Off-Season Player Wrap Week 6

It’s the off-season so time to check up on how some of our players played in other competitions over the weekend, let's see how they’re performing ahead of NBL24.

Ben Ayre – Sandringham Sabres – NBL1 South

Our newest signing Ben Ayre had himself a game over the weekend with the Sandringham Sabres. He had a massive 31 point, 11 rebound, seven assist performance, going 6/9 from the land of plenty, and giving us a taste of what he can offer the Phoenix in NBL24.

The Sabres had a big win over the Dandenong Rangers (74-103) on Saturday but unfortunately went down to the Knox Raiders (87-76) less than 24 hours later.

Sandringham – Dandenong Rangers
Ayre: 31 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists.

Sandringham – Knox Raiders
Ayre: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals.

Alan Williams – Nagoya Dolphins – B.League

‘Big Sauce’ Alan Williams’ team, the Nagoya Dolphins, played a two game mini-series over the weekend against the highly rated Alvark Tokyo.

The dolphins got up by one-point in a thriller in game 1 (93-92). Sauce had a HUGE outing with 25 points, nine boards, and five assists. The dolphins then took care of business in game 2 with a comfortable win (73-63), which saw them finish the regular season on top of their division in the standings.

Dolphins - Alvark Tokyo

Williams: 25 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists.

Dolphins – Alvark Tokyo

Williams: 13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block.

The Dolphins start their post-season this Friday against the Ryuku Golden Kings.

(Alan Williams helped the Dolphins finish on top of the Wildcard conference in Japan's B. League.)

Owen Foxwell – Eltham Wildcats – NBL1 South

Coming off an outstanding round of basketball the week before, Owen Foxwell had a quieter weekend for Eltham. While his scoring output was down, his assist game was high, recording 8 dimes in the loss to the Spectres (93-80) and 9 assists in the big win over Dandenong (99-76).

Eltham – Nunawading Spectres
Foxwell: 9 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists. 

Eltham – Dandenong Rangers

Foxwell: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals.

Anzac Rissetto – Taranki Airs – NZ NBL

The Airs faced a tough loss (117-83) on the weekend at the hands of the Nelson Giants in the NZ NBL. Anzac Rissetto still posted decent figures in the loss with 19 points, five rebounds and 1 block. The Airs face the Bay Hawks on Thursday night to kick off round 6.

Airs – Nelson Giants

Rissetto: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block.

Gorjok Gak – Willetton Tigers – NBL1 West 

Gorjok Gak and the Willetton Tigers took their record to 8-6 so far in the NBL1 West competition. The team started round 6 with a tough one-point loss against the Wolves (106-105), but bounced back strongly against the East Perth Eagles the next day (100-91).

Gak kept his good form running this week recording some impressive stat lines as he builds towards NBL24.

Tigers – Joondalup Wolves

Gak: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists.

Tigers – East Perth Eagles
Gak: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block.

Matt Kenyon – USC Rip City – NBL1 North 

USC Rip City had only the one game for the round in NBL1 North, going down to ladder leaders Logan Thunder by 9 points (99-90), taking their win/loss record to 3-3 for the season. Matt Kenyon still had a decent game though, recording a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Rip City will look to get back on the winner’s list in round 7 when they play Ipswich Force on Saturday night.

Rip City – Logan Thunder

Kenyon: 18 points, 10 rebounds, 5 asssists.

(Matt Kenyon record a double-double for USC Rip City in round 6. Photo credit: Jack Riddiford Creative)

Reuben Te Rangi – Auckland Tuatara – NZ NBL

Auckland Tuatara faced off against the Otago Nuggets last Thursday, but went down by 4 points in a tight contest (89-93). Reuben Te Rangi was again one of the strongest performers for his team with 15 points.

Auckland – Otago Nuggets

Te Rangi: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.

That’s it for this week’s wrap, check back next week to see how Phoenix’s contracted players are going locally and internationally.

Phoenix Media (09/05/23)