Studs and Duds: Round 8

Tuesday, March 9, 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

Brisbane Bullets

The Bullets opened Round 8 a little shaky, losing to the Breakers, but they finished with a BANG; notching up wins over Perth and Melbourne.

Remember that 22-0 run this team gave up to New Zealand? Neither do I, because Andrej Lemanis’ men were brilliant against the league’s top two teams and are suddenly running hot.

“It was always going to take us some time to find our rhythm as a team,” Lemanis said.

“The pleasing thing is that we’ve continued to work as a group and trust what we’re about.”

Nathan Sobey and Vic Law continue to lead the Bullets as the undisputed stars of the show, but they’re being ably supported by a host of other contributors.

Especially…

Matt Hodgson (Brisbane Bullets)

Holy heck! That’s how you catch a body!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WITH ZERO REGARD FOR HUMAN LIFE. MATTHEW HODGSON.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/BrisbaneBullets?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrisbaneBullets</a> <a href="https://t.co/i7FmnCyVYH">pic.twitter.com/i7FmnCyVYH</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1368424055087407111?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Matt Hodgson put the exclamation mark on his team’s big win yesterday – and his own outstanding performance – with this enormous smash.

The towering centre scored a career-high 24 points in the W, eclipsing his previous high of 20 set just a couple of weeks ago.

“Hodgy’s been playing great. It’s nice to be able to play through him,” Lemanis said.

“His presence on the glass, his defensive presence to change shots and his skill in executing what we do in pick-and-roll defence – all of that has a positive influence for us.”

The Bullets are now 7-3 with Hodgson on the floor, having lost all 3 games the big fella sat out earlier in the season.

Perth Wildcats

The Wildcats won two of their three games this week as they went down to the Bullets but got past both the Phoenix and the Hawks.

They’re just a class act, Trevor Gleeson’s an all-time great and their ability to recruit the right players and then quickly assimilate them has been on full display this season.

John Mooney, for example, is a highly-skilled, no-nonsense workhorse in the vein of Matt Knight and Nick Kay.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">John 'Mr. Double Double' Mooney ?<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PerthWildcats</a> big guy was at it again in Round 8<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> By the Numbers powered by <a href="https://twitter.com/LaTrobeFin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LaTrobeFin</a> <a href="https://t.co/pzbZrTzx9d">pic.twitter.com/pzbZrTzx9d</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1368729654664650755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Oh, and Todd Blanchfield is a picture of consistency at both ends of the floor. Read that sentence again as that tells you everything you need to know about how this team is tracking right now.

Speaking of consistency….

Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)

It was another sensational week from the long-time captain of the ‘Studs’.

Cotton poured in a team-high 28 in Perth’s win over SEM and then had 16 of his team-high 29 in the fourth quarter as he made things interesting against the Bullets.

To close out the round, the reigning MVP scored a – yep, you guessed it – team-high 18 points as the Wildcats hammered the Hawks.

He’ll be back in here next week and the week after that and….

Kyle Adnam & Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa (South East Melbourne Phoenix)

The Phoenix went winless this week but we’ve got to throw some love to their back-up PGs who balled out in the absence of Keifer Sykes.

Adnam was brilliant against Perth as he scored a career-high 28 while Le’afa enjoyed a coming-out party of his own across the round. The talented DP played great minutes against the Wildcats and then dropped a career-high 15 points in the loss to the Kings.

“Izayah’s been awesome,” fellow Kiwi Yanni Wetzell stated.

“He’s taken that ‘next man’ mentality. Keifer’s obviously been out and he has stepped up to the occasion. He’s balling. He’s playing really well (and) he’s playing with confidence.”

Tai Webster (New Zealand Breakers)

New Zealand’s star PG continued to cook throughout Round 8, averaging 25.5 points per game on nearly 60 percent shooting from the field.

It was the Webster combo that fired the Breakers past the Bullets while, against Melbourne, Tai’s 32 points brought his squad right to the brink of victory.

T-Web is one of only two players ranked inside the top five for both scoring and assists, with the other being MVP favourite Bryce Cotton. The next steps for Webster this season: avoiding silly fouls and knocking down his free throws.

