Team-By-Team: Hooyah & Harden Up

By Damon Lowery.‍

Round 6 Edition

Author’s note: These opinions are mine and mine alone. It’s NEVER personal and always about the basketball.

A Hooyah is given for exemplary play and standout performances so if you get one – bask in the glory.

A Harden Up signifies an underwhelming effort or poor play so if you get one of these - cop it and just move on.

Defeated by South East Melbourne

HOOYAH – Bryce Cotton: You probably had to ice your arm after the game after taking 29 shots and playing the full 40 minutes. You were in a helluva aggressive mood. Despite missing 10 3-pointers, you still finished with 37 and had 8 dimes. I feel a 50 piece is just around the corner.

HARDEN UP – John Jenkins: You made and earned your reputation as a knockdown shooter but your stroke ain’t stroking at the moment. You were on the floor for 21 minutes and scored 2 points on 1/5 – and missed all four 3-point attempts. I’m confident the dam wall will break soon.

Defeated by Tasmania, defeated Illawarra

DOUBLE HOOYAH ALERT

HOOYAH – Raul Neto: You landed in sunny Brisbane 41 hours before the game against Tassie and overcame jet lag, played 14 minutes, and didn’t miss a shot on your way to 9 points and 6 dimes. You showed the flash and flair that defined your long NBA career.

HOOYAH – Archie Woodhill: This is the essence of a “Hooyah”. You played only 16 games last season for Tassie and averaged fewer than 6 minutes. Now you’re a Nominated Injury Replacement Player and when your name was called, you delivered the best game of your career against the Hawks with 10 points and 5 boards in 16 minutes. Love to see it.

HARDEN UP – Mitch Norton: In your 401st game you started, played 17 minutes and didn’t score. That’s a rule breaker. Doesn’t change how I feel about you though.

‍Defeated New Zealand

HOOYAH – Jaylin Galloway: Your last appearance was in Game 5 of the Championship Series and picked up right where you left off. 18 points and 6 dimes. Welcome back, my man!

HARDEN UP – Jaylon Brown: This is a classic example of “you can shoot bad and play well”. With that being said, you couldn’t hit the side of a barn with a watermelon and went 1/11 from three-point range. Your 5 rebounds and 5 assists contributed to the win though.

Defeated by Sydney and Brisbane

HOOYAH – Makur Maker: You’re a unicorn in this League. I don’t recall seeing a seven-footer with your skillset. You showed it off against Sydney with 24 and 7 rebounds. Keep it going, my man.

HARDEN THE HELL UP (HTHU!) – Hawks organisation: This is the first HTHU of the season and it goes to all of you. The last time you played your arch-rival Sydney Kings, they slapped you around and won by 21. Now they come to your house and slap you around again, this time winning by 26. Where’s the heart? Damn!

HARDEN UP – Sam Froling: Against Sydney you had 6 rebounds in 18 minutes which was pretty good. But you only scored 1 point from only 3 shots – which is pretty bad. I’m flabbergasted. I’m expecting, no, I’m demanding an almighty bounce back game from you.

Defeated by Perth, defeated Sydney

DOUBLE HOOYAH ALERT

HOOYAH – Luke Travers: You went home to WA and brought an assertive attitude. Your 26 points, 9 boards and 5 assists is an example of what you can produce when you have the right mindset. Now make it a habit.

HOOYAH – Cole Anthony: Due to foul trouble, you hadn’t played more than 30 minutes all season. You came out and said you have to do a better job of keeping your mouth shut with the refs. You still had plenty to say but you didn’t rack up early fouls, which meant you were on the floor longer, which was bad news for the Kings. 30 points, 6 boards, 9 assists and 2 blocks. #UNGUARDABLE

HARDEN UP – Sam Waardenburg: Coming into the Sydney game your scoring and rebounding high was 13 points and 8 rebounds, and you were well on your way to surpassing that. You had 10 points and 6 boards in the second quarter. Then you started moaning and groaning to the refs and picked up a tech. Then you FOULED OUT in the third after playing only 13 minutes. You’re your own worst enemy.

