Preview: Cairns vs New Zealand - Round 11, NBL24

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Can the Breakers travel Far North and take a win from a Taipans side within touching distance of the finals spots?

Friday, December 15 at 7:30pm AEDT | Cairns Convention Centre

Watch: Live on ESPN via Kayo Sports | Sky Sport in NZ | International viewership details
Box scores: Download the free NBL App

The clash between the Taipans and New Zealand is set to go ahead despite the threat of tropical cyclone Jasper. The NBL released a statement on Thursday saying it would continue to liaise with authorities to ensure the game could be played safely.

Taipans head coach Adam Forde said it’s been ‘business as usual’ for his side and has likened the media coverage of the storm to that of player awards and Next Stars.

Forde also said he believes New Zealand has the most difficult travel schedule in the competition due to the international away games, and said he doesn’t think they’ll be fazed by the uncertainty around the cyclone.

The Breakers have announced Zylan Cheatham will suit up against the Taipans but will be on a "strict minutes restriction"

Cairns
116-101 win over Adelaide
83-86 loss to Sydney
115-103 win over Melbourne

New Zealand
80-97 loss to Tasmania
79-90 loss to South East Melbourne
96-83 win over Adelaide

Tahjere McCall
Cairns’ Tahjere McCall created his own slice of history last weekend. In the Taipans’ win over Adelaide he became the first player in the 40-minute era to register 15 points and 15 assists in one game, and the first to register 15 assists since Melbourne’s Nate Tomlinson in 2013.

McCall has been the type of all-action player who can dominate in any one metric in a game for his entire NBL career, but that poise and decision-making on the offensive end is something that’s been lacking at times throughout his time at the Taipans.

His three previous 10+ assist performances came in NBL22, and while his 15/15 game may not topple his 42-point, 10 assist explosion against Brisbane in that year, it could be an insight into a slight adjustment of McCall on the defensive end.

The likelihood he notches another 15 assists this weekend is slim to nil, but let’s see if he continues to distribute the ball at the high level he’s shown himself to be capable of this past few games.

“I wasn’t expecting that, it didn’t even feel like it at the time – it just felt like we were doing a better job offensively. When I saw the box score at the end with 15, it made that three-pointer at the end for Jonah all the more important.” – Adam Forde mid-week.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tahjere McCall made history in Round 10 ?<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cairnstaipans</a> guard became the first player in the 40-minute era to score at least 15 points and dish 15 assists ?<br><br>Brought to you by <a href="https://twitter.com/HungryJacksAU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HungryJacksAU</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/ADZicrOHL8">pic.twitter.com/ADZicrOHL8</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1734010446322319385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Anthony Lamb
New Zealand’s rebounding has been poor this season. After priding themselves on being a tough, defence-oriented team last season, the Breakers just haven’t quite captured the magic that took them to the NBL23 Championship Series.

They’re averaging a league-low 33.4 boards per game this season, a full six rebounds behind Illawarra, who sit ninth for the metric.

This is a whole team issue, and it came to a head in last week’s game when the JackJumpers outrebounded them 60-34 and pulled down 25 offensive rebounds for the game.

Anthony Lamb pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in the defeat, so the criticism of the Breakers’ poor work on the glass certainly can’t solely be directed at him – but he’s the one who guaranteed it will be fixed in the post-match press conference.

Lamb has already inspired his team on the scoreboard multiple times this season, but let’s see if he can inspire his team to get down and dirty against the eighth best rebounding team in the competition.

“The rebounding problem is going to get fixed, that’s all we need to talk about it. It will be fixed – I promise you that. That’s an Anthony Lamb guarantee.” – Anthony Lamb following New Zealand’s loss to Tasmania.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Can Anthony Lamb inspire a last-quarter comeback for New Zealand? <br><br>Watch live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/1po00o2vHx">pic.twitter.com/1po00o2vHx</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1733397306014114064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sam Waardenburg, Sam Mennenga and Akoldah Gak vs Mangok Mathiang and Dane Pineau
Rebounding absolutely is not the forte of either of these sides this season, and while Cairns has more typically found ways to win without controlling the glass, the level at which either team is rebounding simply will not get the job done come the pointy end of the year.

While rebounding is a total-team effort, it starts with the centers – and each five group has a different set of challenges in establishing dominance on the glass.

Cairns is flush with options in the post – Josh Roberts hasn’t even been mentioned, but even he has shown capability to play center this season – but none of them seem to be your typical crashing, bashing, board chasing big men.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sam Waardenburg denies the Next Star! <br><br>Waardenburg meets Alex Toohey at the rim and ferociously blocks the dunk. <br><br>? Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL</a> live on ESPN! <a href="https://t.co/IkpDZ8jgEE">pic.twitter.com/IkpDZ8jgEE</a></p>— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ/status/1732714582685454442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Sam Waardenburg played much of last season at the power forward position alongside Keanu Pinder, while Sam Mennenga has found his role reduced in recent weeks as Adam Forde has tinkered with his rotation. Akoldah Gak is also still finding his feet at NBL level.

The challenge for Mangok Mathiang is he has to simply stay on the floor. He’s found himself in foul trouble all too often this season, and when he’s not Maor often removes him from the floor anyway at the expense of a more rounded player at center – who doesn’t have Mathiang’s pure rebounding ability.

Dane Pineau established himself as a premier rebounder in the competition in his early days at South East Melbourne - he just needs to find other ways to impact the game so he can spend more time on court.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mangok Mathiang sends back two shots in as many seconds ? <br><br>Watch live on ESPN via Kayo ? <a href="https://t.co/DPE2bGfRo3">pic.twitter.com/DPE2bGfRo3</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1733378273768251681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Only 26 per cent of Cairns’ points this season have come from players who start on the bench – the lowest of any team in NBL24. Can the Taipans continue to rely on their starting group to get the job done?

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Bobi Klintman.