The Week that Was
There was a ton of action in the second week of Mad March as 12 straight days of games came to a close when The Property Brokers Manawatū Jets overwhelmed the Indian Panthers, scoring a massive (and league season high) 122 points in route to a 45 point victory. The Jets off to a fast start as the leagues preeminent vet Corey Webster dropped 28pts, 9rbs, 8ast and 4stls while barely breaking a sweat, bringing the leagues leading scorer to a 30ppg average!! He had ample support from Miles Gibson who finished with a massive 32pt, 17rb stat line. The Panthers led by Alex Robinson's near triple double (23pts, 8rbs, 10ast) as they await the clearance of the yet to arrive players from the Indian National team and a couple of imports.
The 122 scored in the final game of the week by the Jets just topped the Wheeler Motor Company Canterbury Rams 120 points scored in their 36 point victory over the Southland Sharks. The 2nd highest point total of the season was fueled by stout defense (the Rams forcing 22 turnovers off of 16 steals) that led to efficient offense (61% fg's, 50% 3pfg) and a massive free throw disparity (Rams taking 23 attempts compared to the Sharks 4) with Taylor Britt (27pts, 5rbs, 6ast, 3stls) and Kaia Isaac (27pts on 11-14 fgs, 3rbs, 3ast, 2stls) leading the way.
Earlier in the week he Jets also started the week of games on the road, visiting the Steelformers Taranaki Airs on Tuesday night as they launched their home schedule without import guard Owen Foxwell. The lack of ball handling was mitigated by Carlin Davison's pg impersonation as the blossoming 21 year-old dropped 24pts, 10rbs, 3ast, 2 stls and 2blks while taking over the majority of ball handling duties. Corey Webster kept the Jets close with a blistering 1st half en route to another big scoring day (3pts, 3rbs, 6ast, 3stls) to see the Jets up 3 at the half. Harry Froling (25pts, 11rbs) was a handful once again, but his size couldn't keep the airs from scooping 21 offensive boards to hold a slender lead heading into the final quarter. In the fourth Dante Russo-Nance (23pts, 8rbs, 5ast, 2stls, 2blks) found form from deep to hit the big buckets that kept the Airs at bay and secured the Jets 93-84 win.
The Airs enjoying the chance to get back on the court later in the round as they traveled to Auckland Sunday, where the Tuatara were still waiting on their final (and possibly most important) pieces to arrive from the ANBL finals while being hopeful of a better performance than their season opener. And the Tuatara were much improved, riding the hot hand of Tom Vodanovich (22pts, 6-15 3pfg) to a 1st quarter lead. The home team cooled down in the 2nd quarter as Davison (25pts, 9rbs, 6ast, 3stls) asserted his all around game while Froling (23pts, 11rbs, 2ast) and Jack Andrew (15pts, 9rbs) imposed their will on the interior. Buay Tuach (27pts, 3rbs, 3ast) led a third quarter rally to see the lead cut to 3 heading into the final term, but Owen Foxwell (20pts, 10ast) would take over in the 4th slicing and dicing his way through the defense as the Airs pulled away to win 102-79.
The NBS Nelson Giants and Mills Albert Wellington Saints were searching for their first win of the year in a contest that always brings out the best of both teams while going down to the wire. Giants fans pleased to see Brice Johnson (25pts, 11rbs) improve on his opening performance while displaying a soft touch from deep to give the Giants the upper hand for most of the first half. But the starting lineup of the Saints was too much to overcome as Izayah Le'afa (22pts, 7ast) and Shaun Bruce (23pts, 4rbs, 5ast) would lead a second quarter flurry to take the lead and was supported by a starting unit that all scored in double figures on the night to secure the 94-86 win despite the G-men cutting the lead down to 3 late in the fourth quarter.
