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1. Perth Wildcats
Two impressive wins against Melbourne United and Sydney Kings have the Wildcats looking at good odds to add the NBL Cup to their impressive silverware collection.
Bryce Cotton can tear a game apart in minutes and despite battling illness this week, he has been at his unstoppable best.
John Mooney’s huge game against the Sydney Kings goes to show these Wildcats are no way a one-man team.
If anyone else is to take out the NBL Cup it will have to go through Perth who seems to be only getting better.
2. Melbourne United
Talk of an undefeated season went out the window early in the NBL cup as Melbourne succumbed to their first defeat of the season against the Wildcats in a tight one.
United are still in incredible form as shown by their bounce-back result against Cairns Taipans to take their record to an incredible 7-1 for the season.
The Dan Vickerman-coached side is stacked full of weapons at both ends of the court and with the pressure of a potential undefeated season no more, are free to play their own game.
Yudai Baba is finding his feet and his 17 points off the bench against Cairns gave life to Melbourne’s second unit.
Jock Landale remains the main man for Melbourne and while he keeps dominating United will most likely keep winning.
3. Sydney Kings
Adam Forde’s King's side nearly pulled off the impossible comeback against the Perth Wildcats on Tuesday night but despite the defeat, there is plenty to like about Sydney’s chances at the NBL Cup.
A 17-point win against Adelaide 36ers on Sunday made it clear to the competition that the King’s injury woes are not holding them back.
Casper Ware is close to his NBL best form and almost singlehandedly pulled off the upset against Perth.
The Kings know their way to the basket scoring more than 100 points in back to back matches.
A little more discipline and Sydney will be in the frame to take out the Cup.
4. South East Melbourne Phoenix
South East Melbourne are finding their groove and with Ryan Broekhoff still to debut, the chances of the Phoenix are looking bright.
A big win against the Brisbane Bullets on Saturday was a showcase of what the Phoenix are capable of when they are at their best, but they were missing something on Tuesday as they went down to Adelaide.
Mitch Creek and Keifer Sykes are playing great basketball but it is the solid contributions of Cam Gliddon, Yianni Wetzell and Ben Moore in recent games which will excite head coach Simon Mitchell the most.
Add former NBA sharpshooter Broekhoff to the mix and the Phoenix have a chance to be a real dark horse.
5. Illawarra Hawks
Brian Goorjian has transformed the Illawarra Hawks this campaign but a shock loss to Cairns could have derailed their NBL Cup hopes before it really started.
The Hawks couldn’t stop the Taipans from getting to the basket in the second half of their NBL Cup opener as Cairns scored 61 points on their way to a 101-95 victory.
An improved performance against New Zealand was a step in the right direction for Illawarra who have won only two of their last five.
Look to Tyler Harvey to be the spark plug for the Hawks with the Californian looking to continue his free-scoring ways.
Illawarra will need to be near flawless from this point if they have any plans of lifting the NBL Cup
6. Adelaide United
The 36ers are brimming with talent but a lack of consistency appears to be Adelaide’s Achilles Heel.
When Adelaide is on fire, they can beat any team in the competition.
However, big losses to the Sydney Kings and Brisbane Bullets showed that the 36ers do have their weakness.
Isaac Humphries has been in inspired form this season and is an early contender for MVP. His combination with Daniel Johnson is arguably the best big man combo in the league.
With young point guard Josh Giddey creating opportunities the sky is the limit for Adelaide, the question is if they can find the consistency required to win the Cup.
7. Cairns Taipans
Cairns’ impressive opening game win against the Hawks has given their fans renewed hope but they’ll need more than that if they want to be considered an NBL Cup contender.
The Snakes have struggled so far this season but there are signs of life from the North Queenslanders.
Scotty Machado remains one of the top guards in the NBL and his game-changing skills were on full display in Saturday’s NBL Cup opener.
However, the Taipans inability to perform through all four quarters has proven costly and was on full display against Melbourne United, who dropped 30 in the fourth period despite trailing all-game.
It has been a persistent theme for Cairns this season and if they are unable to find a way to keep it together for the full 40 minutes, then they could be a long a very difficult season.
8. Brisbane Bullets
With players like Vic Law and Nathan Sobey, Brisbane Bullets should be one of the toughest teams in the competition.
Unfortunately, the side from the Queensland capital are still some way off from reaching their potential.
Sobey has become an incredible point-scoring force for Andrej Lemanis’ team, while ex-NBA forward Law has all the skills to be a superstar in this league.
But there is still so much missing for the Bullets who have been beaten by more than 10 points in three of their seven games this season.
A 27-point opening quarter against the Phoenix on Saturday should’ve set them on their way to victory but instead it proved to be one of few highlights as they went down by 16 points.
Brisbane has only played once in the opening round of NBL Cup fixtures so will be determined to make up for it when the next lot of fixtures get underway on Thursday.
9. New Zealand Breakers
It has been a tough campaign for the New Zealand Breakers and it seems like it won’t be getting easier any time soon for the Kiwis.
A 14-point loss to the Illawarra Hawks in their opening NBL Cup clash was another frustrating result for the Dan Shamir-coached side.
Shamir wouldn’t have been happy with his players as they allowed the Hawks to score 33 points in the second-quarter.
The Breakers have plenty of talent on court with Tai Webster, Lamar Patterson and Corey Webster game winners when they are on song.
Being away from home for the entirety of the season so far has clearly had an impact on this squad which could be a title contender if everyone was playing to their full potential.
A clash against the Sydney Kings is next on the schedule and a win could be huge for a side in need of a confidence boost.
Catch all the action from 5pm (AEDT) this Thursday, February 25 LIVE on SBS On Demand as the NBL Cup enters the second week of action with another huge double header from John Cain Arena in Melbourne.
