The Man in the Middle | Center Position

Do we get our first look at Sam Mennenga tonight as the NZ Breakers take on the SEM Phoenix in another pre-season fixture? Mennenga did not take the court during the Blitz, presumably due to load management after FIBA qualifiers with the New Zealand Tall Blacks. During this qualifying window he has impressed with averages of 17.1ppg, 9rpg and 1.7apg, often in very reduced minutes from what we anticipate he will play in NBL27. Given some of the competition was on the low side, with games against Guam and the likes, he did produce equally as well against an Australian team filled with NBL Talent. In these two fixtures he got it done with 19pts, 10 rebounds and 2 assists in 22minutes and again had 16 and 6 in only 15 minutes the previous outing.

He currently is 49.6% owned across the supercoach competition, good for 1st, and is the third most popular captain choice at 10.9%. With limited big men options on doubles in Round 1 he seems a safe pick and his dual position eligibility makes him easy enough to massage around New Zealand’s Double Single Double start to the schedule.

In NBL26 The big Kiwi was good for 17.7ppg to go with 6.9rebounds. This had him giving us 28.5SC per outing which is about where he is priced entering NBL27. (Breakeven of 59 for the double round)

With Round one matchups against Illawarra and Brisbane he will be facing off against premier big men Sam Frolling and Tyrell Harrison. Mennenga’s shooting should trouble these two who are not as comfortable on the perimeter. In NBL26 he scored on his average against the Hawks and well above his average against the Bullets including a 50SC and a 42SC performance.

He has a little help at Centre this year with Import Charles Bediako, a genuine 7-footer joining the squad. While Bediako is likely to come of the bench and is not expected to play major minutes, he looks capable of giving Sam some rest or allowing him to move to the 4 spot in short bursts of sharing the court. Bediako will likely be challenged by more mobile bigs and may not see a lot of time against players like Pinder or whoever Sydney roll out, but these two matchups would favour him.

With half the competition having him it’s a safe play despite my low expectations of him generating any significant cash. How you manage him out of your team when better and cheaper options appear in rounds 2 and 3 is where the planning needs to begin.