the season were to end right now, he’d have an MVP trophy in his hands.

What’s not – 4
United were facing a huge half time deficit due to their poor second quarter. Melbourne had four turnovers in those 10 minutes, which isn’t ridiculous. But then you realize they only made six shots in the same span, it’s not ideal. Thankfully for them, they turned it all around in the second half and exploded out the gates.

Chris Goulding.

What’s hot – 14
This is the third consecutive Stat Chat piece where I have written about Anthony Lamb and going off in the second quarter. His first-half explosion against Tasmania was fun to watch as he poured on 14 of those in the second term and hunted out Majok Deng on defence. For whatever reason, Lamb seems to elevate his scoring in this quarter and has been putting up some big numbers since arriving.

What’s not – 4
Who walked under a ladder in New Zealand? The Breakers just cannot catch a break right now and that was compounded on Thursday with Will McDowell-White joining their injury list. In NBL24 New Zealand has had four key pieces miss significant time due to injury and with no key return date’s on the horizon, things look bleak for a team that made the Championship Series last season.

Anthony Lamb.

What’s hot – 12.8, 6.6, 3, 1
That’s a lot of numbers I know, but with Perth on this win streak, I think it’s key to highlight Kristian Doolittle’s efforts in the last five games. The move to slide Doolittle to the small forward position has paid off in spades, as his size and athleticism has helped lead this success for the Wildcats. Across the winning streak he's averaged just under 13ppg, 6.6 rebounds, three assists and a steal and has had the best +/- in the entire league in that span.

What’s not – 9
It wasn’t the prettiest game against Brisbane but the Wildcats hung on to get the win. In the second half, though, Perth missed nine free throws and nearly ended up throwing away a victory. It wasn’t just one player either, as every one of the six players who went to the line in that half all missed at least one.

Kristian Doolittle.

What’s hot – 5
I don’t think the +/- number is incredibly important, but I do think there are times when it showcases something about a player or lineup that needs to be addressed. In the game against Adelaide, all five of the Phoenix’s bench unit finished the game with a positive +/-, whilst all the starters were in the negative.

What’s not – 61
The second half collapse from South East Melbourne would have left a bad taste in the mouth as the Phoenix head to the mid-season break. They gave up 61 points to an Adelaide team that has struggled to score the ball a few times this season. It wasn’t so much the number of points but rather how they gave them up, allowing multiple open looks and layups on a consistent basis.

Will Cummings.

What’s hot – 37.8
Unlike the second half, the Kings showed how potent their defensive switching plan can be in the first 20 minutes against United. Sydney held the championship favourites to 37.8% shooting whilst they piled it on themselves, scoring 53 at 52.5 per cent. It’s a defence designed to not necessarily cause turnovers and get steals, but take opposition out of what they feel comfortable in.

What’s not – 67
Much like South East Melbourne above, the second half from Sydney will have players, coaches and fans all scratching their heads. Granted it’s never an easy task to cool down a man like Chris Goulding when he gets hot, but giving up 67 points in just 20 minutes to any team is a concern. Goulding wasn’t the only one to hurt them in the second half as Luke Travers matched him with 18 points himself. The Kings need Jaylin Galloway back ASAP.

Jaylen Adams.

What’s hot – 10
After a quiet game, Jordon Crawford took over in Overtime against Cairns and put his team in the driver’s seat. He scored 10 points in that last five minutes and was scoring any way he wanted. So much so that when the ball was being inbounded at the end, the entire Cairns team knew to get it out of his hands which meant that Jack McVeigh was left to be the hero - and that’s exactly what he did. A deep buzzer beating three from probably the JackJumpers' best player throughout that whole game was a deserved ending to the clash for the power forward.

What’s not – 4
It was an up and down weekend for Milton Doyle, who ended up fouling out of the game against Cairns. Across the double in Round 8, Doyle had four scoreless quarters, something which has rarely happened since he arrived in the NBL. Doyle only played three minutes in the first half against Cairns due to foul trouble but came alive briefly in the second before fouling out.

Jordon Crawford.