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NBL 2016-17 team of the week: Round 1

Jerome Randle of the Adelaide 36ers.
Expert
9th October, 2016
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The first round of the 2016-17 NBL season is in the books, and the Brisbane Bullets have just shot to the top of the competition ladder with a pair of physical wins, in what was a massive weekend of action.

Maybe the biggest positive for the competition was the big crowds that showed up, with over 8,000 in Sydney, and big crowds in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.

The Bullets, who had the privilege of opening the season at home against defending champions the Perth Wildcats recorded a come from behind victory go get proceedings underway, before a double header on Friday saw the New Zealand Breakers defeat Melbourne United, and the Illawarra Hawks put up a point scoring record to beat the Adelaide 36ers.

The Kings opened their season on Saturday, going down to the Bullets at home, before the Perth Wildcats came from behind against the Cairns Taipans to get a win up in an overtime thriller on home court.

The Sunday afternoon match saw another upset, as Jerome Randle put on a clinic to ease the 36ers past United, sending them to the bottom of the table with two losses to start the season.

Team of the Week

Point guard: Jerome Randle (Adelaide 36ers)
It was a hotly contested race for the point guard spot over the weekend, but Jerome Randle has just edged out the competition thanks to the absolute clinic he put on during the game against United.

He might not have been able to get the 36ers over the line against the Hawks, and in fact far from it as their defence simply couldn’t contain the big scoring lllawarra club, but he was still solid putting up reasonable numbers and making the most of opportunities.

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The rust was well and truly shaken off by the time their second game of the weekend came around though, with Randle posting epic numbers of 30 points, three rebounds, five assists and a steal.

While he filed out the stats sheet like almost no one else can in the NBL, it was the way he guided Adelaide around the floor and always found the right option – making just three turnovers and shooting 56 per cent with the ball that was most impressive.

Shooting guard: Rotnei Clarke (Illawarra Hawks)
The former league MVP made his return to the NBL with a bang for the Hawks in their demolition job of Adelaide, guiding them to the biggest ever score in the 40-minute era.

The game was rarely tough for the Hawks, but Clarke was constantly looking for ways to attack and increase the lead of Illawarra, which he did well scoring a game-high 23 points at 50 per cent from the field including 5 of 12 from behind the arc.

His defence was rock solid, and he also made smart decisions sharing the ball with a ratio of six assists to just one turnover.

Small forward: Torrey Craig (Brisbane Bullets)
The former Taipans player brought the Bullets out of a massive hole in their first game against Perth with his shooting kick-starting their offence realistically paving the way for Beal to light it up during the third quarter.

While his shooting percentage wasn’t fantastic in that match, it was the timing of the shots he made that was so important to the Bullets cause as they got a first up win.

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He then backed that up against Sydney with an incredible 17 rebounds, four of them coming on the offensive end in a performance to remember. Craig’s potency under the boards was a big reason Brisbane won, as was his smart decisions on offence, despite having low stats.

Power forward: Mika Vukona (New Zealand Breakers)
The Breakers captain and one of the most experience, hard-nosed players in the competition was just solid in the Breakers clash against Melbourne United.

While he wasn’t the most flashy, or didn’t come out of the match with the best numbers statistics wise, he did his job and then some on the defensive end, and held his end of the bargain offensively.

Melbourne, who came into the season with attacking weapons left, right and centre were regularly silenced trying to come into the paint against Vukona, with Australian Boomer David Andersen having a particularly tough time.

He also added 12 points, with some clutch buckets and was always spacing the floor and ensuring they got the best service from on the low block kicking it back to the perimeter, or linking with fellow big men Rob Loe and Alex Pledger.

Centre: Jameel McKay (Perth Wildcats)
The Perth big man, known as showtime was one of the only bright spots as the defending champions went down to the Bullets in the season opener, before once again playing a leading role as they got over the Cairns Taipans in overtime.

He really kept Perth in their first game of the weekend, scoring a heap of points and pulling down boards like they were going out of fashion, before backing that up with another 14 points and four boards in an efficient performance at home.

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He still has work to do coming to grasp with the NBL, but the way he threw a few dunks down he will regularly have the red army on their feet.

Cairns Convention Centre

Honourable mentions

Jermaine Beal (Brisbane Bullets)
The Bullets point guard, who struggled with inconsistency last season made a strong start for the Bullets and put in two very strong showing – only missing out due to Randle’s brilliance.

In the Bullets first game, he was a little quiet to begin with but then put Perth away with an absolute exhibition of shooting during the third quarter, as only Beal can do.

Everything seemed to fall for him, and he quickly closed and re-opened the gap to the favour of Brisbane with the assistance of Craig.

He then backed it up a few days later with a fantastic and consistent effort against Sydney.

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Kevin Lisch (Sydney Kings)
The Kings best player by the length of the straight, and the main reason they were able to stay in the game as they did despite clearly lacking plenty inside the paint and in other elements of their game.

Last season’s MVP game out firing and guided the Kings, in what was a physical encounter coming up with 20 points that included some massively clutch buckets – particularly those down the stretch.

If the Kings are going to go places this season, then Lisch is going to be a big part of the reason why.

Jaron Johnson (Perth Wildcats)
The reason the Wildcats new import won’t make the side is because of his performance against the Bullets, which didn’t exactly inspire any confidence.

His performance against the Taipans though was something very special, as he brought the club back from the dead under pressure.

After his first match, the heat was on him to perform as an import, and did he ever knocking down a massive three that sent the match to overtime and scoring a total of 26 points and grabbing five boards.

Roarers, who would have made your team of the week for Round 1?

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Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde

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