Defeated by Cairns

DOUBLE HOOYAH ALERT

HOOYAH – Reuben Te Rangi: Congrats on 400 games. That’s a testament to how you’ve looked after your body, your work ethic, and professionalism. It looks like you got another 100 in you.

HOOYAH – Charles Bediako: First of all, you’re in my “Seven-Foot Pterodactyl Club”. You’re staying out of foul trouble and starting to settle in. You played a season-high 30 minutes and racked up your first double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and threw in 2 blocks.

HARDEN UP – Free throws: You’re playing some spirited basketball. You lose to the Taipans by 2. Might’ve been a different result if you didn’t shoot yourselves in both feet going 12/23 from the foul line.

Defeated Melbourne

DOUBLE HOOYAH ALERT

HOOYAH – Kristian Doolittle: Scoring? You will “Doo” that. Rebounds and assists? You will “Doo” that too. Mr “I Doo everything” damn near got a triple-double in a big-time win with 23 points, 10 boards and 8 assists.

HOOYAH – Brandon Knight: It was great to watch you show the overall skill and ability that not only got you to the NBA but allowed you to stay there and play 451 games. Trailing by one with 20 seconds left, you put your body on the line and took a charge on Cole Anthony. You then proceeded to give the Red Army what they need and said “Good Knight” to Melbourne with the game winner.

HARDEN UP – Pass.

Defeated Adelaide

HOOYAH – Plan A: People have been asking, “where is Plan B?” when things aren’t going well. Well, Plan A (which is blazing away from deep) was glorious. You guys went berserk and shot the leather off the ball, knocking down 10 triples in the first quarter. I’ve never seen a shooting display like that. Y’all finished 18/38 from downtown and blew the 36ers away. Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

HARDEN UP – O-boards: Your lightning-fast style creates rebounding opportunities, but you’re entering dangerous territory giving up 20 offensive rebounds.

Defeated Illawarra, defeated by Melbourne

DOUBLE HOOYAH ALERT

HOOYAH – Kendric Davis: A Harden Up and a Hooyah for you this week – a rare occurrence. You put on a point guard master class against the Hawks. They simply had no answer for your brilliance. 23 points, 14 dimes and no turnovers was flawless.

HOOYAH – Andrew Carr: When you woke up the morning of game day, you probably had no idea that you would become a part of history. You came off the bench against the Hawks, played 24 minutes, scored 16 and grabbed a whopping 20 rebounds – which is now the new Kings’ rebounding record. YouTube David Stiff if you want to see what you looked like 25 years ago (it’s a compliment).

HARDEN UP – Kendric Davis: You said, “I feel like this is my League, he’s gonna be gunning for me” when asked about Cole Anthony. I wonder if you still feel that way despite your 12 points on 3/16. I’m sure you still do, which is admirable. I’ve circled Dec 29th on my calendar, that’s the rematch in Sydney and I can’t wait to see you atone.

Defeated Brisbane

HOOYAH – Josh Bannan: The Bullets showed up without their bigs and you showed no mercy. You had a game-high 22 points and 9 rebounds. I name thee “Josh the Merciless”.

HARDEN UP – Boxing out: Giving up offensive rebounds is the only flaw I saw from you guys. Brisbane was missing its seven-foot starting centre and its 6'10" backup, and still grabbed 19 of them.

HOOYAH – Block or charge?: To the referee who had the minerals to call a charge on United’s Cole Anthony when he rose up on Brandon Knight at RAC Arena. It was a touch-and-go call, but you nailed it. Knight was just outside the restricted area, and Anthony was correctly called for the charge.

HARDEN UP – Tech fouls: With an unprecedented amount of b*****g and moaning at the referees from coaches and players, I am calling for a flurry of tech fouls to be dished out. Well done to the officials who have already handed out numerous techs to players and coaches – keep firing away until they learn to zip it.