Round 2 is done. AJ Oglivy with an abysmal week will have hurt a number of teams. Kyle Adnam’s score of the bench for Melbourne helped carry Melbourne to 2 – 0 on the road and Mitch Creek dominated with over 100 points for the round.
Adelaide dominated the fantasy scores once again, not much surprise there, but Illawara on the double were not very impressive in a forgettable week for the Hawks.
Also I encountered a bug in the trading with the inability to rollback locking trades. It was acknowledged but is something that needs to be worked on. It appears to happen if you trade out the sixth man and move them to the bench. Go in with a clear plan of how you want to trade and consider keeping more money spare to help with future trades.
You may also have noticed trades limited to one at a time. This creates some real restrictions on what trades can be completed. It is not possible to clear two spots and redistribute the money between two players in different positions. Factor this in with your trades to make sure you don’t end up stuck. The only relieving factor is everyone is in the same boat and given it has started this way it could be unfair if it was changed.
Rankings start this round. Preparing for this week is even more vital than rounds 1 and 2 which have almost been a pre-season.
Without any further ado read on to learn how everyone went and to learn more ahead of Round 3.
THE AUSSIE HOOPLA NBL OPEN STANDINGS
Ranking in the Aussie Hoopla NBL Open Standings from Round 2
Dragging out his lead Ella Smith is now ahead by 30. A handy start and gives space for a few slip ups. Keep it up.
This is an open league and still free to join. Enter the league code LC32MXAH and join in now.
INJURIES
Alan Wiggins, Adelaide 36ers – Arm – Released
Casey Prather, Melbourne United – Knee – Day to Day
Chris Goulding, Melbourne United – Appendicitis – Day to Day
Kevin Lisch, Sydney Kings – 8 weeks – Calf
Michael Carrera, Cairns Taipans – 4 weeks – knee injury
Mitch Young, Brisbane Bullets – Glandular Fever – unclear
Nate Jawai, Cairns Taipans – 12 weeks – foot injury
Peter Hooley, Melbourne United – Ankle Injury – 2 weeks
TOP PLAYERS & TEAM OF THE WEEK
Top 3 Point Guards
Kevin Lisch: 64 points
Casper Ware: 57 points
Rotnei Clarke: 45 points
If only Lisch had not suffered the injury. He would have been sitting as an excellent choice going into another double this week. Casper Ware’s performance is notable as he did it again on one game. At the moment well above the other Point guards at an average of 60.5 and top scoring the game in the average department. Damian Martin and Kyle Adnam deserve special mentions. Martin is through two with an average of 44.5. He was just off pipping Rotnei Clarke for the 3rd place one game also. This brings us to Rotnei Clarke. Averaging 24 points is not looking an attractive option at his price.
A note on point guards so far with the scoring system. They are scoring low in general. Only 6 players have maintained an average above 30 in the first two rounds. Only Shorter, Ware, Lisch and Martin are producing consistently so far.
It’s a talent-heavy position but those who don’t play the team game (assists, rebounds etc.) are not being rewarded regularly. That being said these players who are playing the team game are the top performers in the game. The drop off from the top players to the rest is larger than other positions, but the top players deliver so far.
Top 3 Shooting Guards
Travis Leslie: 75 points
Nathan Sobey: 68 Points
Kevin Lisch: 64 points
The most striking thing with the shooting guards is the averages. Between the top 10 players going into Round 3 only around 10 average points separate them. The true shooting guards such as Sobey, Leslie, Newbill have been consistent too. Kirk Penney deserves a mention with 42 last round and he is still a bargain price. Less downside and less upside are characterizing this position.
Mitch deserves special mention as his points are spread across the box score. He is also already through two games and his average is more likely to reflect real value here. No double next round but could be held onto.
Top 3 Small Forwards
Mitch Creek: 107 points
Todd Blanchfield: 80 points
Demetrius Conger: 67 points
The double rounds are dominating this position. Mitch Creek on top of the game last week. 8 players are averaging over the 30 and it’s turning out to be the key position. The imports prices are rising well and having an SF on the double is advisable every week at the moment.