Dejan Vasiljevic (Sydney Kings)

You know the drill… the kid’s an absolute gun.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big Win <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> !!<br><br>Oh, and ......<a href="https://twitter.com/DejanMv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DejanMv</a> is the Rookie of the Year!</p>— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/1368152839181103106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Adelaide 36ers

In a round in which nobody went undefeated, the 36ers were another to split their games but they deserve a shout-out nonetheless for their resilient play.

Coming off a confidence-sapping beat-down from the Breakers and reeling from the loss of Isaac Humphries, the Sixers were valiant in defeat to Illawarra and then snapped their losing streak with a win over Cairns.

Tony Crocker elevated his play this week and Daniel Johnson did his thing on Saturday, leading the game in both points (30) and rebounds (9). And while those guys certainly led the way, the entire squad deserves some love for answering the call.

“Losing ‘Ice’ is massive (but) it’s given some guys some minutes,” Johnson said.

“Jack (McVeigh) has been huge since ‘Ice’ (Humphries) has gone down and Sunday (Dech) and ‘Crock’ (Tony Crocker), their defence really helps us bigs… and Josh (Giddey) is just doing a good job giving people the ball in the right spots.”

Graham Denholm (Getty Images)

The Getty crew are ON FIRE!

A few weeks ago we thought Ian Hitchcock had wrapped up this year’s Best Sports Photography Award with this snap of Space Cam baptising the Kings.

But don’t stop the count! He’s got some competition.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hang it in the Louvre.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBLCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBLCup</a> <a href="https://t.co/VDY0U3euqz">pic.twitter.com/VDY0U3euqz</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1368465705255858178?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

DUDS

Illawarra Hawks

The Hawks have now lost 6 of their past 9 games and, to be honest, that was a miserable performance from them yesterday.

The Wildcats are tough, don’t get me wrong, and bringing consistent effort during this hectic Cup schedule is not easy to do. But Hawks fans deserve better than what their team served up in that one.

“We weren’t up for the fight. We didn’t want any part of it,” head coach Brian Goorjian said.

“We got out-hustled, out-coached, out-played… it was just a really disappointing situation.”

The Hawks were never in the game right from the opening tip and at one stage during the second half the ‘Cats led it by 30.

“This is really hard to come out of my mouth, because I really like these guys… it’s just like a punch in the face,” Goorjian added.

“I’ll handle the winning and the losing and I’m prepared, through this process of developing this team, to get kicked in the teeth a little bit.

“But I’m not going to tolerate not moving the ball as a group and getting out-hustled and out-worked. It’s not a personal thing, it falls on me to get that out of the group.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hawks coach Brian Goorjian and guard Emmett Naar spoke to the media after the side's 87-70 loss to the Perth Wildcats.<br><br>"We weren't up for the fight, didn't want any part of it, got out-hustled, out-coached, outplayed."<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/CoAcXU87S8">pic.twitter.com/CoAcXU87S8</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1368510764605079555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

South East Melbourne Phoenix

The Phoenix took back-to-back losses in Round 8 and, despite both being close, they let themselves down in key areas to swallow those Ls.

Adman was spectacular against the Wildcats and Mitch Creek was spirited but, as a team, they failed to keep Perth off the offensive glass.

I mean, you HAVE TO box out against the Wildcats and the Phoenix simply did not get that done, especially in the opening half. Across the night SEM gave up 18 o-boards with Perth grabbing an enormous 43% of available rebounds off their own misses.

Then, against the Kings, SEM’s pick-and-roll D let them down with their rotations being a step behind the play.

That being said, this team has hung pretty tough since the injury to their star PG. And with Ryan Broekhoff joining the team today, I’m still high on them to make a playoff run.

Cairns Taipans

The Snakes snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over the Kings but then tumbled back to Earth on Saturday with a loss to Adelaide.

Nate Jawai was big against Sydney and Fabijan Krslovic worked hard in both games… but this just doesn’t seem like a very connected team right now.

Cam Oliver’s clearly unhappy, Kouat Noi can’t get it going, Mo King needs more minutes, Mike Kelly looks frustrated and Scott Machado’s finding things tough with teams throwing all kinds of bodies in his direction.

Nobody needs a couple of wins this week more than the Taipans.

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