R10 Preview: Perth Wildcats vs Cairns Taipans

When: 9.30pm (AEDT), Friday 19 March

Where: RAC Arena, Perth

Broadcast: ESPN; Sky Sports NZ; SBS On Demand; Twitch

The last time
Perth 89 (Cotton 23, Mooney 17, Blanchfield 15) d Cairns 69 (Oliver 19, Krslovic 10), Round 7, John Cain Arena, Melbourne

This was not pretty. Even Bryce Cotton, who top-scored with 23 points, suffered through a 5-of-17 shooting night as Perth’s ability to hit from range – and Cairns inability to do so – meant the Wildcats marched to yet another NBL Cup game win. Cotton turned distributor as the unfashionable trio of Kevin White, John Mooney and Corey Shervill nailed 6-of-10 three-pointers while the Taipans went 7-of-32 as a team.

The now
Cairns headed into that game 3-7, but having won two of their previous three and taken Melbourne to the wire, things were looking up. It’s been a downward slide since, going 1-5 and dropping two Round 9 contests by a combined 7 points to fall to 3-7 in single-figure games. It’s not all doom and gloom, Cam Oliver found his defensive spark and his offensive mojo followed, but the Snakes must improve the possession game to get back on track.

Remember when Perth ‘slumped’ to 3-4 and they'd lost their mojo? That seems like a long time ago now, with a red-hot Brisbane providing the only blemish in the Cats’ past eight games as the terrific trio continues to fire. Despite just four returning mainstays from last year’s title, no other team can match their ability to create openings for teammates, while their second-half defensive shutdown of Adelaide was at a championship level already.

The stats

 - The Wildcats’ have allowed just 13.3 points in their past three third quarters, while scoring 26.3 themselves

 - Perth have dished out 143 assists to 51 turnovers in the past eight games. Until that point they had distributed 103 assists to 66 miscues

 - Cairns give up the most offensive rebounds (11.6) and force the second-fewest turnovers (10.3), off-setting their work forcing the third-lowest field-goal percentage (45%)

 - The Taipans take and make the most three-pointers (10.6-of-30.8 at 35 per cent) but make just 20 two-point baskets per night, the fewest in the league


The key men

Cam Oliver – Let’s be clear about this, Space Cam likes to dine on Wildcat, especially when glass is also on the menu. Oliver has averaged a phenomenal 15.4 rebounds in his past five meetings with the Cats, along with 20.2ppg at 61 per cent and 13-of-28 from deep to be perhaps the biggest thorn in Perth’s defensive side. With his past two games producing better defensive energy to go with 41 points and 15 boards, John Mooney better be ready.

Bryce Cotton – The MVP went an astonishing 14-of-26 against Cairns in Game 1 of last year’s semis, but in the six meetings surrounding that he’s shot just 28-of-93 at 30 per cent, including 10-of-34 from range. In his past two games against the Snakes, however, Cotton has unlocked his playmaking game to dish 17 dimes, after DJ Newbill had earlier allowed his teammates to meet Bryce right at the rim, rather than go early and give up open triples.



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BC has played SOME game! ? <a href="https://t.co/OGSKhO5lWf">pic.twitter.com/OGSKhO5lWf</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1370996895384883200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


The quotes

The Taipans were last season’s Cinderella story. After finishing in last place with just six wins in 2019, they started the new season 2-6 and looked set for another long year, but all that changed as they charged to the playoffs.

Of course, the challenge bigger than rising up the ranks is staying there, as the Taipans have found out this season.

While they have played some high-quality basketball when all cylinders are clicking, they simply haven’t had their full team contributing often enough and for long enough.

“I think the first big difference between our last game and this game was we came out with great energy and intent,” coach Mike Kelly said after the narrow loss to the Phoenix.

“The energy went in the wrong direction at times so we were down six, but I was encouraged at how we were playing and the intent with which we were playing.

“I expect great energy from the guys and when it’s not there from each of them it’s a huge disappointment. We’re playing to win games and the energy is a thought, so I expect that energy from them.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mojave King doing grown man things ? ? ? ? <a href="https://t.co/M2KftQsct0">pic.twitter.com/M2KftQsct0</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1370301834485669889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


But Kelly noted that energy is just the platform to build consistent performances on.

“Energy comes first and then you’ve got to play good basketball as well, and for a big portion of night we didn’t play great basketball, we just played really hard and that kept us in it,” he said.

It’s no secret the Snakes energy bunny of the second half of last season, Cam Oliver, has been in the doldrums, but he addressed that with his teammates last week and produced two trademark performances to finish the NBL Cup.

“I reached out to the team during that time period and told them of my lack of effort and lack of defence, it’s not going unnoticed, I talked to coach about it as well and told him I was fighting my own personal battles,” Oliver said.

“I still trusted myself and the team believed in me to come out and give full effort and that’s what I should do every single time I got out there.

“Everybody trusts and believes in me to do that, and I've just got to turn it around, that’s part of being a professional basketball player, you’ve got to be consistent every single day, and that’s what I've got to provide.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">? OLIVER WITH AUTHORITY! <a href="https://t.co/PNhNytygBD">pic.twitter.com/PNhNytygBD</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1370312578589552641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



That’s what Perth provide almost every day, and have done for more than a decade under the watch of Rob Beveridge and Trevor Gleeson.

There was no better example of that than their remarkable 35-point turnaround against Adelaide, after the 36ers had made them look third rate for much of the first half.

“We don’t just sit around and wait for Trev to tell us stuff, obviously we already knew what he was going to say,” MVP Bryce Cotton said post-game.

“Rightfully so he gave us an earful and we needed to hear that, but we gave ourselves an earful too before he got in there because it didn’t take rocket science to see all the bad things we were doing out there in the first half.”

That was the mindset taken care of, then came the belief of a champion.

“It's always realistic just because we had the whole second had to play and it’s a game of runs,” Cotton said.

“With a big lead like Adelaide had we weren’t going to get it back in a couple of plays so we knew it would be a slow grind but it had to be right out of the gate going into the second half.”

Then there were the trademarks that put them in a position to pull off what for most club’s would be a miracle win.

“It was all our defence, we were behind the eight-ball, we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do, we had no pressure on the ball and they were getting open looks, what we pride ourselves on we took shortcuts,” coach Gleeson said.

“Our defence really picked up at the start of the third, then we got points from our defence and then got on a toll, then BC said don’t sub me out and I said I'm not, keep going.”



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good start to the fight-back from Toddy Blanchfield. ? <a href="https://t.co/OpILhi9xxZ">pic.twitter.com/OpILhi9xxZ</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1370988304070438916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


It was yet another warning shot from a club that continues to win everything on offer, but a big challenge awaits when they make their long-awaited return to The Jungle to face the Snakes on Friday.

Cairns have won three times at RAC Arena in the past three years, and almost pinched Game 1 of last season’s semi-finals before falling in overtime, meaning they’ll have no fear entering this usually-daunting environment.

Perth have continued to struggle to get Cotton going against Mike Kelly’s men, and they had few answers for Scott Machado and Oliver last season, setting the scene for an intriguing battle.

“I think we can win our next game,” coach Kelly said.

“Anything can happen then. You start winning games and the belief is there and the confidence is there and things fall your way and you get a little streak going.

“I'm silly enough to think that stuff’s going to start happening this week coming up …  We go how Cam goes, we go how Scott goes and when they play with great energy their skills are amazing.

“Then they need to play great basketball as well, take care of the ball, talk on defence, rebound the ball like Cam does. When we’re doing that as a group with those two leading, we’ll get wins.”