In Sunday NBL action Tasmania made it four wins from five visits to Melbourne and the Kings flexed their muscle against Aron Baynes’ winless Bullets. Follow all the Round 3 news here.
The NBL round three continued on Sunday with the JackJumpers silencing the Melbourne home crowd again and the Kings overpowering Aron Baynes and the Bullets.
Catch up on all the results from the third week.
-Greg Davis
Sydney crashed Aron Baynes’ Brisbane house-warming party and made themselves the Kings of the Nissan Arena castle with a 102-85 victory over the winless and wayward Bullets on Sunday afternoon.
In the first home game for Baynes since he signed with the Bullets, Brisbane attracted a sell-out crowd keen to see the NBA championship-winner and Australian Boomers star in the flesh.
It went to script early with Baynes producing a thunderous two-handed slam dunk in the first 15 seconds and shutting down a three-on-one Sydney fastbreak with his mountainous frame.
But the longer the game went on, the more Sydney had their way with the Bullets (0-4) who are last on the NBL ladder as the only team yet to register a win while the Kings bounced back from their shock loss to Cairns on Friday to move to a 4-1 record.
Baynes finished with 15 points and five rebounds in a frustrating afternoon for the home side who were also well served by DJ Mitchell with 20 points. US import Justin Simon was outstanding with a game-high 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks for the Kings.
The Bullets jumped out to an early 13-2 lead but the Kings trimmed the buffer to five by quarter-time and produced a sizzling 31-19 second term for Sydney to hold a 47-40 advantage by the main break.
It was more of the same in the third quarter as the Kings peeled off a 24-16 to extend their cushion.
Anniversary spoiled
Brisbane’s first home game coincided with the 35th anniversary of the club’s second title when the Leroy Loggins-inspired Bullets beat Perth 106-87 at Boondall on October 16, 1987. Expectations around Brisbane being a contender in 2022-23 are way, way too high. If Brisbane wants to be anywhere near being in the hunt for the play-offs they first need to iron-out their clunky offence and stiffen-up their flimsy defence.
Kings Cooking
Kings star Xavier Cooks copped some physical treatment early with Brisbane’s defence double-teaming him and getting in his face any time he had the ball. After a quick trip to the bench, Cooks returned and kick-started Sydney’s offence with an emphatic two-handed slam dunk and four slick assists to get the Kings going. He also led the way on the boards for Sydney who built their second quarter surge on their rebounding dominance.
Box office Baynes
The ‘House Full’ sign at Nissan Arena went up a couple of hours before tip-off in Aron Baynes’ first home game as a Bullet. It was also a match to savour for Brisbane who were dealt a cruel blow by the NBL with its draw for 2022-23 season. The Bullets played their first three matches away from home as part of a horror fixture which has them playing 10 of their first 15 games on the road.
Not-so simple Simon
Sydney import Justin Simon was a prime-mover in the win and he produced one spectacular assist in the third term when he jumped, spun and threw the ball back over his head with the ultimate no-look pass to find teammate Tim Soares who knocked down the three-pointer. Simon got it done at both ends of the floor all day and was happy to let the Nissan Arena crowd know about it after one bucket.
-Ronny Lerner
Just five months after knocking Melbourne United out of the semi-finals last season, Tasmania have proven too good for them yet again, winning 74-64 at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
Outside of a blistering 16-0 Melbourne run in the middle of the game, Tasmania completely controlled the contest.
Melbourne averaged 85 points a game heading into this match but the clinical JackJumpers’ suffocating physicality and pressure made life extremely uncomfortable for the hosts.
Tasmania’s domination of rebounds (27-11) in the first half, specifically offensive boards (7-0), set up the win, and allowed them to control the tempo and break Melbourne’s rhythm.
The JackJumpers also dominated the steals 8-2 and committed fewer turnovers (13-15).
Tasmania got to the charity stripe more often than Melbourne, too, hitting 14-19 free throws (73 per cent), compared to Melbourne‘s 5-10 (50).
