ROOKIE OF THE YEAR? 
After coming back from the Queensland Cup I feel this season could see the ROY award be the most hotly comtested in years. Nathan Jawai and Craig Bradshaw will probably start favourites, due to the fact they will see plenty of playing time and be on good teams. Jawai may be asked to carry more of the load sooner, especially if it is true that Martin Cattalini may miss the first few months of the season.
Bradshaw looks like he is going to see plenty of minutes. He has the skills to play both inside and out, so he will create mismatches all night. The thing I question with is, does he fall in love with his perimeter game too much. The Bullets need a low post presence.
Jawai is a load down low. Soft hands and a nose for an offensive rebound make him tough at the offensive end. Him and Larry Abney will eat some serious glass this year. For Jawai to become a well rounded weapon he needs to find a left hand, or some type of move to his left. In saying this, the kid is 19 and is improving rapidly. Watch out NBL.
Alex Loughton has to be in contention as well. I don't really know much of his game, but having a successful college career will help out here. What may hurt him the most is playing behind both Paul Rogers and Shaun Redage.
West Sydney have a pair of rookies that will get an opportunity to shine. Damien Martin and Matt Knight will have their say in determining who wins this award at season's end. Knight is in a similar mould to Jawai. He is a space eater and a rebounding machine. I will be interested to see how he scores in this league, but there will be nights when he gets ten points just through offensive rebounding.
Martin is a glue guy. A scrappy, hustling point guard, Martin's game cannot be judged through the boxscores. Coach Rob Beveridge will be looking for Martin to control the tempo both on offense and defense if the Pigs are to improve this year.
As I said earlier, I cannot remember a year where there is potentially five guys that could win this award. I've maybe left someone of this list, so please feel free to let me know your option.
*** I do have all the boxscores from the Queensland Cup. I just have to find a way to get them to accept the PDF file on here. Hopefully they will be up in the near future.
Bradshaw looks like he is going to see plenty of minutes. He has the skills to play both inside and out, so he will create mismatches all night. The thing I question with is, does he fall in love with his perimeter game too much. The Bullets need a low post presence.
Jawai is a load down low. Soft hands and a nose for an offensive rebound make him tough at the offensive end. Him and Larry Abney will eat some serious glass this year. For Jawai to become a well rounded weapon he needs to find a left hand, or some type of move to his left. In saying this, the kid is 19 and is improving rapidly. Watch out NBL.
Alex Loughton has to be in contention as well. I don't really know much of his game, but having a successful college career will help out here. What may hurt him the most is playing behind both Paul Rogers and Shaun Redage.
West Sydney have a pair of rookies that will get an opportunity to shine. Damien Martin and Matt Knight will have their say in determining who wins this award at season's end. Knight is in a similar mould to Jawai. He is a space eater and a rebounding machine. I will be interested to see how he scores in this league, but there will be nights when he gets ten points just through offensive rebounding.
Martin is a glue guy. A scrappy, hustling point guard, Martin's game cannot be judged through the boxscores. Coach Rob Beveridge will be looking for Martin to control the tempo both on offense and defense if the Pigs are to improve this year.
As I said earlier, I cannot remember a year where there is potentially five guys that could win this award. I've maybe left someone of this list, so please feel free to let me know your option.
*** I do have all the boxscores from the Queensland Cup. I just have to find a way to get them to accept the PDF file on here. Hopefully they will be up in the near future.
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6 comments:
what happened against cairns??
Magic Man:
What happened? Although playing poorly we seemed to be controlling the game. Too many turnovers and second shots for them led to a disasterous fourth quarter. Combining t/o's and offensive rebounds we gave them an extra 49 possessions. That alone is a big hill to climb.
so why the turn overs and lack of rebounding? and where was GY, lost in transit?
Rookie of the year?
Can't go past Fatty Fenton. He has the inside/outside game to trouble all comers. And he is still a young spritely type too..
Magic Man:
The T/O's and rebounding there is no real excuse. These are something us as players can control a lot of the time. We fix this up in a hurry and we should be able to have a productive season. We controlled most of this game except down the stretch. Not back considering the stats I mentioned.
Anonymous:
If I'm thinking of the same guy you are, his time has come and gone many moons ago. I believe he is still spritely in the mixed netball comp at Penrith.
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