Three weeks of NBL26 have passed and I hate to big up myself too much … but! … everything is proceeding pretty close to how I imagined it would be. The Adelaide 36ers are undefeated and sitting at number one on the ladder. Bryce Cotton is easily the best player in the league which remove any doubts that he could not do the same thing he always does somewhere else. Melbourne United look better than they have in a long time and also are undefeated. Five of the six teams that I predicted being in the top six are presently in the top six. The Stu Lash coaching experiment in Brisbane is truly a spectacle. So, let’s get into some of my reflections of all that has happened so far.

I got to start with the hometown bias and flex over the 36ers. It is true that this team has a majority of players who have no real desire to defend yet their defensive rating is still third-best in the league. Their offence was always going to be their specialty but they are the clear favourite in offensive rating. These are the results of having players who have truly bought in to being part of a system and no one has done this better than Zylan Cheatham. This is the same Cheatham who was an NBA prospect only six years ago and averaged 15.2 points per game with the Breakers only two years ago. He could easily take over a team and be its primary offensive option if he wanted. Much was said about Cheatham’s character prior to his signing and he is showing it in abundance now. He has only scored 8 and 4 points in his two appearances but coupled them respectively with 14 and 10 rebounds; his 12 rebounds per game is the second-highest in the league. I doubt anybody out there was saying bringing in rebounding prodigy Cheatham was going to be the missing piece the 36ers needed but he is out here sacrificing so that he can instead fill in where he is needed. Flynn Cameron — I cannot believe that Melbourne United could not find a bigger role for him while he was there for two seasons! — does everything else that is needed whether it be playmaker or rebounder or defender. Former head honcho Dejan Vasiljevic went 2–9 from the field for 5 points during his first game alongside his new don teammate; he bounced back for a return-to-form 19 points in the second game to bring back some faith in his Klay Thompson assimilation goals. Isaac Humphries has finally had some belief restored in himself with an average of 16 points which is reminiscent of his peak days. Nothing can be said on the 36ers without touching on the messiah who dropped 39 points on debut and then followed it with 28 points the next game. Cotton is leading the league in points again. He also silenced the nonsense about the 36ers having no point guards by reminding those that he is a point guard — the Perth Wildcats choosing to run him as their undersized shooting guard for multiple seasons was never indicative of his position — by averaging a league-leading 6.5 assists. The 36ers were out of control last season with a rookie head coach, two alpha imports who now hate the 36ers as much as each other, and Jarell Martin looking thick on the sidelines. The only remnant of that chaos — head coach Mike Wells — is now looking collected as ever after being the one chosen to survive. Everybody looks happy. They seemingly all like each other. The 36ers even supplied Vasiljevic with what Damon Lowery called his “Serbian nationalist” in Nick Rakocevic: a low-frills signing as a back-up centre who posted 8 points and 8 rebounds on debut. The 36ers look the real deal … as they always have ever since they brought in Cotton.

Melbourne United look great too and they have done it all without Chris Goulding who is out with injury. Milton Doyle hitting the game-winning shot over his former Tasmania JackJumpers could not have been scripted any better. He has fit straight into his new surroundings and is flourishing. Jesse Edwards has a double-double and a 22-point performance amongst his three appearances.

Bryce Hamilton is the real deal! 24 points on debut, 26 points on his second game and 21 points for his third. He had the reputation of a scorer but it has been an absolutely seamless induction for him. I hesitated on the JackJumpers’ success purely on their reliance of Will Magnay not getting injured; instead, it has been David Johnson getting injured which resulted in the team’s almost instantaneous signing of TJ Starks as a replacement. It means that the JackJumpers have two injury replacement players on their team already and it has not even been due to Magnay.

