Hughes, the All-Star organiser, content producer, YouTube host and producer, commentator and social media observer, had last weekend's playoff semi-finals to pick from as Hemel and Reading moved on to next Sunday's showpiece in Manchester.
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Chris will pick a Player of the Week and four other selections to round out his 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
Powell was a fire-starter for the Rockets, really getting in his groove at pivotal moments against regular-season champs Derby.
He threw down a dunk to stretch Reading’s lead back to 14 with six minutes remaining and also directly contributed 11 points in a free-scoring 37-12 second quarter.
The performance also stacked up on the stat sheet with a super-efficient 22:43-minute two-way performance that came with four steals and a block on the defensive end and accurate shooting on offense.
The former BBL man was the star of the show in Hemel surviving a close final four fixture against Bradford.
Nelson-Henry was one board shy of a double-double in a fine offensive performance, with five assists accompanying an almost faultless shooting stat line from all three levels.
He called game by making the winning freebies to punch Storm’s ticket to the showcase final in Manchester.
Newman also heavily influenced the first half by directly contributing to 21 of Hemel's 53-point tally as they held a 11-point lead at the mid-way point.
Newman really shone from beyond the three-point line as almost half of Hemel’s efforts from deep came from the former Essex guard.
🗞 The semi-finals report as we found out our finalists for the NBL Playoff Finals!
— NBL (@NBLengland) April 22, 2024
You can also sort your tickets for this weekend 👇https://t.co/qWXwCgvk1j pic.twitter.com/cDSWMk2kul
Johnson was a threat in the first half as he directly contributed to 17 of Hemel’s 53 first-half points, or 21 if you include steals that led to quick buckets.
Coach Clark obviously trusted Johnson to help get the job done by keeping him on the floor for all but 48 seconds of the contest.
Captain Champion was a cameo bucket.
The sharp-shooter hit four times from beyond the arc and led the offensive in a pivotal 37-point second quarter with 12 points personal to dent Derby’s chances of progressing.
Semi-finals have to have winners and losers, but in the D1 Men’s semi-finals, the difference between winning and losing was slim.
Both games went down to the wire in two exciting displays that showcased the excitement of play-off basketball.
Derby chased down a 20-point deficit with team basketball to fall three short, whilst Bradford, led by a superb Jordan Whelan, were two points shy of a finals place.
Jordan Whelan (BRA) - 28PTS/5REB/1STL/27EFF
Zion Tordoff (BRA) - 12PTS/10REB/1AST/17EFF
Corey Johnson (DER) - 29PTS/4REB/4AST/1STL/29EFF
Malcolm Smith (DER) - 29PTS/9REB/3AST/2STL/25EFF
Mitch Clarke (REA) - 13PTS/3REB/7AST/1STL/12EFF
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Main image credit - Luke Simock
