7

Sep

Blitz Blotter

Travers wins Blitz MVP as United seal Loggins-Bruton Cup

Written By

Peter Brown

Senior Editor

Travers wins Blitz MVP as United seal Loggins-Bruton Cup
Travers wins Blitz MVP as United seal Loggins-Bruton Cup

Luke Travers of Melbourne United drives to the basket during the 2026 NBL Blitz match against the Illawarra Hawks at Red Energy Arena in Bendigo on September 6, 2026. Photo: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images for NBL.

Highlights

Melbourne United won the Cup with four men out, and a $69,000 forward topped our Day 5 value table.

Melbourne United forward Luke Travers ($292,900) finished the CODE Sports NBL Blitz with the Ray Borner Award on 21 votes and the Loggins-Bruton Cup in his club's hands.

Travers, 25, left Australia in 2024 for the Cleveland Cavaliers, was on an NBA roster last season as a two-way player, and returned to his former club for NBL27.

He closed the Bendigo pre-season tournament averaging 18.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in two games.

The second was a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double as United beat the Illawarra Hawks 103-98 without four of a probable starting five, with Josh Oduro ($277,000) top-scoring on 22 points and nine rebounds. Tom Wilson ($69,000) produced the best value of the night at 42.0 projected points per $100,000.

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Here is the Day 5 log.

THE LEDGER

Melbourne United 103 def Illawarra Hawks 98.

  • Quarters: 21-19, 30-25, 25-34, 27-20.
  • Blitz points: Melbourne United 6.0 (win, three quarters), Illawarra Hawks 1.0 (one quarter).

New Zealand Breakers 96 def Tasmania JackJumpers 86.

  • Quarters: (Tasmania first): 19-22, 30-26, 16-23, 21-25.
  • Blitz points: New Zealand Breakers 6.0 (win, three quarters), Tasmania JackJumpers 1.0 (one quarter).
basketball.com.auSuperCoach NBL

Code Sports NBL Blitz 2026: the ladder after all ten games

Sunday 6 September 2026 · Red Energy Arena, Bendigo · 10 clubs · 10 games played
Melbourne UnitedMEL12.0220606.0111.11
South East Melbourne PhoenixSEM11.0220505.0113.23
Adelaide 36ersADL8.5211515.5113.44
Brisbane BulletsBRI8.5211515.5106.37
Sydney KingsSYD8.0211505.0102.29
Cairns TaipansCNS7.0211404.088.14
NZ BreakersNZL6.0211303.093.92
Illawarra HawksILL5.5211212.598.02
Perth WildcatsPER2.0202202.090.11
Tasmania JackJumpersTAS1.5202111.585.10
How the points work. Three points for winning the game, one for each quarter won and half a point each for a drawn quarter. Where clubs are level on points we follow the NBL’s own order. The NBL published its own final standings on the night, and ours matches them club for club.
How the ladder is built, and the working behind it
Overtime periods do not count towards the quarter bonuses. Every game therefore awards exactly 7 points however it finishes, and this ladder totals 70.0 across ten games. Each club plays two games at the Blitz. The top club takes the Loggins-Bruton Cup, and the Ray Borner Medal goes to the most valuable player.
Where this agrees with the NBL. The league published its final standings in its own write-up of the tournament on 5 September 2026, with a percentage against every club, and our table carries the same points, the same percentages and the same order. Its standings page on nblblitz.com.au had not caught up when we looked, and its Ladder page is still empty, which is why we work ours out ourselves from the quarter scores of every game played. Two things are worth saying plainly: the percentages are the NBL’s figures rather than ours, and while their order does place Adelaide above Brisbane on the same points, the league has not said anywhere in words what separates two clubs who are level. We follow their order and we do not claim a rule they have not published.
The working. Tap Working above the table for the wins, losses, quarters won, quarters drawn and quarter points behind every total. Here are the scores they come from:
Day 1: Cairns Taipans 85 Perth Wildcats 82 (Q1 15-25, Q2 30-21, Q3 17-16, Q4 23-20)
Day 1: Sydney Kings 84 South East Melbourne Phoenix 101 (Q1 28-25, Q2 18-35, Q3 17-19, Q4 21-22)
Day 2: Brisbane Bullets 112 Tasmania JackJumpers 91 (Q1 24-15, Q2 33-33, Q3 31-26, Q4 24-17)
Day 2: Illawarra Hawks 100 Adelaide 36ers 99 (Q1 27-27, Q2 23-24, Q3 19-20, Q4 31-28)
Day 3: NZ Breakers 74 Sydney Kings 95 (Q1 24-30, Q2 20-21, Q3 10-20, Q4 20-24)
Day 3: Perth Wildcats 82 Melbourne United 97 (Q1 16-22, Q2 28-23, Q3 23-27, Q4 15-25)
Day 4: South East Melbourne Phoenix 113 Brisbane Bullets 105 (Q1 37-21, Q2 30-33, Q3 17-26, Q4 29-25)
Day 4: Adelaide 36ers 112 Cairns Taipans 86 (Q1 31-23, Q2 32-26, Q3 27-12, Q4 22-25)
Day 5: Melbourne United 103 Illawarra Hawks 98 (Q1 21-19, Q2 30-25, Q3 25-34, Q4 27-20)
Day 5: Tasmania JackJumpers 86 NZ Breakers 96 (Q1 19-22, Q2 30-26, Q3 16-23, Q4 21-25)
Quarter scores come from the NBL’s official play-by-play, and every game’s quarters are checked back against its final score. Adelaide 36ers and Brisbane Bullets on 8.5 are level on points. The NBL’s own final standings place them in this order and publish a percentage against each club, and we carry both. Percentage is points scored for every 100 conceded, so a club that outscored its opponents is above 100.
Code Sports NBL Blitz 2026, Red Energy Arena, Bendigo. Figures correct at 7:32am AEST, 5 September 2026.

