To be honest, I've never seen this guy in shape. lol tho it never stopped him getting to the NBA and Europe.

That rap tho.... *raises concerned eyebrow*

Lol... no idea, apart from Nate Jawai being onnnnnn da prowl.

So much weight to throw around, no one else like him in the league. Beast.

Get Kenny/Martin knocking down threes when teams double team Jawai and teams will have to stop double teaming him, then he will be scary.

I think the fact that they DO (or will) have Martin and Kenny out there with him is one of the big things that is going to limit how dominant he is..

Yeah, well ... get Wroe and Prather to knock down the threes then :p

Considering he was almost unable to walk, he's doing ok for himself.

Is Anthony Stewart still around? ;)

Back in Tassie last I heard. Pretty sure Trahair is still round though.

Jawai would work so well with a Stiendl or Gladden type to kick it too... man is unstoppable in so many ways. Great to see him doing well!

Yeah last I heard, Stewie trying to revive NBL team from Tassie. Hope they revisit that under LK.

If Damian Martin has one of his 50% seasons Jawai will be mighty tough to guard. I think Adelaide went about it wrong though, will be interested to see what the Breakers do.

Cant wait to see Nate v Majok

Can't wait to see Jawai vs Khazzouh, now that will be interesting. Especially how both of those two players defend each other

There are a lot of different options, but I thought they sent the double too early too often, allowing Nate to pick the rotating defence apart, which he did very well a number of times.

I suspect NZ will make Nate prove he can score one on one first, and then look to disrupt either by denying or sending the double once the ball is on the floor.

So catchy and timeless... "Perth Wildcats are ONNNNN DA PROWL."

If they hadnt have doubled him early and often... he literally wouldve dunked in been fouled by or shot over DJ. 6ers did well on him i thought. No other way you can defend him. Just imagine him on uniteds team with a whole bunch of pure shooters yikes!

Lots of other ways to defend him. Just watch what teams do throughout the season.

People talk about him "being out of shape," but it' not like he's carrying a pot gut or bingo wings, he's just a BIG dude.

I'm a little surprised he's playing ball, and not 1st rower in Rugby League, but he's certainly a presence on court.

I watched the game on my phone, which was a bit like watching a ant's nest, so I'm looking forward to seeing him live.

Majok will get killed by Jawai. He struggled to handle both Conklin and Ogilvy, what do you think Jawai will do? It's a huge weakness for United.

www.wildcatsviews.com

Thanks Luuuc!!!!!!

Based on what I saw of him with the Boomers I was always hopeful that he'd be useful from game 1. It was how long he could stay on the court that was the main worry, especially when an opponent tried to go into track meet mode, which many will try against our top-heavy lineup I expect.

21 minutes was a more than useful first game from him.

Paul c'mon now for conversations sake, please explain what other ways Jawai can be guarded? Im sure other teams will mix it up a bit, but really what else can you do exactly??

Kobe, Sixers made mistakes on about three plays in a row with weak side players doubling and tripling Jawai, leaving perimeter players free shots (and in one case a back cutting guard an uncontested layup!)

You can't double Jawai if it involves leaving such big defensive gaps elsewhere as he is such a good passer out of the post. His pass is more far more dangerous than his short range game if you can keep yourself between him and the basket.

Gibson had some good examples of good double teams against Jawai, where he was hedging between defenders and Perth's spacing was not good enough to make him commit.

I agree with Paul in that you have to make Jawai prove he can score on you in the post routinely and regularly as his touch from 3-5 feet is suspect (can't let Hire or Knight grab the boards though) and he is prone to getting charge calls if he can't get past you.

Only a couple of Jawai's scores came from genuinely beating his opponent in the low block. As long as those shots are challenged, you would give those up. If he gets around you, well it is goodnight, so you just have to keep a body in front of him.

He presents a unique defensive challenge in this league, but it is far from insurmountable. Teams around the world have been playing against him for years with reasonable success, otherwise he would average 90% shooting every game. The Sixers did a good job at certain times in the game, and lost it entirely at others.

Offensive teams are going to score points, it is just a matter of the defence choosing the lesser evil as to what looks you want them to get off.

It is actually defensively where Jawai was more damaging last Saturday. Wow did he change a few shots.

Isn't it great that we can have so much conversation about an Aussie in the NBL, being one of the more dominant players in our own league :)

Triple teaming him is not the good intact its down right suicidal. The RIGHT guy has to come for the double or hedge like Gibbo was able to do, but going solo wouldve meant major foul trouble for DJ... Its up to the coaching staff to have strict rules on who is to help out and when, the multiple times its stuffed up should've been eradicated before it got to 3 times! But the principal is good i believe. Shaw didn't get a lot of single coverage and for good reason. He is too big, he wont need to prove he can shoot as he will be at the line 9 times out of 10. And yeah Bear agreed its refreshing to be able to talk about a Aussie star, lost of things have flipped for this NBL season!

