Chris Hughes, the Rebound All-Star organiser, content producer, YouTube host and producer, commentator and social media observer, had both league and cup action to draw from as he picked out his Player and Team of the Week from the first weekend of the new year.
Have your say on this week's choices and give a shout-out to the players you think deserve one using the hashtag #NBL2324 and #ReboundTOTW. Don't forget to tag us!
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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
Jermiah Jenkins put on a 3-point masterclass, netting eight of 10 from downtown as Reading booked their place in NBL National Cup Final.
Jenkins' 3-point shooting was invaluable as his team sat back and let him do the damage. The rest of Rockets' line up made just three triples from 11 attempts.
Rebound’s latest NBL Player Of The Week started 2024 with a bang, with a particularly strong second half that included making six of his eight triples across the final 20 minutes.
The year is 2024 and like a fine wine, Zaire Taylor is just getting better with age to serve up dubs for Worthing Thunder.
In a 28-minute cameo, the Worthing player/coach was the most influential player with a 14-point and 10-assist double-double in a performance that was unfortunate to miss out on this week’s top honours.
Taylor influenced proceedings the most in a dominant third quarter which Thunder stormed with a 26-12 score line to give themselves a 16-point lead.
That advantage was helped by Taylor going to town to the tune of nine points, a rebound, four dimes and two stops, with a steal and a block added in for good measure.
In a team performance that produced a statement win verses fellow top-four contenders Nottingham, Theo Riley was a constant threat.
Riley led his side in offensive rebounds (4), was second for assists (4) and was a catalyst as Newcastle consistently made 30 or more points in each quarter, owing in part to some strong rebounding on the offensive glass and solid playmaking.
That was highlighted by the University side producing 17 more second chance points than their opponents (27-10), and protected the rock with 11 fewer turnovers (27-16).
Tom Ward was in fine form for Worthing this weekend, finishing just two points short of leading all scorers to go with a great all-round game that included three offensive boards and five dimes against just one turnover.
In a tight game against Birmingham, Ward was directly involved in two 3-point plays down the stretch across a vital 8-2 run to ensure the offense was ticking over in the eight-point win.
In a 14-minute cameo, Josh Moore put in a statement performance from the bench to once again show there is a lot of untapped potential in this young guard, with many tabbing Moore as one of last season's most improved players.
Regardless of Moore’s time on the floor, he displayed some hot shooting form to nail 5/7 from beyond the arc and 8/10 from the field overall.
It's on 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ZXRtmAB7DJ
— NBL (@NBLengland) January 8, 2024
It was a performance of the highest order from Newcastle this weekend, utilising some efficient shooting as the University side netted 51% of their field goals and 44% from beyond the arc to put up 30 points or more in all four quarters.
The bench played their part by keeping the scoring going, Moore was super efficient across his 21 points, former SGS College product Jason Soodeen was one board short of a double-double (11pts, 9reb) and equally impressively the six-man bench combined for 12 of Newcastle’s 18 steals.
Chris Tawiah (MKB) - 10P/12R/2A/19EFF
Logan Rooney (NEW) - 25P/7R/19EFF
AJ Roberts (TVC) - 22P/6R/3A/2S/22EFF
Mitch Clarke (REA) - 20P/4R/9A/25EFF
Trey Chapman (ESS) - 14P/7R/6A/27EFF
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Main image credit - Luke Simcock
