NBL 2022/23: Perth Wildcats blowout Cairns Taipans and return to top of the NBL ladder
Perth have warned the NBL that last season’s playoff miss was an aberration as they thumped previously unbeaten Cairns on Monday. Catch up with all the Round 2 NBL action.
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Round 2 of the new NBL season has produced plenty of surprises, but on Monday a familiar face returned to the top of the ladder with a powerful performance.
Catch up on all the action from Round 2.
Awesome Wildcats send league-wide warning
-Isaac McCarthy
Two teams vying for a perfect start to the NBL season battled it out at the snake pit in Cairns, but only one proved capable - and showed it resoundingly.
The Cairns Taipans were keen to turn their first 2-0 season start since 2018 to their first 3-0 start since 2015 on Monday’s home game in front of more than 3600 fans.
But it was the Wildcats who maintained their perfect start to the NBL23 campaign, after a convincing 105-76 triumph in the tropics.
The first quarter was a tight contest and it was the Taipans showing that they could turn on-the-road dominance into hometown confidence, edging the Wildcats by a point at the first break.
Sam Waardenburg (9) and But Kuol (8) showed the Taipans had multiple attacking options while the cats leant on American superstar Bryce Cotton (12) to do the heavy lifting.
But the Wildcats quickly, and savagely, reversed the situation in the second quarter, amassing a 23-point lead by half time – twice scoring 10 unanswered points before the Taipans could arrest a score discrepancy that was quickly running away from them.
Taipans’ attack, led soundly by Sam Waardenburg, showed some promise and discipline early in the third quarter, reducing the deficit to 14 points. But some desperate triple attempts, and solid rebounding by Wildcat Luke Travers, removed the snake’s tail from the cat’s throat and saw a heap of daylight return between the scores.
The Wildcats’ lead increased to 25 points. Cotton (20) and Todd Blanchfield (15), playing in his 350th game, were proving unstoppable.
“We gave up rebounds which gave a lot of life to their offence,” Taipans coach Adam Forde said.
“The second quarter was a combination of nine turnovers and only one attempt at (a triple) made.
“This is part of the learning curve for this group. Little things really rattled our cage ... it‘s really important that we learn from this.”
Daylight between the scores became daylight between the Taipan’s defence as Cotton gathered his own missed, and unchallenged, triple attempts on several occasions.
If a brilliant piece of defence by Travers with 6 minutes remaining didn’t sound the death knell, then a completely botched dunk by Keanu Pinder surely did: a missed opportunity that exemplified the Taipans’ night.
Cotton the go-to man
If it was Wildcats’ attack, Bryce Cotton was there. The American became the option even if others had a clearer run or less challenged shot at scoring. He finished with 24 points, including 3 triples.
Defence(less)
The Taipans showed dynamism in the first quarter. But desperation for points quickly became forgetfulness in defence as the cracks opened wider and wider for Wildcats speedsters Cotton and Zunic, and the scoreboard discrepancy ballooned accordingly.
Blanchfield’s night to remember
The 350 gamer finished with 17 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in an effort that resulted in his team going 3-0 for the season.
Kings demolish miserable Melbourne
-Michael Randall
Miserable Melbourne United has produced one of its worst first-half performances as Sydney Kings banished their demons in a vicious display that has left their rivals reeling.
Last time Kings faced United in Melbourne, they gave up the first 26 points of the game and were punted back up the highway in embarrassing fashion, managing just six points for the entire first quarter.
This time, though, the embarrassment was all the home team’s as the ruthless reigning champions returned the favour, holding United to just six points in the second quarter in opening up a 34-point lead at the long break.
It was the biggest halftime deficit United has ever faced and their 23 points was the lowest first-half total in franchise history.
“We tried not to talk about it too much,” Buford said after the 91-71 win.
“I certainly didn’t think we’d come out and hand it back to them in the first half, basically the exact same way they did us (last season).
“I was so disappointed when Lachie Barker hit that three to make it six in the second half — I wanted to hold them to under five and score more.
