Crosscourt: Why Adelaide’s star import Montrezl Harrell avoided sanction for shove of NBL referee, likes and dislikes from round 3 of the 2024 NBL season
South East Melbourne will stay the course with under pressure coach Mike Kelly — for now. Plus, here’s why Montrezl Harrell escaped sanction despite shoving a referee.
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The NBL has ticked off star Adelaide import Montrezl Harrell’s high contact on referee Hugh Starkey, taking the view the referees accept risk when they step into a physical altercation between two players.
Eyebrows were raised on Thursday night when a fired up Harrell faced no immediate action after his attempt to push South East Melbourne strong man Tom Vodanovich resulted in contact with the referee’s head.
SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL THE CROSSCOURT LIKES AND DISLIKES FROM ROUND 3
But the referees did not report the incident on the night and NBL chief operating officer Vince Crivelli said the league did not refer it to its game review panel for further action because it deemed the contact “incidental and not an act of violence or a flagrant act of aggression towards the referee.”
“If a referee steps between a physical altercation between two players, they accept a risk there may be incidental contact,” Crivelli said of the blow up, which occurred with 2.54 to go in the third quarter of the 36ers’ 93-83 win over the Phoenix.
“Unless it is deemed contact was deliberately directed at the referee or is in some way careless in nature, this is a risk accepted by the referees when they make this decision.”
Under FIBA rules, a player guilty of flagrant acts of aggression on referees shall be disqualified but, unlike other major sports like the AFL or NRL, the NBL does not have a blanket rule on referee contact.
There are numerous incidents in almost every game of referees and players making contact with each other, in situations including explaining decisions or calming tensions.
The decision not to sanction Harrell has been backed by legendary referee Mal ‘Hollywood’ Cooper, who told Crosscourt Starkey — who was unfazed by the contact — was inadvertently caught in the crossfire.
“When I saw the incident live, Harrell was having a crack at Vodanovich and I immediately classed it as incidental contact to the referee because he jumped in between them,” Cooper said.
“It’s a natural reaction when you referee to step in to try to calm an altercation.
“There was no malice or intent — Harrell didn’t even know the ref was there, his eyes were focused on the other player.
“The penalty they got, tech for both players, give them the ball on the baseline and get on with it, that’s exactly what I would have done.”
Other sports have had high profile cases of referee contact.
Only this year, it almost cost Melbourne Storm star Jahrome Hughes the Dally M medal for the NRL’s best player.
Back in Round 2, Hughes shoved referee Chris Butler out of the way when attempting to make a tackle on the last line of defence.
He copped a contrary conduct charge, and was banned for one game.
That suspension carried a six-vote deduction in the chase for the Dally M.
A two-game ban would have ruled him ineligible.
Hughes was so dominant in 2024 that he still managed to win the Dally M by a single vote, ahead of the Roosters’ James Tedesco.
In the AFL, GWS superstar Toby Greene, in 2021, was banned for six weeks after he made slight but deliberate contact with umpire Matt Stevic during the Giants’ elimination final win over Sydney. He missed the club’s semi-final loss to Geelong that season and the first five games the following year.
In a more extreme, bygone era, John Bourke, in 1985, was banned for a decade for kicking umpire Phil Waight during a reserves game and dual Brownlow medallist Greg Williams, in 1997, copped nine weeks for pushing field umpire Andrew Coates away.
Harrell, an eight-year NBA veteran, has previously been involved in a physical clash with a referee.
In 2016, Harrell was rubbed out for five games by the then-NBA Development League (now G League) for pushing referee Jason Goldenberg to the ground during a blow up while playing for Rio Grande Valley.
Drafted by Houston with pick No.32 in the 2015 NBA draft, Harrell was representing the Rockets’ D League affiliate Vipers against Bakersfield when he clashed with opposing forward Derek Cooke Jr. During that exchange, Harrell forcibly pushed the referee to the ground.
Harrell’s had a box office start to his career Down Under, averaging 16 points and 9.8 rebounds, with three double-doubles in his four games.
He’s quickly become one of the most intriguing personalities to hit the league, bringing an infectious intensity and aggression while averaging 16 points and 9.8 rebounds, with three double-doubles in his first four games. During Hoops Fest, he was on the receiving end of a bizarre warning “do not engage with the crowd” — and subsequent apology — from referee James Griguol as he fired up the crowd inside RAC Arena. On Friday, he posted to social media a disgusting racist message he received on the social medium. The Sixers and NBL condemned the attack and referred the incident to Basketball Australia’s integrity unit.
UNDER-FIRE KELLY SAFE, BUT FOR HOW LONG?
South East Melbourne will stay the course with under pressure coach Mike Kelly — for now.
The Phoenix have endured a disastrous start to the season with four straight losses and are now rooted to the bottom of the NBL table.
Last Thursday’s defeat at the hands of Adelaide — also winless at the time — led to speculation the Phoenix could consider pulling the trigger on Kelly and using the nine-day break before their next game to regroup and reset.
But Code Sports has been told the club is backing Kelly and the Phoenix’s star-studded squad to turn things around.
