Two days until the next round tips off and what a first round it was. If the first round is anything to go by the NBL will be just as competitive this season. With Round 1 done this post will guide you through the weekend and who performed, who didn’t and who should be looked at for Week 2.
The game was still not open for trades until this evening. It was advised to me that this was due to waiting on the league to finalize Round 1.
THE AUSSIE HOOPLA NBL OPEN STANDINGS
Ranking in the Aussie Hoopla NBL Open Standings from Round 1
Bragging rights go to Ella Smith who leads by 3 points. This is an open league and still free to join. Enter the league code LC32MXAH and join in now.
INJURIES
Chris Goulding, Melbourne United – Appendicitis – 3 weeks
Michael Carrera, Cairns Taipans – 4 to 6 weeks – knee injury
Mitch Young, Brisbane Bullets – Glandular Fever – unclear
Nate Jawai, Cairns Taipans – unknown – foot injury
Peter Hooley, Melbourne United – Ankle Injury – 2 to 3 weeks
TOP PLAYERS & TEAM OF THE WEEK
In this section we will break down the team of the week and rank the top 3 players from each position. It is early days so receive this information with caution as most of these ‘averages’ are one game performances.
Top 3 Point Guards
Casper Ware: 60 average points
Bryce Cotton: 49 average points
Damian Martin: 46 average points
No huge surprises here. Casper Ware got to the 60 without a double double. Keep in mind that colder shooting nights and Chris Goulding’s return may impact his scores.
Top 3 Shooting Guards
Bryce Cotton: 49 average points
Kevin Lisch: 39 average points
Mitch McCarron: 37 average points
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
Casey Prather: 49 average points
Thomas Abercrombie: 46 average points
Demetrius Conger: 47 average points
Honorable mention to 4th place Lucas Walker as the best value player of the round. Those who brought him in at $300k should rightly be feeling pretty smug right now. Incredible bench player value here.
Top 3 Power Forwards
Daniel Johnson: 39.5 average points
Perry Ellis: 38 average points
Mika Vukona: 33 average points
Also, Dave Anderson and Tai Wesley round out the top 5 for Melbourne. Double round next week for them and both players prices likely to be around the $1 million. The way they score points is also favorable with a mix of points, assists, and rebounds making up there scores.
Top 3 Centres
Andrew Oglivy: 74 average points
David Anderson: 33 average points
Delvon Johnson: 29 average points
In round 1 David Anderson and Delvon Johnson both look economical at this early stage in the season. AJ Oglivy lived up to his value with the double-double, keep in mind if he hadn’t of made the double-double the score would have been in the 40’s (which is still a good score)
The official team of the week for Round 1. Note it adds up to more than $10 million, you could never have beaten it!
ROUND 1 RESULTS
Thursday October 5
Adelaide 97 (Sobey 49, Shorter 42, Creek 34)
Melbourne 99 (Ware 64, Prather 46, Boone 35)
The Sobey/Ware battle is the take away from this game. Ware top scored due to scoring threes, a bunch of rebounds and assists. Sobey had points and rebounds. This could be telling as it indicates a lower floor for Sobey in games were points are not coming for him.
Friday October 6
Cairns 88 (McCarron 37, Egwu 31, Weigh 31)
Illawarra 87 (Oglivy 69, Conger 39, Kay 31)
Oglivy with the first double double of the season showed why they can make such a huge difference to the final scores. Conger was also impressive but his score was points reliant. Illawara on a double this week and he remains good value for money though.
Cairns are playing as a team, but this unfortunately translates to lower average fantasy scores. Proceed with caution here.
Saturday October 7
Sydney 96 (Lisch 41, Ellis 38, Leslie 34)
Adelaide 105 (Johnson 49, Shorter 47, Moore 44)
What a round for Shannon Shorter. Johnson also returned to fantasy form in this one with his rebounds and points. Perry Ellis was another top performer of note looking at the role he is playing for Sydney more performances like this could be forthcoming.
Perth 96 (Cotton 49, Martin 46, Walker 32)
Brisbane 86 (Trice 44, Buford 30, Gibson 29)
Great scores all round for Perth in this one. Cotton did what was expected of him and earned the top score. If you were looking for a weakness it would be it was very point reliant performance but he still would have scored strongly with fewer points. Walker’s 32 had a lot of teams beaming. At his value, this result could be a good omen for weeks to come.