“We had 25 (points in a row), I wanted to beat them.
“Everyone talked so much trash on us last year after that game and we basically played the same half on them.
“I go back to defence in the first half — that was where the game was won and it was terrific in that first 20 minutes.”
XAVIER COOKS OMG! 🤯 #NBL23pic.twitter.com/WeuInOTmeF
— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) October 9, 2022
Adding insult to injury, Xavier Cooks threw down one of the nastiest dunks the NBL has ever seen on United big man Isaac Humphries, who had the look of a man who knew he was about to get plenty of screen time for all the wrong reason.
Kings guard DJ Vasiljevic said Cooks’ ferocious dunk was the best he’d seen.
“He punched it on that man, real bad,” Vasiljevic said.
United missed 11 of its first 12 shots of the game and it was all downhill from there as the Kings hit four triples in a two-minute stretch to end the first quarter — three of those came from the sweet stroke of Dejan Vasiljevic.
The Kings scored 25 straight points as part of that run to blow the game to bits as the sublime Cooks poured on 23 points to go with nine rebounds, leading five Kings in double digits.
“There’s a 25-0 run there and that’s unacceptable for us as an offensive team to not be able to counter it, not be able to put the ball in the hole through that period,” Vickerman said.
“There were issues through that period but I thought some of those things were fixable in game if we had have just let the basketball move and used each other.
“When it doesn’t move and they were able to really set their shift defence and pack the paint and we didn’t get to the foul line, we didn’t loosen it up enough to go ahead and get some of those free points.”
Frustrations boiled over for Jordan Caroline, who copped an errant elbow from Derrick Walton Jr and played a period of the game with a huge bandage wrapped around his nose and head. The Illinois native copped a technical foul for roaring and punching the air, unhappy at an out-of-bounds call that went the other way.
Sydney put the cue in the rack and Caroline, with injury-replacement Lachie Barker, did help spark a second-half United fightback with 10 points each that only papered over the dire nature of the game.
Vickerman believes his side’s issues are “fixable”, but is still exploring a potential replacement for Hukporti.
“There’s some pieces we’re trying to cover right now, we try cover Shea (Ili) defensively … we’re trying to cover for A’s rim protection and rebounding right now and Mason’s intensity,” Vickerman said.
“I thought we still had enough talent to go ahead and really compete and give them a great game today, so it was disappointing, in that regard, we weren’t able to step up.
United head to Perth Friday to face the Wildcats, while the buoyant champs head home to host Cairns the same day.
UNITED’S WOE
The reigning champs are the NBL’s yardstick, but there are problems emerging at United.
At times, it looked like men among boys as the imposing Kings threw their giants on the floor.
Starting centre Tim Soares is huge, back up Jordy Hunter, ditto, and Cooks can scratch his knees standing up straight.
Humphries was manful in the middle, with a number of blocks and key defensive plays, but he can’t do it all by himself.
Caroline is a trier, but his start in Melbourne has been tough and his lack of size — especially standing next to those big Kings — is glaring.
Ariel Hukporti’s season-ending injury has cut deeply, forcing United coach Dean Vickerman to lean on the tall, but lean David Okwera and veteran stager David Barlow.
Offensively, there was a stagnation at times, as if they lacked confidence. The movement wasn’t there and, as the Kings piled it on, there were some “my turn” shots that did not come with any flow or rhythm.
KILLER COOKS
What a player X is.
After turning his back on potential NBA chances, Cooks spent the off-season dominating the NZBL and, with Jarell Martin gone, he has assumed the mantle of the team’s most-dominant big.
He’s one of the most-unique players in the NBL and had his fingerprints all over this game.
On one play, he baptised Humphries and then, on the next, knocked down a wing three-pointer. Add to that rim protection, chase-down blocks on three-point shooters, his ability to get in the lane for steals and playmaking ability as a point forward and you have one special package.
He’s on a three-year deal with the Kings, but it’s unlikely he sees that out, with European or Asian teams, no doubt, set to knock down his door with some big money offers.
