A pair of outstanding performances by Ben Madgen has earned the Sydney Kings guard the National Basketball League's Player of the Week award for Round Four of the iiNet NBL Championship.
Madgen was inspirational for the Kings, stepping in to fill the void left by James Harvey's absence due to a broken arm and leading Sydney to consecutive road wins. The 2011 NBL Rookie of the Year winner started his team's 'Sunshine Swing' to Far North Queensland with a 23-point, eight-rebound and five-assist effort in Sydney's 92-87 win over Townsville on Friday night.
The 193cm guard then scored 22 points as the Kings came from behind to register a victory over the Cairns Taipans at the Cairns Convention Centre on Sunday, 71-69. Madgen had 11 points in the final period alone, including making a crucial three-pointer in the final minute to help kick-start the Kings' remarkable comeback. He made 5-of-7 three-pointers for the match and 8-of-13 field goals at 62%.
For the round, Madgen averaged 22.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists, shooting at 54.5% from the field and 60.5% from the perimeter. He becomes the second Sydney Kings player to win an NBL weekly honour this season, joining teammate Corin Henry who took out the Round Two award.
Wollongong Hawks' import guard Adris '2Hard2Guard' Deleon can consider himself incredibly unlucky to have been edged out by Madgen for the award. Deleon turned in a match-winning performance for the Hawks as they pulled off a stunning comeback of their own to defeat the Adelaide 36ers 77-63 at Adelaide Arena on Sunday.
The exciting American reeled off 14 points in the final period to help the Hawks surge past the 36ers from two points down at the final change. Deleon tore the Adelaide defence to shreds as he either scored or set-up a teammate on virtually every play. He finished with 23 points, seven assists and three rebounds for the game in a performance for the ages.
Other leading contenders for Player of the Week in Round Four included Cedric Jackson (New Zealand), Thomas Abercrombie (New Zealand), Seth Scott (Melbourne), Cameron Tragardh (Cairns), Anthony Petrie (Adelaide), Gary Ervin (Townsville), Ben Allen (Townsville), Lance Hurdle (Wollongong), Corin Henry (Sydney) and Ian Crosswhite (Sydney).