Stat Chat - Round 18, NBL24 (What's hot and what's not)

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 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 – 1
The 36ers began the round with a big win over Sydney, and that's made even more impressive when you realise they only won a single quarter for the entire match. Yes, you read that correctly. Adelaide won the game by seven in the end, thanks to their 31-19 final term. They lost the previous three quarters by one point, three points and one point.

What’s Not – 60
Adelaide knew it would be a mighty task to go through the rest of the season undefeated, but that was likely what they needed for a miraculous Play-In berth. Unfortunately, they went to Tasmania and struggled to find the rhythm they had in the previous seven games and let the JackJumpers shoot 60 per cent from the floor to blow them out. Tasmania’s offence was humming and the 36ers just had no answer.

Jacob Wiley.

What’s Hot – 7
One positive out of a disappointing defeat to Illawarra for Brisbane was that they kept the league-leading offensive rebounding team to just seven o-boards for the game. It wasn’t a pretty game overall, but Brisbane did a good job in limiting second chance opportunities.

What’s Not – 4
Hard to look past the final quarter for the Bullets in what was an incredibly important game for their finals hopes. The Bullets managed to score just 10 points in the final term and hit just four of 22 attempts from the field. They also went 0-10 from the three-point line in that final period.

Nathan Sobey.

What’s Hot – 31
Everyone expected a bounce-back performance from Patrick Miller following his indifferent Round 17, and that’s exactly what we got. It wasn’t enough to lead Cairns to victory over Tasmania in the end but Miller was outstanding with 31 points to go with seven rebounds and just one turnover.

What’s Not – 11
Self-inflicted wounds seem to be a common theme for the Taipans in NBL24, and when you look at their 11 missed free throws against the JackJumpers, it comes back to bite them when they lose by single digits. It wasn’t the best outing we had seen by Cairns this season, but the Snakes still had plenty of opportunities late to get it done.

Patrick Miller.

What’s Hot – 20
Justin Robinson made a huge impact off the bench for the Hawks on Saturday and it went a long way to them getting the win over Brisbane. Robinson was a +20 in his 26 minutes, and scored 16 points with five assists and just one turnover. He spoke at half time that he is taking his new role like a true professional and it’s benefitting the Hawks.

What’s Not – 3
The Bullets’ poor fourth quarter took the heat away from a bad third from Illawarra, where the Hawks managed to hit just three field goals and score 12 points. They were 3-17 from the floor, without a made three and got outrebounded by eight in that 10 minutes.

Justin Robinson.

What’s Hot –23
The best part about United’s Throwdown win was the fact they managed to come away with a nice little percentage boost without a player recording more than 23 minutes of game time. Against an undermanned South East Melbourne, United got through unscathed and with some nice rest for the squad ahead of the last two rounds.

What’s Not – 2
One part of the game that wouldn’t have pleased Dean Vickerman was that United managed to lose the rebound count to a team that only had one true center available. It didn’t matter the result but they were outrebounded 42-40, and gave up two extra offensive boards to the Phoenix to also lose the offensive rebound count.

Flynn Cameron.

What’s Hot – 3
The Breakers took a little leaf out of the Hawks playbook with how to guard the Bryce Cotton, and it worked. New Zealand held the MVP-elect to just three made field goals and held the Wildcats to just 78 points on their home floor, whilst having their stars score at will on the other end and get one step closer to the finals.

What’s Not – 8
This team has been dealt a horrific hand all season long in terms of injuries to key players, and just when they started to click and could do some real damage in the post-season, disaster struck. Anthony Lamb went down just eight minutes into the game with what is expected to be a torn Achilles, and that is a horrible situation for him and the team. He should still be rewarded with a place on the All-NBL First Team, but let’s hope he gets back quicker and stronger than ever.

Anthony Lamb (44).

What’s Hot – 53
Legend status was confirmed on Sunday at RAC Arena, as Damian Martin’s iconic jersey was put into the rafters where it truly belongs. Martin was and perhaps always will be the best defender the NBL has ever seen. Six titles, six Best Defensive Player awards, a Grand Final MVP, and now a retired jersey with his club. That's some resume.

What’s Not – 21
Perth left a lot of points out there against the Breakers, and hit just four of 19 attempts from three, including zero made in the entire first half. Keanu Pinder was huge, but as the opposition defence continues to try and beat up Cotton, Perth need others to step up and take some of the scoring pressure off the MVP.

Damian Martin.

What’s Hot – 1
This was the Gorjok Gak that many wanted to see throughout the entire season. Gak has been struggling with injuries but showcased the potential we all see with his double-double in the Throwdown. Gak had 10 and 11 rebounds in 22 minutes for the undermanned Phoenix.

What’s Not – 9
Hopefully, the news out of  Round 18 isn’t as bad as it looked injury wise, as this team can’t possibly deal with any more players sitting out. The Phoenix only managed to suit up nine players in this one and still fought valiantly against local rivals Melbourne United.

Gorjok Gak.

What’s Hot – 19
A win was all that mattered, but there were still some positives to come out of the game against Adelaide and the major one was the effort on the offensive glass. The Kings had 19 o-boards, with nine different players recording at least one. That’s the kind of effort fans want to see on a consistent basis from this talented roster.

What’s Not – 48                                                                        
Defence has been one of the major talking points from the Kings all season long and the 48 points Adelaide scored in the second half was a prime example. Sydney have a healthy enough percentage that should see them play Finals basketball, but they’re making that task harder than it needs to be.

Jordan Hunter.

What’s Hot – 10
Milton Doyle as a primary ball handler is a thing of beauty. Doyle had 10 assists in Tasmania's blowout win over Adelaide and it should be enough to prove to Scott Roth that he can be the starting point guard, while Jordon Crawford can do damage in the two spot.

What’s Not – 12
Tasmania only had 10 turnovers, but the JackJumpers allowed Adelaide to have a combined 12 steals and blocks through poor shot selection and carelessness on the ball. It's hard to find too many negatives though in what was the most dominant performance we have seen from Tasmania in some time.

Milton Doyle.