Rayjon Tucker is a talented athlete, but has admitted there is a big adjustment moving from the G League to the NBL.
Tucker has struggled with FIBA rules that allow NBL teams to pack the paint, which makes it tougher for him to use his athleticism. Too often, he settled for outside shots.
The former Milwaukee Buck took umbrage at News Corp basketball reporter Matt Logue ranking him as the fifth-best import in the NBL heading into the season, but he will need to produce more than five points on 1-11 shooting to back that up.
This one might have been a write-off early, but Tucker needs to find ways to create more.
Jackies back from the brink for season’s first win
-Jarrad Lawler
The JackJumpers have their first win in NBL23 after a sizzling performance from import Milton Doyle helped lead the team from 16-points down to defeat the Brisbane Bullets in an overtime thriller at MyState Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon.
With both sides winless entering the contest it appeared for most of the matchup it would be Brisbane returning home as victors until Doyle and a monster third term from Tasmania, plus some big shots in the clutch, led the Jackie to their first win of the season with a gutsy 90-86 overtime win.
After storming back from down 45-29 just before half time to lead late in the fourth term- thanks largely to a 23-10 third period- it appeared Tasmania had done enough for its maiden win before a costly turnover on an inbound possession allowed former NBA guard Tyler Johnson to continue his hot night with a game- tying three with five seconds left to force overtime.
But riding the wave of their big comeback and their vocal home crowd it was the JackJumpers who came up trumps in the extra five minutes, outscoring the visitors 13-9 in the period to register a pressure-releasing win.
Jack McVeigh and veteran Jarrad Weeks both hit huge shots in overtime to give the Jackies the advantage before import Rashard Kelly iced the game with a dagger three ball with nine seconds left to bring the sold-out crowd to its feet.
While it was an all hands on deck effort in overtime the thrilling win would not have been possible if not for the solo effort of American guard Doyle.
The former Brooklyn Net put his side on his back for much of the night to finish with a new personal NBL-high 32 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists.
With no Josh Adams this season the Jackies are still searching for their go-to guy this season but after Sunday’s performance it appears Doyle is their man after the silky smooth 28-year old hit big shot after another throughout the game to keep the Jackies in the contest.
While Doyle was the star of the show, McVeigh (17 points, nine rebounds) and Weeks (nine points, 3/3 from deep) were crucial in the win while Kelly continued to press his claims for more minutes with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile for the Bullets, Johnson (24 points) was scorching hot all night as the 350-game NBA veteran connected on 6/7 of his long balls in his best performance in his brief three-game NBL career.
Nathan Sobey (16 points) and Jason Cadee (14 points) were also strong contributors along with Hobart’s Tanner Krebs (11 points), while Aron Baynes was well held with just four points on 2/8 shooting in just under 20 minutes.
After losing its first three games it was a crucial win for Tasmania who will now travel to Adelaide on Thursday to take on the red-hot 36ers on the back of their shocking upset win over NBA side the Phoenix Suns.
Meanwhile the Bullets (0-3) will be looking to avoid slumping to an 0-4 start when they host reigning champions Sydney at Nissan Arena on Sunday.
Tough start to the season for NBL imports
-Brad Elborough
The start of the NBL season hasn’t been great for the NBL imports.
The Perth Wildcats lost TaShawn Thomas to injury just three minutes into the opening quarter of their six-point win over the Illawarra Hawks at RAC Arena on Saturday.
The Hawks themselves were just recovering from the news that their own marquee player, Justin Robinson had been ruled out for the rest of this season.
The Hawks revealed prior to the game against the Wildcats that the injury Robinson sustained in the season opener against the Sydney Kings was a torn meniscus.
He had surgery during the week and would need the rest of the season to recover, leaving Illawarra, semi-finalists in the past two seasons, on the look out for a new point guard.
The extend of Thomas’ injury will be discovered over the next few days, but he needed help to get from the court, unable to put any weight on his left ankle.
He appeared to step of Sam Froling’s ankle when the pair landed after battling for a rebound.
