Warrnambool export Nathan Sobey leading NBL's scoring average after blistering start to 2021 season

Warrnambool Seahawks championship-winning mentor Matt Alexander said the Brisbane Bullets guard was a "superstar" of the national competition.

Sobey is averaging a career-high 25 points a game for the Bullets this season, ahead of Perth Wildcats playmaker Bryce Cotton (22).

Alexander said Sobey, who played Big V for his home club during the NBL off-season in 2016, felt comfortable in the Bullets' system under former Australian Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis.

"He's got the all clear from the players and coaches to be the standout player," he told The Standard.

"He's got that capacity to be a superstar in the NBL which he is and it's a fantastic thing. With (Lamar) Patterson going (to New Zealand), he is a clear number one option so he's really thriving in that role.

"I think he is around the right people to be consistent. If he's got confidence the people around him have confidence in his ability that's when he can maintain that and I think he's found that environment."

Sobey burst onto the NBL scene with Adelaide as a high-flying entertainer with an enviable highlights reel.

Alexander said the second-year Bullet still had that capacity but playing 33 minutes per game meant he had to be wise.

"He was only playing 10 minutes a game so it was easy to show how crazy athletic he is, you're so hyped when you've only got a certain amount of plays," he said.

"He needs to be more reserved with his energy now. He is still as athletic as ever. I think he is choosing when to explode and when not to.

"He's averaging 25 (points) at the moment in a 40-minute game, that is just a high level."

Alexander said Sobey, who went to college in the US before starting his NBL career at Cairns Taipans off the bench before finding his feet with Adelaide and now Brisbane, had worked hard to complement his natural ability.

"I am not surprised he's doing this, I am just happy he's getting the opportunity to show how good he really is," he said.

Sobey has been a regular for the Australian Boomers in recent years, playing at the FIBA World Cup and winning gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. But he missed selection in Brian Goorjian's extended Tokyo Olympics squad.

"It was a bit of a surprise. I don't know if he could have made the team because there's so many NBA guys," Alexander said.

"I am sure he would've been disappointed. But he hasn't let it affect him - he's like 'have a look at this then? Maybe you should have considered me, I am consistently playing at a really high level'."

Alexander said Australia, which is striving for its first Olympic medal, had a plethora of guard options at its disposal.

"To make the team would've been hard, everything would have had to align (for Sobey)," he said.

"I mean they have Ben Simmons at point guard, Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum.

"Then you've got Josh Green, he'd have to make it. He is playing a few minutes for Dallas and (Ryan) Broekhoff, he doesn't average under 45 per cent from the three (point line) in any league in the world.

"You'd have to put him because he's a stretch player. There's your guards gone and we haven't even spoken about Joe Ingles.

"If he was doing this as a power forward or centre he's in but we've just got so many great guards in Australia."

Alexander, who played in the NBL himself, backed Goorjian to deliver the Boomers success on the world stage.

"I have been coached Brian and he is the bomb as a coach, he's unreal," he said.

"He coached me in the pre-season for the Victoria Titans before I went to Cairns. I was very motivated when I was getting coached by him. He was just so positive."

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