Top 3 Power Forwards
Perry Ellis: 86 Points
Daniel Johnson: 70 Points
Delvon Johnson: 42 points
Perry Ellis has emerged as the player to have at PF. The position is weak so far. Only 3 players are averaging a 30. The main characteristic impacting is volatility. If players have an excellent game as Johnson did against Cairns, their score jumps, but they tend to lack assists. If they hit early foul trouble and lose court time they lose out, as Johnson did against Sydney. Ellis has been consistent and remains the bargain man. He has jumped remarkably in teams who are selecting him. With the Kings roster how it is, it seems like money well spent but this could change in coming weeks.
Top 3 Centres
Josh Boone: 55 Points
Delvon Johnson: 42 points
Alex Pledger: 36 points
Amazingly 2 of the centres were not on doubles. Boone hit the double-double and showed his value. The most striking thing is who is not there. AJ Ogilvy did not have a good round. It doesn’t appear that this will be the trend, but the Centres can take a hit if something doesn’t go there way during the game.
The official team of the week for Round 3
ROUND 2 RESULTS
Thursday October 12
Cairns 70 (Smith 24, Loughton 23, Gliddon 16)
Adelaide 96 (Creek 55, Johnson 49, Sobey 41)
Cairns are a fantasy nightmare so far. No one is averaging above 30 or being consistent. If this one anything to go by it would be worrying for their season. On the other hand, Adelaide is fantasy champions but not converting it into game wins. Adelaide were great throughout the game and it shows in the points here.
Friday October 13
New Zealand 87 (Newbill 43, Penney 42, Pledger 36)
Sydney 85 (Blanchfield 49, Ellis 46, Lisch 35)
Newbill with the game winning layup and top billing in a nail biter. Sydney just wouldn’t go away for the Breakers. Penney was best value for money this round easily and his performance here was good. It was point and 3 point driven though which could easily translate to a 9 next round. However he’s bench player price so he remains worth the gamble in a weak PF position.
Blanchfield had a great game with contributions across the box score. He is averaging 32.7 after a great round for him. Ellis was at it again fantasy points wise and remains the steady eddy.
Perth 74 (Martin 43, Tokoto 43, Walker 30)
Illawara 64 (Conger 33, Clarke 28, Coenraad 25)
A low scoring battle and a tough Friday the 13th for Illawara. The lack of court time for Oglivy hurt them in this once. Walker kept his great start to the season going. At bench player price he was a steal for those who picked him up from the start. Tokoto and Martin have scored well again also based on stats across the box score. Martin is the most impressive as he averaging 5 points a game and a fantasy total over 40 points. It seems to indicate a very high floor for Martin but it is early days and they so far have only played at home.
The million dollar man Oglivy scored a -7. This was a disaster for Illawara both in game and fantasy. Only Conger demonstrated value once again. Cotton another notable miss out from the top. Remember this when jumping on Cotton. He is a one man wrecking machine and when he’s on, he is the best. If a team shuts him down though this can happen and he scored 16.
Saturday October 14
Melbourne 99 (Ware 57, Boone 55, Adnam 38)
Adelaide 79 (Creek 52, Drmic 37, Moore 29)
Adman’s surprise trip to the top showed his potential. It was the big guns though who stole the fantasy show. Ware and Boone were at it again and Melbourne dominated this game. The big difference with Round 1 being the loss of Shannon Shorter. Ware is creeping into more sides, but with Point Guards being volatile so far through two rounds will his run continue?
Sunday October 15
Sydney 103 (Leslie 50, Ellis 46, Newley 39)
Illawara 87 (Conger 34, Oglivy 20, Kay 19)
Ellis brought home a perfectly consistent round in this game and dragged to Sydney to a big win. Leslie was a team player with points everywhere also showing his value as an import. Both are rising in price pretty well now and are worth watching closely.
No real positives for Illawara in both fantasy and on the court. Again Conger is consistent but Oglivy couldn’t bounce back against one of the weaker front courts in the league. A forgettable week for Illawara and a forgettable week for those who brought in Oglivy early.