Perth scraped through without the big man though, despite being well beaten on the boards.
They trailed by five points with four minutes to go, then went 14-3 to win 77-71.
Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas chose to focus on the positive that his side was able to restrict Perth to 77 points on their home court.
“What I did like, to keep Perth to 77 on their home floor is quite an effort,” he said.
“We came in and shot the lights out. The scoring did dry up, but we hit everything in the beginning.
“But in that patch (at the end of the game), we didn‘t look after the defensive end as well as we could have.”
Looking back at scorecard, Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas will focus on the 25 times his side sent Perth to the free-throw line, giving up 20 extra points.
The win leaves Perth unbeaten after two games with Melbourne heading west on Friday night.
Illawarra is 1-2, with a game coming up against a pumped-up Adelaide 36ers, fresh off a successful visit to the US.
KEEPING COTTON QUIET
Bryce Cotton was all the talk after Perth’s Round 1 win against the Brisbane Bullets.
And rightly so, the champ knocked down 23 points, had six steals and dragged a career high 12 rebounds.
But the Wildcats had to do it against the Hawks without as big an impact from their star. Remember too that Thomas watched most of the game from the bench.
Cotton had just six points in the first half. His first three-pointer came with just three minutes remaining in the game.
It was late in the game, but was still important, as it shortened the margin to just two points.
Luke Travers gave Perth the lead a minute later with another successful long attempt.
Corey Webster did the same just 30 seconds later and it was Perth’s seventh three-pointer, from 28 attempts.
The importance of Perth winning without four quarter heroics from Cotton was not lost on coach John Rillie.
“Bryce has an expectation, the team does, the NBL does, of how Bryce plays,” he said.
“For us to figure out a way to get over the line when he doesn‘t have a game that is statistically pleasing as everyone would think, that’s a great Wildcat win.”
Travers and Mitch Norton topscored for the Wildcats with 14 apiece, while the former also chimed in with seven boards.
KING OF THE COURT
Illawarra has needed people to step up with Robinson sidelined.
George King has answered that call.
King scored 16 points in the Hawks win over South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday night, following his 14 against the Kings in Round 1.
He came from the bench again against Perth on Saturday and hit three consecutive shots from long range in less than one minute to get Illawarra’s scoring going.
King led all scorers with 17 points at halftime as his side held a 49-41 advantage.
Scoring for both sides dried up in the third quarter, but the Wildcats gradually started to wrestle momentum. The Hawks managed only five points in the first eight minutes of the quarter.
The margin got back to within four points.
That was until King again stepped up, hitting five points in the last 90 seconds before the last break.
He had 22 points and his side led by five.
King finished with 25 points, while some of his teammates were kept quiet.
Tyler Harvey was kept to just five.
Last minute Taipans seal win in
-Michael Randall
Have you seen the movie ‘How to lose a game in 50 seconds’?
Tied up with a little under three minutes to go in its clash with Cairns, South East Melbourne let the Taipans off the hook in stunning fashion, twice turning the ball over to allow a 7-0 run in 50 seconds.
Game over.
It was a heartbreaker for the undermanned Phoenix, who had scrapped and fought their collective guts out, opening up a 10-point lead early in the last quarter on the back of pristine offensive displays from star forward Mitch Creek (27 points) and big import Alan Williams (18 points, eight rebounds).
But, in a game few expected them to win, this quickly became one that got away.
Coach Simon Mitchell was at a loss to explain his side’s late self destruction, but was proud of how they’d given themselves a golden chance to take the points.
“It’s hard to really explain that last five minutes, to be honest,” Mitchell said.
“We’re going to break it down … I think we were just out on our feet, looked like we were in the 15th round of a heavyweight fight and we were struggling to get out of that corner.”
There were several moments the Taipans might have blown it out, but they were their own worst enemies at times, whether they were committing needless offensive fouls, or literally throwing the ball back to the opposition for easy buckets, some of their turnovers were diabolic.
They were the more talented squad, though, and it showed in the end — just.