OBSERVATIONS

  • Tom Wilson ($69,000) returned 42.0 per $100,000. Charles Bediako ($277,000) and Oduro, both at $277,000, returned 14.4 and 13.7.
  • Melbourne won the Cup with four of a possible starting five unavailable by the final buzzer.
  • Kyle Bowen ($110,600) finished equal ninth on the night with two points, off ten rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
  • Bediako topped the day on 40 and did not turn the ball over.
  • Team projected totals: Melbourne United 213, Illawarra Hawks 184, New Zealand Breakers 169, Tasmania JackJumpers 140.
basketball.com.auSuperCoach NBL

Code Sports NBL Blitz 2026: Day 5 top projected SuperCoach scores

Sunday, September 6, 2026 · Red Energy Arena, Bendigo · Ten players · tap a name for his SuperCoach profile
Not official SuperCoach scores. SuperCoach NBL does not score the pre-season, so these are not official SuperCoach scores and no Blitz performance changes a price or a point. basketball.com.au calculates them from the official box score on SuperCoach's published scoring table: the player's points, plus one per rebound, two per assist, three per steal, three per block, minus two per turnover, plus five for a double-double or 10 for a triple-double. The first SuperCoach NBL lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026. Prices are the 6:12am AEST, 3 September 2026 pull.
1 | Charles Bediako NZL40$277,00013100220
2 | Josh Oduro MEL38$277,0002291212
3 | Parker Jackson-Cartwright NZL37$405,2002338104
4 | Kelan Martin ILL36$277,0002052121
5 | William Hickey ILL35$331,6001486011
6 | Luke Travers MEL34$292,90013102225
7 | Tom Wilson MEL29$69,00016101002
8 | Taran Armstrong TAS29$304,7001728003
9 | Tyler Harvey ILL28$271,7001253302
10 | Kyle Bowen MEL28$110,6002106021
How the score is worked out. A player’s points, plus one per rebound, two per assist, three per steal and three per block, minus two per turnover, and five more for a double-double. Players on the same score are level.
How this table is built, and how the scores are checked
Personal fouls score nothing in SuperCoach NBL, neither for nor against. Readers coming from SuperCoach AFL or NRL often expect them to cost points, so they are not on this table.
Day 5, Sunday, September 6, 2026 at Red Energy Arena, Bendigo. Melbourne United 103 Illawarra Hawks 98 · Tasmania JackJumpers 86 NZ Breakers 96. Charles Bediako, Luke Travers and Tom Wilson each earned a double-double, worth five points on top of the line above. Tom Wilson and Taran Armstrong on 29, Tyler Harvey and Kyle Bowen on 28 are all level. Where players share a score, the order between them means nothing.
This is the top ten of everyone who played in both games, not ten players picked out: 42 players were scored and the next best score on the night was 27. Prices run from $69,000 to $405,200 and were taken at 6:12am AEST, 3 September 2026. No Blitz performance moves a price, because the pre-season is not scored.
Every figure is checked, not copied. We work each player’s points back out of his own shooting line, add up each club’s players and make sure they come to the final score, and check two more totals across all 42 players who played: the official efficiency figure, which is the only one that reads the rebounds column, and the plus-minus column, which has to come to five times the winning margin because five players are on the floor at all times. Players are matched to their SuperCoach profile by the permanent number the NBL gives them rather than by name, because the two do not always spell a name the same way.