A source said South East Melbourne hierarchy had high expectations entering the season — and there has been some internal frustration — but there’s a belief there are mitigating circumstances to the poor start and it’s understood Kelly, in the second of a two-year contract, will be given every opportunity to right the ship.
The Phoenix returned just three players from last season and, with nine new faces, Kelly himself, admits it hasn’t come together as quickly as he’d hoped.
With the arrival of a trio of imports with NBA experience in Derrick Walton Jr, Joe Wieskamp and Matt Hurt, one of the best scorers in the NBL’s 40-minute era in Nathan Sobey and a number of highly-rated role players, the Phoenix were expected to be one of the most-potent offensive teams in the NBL.
But, through four contests, they’re averaging just 86 points per game, third-worst in the league, only Tasmania is shooting the three-ball at a lower clip than their 29.2 per cent, they shoot the fewest number of free throws per game at 17 and they’re bottom three in offensive rebounding.
At the other end, the numbers are just as ugly — they’re leaking 94 points per game (fourth most), allow a league-worst 45 rebounds per contest and are dead last in steals at 4.8.
Following the 36ers stinker, even the NBL’s media arm joined the pile-on with a tweet detailing the Phoenix’s 1-13 record under Kelly over his last 14 games, dating back to last season.
The Phoenix are still winless in NBL25, but their struggles extend back to last season 👀
— NBL (@NBL) October 4, 2024
The last team to make the finals with a 0-4 start was Townsville in 2003. pic.twitter.com/GTJWkrHiMQ
But the club believes Kelly should not be judged on last season’s horror campaign, where he had to navigate the sacking of import Will Cummings and the 11-man roster missing a combined 61 games through injury, believed to be one of the worst casualty lists in NBL history.
There’s also a notion the Phoenix have been dealt a difficult schedule to open the season.
They drew the shortest straw at Hoops Fest, forced to face Perth at the ‘neutral’ RAC Arena to begin the season, followed by a ‘home’ Throwdown against Melbourne United at John Cain Arena, then they travelled to Cairns, then Adelaide — the first home games of the season for both the Taipans and 36ers.
But things must improve over the next stretch of games, beginning with Brisbane at John Cain Arena next Saturday night. The Phoenix travel just once in the next month, to New Zealand to face the Breakers, and, while it won’t be easy with another Throwdown and a visit from the top-of-the-table Illawarra Hawks also on the horizon, Kelly must find a way to get results — fast.
LIKES
UNDER-FIRE SIXERS’ EMPHATIC RESPONSE
A week is a long time in basketball.
New lead man Mike Wells was staring down the barrel of becoming the first Adelaide coach to lose their first three contests, star centre Isaac Humphries looked like the Monstars had stolen his powers and their fiery young import point guard Kendric Davis had bitten back at criticism of his early play.
Fast forward and the Sixers are now 2-2 after smacking South East Melbourne and then pulling off a massive win over undefeated top-of-the-table Illawarra — in Illawarra.
Humphries looked at sea with 10 total points across the first two games but, by halftime against the Phoenix he had 14 on his way to 39 for the round, looking every bit the best Australian centre in the league.
Davis had prickled at suggestions his play wasn’t conducive to winning and proceeded to torch the Phoenix with 21 points, 7 assists and 4 steals, before going nuclear on Illawarra, carrying the Sixers with 32 points and five treys.
Response heard, loud and clear — and a welcome one, not just for the 36ers, but for NBL SuperCoach owners who entrusted the lightning quick Texan with the captaincy as he punched out an elite 86 for the round.
To top it all off in the City of Churches, the Sixers and axed coach Scott Ninnis broke bread after a messy pre-season split had fractured the relationship between legend and club, amid threats of legal action.
It’s all coming up Sixers.
COOKS PRIMED FOR ANOTHER MVP RUN
Sydney Kings star Xavier Cooks is back in the NBL after a one-season hiatus and the league’s significantly better as a result.
Cooks is clearly a class above, but the positive is we get to witness his dominant game on a weekly basis as a genuine MVP candidate.
The Ballarat-born forward was at his brilliant best in Saturday’s big win over Brisbane.
Cooks finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists. The Kings’ gun isn’t known for his shooting, but he also dropped two three-pointers.
If Cooks can consistently add the three-pointer to his game it could enhance his chances of returning to the NBA.
For now, he is fully focused on helping the Kings return to the top of the NBL.
WILDCATS, BRYCE FEELING ILI
Illness went through the Melbourne United camp during the week, with coach Dean Vickerman missing a practice and both he and sharpshooter Ian Clark a little worse for wear ahead of the clash with Perth.
But it was the Wildcats who would have been feeling Ili after they were dominated by United’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year Shea Ili.
The 30-year-old did an absolute number on Perth’s four-time MVP superstar Bryce Cotton, blanketing the scoring machine into one of the worst performances of his storied career.
Ili harassed, harangued and straddled the line of physicality to hold Cotton to just five points on two made field goals — He was kept to 3 points by the Hawks in 2017 and 4 by the Breakers in 2019 (the Wildcats won both those games).