It means back-to-back gutsy round-two performances have yielded nothing but a pair of losses for the Phoenix and they now have just one victory from their first three starts of NBL23.
Williams lamented the Phoenix’s inability to hold on.
“Us, in that locker room, as far as players go, we know what we let slip out of our hands today and it’s something that you can’t get back,” Williams said.
“So now, fresh bodies are coming in and we’ll get a new look and we’ll get some more depth. I think it will do well for us.”
Interior defence was always going to be a problem for the Phoenix against more athletic teams and Boomer Keanu Pinder, particularly, took full advantage, while DJ Hogg and Tahjere McCall got just about anything they wanted when slicing to the basket.
It’s not that they’re not trying, it’s that the Phoenix don’t have the physical ability to do it at a high level without Zhou Qi, Trey Kell, Ryan Broekhoff and Gary Browne.
Pinder led his side with 19 points eight rebounds and four assists, his fast break dunk with a little over two minutes to go effectively killing the game off.
Hogg struggled with his shot, making just six of his 17 attempts, but still finished with 18, while McCall and point guard Shannon Scott had 15 each.
The Taipans head home to host Perth Monday night, while the Phoenix have a full week to prepare to host New Zealand next Saturday.
MILD KYLE
After his monster 30-point performance in the season-opener, both Illawarra and now Cairns locked in on Phoenix co-captain Kyle Adnam. And it has worked. The Phoenix need Adnam to be a volume shooter, but the increased attention has made that task a bridge too far. After making four of his 16 shots against the Hawks, he managed just six points on one field goal from 12 attempts. Add to that seven turnovers — including one of the two late killers — and it’s a dirty night he’ll need to quickly forget.
JUNIOR STANDS UP AGAIN
He didn’t have the massive scoring outburst of two nights earlier but, with Adnam’s struggles, Junior Madut did his best to play third foil to Creek and Williams. The third-gamer impressed again on both ends of the floor, crashing the glass and making a nuisance of himself, while scoring in bunches on his way to 12 points. A bright future ahead.
HELP IS ON THE WAY
Zhou Qi’s plane lands in Melbourne tomorrow afternoon. All of a sudden, the Phoenix frontline looks massive. Trey Kell’s rib injury is fully healed and he was close to playing against the Taipans. Phoenix medicos decided to give him another week on the track and, barring another malady, he will make his NBL debut against the Breakers. Ryan Broekhoff is also a chance of suiting up and Gary Browne, the next week, in what would give the Phoenix access to a full roster for the first time since Broekhoff wrecked his shoulder in March.
Kings runaway from Bullets in statement home win
– Martin Gabor
Aron Baynes had his best game in a Bullets jersey but it wasn’t enough to spoil Sydney’s celebrations as the reigning champions unfurled their championship banner and celebrated with a 100-90 win on their home court.
Playing in his second game back from a serious neck injury that threatened to prematurely end his career, Baynes was the spark in attack for a Brisbane side that will only improve as the former Boomer gets his groove back.
The big man scored 11 points on debut last week but he passed that in the first half alone on Friday, pouring in 13 points to lead all scorers at the main break despite his side being down 46-39.
“He walked into the locker room and basically said ‘conditioning, conditioning. I’ve got to get conditioned’,” Bullets coach James Duncan said.
He finished with a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds but lost his battle with Kings star Xavier Cooks who dominated the boards.
The Bullets did well to tie things up at 67 at the final break, but a couple of misses by Baynes was the invitation the hosts needed to go on a 7-0 run that they used to eke out the win thanks to some Derrick Walton Jr brilliance.
The American import piled on 32 points against the Hawks last week and saved his best for the fourth quarter on Friday where he took control of the contest with ten of his 21 points coming when it mattered most.
“It’s an absolute privilege,” Cooks said.
“I think Derrick did a great job with the game to facilitate for the first three quarters and then the lane opened up for him to score in the clutch time.”