Rashard Kelly was superb for the visitors, finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds and a steal, while Fabijan Krslovic was also instrumental with 13 points on 5-8 shooting.
Xaiver Rathan-Mayes was the standout for Melbourne with 18 points and seven rebounds, and he enjoyed sound support from Rayjon Tucker (15 points).
After getting their sophomore season off to a shaky start with three consecutive losses, the JackJumpers are back on track, having now won their last three games.
Meanwhile, Melbourne‘s ledger is also level at 2-2 after they missed a big opportunity to join Perth, Sydney and Cairns at the top of the ladder on 3-1. The Kings play Brisbane later on Sunday for the chance to grab top spot.
GOULDING STRUGGLES
Melbourne star Chris Goulding struggled big time, managing just five points on a woeful 1-10 shooting from the field. In the first half, he could only muster two points from the free-throw line and failed to nail any of his four field goal attempts, two of which were air balls. He simply couldn’t cope with Tasmania’s swarming defence.
SOUR CAROLINE
Melbourne import Jordan Caroline was under the pump heading into the game, having only averaged 6.3 points a game, and he failed to get out of his funk, registering only four points. He started on the bench again as veteran David Barlow, who turns 39 next week, started on the court in favour of Caroline.
JACKJUMPERS HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS
After Melbourne fell 16 points behind in the second term, the momentum shifted dramatically as the hosts, inspired by Rathan-Mayes, went on a blistering 16-0 run to level the scores at 42-42 early in the third period. But Tasmania didn’t panic and quickly reasserted their authority on the match, scoring the next 10 points before jumping back out to a 57-45 lead. They were rarely troubled in any meaningful way for the remainder of the contest.
– Ronny Lerner
Not even the return of three stars could prevent the South East Melbourne Phoenix’s worrying start to this NBL season from continuing as they lost their third game in a row to the New Zealand Breakers in an upset at John Cain Arena on Saturday night.
The hosts regained Ryan Broekhoff (hamstring) and Trey Kell III (ribs), as well as Chinese star Zhou Qi, while the Breakers were missing their leading scorer Barry Brown due to a hamstring injury.
But despite all of that, the Breakers, inspired by Robert Loe, snapped their 11-game losing streak at the Melbourne venue to triumph 85-77.
After slipping 15 points behind in the third quarter on the back of a 1-9 run, Phoenix co-captain Kyle Adnam erupted for eight points to help the home team cut the deficit back to seven at three-quarter time.
But Loe snuffed out any hope the hosts had as he drained nine consecutive points early in the final quarter to seal the impressive result for the visitors.
Loe finished with a team-high 18 points, on 7/11 shooting, including 3/5 from three, and six rebounds, while Izayah Le‘Afa was also influential with 14 points and 10 assists.
For the Phoenix, Mitch Creek led from the front with 20 points on 9/15 shooting, while Adnam ended up with 17 and seven assists.
For much of the game, the Breakers exploited the flimsy Phoenix defence by using ball screens with great effect, allowing them to score as they pleased.
New Zealand also produced a great defensive performance, limiting South East Melbourne to a woeful 1/13 from three at one stage, before that ended up 6/20.
The Phoenix shot 36 per cent from the field (25/69), compared to New Zealand‘s 42 per cent (29/68).
BROEKHOFF’S BRILLIANT BUZZER-BEATER
With his team trailing by five points very late in the first quarter, Ryan Broekhoff grabbed the ball in the back-court, ran to the halfway line and, in an act of desperation, flung the ball towards the hoop just before the buzzer rang. And fortunately for the former Dallas Maverick, his shot landed, sending the crowd into raptures as the hosts headed into the first change down by two.
BRANTLEY COMES UP BIG
A prime example of the Breakers’ hustle came midway through the third quarter, when Jarrell Brantley (13 points) produced a huge block on Zhou, which was called a foul, despite the coach‘s challenge showing it was a line ball. The Breakers were up 52-39, but you wouldn’t have known it such was Brantley’s desperation. The act sent Zhou to the line and the big Chinese star missed both free throws.