The Otago Night 'n Day Nuggets, Big Barrell Hawks Logik Franklin Bulls and Indian Panthers were tasked with two games in the week and they would find similar results. First the Nugs took on the Whai, where the first game in 11 years took place in Rotorua with the Nugs full strength for the first time this year. But a lack of familiarity with each other was evident, and despite solid stats from Jose Perez (26pts, 10rbs) and Don Carey Jr. (23pts, 5rbs, 4ast) the game was never within reach as Chris Jones (25pts, 6rbs, 3ast, 3stls) and Kruz Perrott-Hunt (25pts, 5rbs, 4ast) controlled the game with youngsters Carter Hopoi (16pts) and Xanda Marsters (16pts, 4rbs, 4ast) supporting.
Otago then traveled to Hawke's Bay to see if they couldn't eek out the first win of the season against an undefeated Hawks squad and came out of the gate firing to their highest scoring quarter of the year to grab a 34-21 lead behind the import trio of Carey Jr (34pts, 5rbs, 3ast), Jose Perez (20pts, 9rbs, 9ast) and Todd Withers (16pts) who played their best ball of the season. The Hawks would work their way back in behind steady play from Campbell Scott (19pts, 4rbs, 4ast), Jackson Ball (19pts, 5rbs) and Darnell Cowart (24pts, 10rbs, 3ast) but the comeback effort would fall short.
The Bulls would visit their South Auckland neighbours to christen the Panthers first home game hopeful to continue their unbeaten streak to start the year, but the Panthers had other designs and with Alex Robinson (23pts, 7rbs, 5ast) Jaylen Gerrand (29pts) and Dante Matakatea (15pts, 6rbs) pushed hard, cutting the deficit to just 7points late in the 4th quarter. But the will of the Bulls was too much as Tae Hardy, Reuben Te Rangi and David Okwera all scored over 20 points to power the Bulls down the stretch and grab a 107-93 victory and the undefeated record that went with it.
Leaving us with the game of the week, as the Bulls headed back to the Stockyard to try to keep their record unblemished against a Hawks team that had tasted defeat just once in 3 games. The Hawks would jump out early but the Bulls patented defense would respond reeling their opponent back in and working their way to a 10 point half time lead. With the offense was humming and the defense keeping the Hawks in check. When the Bulls built the lead to 15 late in the third quarter on a Te Rangi tripple, the home fans started dreaming of a 4-0 start. Not so fast said the Hawks, as they rediscovered their flow offensively late in the thrird and dominated early play in the 4th to go on a 12-0 run behind a rejuvenated Jackson Ball and all around play from Campbell Scott and Darnell Cowart. The Hawks turned on the defense in the 4th, holding the Bulls to just 10 points in the 4th to take a commanding 5 point lead with just over 2 minutes remaining. Free throws were traded down the stretch before the Bulls would secure a final chance at the win, down 2 with possession and 7 seconds remaining, but the final play wouldn't pay off and the Hawks took the Bulls from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 87-85 win.
Worth Mentioning
The Jets Taking Flight - The Jets are the early season bolters as Corey Webster and co. have made mincemeat of predictions they would finish outside the 6. C Webb tops the league in scoring (30ppg) and the starting 5 have gelled quickly en route to their 2-1 record as they top the league in scoring with 105ppg and a plus 17 scoring margin. The quality of depth is still to be determined but with a starting crew like that their production level doesn't need to be huge.
Aaron Blessen on the Glass -Shoutout to the first Indian National to arrive for the Panthers, who is averaging a league second best 4 offensive rebounds per game while playing 2 games in 3 days after arriving early in the morning of game 1. Promising signs for the Panthers squad yet to come, with a few more names hopeful this week.
Carlin Davison's expanded game - Always touted as a supreme athlete, Davison is starting to command other aspects of the game his scoring has exploded (28.3ppg) and he's lifted his playmaking (4.3astpg) but what is truly astounding is his 53% 3pfg shooting on 6.3 attempts per game, a far cry from where the 21 year old's skillset was at even last season and still just a taste of what's to come if he can continue this trajectory.
4 Made 3's a game - Just e players are hitting the 4 made 3's per game mark, Don Carey Jr, Jackson Ball and Corey Webster. Of particular interest to me is the 19 year age gap between Ball (17years) and Webster (36), showing that inexperience is no excuse and age aint nothin but a number. Yeah, that's worth a mention.