CHASE CRIES FOUL
There wasn’t much to complain about on Friday night as the Kings celebrated their home opener in style, with Justin Simon lifting the roof off Qudos Bank Arena with a steal and dunk to push the lead to 11 in the third quarter.
But not everything went smoothly with coach Chase Buford hit with a technical foul after revealing that he’d seen a psychologist in the off-season to help control his emotions.
Buford was incredulous when he was hit with the technical for complaining when Bullets guard Jason Cadee was fouled on a three-point shot, and it resulted in four made free throws for the Brisbane star.
It didn’t slow down the Kings or the monster crowd that rocked up, with 11,478 fans rolling in for the biggest stand-alone season opener in the club’s history.
DODGING BULLETS
You can file it under early season rust, but Buford won’t be pleased with his side’s effort from the stripe.
The Kings shot a paltry 44 per cent from the free throw line and only managed 33 per cent from beyond the arc, with the Bullets dominating them in both categories.
It didn’t cost them this time but they’ll need to sharpen up ahead of Sunday’s trip to Victoria where they’ll face Melbourne United in a blockbuster battle between two NBL heavyweights.
“They made 15 threes and we missed 14 free throws. You kind of wonder how you get to 100 and win,” Buford pondered.
Breakers come to the party with homecoming win over JackJumpers
– Jarrod Lawler
The JackJumpers have fallen to 0-3 after the New Zealand Breakers capped off their emotional homecoming with their first win on home soil in over two years.
Playing in their first home game in New Zealand in 489 days due to Covid, the Breakers came out scorching hot in front of a sold-out Spark Arena, before holding off the plucky JackJumpers to register a 71-65 win.
The Jackies were on the back foot from the get go in their first match on foreign soil as the Breakers rode the momentum of their fired up home crowd with a sizzling early shooting display to take a 25-18 lead into the first break.
While Tasmania displayed its trademark never-say-die attitude- holding the Breakers to just six points in the third term and 25 points in the second half – it was unable to hit big shots down the stretch when it mattered most as the Breakers held on for an emotional six-point win.
Despite the end margin it was just a two-point game with 1:02 left on the clock after JackJumpers forward Rashard Kelly converted a tip-in to set up a nervous final minute for the vocal home crowd.
However the 67-65 score line was the closest the Jackies could muster as they came up empty on their remaining offensive possessions as the Breakers iced the game from the foul line with the final four points to register the gritty 71-65 win.
The victory was not only the Breakers first ever win over the JackJumpers- after losing all four match-ups last season- but it was the Breakers first win at Spark Arena since January 31, 2020 following the impacts of the pandemic.
Stand-in skipper Jarrell Brantley (19 points, six rebounds) starred for the Breakers, scoring 16 points on 6/6 shooting in the first half to help set up the win, while guard Izayah Le‘afa (16 points, four rebounds) came up huge in the final term, scoring seven final quarter points and going 4/4 from the foul line in the final minute.
For the JackJumpers Jack McVeigh (19 points, six rebounds) continued his stellar start to the season while import Rashard Kelly registered a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in just 22 minutes.
Once again the JackJumpers will rue their slow start as they allowed the Breakers to set up an early lead on the back of a sizzling 71 per cent shooting opening term.
The Breakers hit their first six shots of the game-including 3/3 from downtown- to take an early lead that would never be relinquished.
In some positive signs for the JackJumpers it's troubling defence was back to its smothering best in the second half while their trademark hustle was on full display with a remarkable 21 offensive rebounds.
Tasmania won’t have long to lick its wounds with the team flying home on Saturday ahead of a massive showdown on Sunday with former NBA duo Aron Baynes and Tyler Johnson and the Brisbane Bullets at MyState Bank Arena.
Hawks secure win over understrength Phoenix
– Michael Randall
South East Melbourne only just made it out of round one without four of its starters.
But the talent vacuum was always going to be tough to overcome on a trip north to Illawarra — even if the Hawks were missing injured import Justin Robinson on Thursday night.
There was an air of inevitability about this one from the moment Deng Deng — who went scoreless in last weekend’s loss to Sydney — swished a corner three to open proceedings.
