Preview: Cairns v Adelaide (Round 13)

When: 8pm (AEDT), Saturday 31 December, 2022
Where: Cairns Convention Centre
Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Foxtel, Sky NZ
LIVE SCORES & STATS

Who won last time?

Adelaide 78 (Cleveland 23, Franks 15, Johnson 10) d Cairns 75 (McCall 24, Pinder 12) – Round 9 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre

After a dominant 27-12 opening quarter set the scene, Cairns still led by 11 with less than six minutes to play, but Daniel Johnson sparked a furious home-team run, fuelled by back-to-back Antonius Cleveland steals-and-scores that put the 36ers within a basket. AC then scored on a tough put-back to put his team in front, and Robert Franks sealed it from the foul line, capping a super-impressive win after a horror start riddled with turnovers.

What happened last game?

Adelaide recorded one of their least impressive wins of NBL23 on Thursday, relying on their offence in the first half, falling in a hole when that dried up in the third term, then finally bringing their defence to the party late to the delight of a record crowd. The Taipans charged late against Melbourne in a hard-fought open-air game, but they were outplayed for much of the night for the second-straight game after being hammered by Perth.

What’s working?

DJ Hogg – Cairns’ two-game losing streak is certainly not Hogg’s doing, the swing forward delivering 44 points at 58 per cent inside, 40 per cent outside, 13 rebounds and six assists in 69 minutes. He only had seven points on three-of-seve last time against Adelaide in a passive display that didn’t test Franks’ defence. With Keanu Pinder sidelined, Hogg will likely start at power forward, but whether it’s Franks or Cleveland guarding him, DJ must space the floor and be ready to fire, so Adelaide’s athletes think twice before heading to the d-boards early.

Zoning Adelaide – When Ian Clark was seated, Brisbane served up a steady dose of zone and the Sixers looked lost. Their spacing was crowded, their 0.5 second decisions were slow and they constantly drove into a wall of bodies, managing just eight points in the third term. Against United, Mirko Djeric blanketed Chris Goulding and the other Snakes packed the paint. Will we see a similar strategy with Clark, given Adelaide rank last in three-point makes and accuracy? And will Adelaide find Johnson and Franks in the gaps better than Thursday?

What needs stopping?

Waiting to play defence – The 36ers forced just eight Brisbane turnovers in the first 33 minutes, then forced five in six final-quarter minutes to help launch a 14-7 run. Likewise, they forced five in the final five minutes against Cairns in Round 10 to spark a match-winning 18-4 burst. If they’re going to make waves in NBL23, Adelaide need to be a 40-minute defensive team, rather than relying on Cleveland or Drmic to lift the D when the chips are down. CJ Bruton needs more ‘proactors’ and less actors at the defensive end.

Slack starts – The Taipans aren’t exactly bursting out of the defensive blocks either, going -30 in their past three first halves as they leak 50.8 points in the opening 20 minutes. Given the Snakes only concede 79.2ppg in regulation in their 10 wins, compared to 89.7ppg in losses, they can’t afford to be giving up half-a-century by interval. In those past three opening halves, opponents have nailed 7.3 triples at 49 per cent, compared to five at 31 per cent after the break, and Adam Forde’s men need to contain and contest better early on.

Who’s matching up?

Sam Waardenburg v Daniel Johnson – Waardenburg was -16 in 17 minutes returning from concussion against United and ranks second-last in the Taipans plus/minus, but his D was rock solid against Adelaide in Round 10 with five d-boards, three steals, two blocks and some quality wall-ups. Will he move to the bench to match up with Daniel Johnson, who can be a match-winner but has shot 10/16 inside but four-of-18 from outside in his past five games? 

Tahjere McCall v Antonius Cleveland – McCall’s past seven games have produced a stunning 20ppg at 51 per cent, 6.3rpg, 4.2apg and 1.3 steals as he explores in transition and his teammates find him in dangerous spots one dribble from the rim. In Adelaide’s win streak, Cleveland has dropped 16.5ppg at 50 per cent inside, 10rpg, 3.5apg and 3.3 steals, his incredible ability to turn defence into offence a key for the 36ers on Saturday night.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Fantastic Noodles Play of the Game belongs to...<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeAreSixers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeAreSixers</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SwoopTheHoop?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SwoopTheHoop</a> <a href="https://t.co/UZ5e0OC1mQ">pic.twitter.com/UZ5e0OC1mQ</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1608636614032478210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

After a remarkable start to NBL23, back-to-back losses before Christmas now put the Taipans at a crossroads.

Take care of Adelaide and the Hawks in the next three days and they’ll be back knocking on the door of the top two, but fall twice and they could be in seventh spot by round’s end.

