After seven rounds, there are definite tiers to the league.  In tier one, there is New Zealand and Perth.  Daylight precedes tier two of Adelaide, Cairns, Illawarra and Melbourne.  Bringing up the rear is tier three of Brisbane and…on second thought, tier four is Sydney’s outright.  It’s a mess, and they should be embarrassed.

Question of the Week

What are the hoops tragics going to do with two whole weeks without NBL while the FIBA World Cup qualifiers are on?

1. New Zealand Breakers (–)

Record: 9-1

Next Round: Perth (home), Brisbane (away)

ORtg: 118.0 (2); DRtg: 111.2 (5); Net: +6.8 (2)

This team just keeps on winning.  An up and down performance against the Bullets wasn’t enough to slow down the Breaker Bandwagon, and they got their production from all over the court.  With Alex Pledger and Mika Vukona finding the going tough, Rob Loe and Finn Delany stepped up.  Thomas Abercrombie threw back the hands of time (even though he’s only 30) with seven, count them seven blocks.  He’s equal first in the league for blocks per game.

Next round is going to be the litmus test for this freight train, as they host the Wildcats who decimated Melbourne and are looking for revenge after last round’s double defeat.

.@tomabo10 threw his own block party in the @NZBreakers 9th straight win, none bigger than this one leading to the sneaky @shili___ dunk #BNEatNZL #NBL18 pic.twitter.com/FDvR1TbKNA

— NBL (@NBL) November 19, 2017

2. Perth Wildcats (–)

Record: 7-3

Next Round: New Zealand (away)

ORtg: 120.7 (1); DRtg: 108.8 (2); Net: +11.9 (1)

“Oh dear”, says the rest of the league.  Not only are the Wildcats the best offence in the league, they’ve bumped themselves up to the second-best defence.  The win over Brisbane was all well and good, but the main news is their dismantling of the United in Melbourne.  JP Tokoto went 2/12 from the field, and they still won by a million points (, only 32 points).  It was the lowest score of the season for any team while it ranks as Melbourne’s worst ever score.

Derek Cooke Jr came to play, with 15 rebounds against the league leader in boards in Josh Boone.  Fifteen rebounds set a new league-wide game high.

Oh, and if you didn’t see it, here’s Damian Martin as the hardest man alive.

3. Adelaide 36ers (+2)

Record: 5-5

Next Round: Brisbane (home)

ORtg: 113.0 (4); DRtg: 109.1 (3); Net: +3.8 (3)

The Sixers weren’t shy about their disdain for Jerome Randle, and they got the comfortable win to cap it all off.  Sydney’s newest addition did not have a good game against his old club, as Adelaide forced him into eight turnovers for the game.  Only AJ Ogilvy has more in a game this season with nine.

This was always going to be about Randle versus the Sixers, and luckily for the team from Adelaide they won the battle and the game.  Which isn’t saying much, beating a 2-9 team should be a given for a squad as talented as the 36ers.

The @Adelaide36ers pour in 60 points in 20 minutes #SYDatADE #NBL18 pic.twitter.com/ftoHLmDjjE

— NBL (@NBL) November 18, 2017

4. Cairns Taipans (+3)

Record: 5-6

Next Round: Sydney (away), Sydney (home)

ORtg: 109.3 (8); DRtg: 108.2 (1); Net: +1.1 (4)

Cue the 1980s sitcom star, “Who are you and what have you done with the Cairns Taipans?”  The Snakes were practically the Houston Rockets with their high scoring and exciting brand of basketball against Illawarra.  32 points they put up in the first quarter, which was not only their highest output in a first quarter this season, but the most points they’ve scored in any quarter in 2017/18.

Cairns did it with good, old-fashioned team basketball.  With four players with 14 points or more, this team is still in the hunt, and with two games against the woeful Kings next round they could well and truly be in the top four.

ICYMI | The @CairnsTaipans defended their home court in impressive fashion last night, taking care of the @illawarrahawks.

Check out all the highlights here. #NBL18 pic.twitter.com/TRC0jKrow1

— SEN 1116 (@SENNews) November 19, 2017

5. Illawarra Hawks (-1)

Record: 5-6

Next Round: Melbourne (away)

ORtg: 111.5 (5); DRtg: 113.9 (6); Net: -2.4 (6)

Rotnei Clarke had a very topsy-turvy weekend.  He scored 31 points, had seven assists in the win against Sydney and is third in voting on the Aussie Hoopla MVP leaderboard.  Unfortunately, he shot 7/22 in the two games and had zero assists and two turnovers in Illawarra’s shellacking from Cairns.

