Stat Chat (Round 5, 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
When the game was there to be taken over, that’s exactly what Adelaide did, as they went on a 16-point run to take control. On the back of some individual brilliance from Montrezl Harrell and Kendric Davis, the 36ers never looked back, as they put Tasmania to the sword. 

What’s not: 8
The 36ers have shown us that they’re a team that likes to take a lot of threes, which would have concerned Mike Wells when they only hit one in the entire first half. Facing an eight-point deficit, Adelaide was just 1-of-12 from outside as they struggled to tick over the scoreboard. 

What’s hot: 2
The Bullets have strung two wins together on the season and a major reason for that has been the 20-point games from James Batemon. After asking Justin Schueller to come off the bench, Batemon has found his groove and is proving to be one of the most important playmakers for this team. 

What’s not: 3
Up until three quarter-time, the Bullets had only made three free throws in their game against the Breakers. More concerning for Brisbane is the fact that they only attempted seven in the same time, compared to 15 threes attempted. There was a clear change in style during the fourth quarter, where they got to the line 12 times and hit them all.  

What’s hot: 14
Pedro Bradshaw did all he could in the absence of two of Cairns starters, ripping down 14 rebounds on the night, including 7 on the offensive end. The Taipans overall had three players get 10 or more rebounds, as they comfortably beat Illawarra in that department. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t capitalise on their extra opportunities enough to get a win. 

What’s not: 3
The Taipans have lost their third straight game and it’s no surprise that it looks like a different team without Taran Armstrong on the floor. With their star guard set to be missing for a little longer, Cairns simply must find a way to be competitive and try and stop the bleeding. 

What’s hot: 31
The Hawks' defensive weapon, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk took another big scalp in their win against Cairns, and is on track to be a leading Best Defensive Player candidate. He held Rob Edwards to just 31 per cent from the field, including 2 of 9 from the three. As good as this team is offensively, they understand the importance of Swaka Lo Buluk to their title hopes.

What’s not: 5
It’s not often that one of the Hawks' main offensive threats can be fouled out in just 13 minutes and they still come away with a win. Darius Days had a game to forget up in Cairns, scoring just two points in his limited action. 

What’s hot: 9
With Shea Ili sitting out injured, Matthew Dellavedova went back to his usual primary ball-handling duties and was dishing out assists for fun. His 9 assists came with just one turnover as he looked to set up his teammates consistently. It also meant that he wasn’t able to be his usual offensive threat, which ended up being to the detriment of his team.

What’s not: 25
Melbourne was the red-hot favourites in the Throwdown, and yet somehow United found themselves trailing for 25 minutes of this game. The Phoenix just looked more locked in and executed better, and United were trying to dig their way out. 

What’s hot: 7
Matt Mooney was on fire for the Breakers in their return home on Sunday, dropping 7 threes on his way to 28 points and the win. After struggling in their opening game of the round, Mooney found his stroke early this one and it carried over to a big performance in securing a much needed win for the team.

What’s not: 23
It’s still a small sample size, but the Breakers may have a foul problem this year. Another 23 personal fouls in this game led to 28 free-throw attempts by Perth. It could be traced back to their fatigue from travel and being out of rotations, but it’s an issue that they’ll need to stamp out as soon as possible. 

What’s hot: 32
Without Bryce Cotton, Tai Webster stood tall in this game and filled up the box score. He had 32 combined points, rebounds and assists and did it all very efficiently. This was more of the Webster everyone saw when he first came to the NBL, and it could be the version the Wildcats need a lot more going forward. 

What’s not: 2
The only thing that matters right now for Perth is the status of their superstar, Cotton. The four-time MVP played just two minutes in their loss to New Zealand before being taken to hospital. However long his absence is on this team, is too long, as Perth’s success primarily revolves around what their main man can do. 

What’s hot: 1
Winning was the only thing that mattered for South East Melbourne and the away team did it in style against their rival. The Phoenix put a week of change and noise behind them and came out with a clear intent in this game to help jump out to a lead at half-time. The most promising part of it was that they had contributions across the board, including Jordan Hunter’s big performance down low.

What’s not: 17
It’s been a trend all season long, but the Phoenix's inability to control the defensive rebound has been costly in every game up until this point. They allowed United to rip down 17 offensive rebounds and it nearly undid all their hard work from the game.

What’s hot: 13
The Kings needed someone to step up and score the ball in this game and it was the Kouat Noi show in the fourth quarter. The bench spark had 13 points, including three threes in the final 10 minutes and launched his team back in front

What’s not: 2
After the JackJumpers took the lead midway through the first quarter, they then held the lead for the next two quarters, before Sydney ran over the top in the last. It was impressive that the Kings could lock in enough late and get enough stops to claw back the deficit and come away with a big win on the road.

What’s hot: 25
We mentioned in this segment last week how Jordon Crawford seemed to find his groove in the loss to the Hawks and that was certainly the case on Friday night. With the rest of the team struggling, their point-guard leader stood up and had 25 points on the night, 18 of which came in the opening half. Unfortunately, he was a lone hand and it wasn’t enough for Tasmania to get a win.

What’s not: 3
This is the first time since the opening three games of the NBL23 season that the JackJumpers have lost three in a row. They had strong first halves in both their Round 5 games, but fell apart in the second and couldn’t find a win. There are many questions now about where they go from here.