Studs and Duds: Round 2

Tuesday, January 26, 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

Tyler Harvey (The Hawks)

This guy is a certified bucket.

When the Hawks signed Tyler Harvey back in July a scout in the States described him to me as a ‘Steph Curry light” on account of his ability to quickly heat up and score from anywhere on the floor. Well, he sure looked like that last Thursday.

With his float-game on overdrive, Harvey put 31 on the Bullets in a very, very impressive display.

“I said to him after the game, ‘your conditioning – your will – is special’,” Hawks coach Brian Goorjian remarked.

“The kid’s in tremendous shape and he’s got a really strong constitution and a will to win.”

Isaac Humphries (Adelaide 36ers)

Holy moly! Humphries fell three blocks short of a spectacular triple-double against the Breakers as he registered 24 points, 11 rebounds and a remarkable 7 blocked shots.

The big fella was furious with the stat-keepers for selling him short after the overtime win but the review wound up bumping his block count by an extra two swats.

That performance was on the back of a similar stat-sheet stuffing display against the Phoenix, where the 23-year-old posted 20, 8 and 5.

“It’s time people start taking notice,” Humphries stated in no uncertain terms.

“I’m f***ing here and I’m ready to go.”

Tai Webster (New Zealand Breakers)

You know who else is here? Tai Webster.

This dude looked terrific in his first game as a fully-contracted NBL player, scoring a game-high 34 while dropping a game-high 8 dimes.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">3?4? points from Tai Webster on debut for the <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a> ?<br><br>We're ready for a whole lot more of this in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/6KAEBkEYMB">pic.twitter.com/6KAEBkEYMB</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1352574582222319618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He coughed it up a bit and was a little inefficient but, for a first-up performance, this was a warning shot across the bow of the National Basketball League.

“When we came back, took control of the game and built a lead, Tai was huge,” Breakers coach Dan Shamir said.

“He made the right plays. It wasn’t perfect but he had a few good reads and he dominated.”

That said, Webster carried a heavy load on Friday night and Shamir knows that he’ll need others to come to the party.

“He had to take a lot on himself in this game, partially because our guys were totally gassed at the end of the game,” the Breakers coach told stuff.co.nz.

“In a normal situation there would be more balance, with Corey (Webster) playing and Lamar (Patterson) in better condition. On Friday it was, at some points, all him.”

Bryce Cotton & John Mooney (Perth Wildcats)

The Wildcats were their typical resilient selves on Sunday as they ground out a gutsy first-up win.

As always, Cotton was brilliant. The Phoenix threw all kinds of coverages at the reigning MVP and, with his teammates ready to execute counters, Cotton found ways to shake loose and make plays. He also used that attention to set up others for open looks, adding 7 dimes to his game-high 27 points.

While we’re on the ‘Cats, props also to John Mooney for his impressive NBL debut. The 23-year-old was a pillar of strength right from the opening tip as he gobbled up rebounds and finished plays around the rim.

Mooney finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds and one incredible, highlight-reel put-back.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">SH??K! John Mooney locks in rebound of the year and gets the Red Army on their feet! <a href="https://t.co/UmoO0nSXj0">pic.twitter.com/UmoO0nSXj0</a></p>— Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1353236654765400064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Jarell Martin (Sydney Kings)

Martin had 22 and 11 in just 24 minutes in Sydney’s win over Cairns.

He’s just getting warmed up.

Casper Ware (Sydney Kings)

Yes, coach, I’m back on.

Although, truth be told: I never actually fell off. Sure, I put Casper in the ‘Duds’ last week but that was out of frustration that the little master wasn’t playing to his strengths.

He didn’t play to his strengths in last year’s Grand Final series and he slipped into a similar approach in Sydney’s opening game of the season.

The man is one of the toughest match-ups in the league – don’t get it twisted – but at the offensive end, he’s always at his best when he’s aggressive towards the rim and doesn’t force things from long range.

I mean, let me ask you this: how good was it to watch Casper regularly get two feet in the paint throughout the first half on Saturday? Yes, he only scored one basket to half time but he worked his way into the game; he got others involved, he mixed things up and then…. BANG! The superstar blasted the Kings to a double-digit lead in the third quarter with three consecutive long range bombs.