Without Matthew Dellavedova, who stayed home to be with wife Anna after the couple had welcomed a new bundle of joy, Ili showed his elite skills at the offensive end, too, as United continued to make Perth’s RAC Arena a home-away-from home, beating the Wildcats for a ninth time in their past 10 meetings at the venue.
The 31-year-old came agonisingly close to a rare triple-double in the 29-point thrashing, tallying 16 points to go with 9 rebounds and 9 assists — the only active players to have had at least 16-9-9 are Trey Kell, Xavier Cooks and Nathan Sobey.
Ili’s averaging a career high in points (11.5), assists (4.8) and rebounds (4.8), while shooting 50 per cent from deep.
United did crash back to earth, on Sunday, though, spanked by Cairns on their home floor 101-88, a sixth loss in seven tries against their bogey team, sending teams backing up from clashes against the Wildcats in Perth to 0-2 on the season.
ARMSTRONG DESTINED FOR HIGHER HONOURS
The NBL has become a production line for NBA players and it feels like Cairns’ young gun Taran Armstrong is destined to join the long list of success stories.
Armstrong produced a stellar performance in his return from a calf injury in Friday’s big win over reigning champions Tasmania.
The boy from Burnie in the Apple Isle dropped 20 points and added 4 rebounds and 5 assists in a dominant display.
He backed it up in Melbourne, too, fighting through a sore ankle and a bloodied nose after wearing an elbow from big man Marcus Lee in leading the Taipans to a seventh win in eight starts against United with 14 points, 6 rebounds and four assists.
Coach Adam Forde loves what he’s seen from his prodigious young talent.
“He’s got blood nose, come back out, ready to go, he’s a unique 22-year-old,” coach Forde said.
“This is the first time in my head coaching career where I’ve had an Australian point guard.
“This is his second year of being a professional, it’s kind of cool seeing what this can blossom into.”
Armstrong has added a bulked up frame to his already elite vision and pinpoint passing and has all the makings of a future NBA player.
DISLIKES
PERTH’S STINKER
Perth missed energiser Tai Webster and import Dylan Windler through injury but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who wasn’t shocked with the meek effort that unfolded against Melbourne United on Friday night.
Undermanned or not, the Wildcats were woeful in a 97-68 loss that amounted to the club’s worst ever loss at RAC Arena and the biggest defeat since the 2018 playoffs, when they were demolished by eventual grand finalists Adelaide by 35 points, 109-74.
The ‘Cats shot 33 per cent from field, were 5-28 from deep — 17.9 per cent — and allowed United, who led by 33 at one point, to do as they pleased at both ends of the floor.
Put it down to a dirty night but the Wildcats won only once in three tries at home to start the season.
KINGS NEED TO ADDRESS LEAKY DEFENCE
The Sydney Kings can win the championship, but they must learn to put teams away when holding commanding leads.
This was on display in Saturday night’s victory over Brisbane with the Kings giving up a 29-point advantage to only win by single digits.
The Bullets went on a 16-0 run in the fourth to put undeserving respectability into the score line, given they were blown out for the majority of the match.
Sydney can’t afford to take their foot off the pedal if they have aspirations of winning the NBL25 title.
The competition’s top teams will punish lazy defence and it’s a reality Kings coach Brian Goorjian fully understands.
“We had a little chat in the locker room about being better about the lead at the end of games,” Goorjian said, post-game.
“The finish wasn’t great. That needs to be addressed and it can’t happen again.
“We’ve got to really tighten that up and do better.”
HARD CALL ON SOBEY CAN UNLOCK PHOENIX
South East Melbourne needs to make a decision on marquee guard Nathan Sobey.
It felt like half the NBL was calling on the Phoenix to bench Sobey this week in order to bring the best out in his teammates, especially fellow star signing Derrick Walton Jr.
Walton Jr is a former NBL grand final MVP but he hasn’t produced his finest in the opening rounds.
It prompted respected voices to question if the Phoenix would be better served starting Sobey off the bench to enhance the team’s ball movement and scoring.
So far, SEM coach Mike Kelly has stuck solid with Sobey, but will his hand be forced if the wins don’t eventuate in the coming weeks? Watch this space.
Sobey will take on his former club Brisbane on Saturday night for the first time in a crucial clash between two winless clubs to start NBL25.
STRONGER STANCE NEEDED TO STOP ONLINE SLURS
Full credit to Adelaide 36ers star signing Montrezl Harrell for calling out the shocking racial abuse he copped via social media but more needs to be done to protect the players.
Harrell’s personal Instagram account was flooded with foul language from a so-called NBL fan on Friday.
Sadly, this type of abuse happens to players on a regular basis. Crosscourt has been told by multiple NBL players that they consistently cop vile threats from supporters via social media after most games.
NBL great Shane Heal made a valid point when he called for all social media accounts to be registered with people’s real names and ID.
“It’s the only way to keep people (cowards) accountable for what they say on their devices,” Heal said.
Heal is spot on. Of course the big social media companies will push back on this, but there needs to be personal responsibility for poor behaviour
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