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Best of the best this NBL season

Melbourne United, with Cedric Jackson take on the New Zealand Breakers. (Image: AAP, Travis Anderson)
Expert
23rd February, 2015
3

With the NBL heading into the playoffs this week, it’s time to have a go at predicting the award winners from what has been a competitive and high-quality season overall.

It’s only fitting that the Cairns Taipans, New Zealand Breakers, Perth Wildcats and Adelaide 36ers make up the majority of the awards, as those teams will likely claim the NBL end of season awards.

However, there were certainly some standout players among Melbourne United, the Townsville Crocodiles, Sydney Kings and Wollongong Hawks who deserve to be recognised for their performances throughout the season.

So here is my take on the award winners.

Most Valuable Player: Cedric Jackson (New Zealand Breakers)
How much he means to the New Zealand Breakers is perhaps best illustrated by what happened in his absence last season. After leading the Breakers to the 2012 and 2013 championships, he headed to Slovenia and the result was New Zealand missed the playoffs altogether and finished second last.

However, the dynamic all-round point guard who has an equally match-winning impact on games with his scoring, passing and defence, showed what he can do with a stunning first game leading New Zealand to win in Perth to start the season and he never let up.

Recording two triple-doubles along the way, Jackson finished the season averaging 14.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.1 steals a game, but more importantly he made all of his teammates better and cemented himself as the most valuable player in the NBL on a team vying for the championship.

Other contenders – Townsville big man Brian Conklin has turned himself into the best power forward in the NBL averaging 18.9 points and 6.4 rebounds a season, but the Crocs didn’t quite win enough games ending up on an 11-17 record.

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Jordan McRae put up good numbers with Melbourne United at 20.6 points a game, but the question must be asked if he made anyone around him better while Jackson makes everyone in New Zealand better.

Josh Childress was outstanding for the Sydney Kings with 21.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists a game, but missed 10 games in a 28-match season.

Rookie of the Year: Tai Wesley (New Zealand Breakers)
Technically the Rookie of the Year award should only be eligible to those players who are not imports and have never played professionally before, but generally it’s chosen from Australian or New Zealand products playing their first season in the NBL.

The two standouts given that are Adelaide’s Brock Motum and New Zealand’s Tai Wesley. It doesn’t seem right to call Motum a rookie given his time in Europe, the NBA Summer League, NBA pre-season and at the Basketball World Cup, so I’m going with Wesley.

He has previously played professionally in Europe and is deemed a local despite his heritage linking him to Guam, but putting all that aside he has had a terrific first season for the Breakers.

Coming off the bench backing up Mika Vukona, Wesley averaged 7.9 points and 4.6 rebounds a game, but had a high of 23 points and eight rebounds against the Kings and regularly provided New Zealand a spark when it was needed.

Other contenders – If the criteria is limited to those in their first professional season and being local, then Melbourne United’s Chris Patton looks to be the best of a small group. The brother of GWS Giants AFL player Jonathon, Patton delivered some good minutes as a back up big man for Melbourne and should develop nicely in coming seasons.

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Best Defensive Player: Damian Martin (Perth Wildcats)
It might not quite be as clear cut as recent seasons with some other strong defenders in contention, but Perth Wildcats captain Damian Martin does remain the best defender in the league, and now without question one of the best in the history of the NBL.

He has won the last four NBL Defensive Player of the Year awards and now should make it five because his defence gives the Wildcats a chance to still win a championship despite having a spluttering offence.

His pressure on opposition ball handlers often makes it near impossible to bring the ball up the court while he makes it extremely difficult for the opposition to run their offence.

Not to mention his stunning blocked shots from nowhere to stop open lay-ups and his steals off unsuspecting players, and this should again be his award.

Other contenders – New Zealand’s Cedric Jackson has again been outstanding defensively but he is slightly behind Martin in terms of disrupting the opposition. Mickell Gladness was a strong inside presence for the Townsville Crocodiles, but the referees refused to allow him to be the dominant force defensively that he could be.

Best Sixth Man: Cam Tragardh (Cairns Taipans)
This is one award with several genuine contenders including two from the same team, but I am going to give the nod to veteran Cairns Taipans big man Cameron Tragardh.

He could comfortably be the starter on any team in the NBL and be the league’s leading scorer, but he has accepted his role with the Taipans backing up Alex Loughton as power forward, and is a major reason why the Snakes have claimed the minor premiership for the first time.

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The best post player in the NBL, Tragardh averaged 12.2 points and 4.9 rebounds a game and when he catches the ball in the low block, he can’t be stopped.