NOT IN ZHOU’S HOUSE
Late in the first quarter, New Zealand’s Rayan Rupert charged to the rim for two, but he was no match for the giant Zhou who didn’t just prevent a Breakers bucket with ease, but ultimately snatched the ball out of Rupert’s hands in what turned out to be a powerful steal.
Randall explodes in 36ers first win
– Jason Phelan
Adelaide has thrown off a lethargic start to the NBL season, with new import Craig Randall II exploding into action late to help rally the Sixers to a come-from-behind 10-point win over the Illawarra Hawks.
The 36ers trailed by two points heading into the last quarter at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, but stormed home to level their win-loss record at 1-1 with a hard-fought 90-80 victory on Saturday evening.
Adelaide enjoyed a fantastic pre-season, taking out the NBL Blitz and defeating the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, but were brought down to earth with a thud with a 25-point loss to Tasmania in their season-opener.
But CJ Bruton’s men put in a much-improved performance just 48 hours later.
Randall was the catalyst with 17 of a game-high 28 points coming in a breathtaking final term.
The other two prongs of Adelaide’s new triple threat import trio, Robert Franks and Antonius Cleveland, chimed in with 16 points each.
“I thought it was a great bounce back for us as a team,” Bruton said.
“To be able to respond to our first game, I think we did a pretty good job, our starters came out with more energy.”
Deng Deng and Tyler Harvey led the scoring for the Hawks with 18 and 16 points respectively, Illawarra slipping to a 1-3 start to the season.
SLICK START
Bruton wanted to see greater intensity, more attention to detail and better decision-making than was on display against the JackJumpers and the coach got his wish early.
The sloppy Sixers gave up 32 points in the opening term against Tasmania to trail by 22 at the first break but they burst out of the blocks against the Hawks.
Mitch McCarron drained a three to start proceedings and Cleveland capped a steal with a monster one-handed dunk as the home side went on a 9-2 run to start the contest.
Cleveland dropped just 10 points in the season-opening loss but, playing against his old side for the first time, he had eight in the first quarter as the Sixers carved out a 25-17 lead at the first break.
SAY WHAT?
Deng was off to the races following a turnover and slammed down a majestic one-handed dunk early in the second quarter.
He then had plenty to say to Randall, who trailed him to the basket, with the two exchanging heated words toe-to-toe before they were separated by officials.
“He called me a b … h!” a fired-up Randall could be heard saying on the referee’s microphone.
The spiteful exchange failed to immediately fire up the visitors, who trailed by as 13 points, but they slowly worked into the contest.
A 16-6 run either side of the main break sliced the margin to six points at halftime and just one soon after the restart.
After losing star import Justin Robinson with a season-ending knee injury in round one, the Hawks are still trying to find their identity on offence, which was perhaps reflected in the ‘scoring by committee’ approach that saw five players with a team-high six points at halftime.
RANDALL RISES
Adelaide’s scoring slowed to a crawl with just 12 points in the third term and the Hawks hit the front for the first time after another impressive dunk from Deng.
The hosts trailed by two points heading into the last quarter, but then Randall caught fire.
The suddenly hot Sixers went on an 11-0 run to start the final term and Randall scored 15 of his side’s first 18 points, including four of Adelaide’s five three-pointers for the quarter.
“They had their (hot) run real late,” Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas said.
“There were some lapses towards the end defensively, especially late on the shot clock, that was the thing that hurt us.”
Cairns Taipans bite defending champions in Sydney
– Martin Gabor
The Cairns Taipans found their bite to hand the Kings their first loss of the season thanks to a timely technical foul that woke the visitors from their slumber.
The 83-78 upset at Qudos Bank Arena means both teams are 3-1 and the result is a timely bounce back for the Taipans who were belted by Perth on Monday, with their coach lamenting that they’d “delivered turds” at home for the past few years.
The visitors were slow out of the blocks and looked like fodder for the reigning champs until their coach took it upon himself to fire them up.
His players weren’t doing much so Taipans coach Adam Forde decided to spark his side midway through the second quarter with a timely technical foul that turned the game on its head.