Let's not act like the guy is unstoppable.
I'm looking forward to watching his battle with Pledger. If he plays smart I think he's physically capable of competing with Nate.

Kobe24, DJ getting major foul trouble - Seriously?

He had two fouls for the game. TWO. One of those was in the first 23 seconds of the game. 30 seconds later, he defended Jawai face up and drew a charge. You don't think he could have afforded to get a few more fouls?

Petrie had 3 fouls. Hodgson was the only Sixer in foul trouble, but I don't recall those fouls having anything to do with Jawai.

Not saying you don't ever double Jawai, of course you do, but you choose your poisons and you mix it up.

We get it, Jawai is a great player, but you are making out like he is the real Shaq in mid 90's form playing in the NBL.

In a small league, the excitement is like steam in a kettle.

I'd love to see Jawai consistently fronted with a tall, agile player. Force the team to consistently pass over the defender to get the ball to him which is THE toughest pass to make.

Of course, for that to work we would need the refs to stop ball watching and call the two-handed pushes.

The other aspect to Nate's 'effectiveness' is his footwork. He won't be nearly so 'effective' if he is not allowed to take three and four steps with the ball - sometimes while running straight through a defender!

Against the 365ERS he was most effective later in the game when he became a ball distributor out of the post, which goes back to my 'fronting' defence suggestion.

With Ennis, Childress, Wilbekin, Warrick, etc in recent years, lets hope its the start to an upward trend, but I agree, league and media needs more promotion of these guys..

The downside of some of these guys is that they'll likely be "one and done" season guys, need some way to retain, esp vets like Childress / Warrick.

The other side is also bringing our best Aussies back to the league. Competition with the Europe league will be tough.

^ Sorry wrong thread.

Xy you dont think he stayed of foul trouble because of the help defence?? We lose Dj with the way our other go to scorer is thesedays we were toast. 2 early fouls for DJ and if that charge had been called a block or the next time it was then thats game...

Im just saying don't let him get going make there 'shooters' beat you, best way to do that is get him to move the ball via a double. He has that potential to destroy a man on the post, so best to limit his touches i say...

Doubling isn't necessarily a bad option, although I'd make him score a few baskets over a defender first, but it's how you double. Watch what Adelaide did at about 4.10 in the final term with Creek arriving late, that is a shot I'm not sure Jawai can hit regularly.

There a lots of other ways to skin the double team cat, a good one is forcing baseline and sending the help defence from that side.

A big issue for Adelaide was they got themselves in rotations guarding the ball screen and then weren't organised enough to cover mismatches in the block.

I look forward to see some Black Tornado alley oops Shaq Style from Beal to Jawai..

Agreed with that Paul, its the type of double team and specifically who and where it comes from at what time spacing wise. Adelaide perhaps panicked a bit and just sent it for the sake of it, but if they had a better strategy it could've been highly effective. My take is the mentality is right to send the double just about every time, but not from anywhere, he isn't that unstoppable, unless he develops a long rang jumper then we are all stuffed at his size haha

Yeah, if he starts banging triples just post the trophy to Perth!

Having looked at the replay, it was obvious defensive mistakes earlier in the possession which led to the double being ineffective, because the next layer of rotation wasn't where it needed to be.

Definitely interested in seeing how NZ approach it though. Do they start Pledger and go one-on-one coverage?

At the Boomers , alley oops from Mills to Jawai..-..I was just hoping the ring would stay on.

Going to be interesting to watch Nate with the Perth crowd behind him. If he starts to impose himself, the crowd will go off

Yes! Basketball is back in Perth!

Oh wait, it never left. ;)

I think we were just spoilt by Ennis. True, now that we have Jawai, extra excited. Hope Prather heats up too.

I always thought the best way to reduce the influence on a guy like Jawai was to attack him offensively and get him into early foul trouble!

Not super sophisticated I know, but could be more effective because I don't think he would be the same on 4 fouls in the last quarter, just saying...

And, while I'm a Nate fan, I'll say it again ... based on what I saw in Adelaide, if he is required to play by the rules of the game, including the footwork rule, he won't be the force people believe he can be. I know he has quick feet, but that doesn't mean he should be allowed to take three and four steps with the ball, even if they're quick steps, or run through defenders.

Actually, I noticed that too, the replays showed him to travel quite a bit, but officials turn a blind eye for some players don't they?

#LeBronwalkseverywhere

A lot of travels are uncalled in the NBA.

Stopping the flow of the game and stars not scoring = not exciting. ;)