Starting 5: Ants march, Wildcat sizzles and Hawks remain grounded

Round 4 saw Melbourne and Cairns record two crucial wins, as Illawarra’s poor start to NBL27 continued.

Courtney Ward looks at some key talking points from the round just gone.

1 – Perth’s home cooking with spice

After losing their season opener to South East Melbourne, the Wildcats have rattled off four straight wins at RAC Arena to finish their early home stand at 4-1.

One of the catalysts for this impressive start, considering the injury to Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. and the late introduction of Brandon Knight, is Elijah Pepper.

The electric Boomer has scored 25 points in each of those four Wildcats wins, while establishing himself as one of the League’s top players.

If Pepper continues to play at this level, averaging career highs in points (23.8), rebounds (3.2), assists (3.2), steals (1.2), field goal percentage (50) and three-point percentage (37), he will not only be the favourite for the Most Improved award but also in the All-NBL Teams mix.

2 – JackJumpers on the march

For the first time in franchise history, Tasmania sits on top of the Hungry Jack’s NBL ladder, which is a crazy stat considering the JackJumpers won the 2023-24 title.

But it speaks to how well this version of the JackJumpers are playing on both ends of the floor.

We all know their defence is elite, anchored by Defensive Player of the Year front-runner Will Magnay, but it’s their offence that has set them apart in NBL27.

Behind the engine that is Taran Armstrong, the Ants have an offensive rating of 124.2, which is second only to Sydney and easily their franchise’s highest-ever mark.

That offence saw David Johnson become the first player in NBL history to record a 30-piece in less than 21 minutes of playing time.

The scary part of Tasmania’s offence is that they’re still missing last season’s top scorer, Bryce Hamilton (18.2 per game), as well as the dangerous duo, Majok Deng and Ben Ayre.

3 – Panic stations in Illawarra?

After four rounds, Illawarra is anchored to the bottom of the ladder with a 1-6 record.

Going into the last round, the Hawks could point to their away-heavy schedule and unbeaten home record as reasons for their slow start.

That is not an excuse any more, after losing to both Tasmania and Cairns in Wollongong in Round 4.

The reason behind this poor record is the Hawks’ defence.

They currently sit last, by a significant margin, in defensive rating (132.1), as well as being 10th in opponents’ field goal percentage (51.1), opponents’ three-point percentage (38.3), opponents’ points per possession (1.32), opponents’ effective field goal percentage (59.6) and opponents’ true-shooting percentage (63.6).

If the Hawks are going to get their season back on track, they are going to need to improve on that end of the floor and fast.

4 – Taipans and United finding grooves

Don’t look now, but Adam Forde’s Taipans have strung together three straight wins against Melbourne, Brisbane and Illawarra.

It’s no coincidence that the moment Jaylon Brown finally felt comfortable, it all started to click for the Taipans.

An offence with a firing Brown, Jack McVeigh and Keanu Pinder, with contributions from Reyne Smith, Malique Lewis and Jonah Bolden, makes the Taipans a very dangerous side to play, especially when they get out on the break (second in the League in pace at 81.8).

Mix in the fact that Luke Paul is only going to get better after his NBL debut last round and the imminent return of Jaylin Galloway, and the Snakes could mean serious business in NBL27.

Not to be outdone are Melbourne United, who bounced back in a big way from their loss to Cairns by defeating Adelaide on the Sixers’ home court and fighting back to beat South East Melbourne in Throwdown 34.

It feels like United, loaded with so many intriguing pieces, are slowly figuring things out, like how best to utilise Cole Anthony, Josh Oduro and Luke Travers.

Once they do, and reintegrate Chris Goulding into the mix, I have a feeling United will be just fine and around when the whips are cracking at the end of the season.

5 – Adelaide makes statement

On the back of three straight losses and a mounting injury toll, the outlook was becoming bleak for the Adelaide 36ers, especially heading into a Championship Series rematch against the unbeaten Kings.

But someone forgot to tell Bryce Cotton, Nick Rakocevic and co. the script, with the Sixers turning their whole season around with Sunday’s win.

Star trio Cotton, Rakocevic and Zylan Cheatham all did what they were expected to, but bench contributions from Matt Kenyon and John Jenkins, after Trevor Gleeson called for more help, proved to be the difference.

The Sixers now sit 3-4 and just one win behind the fourth-placed Taipans, heading into Friday’s blockbuster with Tasmania.

If Adelaide can make another statement at MyState Bank Arena and steal a few more wins while the likes of Flynn Cameron, Isaac Humphries and Bul Kuol recover, it will go a long way to cementing their spot in the post-season.