Then, with the game on the line in crunch time, Ware got back on the front foot, scoring twice at the hoop as he drove past Taipans guard Jarrod Kenny.

Adam Forde can say that Casper is always the same guy – and you love that support from your coach – but I don’t share that perspective. We watched him blaze away from long range throughout most of last season (he set a new record for three-point attempts in a single season of 40-minute games) and he slipped into a similar approach after the first few minutes in round one.

When he mixes it up… that right there is when Casper is at his best.

Cam Oliver (Cairns Taipans)

Speaking of that game, this was the filthiest dunk I’ve ever seen in the NBL.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2021 Dunk of the Year candidate from the NBL ? <br><br>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a>) <a href="https://t.co/d1Cmg5E4cL">pic.twitter.com/d1Cmg5E4cL</a></p>— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1353026059571179522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

We’ve had some incredible bangers – Clark on Loughton, Prather on Ogilvy, JC on Dalton and James Smith soaring above the 36ers all come to mind – but for me, Oliver’s double-poster tops the lot.

If you haven’t caught it yet, this edit from Dunk Comp was a primo work of art…

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">While you were sleeping.<br><br>? <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBL</a> ? <a href="https://twitter.com/JakeUno?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JakeUno</a> <a href="https://t.co/RJVmskvnAN">pic.twitter.com/RJVmskvnAN</a></p>— Dunk Comp (@dunk_comp) <a href="https://twitter.com/dunk_comp/status/1352960388120285189?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Ian Hitchcock (Getty Images)

Attention: Sport Australia… here is your winner for the 2021 Best Sports Photography Award.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HANG IT IN THE LOUVRE.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/ofVBzzvIem">pic.twitter.com/ofVBzzvIem</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1352948636741586944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Forget the nominations, just give the man the trophy.

DUDS

Brisbane Bullets

They’re going to improve but let’s be honest, the Bullets have begun NBL21 firing blanks.

Across their first two games – both home losses – these guys have gone a measly 14-of-64 from the three-point line.

Their offence is generating lots of good looks but after shooting 8-for-32 from long range in their season-opener, this week they made just 6 from the same number of attempts.

“I would say a good 80 percent of those shots were good looks,” head coach Andrej Lemanis said.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to knock them down.”

Cairns Taipans

It was a rough weekend for the Sunshine State as the Taipans also went winless… and that’s now three home losses for the Snakes from their opening four games.

The issues for Cairns are glaringly obvious and they’re almost all at the defensive end of the floor.

“We haven’t defended the way we need to defend to be a championship level team,” head coach Mike Kelly said after the loss to Sydney.

“It’s an issue. Until we fix it, it’s an issue.”

The positive for the Snakes is that there were signs of improvement in the second half last night against Melbourne. Hopefully they can use that as a springboard.

South East Melbourne Phoenix

This might be a little harsh, as they did split a road-double, but I thought the Phoenix were pretty disappointing against Perth.

I mean, there are two things you have to get done in the Jungle to give yourself a chance – look after the ball and clean the defensive glass – and SEM were poor in both of those areas.

Incredibly, despite losing the possession game, the Phoenix actually led by a basket midway through the fourth, only to get outscored 20-3 over the next five minutes.

“We’ve got to be absolutely spot on with our execution and our defensive execution and we weren’t, we had a couple of blunders,” head coach Simon Mitchell said.

“We lost pace in our offence and we turned the ball over too much.”

They’ll need to be much sharper in the rematch on Friday night if they’re to topple the champs.

New Zealand Breakers

Leaving a shooter to run a double inside the arc when you’re up three with seconds remaining? Not a good idea.

Oh, and deliberately fouling when you’re 2 points down with 26 seconds left and the shot clock at 14? That’s a rookie mistake from a veteran.

The Hoop Gods

I’m sorry, but Angus Glover suffering yet another knee injury is just cruelty at a ridiculous level.

This is a kid who has fought back from three previous ACL injuries and, each and every time, has worked his butt off to get back on the floor. For him to go down yet again is just heartbreaking.

Hopefully the results of his scans, which are due sometime today, will bring positive news.

If they don’t, Glover will need all kinds of support.

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