Helms collects NBL Weekly Honour

Hunter Pirates import Mike Helms has taken out the National Basketball League’s (NBL) Philips Player of the Week award for the first time in his short NBL career.

Helms, who is playing his first season in the Philips Championship, dominated his opponents as he led the Pirates to back-to-back victories in Round Eight.

Helms narrowly edged out Wollongong’s Adam Ballinger for the weekly honours, as he led the Pirates to their first two road wins this season.

The 184cm guard averaged 34.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists for the week.

Playing in just his tenth Philips Championship game Helms racked up the highest-scoring performance in the league this season with an amazing 42 points as well as five rebounds and three assists in the Pirates win over the Townsville Crocodiles on Wednesday night.

Helms followed that performance with a near triple-double on Sunday as the Pirates stunned the fourth-placed Cairns Taipans in Cairns, 101-85. Helms bagged 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as Hunter downed the Taipans and cemented the Pirates seventh place on the Philips Championship ladder.

Ballinger can consider himself unlucky to have missed the weekly honours with a near career-high 39 points, 17 rebounds, three blocks and one steal in his side’s three-point loss to the Sydney Kings.

Helms, who was recruited at the start of this season by Hunter, has proven invaluable for his side averaging 24.1 points, four rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Other players in the running for the Philips Player of the Week award for Round Eight included Larry Abney (Townsville), Brad Newley (Townsville), Aaron Trahair (Hunter), Gary Boodnikoff (Cairns), Stephen Black (Brisbane), Jason Smith (Sydney), Willie Farley (Adelaide), Lindsay Tait (New Zealand), Aaron Olson (New Zealand), Shawn Redhage (Perth), Tony Ronaldson (Perth), Dave Thomas (Melbourne), Chris Anstey (Melbourne) and Jermaine Blackburn (West Sydney).

For winning the Philips Player of the Week award this round, Helms will receive a Philips Shoqbox, the new tiny personal sound system designed for people that love to share their music experience with others.