The NBL 2023-24 season train left the station on September 28th, and phew! It has been a minute. The ride is proving unsurprisingly electric!  Round 4 fixtures have just concluded, and Melbourne United seems to be dominating the courts with 6 wins out of their 7 matches. Tasmania is hot on their heels with 4 wins out of 6 games. 

Contrarily, Illawarra Hawks have found themselves in the deepest hole, with only 1 win out of 5 games. They return to  WIN Entertainment Centre Wollongong, NSW on Thursday at 7.30 PM against Cairns Taipans for their opening Round 5 fixtures, and the Head Coach, Jacob Jackomas is upbeat that they will be back to winning ways sooner. 

Well, if you still have the opening rounds hangovers, the ride is progressing at a supersonic speed, and some changes have been effected as regards the Supercoach points. Fortunately, we are the bold and authoritative NBL Australian news source, and we are always ahead of the curve to bring your every update in real-time. 

For your information, from now on, the method for voting for your Chemist Warehouse Fans MVP award has been updated. NBL Media will be presenting the round’s top players, and you can make your votes count every week. You may click here if you are interested in voting for your best player. 

The top average SuperCoach NBL will determine the nominees from each round. In case of a tie, they will consider the player with more games during the respective rounds. 

So who do you think is gonna be joining Mitch Creek, Bryce Cotton, or Jerome Randle in the coveted award gallery? Let’s find out below. 

Jordon Crawford

Crawford in a past action for Tasmania.

Jordon Crawford, the Tasmania Jackjumper’s sparkplug guard has so far, got the right footing into the season. He scored 32 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists, helping his teammates floor the Sydney Kings with a comfortable margin. He leads the pack among those with the most Supercoach points as he averages 48 NBL per game. 

In particular, Crawford showcased a solid performance producing memorable moments for the teams’ dominance against Sydney in the first three quarters and the entire match in which Tasmania beat Kings 105-95. 

To everyone’s expectation, the guard played a crucially supportive role alongside Clint Steindl, Milton Doyle, and Majok Deng, with each leveraging his moment to punish the Kings on the scoreboard. 

He dropped 4 wonderful threes within the first two minutes of the final term, and proceeded to add another field goal, making it 14 points within 2.5 minutes of the game; thus dealing a significant blow to Sydney Kings’ hopes of getting back into the game. 

Parker Jackson-Cartwright

Jackson-Cartwright of the Breakers controls the ball during the 2023 NBL Blitz match between Adelaide 36ers and New Zealand Breakers at Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre on September 17, 2023, in Gold Coast, Australia.

If you are a keen follower of New Zealand Breakers, we guess that you now idolize Parker Jackson-Cartwright, or simply, PJC, as widely known among home fans.  

Known for his offensive marksmanship in the guard position, PCJ has proved to the doubting Thomases who had thought his performances before making it to the NBLxNBA series were a brief glimmer of achievement, and that he would probably flop. 

During the recent 4th round encounter with Melbourne, PCJ stood the test of time with 18 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals, which took him to an average of 45 SuperCoach points per game. 

Keanu Pinder

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 01: Keanu Pinder of the Wildcats (R) drives at the basket during the round one NBL match between South East Melbourne Phoenix and Perth Wildcats at John Cain Arena on October 01, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia

Despite losing 78 against Adelaide 36ers 89, Perth Wildcats held their heads high following a spectacular show from one of their own, Keanu Pinder. If you don’t know yet, Pinder is leading the  NBL SuperCoach ladder with an average of 50 SuperCoach points per game and he didn’t disappoint during the Saturday night clash. 

In what pundits described as his best performance for the club so far, Keanu Pinder produced an epic masterclass bagging 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists. 

Truly, Pinder is increasingly proving an ideal inspiration to all NBL followers. Remember he had a difficult journey characterized by career-threatening injuries over the back-end of NBL23 and the pre-season heading into NBL24. 

While experts argue that his rise back to form has been a bit of a slow burn for the Wildcats the new system seems to rhyme with his style of play. Remember Wildcats have a new coach in John Rillie whose star is on the rise and has helped Pinder to win back-to-back Most Improved Player in previous encounters. 

As at the conclusion of NBL Round 4 Fixtures, these are the top three players in the race to the Chemist Warehouse Fans MVP determined through SuperCoach Points. Nevertheless, we are keeping a close eye on other competitors including, Zylan Cheatham (New Zealand Breakers, 45 points), Gary Clark (Illawarra Hawks, 39 points), and Jaylen Adams (Sydney Kings, 38 points). 

NBL 2023-24 Emerges As The Historically Closely Contested Competition 

As the fourth round concluded on 24th Sunday, October, the discrepancy between league leaders Melbourne and Illawarra Hawks is getting bigger. 

However, stats indicate that this is by far, that NBL 2023/24 is the most closely contested competition in history. With 28 games behind us, the average margin of 10.5 points per game is the lowest in NBL history. Besides, across the 28 fixtures, the matchday clashes have been, on average, decided by 10 points or less. 

Generally, going by previous seasons’ stats, this season’s games are incredibly close. For instance, in the NBL 2022/23 season, the average winning margin per game was 10.9 points. 

Besides, the 2023-24 season has so far seen the opposing and losing sides attempting more shots, scoring more points, and averaging more threes per game than they were in the recent year’s campaign. 

As the competition gets more intense, we expect that even the loser-win spreads might be further suppressed. Remember, Melbourne United was ruled out of post-season basketball on percentage alone during the previous season; thus, every team is increasingly realizing that every moment counts and matters; no wonder there are decreasing gaps.

With Round 5 action returning on Thursday Night, October 26, we will expect tighter fixtures with fans keeping their fingers crossed, hoping their teams will afford them a befitting weekend with memorable scorelines. The round’s first match will feature New Zealand against Adelaide, while the second will see the Hawks take on the Taipans. Luckily, you can expect our 360-degree coverage of the 2023-24 NBL duels here when the round finally gets underway.