With Round 7 down, we're now officially past the trimester mark of the season. This gives us an opportunity to really dig into some of the numbers that are making these guys stand out from the rest of the league.
Here's the latest edition of our NBL Player Power Rankings.
All numbers are courtesy of Spatialjam.com and jordanmcnbl.com (particularly those pertaining to play types).
Bubbling under...
With LaMelo Ball, there will be understandable gravitation towards raw numbers of an NBA draft prospect - who cares about efficiency at his age, right?
Instead, we salivate over the cavalier risk-taking, the slinging passes, and the cannibalising of an offence akin to a fully-wrought star player (never mind that Todd Blanchfield top scored with 22 points on 11 shots).
Ball finished with 16 points (7-of-19 shooting), eight rebounds and six assists against the Kings; he guzzled points from floaters that Andrew Bogut was willing to yield in those in-between spaces.
Unfortunately, defensive acuity remains lacking. That surely matters too, right? Case in point: He fouled out on a Casper Ware drive after he was caught daydreaming (dusting the soles of his shoes, to be exact) - his mark, Shaun Bruce, set the back pick on AJ Ogilvy, that allowed Ware a clear path to the rim. Only it wasn't something he had never seen before - the Kings ran the exact same action only moments earlier!
Honourable mention to Damian Martin, who blankets opposing scorers on a weekly basis. Eric Griffin also gets a mention, merging production with efficiency.
20. D.J. Newbill (Cairns Taipans)
Last week: 20
We've railed against Newbill's supposed reticence towards offensive aggression, yet his raw per game numbers are higher than last season. His true shooting percentage, assist rate, and steal rate are all up.
Newbill's usage rate is down though from last year - and that was when he played with someone named Melo Trimble.
At the moment, Newbill toggles between a second banana and floor spacer who takes on prime ball-handling duties and shot creation when Machado sits. It just seems that he can do more.
19. Corey Webster (New Zealand Breakers)
Last week: 19
Again, Webster undeniably gets numbers.
Against the Wildcats, he had 23 points (10-of-24 from the field, including 3-of-12 from beyond the arc), seven rebounds, and four assists, tarnished by five turnovers - not surprising when Damian Martin and Mitch Norton wear you like a glove.
Webster does not provide consistent value on the defensive end, meaning his value on the court is completely tethered to his offensive production.
18. Cameron Oliver (Cairns Taipans)
Last week: 16
Last week I wrote Oliver's defensive rebounding was rather underwhelming for someone of his athletic gifts. In the Sunshine Stoush, Oliver proceeded to rip down boards in traffic with unforeseen zeal, finishing with nine rebounds to go with his 13 points.
That effort is perhaps foreshadowing a stronger focus in that area - the Taipans will welcome it. They are dead last with defensive rebound rate, with opponents feasting on o-boards.
17. Scott Machado (Cairns Taipans)
Last week: 18
Machado continues to lead the league in assist rate. The Taipans look a little clueless when he's off the court.
Whilst the Sunshine Stoush was largely a snooze-fest (seriously, 67 free throws?!), the game did meander towards a state of interest as the Snakes tried to embark upon yet another epic collapse.
Instead, Machado (12 points, nine assists, just the single turnover, and three steals) took it upon himself to attack and slice into the paint, drawing fouls and shifting the momentum.
16. Jerome Randle (Adelaide 36ers)
Last week: 17
Randle did a great job of chasing Bryce Cotton in their match-up on Friday night - he had help, with another 36er always in close proximity to force Cotton backwards. Alas, his offence was a little shaky - 23 points on 7-of-20 shooting.
Against the Phoenix, it was almost as though he took personal affront at his duel with John Roberson - he scored 15 of Adelaide's first 21 points en route to 27 points (9-of-16 from the field), three rebounds and four assists (four turnovers).
15. Mitch McCarron (Melbourne United)
Last week: 14
McCarron is the definition of a winning player.
With just over three minutes left in the third quarter of Throwdown III, McCarron scythed down the lane, caught a Shawn Long pass and - in one motion - flung the ball to Shea Ili spotting up behind the arc. Ili splashed the wide open triple.
In the ensuing defensive possession, McCarron was defending Mitch Creek, but was still processing everything around him.
Jaye Crockett, preying on Jo Lual-Acuil Jr anticipating a dribble hand-off to Adam Gibson, instead faked the pass and veered to the lane. With his head on a swivel, McCarron abandoned Creek and forced the miss. In the resultant chaos, he nabbed the steal and drew the open court foul on Creek. Wow.
Offensively, it has been a struggle lately for McCarron, with the malaise heightened after a tremendous start to the season; over the past three games, he's averaging five points on 28.6 percent from the field. He is yet to hit an outside shot in that span.
14. Daniel Johnson (Adelaide 36ers)
Last week: 13
As if stung into action after a mediocre Round 6, Johnson was aggressive from the onset, jacking up five shots in the opening frame against the Wildcats. He would finish with 23 points (16 shots), 13 rebounds and three assists.
That was followed by another meh performance, as he snoozed through Monday's contest against the Phoenix, finishing with seven points (3-of-10 shooting) and six rebounds.
13. Terrico White (Perth Wildcats)
Last week: 11
It was a so-so round for Terrico White - he looked as though he was about to go on one of his scoring binges until he tangled with RJ Hampton. Let's hope White's knee injury is nothing serious.
After residing amongst midrange royalty last season (50-of-99, at 50.5 percent), White is down to 33 percent this season. Instead, he's skewed his shot profile to beyond the arc - his three-point rate is at 58 percent.
We've previously griped about his rebounding rate for someone of his athletic gifts. Another thing he doesn't really do: get to the free throw line.