Forde was livid with the officials after they missed what he thought was a clear shooting foul on Keanu Pinder as he drove to the bucket.
The Kings went down the other end and scored to make it 30-21, and that’s when Forde unleashed on the officials to earn himself a technical.
There was method behind the madness and it seemed to wake Cairns from their slumber as they rallied with an 18-3 run to snatch the lead before the Kings scored the final six points of the half.
“I felt like we needed to swing it a bit,” Forde said.
“The tech was to draw a bit of attention to me.
“One of the things we’ve been talking about with this group is the huddle, and there were a couple of times throughout the game where we just wanted to bring it together.
“I like to use a tech as a bit of a reset.”
That little run did nothing to slow down the Taipans who were led in points and rebounds by Pinder even though he fouled out late in the contest.
There were a few contentious calls throughout the match, but Forde didn’t bite when asked what he thought about the officiating.
“I’m not answering that. That’s a baited question,” he said.
“I’m not going down that road. Nice try.
“I’ve been down this road before. I’m good. I’ve got a two-year-old to feed so I’m not forking out fine money.”
STRIPE GRIPE
It’s been an issue all season and Sydney’s inability to convert from the stripe finally caught up with them.
The Kings have struggled with their free throw shooting and it came back to haunt them in the fourth quarter on Friday with a number of players missing clutch shots.
They went just 4/10 in the final period with a pair of Angus Glover misses punished at the other end by Majok Deng who hit a three to push the lead out to six points in the final minute.
The Kings finished with just 56 per cent from the charity stripe, and while the Taipans weren’t much better, they had a clear advantage from beyond the arc with five extra triples proving telling.
“We were just awful with the ball tonight,” coach Chase Buford said.
“Despite how badly we played, and despite all those errors, if we make the free throws then we probably win. It’s a really frustrating thing to keep happening.
“I think we got up 10 and we just quit. We stopped playing entirely.”
MILESTONE MEN
Friday’s match was huge for a number of reasons, with Qudos Bank Arena playing host to Sydney’s 500th home match.
It was also the first time in Chase Buford’s career that the Kings coach had a full squad of healthy players to choose from.
One of those guys was Shaun Bruce who took the court for the 100th time as a King and celebrated with five-straight points that turned a deficit into a narrow 54-52 lead in the third quarter.
The Kings have a short turnaround with a trip to Brisbane on Sunday to face the Bullets.
Hype flounders around Adelaide 36ers
– Jason Phelan
Misfiring Adelaide was unable to back up its historic win over the NBA’s Phoenix Suns in its NBL season-opener on Thursday night, the 36ers stumbling to a shock 25-point defeat at the hands of the Tasmania JackJumpers.
The hype around the Sixers reached fever pitch following their superb win over the Suns less than a fortnight ago, but it was the hyped-up JackJumpers who stormed out of the blocks at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre to set up a dominant 97-72 win.
Josh Magette lit the fuse for the visitors in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 23 points, with fellow imports Rashard Kelly and Milton Doyle chiming in with 19 and 16 points respectively.
A bumper crowd of 8,027 Adelaide fans left disappointed after a disjointed display by CJ Bruton’s overhauled team.
Adelaide has assembled one of the most exciting import trios in the league in Craig Randall II (18 points), Robert Franks (14) and Antonius Cleveland (10), but the star threesome was largely unable to recreate the scoring firepower on display against Phoenix.
MAGETTE MAGIC
Magette hadn’t scored more than seven points in four games in a low-key start to the season, with the American benched late in his side’s last-start win over Brisbane.
But he surged back into form in spectacular fashion with 14 points in a blazing first quarter.
Magette drained two triples, the second after picking Mitch McCarron’s pocket, as the visitors leapt to a 9-0 lead that silenced the packed house and had Bruton calling a time-out just 78 seconds into the contest.
The pause did little to cool Magette’s hot hand, however, the guard pouring in another two efforts from downtown to spur the JackJumpers to a franchise-record 32-10 quarter-time lead.
