Hawks retain top spot on NBL power rankings

By Liam Santamaria

 

Every week this NBL season, I’ll be releasing power rankings. 

They’ll drop each Tuesday on NBL Overtime and then run on nbl.com.au the following morning. 

Here’s my money-back guarantee: these rankings won’t ever correlate with the ladder. They also don’t reflect where I think each team will finish. Instead, like most ‘power rankings’, they represent how each team is currently tracking when you consider form, injuries, recent opponents, etc. In other words, the team on top is the one other teams do not want to be playing right now.

With that in mind, here are this week’s power rankings:

 

1. ILLAWARRA HAWKS

Previous rank: 1

Antonius Cleveland’s explosive breakaway smash was a dramatic way for Illawarra to begin their assault on the championship and served as a perfect introduction to this well-constructed squad. These Hawks are young, talented, and ready to blow your favourite team off the floor.

This week: @ Sydney

 

2. SOUTH EAST MELBOURNE PHOENIX

Previous rank: 2

The Phoenix had a friendly schedule to open the new season and they took full advantage, belting a vulnerable Breakers squad by 20+ points.

Xavier Munford is the genuine article, Zhou Qi’s rim protection is exactly what they needed and Mitch Creek is back to his best. Big things ahead for this group.

This week: vs New Zealand, @ Melbourne

 

3. SYDNEY KINGS

Previous rank: 3

The Kings keep a grip on third spot thanks to a season-opening win over the champs. 

That said, United were missing their most important player and Sydney, it should be noted, were something of a rollercoaster. They completely dominated in stretches but Chase Buford’s crew also threw a boatload of turnovers and allowed a 21-point lead to almost evaporate down the stretch. Plenty of room for improvement.

This week: vs Illawarra

P🏀WER RANKINGS 👀

With the first round of #NBL22 action in the books the @PerthWildcats have rocketed into @Liam_Santa's Top 4 😼 and the @JackJumpers are on the march 🐜

Full breakdown ⤵️

— NBL (@NBL) December 8, 2021

4. PERTH WILDCATS

Previous rank: 8

Now this is Vic Law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,

And the team that shall sign him may prosper, but the teams that will face him must die.

• Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book, 1894

This week: vs Brisbane

5. BRISBANE BULLETS

Previous rank: 4

I’m going to hang strong with the Bullets for now, despite their shock loss to Tassie. 

After all, there was a lot that went wrong for Brisbane in that game, including missed freebies in crunch time and a controversial call in a really big moment.

They’ll be better than that.

This week: @ Perth

 

6. MELBOURNE UNITED

Previous rank: 6

Delly’s a champion, Jo Lual-Acuil’s a weapon and Ariel Hukporti’s exciting, but make no mistake: Chris Goulding is the man on this squad. With his creativity and shot-making, CG43 is the one guy Melbourne cannot afford to be without and his absence made it really hard for them to score in Sydney.  

They’ll always be a tough beat as their defence will make sure of that. And with CG back on deck, I think they’re a playoff-calibre squad. But if the United front office is truly genuine about defending their title then an athletic second import – someone in the mould of Scotty Hopson who can create off the bounce – appears to be what they need. 

This week: vs South East Melbourne

 

7. ADELAIDE 36ERS

Previous rank: 5

That was a tough schedule. I mean, that was a REALLY tough schedule to open the season.

Having said that, the 36ers let themselves down in week one. They shot poorly against the Wildcats and then just didn’t bring the juice on their own home floor. 

This one in Tassie is suddenly a very big game. 

This week: @ Tasmania, vs New Zealand

 

8. TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS

Previous rank: 9

There’s a tremendous energy about this team right now and it’s a credit to head coach Scott Roth for creating it. The JackJumpers have entered their inaugural season playing hard; extending the pressure on D and playing unselfish basketball when they have the rock. The bench is up, the crowd’s behind them and all of that makes the league’s newest team a tough proposition, especially at home.

This week: vs Adelaide, @ Cairns

WHAT💥A💥NIGHT

We couldn’t have scripted it better if we tried 🙌🏼

4️⃣7️⃣3️⃣8️⃣ of you witnessed our first victory in person at MyState Bank Arena and helped us get over the line in overtime.

Let’s do it all again this Thursday! #FEARTHESTING pic.twitter.com/bnQZpVVdep

— Tasmania JackJumpers 🐜 (@JackJumpers) December 4, 2021

9. NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS

Previous rank: 7

This is the unfortunate reality for the Breakers right now. 

Only two players were actually afflicted when Covid ran through their group but that’s in addition to head coach Dan Shamir and six other members of their travelling party and, of course, the entire team had to spend a number of days in isolation.

The whole experience put them back a couple of weeks (and slid them down the power rankings) and the challenge for them is to try to catch up.

This week: @ South East Melbourne, @ Adelaide

 

10. CAIRNS TAIPANS

Previous rank: 10

There wasn’t a lot to learn about the Taipans from the opening week as playing in Perth is always going to be tough.

There were a couple of positives, though, as it was nice to see Kouat Noi find some touch and Tahjere McCall’s activity is great for this group. When Stephen Zimmerman starts finishing around the rim and Scott Machado starts knocking down shots, things will begin improving for the Snakes. 

This week: vs Tasmania