Indian Panthers (0-5, 12th) v Southland Sharks (1-4, 10th)
The Panthers play their second game of the weekend at home, but will hope the move to the Stockyard bring the elusive first victory they have been looking for while the Sharks will be coming from a bit further south for their second game of the round. Which team will end their losing streak?
When: Sunday 6th April, Rapid League 5:30Sal’s NBL 6:30pm
Where: Franklin Pool and Leisure Center, Pukekohe
Watch: Live in New Zealand on Sky Sport 7 | USA: ESPN3 | International: FIBA YouTube
Box score here
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Last Time Out:
Friday Night the Panthers hosted the Nuggets and were within touch distance thanks to the efforts of Jaylen Gerrand (29pts) and Alex Robinson (18pts, 8rbs, 7ast) and found themselves down 8 with a little over 8 minutes remaining. But thanks to the play of Jose Perez (18pts, 9rbs, 13ast), Don Carey Jr (22pts, 6ast, 6rb) and just arrived Jaylen Sebree (18pts) the Nuggets would pull away down the stretch, taking a 98-77 win.
The Sharks were at home Friday night as the Tuatara came to town with Davo Hickey in the lineup for the first time, and what an addition he was as his triple double (29pts, 11rbs, 11ast) led the Tuatara past Keylan Boone (35pts, 8rbs) and Sharks in the 92-102 defeat.
What to Look for
Look for Shenghze Li!! He is listed as an emergency player as he awaits his clearance but the 6’10” man is tough to miss. Without him in the lineup the Panthers will be undersized but it would be the workrate of the the Sharks bigs that will be more worrisome. The offense is being carried by Jaylen Gerrand and Alex Robinson, and they’ve been up to the task for around half of the game but that has been when the workload becomes too great and they run out of juice. If they could get a bit more help from Tushal Singh, who has been scoring on shifty drives and clever fadeaways, or Dante Matakatea who has been promising the load might be light enough to carry
The Sharks come in on a 4 game losing streak but can take positives from hitting their second highest points total as they went down to the Tuatara, but giving up triple digits for the third time in four games would be of concern. Keylan Boone and Alonzo Burton have the green light to bomb away from deep while Josiah Allick seals the weak side to crash the glass or get the drop off pass. Caleb Asberry (6-24 3pfg) hasn’t found the range from deep but can still slice the defense with his penetrating skills.
Small Sample Size Stats:
The Panthers offense continues to struggle sitting last in Effective field goal percentage (45%), assist percentage (47%), scoring margin (-26.6ppg), three point field goal percentage (27%)and rebounding margin (-10)
The Sharks are 11the in scoring defense (100.4ppg) and scoring margin (-12ppg) and are giving up 39% from three (10th). They are last in rebounds per game (36.8pg), 11th in rebounding margin (-3) and last in blocked shots (2.4pg) but lead the league in made threes (11.6pg)
Matchup to Watch: Alex Robinson v Caleb Asberry- Two lighting quick guards who can bend defenses with deep penetration to score themselves or to create opportunities for others.
all advanced stats courtesy of spatialjam.com