AJ Ogilvy’s reign of being the king of stats is over, with Brisbane’s Perrin Buford taking the mantle of the only player to average at least one block and one steal per game.  Ogilvy has done it the last two seasons, with Julian Khazzouh and Josh Childress the only other players to achieve that feat.

Oh, and Rotnei…

The #NBLxNBA action continues! This time on @NBAonTNT‘s @shaqtin

We’ll let this one slip though (literally) being that @RotneiClarke15 is a career 89% free throw shooter.

You know what they say @SHAQ aka Mr. 52.7%, you shouldn’t shoot bricks in glass houses pic.twitter.com/mWSLagIFyr

— NBL (@NBL) November 17, 2017

6. Melbourne United (-3)

Record: 5-5

Next Round: Illawarra (home)

ORtg: 110.2 (6); DRtg: 109.6 (4); Net: +0.6 (5)

This team is the textbook example of a frontrunner.  When things are going Melbourne’s way, they’re up and happy, flexing their muscles and chest bumping.  However, when the team is losing, it’s hero-ball all the way, to disastrous results.  Which brings us to the embarrassment against Perth.

After leading at quarter time 24-19, Melbourne self-imploded, losing the second 30-9 and then shutting down to a 91-59 display of shame on their home court.  For a team that was at full strength, was the title favourite at the start of the year and was discussed as being one of the most talented teams in history to be handled so brutally will leave psychological scars.  For both the team and the fans.  Casey Prather and Josh Boone are pulling their weight, but when the other three starters (Casper Ware, Chris Goulding and Tai Wesley) combine for eleven points on 3/29 shooting, there is a problem.

Chris Goulding, in particular, has a problem.  Nine and a half points per game on 35% shooting is troubling for a sharpshooter, and after eight games the yips have not left.  Has Prather usurped him as the go-to wing shooter?

Please, and thank you. @cprather24 pic.twitter.com/uM5GqmdSy1

— Melbourne United (@MelbUnitedHQ) November 19, 2017

7. Brisbane Bullets (-1)

Record: 3-6

Next Round: Adelaide (away), New Zealand (home)

ORtg: 114.7 (3); DRtg: 122.6 (8); Net: -7.8 (7)

The Bullets went down twice this round against the two best teams in the league so not much can be read into it.  Perrin Buford and Travis Trice are balling right now, with Buford especially leading the way.  In a league with many superstar small forward, Buford is sticking his hand right in there to be considered.

• 7^th in points per game (17.3)
• 2^nd in rebounds per game (7.1)
• 3^rd in blocks per game (1.4)
• 11^th in steals per game (1.1)

And he’s doing it all at 58% from the field.  They may be second last on the ladder, but don’t be surprised to see his name on an All-NBL team if he keeps up this output.

OH MY!

This, from Perrin Buford, is how you throw it down! pic.twitter.com/X0gQXrdE4S

— FOX Basketball (@FoxBasketball) November 19, 2017

8. Sydney Kings (–)

Record: 2-9

Next Round: Cairns (home), Cairns (away)

ORtg: 110.1 (7); DRtg: 122.4 (7); Net: -12.3 (8)

What can be said about the Kings that hasn’t already been said.  The team is second last in both ORtg and DRtg, Jeremy Tyler has a foul count of five, four and five in his three games and Todd Blanchfield and Brad Newley were a combined 8/41 in the two games (19.5%) and the team is still in a freefall, losing the last five contests.

There are positives though.  Perry Ellis is one of the best players in the league and needs more of the ball in his hands.  47 points and 19 rebounds in the two games over the weekend but only shot the ball 23 times.  Isaac Humphries is quickly becoming a serviceable big man who has oodles of potential, shown by his 17 points and nine rebounds against Adelaide.

No on can stop Perry Ellis! pic.twitter.com/dOrGEHIOsf

— Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) November 18, 2017

Kyle Abbott (88 Posts)

Kyle has barracked for the North Melbourne Giants, Victoria Titans, Victoria Giants and the South Dragons. He's hoping the Melbourne United don't fold like the rest of them