Mitch Creek lacked his usual potency on the offensive end for most of the game, but came alive as the Phoenix went on a 16-6 run to begin the fourth quarter, putting a scare through the Hawks’ camp as they whittled what was once an 18-point lead down to six.
But the mountain was too great to climb as former NBA talents Tyler Harvey and Mangok Mathiang provided the steadying buckets that locked the game away, 85-72.
The Phoenix stuck at it, finding big import Alan Williams in the post and getting a breakout effort from Junior Madut, who led the way with 21 points in just the second game of his young NBL career.
Fresh off a white-hot 19 points in 15 minutes against the Kings, Lachie Dent made his first NBL start in the absence of Robinson and, while the scoring heroics weren’t as prevalent, the 22-year-old looked at home again, helping set the table for prime movers Harvey and Sam Froling.
Harvey had a number of purple patches in the game, finishing with 22 points, while Mr Reliable Froling notched 11 points and nine rebounds and import forward George King chimed in with an efficient 15.
Former Phoenix Sun Williams notched his first NBL double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, but Kyle Adnam struggled from the field, making just four of his 16 attempts.
It’s the first win of the Jacob Jackomas era in Illawarra, after he took over from master coach Brian Goorjian, while the Phoenix will just be hoping for health — and Zhou Qi, who is set to arrive in Melbourne before the round three clash with New Zealand.
Both teams back up Saturday, the Hawks head west to face Perth in one of the toughest trips in the game, while the Phoenix host Cairns.
Import fears, but Sixers may have helped Hawks
Robinson will have scans on his injured knee on Friday, but Illawarra fears he may have done serious damage.
“It didn’t look great when we reviewed it on the video, so we’re hopeful, but unfortunately he’s not going to play in the game against Perth either, so fingers crossed, but it doesn’t look great at the moment,” Hawks basketball boss Mat Campbell said on ESPN.
If Robinson is out long-term, the Hawks will have no shortage of potential import replacements, Campbell says — and that’s thanks to the Adelaide 36ers remarkable victory over the Phoenix Suns.
“Realistically Adelaide going over there and beating the Suns has really helped our league. From a recruitment point of view, the interest is unbelievable out of the US, so if it does end up that we have to replace, then it is a great time, at the moment, for the NBL.”
Junior’s veteran play
Welcome to the NBL, Junior. In just his second game, the young Phoenix guard had his work cut out chasing down premier scorer Harvey, but he was up to the task, the spring-legged 206cm athlete skying high for a chase-down block as the Hawks’ star looked to have an easy layup.
Glorious timing from the 25-year-old, who then sprinted to the other end to receive a pinpoint pass from Adnam and splash a triple from the wing. Making the most of his chance with several Phoenix stars out.
Madut lamented the loss, but said he would gain plenty from his personal good form.
“I’m not too happy because we lost, but it’s good for me personally, building my confidence,” Madut said.
“Coach has confidence in me, my teammates are always telling me to be confident, so it’s good to get rewarded for that and just feel good about that, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
Mitchell proud
With Zhou Qi yet to arrive and all of Ryan Broekhoff, Trey Kell and Gary Browne out with injury, Phoenix coach Simon Mitchell was proud of the effort his charges’ brought as they worked their way back into the game.
“It’s going to be an issue until we get our squad on the floor,” Mitchell said.
“Creeky’s had five training sessions for the year, we’ve got four rookies and we’re missing the engine.
“Love the endeavour, love the fact that we’re fighting, I cannot fault these guys we’re putting on the floor.
“I thought we were honest tonight and I think, through the development of our brand and who we want to become and who we want to be recognised as, I think we’re doing the right things out there from an effort standpoint, but we need to tidy it up.”
The Phoenix only shot 10 free throws for the game and Mitchell said that was not good enough: “we’ve got too much firepower sitting in street clothes not to get to the free throw line.”
Originally published as NBL 2022/23: Perth Wildcats blowout Cairns Taipans and return to top of the NBL ladder
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