The challenge has been made greater by the absence of Keanu Pinder for at least Saturday night’s game, and that triggered coach Adam Forde to take aim at Melbourne.

The most serious allegation was saved for United role player Mason Peatling.

“The reality is (Pinder) is most likely doubtful for this weekend, which is the result of some questionable tactics by recent match-ups that we faced,” Forde said.

“He has an uncontested dunk, Mason Peatling is completely out of the play and ends up walking underneath him, the result is Keanu’s picking himself up off the floor and now Keanu’s foot’s in a boot.”

Thankfully the footage showed Peatling didn’t walk underneath him at all, instead elevating on the play in question and landing milliseconds before Pinder, who landed on his opponent’s foot.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pinder JAM ?<br><br>Watch LIVE on ESPN ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OrangeArmy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OrangeArmy</a> <a href="https://t.co/MJ4ceOO4AS">pic.twitter.com/MJ4ceOO4AS</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1606211063875137536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Forde also took a subtle swing at Saturday’s opponent in Adelaide, who welcomed Ian Clark to town on Thursday after playing their previous 10 games with only two imports.

“We don’t have the luxury to bring someone else in (like) an NBA champion in mid-season,” he said.

So what’s behind these frustrated and pointed public comments?

“It’s us versus the world, that mindset’s worked for us before,” Forde said post-game in Melbourne.

But there could be more to it. While Pinder was unstoppable in Tasmania, in five games surrounding that he’s averaged just 12.8ppg as opposition teams defend him intelligently.

Pinder has still shot 51 per cent in those contests, but taken just 10.6 attempts with opposition defences better at fighting over screens, denying post touches and sending smart double-teams at good moments.

That’s where Forde and Co have struggled to find consistent answers to those tactics, with the Snakes going 2-3 in that bracket and averaging 79.7ppg in those three losses, almost seven below their season average.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">TOUGH finish at the rim for Tahjere! ?<br><br>Watch LIVE on ESPN ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OrangeArmy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OrangeArmy</a> <a href="https://t.co/gM4uKF06NG">pic.twitter.com/gM4uKF06NG</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1606231481168171008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Without Pinder’s regular dose of transition rim raids and free-throw trips, the Taipans haven't been able to put opponents on the back foot as much and set their pressure defence.

Now there’s the challenge of beating Adelaide without Pinder, but Forde will take great heart from how his team defended Melbourne in the half-court after a slow start.

United scored 44 points in the opening 16 minutes, shooting 50 per cent from the field and getting to the foul line 15 times.

In the final 24 minutes the Snakes knuckled down and conceded just 40 points at 35 per cent and 10 free throws.

“I didn’t do my part in trying to galvanise the group, especially at the start, so it was cool when they steered the ship and redirected it and we gathered ourselves at half-time,” Forde said.

“We did a great job defensively, then slowly we got the points going in the fourth quarter.”

The chief galvaniser was Tahjere McCall, who is in a rich vein of form and will be one of the keys to covering Pinder’s absence.

“We can move Tahj around to different spots and you can get DJ as a ball-handler and get Tahj off the ball working as a screener or in the dunker spot, and he’s really effective going downhill and finishing at the rim,” Forde said.

“He’s multi-dimensional so it’s a good player to have when you can throw out some quirky line-ups and some different style looks at the offensive end, he’s just really adaptable.”

They’ll need that versatility against an Adelaide team featuring multi-position players like Franks, Cleveland, Anthony Drmic and Kyrin Galloway.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">More like Kyrin ???????????!<br><br>? - <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> + <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> <a href="https://t.co/Imw7PdH319">pic.twitter.com/Imw7PdH319</a></p>&mdash; Adelaide 36ers (@Adelaide36ers) <a href="https://twitter.com/Adelaide36ers/status/1608407901915467778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Any team that’s going to win a title has got to be pretty solid at the defensive end,” coach CJ Bruton said.

“On paper, when you look at the roster, we can do a lot of good things, being able to switch and defend and take away certain things.”

They didn’t take away much in the opening 20 minutes against Brisbane, a regular defensive malaise for the Sixers this season, but as usual Bruton is glass half full after a stellar close-out for their fourth-straight win.

“We were able to get some really good offensive looks, but we weren’t able to slow them down in the first half,” he said.

“In the second half we did a really good job defensively while our offense got a little stagnant from time to time.”

A road win on New Year’s Eve will move the 36ers into fourth place, and Bruton has identified their offensive smarts as the key to stopping the Snakes.

“There’s a lot to work on, clearly, taking the right shots. In basketball when you play with a 24-second shot clock, there’s teams that can get out and run,” he said.

“We’re about to head up to Cairns and they can put points on the board very quickly, they shoot a lot of threes, so being able to take the right shots, for any game, we just need to continue to get better at.”