It doesn't matter if your team is charging or floundering.
Benny, Banksy and Buddy – the Blox Basketball team – are here to help you with tips that will help you recover.
These are the players you should consider buying, keeping and selling in your SuperCoach NBL squad for Round 19.
He sells
Sale of the Week: Anthony Lamb (NZ) $350,600
We marked Lamb as a buy for the week leading up to his injury last round. The initial assessment is that Lamb has ruptured his Achilles tendon and is scheduled to undergo an MRI later in the week. This is a terrible break for New Zealand, Lamb and the league in general. In my opinion, Lamb deserves first-team All-NBL honors; And the Breakers would look like real contenders if they made the rounds at full strength. From a SuperCoach perspective, Lamb was quality. He averaged 40 SuperCoach points over 13 games midway through the season with only one game under 30 points. It's a very hesitant sell for Lamb this week. The NBL SuperCoach community wishes you all the best in your recovery.
Other players to consider selling
Adelaide 36ers players
The 36ers only have one game innings for the rest of the season. Humphreys and Kell have served you well, but now everything is replaceable. When deciding whether to remove these players, consider their price and position eligibility as these factors may be useful in future trades as well.
Tasmanian Jack Jumpers
JJ's also has one game rounds remaining, so I've listed them here as candidates to sell based on schedule. However, we have written an argument below for why these players could be detained this week if necessary.
Penny breaks the tie
Each week, Penny will list some of the notable breakeven points for the coming week – players with low breakeven points are set to rise in prices while high breakeven points indicate an impending price drop. Sign up for SuperCoach Plus to get the full list of Break Evens plus more stats and tools to help your team.
• Ben Air (-17, 1 game)
• Keanu Bender (-1, 1 game)
• Joe Lawal Aquil (16, one match)
• Mangok Mathiang (18, 2 matches)
• Bryce Cotton (61, 1 game)
• Sam Froling (67, 2 matches)
Catch
Contract of the Week: Milton Doyle (TAS) $339,600
You could certainly sell Doyle this week based on the scheduled number of games remaining, however it is their scheduled opponents this week that make Doyle a potential contract. After top-scoring last round with 88 SuperCoach points, it's good luck for Malky Doyle who take on Phoenix this week. Over the last 5 matches, the average number of SuperCoach points conceded by a team against their opponents is 171. The hardest team to score against during that period was NZ Breakers with 156 points conceded. Over their last 5 matches, the South East Melbourne Phoenix have conceded 201 SuperCoach points per game. The Phoenix also give up more SuperCoach points per minute to guard eligible players than any other opponent over the course of the season. If you have Doyle or Crawford and can move them to your bench this week, they are not a priority to sell. Hopefully the Phoenix can keep him close enough to make sure the Jackies play their normal share of minutes.
Banksy deals
Each week Banksy ranks his favorite cheap players (under 200k) regardless of schedule.
1. Mangok Mathiang (New Zealand) $187,100 FWD/CTR
After averaging minutes in the teens over his previous three games, Mango saw a significant increase over his last two games where he played 29 and 32 minutes. 11 points and 9 rebounds led to a season-high 30 SuperCoach points against Perth in Round 18. With Lamb injured, and back-to-back doubles over the last two rounds, Mango is a great, cheap option off the bench that will still earn you good points. Down the house extension.
2. Gorjok Gak (SEM) $178,000 FWD/CTR
We know that SEM is severely understaffed, even more so when it comes to the big men's department. Gak also scored a season-high with 28 SuperCoach points in the final round thanks to his first double-double of the season. If Krek remains on the sidelines, there will be plenty of minutes and rebounds, giving Gorguc every chance to score two straight braces.
3. Isaiah Laava (New Zealand) $136,200 total
After 3 poor games of single digit SuperCoach points, Le'Afa bounced back against Perth with 25 SuperCoach points while being priced at just over 11. With Lamb sidelined for most of the last game, Izzy played the third most minutes for the Breakers with 26. More picks and 4 games over the last two rounds, let's hope we see more of the same form as the 29, 23, 39 SuperCoach points we saw earlier in the season.
4. Todd Blanchfield (ILL) $145,900 FWD/GRD
Blanchfield has now played 15 or more minutes over his past five games, including 25 minutes against the Breakers last week. This has translated to 17 SuperCoach points per game over his last 5 while still being on 12 points, with the added benefit of 4 games over the final 2 weeks of the season, making him an ideal option to cut to the bench.