Trice with an excellent first round was the only Brisbane stand out. Not terrible value for the performance either and a consideration for when Brisbane return.
Sunday October 8
New Zealand 71 (Abercrombie 52, Loe 26, Vukona 24)
Cairns 82 (McCarron 32, Gliddon 31, Weigh 31)
Abercrombie was excellent with stats across the box score but the 4 blocks are the highlight as these really pushed his score up.
Cairns won this game but again nothing to split the fantasy points for the players.
TOP SELECTED PLAYERS
The top selected players in Round 1 going into Round 2.
Bryce Cotton straight out of the blocks and leading the most selected. No real surprise there, he can be selected and PG and SG which means he can be switched to make room later on too. If he keeps the form from week 1 going it will be even better value.
Coming in second is Majok Deng. 20 average points are great value at $500 k ish starting price tag. I assume many would have put him onto the bench with the Adelaide doubles to start the season. He is also interchangeable with the PF and C which gives some flexibility.
Isaac Humphries with not a bad first game return was the 3rd most selected. Going into the season it looked like he would have to play big minutes and as the season goes on they could remain good value here.
Lucas Walker brought his pre-season form to the Perth game and at 4th most selected as rewarded many players. One to watch for sure here and be interesting to see how quickly values vary in game.
Kyle Adnam in at 5th most selected. Again low price tag and not many options for the bench at PG. No impact on the game though which was a surprise given Melbourne injuries going into the game. After the 3 over Carmelo on Monday will his luck change this week.
PLAYER REVIEWS
In this section, we will look at a selection of the players from this week and review the week that was for them and break down how they scored.
Shannon Shorter: Average of 44.5 through two games. The important thing here is he is scoring the majority of his points through assists. He remains $1.1 million this week which makes this a possible steal still.
Perry Ellis: Good spread of point scoring in his one game this week. Two games this week to come and still good value. Defensive rebounds could remain consistent for him as he starts at the 5 during games.
Bryce Cotton: I might be the only person who thinks that he is not necessarily the long-term option. Short term with plenty of home games coming up this performance may be emulated for a number of rounds to come. Heavily point reliant but propped up with 3 assists and some defensive rebounds also. Could he be the best player this season? Possibly.
Anthony Drmic: Unfortunately the difference in his two scores this weekend tells the story. 32 and then 17. If he is in the game he will provide the box score, if not his totals can take a big hit.
Mitch Creek: Consistent weekend and all ticks for Mitch Creek, 34 and 37 with points scored in a number of categories. His ability to be involved across the game make him a consistent bet.
Cameron Gliddon: Nice couple of assists banking him points here as well as points.
Rotnei Clarke: The fact that he scored 22 points and doesn’t break the top fantasy performers in the game (with a score of 27) rings alarm bells. He was all about the 3 and only the 3. Great too watch but not great for your team scores and could take a huge dive on a bad night.
Josh Boone: Surprise bargain alternative to Oglivy. Couple $100k separates them now but looking at his box score he was one rebound from the double double. He played limited minutes due to foul trouble. One more rebound and he would have had the second highest performance of the round.
AJ Oglivy: Just immense on the fantasy scores and in the game.
AROUND THE NEWS
Adelaide 36ers
Ronald Roberts is gone. Replacement not yet confirmed. Watch this space.
Brisbane Bullets
They have a bye this week and will be hoping to emulate the heroics Melbourne United showed against OKC when they go up against the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.
The reports are that they will not want to torpedo their next run of games due to one pre season game and this seems to indicate they will take it more as an exhibition match than Melbourne did. For the fantasy coaches out there, fingers crossed it doesn’t impact any run from round 3 for Brisbane as their is some well priced options in their squad.
Cairns Taipans
Team basketball as led Cairns to the top of the ladder through round 1. Not many will have assumed this would occur at the start of the round, but it has. Only cautionary tale is that the performances have been built by the team and points in the fantasy scoring not as highly concentrated as on other sides. However this also means they are showing themselves to be quality squad fillers.
Melbourne United
No matter how you feel about their performance against OKC, it puts Melbourne United into an elite club. Most teams outside of the NBA who go across for pre-season suffer large losses. Melbourne was one point from joining the group of teams who have ever pulled of the W against an NBA team, and at least until Saturday, it is the best performance of any team from Australia. Yes, the sample size is small but the club is rightly excited about the performance went.