Other contenders – Tragardh’s teammate Torrey Craig will go close to this award as well after a strong season backing up Stephen Weigh as small forward, averaging 9.3 points and 5.6 rebounds a game.

New Zealand big man Ekene Ibekwe ended up playing the minutes you would expect of a starter, but came off the bench behind Alex Pledger most of the season and was dynamic, and productive for the Breakers averaging 11.3 points and 6.3 rebounds. Veteran Townsville guard Steve Markovic also averaged 9.9 points and 4.3 off the bench allowing for youngster Mitch Norton to have a full season starting.

Most Improved Player: Tom Garlepp (Sydney Kings)
Yet another category with a number of contenders, but when you think of most improved you look at someone who has truly gone to another level and I can’t go past Sydney Kings power forward Tom Garlepp.

He started his career with his hometown Perth Wildcats back in the 2007-08 and over two seasons, only averaged 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in barely any court time.

He then played just four games the next season with Adelaide and then in two seasons with the Gold Coast Blaze, again was largely a benchwarmer averaging 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds. He was given an increased role with the Kings in 2012/13 and averaged 7.5 points and 4.8 boards before then improving again last season with 8.8 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Then this season, he truly became one of the best power forwards in the NBL averaging 13.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists, and when Josh Childress went down injured, he became the focal point of the team’s offence and showed he was more than up to the task.

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Other contenders – New Zealand’s Corey Webster developed into one of the best pure scorers in the NBL this season going for 15.5 points a game, and he will be a big part of the Breakers’ championship push and looks set to only keep getting better.

Townsville’s Todd Blanchfield again showed that he will be someone NBL teams can build their squad around and who will push for World Cup and Olympics selection for the Boomers before too long. With athleticism, ball-handling skills, moves near the rim and good three-point shot, he went to the next level in 2014-15.

Coach of the Year: Aaron Fearne (Cairns Taipans)
The Cairns Taipans finished two games clear on top of the NBL ladder, won the minor premiership for the first time, won the most games it ever has and became the second club only to ever finish on top coming from a non-capital city.

Aaron Fearne is now in his sixth season as coach of the Taipans and after a grand final appearance in 2011, he deserves enormous credit for building the team that is now a genuine championship chance.

All-NBL First Team
Brian Conklin (Townsville Crocodiles)
Brock Motum (Adelaide 36ers)
Josh Childress (Sydney Kings)
Jamar Wilson (Adelaide 36ers)
Cedric Jackson (New Zealand Breakers)

Brian Conklin might be undersized at centre, but there hasn’t been a five man in the league this year who has dominated – with the harsh NBL officiating negating anything a quality defensive big man can do.

So versatile players like Conklin and Adelaide’s Brock Motum has them as the two standout big men in the NBL. Motum had a slow start after missing out on an NBA roster spot, but has dominated the last two months leading the 36ers into the playoffs.

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Josh Childress might have missed 10 games, but is the standout small forward and while Cedric Jackson is the obvious choice as point guard, the two guard spot wasn’t so easy. I’ve gone with Jamar Wilson for helping inspire Adelaide into the playoffs, but Melbourne’s Jordan McRae, New Zealand’s Corey Webster and Cairns’ Scott Wilbekin weren’t far behind.

All-NBL Second Team
Scottie Wilbekin (Cairns Taipans)
Jordan McRae (Melbourne United)
Todd Blanchfield (Townsville Crocodiles)
Cam Tragardh (Cairns Taipans)
Ekene Ibekwe (New Zealand Breakers)

I have gone with Wilbekin and McRae as my back court leaving Webster as the one unlucky to miss out and not be rewarded for his breakout season with the Breakers. The season included him setting new career-highs with a combined 53 points in two games last weekend.

Todd Blanchfield has taken the next step with the Crocs to be the standout Australian small forward in the league and best overall behind Childress. Perth’s DeAndre Daniels, Cairns pair Stephen Weigh and Torrey Craig and New Zealand’s Tom Abercrombie were certainly in the mix.

Again with no standout centre, the front court was tricky but I can’t go past Tragardh to fill one of those spots and the last one came down to Melbourne’s Daniel Kickert and New Zealand’s Ekene Ibekwe.

While Kickert shot the ball exceptionally well especially from deep as a big man, again the way United’s season went suggests he might not have necessarily made his team better.

In contrast, the energy both defensively and offensively from Ibekwe was match-winning for the Breakers on numerous occasions.

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