THE Gold Coast Rollers kicked off Round 7 of the NBL1 North with an 11-point triumph over the Rockhampton Rockets on Friday night, in the opening clash of the weekend.

Despite a number of other competitions having a week off, the NBL1 North Men’s went ahead, and the Rollers took full advantage of that. Behind a magnificent showing from Jason Cadee, the Rollers sealed their 107-96 win, their sixth of the season.

Joining Cadee in the strong contributors were Tanner Krebs (26 points, six rebounds) and Preston Le Gassick (18 points). However, there is no doubt Cadee was the star of the show, producing a magnificent triple-double of 32 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a truly captivating and damaging performance. No matter what the Rollers needed, he was able to deliver in spades.

Despite being one of the shortest players on the court, Cadee was able to crash the boards in a big way. All 10 of his rebounds were on the defensive end, denying the Rockets any extra possessions and controlling the tempo of the play with the ball in his hands.

Whether it be on the fast break or in a half court set, Cadee always managed to make the right call with ball in hand. 10 of his 20 field goal attempts found the bottom of the net, doing most of his damage inside the three point line, where he was 9/15 on attempts. From behind the arc, just one of his five shots were successful, but he was still able to drive to the hoop and hurt the Rockets on the inside.

Cadee was also able to draw plenty of contact throughout the game, heading to the free throw line on a number of occasions. He sank five of his six attempts from the charity stripe, and it was an effective method of boosting Gold Coast’s score.

Demonstrating his skillset as a guard, Cadee made life much easier for his teammates by finding them in scoring positions more often than not. On his way to 10 dimes, the Brisbane Bullet consistently made the right decision, whether it be scoring himself or dishing the ball to a wide-open teammate. It was clear he was a class above the rest of the players on the court, and will be massive to Gold Coast’s success throughout the season.

It is by far one of the best individual performances we have seen in the opening seven rounds of play in the NBL1 North, and Cadee has been essential in getting the Rollers to top spot in the standings Friday night was a clear example of that.