Importantly this shows how good Dean Vickerman is at drilling his side. It was an intelligent display that leads to the result, that more than anything shows the change from last season for Melbourne. The players are professionals so don’t expect this to be impacting them as much but will surely have helped the team chemistry.
Chris Goulding and Peter Hooley are now both out for 2-3 weeks. This is a big hit with a thin backcourt as it is. However, this could mean Casper Ware and Casey Prather have to keep playing the way they have so far and could be valuable going into their first double round next week.
Sydney Kings
Also buoyant about their NBA performance. Didn’t want to blame jet lag for the loss to Adelaide, but he must have played a part. Let’s see how they go this week.
THIS WEEKS FIXTURES
Thursday October 12
Cairns vs. Adelaide @ Cairns Convention Centre 7.30pm
Friday October 13
New Zealand v Sydney @ Spark Arena 5.30pm
Perth vs. Illawara @ Perth Arena 9.30pm
Saturday October 14
Adelaide vs. Melbourne @ Titanium Security Arena 5.30pm
Sunday October 15
Sydney vs. Illawara @ Qudos Bank Arena 3.00pm
GAME TO WATCH
Saturday Night – Adelaide vs. Melbourne @ Titanium Security Arena 5:30 pm
No surprises here. Melbourne return for the second in an opening two away games against Adelaide. More importantly for Fantasy coaches, Melbourne have the double next week and the scoring for prizes start next week. Is Casper Ware, Casey Prather or Josh Boone representing value going into that week? Or is their another addition such as Tai Wesley that may improve the team prior to the double round.
Also this should be an excellent game. Adelaide took it to Melbourne from the off in round 1 and will likely look to do the same. Adelaide were able to take the win against Sydney after the 2 point opening loss and look like a balanced side this season. With Shorter taking the most fantasy points for round 1 at only $1 million and solid contributions from Drmic in both games at under $1 million, they also worth watching to fill your squad out.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
A J Oglivy – No surprises here. Illawara double header. Smart money would back him to top score this round after a double double in round 1, he’s living up to his value so far. Longer term could be worth keeping in the team if he can continue the run of form displayed in the Illawara opener.
Perry Ellis – Two weeks a row in this section for Mr. Ellis. Starting at the 5 for Sydney and was excellent in round 1. $1million only still and two double rounds coming up make him a great option. He is excellent value at the PF position and will continue to get big minutes.
Travis Leslie – Another Sydney player who is looking very good so far this season and still a bargain at this point. Again two double rounds coming up and value to be had here.
Casper Ware – Starting strong and looking improved so far this season. Melbourne’s first double round next week makes him a possible option. Also Goulding is likely to be out until at least round 4 and this translates to more work offensively for Casper, and if he can do it, that means more points for Casper in the fantasy game.
Bryce Cotton – Double for Perth next round and he certainly laid claim to the best player in the NBL during Brisbane in round 1. Not to stoke the fires here but Brisbane were not strong in this game either though and the game against Sydney will be a good measuring stick prior to their first double round. If your bringing him into your team now is the time.
Anthony Drmic – Out of the blocks fast for Drmic. This could be a big year for him, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions. On an average of 26 points in round 1 he represents great value at this stage and saves some money for Bryce Cotton like close to 1900 teams in game going into Round 2. Adelaide’s schedule thins out soon but keeping Drmic or Majok Deng could be money well spent.
Lucas Walker – Excellent pre-season and awarded with a start for Perth. One of the cheapest pick ups prior to the season and could continue to demonstrate great value as the season goes on. Unsurprisingly on of the most selected player on the game going into round 1!) Will be interesting to see if this continues. He has a place in this Perth side and will likely continue to be an important part of the side.
Kyle Adnam – 0,0,0 and 2 fantasy points in Round 1. Underwhelming to say the least. Pre season doesn’t translate to the regular season and even with Goulding down he didn’t play an important part in Adelaide v Melbourne part 1. For part 2, Peter Hooley is also out and seeing if he can improve on his 2 points for the Melbourne win will be interesting. Close to 1500 players are backing you Kyle and we need you to start living up to the potential.
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 2.
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
