NATIONAL Basketball League (NBL) young guns took to the court in Round 2 where Melo Trimble kept his consistency in making huge scores, Brian Bowen proved himself among the elite and Devon Hall started for Cairns.

Cairns Taipans – #1 Melo Trimble

The Cairns guard continued his top form in the Taipans’ 11-point win over Illawarra. He accounted for 28 points, shooting eight from 14, but six from nine outside the arc. He had five assists to go with another perfect game, as he most definitely holds the lead for points per game (30.0).

Cairns Taipans – #5 Devon Hall

Playing as a starter, Hall should have been more damaging than just six points, but when you are competing for buckets with Trimble and DJ Newbill (28 and 22 points respectively), it makes it difficult. Despite this, Hall collected six rebounds and is constantly getting into good areas despite attempting 18 shots across the first fortnight (shooting 17 per cent).

Illawarra Hawks – #11 Daniel Grida

The 20 year-old did not set the Cairns Convention Centre alight on Sunday afternoon, but his four rebounds helped the Hawks defence, and allowed for quick transitions on their way to their first win of the season. Grida played under seven minutes (about five minutes less than his game time in each Round 1 game) for three points but showed great versatility to let his coach know what he can do with more time.

Sydney Kings – #20 Brian Bowen

The fresh face to the NBL in a star-studded team is getting plenty of minutes. Against New Zealand, Bowem was in the game for close to 22 minutes and certainly made his presence felt off the bench. In a Kings side that dominated the scoreboard, Bowen managed 11 points, including seven in the last quarter to put the game even further out of reach. Included on his stats sheet were six rebounds (to go with four versus Adelaide two days earlier).