THE PENULTIMATE round of the National Basketball League (NBL) came and wet over the weekend, as the season draws to a rapid conclusion.
With finals just around the corner, each game carries even more weight, as sides look to secure a spot in the upcoming postseason. There is no rest for the big guns as some of the competition’s biggest names fired over the weekend in a bid to get their side into contention at the sunset of the fixture.
As is the case every week, Rookie Me Central will be highlighting the three strongest individual outings, with plenty making quite the impact in their respective outings.
Cotton was at his absolute best on the weekend, posting the fourth 40+ point performance of the season. Against the Hawks on Friday night, the three-time MVP was just about unstoppable as he produced a much-needed win for the Wildcats. He had a game-high 40 points, a total that was bolstered by shooting 7/11 from behind the arc and 11/11 from the charity stripe. Cotton was a man on a mission as Perth broke away from the opposition late in the game behind their star guard’s outstanding play. Cotton was recently announced as a finalist for the Andrew Gaze MVP award for the 2022/23 season, and his performance on Friday should do those chances no harm.
One of the games of the round saw the Kings hold off a rampaging Phoenix side that was desperate to keep their finals chances alive. One of the biggest factors in Sydney securing a memorable win was the performance of leading MVP candidate Cooks, who produced the first triple-double in the NBL since Joshua Giddey in 2021. Against the Phoenix, the star big man had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, doing a bit of everything and making the right plays to get his side over the line in crunch time. Cooks is established as a gun frontcourt player who can do more than the average big man, and furthered those claims with another stirring performance.
It has been a tough season for the 36ers, who have dealt with off-court drama and been unable to perform at the expected level many had for them. However, Monday night’s win over the finals-bound Taipans would have been a nice reward for the work that has been put in. Cleveland was at the forefront of the action on both ends of the court in the three-point win, posting 27 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals as he led from the front to keep his side a nose in front of Cairns.
THE PENULTIMATE round of the National Basketball League (NBL) came and wet over the weekend, as the season draws to a rapid conclusion. With finals just around the corner, each game carries even more weight, as sides look to secure a spot in the upcoming postseason. There is no rest for the big guns as […]WITH the NBL season in the twilight of the 2022/23 fixture, the year’s best performers have been recognised with the finalists for the league’s individual awards announced this morning. There is just one round remaining after the conclusion of tonight’s game, so the bulk of the sample size is in for the strongest players and […]ROUND 16 of the NBL has wrapped and there were some big scores across the courts as some of the league’s best bucket getters fired their side to victory, while others performed admirably in defeat. In a round of upsets, there were some forgotten players that managed to pop up for some impressive performances. With […]It was a weekend of upsets in both the NBL and WNBL as some of the contenders of each competition found themselves on the wrong end of the result in some classic matches. Luckily for basketball fans, Host Michael Alvaro is back alongside Analyst Liam Badkin to unpack the week’s action and let you know […]ROUND 16 of the NBL is done and dusted, proving to be one of the surprising rounds of the 2022/23 season by the time the final match wrapped on Sunday afternoon. There were a handful of impressive upsets as some of the sides that have struggled to date in the fixture managed to take down […]HEADING into Round 16, the SEM Phoenix were under all sorts of pressure, but a terrific performance from Mitch Creek has led them to an 11-point win against the Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena on Wednesday night. The Phoenix entered the match on a bit of a form slump, and had dropped to seventh […]ROUND 15 has come and gone, with some big scores posted across a bumper round of NBL action for season 2022/23. There were a whopping 11 games in Round 15 across the span of six days, with no shortage of action for fans to enjoy. It also meant there were plenty of opportunities for players […]With another week in the books, it is time for the Got Next Podcast to unpack yet another exciting batch of games. There was a bumper round of NBL with a ridiculous amount of games for Round 15, while in the WNBL, it was upsets galore as one side got on the board for the […]ROUND 15 of the National Basketball League (NBL) season is almost over, and there have been some agoniSingly close contests across the span of five days so far. With plenty of tense finishes over the weekend, there were a number of heroes that stood up for their respective sides and delivered some big performances on […]If you like the content that Rookie Me Central provides and don’t want to miss any of it, then sign up to receive our newsletter today.
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