Stat Chat (Round 3, 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: 57.5
Kendric Davis was simply unstoppable across Adelaide’s two wins in round three. It wasn’t so much his scoring impact, but rather how efficient he was in doing so. Davis shot almost 58 per cent from the field in both games, which is exceptional for a point guard. Combining that with his assists, and Davis put the league on notice.  

What’s not: 52
The 36ers put a new starting lineup together that included the big man duo of Montrezl Harrell and Isaac Humphries. They were super effective on the offensive end, but across the weekend the team allowed teams to score 52% of their points in the paint, which wouldn’t please Mike Wells.

What’s hot: 55
Brisbane continues to show flashes of a team that has enough weapons to compete. After struggling once again in the first half, the Bullets scored 55 points in the second half against one of the premier defensive teams in the league. Justin Schueller has the task now of figuring it all out to try and get a more consistent effort from his squad.

What’s not: 60
While the Bullets attempt to figure out their offensive dilemma, they’re unfortunately struggling to get it done on the other end, too. The Sydney Kings shot 60 per cent from the field against them, which will always make it tough for a team to compete against. History has shown us that the good teams in the league find ways to get stops, if they can’t score the ball.

What’s hot: 6
Call it a mental edge or just a matchup advantage, but Cairns has won six of its last seven against Melbourne United and continue to get it done. It’s been a staple of the Taipans program under Adam Forde that players like Kyrin Galloway find a new situation and have breakout seasons.

What’s not: 33
One area of the game that Adam Forde would want his team to tidy up is on the defensive glass. Across their two wins in the round, the Taipans gave up 33 offensive rebounds to their opposition. Thankfully for them, it didn’t come back to hurt them. However, they play the Perth Wildcats and Sydney Kings this weekend and if that trend continues, it may not end well.

What’s hot: 29
After a sluggish start by the Hawks, they eventually snapped into gear and showed glimpses of the championship contender everyone thinks they are. Thankfully for them, it was Trey Kell who once again stood up and nearly dragged his team to a win. Kell had 29 points, including some big three’s in the fourth, and continues to keep his name in the MVP conversation.

What’s not: 2
In this space last week, it was all about Illawarra losing the rebound count, which is a rare feat when we describe them. Last week it didn’t cost them the win, but this time it did, as Adelaide beat them up around the glass. That’s now two games in a row where they’ve struggled to compete in that area, which is not their identity at all.

What’s hot: 64
United went over to Perth and completely tore the Wildcats apart on their home floor from the opening tip. This game was in the books by half time, when Melbourne scored 64 points and knew it could get whatever it wanted. Shea Ili set the tone, but everyone chimed in for United as they put points on with ease.

What’s not: 3
United came out hot in their home opener, hitting nine first half threes and Chris Goulding was responsible for four of those. They were unable to replicate that in the second half and only hit three of their 15 attempts as Cairns ran over the top of them.

What’s hot: 2
As the 36ers proved a couple seasons ago, if you want to beat an NBA team, you need to shoot well. Sam Mennenga hit back-to-back threes in the first quarter, and everything looked great for the Breakers against the Utah Jazz. Mennenga has shown that he has that range since last season, and Petteri Koponen has clearly given him a directive to be more confident in that area.

What’s not: 46
The flip side to the above was that New Zealand ended up relying on nothing but the three-point line in this game. The Breakers attempted 46 threes in the game and their hot start eventually slowed down, which left them unable to keep up with the Jazz.

What’s hot: 0
After one of the most disappointing performances of their recent history, the Wildcats had a perfect response in the first 10 minutes against Tasmania. Yes, they held the JackJumpers to just nine points, but it was the other end that was equally as impressive. While Tasmania ramped up the physicality, Perth committed zero turnovers in the opening quarter, which helped it get out to a strong lead at MyState Bank Arena.

What’s not: 29
It’s one of those games that as a team you never want to remember, but as a fan you’ll never forget. The Wildcats slumped to their worst loss ever at RAC Arena, going down by 29 points to United, eclipsing the previous worst of 23 against Adelaide in 2019. Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Perth as it was completely outmatched by a Melbourne team that looked to have a point to prove.

What’s hot: 9
Usually a long break after some disappointment would be a bad thing, as a team would be hungry to get back out there and show they’re ready to bounce back. For the Phoenix, however, they look like they need all the time they can get to try and fix their issues. As they stare down the barrel of an 0-5 start, South East Melbourne has nine days before its next game to try and find a winning formula. 

What’s not: 20
The Phoenix were looking for a response against Adelaide and then dug themselves a 20-point hole in the first half, which was less than ideal for Mike Kelly. The positive out of this game is that South East Melbourne showed some fight and responded in the second half, but unfortunately the damage was already done.

What’s hot: 10
Sydney has shown glimpses so far in the first few rounds and the pre-season of how dominant it can be on the defensive end. They ramped it up in the second quarter against Brisbane and held the Bullets to just 10 points in that period and looked comfortable in everything they did after that.

What’s not: 21
It’s been a topic of discussion since this Sydney team was put together about their lack of height in the big man department. The Bullets on the other hand, have the two tallest players in the league and that went a long way to them pulling down 21 offensive rebounds. Brisbane didn’t manage to capitalise on its extra opportunities, but best believe the rest of the league took notice of that.

What’s hot: 4
The man just oozes clutch and Milton Doyle once again stepped up and delivered with the game on the line. Doyle’s heroics would overshadow what was a rough shooting night for the star guard, but when four of his six made field goals come in the last quarter, that’s all that matters. The back-to-back threes that helped send the game to overtime are more evidence that he’s one of the best closers in the league.

What’s not: 0
If the JackJumpers could start their game against the Taipans again, they’d probably attack things a little differently than they did. Tasmania attempted zero free-throws in the entire first half which showed both a lack of intent to get to the rim, but also a willingness to settle for contested jump shots.