The Week That Was
There were strange things afoot in the Sal's NBL during the Anzac round games as we saw upsets, blowouts, a new team on top of the ladder and a squad get its first win of the season. Overall the games see 9 teams solidify themselves as final six contenders with the road looking exceedingly rocky for the bottom three teams on the ladder. Read on to get a recap of a huge week of hoops in this week's Casey's Corner.
The Blowouts
The Property Brokers Manawatū Jets took part in two blowout victories, moving themselves into 5th place but on equal wins with the top of the ladder and, importantly, they now boast the best points percentage in the league (112) which will be the first tie breaker for finals qualification outside of the teams record as a percentage. In the first game of the round the hosted The Northern Group Tauranga Whai, playing the first of two games in the round, who were hoping to climb back to the top of the ladder with two wins in the week. But by halftime that looked like a tall order when the Whai were down 12 before a third quarter jets run took the lead to twenty. All 5 Jets starters hit double figures, led by Mile Gibson (30pts) and Corey Webster (24pts, 6rbs, 8ast) with Dontae Russo-Nance (5stls) spearheading the defense as the Jets cruised to a 107-85 win.
The Jets second home game of the week welcomed the Indian Panthers who were without several of their regulars but they had some hope with Corey Webster ruled out for the day. That hope glimmered through the first half as Cooper Lepou (27pts) drove the Panthers offense to see his squad down 9 at the half. But the Jets would find more form in the 3rd and eventually roll to a 106-70 win where Gibson (30pts, 6rbs, 2stls) dropped another 30 piece, this time supported by Russo-Nance and Kenny Goins respective 21 point nights.
The Southland Sharks found themselves in another game with a 20 point difference but this time they would find themselves on top and the NBS Nelson Giants struggles continued despite bringing in a new frontcourt with Callum McRae and Jeremy Combs. The new look G-men started solidly but the in-form Sharks hit the lead, stretching it to 18 in the first half with another hot shooting performance from deep (13 makes @ 44%) while holding the Giants who struggled from deep (5 makes @ 15%). Combs and McRae (combined 33pts, 17rbs, 7ast) improved the interior attack but an efficient Josiah Allick (21pts, 81% fg, 15rbs, 5ast) powered the Sharks to a 97-76 win, keeping the Giants winless while Hitting the 500 mark (5-5) with a 3-game winning streak.
The biggest blowout of the week came as a bit of a surprise as the Wheeler Motor Company Canterbury Rams dropped a league season high 131 points to hang a 53 point hiding on the Jadcup Auckland Tuatara, the worst in the franchises history. The championship rematch lost some shine when Rob Loe was ruled out for with a foot injury, but I figured the Tuatara would have a punchers chance with the streak that Will Hickey had been on of late. The Rams had other ideas and came out with a tenacity on both ends of the court that the home side could not match. It wasn't that the Tuatara weren't playing hard, more that they could not reach the level of the Rams machine that shot 47% from three, 55% overall and took a massive 45-26 rebound advantage, 16 of those on the offensive end a whopping 40% rate. C.J. Penha (34pts, 9rbs 22 minutes) ridiculous production in limited minutes continues as he and Sean MacDonald (31pts) topping the scoring but the collective effort the main takeaway. The win would turn out to be enough to grab the top rung in the ladder after results later on the weekend.
Big Wins
The Steelformers Taranaki Airs had arguably the biggest win of the week, with the biggest lineup that is as Harry Froling, Jack Andrew Don Kelman-Poto, Carlin Davison and Owen Foxwell started for the home team with Armon Fletcher ruled out as they welcomed the Whai. That size translated to 44 points in the paint and a 7 rebound advantage as Jack Andrew (29pts, 15rbs, 7orb, 66%fg) dominated inside. But the Whai found some space on the interior of their own, hitting 42 points in the paint themselves as they twice worked their way back from double digit deficits to tie the game. Chris Jones (19pts, 8ast) leading again as Sean Bairstow (22pts @ 75%) hit a season high but it was a Carter Hopoi triple that cut the lead to 1 with just 25 seconds left. But a Carlin Davison (19pts, 7ast, 4rb, 2stl) dunk would give the Airs breathing space before Andrew free throws would seal the 95-90 win that lifted the Airs to 4th while sending the Whai outside the top 6 for the first time this season.
The Logik Franklin Bulls were on the road against the Big Barrel Hawks and they would have been itching to get back on the court after being on the receiving end of a spanking the previous round. The Hawks' Dan Grida (23pts, 9rbs) and Darnell Cowart(13pts, 3rbs) got loose early but when Cowart went down with injury the Bulls grab control of the interior through Till Gloger (13pts, 8rbs) and David Okwera (16pts, 13rbs) as they lifted to a 9 point lead. But the Hawks would rebound as Jackson Ball found form and a Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (14pts) lay up gave the Hawks a 3-point lead with under 6 minutes to play as their offense sputtered. But a couple of big three's from Tobias Cameron (14pts, 5rbs, 4ast) and Marcel Jones (15pts, 5rbs) would give Bulls a bit of room to breathe before Tae Hardy (20pts, 5rbs, 4ast) would score 7 straight points to grab an 88-80 win, their seventh equal with the ladder leaders.
The Hawks would have a second chance in the week to grab a win but would be severely undermanned as Dan Grida would be a lay-up line scratch, joining Darnell Cowart on the pine and leaving the Hawks with slim chances to secure a win against the Saints and their 5 game winning streak. But Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (24pts, 6 rbs) would start fast and with Luca Yates (14pts, 21rbs, 5ast) controlling the glass the Hawks held the Saints to 27 first half points and held a 12 point halftime lead. Hyrum Harris (10pts, 11rbs, 4ast, 3blks) and the Saints would cut the lead to 5 at the end of the 3rd as a Nick Marshall (26pts, 13rbs) offensive explosion would give the home crowd hope for a comeback to keep the winning streak going. But after having the margin cut to 3 in the early fourth quarter the Hawks would stabilise behind a collective effort to snatch a 87-75 road win that sneaks them into 6th spot while simultaneously knocking the Saints to 2nd
Worth Mentioning
That saves the best for last as the winless Giants took to Dunedin to take on the Night 'n Day Otago Nuggets who were in desperate need of a win themselves after losing 4 on the trot to slide out of the chase for the final six. But a win would see the Southeners right back in the mix and they would have fancied their chances against a team yet to taste victory. But this was a reinforced Giants team that now had some experience with each other and were forming an identity on the interior behind Jeremy Combs (25pts, 11rbs, 5ast) and Cal McRae (18pts) and they would work their way to a double digit second quarter lead. The Nuggets would not go quietly and as Jose Perez's (32pts, 11rbs, 4ast) play lifted and the Nuggets would bring the game as close as 4 points. But without Don Carey Jr. (14pts, 4ast) unable to find space they were unable to match the scoring of the Giants, who had 5 double figure scorers, among which 16 came off the bench from Sam Dempster in a 5-7 shooting night that helped the Giants secure their first win of the season 98-86. Yeah that's worth a mention.
