Crosscourt: Latest NBL news and whispers from Round 16 of the 2023-24 season
After a horror start to the season, Adelaide 36ers are in a rich vein of form and big man Isaac Humphries has been dominant. Could he be just what the Australian Boomers need in Paris?
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Don’t look now but resurgent Adelaide’s back-to-back road wins in Round 16 have lifted it off the bottom of the ladder for the first time since way back in Round 10.
And, with the Sixers eyeing national team mentor Brian Goorjian for their vacant head coach role, the stunning form of big man Isaac Humphries has surely propelled him into the Boomers’ Paris Olympic conversation.
After victories over South East Melbourne and Illawarra, the Sixers are the hottest team in the NBL not named Perth, with wins in four of their last five games — and a home clash against Cairns they’ll likely go into as favourites.
Key in the stretch is 211cm Humphries who dropped 25 points and 7 rebounds on the Phoenix and backed that up with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double against the Hawks to take his averages in the Sixers’ five-game hot streak to a dominant 21 points and 9.4 rebounds.
Big Ice has been a monster playing out of the pick and roll with star back-court mates DJ Vasiljevic and Trey Kell and he’s monstered every big man he’s faced in the low block with his strength, footwork and finishing ability.
If the “injury-prone” narrative wasn’t put to bed after the former NBL Rookie of the Year played 25 of a possible 28 games for United last season (one of those outs was due to Covid), it surely is now — he’s appeared in all 23 games in NBL24.
Prior to last year’s FIBA World Cup campaign, the Boomers had to bring young 215cm giant Harry Wessels into selection camp, just to give Jock Landale and Duop Reath reps against the big body types they would face at the tournament.
While he probably wasn’t quite ready then, some felt Humphries should have been drafted into the Boomers’ squad when Landale went down on the eve of their departure for Japan.
This time, the 26-year-old looms as a very real chance of, at the very least, going to the Paris selection camp and keeping NBA men Landale and Reath honest.
So, can the Sixers make the play-in?
Well, mathematically, and on form, it’s still possible — even if there is very little margin for error.
And the ball is literally in their court with a bunch of teams all floating around the play-in — upcoming games are against third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh.
Win all five of those and that’s 14 wins, which would likely be enough.
Caretaker coach Scott Ninnis has made it clear he wants the job beyond this season — sneak into the playoffs and he’ll make it very hard for the Sixers’ hierarchy to say no.
SIXERS’ RUN HOME
v Cairns Taipans (fifth)
v Sydney Kings (fourth)
@ Tasmania JackJumpers (third)
@ Brisbane Bullets (sixth)
v New Zealand Breakers (seventh)
HOW WILDCATS BADLY MISSED THE POINT WITH CONCUSSED STAR
Perth coach John Rillie had a chance to explain why the Wildcats left import forward Kristian Doolittle on the court for nine minutes after copping a head knock — instead he appears to have missed the point.
Rillie fronted his weekly press conference on Friday and faced inevitable questions about Doolittle and the concussion he suffered during the round 15 clash against the Phoenix.
He had an opportunity to address head on the fact the Wildcats potentially didn’t notice the import forward struggling on the floor following his collision with a Mitch Creek screen.
Replays showed a rival player had blocked Rillie’s view of the initial contact between Doolittle and Creek.
There was still nine minutes of court time that followed in which it would have been hard for someone to not notice a clearly shaken Doolittle.
“There are a lot of things that happen in a game. I’m always mindful of the health and wellbeing of my players,” Rillie said.
“Anytime something like this happens, you always grow in the moment and you learn.
“There are different protocols at different levels, different sports, so I think all sports learn off each other.”
Asked if there should be stricter protocols, Rillie said: “You think about where we were at five years ago, and where we are at today. Are we in a better spot? Absolutely.”
No doubt, Rillie is right, there is more knowledge and action around concussion, but there is a bigger issue at play.
Everyone makes judgement mistakes, especially during a game, but for the NBL to seriously address concussion, accountability is a vital first step.
It’s understood the NBL’s probe into Doolittle concussion will look at whether the league, clubs and match day officials followed concussion policy and processes.
