Stat Chat (Round 4, 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: 4
Adelaide’s big win over Sydney came on their back of the ‘big four’ who dominated this game. All four of Davis, Vasiljevic, Humphries and Harrell scored in double-figures and shot it at over 40 per cent from the field. They were led by Vasiljevic, who put up 26 on his former team, including 18 in the first quarter. 

What’s not: 8
Up until half-time, the 36ers were taking it right up to United and had a chance to get a good win away from home. The third quarter ended all those hopes, as Adelaide scored just eight points on 3-15 shooting. They also had eight turnovers in that term alone.

What’s hot: 1
The only thing that matters for Brisbane is they have their first win of the season. It wasn’t pretty and midway through the first half, it looked as if they were going to give it away. Thanks to some brilliance from Tyrell Harrison and James Batemon, the Bullets dug deep and came out on top.

What’s not: 5
The Bullets had five turnovers in the fourth, with a crucial one being on the last inbound play that could have cost them the win. Justin Schueller won’t be pleased with the fact his team played well enough to get in the position to win, but nearly throw it all away with unforced errors. 

What’s hot: 22
Sam Waardenburg has quietly gone about having a big season early on for Cairns and that was highlighted with his 22-point, 9-rebound effort against Sydney. Adam Forde said in the off-season that he would relish being back in his normal power forward position, and it’s clear to see his confidence is sky high. 

What’s not: 33
With no Taran Armstrong available, all eyes turned on Rob Edwards to try and lift this team over the line. Unfortunately for Cairns, Edwards shot just 33 per cent on the round, including 11-27 field goals against Perth. Adam Forde doesn’t want to hear any excuses, but it was a clear shift in play style without Armstrong on the floor. 

What’s hot: 0
The Hawks straight up dominated Tasmania in their bounce back win at home. Nearly every stat was in their favour, but perhaps none told the story more so than the fact Illawarra never trailed in this game at all. After nearly pushing the lead to 40 at one point, the Hawks comfortably got back in the winning column.

What’s not: 4
It didn’t hurt them at all in this game, but the Hawks only attempted four free throws in the first half. This is not unlike their style of play, as they often like to settle for jump shots and three’s, which they were knocking down at a high rate in this game. 

What’s hot: 26
Melbourne looked comfortable throughout the whole game against Adelaide, which will please Dean Vickerman. Defensively, they were dominant, but it was the other end where they really flashed their brilliance. Any time a team has 26 assists in a game, good things tend to happen. United shot over 50 per cent from the field, which spoke to their unselfishness and ability to create easy shots.

What’s not: 19
United committed 19 fouls in this game, which led to 33 free-throws attempted to Adelaide. It meant nothing in the way the game panned out, but considering Melbourne have had their issues from the line themselves, it’s something to watch. 

What’s hot: 31
Looking past the final score and there’s some positives that have come out of the last two games for New Zealand during their USA trip. The biggest is probably the efforts of Mojave King, against the 76ers and Thunder. The former NBL Next Star looked incredibly comfortable in these games, putting up 31 points combined and showing he perhaps deserves another chance.

What’s not: 14
Mentioned last week in this column that if you want any chance to beat an NBA team, you simply must shoot the three ball well. Against Philadelphia, the Breakers shot just 14 per cent from deep, which was the beginning of the end of their chances to pull off a big win. 

What’s hot: 35
Bryce Cotton came out and said that Cairns is his favourite away venue in the league and then immediately showed the fans why. Cotton was at his very best against the Taipans, dropping 35 points, including 7-11 from three. He turned things up in the second half, with 21 points coming very efficiently as he helped drag his team to a much needed win. 

What’s not: 4
Perth played too well this game to have to sweat out a close win. Their fourth quarter left some things to be desired, where they managed to hit just four field goals in the entire period. When that was combined with their turnovers late, it nearly came back to haunt them had Rob Edwards heave sent them to overtime. 

What’s hot: 24
Matt Hurt continues to be one of the very few positives in this Phoenix team, with yet another 24-point game to his name. Hurt is doing it all offensively, scoring in a variety of ways and looking virtually unstoppable at times. Had his team not lost every game to this point, he would very much be in the MVP conversation.

What’s not: 5
The Phoenix slumped to their fifth straight loss to begin the season and have subsequently made the call to part ways with Mike Kelly. In terms of their game against Brisbane, it was a devastating loss, considering how well the team played in the opening half.

What’s hot: 6
It was the Shaun Bruce show on Sunday as the Kings captain simply couldn’t miss against Cairns. Bruce was a perfect 6-6 from the three and helped push his team’s lead out by half time. After their poor performance in Adelaide two nights prior, this was the spark that Goorjian was hoping would light up the rest of the team, and that’s exactly what happened. 

What’s not: 12
Sydney looked flat in their game against Adelaide and a lot of that meant Brian Goorjian was searching for a lineup that worked. With some of the bench players providing a spark, it meant that there were 12 Kings players who played double figure minutes in their loss to Adelaide. 

What’s hot: 19
Hopefully this game from Jordon Crawford is exactly what he needed to find some offensive consistency. Crawford had 19 points on 12 shots, including hitting 4 threes. It’s been another up and down season on that end for the star guard, but Tasmania will be hoping that he can continue on this form going forward.

What’s not: 33
Scott Roth called it a “good old fashioned butt kicking,” and that’s precisely what it was. Tasmania slumped to their biggest defeat at Illawarra, going down by 33 points, in a game where Roth will be left scratching his head. Their offensive struggles have been highlighted this season, but it’s unsure if they have an answer in that department.