Round Six Player of the Month

Sorry for the lateness of this post, I have been busy doing other things, getting married and going on a Hawaiian honeymoon being on the top of that list.  This blog isn’t about my personal life so let’s get to some NBL action.

This round was one of highs and lows.  The Melbourne Tigers had a massive outing in highly touted recruit Jonny Flynn’s debut while Sydney gave Wollongong their first loss of the season and Cedric Jackson was electric in New Zealand’s two wins.  On the other hand Townsville still haven’t won a game in eight tries and in their loss to the Breakers Cairns scored a team total of 25 efficiency points.  That’s right, 25 total points for 11 players, or 2.2 points on average and.  Ouch.

Dabster Award

Round Six Dabster Award Winner

Chris Goulding, Melbourne Tigers – 30:11 minutes, 24 points (9/12 FG, 3/6 3P, 3/3 FT), 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover.  ER – 27

Having an excellent point guard in Jonny Flynn can do wonders for slashers like Goulding who got his shots in open positions.  Cut import Kevin Braswell was known to be a shoot first point guard which didn’t give as many opportunities for the rest of the team but now with a PG who knows how to get people shots the rest of the team is reaping the rewards.  Goulding has always had the talent to be a top flight scorer in the league and now he has been given the green light look for more games of this calibre.

Honourable mentions

Cedric Jackson, New Zealand Breakers – 2 games, 17.0 points, 11.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals.   ER – 24.5

Seth Scott, Melbourne Tigers – 18 points, 10 rebounds.  ER – 24

Matthew Knight, Perth Wildcats – 21 points, 8 rebounds.  ER – 21

Rhys Martin, Wollongong Hawks – 15 points, 9 rebounds.  ER – 21

If it wasn’t for Goulding’s massive shooting night Jackson would be a shoo-in for this award and I’m betting that he will get the NBL’s player of the week award.  Two wins and averaging over eleven assists a game while playing excellent defence.  Scott also benefitted from Flynn’s play while Knight and Martin were lone shining lights for their losing teams.

Previous Dabster Award Winners

Round One – Stephen Weigh (Adelaide) and Matthew Knight (Perth)

Round Two – Alex Pledger (New Zealand) and Corin Henry (Sydney)

Round Three – Mika Vukona (New Zealand)

Round Four – Adris Deleon (Wollongong)

Round Five – Cedric Jackson (New Zealand)

Menga Award

Round Six Menga Leader Board

1.       Seth Scott, Melbourne Tigers – 20.0

2.       Cedric Jackson, New Zealand Breakers – 19.6

3.       Ben Madgen, Sydney Kings – 17.0

4.       Cameron Tragardh, Cairns Taipans – 16.1

5.       Matthew Knight, Perth Wildcats – 15.8

6.       Stephen Weigh, Adelaide 36ers – 15.5

7.       Adam Ballinger, Melbourne Tigers – 15.3

8.       Daniel Johnson, Adelaide 36ers – 14.0

9.       Adris Deleon, Wollongong Hawks – 13.5

10.   Larry Davidson, Wollongong Hawks – 13.0

A down year so far on last season, at this stage last season all of the top ten players were averaging over 15 ER points.  However, four of the top ten last season are now out of the league and most of the rest are playing below their previous production.  Good news is that there are only three imports in the league so take that whichever way you want, are the imports not as good as before or are the locals playing better?  I think it might be a bit of both.

Zike Award

Round Six Zike Award Winner

The Cairns Taipans – 54 points (18/67 FG, 3/19 3P, 15/21 FT), 28 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 14 turnovers.  ER – 25.

I was going to give Clint Steindl (-4) the Zike Award but I think the whole team deserves it.  They shot 27% from the field and their ER points look like a phone number – 1,4,-2,7,0,3,1,-4,10,5,0.  Cameron Tragardh was the only player in double digits and that was only the minimum.  Things don’t get any better for the Taipans as they play the upstart Hawks next season in Wollongong but they would have to get more than 25 points, right?