Point Guards Face-Off
Tagged in: Competitions, NBL
They shared Player of the Week honours in round 10 of the Dominion Finance NBL and over the next two weeks Jason Crowe and Jeremy Kench will get the chance to separate themselves, on the court.
Crowe’s NBL-leading (9-2) Waikato Pistons travel to Christchurch to start their round 11 South Island double-header on Friday night at Cowles Stadium against Kench’s win-challenged (3-9) Marley Canterbury Rams.
Canterbury return the favour in round 12, finishing their mid-North double-header with the Pistons on Saturday, May 17 at the Hamilton City Leisure Centre.
The match-ups will put arguably the best overall point guard in Crowe up against the best Kiwi point guard in Kench head-to-head and could go some way in clarifying the end-of-season guard awards race.
Both have averaged the same minutes and points this season, Crowe has the edge in assists, where he leads the League, rebounds and free-throw percentage while Kench gets the nod in field-goal and three-point percentage, steals, where he leads the League, and has committed fewer turnovers.
Crowe has a big advantage in headlines, posting the League’s first post-2000 triple-double and earning the PoW in round three, following it with his second PoW in round five and his second triple-double last week. Kench earned his first PoW in round seven with back-to-back 20-plus point games.
Jason Crowe (Waikato Pistons)
2008 Stats: 11 games, 37.3 minutes, 18.7 points (36.0% FG, 27.1% 3pt, 80.4% FT), 6.6 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 3.0 steals, 4.5 turnovers
Jeremy Kench (Canterbury Rams)
2008 Stats: 12 games, 37.3 minutes, 18.7 points (50.0% FG, 32.6% 3pt, 68.9% FT), 4.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 3.6 steals, 3.7 turnovers
Other leading point guards around the Dominion Finance NBL:
Luke Martin (Wellington Saints)
2008 Stats: 12 games, 29.3 minutes, 10.2 points (45.5% FG, 31.0% 3pt, 70.8% FT), 2.7 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 0.8 steals, 2.5 turnovers
Kantrail Horton (Manawatu Jets)
2008 Stats: 10 games, 36.2 minutes, 25.8 points (43.2% FG, 39.4% 3pt, 89.7% FT), 5.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.5 steals, 4.9 turnovers
Michael Fitchett (Nelson Giants)
2008 Stats: 11 games, 34.3 minutes, 11.7 points (50.6% FG, 44.8% 3pt, 100% FT), 3.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.6 steals, 2.5 turnovers
Paul Henare (Bay Hawks)
2008 Stats: 10 games, 33.5 minutes, 11.1 points (52.1% FG, 40.0% 3pt, 67.4% FT), 3.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.5 turnovers
NBL Round 11 Guide (823KB pdf)