5. Mantas rubstaficius (New Zealand) US$179,700
Mantas has now played 20 or more minutes in 11 of his past 13 games, including 21 and 27 minutes in his last two. With Lamb out, not only will there be more minutes on offer, but there will be more snaps available as well. With 23 and 28 SuperCoach points in his last 4 games and a best of 4 remaining in the league, Rubstavicius is still a great player off the bench.
He buys
Buy of the Week: Zylan Cheatham (NZ) $304,600
The NZ Breakers have back-to-back rounds of doubleheaders to end the season, matched only by the Hawks' schedule. Having returned from injury himself, Cheatham must now see additional opportunity due to the unfortunate injury suffered by Anthony Lamb. Zylan is averaging 25 points in SuperCoach since returning from injury, but is up to 35.6 over his last 3 games. At $304k, he is well priced and should be more of a focus for the Breakers as Finn Delaney is still working his way back from his injury. While injuries are a terrible part of the sport, from SuperCoach's point of view, they provide opportunities to capitalize on. Many of us started with Ariel, will we end with Zilan?
Boydie's Best Buys
Each week, Boydie will rank other top buys for the coming week.
1. Gary Clark (ILL) $372,600
After a 46-point SuperCoach performance with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in Round 18, Gary Clarke has shot straight to the top of our shopping list this week with the Hawks one of only two teams (the other being New Zealand) with a maximum of 4 games remaining to find out in the NBL24. Clarke has averaged 30.9 SuperCoach points for the season so far, but has averaged just under 36 SuperCoach points per game in his last 9 games which includes 13 against Adelaide in that series of matches!
2. Parker Jackson Cartwright (New Zealand) $350,100 total
Although Parker has had two low scores of 27 and 25 over his last two games, there is no doubt that PJC is the best keeper (Bryce not named for Rd 20) to bring into your SuperCoach squad to end the year. PJC is averaging 33.8 SuperCoach points for the season with highs of 57 and 51 for the year. He's already played 7 of the 40+ games this season, so his ceiling is great and what you want in Rounds 19 and 20 of the NBL24.
3. Sam Froling (ILL) $316,600 FWD/CTR
Similar to PJC's most recent outing, Samson's 15 SuperCoach match against Brisbane in Rd18 was not at all entertaining but despite this result, Samson has averaged 29 SuperCoach points for the season and nearly 30 over their last 8 matches which includes 2 scores from 15 In that being. If it makes you feel a little better, scores of 27, 35 against New Zealand and 31, 34 and 27 against Sydney, the Hawks' 2nd road opponents on the 19th, make us feel a little better about placing Froling that high in our best buys of the week. . His down week in this round saw his price drop by $31k as well, making him even more attractive to your team!
4. Mangok Mathiang (New Zealand) $187,100 FWD/CTR
If you don't want to pay that much money for Froling, or don't have the funds even if you wanted to as well, Mango should factor into your accounts after his 30th game against Perth on Rd 18 and also with potential extra minutes following Lamb's injury. Mango is averaging just 15.4 SuperCoach points for the season but 19.5 over his last 4 games, so at $187k and all the important FWD/CTR eligibility you could do worse than getting Mango!
5. Tyler Harvey (ILL) $284,200 total
This could cause a family feud, but another somewhat cheaper player you can look at this week if you're short on cash is Tyler Harvey. He is averaging 22.4 SuperCoach points for NBL24 although he has averaged 27.8 over his last 7 games which includes his two most recent scores of 19 and 20. The red flag with Harvey is his distinct lack of ceiling this season, with his highest being 39 points. Only one of 6 points over 30 for the season.
6. Mantas rubstaficius (New Zealand) US$179,700
Mantas SuperCoach's results have been bouncing up and down like a yo-yo lately with 23, 8, 28, 8 over his last 4 matches. That was 28 in his second-last match against a New Zealand opponent this week in the Illawarra, so a repeat of that performance could be in store for Mantas if he sees quality minutes with Lamb out injured.
Others to consider:
7. Justin Robinson (ILL) $235,700
8. Will McDowell White (New Zealand) $205,200 total
9. Isaiah Laava (New Zealand) $136,200 total
10. Todd Blanchfield (ILL) $145,900 GRD/FWD