12. Jae'Sean Tate (Sydney Kings)
Last week: 15
Copious flexing later, Tate finished with 24 points (9-of-12), six rebounds, two assists and three steals against LaMelo Ball's Hawks.
What stood out - apart from Tate continuing to cannon ball from body to body like a madman - is his free throw struggles. Tate went 6-of-12 from the charity stripe; for the season, he is at 55 percent.
A big man shooting poorly from the line? Eh. Except Tate is amongst the league leaders in free throw rate and attempts, meaning there are a few points left on the table.
11. Nathan Sobey (Brisbane Bullets)
Last week: 12
Sobey looked like the only Bullet willing to take a shot against the Taipans, as he put up 14 first-half points on 5-of-13 shooting, including 2-of-6 from deep, to go with four rebounds and five assists. He ultimately finished with 20 points (7-of-21, 2-of-9), six rebounds and seven assists.
Sobey is a force of nature, but he is also forcing things at times. He's still taking far too many threes (43 percent three-point rate) - some are late clock heaves, but he also seemingly launches deep ones just for the sake of it.
10. Chris Goulding (Melbourne United)
Last week: 10
Goulding's three-point rate is at 66.2 percent. Seriously, he should just permanently park himself a few feet from the arc.
What is making Goulding such a tough cover is that he is so proficient across all aspects of the offence. Transition? Check. Isolation? Check. Curl off screens? Check. Spot up? Double check.
He's averaging 20.1 points and shooting 50 percent on two-pointers, and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
9. Lamar Patterson (Brisbane Bullets)
Last week: 8
We heaped praise on Patterson's offensive game last week. So, it's only fair that we critique his performance against the Taipans, which is as underwhelming as it gets - he looked largely disinterested on both ends of the floor until the fourth quarter, when the game was already lost.
Patterson slow walked his way to 17 points (4-of-15 from the field), seven rebounds, six assists (five turnovers). Nine of those points came from the charity stripe - he went there 11 times.
8. Melo Trimble (Melbourne United)
Last week: 9
Trimble is second only to Jerome Randle in sheer volume of scoring plays coming out of the pick-and-roll dance.
After a scoreless first half against the Phoenix, Trimble arched his and made a more concerted effort to scamper to the rim on the way to 22 points (17 shots), four rebounds, and three assists (three turnovers).
Trimble buffed up his efficiency courtesy of his 8-of-10 free throw showing. Amongst high-minutes backcourt players, only Casper Ware is ahead of Trimble in free throw rate for the season.
7. Nick Kay (Perth Wildcats)
Last week: 7
Nick Kay is rarely in stasis. He's like someone who can't stand still, always fidgeting, always looking to set or flip a screen even if the ball is unlikely to swing to that side of the court.
If there are no screens to set, he ambles to the paint, hunting for offensive rebounding opportunities. If he sees his fellow big going to work, he backtracks outside the arc. If he senses his defender losing sight of him, he will sneak in and cram that sucker - as Jack McVeigh found out.
The numbers at jordanmcnbl.com suggest that Kay is one of the more efficient post scorer in the league - we have been beseeching Kay to be more aggressive (same thing with DJ Newbill).
A fun little observation: In one final-quarter defensive possession, Kay was switched onto Jarrad Weeks. Kay knew that it was late in the clock, and stole a glance at the shot clock from the far end to give himself a sense of when Weeks would let fly - needless to say, his shot contest was right on time.
6. John Roberson (South East Melbourne Phoenix)
Last week: 6
Roberson started the season as though he would never miss an outside shot. Since Round 5, he has been at a more human 34.5 percent from deep - teams have wised up.
He just doesn't look as comfortable when he us funnelled inside the arc, seeming reluctant to shoot the closer he gets to the rim.
5. Shawn Long (Melbourne United)
Last week: 5
United have the lowest assist rate in the league - that's not surprising when you consider their individual talents to put the ball in the hole.
One of those talents, Shawn Long leads the league in post-up attempts - easily.
Long is carving out relative efficiency from what is becoming an antiquated source of points in analytical world.
4. Andrew Bogut (Sydney Kings)
Last week: 4
Bogut's minutes are down to under 23 per game; he was close to 30 minutes a night last season.
He is almost being used as a big man pinch-hitter, deployed at intervals to shore up rebounding and interior defence.
Against the Hawks, Bogut had five points, nine rebounds and two assists in a tick over 22 minutes of court time.
3. Casper Ware (Sydney Kings)
Last week: 3
Ware has basically adopted the James Harden methodology (only with defence).
He is by far and the away the biggest proponent of isolation plays in the league. He has eschewed the midrange for looks at the rim and beyond the arc (three-point rate of 54.1 percent).
Free throws is what's propping up his efficiency from being a disaster, especially since he's at just 25.8 percent from deep.
For those with at least 100 minutes of court time, Ware tops the league in usage rate (31.8 percent). Amongst starting backcourt players, he is tops in free throw rate (40.1 percent); his free throw attempts per game have doubled from last season.
2. Mitch Creek (South East Melbourne Phoenix)
Last week: 2
Creek leads the league in shots within the restricted area; he is second only to LaMelo Ball in transition plays. He is relentless.
In Throwdown III, he had 27 points, 9-of-17 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, seven rebounds and three assists. He almost brought the Phoenix back against the 36ers with 22 points (7-of-19), 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals.
1. Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)
Last week: 1
Cotton's sustained excellence is almost taken for granted.
Oh, another ho-hum 34-point (9-of-19 from the field, including 6-of-14 from deep) performance against the Breakers? Cool.
It is borderline ridiculous how he churns out these flamethrower games without buckling under the heavy load - and often defended by two people (or more!).
Based on raw numbers alone, Cotton is outperforming his MVP season (his shooting efficiency is a hair below that year). His defensive rebounding - and defence, in general - has long been underrated.
Stay tuned for next week's edition.