Stat Chat (Round 1, NBL25)

Statistics ... whether you love them or hate them, stats play a huge part in sport.

Whether it's when recruiting a player, how teams prepare, how a starting five is set up, or just about any facet of the game, numbers are crunched and relied upon as fact. 

This year, 2018 NBL Champion and expert commentator Pete Hooley will once again be our resident stats man on NBL.com.au and the NBL App, to provide a rundown of all the key numbers heading into a new round of games.  

Keep an eye out after every round for the latest edition of 'Stat Chat'. 

What’s hot: 16
The 36ers had to shoot it well if they wanted to keep up with the pace of the Sydney Kings and that’s exactly what they did. Adelaide hit 16 threes on the night, including some momentum stopping ones late in the first and second quarters. It’s not just DJ Vasiljevic who is capable of filling it up quickly either, with Lat Mayen and Jason Cadee both chiming in. 

What’s not: 20
Let’s cut to the chase, if you give up 20 offensive rebounds to one of the most talented teams in the league, you’re probably not going to be winning that game. It is simply way too many opportunities to give the Kings and it’s exactly what Mike Wells addressed post-game. The positive side is that it is fixable for the 36ers who have some big bodies down low. 

What’s hot: 6
If the Bullets can take anything positive out of their first game, it is the last quarter. When they looked down and out, something clicked with Justin Schueller’s men and they ramped up the pressure. In the final quarter they forced six turnovers, which led to putting up 35 points and nearly snatching a victory.

What’s not: 51
There’s no easy way to say it, but if you are giving up 51 points in a half, you’re going to struggle to win, unless that is drastically different in the other. The Bullets were picked apart in the opening 20 minutes and while New Zealand shot the lights out, it was the wide open looks that gave them confidence to put up the big first half score. 

What’s hot: 7
One shining light out of this tough loss for Cairns was the aggression show by Sam Waardenburg in the opening 10 minutes. After an inconsistent season in NBL24, there’s been a lot of eyes on him in the off-season and Adam Forde has been preaching that his young star will bounce back. That’s exactly how it looked early on, with Waardenburg scoring seven points in the first quarter and shooting the ball confidently. 

What’s not: 21.4%
It was a tough debut for the two guard imports, Rob Edwards and Pedro Bradshaw, combining for 6-28 from the floor. Both new faces will be relied upon heavily this season for Cairns and their 21.4 per cent shooting just won’t get it done. They won’t be making any excuses, but it’s also evident that they’ll be desperate for Taran Armstrong to return as soon as possible. Having someone make plays for them to shoot, rather than them do it themselves, should see them find a rhythm. 

What’s hot: 16
It’s been a constant trend for this club over the last few seasons and a lot of it just comes down to their exceptional effort on the glass. In their big win, Illawarra out-rebounded Cairns by 16, including 17 offensive boards and monstered the young bigs on the other side. It’s not just Froling, Olbrich or Days either, because they have athletic guards in Trey Kell and Davo Hickey who come flying in when a shot goes up. You simply must match their physicality every single possession if you want to limit their opportunities.

What’s not: 11.1
It didn’t end up hurting the Hawks in this one, but no doubt their poor outside shooting in the first half of this game would be something they wouldn’t like to repeat. Illawarra shot 1-11 from deep in the first half and thankfully managed to continue to score in other ways and tick the scoreboard over. With Harvey, Days, Blanchfield and Lee, all capable of filling it up from beyond the arc, I don’t expect this to be a familiar trend. 

What’s hot: 11
It was a gritty and hard-fought win for United in their opener and a lot of that comes down to their guards Shea Ili and Matthew Dellavedova. While both were very aggressive themselves scoring the ball, they were equally as unselfish, dishing out 11 assists between them. With Goulding coming off sickness, it was these two who lifted for Melbourne and did enough to get the win.

What’s not: 4
As mentioned above, Goulding saw limited action in this game, largely due to recovering from illness earlier in the week. That would be a major reason as to why United only attempted four threes in the second half. Having said that, there’s still plenty of players who can step up and knock it down as well. Ian Clark, Tanner Krebs and Dellavedova are all very aggressive when given space, which is why it’s interesting to see them not attempt more in this game. 

What’s hot: 8
The Breakers had a clear game plan going into this game and they executed it to perfection. That plan involved getting the Bullets' big men away from the hoop and allowing the quicker guards to cause havoc and find open shooters. This allowed them to hit eight threes in the opening 20 minutes and essentially put the game to bed.

What’s not: 26
What should have been a very comfortable and dominant win, because a nervous moment for New Zealand in the last. The Breakers squandered a 26-point lead and almost gave the Bullets a chance to steal the win in the last minute. Costly turnovers, missed free-throws and defensive breakdowns were all part of a final quarter that they’d like to forget. 

What’s hot: 12
Throughout the off-season all the talk was on the exciting additions to this team and how they have brought in some firepower from the perimeter. In this game, it was the returning superstar duo of Bryce Cotton and Keanu Pinder who got it done, combining for 12 made threes between them. If Pinder is knocking it down at a rate like this, it makes their pick-and-pop game almost un-guardable without giving up a clean look. 

What’s not: 33
The Wildcats have a luxury of being deeper this season than perhaps they have been for several years. We saw that early and often in this game against the Phoenix and everyone contributed in some way when they got on the floor. Even though Perth had the game in their control, they’d still be disappointed with the way they took their foot off the gas in the last and allowed the Phoenix to put up 33 points on their home floor.

What’s hot: 12
When Jordan Hunter found himself in early foul trouble, the Phoenix found themselves in the exact predicament that many had questions on how they’d cope in this situation. When they look at film review, Mike Kelly will be happy with how new import Matt Hurt hunted the rebounds in this one. Hurt finished with 12 boards and helped hold down the fort until Hunter could return.

What’s not: 29
The one thing that won’t be an issue for South East Melbourne is pushing the pace offensively and that’s probably where they will thrive this season. If that is going to be the case, then they need to find an answer defensively in the same aspect. In this game, they gave up 29 fast break points to South East Melbourne and just had no answers in slowing the ball in transition. 

What’s hot: +39
Not everyone is a true believer in the +/- statistic in the game of basketball, but sometimes there is just no denying it when it proves the impact of an individual. That is the case here however, with Bul Kuol posting an absurd +39 in just 22 minutes. One of the best two-way players in the league showcased just how important he is to his team in this game. It’s even more impressive when you think about how small the final margin was.

What’s not: 61%
It’s no secret that the Kings are going to play fast and rotate their players quickly in an effort to play at a lightning pace, especially defensively. The issue that can arise with this is what we saw in this game against Adelaide, where the full court pressure eventually wears down and leaves some open shots to players. Adelaide shot a scintillating 61 per cent from beyond the arc and it kept them in it right until the last two minutes. 

What’s hot: 23
After a scoreless first quarter from their superstar guard, Milton Doyle was up to his old tricks in the remaining 30-minutes with scoring 23 points and making a number of tough shots. Without Jack McVeigh in this lineup and some key injuries, it will be even more responsibility on Doyle and Jordon Crawford to step up offensively and try to carry the team in that regard. 

What’s not: 1
Many expected the JackJumpers to be tired after all their travel recently and their opening quarter was probably an example of that. Tasmania attempted just one free-throw in the first 10 minutes compared to nine threes is usually the indicator that players are settling a little bit more than they usually would.