It was a welcome return to form for Magette who hadn’t scored more than seven points in a game in a poor start to the season that saw him benched in Tasmania’s breakthrough win over Brisbane.
“I thought he was fantastic,” coach Scott Roth said of Magette.
“Seeing the ball go through (the hoop) is a huge part of basketball and for him to see the ball go through was a relief for all of us, including him, but more importantly I liked his intent defensively right off the bat.
“He was quite scrappy and set the tone for us.
“He’s very solid with the ball and is a low turnover guy … it was a good night for him.”
The JackJumpers can level their win-loss record at 3-3 when they take on Melbourne United at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
JET-LAGGED?
The Sixers only returned from their history-making US tour five days before their season-opener, which might have been a factor in their sluggish start.
Randall, who drained nine three-pointers in his 35-point effort against the Suns, was emblematic of the home side’s lethargy with four points in a quiet first quarter.
But the NBL newcomer provided the spark as the Sixers made inroads into Tasmania’s lead in the second quarter.
Randall continued to struggle from long range, shooting 1-from-7 from outside the arc in the first half, but an improved defensive effort across the board and 11 points from Randall sliced the margin to 14 points at the main break.
CHAMPIONSHIP OR BUST?
The Sixers have embraced the hype around them heading into the season, with Franks declaring “It’s the championship or bust” in the days leading up to the season opener.
Bruton’s retooled roster can be forgiven an early misstep as it searches for chemistry, but the coach’s assembled stars disappointed in a flat last quarter.
Trailing by 13 points at the last change, the 36ers were 11 points down with 7:56 left when McCarron found Franks with a sublime no-look pass.
But the JackJumpers went on a nine to nothing run after a Scott Roth time-out to cruise to a win that improves their record to 2-3.
Up next, the Sixers must back up quickly for a home clash against Illawarra on Saturday evening, while the JackJumpers head to Melbourne to take on United at the John Cain Arena.
WORK TO DO
Adelaide coach CJ Bruton concedes his players have some work to do, with jet lag arising from the 36ers‘ history-making US tour not the only reason his side was brought back down to earth with a thud by the Tasmania JackJumpers.
The Sixers were on top of the world after downing the NBA’s Phoenix Suns less than a fortnight ago but were a shadow of that team in their season-opener, slumping to a 25-point loss at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Thursday night.
The clash came just five days after the team arrived home following a 12-day pre-season tour, with Adelaide’s much-hyped new starting five sleepwalking through a first quarter that saw them trail by 22 points at the first break.
Bruton was keen not to use jet lag as an excuse after the game but conceded he, personally, had struggled to adjust to the change in time zones.
“You can (attribute some blame) but it would be an excuse from me if I were to throw that out there,” Bruton said.
“But I’ve said all along for myself, not speaking for the team, my wife will tell you that I’ve slept most days in the middle of the day and woken up at two o’clock in the morning not knowing where I’m at.
“We’ve done something that was great for basketball, great for our league, our club and our team, but right now we need to come back and switch into NBL mode and be ready to go.
“We’ve got some work to do.”
“The game against Phoenix is in the past, I’m over talking about what happened in Phoenix, and I’m ready to focus on our season and what we’re here to build upon and try to win.
“We need to come together pretty quick because we’ve got another game (against Illawarra).
“We’re playing at home again so our guys can stay in their own beds, get comfortable and hopefully we can come out and have a better performance.”
Bruton wants to see a lift in effort levels, attention to detail and shot selection when the Sixers take on the Hawks at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Saturday night.
New American import Craig Randall II topscored for Adelaide with 18 points but appeared sullen and exhibited poor body language at times in his first NBL game.
“His body language is a certain way, which you‘ll see a lot,” Bruton said.
“But it‘s water off a duck’s back for me, understanding the person who he is … how he can help contribute to the group is what I care about.”
The NBL has invited all players to participate in its Pride Round with rainbow logos designed to celebrate the LGBTQ community but none will be forced to wear the icon on their jerseys.
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