![]() Rob Loe was a chief beneficiary in the first half of Game 1 and 3, look for the Breakers to target this more.īoth teams are expected to be at full strength. When the nail defender has committed early to stop penetration or tag the roller, the Kings’ corner defenders have not done a good job of splitting the weakside shooters. Sydney’s other challenge is defending the weakside while helping on ball-screen action. New Zealand are 8-0 when Jarell Brantley has three or more assists. In the first quarter of Game 3 they conceded two wide-open triples doubling the low post on the catch, before adjusting to double on the move once the NZ bigs lose vision of kick-out options. On 56 possessions without a WMW ball-screen the Breakers shot 32 per cent with 12 cough-ups, and perhaps need to focus more on their strength and less on getting Justin Simon off the ball.Įarly helping – Where Sydney have been hurt defensively is by overcommitting early to help. Midway through the third term NZ led 57-55, and from the 14 possessions with WMW running a ball-screen or DHO had generated 16 points at 55 per cent with no turnovers.įrom that moment on they ran that action just six more times – and while the shots weren’t dropping it generated three of their four o-boards for the night – as they were outscored 36-11. Where Sydney excelled was identifying the right men to leave open Tom Vodanovich, Tom Abercrombie and Rayan Rupert 3/21 on triples the past two games after taking just seven between them in New Zealand’s Round 16 and Game 1 wins.įorgetting Will – Of course, the man with the class to pick apart that two-tiered defence is Will McDowell-White, who was 4/6 on twos in Game 3 while the rest of Breakers were a wayward 5/20. Their two-tiered D – with up-and-in pressure on the ball and their bigs sitting in drops – took away looks for dangerous shooters while making paint points nearly impossible, NZ with just 14 inside at 30 per cent. The Kings grabbed 90 per cent of d-boards in the final term and 87 per cent for the game. That allowed Sydney’s defence to set, force seven of the Breakers’ 12 field-goal attempts to be from long range and then clean the glass. Two-tiered defence – The Kings still had nine half-court possessions with fewer than two passes in the final quarter, but they on average lasted 15 seconds as they managed time, rather than rushing head-long into the defence. In the first half, Sydney had 20 half-court possessions with fewer than two passes that resulted in just 11 points at 36 per cent, one assist and seven turnovers, while the Breakers scored 23 points at 53 per cent on the ensuing possession. However, on Friday they got the ball humming and racked up 24 dimes with five Kings dealing multiple helpers.įifteen of those assists came on possessions with at least two passes, while another four came in transition. That’s exactly what Sydney had averaged in the teams’ first five meetings, well down on their 18.7 season mark. ![]() Moving the ball – New Zealand’s defence allows a league-low 14.6 assists per game as they jam the passing lanes and force one-on-one play. Chase Buford’s men simply maintained the rage longer than NZ, going +18 on possession points in a 23-point win. In one of the more remarkable defensive bursts in NBL Finals history, the Kings kept New Zealand without a field goal for more than 11 minutes bracketing the final break and allowed just 21 points in total after intermission at 21 per cent from the floor.Īt the other end there were plenty of Sydney-siders willing to do their bit – six Kings scoring between 11 and 15 points – as the champs ran up a season series-high 91 points at 56 per cent inside, 36 per cent outside and a solid 18/25 from the stripe. ![]() In the first half Sydney threw away the ball, in the second half they locked down the D and threw away the key. Sydney 91 (Vasiljevic 15, Soares 14, Simon 13) d New Zealand 68 (McDowell-White 11, Brantley 10, Brown 10, Rupert 10) – Game 3, Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Broadcast: ESPN Kayo Freebies Foxtel Sky NZ Prime NZĭownload the free app for live scores & stats
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