NBL Dream Team: Round 7 Preview

Every week it feels like the scores are getting bigger and with the monster results this round it seems unlikely to go higher. But Perth has another double, this time accompanied by Townsville, so anything is possible.

 

Big Scorers

Dream Team superstar AJ Ogilvy scored a massive 80 points this round, taking the record for best score in a single match off Ben Madgen after just one week. Madgen still smashed out 58 points himself, though this had him a lowly fourth amongst the player with a single match as Ervin and Goulding scored 62 and 60 respectively.

James Ennis, our premier captain choice, led the way for the double match players with a monster 114. Perth represented well with Damian Martin (80), Jermaine Beal (70) and Tom Jervis (66) all delivering too. Loughton’s 76 was a lone highlight for Cairns, their next highest scorer being Demetri MacCamey with 50.

 

Rookie Watch

It was a good round for rookies as Nate Tomlinson again led the way for the rookies with a huge 54. He’s starting to show some nice consistency and will be worth over $100K in a few weeks. Clint Steindl scored a nice 36 from his two matches, while Greg Vanderjagt and Corey Webster got themselves out of the negative scores with 22 and 26 respectively.

 

Ouch!

It was a bad round to have an underperforming player, but unfortunately there were just as many stars producing dud scores as there were heroes this round. Shawn Redhage was the most popular of the villains, scoring a substandard 36 and dropping $21K from his price. Cameron Tragardh only managed 26 from his two matches whilst Gliddon can be forgiven for his 28. Jesse Wagstaff also upset those who’d chosen him as a point of difference with a meagre 16.

Kerron Johnson (16) and Kevin Tiggs (10) become back to back disappointments after they also scored low last week. Both are now on my watchlist as they’re losing cash in a hurry and might be worthwhile bargains in a few weeks.

 

Double Match Trade Targets

Perth has another double match and will likely deliver much the same as last round. I wouldn’t be looking to bring in any Perth players at this time.

Townsville unfortunately doesn’t offer much either this week as their double match is immediately followed with a bye. They do however have a rather consistent run for the rest of the year following that so if you’re planning to bring someone in for the long haul Josh Pace, Brian Conklin or Todd Blanchfield are good options who’ll score you some nice extra points this round. Russell Hinder has just had a good match and is only $74,400 so has the potential to make some short term cash. Greg Vanderjagt is minimum price and has just had a good score too, so is a possibility if you want a downgrade in the Centre.

 

Other Trade Targets

Ben Madgen has put up his hand and is potentially a “must have” player. If he plays another decent match his price could easily increase by $30K or more in just one week.

Adam Gibson has quietly produced two 40+ scores in the last two weeks and could be on the up. He started the season injured and in a star studded Adelaide line-up has had the luxury of easing himself back into form.

After a big round 1 score, Tom Abercrombie has been consistently average until notching 50 points in round 6. This could be the start of his rise, he’s been a very good dream team choice in the past and he’s great value right now.

 

Captain Choice

James Ennis again comfortably tops the list of candidates.

Damian Martin is the next best option as he’s showing good form currently, followed by Beal.

Pace, Conklin, Blanchfield or Redhage could all deliver too, but based on last week’s form you’d probably be safer going with AJ Ogilvy than any of those four.

 

Extra Thoughts

• It’s been disappointing not having live scores for head to head matches, but the next best thing can be found at http://www.dtlive.com.au/nbl/
• I’m still reeling from how high the scores were this week. I never thought I’d see the day when my team scored over 500 but went backwards in overall ranking.
• Two new imports, one for Sydney and one for Melbourne, could throw a serious spanner in the works with our high scoring stars from those teams. I’ll be watching those games extra closely this weekend to see what changes they’ll bring about.
• Friday’s lockout is at 5:30pm AEDT because of the New Zealand game. It’s always great to be able to start watching basketball the minute I get home though.

 

Good Luck All.

Tristan

Coach of the Statismathgicians