Breaking down the NBL 2021-22 awards race at midseason

With no clear title favourite, COVID-19 disruptions galore and a stacked player pool, the NBL awards race could be as contentious as ever.

Credit: May Bailey Photography

After 12 rounds and nearly half of the regular season completed, it’s time to check in on how the race for each of the major NBL awards is shaping up.

This year’s race for individual accolades looks murkier than in seasons past. Between COVID-19 disruptions and inefficient shooting percentages across the league, I’m less certain of my picks for each award than I usually am at this point. Regardless, here are my early selections for each of the big prizes.

Credit: May Bailey Photography

Coach of the Year: Scott Roth

Let’s ease into this article by starting with what I think is the most straightforward pick of the lot.

Roth has been getting a lot of praise recently, but he deserves all of it. It’s arguable that the JackJumpers have the least amount of talent in the league. Combine that lack of talent with the usual struggles expansion teams face, and Tassie should be rooted to the bottom of the ladder. I had them last in my preseason power rankings for a reason. 

And yet, Roth has them at 6-7 and in sixth on the ladder. 

Much has been made about Roth’s passion, and rightly so. His personality is embedded into the fabric of this team. His side plays with unmatched grit and determination that is helping to win games and establish a winning culture in Tasmania. This clip exemplifies all of that.

The NBL @NBL

BIG. TASSIE. ENERGY. SCOTT ROTH IS FIRED UP!!! @JackJumpers #NBL22

What Roth doesn’t get enough praise for, though, is his scheming — specifically, on the defensive end. With a roster bereft of high-level defensive talent outside of Will Magnay and no fully contracted traditional centre on the roster, Roth’s side ranks second in defensive rating.

Instead of moping about the lack of defensive talent and size available to him, Roth has tailored his defensive game plan to the talent that he does have. With a squad lacking in size but loaded with speed and athleticism, Roth has cranked up the aggression in his defensive scheming to 11. They switch and blitz ball screens at a ludicrous rate to turn their lack of size into a positive. Their hyper-aggressive style generates turnovers at will. The JackJumpers lead the league in opponent turnover percentage by some distance, per Spatial Jam. 

That scheming is turning unheralded players like Fabijan Krslovic into defensive monsters.

With his game plans, Roth has gotten the absolute most out of the limited talent available to him. At the end of the day, that’s all you can really ask out of a coach.

Rounding out the ballot: Dean Vickerman, Scott Morrison

Credit: May Bailey Photography

Most Improved Player: Jo Lual-Acuil

Before I explain my pick, here are a few guidelines I like to use for this award:

1. This is not the comeback player of the year award! This award should be about improvement on a player’s career to date, rather than an improvement on solely the season prior. Possible candidates like Ryan Broekhoff shouldn’t be eligible here.

2. I get queasy about handing the MIP to someone coming from relative obscurity. For instance, when Will Magnay won the award for 2019/20, he did so after playing just 43 minutes the season prior. Personally, I need a baseline level of minutes/opportunity in past seasons to properly deduce how much a player has actually improved. For this reason, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk is lower down in the pecking order for me. 

3. Finally, where I can, I want to prioritise the guys who go from good to great, rather than someone who goes from bad to average, for instance. Going from good to great is the hardest and most consequential leap you can make as a basketball player. We should be trying to recognise that type of improvement over anything else. 

The two standout candidates who fit all of that criteria are Yanni Wetzell and Jo Lual-Acuil. Wetzell has gone from a steady role player with the South East Melbourne Phoenix to the Breakers’ go-to scoring option. That transition has been scarily seamless. Somehow, despite his shift in role and increase in usage, his scoring efficiency has improved.