*Sorry for the lateness, I was travelling back from Melbourne on Monday and had local basketball business on Tuesday so I didn’t get a chance to do the weekly write up. On the plus side, I will be updating twice in two days with my normal opinion piece due on Thursday. Thanks for your patience.*
It’s getting down to the pointy end of the season with the contenders separating from the pretenders. New Zealand beating Perth (again) is a sign that they are the outright favourites for the title, opening up a three game advantage over the Wildcats and with three rounds remaining the boys out west aren’t even assured of a finals berth as fifth place Cairns are only two games behind second place. All in all this finals race will not be settled until the final game of the season when the Gold Coast plays against New Zealand.
Dabster Award
Round Twenty Two Dabster Award Winner
Adris Deleon, Gold Coast Blaze – 2 games, 28 ppg (58.6% FG, 60% 3P, 86.7% FT), 4 rpg, 3 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.5 bpg, 2 tpg. ER – 28.0
I could probably leave the statistics by themselves and most people would understand why he won this week’s award. But on top of those ridiculous numbers he also lead his team to back to back wins by an average of 12 points. He was dominant everywhere shown by his field goal and three point percentage and even though he didn’t get to the line in his first game against Cairns he went to the foul stripe 15 times against Sydney, hitting 13 of them. The past few weeks have been slim pickings for the Dabster Award but the man with the terrible nickname well and truly deserved this one.
Honourable mentions
Cedric Jackson (New Zealand) – 23 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals. ER - 25
Gary Wilkinson (New Zealand) – 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists. ER - 22
Shawn Redhage (Perth) – 16 points, 6 rebounds. ER - 22
Larry Davidson (Wollongong) – 17 points, 7 rebounds. ER – 22
Elvin Mims (Townsville) – 13 points, 10 rebounds. ER - 21
Kevin Lisch (Perth) – 27 points. ER - 20
The much anticipated game between Perth and New Zealand was a barnburner. The game was so close that the two teams ended up on the same ER score at 113. I do have the Breakers as favourites for the title but if it comes down to these two teams then it will be a hell of a great fight.
Previous Dabster Award Winners
Round One – Kevin Lisch (Perth)
Round Two – Will Hudson (Gold Coast) and Alex Pledger (New Zealand)
Round Three – Julian Khazzouh (Sydney)
Round Four – Stephen Weigh (Adelaide) and Daniel Johnson (Adelaide)
Round Five – Gary Wilkinson (New Zealand)
Round Six – Cameron Tragardh (Melbourne)
Round Seven – Diamon Simpson (Adelaide)
Round Eight – Cameron Tragardh (Melbourne)
Round Nine – Diamon Simpson (Adelaide)
Round Ten – Julian Khazzouh (Sydney)
Round Eleven – Diamon Simpson (Adelaide) and Adam Gibson (Gold Coast)
Round Twelve – Eddie Gill (Townsville)
Round Thirteen – Liam Rush (Melbourne)
Round Fourteen – Jerai Grant (Sydney)
Round Fifteen – Jesse Wagstaff (Perth)
Round Sixteen – Mark Worthington (Gold Coast)
Round Seventeen – Daniel Johnson (Adelaide)
Round Eighteen – Mark Worthington (Gold Coast)
Round Nineteen – Oscar Forman (Wollongong)
Round Twenty – Jesse Wagstaff (Perth)
Round Twenty One – Gary Wilkinson (New Zealand)
Menga Award
Round Twenty Two Menga Leader Board
1. (1) Julian Khazzouh, Sydney Kings – 19.9
2. (2) Diamon Simpson, Adelaide 36ers – 17.0
3. (7) Cedric Jackson, New Zealand Breakers – 16.9
4. (3) Daniel Johnson, Adelaide 36ers – 16.8
5. (4) Mark Worthington, Gold Coast Blaze – 16.4
6. (8) Jerai Grant, Sydney Kings – 16.0
7. (7) Jacob Holmes, Townsville Crocodiles – 15.7
8. (9) Cameron Tragardh, Melbourne Tigers – 15.6
9. (10) Kevin Lisch, Perth Wildcats – 15.4
10. (NR) Adris Deleon, Gold Coast Blaze – 15.2
Deleon makes his way into the top ten at the expense of Myron Allen who dropped from 16.6 last week to 13.4 after two games of four and seven. Ouch. Cedric Jackson gets bumped up to the top three after knocking at the door all season.
Zike Award
Round Twenty Two Zike Award Winner
Luke Martin, Sydney Kings – 2 games, 19:46 minutes/game, 1.0 ppg (10% FG, 0% 3P, 0% FT), 0.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 0.0 spg, 0.0 bpg, 4.0 tpg. ER: -10
In a weekend when Adris Deleon had one of the best two game rounds of the season, Luke Martin had THE worst two game weekend in the season. This is the first time that a player has registered negative double figures and you can see why. His first game was atrocious, one rebound and five turnovers on 0/3 shooting and his second game wasn’t much better has he had two points, six assists, three turnovers on 1/7 shooting. I feel terrible to say this as I am one of his biggest knockers but the sooner Aaron Bruce regains his fitness the better the Kings will be which will be next season.
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