TAIPANS COACH CALLED TO EXPLAIN SARCASTIC REF, CEO SHOTS
Cairns coach Adam Forde has been issued with a ‘please explain’ after he took aim at the NBL’s referees and its chief executive with a bitingly sarcastic monologue that has put the spotlight on the standard of the league’s officiating.
Following the Taipans’ one-point win over Illawarra, Forde used his post-game press conference to send a loud and clear message to the NBL and chief executive David Stevenson after a Lat Mayen triple helped a depleted Cairns overcome a 27-16 foul count that led to a 32-11 free throw disparity.
“They’ve been fantastic,” Forde said when asked about the referees.
“So, since David’s been on the job for six months, and, you know, put out the ‘zero tolerance’, it’s fixed everything.
“It’s nothing to do with the officials, it’s everybody else. Everybody else has to adjust.
“Dave has done a fantastic job of stamping out any type of critical feedback and accountability in that regard.”
Forde’s carefully constructed critique had Sydney Kings part-owner Andrew Bogut wondering “Can sarcasm be fined?”
Crosscourt understands the NBL has referred the issue to Basketball Australia’s integrity unit, which has asked Forde to explain his comments. BA’s Integrity Unit can issue sanctions if it deems a breach of its code of conduct has occurred.
Stevenson, late last year, drew a public line in the sand over the treatment of referees, telling Crosscourt he would take a “zero tolerance” approach to abuse of the game’s officials.
It’s understood Forde’s comments have galvanised Stevenson’s support for the league’s referees.
But respected figures have told Crosscourt there’s a prevalent feeling across the league that officiating has been particularly poor and lacked consistency in NBL24 and some share Forde’s frustration.
Former Bullets big man Harry Froling took to social media to publicly back Forde and slam the referees as “the biggest thing holding the NBL back.”
“Yet everyone wants to defend them and make the excuse that everyone makes mistakes and it’s the players and coaches, not the refs.
“More people are talking about it. Smoke = Fire.”
During his post-game press conference, Forde suggested his players needed to get “even more thinner over those screens” and “do a better job of verticality to the point where maybe you can collapse your chest a little bit to absorb a little bit more of the contact”.
“Maybe we can do a better job of, I don’t know, allowing second chance points because you’re not allowed to compete for the rebound? I don’t know. We’ll figure it out.”
TAIPAN FINED AFTER TAKING OUT FRUSTRATIONS ON LED SIGN
Meanwhile, Taipans star wing Bul Kuol is a little lighter in the hip pocket after he damaged a courtside LED sign during the game.
Kuol was charged with unsportsmanlike conduct by the NBL’s game review panel and fined $775, which was reduced to $585 thanks to an early guilty plea.
Early in the second quarter, a frustrated Kuol pleaded with referees after he was assessed with his third foul.
As the 27-year-old walked to the bench he booted the sign, drawing a technical foul that was met with a Bronx cheer from the Hawks’ faithful.
Kuol had a point — He was basically sidebumped by Hawk Tyler Harvey and, during the broadcast, commentator Pete Hooley called on Forde to challenge the call.
“Bul Kuol frustrated … that foul that it was called on, his third foul, it looked like Tyler Harvey ran into him to initiate contact,” Hooley said.
IMPORTS FALL FOUL AS PHOENIX WOES DEEPEN
In the midst of a horror stretch of nine losses in 10 games — by an average losing margin of 22.4 points — South East Melbourne coach Mike Kelly’s post-game press conferences have become sombre affairs.
“I’m definitely a glass-half-full-type of guy and I’m struggling,” Kelly admitted after the Phoenix fell to NZ on Saturday night.
SEM’s wretched run with injury — compounded with star import Alan Williams shutting it down for the rest of the season to undergo knee surgery — is well-documented.
But there’s also an effort and communication element, especially defensively, that has, too often, been lacking from this group.
With Williams out, imports Abdel Nader and Gary Browne had to stand up if they were any chance of beating the Breakers. Instead, both got into foul trouble and managed just 14 and 16 minutes, respectively, combining for 10 points on 2-11 shooting.
There’s a legitimate argument the pair fell victim to overzealous refereeing that has left coaches, players and fans increasingly frustrated — there were 54 fouls whistled in the game and Phoenix teammates Gorjok Gak and Anzac Rissetto were also disqualified.