PLAYER REVIEWS
Perry Ellis – A simple first choice for a deep dive into his stats as he plays two again this round. The first thing to notice is his scoring is points heavy. He is good for a block or two though which really props up the total points and does share the ball. His average seems to be his on par so far which is great for the coaches out there. Easily emerging as the first choice PF at this point.
Kyle Adnam – Kyle’s performance in this game was great. However it is helped by having to be on the court. Prather and Goulding out meant more minutes for Adnam. This may continue at Perth on Friday but unlikely for the Sunday game. He added a few assists but his 3 point effort really helped him here too. As a bench player he is the first choice point guard, close to 30% for people have him in the squad. Don’t expect this to be a consistent performance though simply because he won’t have the court time to do this each week.
DJ Newbill –He is still rather cheap only gaining a little this round. He adds a few rebounds each game which help prop him up but is still very point scoring reliant. He could be the best value gamble though at SG as he could stay around an average of 30 fantasy points if he can score consistently and continue the boards. His low assists don’t help though.
Dexter Kernich-Drew – I bring his score up as it is interesting. 11 points in game, 14 points in fantasy. This is not a good omen. All of his fantasy points came from shooting as he contributed nothing else.
AROUND THE NEWS
Adelaide 36ers
They replaced Ronald Roberts with Alan Wiggins. Then Alan Wiggins breaks his arm. Cannot catch a break in Adelaide at the moment. It is now unclear where the replacement will come from but there is some grumbling about Jamell Mckay returning to the NBL. This could be huge for the 36ers.
Sydney Kings
Lisch down for 8 weeks, all the talk is about how they are going to replace him. Jeremy Kendle has been trailing with them and there is talk that a new import center could be incoming. A huge “watch this space” over Sydney at the moment.
Melbourne United
Have come out and said Goulding and Prather may both be ready for the trip to Perth. However it is a risky strategy to consider them for this round. It is now only a matter of time until we see the full strength United.
GAME TO WATCH
Saturday Night – Brisbane v Cairns @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre 7:30 pm
Cairns we know are not great for your fantasy side so far. Brisbane has basically been gone for the start of the season. They have a whole team to watch and watch closely. Trice may be about to have a breakout year with the keys to the car with Brisbane. We are yet to see the best of Stephen Holt. Gibson and Buford scored ok in Round 1. Also it will be interesting to see how Kickert performs. He could still be value at his price tag but his round 1 score of 20 indicates otherwise. The sample size is too small at this stage to jump to conclusions which makes this game the one to scout in a busy week of NBL.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
A J Oglivy – A poor week out for Oglivy. Will it continue this round. Some people will roll dice and keep him, most are likely to have dropped him. This round was not likely to be indicative of his season and these things happen but a most expensive player scoring under 20 through two games? Watch him this round to work out if Round 4 double will be any better. Warning though he does have to play Perth again in Round 4.
Travis Trice – I know he wasn’t in the NBL this week but a excellent performance against Phoenix in the NBLxNBA is good signs for Travis. He returns against his former team and if he can produce this performance in Cairns then he could be the pick of the round. 4 games in 2 weeks will mean a lot of eyeballs on him this week.
Jason Cadee – Kevin Lisch’s injury make this round a possible cash in round on Jason Cadee. Two games and likely to get more minutes. His average is at 22 but there is some volatility with a low of 6 and a top of 32. Be interesting to see how he performs this week and who Sydney bring in also.
Perin Buford – Low value still at $1 million and we are entering Brisbane time after the Adelaide packed start to the season. Monitoring him this week will give an idea if he is money well spent or not.
Chris Goulding and Casper Ware – If Goulding’s return occurs this weekend, watch closely if Casper’s points go down. Casper has been money so far but it could change with the full squad back and sharing the one ball. It will be a good indicator for later in the season.
Join us in the game by our open to anyone with no limit traditional fantasy league. League code is LC32MXAH.
That’s it for now. Good luck with week 3.
Any suggestions or questions hit me up on Twitter @johnoprestwich.
Disclaimer: All of the news in the this article are at the time of writing and from publically available material.
Jonathan Prestwich is a Melbourne United fan introduced to the game by his children. He missed a half-court shot but they gave him the prize anyway...... maybe they felt sorry for him. Follow him on twitter @johnoprestwich