The Brisbane Bullets have to be exceeding expectations. They only have a 1-3 record but they barely lost to Cairns by 2 points, Adelaide by 7 points and Tasmania by 1 point. The coaching braintrust of Lash and assistants Darryl McDonald and Greg Vanderjagt is bizarre to watch: Lash rallies the troops during timeouts with a speech that has the electricity of a high school basketball coach (oh, wait – that was where he last coached … 20 years ago!) before his assistants apparently do everything else required of a coach. Yet, it works. Lash can clearly not meet the standard expectations of a professional head coach. However, he knows this more than anyone else and he can deflect when needed (see: a majority of the time). It would be different if Lash was clearly so out of his depth that he had no idea what he was doing but he could not acknowledge it. Instead, Lash knows that he is clearly so out of his depth but acknowledges this with no qualms. The question has been asked: why have Lash as the head coach if he does not function as a head coach? I believe that Lash’s friendly approach is bringing the best out of his team through his responsibility as the master motivator. It is apparently an approach deemed so friendly that he was brought out of the boardroom and onto the court so the whole arena could see it shine.

JaVale McGee will turn 38-years-old during his stint with the Illawarra Hawks this season. He is averaging 29 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. It is an unbelievable output and only showcases how high NBA-level talent is when compared to our homely league. The Illawarra Hawks have still floundered to a 0-2 record. I was the championship Hawks believer last season but losing the skillset of Trey Kell III and replacing it with a still-to-be-seen expanded William Hickey and back-up import JaQuori McLaughlin is always going to be difficult to overcome.

Mason Jones is having a hard time getting used to his new role in Perth but it will come. Until then, they have their Cotton replacement in Jaron Rillie. The son of the head coaching father has played for a total of 20 minutes and provided an absolutely insane +46 plus/minus. Who knows what will happen when he actually gets some legitimate playing time?

The two point guard experiment in Sydney seems to be working by a matter of compromise: Matthew Dellavedova is playing the passing point guard who does not score and Kendric Davis is the shooting point guard who does not pass. It has been to the detriment of Xavier Cooks who is averaging single-digits in points. Tim Soares is a great return. Bul Kuol has the sacrificial nature of Cheatham to an absolute extreme; he is averaging 4.5 points per game. Can someone get Makuach Maluach on a team where he can have minutes?

The Cairns Taipans still do not impress me. They have found a point guard in Andrew Andrews and his 6 assists per game. They still lack any meaningful defender on the team beyond Marcus Lee though. Reyne Smith averaging 12.5 points during his first few professional games are promising signs. Jack McVeigh will be the first player to have a triple-double this season.

I have remained low on the South East Melbourne Phoenix. To be honest, I was still scorned over their premature parting with 6’11” Belgian point guard Vrenz Bleijenbergh who had the ability to be one of the most exciting players in the league until the day they decided he was not. The only player who has impressed me on their roster is defensive savant John Brown. Now, I knew his defensive skills were hyped up. I have come to learn that this is for good reason. Firstly and simply, he leads the league in steals with 4.5 per game. His 1.5 blocks per game are fourth-best. Secondly and most impressively, his defensive rating is unbelievably high. Nine of the top 10 players based on best defensive rating are all from the Adelaide 36ers, Perth Wildcats or Sydney Kings … which makes sense because those three teams have the best defensive ratings in the league. The only exception in the top 10 who is not from those teams is Brown. His individual defence was exemplified in his one-on-one hounding of Doyle during the throwdown was the best example possible of what he can do.

Man… the New Zealand Breakers though. They were my seventh team. I only excluded them from my top six because I believed in the Bullets’ import trio fractionally more. The Breakers went all in on their New Zealand representation who have proceeded to go all out to not win any games. They have an 0-4 record. There are almost no bright spots on this team whatsoever. Coach Petteri Kopponen could not be coping for much longer. I could see them potentially winning two of their next eight games (tough record coming up!) which would put them on a cataclysmic 2–10 record. Parker Jackson-Cartwright needs to up his shooting percentages, Izaiah Brockington needs to get some confidence and Rob Baker needs to be played more than 20 minutes a game.

The NBLxNBA games were cool. Melbourne United were actually a decent competitor to the New Orleans Pelicans. A different team should have been selected instead of the Phoenix; of course, it was based in Melbourne so the two Melbourne teams were selected but it was not a great match-up. This week sees Kendric Davis making his way back to Adelaide for the first time since all of his exit drama. It will be hard for him to see that he has not been forgotten … but, rather, replaced. The two MVP contenders going up against each other will be a major game.