NBL1 Men Round 4 vs North Adelaide Rockets
Round 4 action in the NBL1 Central season sees the South Ave Norwood Flames Men (1 – 2) going up against the North Adelaide Rockets (1 – 2). North Adelaide is coming off a win against the Southern Tigers and are looking to ride that momentum into this one with another win against Norwood. Meanwhile, the Flames had a tough loss against South Adelaide. Captain Daniel Webber and his team are looking to get a win in the Captain’s 350th game.
The opening basket was a pull-up middy for North which Mason Whittaker answered on a putback finish. A pull-up triple off a screen for Campbell Scott was a good sign for Norwood as we saw what he can do when he gets hot last game, hitting 10 threes against South. The Flames were piling on points early, a finish inside by Inady Legiste gave Norwood 8 in the first 2 minutes. The elite Norwood offence was complimented by key consecutive stops, breaking out to an early six-point lead. A triple from Daniel Webber opened his scoring tab in his 350th NBL1 game. North answered, keeping the game close, only 4 the difference.
Some defensive miscommunications and offensive slips gave North Adelaide a chance to take the lead, which they took on a triple. A putback from Joel Coffey ricocheted the Flames back out in front. A monster block on the other end from Coffey gave the Flames back some much-needed momentum. Some improved defensive intensity held North back as Norwood started to build a lead. Joel Coffey was hacked on fastbreak for a flagrant foul. After hitting a free-throw and Mason Whittaker scoring on the extra possession Norwood was back in front by 7. North Adelaide answered with a small 4-0 run, ended by Cooper Osborne as he drove and scored inside against former Flames Darcy McNamara. A turnover from the Flames gave North a freebie to end the quarter, Norwood leading, 26 – 23.
The second quarter started scrappy, both teams getting into each other on the defensive end. A triple from Inady Legiste gave Norwood the first score of the period. The defensive intensity of the quarter led to Flames mistakes which North capitalised on, scoring in transition and shrinking the Norwood lead back to 1 before a timeout from Flames Head Coach Miles Pearce. Another poor decision led to North Adelaide taking the lead, before a tough finish from Daniel Webber and a triple from Cooper Osborne gave Norwood back the lead.
Norwood was employing a double big lineup including Inady Legiste and Oscar Sabine, the combination of size and athleticism was tough for the Rockets to counter as they lacked size inside. This lineup led the Flames to extend their lead to 7 before a timeout from North Adelaide. The Flames were using their size on both ends, punishing North Adelaide inside and making it difficult for them to get a rhythm in the paint offensively. A triple from North looked to get their offence rolling once more but it was answered by another Inady Legiste 3-ball. Campbell Scott got fouled on a three attempt and pushed the Norwood lead to 16. A great defensive possession forced a Rockets turnover and gave Norwood a chance to extend their lead heading into halftime, 62 – 44.
An easy drive and score for North Adelaide opened the third. Daniel Webber responded with a pair of triples for Norwood but North had some offensive energy out of the gates scoring 9 points in a row. Despite their impressive offensive burst North Adelaide struggled to shrink the Norwood lead, as a fastbreak score from Mason Whittaker put the Flames up by 19. After a basket from North, Campbell Scott drained a deep triple, increasing Norwood’s lead to 20 and forcing a timeout from North Adelaide.
Out of the timeout North Adelaide switched into a 2-3 zone defensively. This disrupted the flow of Norwood’s offence for a couple possessions before a good walk-up play led to an and-1 for Oscar Sabine. The offence for both teams was rolling now as they traded baskets from deep and continued playing with a really high pace. This pace favoured the Flames as it didn’t give North a chance to set their zone and when they did quick ball movement shifted the zone and led to open looks. North’s zone was being dissected by the Flames and it led to a lot of late rotations and fouls as the Norwood bigs dove on the rim. The pace of play kept increasing and the scores kept piling on, Norwood’s offence never slowed down but neither did the Rockets, 99 – 73 the score.
A fastbreak bucket for North Adelaide opened the fourth quarter and an inside finish from Mason Whittaker took Norwood over the 100-point mark with 9 minutes to go in the game. Another triple for Inady put Norwood up by 31 as the Flames offence was still highly effective. North Adelaide wasn’t laying down as they kept pushing it offensively, playing with force inside and looking to keep putting pressure on the Flames. The pressure was kept high on both ends from the Flames as they looked to spark a comeback, coach Miles Pearce wasn’t having any of it and called timeout for the Flames.
Out of the timeout the Flames had some more energy, a block from Legiste leading to an and-1 from Chok Garang. Legiste was having a three-point party as he drained his 4th of the night on a kick-out from Cooper Osborne. A stop and a big throwdown from Thomas Kurowksi put momentum squarely back into Norwood’s favour. The benches were emptied after a timeout from North Adelaide giving some young guys a good chance to get their feet under them at the NBL1 level. A big three from Jett Swaffer in transition highlighted these minutes for the Flames. The game came to a close, Norwood with the blowout win 125 – 98.