The counterpoint is that Nader racked up his fifth foul two-and-a-half minutes into the third period and watched almost all of the second half from the pine, while Browne’s night was done early in the fourth, forcing the Phoenix to play without an import for the last eight minutes of the game.
To be fair on the Phoenix, the effort against NZ, aside from another diabolical start, was much better than the 36ers’ debacle 48 hours previous and, while they’ve lacked bodies, practices have been spirited. With plenty stacked against them, there is an effort to figure things out.
Star Mitch Creek admitted the current stretch was “one of the harder patches of my professional playing career” but said the group had remained tight.
“We’re trying our best, although, for some people, it doesn’t really look like it, we really are trying,” Creek said.
“We have a good group of guys, we haven’t splintered too much, we’ve actually stayed together quite well.
“It’s hard because you’re trying to fix things … you’re trying to be as positive as you can, but at the same time you’ve got to be playing up to a standard that is required in the NBL to win games.
“We need to be better.”
With the most difficult run home of any club — five games, all against top-four teams — the Phoenix are on a hiding to nothing but will be hoping to find a way to pull off an upset or two.
PHOENIX RUN HOME
v Sydney (fourth)
v Perth (second)
@ United (first)
v Tasmania (third)
v Sydney (fourth)
UNITED’S MINI-SLUMP MAKES IT TIGHTER AT THE TOP
Staying in Melbourne and it was a bit of a dirty weekend for the Phoenix’s ladder-leading cross-town rivals, too.
Teams are throwing the kitchen sink at NBL24 title favourites United as the battle for playoff seeding heats up.
That, combined with a host of stars revolving in and out with injury is beginning to wear just a little, with three losses in their last five games — the latest a 21-point shellacking at the hands of a fired up Tasmania.
Of course, United is the deepest team in the NBL and looms as a nightmare task across a playoff series but recent results show just how tight the season is — United rang in the New Year four wins clear of Perth at the top. The gap was just two before the Wildcats’ Sunday clash with Perth.
The good news is United is a chance of regaining absentees Shea Ili and Jo Lual-Acuil for next weekend’s Brisbane-Sydney road double.
LUKA’S AGENT HAS HIGH PRAISE FOR NBL
The third highest paid basketball agent of all-time, whose clients include Luka Doncic, Yao Ming and Steve Nash, has hailed the NBL’s Next Stars program as perfect preparation for the NBA because it “toughens” players up.
High-profile agent Bill Duffy, of BDA Sports Management, is currently in Australia to watch his draft-bound players in Alex Sarr (Wildcats) and AJ Johnson (Hawks).
Duffy attended Thursday’s Illawarra versus Cairns clash and was impressed with Johnson’s athletic display for the Hawks.
The American guard, who is a projected first-round pick in this year’s draft, dropped eight points and added six assists in a thrilling one-point loss to the Taipans.
Duffy believes the NBL — and its Next Stars program — has emerged as a globally respected and successful pathway to the NBA.
“Because it’s a men’s league and it’s competitive,” said Duffy, who has earnt net commissions in excess of $40 million (USD).
“It just forces you to mature quickly and it gets them out of that US environment where you’ve got to really toughen up.
“I’ve been so impressed with the physicality of the game.
“I love Australia. “I’ve been here for 10 days, so I wanted to see personally how AJ was progressing and he is playing really well.”
Duffy also looks after Sarr — and confirmed this week that the projected No.1 pick will finish the season in the NBL and not ‘pack it up’ early to prepare for the draft.
It confirms the declaration of Wildcats’ GM of Basketball Operations Danny Mills in Crosscourt that the Frenchman was in to the end.
“Sarr is also one of our clients, who is a top prospect, and I’ve been commending him on how he is playing with all these men and playing physical,” he said.
“This (the NBL) is really great preparation for the NBA.”
Duffy also represents veteran Boomers and Melbourne United guard Matthew Dellavedova.
He expects Aussie hoops to continue its rise in the coming years.
“Basketball is so popular in Australia and it’s a great country in terms of basketball development,” he said.
“I expect a lot of great things to continue to happen in this region of the world.”
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Originally published as Crosscourt: Latest NBL news and whispers from Round 16 of the 2023-24 season
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