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We'll pick a Player of the Week and four other selections to round out the Team of the Week, paying attention to the following criteria:
Other players will also receive a shout out as honourable mentions at the bottom of the piece.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
There are no typos in that stat line as Derby's Charlie Brown put together a true pass-first point guard performance to power the Trailblazers to a 118-100 road win against neighbours Nottingham Hoods.
Brown did shoot the ball at 100% in the contest, hitting his only two-point attempt before adding a free throw to make it to three points total, but it was understandably his passing prowess rather than his shooting that powered the DTB offence on Saturday.
Three different Derby players all passed 20 points in the contest as Brown did his best Santa impression to hand out the gifts, while 10 rebounds made for an unconventional but richly-deserved double-double.
A steal and two blocks also demonstrated the guard's defensive prowess as Derby claimed their eighth win of the year, while those 18 assists came with just two turnovers across 32:05 of action.
Smith joins Brown in the Team of the Week as Derby's 118-point offensive display provides not one but two picks for the final five of 2024.
Hitting a stunning 75% from the floor (12/16), Smith worked exclusively from inside the arc for his super-efficient afternoon. His output was made significantly easier by the efforts of POTW Brown, who assisted on seven scores for the Derby captain as he dropped a game-high 30 points.
Six turnovers were tied for a team-high with Raheem May-Thompson, but five rebounds, three assists and a trio of steals helped redeem the American's stat line.
Scarborough topped off a great first half to his debut NBL campaign with another Team of the Week pick after going to work in MK's 113-88 victory against Worthing Thunder.
MK took the opening quarter 32-21 to build a quick double-digit lead that they'd hold the rest of the way. Scarborough was key to that early output with eight points, a steal and an assist in the frame, building the platform for his 25-point, nine-rebound afternoon.
28:42 of court time without a single turnover was a huge green flag for TOTW inclusion, and his deserved 32 efficiency was a D1M-high for the weekend.
Robinson was a real difference-maker for the Breakers this weekend. His +/- of 25 was topped only by forward Chris Tawiah (+30), with the pair both coming off the MK bench to make an impact against Worthing.
The sharp-shooting guard certainly made a impact on the scoreboard, tying Scarborough with 25 points, and his 5/7 three-point rate was eye-catching as part of a 10/18 FG (55%) outing.
Helping the team's cause with five boards and four assists, Robinson could do little wrong against the Thunder.
Hedley grabs another TOTW selection after more road-warrior heroics, this time leading Loughborough to a hard-fought 74-55 away win against Essex.
Just as he did a week ago in the OT win in Thames Valley, Hedley led the Riders superbly in scoring, this time dropping a valuable 19 points in the low-scoring win.
He did it at a 70% clip (7/10 FG), sprinkling in five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals for good measure.
Loughborough have had other players on their roster stand tall in recent weeks, but none taller than Hedley.
They may have been without a D1M game this weekend due to their inclusion in the SLB Cup, but Hemel still end the first half of the season atop the standings.
Their SLB match with Manchester didn't go their way, but it's one of the few blemishes on their campaign so far, and a perfect 10-0 league record is testament to that.
Matt Ellis (18.6PPG, 7.0RPG), Darien Nelson-Henry (16.7PPG, 8.6RPG) and Sam Newman (12.9PPG, 8.4APG) have been standouts in a packed roster, and with the recent resigning of last season's Coaches' Player of the Year Brayden Inger, plus the impending return of forward Hakeem Sylla from a long-term knee injury, it is hard to see where Hemel will falter once play resumes in January.
A gap has now emerged between Worthing, Nottingham and Bradford and the rest of the D1M standings from 10th upwards.
Bradford Dragons (0-10) must accept the unwelcome accolade of completing the first half of the season without picking up a win, whilst Worthing Thunder (2-9) and Nottingham Hoods (2-9) are four points back of the next closest team.
There's still a lot of basketball to be played in the coming months once the season resumes, but if early form is anything to go by, the trio will likely provide two of the teams staring at the prospect of potential relegation to D2M come the end of the regular season.
Mitch Clarke (REA) - 23P/3/R/3A/22EFF
Jun Murdock (NOT) - 29P/2R/5A/2S/23EFF
Jonas Dieterich (DTB) - 21P/3R/20EFF
Jai Pathmarajah (DTB) - 21P/2R/4A/20EFF
Elijah Maynard (WOR) - 21P/4R/2A/20EFF
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Main image credit - Nick Higgins
