- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Opinion
This is my report card from the first round of the NBL.
Adelaide 36ers: C
The 36ers start the season 0-2. They were handed the toughest opening two games against the Perth Wildcats in the jungle and the Illawarra Hawks, championship favourites on their home deck.
The 36ers put up a well-fought battle against the Wildcats. They were defeated on the defensive end by a dangerously explosive Vic Law, who showcased the talent he gave us a glimpse of at the Bullets.
The big guys for the 36ers stood up, with Daniel Johnson and Cam Bairstow finding their groove in the paint. However for the 36ers on the night, turnovers and their inability to hit the triples killed.
The Hawks were ultimately too strong for the 36ers across the floor. However, the 36ers did find some consistency on the scoring end across the whole squad, finding a way to keep up with the Hawks until a late fadeaway.
Not to fear, 36ers fans, the effort and intensity is there and with the lack of key personnel, the season is still bright.
However, a win against the JackJumpers on Thursday is important. A record of 0-3 makes the climb back up much harder.
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Brisbane Bullets: B
It is a tough start for the Bullets, ultimately taken down by a bad temper in overtime and poor shooting across the entire squad.
Nonetheless, it was a valiant effort to take Tasmania down to the wire and scrape their way to an overtime period.
The Bullets struggled to contain the sharp shooters of Josh Adams and Josh Magette and let the JackJumpers find easy transition buckets to avoid the press in the paint.
The Bullets have a solid tall line-up, looking towards Robert Franks to find easy post-ups in the paint and a conventional big man that plays a physically demanding defensive game.
Lamar Patterson is another key for the Bullets. If Patterson stands up, you’re more likely to see a fiery Bullets team that will click on both ends of the floor, especially offensive ends, taking the pressure off consistent, top performer Nathan Sobey.
I still need to see more from the Bullets, but there are no major worries. Going to an intimidating Tassie crowd in their first ever game is no easy task.
The task gets no easier. They face the Wildcats in the jungle to find their first win.
(Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
Cairns Taipans: C
It is a tough start for Cairns, torn to bits by Bryce Cotton and when he’s on, he’s on.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to judge the Taipans heavily at this point with the most intimidating first game to start the season off.
The Taipans found trouble scoring from their smalls. Similar to Adelaide, Cairns found their scoring from their talls in Kouat Noi and Tahjere McCall.
The Taipans had 21 turnovers throughout the game, which is very high and very costly against a rampant, explosive Wildcats side.
The Taipans look to bounce back against the JackJumpers back in Cairns, which should be a non-negotiable for the Taipans if they are to be taken seriously this season.
Illawarra Hawks: A
The title favourites certainly turned up this week, facing a fired-up 36ers side who had just lost their first game.
The cobwebs were dusted off early and the Hawks found no issue getting to the bucket after halftime. Their line-up possesses difficult match-ups for oppositions.
(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
While it wasn’t the prettiest of wins for the Hawks, it was a win nonetheless and championship sides always find a way to get it done.
The Hawks face another tough battle away from home against the Kings, who started the season off with a punch.
Melbourne United: C+
It was nowhere near the ideal start for the champs. A lack of depth from their shooters hurt them, going down to the sharp-shooting Kings, who blew out United in the third quarter to make the comeback a near-impossible task.
It’s clear to see United don’t possess the quality to win the title. However with the absence of key personnel, United will still be very competitive.
United found their struggles in their shooting. The lack of Chris Goulding from beyond the arch was a real issue for United. That limited set plays, making them predictable for the Kings to defend.
United may struggle to find wins early on. However, with a full squad and a developing bench, you won’t see United perform very poorly like what we saw on Sunday.
The test for United is even tougher on Sunday, facing crosstown rivals South East Melbourne Phoenix, who showcased their threat this round.
New Zealand Breakers: D
It was a truly disastrous start for the Breakers, demolished from start to finish by the Phoenix.
Besides Finn Delaney, the Breakers had no one stand up to make an impact, demolished on both ends of the court and with little impact on the scoreboard from both starting line-up and the bench line-up.
The Breakers may have another difficult season ahead. Little back-up for Delaney is a pressing issue if others aren’t able to stand up consistently.
While it was probably one of the hardest tests to open a season with, an effort like that shows weakness to the rest of the competition.
The Breakers have time to turn things around quickly with heavy research, as they face the same opposition again on Friday night.
Perth Wildcats: A+
You wouldn’t expect anything less from the 35-year powerhouse squad. They have two wins from two in the jungle and to no one’s surprise, they pushed over teams quite easily.
The likes of Bryce Cotton and Vic Law have quickly established a powerful connection on the court, placing immense offensive pressure on the opposition to make guarding either a threatening task.
Young gun Luke Travers is also providing huge efforts in the paint and becoming a dangerous threat on the rebound and push to the basket.
There is no more to say for this bunch. They’re near unbeatable at home, and with the first five games at home, Perth should be 5-0 with their season set right from the start.
South East Melbourne Phoenix: A+
It was the perfect start for the Phoenix. They are building something unique. That was obvious after taking the powerful United squad to three games, ultimately choking a grand final spot in Game 3.
The Phoenix look dangerous and with the inclusion of US import Xavier Munford, they’re adding to a stacked side filled with the likes of Mitch Creek, Ryan Broekhoff, and Chinese import Zhou Qi.
Xavier Munford. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)
The Phoenix have the best bench depth in the NBL, which will hurt opposition with the same intensity as the starting line-up would.
The Phoenix will look to roll past the Breakers on Friday, but their biggest test is against United in the throw down. United will come out firing to avoid going 0-2.
Sydney Kings: A
The Kings got the job done well against a lacklustre United line-up and faired quite well considering the implementation of a new coaching system.
The Kings were most impressive with their scoring across the entire squad, showcasing high accountability even through individual poor stretches.
The Kings do have a fitness issue, as they nearly threw away a 20-point lead in the dying seconds. The Kings need to reverse that trend to keep the opposition out of games as quickly as possible.
It was a very convincing start for the Kings. However, the real competitiveness of the Kings in this competition will be tested against title favourites Illawarra on Saturday on their home deck.
Tasmania JackJumpers: A
Tasmanian basketball is fantastic.
Josh Adams and MiKyle McIntosh of the Jackjumpers celebrate their first win in the NBL. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)
The crowd brought it on Friday night and, for sure, opposition teams will find it intimidating to visit the newly acclaimed nest.
The JackJumpers showed a lot of heart and found their rhythm as the game went on.
To prevail in your first game is prolific and it was great to see the JackJumpers stars fire from beyond the arch.
Shooting efficiency was quite poor but for a new team, the development will take time.
It will be interesting to see Tasmania face opposition away from home. They might have some difficulty creating energy without the help of the crowd.
It was an ideal start from Tassie. It will be interesting to see their direction this season.
Build your own ultimate team! Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars. For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.