THE INCIDENT LOG

basketball.com.auSuperCoach NBL

Code Sports NBL Blitz 2026: Day 5 value, projected SuperCoach points per $100,000

Sunday, September 6, 2026 · Red Energy Arena, Bendigo · minimum 10 minutes played · Ten players
Not official SuperCoach scores. SuperCoach NBL does not score the pre-season, so these are not official SuperCoach scores and no Blitz performance changes a price or a point. basketball.com.au calculates them from the official box score on SuperCoach's published scoring table: the player's points, plus one per rebound, two per assist, three per steal, three per block, minus two per turnover, plus five for a double-double or 10 for a triple-double. The first SuperCoach NBL lockout is Saturday 19 September 2026. Prices are the 6:12am AEST, 3 September 2026 pull.
1 | Tom Wilson MEL42.0$69,0002923:41
2 | Reuben Te Rangi NZL27.8$97,1002725:11
3 | Kyle Bowen MEL25.3$110,6002819:50
4 | Ben Gold TAS23.2$69,0001627:23
5 | Daniel Grida ILL20.6$92,3001911:56
6 | Jed Richardson TAS20.5$58,5001223:24
7 | Preston Le Gassick NZL20.3$69,0001419:54
8 | Charles Bediako NZL14.4$277,0004028:41
9 | Dakota Mathias TAS13.8$145,2002021:14
10 | Josh Oduro MEL13.7$277,0003827:59
How the value column works. A player’s projected score divided by his price, shown per $100,000 spent. It answers who is cheap and producing, which a score column on its own cannot. Minimum 10 minutes played.
How this table is built, and why the minutes matter
Day 5, Sunday, September 6, 2026 at Red Energy Arena, Bendigo. Melbourne United 103 Illawarra Hawks 98 · Tasmania JackJumpers 86 NZ Breakers 96.
Why the minimum is there. A short cameo produces a spectacular rate and means nothing, so the minutes are shown rather than just promised: 34 of the 42 priced players who played cleared 10 minutes and 8 did not. This is the top 10 of those who qualified, not ten players picked out, and the next best rate among them was 13.7. Every player who took the floor is in the SuperCoach game and has a price, so nobody is missing from this list for want of one.
The names link, the prices do not move. Every name goes to that player’s SuperCoach profile, and the prices are a fixed snapshot taken at 6:12am AEST, 3 September 2026. That is deliberate: the right-hand figure is worked out from the price beside it, so a price that changed itself would leave the rate wrong while still looking right. No Blitz performance moves a price in any case, because the pre-season is not scored. Prices here run from $58,500 to $277,000.
Personal fouls score nothing in SuperCoach NBL, neither for nor against. The companion table, Day 5 top projected SuperCoach scores, ranks the same night on the raw score instead.
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