NBL 2014/15 Round 7 Preview: Motum, Adelaide look to halt steamrolling Wildcats
Adelaide 36ers vs. Perth Wildcats
Friday, November 21, 7:30pm (local)
Adelaide Arena
Tickets: Click here
Odds: Adelaide $2.30, Perth $1.62
Perth had a great win against the Kings last week, the Wildcats were almost impossibly to stop. Their ability to play through opponents runs is what separates them from just about every other team in the NBL this year. Last week, saw Jermaine Beal catch fire and lead all scores with 27 on 5-9 shooting from deep. Perth will need more of that this week against the slumping Adelaide team. DeAndre Daniels, looked more comfortable on Sunday, scoring in a variety of ways in Sydney. Damian Martin will be tasked with shutting down Adam Gibson, both are tough physical points, so this should prove a great match up.
For the home side, they are coming off a pasting from Melbourne United last week. Their defense looked porous, allowing guys to score without much contest. For the 36ers to have any chance this week, they will need scoring from more than just their 3 headed monster of Motum, Gibson and Teys. With young gun Mitch Creek still out, where is that offense going to come from? The early returns from Jamar Wilson last week were average. Until the import gets back into the swing of things, Adelaide will need to find scoring from someone else to stop the dominate Wildcats.
Key Player
Brock Motum
The big man has been solid so far for Adelaide, but that hasn’t translated to a whole lot of wins. Since his arrival the team hasn’t won a game. I know its only 2 games, but he is an NBA quality guy. He will need to lead this team on both ends of the floor. His offence has been great for this team but his defence has been questionable.
I expect him to continue to put up big numbers on the stat sheet each week. Until he takes that next step and starts leading this team with Gibson on both ends of the floor, Adelaide will remain around the middle of the table. Perth will be a big test, lets see if Brock can lead the team to the win, starting with demanding better defence from both himself and his team mates.
What To Watch For
Beal and Gibson getting into a shoot out
Gibson has been shooting the ball at a high percentage his last few games; meanwhile Beal has been stroking it for the wildcats. These are two guys who will come down and pull up right in your face. With both these players having the green light from their coaches we could see plenty of threes being hoisted. Beal has the slight advantage here, given that he will see a lot of time against Teys, a below average defender. On the other end Gibson faces, DPOY candidate Martin, however don’t expect that to stop him from getting his shots off. Plus who doesn’t like watching guys shoot threes all game long?
Final Word
Perth have been playing great basketball recently, they live and die by their smothering defense. Adelaide is almost their antithesis, whilst they know how to put points on the board; they struggle to stop teams when it counts. If the 36ers can get strong games out of their big three and find that 4th contributor (Wilson anyone?) we could see Perth struggle to contain all their scorers. However if Perth locks up Motum and Gibson, and limits them to low scoring games, the wildcats should have no problem getting the win. My money right now is on the latter, as Perth should come out with a strong game plan to keep 36ers scorers in check.
Perth by 10