R12 Preview: Cairns Taipans vs Melbourne United

Sunday, April 4, 2021

Space Cam v Jock Landale, Scott Machado v Money Making Mitch, this promises to be just as entertaining as Friday's night's shootout in Melbourne as the Taipans look to pinch win number six.

When: 5pm (AEST), Sunday 4 April

Where: Cairns Pop-Up Arena

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

The last time
Melbourne 95 (Landale 20, Goulding 16, Hopson 14) d Cairns 85 (Oliver 19, Ngatai 17, Jawai 13, Machado 13), Round 12, John Cain Arena

With almost their full pack on deck, things looked easy for Melbourne offensively, but they couldn’t find answers for the Taipans’ composure, execution and three-point shooting. Every time United threatened to pull away, one of the Snakes’ supporting crew drained a triple to keep it close, but ultimately a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter put the result beyond doubt, despite the best efforts of Cam Oliver and a red-hot Jordan Ngatai.

The now
The win was nice, the 14-5 record is outstanding, but there was an element of despondency around Melbourne United due to the Achilles injury suffered by Jack White. Obviously, that was initially genuine sadness that the likeable star-in-the-making would take no further part in the season, but in the cold light of day the team will desperately miss his energy, open-court speed, athleticism, pick-and-roll defence, rebounding, rim protection and shooting.

Melbourne do have an import spot up their sleeve, a luxury Cairns would love to fill the significant hole left by injured starters Majok Deng and Kouat Noi. They got that from within on Friday night, Nate Jawai, Jordan Ngatai and Jarrod Kenny combining for 42 points at 60 per cent from the floor and 8-of-13 from outside, while also pulling in 7 of the Taipans’ 14 offensive rebounds. More of the same will give them a real chance in the rematch.

The stats

- Cairns rank eighth for bench scoring (20.1ppg) and bench three-point shooting (2.5 at 32%). On Friday their reserves produced 30 points on 5 triples at 42 per cent

- The Taipans gave up 17 o-boards to Melbourne on Friday. In wins they grab 72 per cent of their d-boards, compared to 63 per cent in losses

- Melbourne are 10-1 when White plays, compared to 4-4 when their jumping Jack is sidelined

- United shot 64 per cent in the paint on Friday, outscoring Cairns 71-43 on scores from ‘ones and twos’

The key men

Mirko Djeric – The Serbian Sniper went 0-of-3 from long range on Friday, and you can’t help but think a hot night might have tipped the balance in Cairns’ favour. In wins this season, Mirko has been money with 14ppg, nailing 3.5 triples at 50 per cent. In defeat, those numbers shrink to 7.9ppg on 1.5 three-pointers and 27 per cent. Given the energy he brings to this team, expect the Snakes to create some open looks early for their streaky shooter.

Jock Landale – The big fella has been a problem for Cairns, scoring 57 points on 22-of-31 shooting in their three meetings, grabbing 29 boards and nailing 6-of-13 from distance. The way he gets his points almost purely from the offence makes his screening game incredibly effective, with defenders reluctant to stray too far to give help. While the Snakes got 32 points and 17 boards out of Cam Oliver and Jawai, they need to stop Jock to get the W.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Who you got? Jock or Cam?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/l45QoRUX25">pic.twitter.com/l45QoRUX25</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1377872443591684097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The quotes

It’s now four straight losses for Cairns against United, but coach Mike Kelly liked enough of what he saw on Friday in Melbourne to remain upbeat going into Sunday’s rinse and repeat.

“I think we took a shot early, and came back from double digits and got it back to four. I know we can play with these guys, we just need to do it for four quarters,” he said.

“So if we can come back with that mindset and make shots again, because when we drive they're collapsing on the ball, guys are going to be open for shots, we've just got to keep having the confidence to take them and knock them down.

“So I feel good about competing with them, we just need to finish.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A SPACE CAM TWO HAND TWO GRAND SLAM.<br><br>That's 8K courtesy of <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsbetcomau?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sportsbetcomau</a> for the Good Friday Appeal donation ???? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/dMHQ68YV49">pic.twitter.com/dMHQ68YV49</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1377896903321419781?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

When asked if he was pleased with the fighting effort that challenged the top two fancy for the best part of 40 minutes, Kelly was straight to the point.

“The guys played hard and they guys have played hard, so it’s not like this was a total change of effort from the guys,” he said.

“We played a tough team who kind of nutted it out longer than we did, they were able to grind, we stayed in it with some shot-making and controlled the boards a little bit better – or I should say didn’t let them control the boards as they did in the first half – but we’ve played some good basketball, it just hasn’t been 40 minutes consistently.”

Yet with a rematch inside 48 hours, the Taipans have some clear room for improvement they hope can carry them over the top in front of their rabid fans at the Snagpit.

“I think you continue to preach fundamentals and doing it better,” Kelly said.

“We gave up some offensive boards, especially in that first half, and then got pushed out of what we wanted to do when they upped the pressure, instead of flipping it and being able to attack the pressure.

“I think it’s continue to work on those details and executing better, and then continuing to finish off plays. There were a number of times where we would have good defensive possessions and we didn’t finish the play, had a lack of rotation on a couple and it’s not good enough to beat good teams.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Another two grand slam ??<br><br>Big Jo takes the <a href="https://twitter.com/sportsbetcomau?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@sportsbetcomau</a> Good Friday appeal tally to $4,000 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/VIZdl5NpBE">pic.twitter.com/VIZdl5NpBE</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1377875476018962433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Close enough is not going to be good enough to beat these good teams ... It's valuing the ball each possession and valuing stops each possession.”

The epitome of consistency in NBL21 has been Jock Landale, who always seems to find a way to contribute, even when he’s not the focal point of the offence.

“Only nine shots but he drew seven fouls so that’s a big one for us tonight,” coach Dean Vickerman said.

“Whether it be on the post or on the perimeter, it’s something we've spoken to him about, continuing to add to his game about how he takes people off the bounce and his up fake from the three-point line.

“(Seven fouls drawn) was big for us tonight, that got us to the line, we ended up getting there 22 times, and the seven fouls that he draws puts them in an area where everyone gets the opportunity to get to the line.

“(He was) very efficient tonight, I thought he was composed in the post, has the four assists, passing out of double teams and took some on early as well.”

Melbourne’s fourth win on the trot left Vickerman a satisfied man, but he’s wary of letting the Snakes get off the chain from range again with their fans ready to explode with each long-range bomb.

“The challenge was guarding the three-point line,” he said.

“Jarrod Kenny, Jordan Ngatai, Fabian (Krslovic), there’s 10 threes with those guys, they’ve really stepped into those roles and really taken it up.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">KENNY <br>C?NNECTING<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/oJnUaB5FbM">pic.twitter.com/oJnUaB5FbM</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1377890683743203330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“You look at that and say how do we improve because we’ve outrebounded them, we had 23 assists, we took care of the basketball, we did a lot of really good things, if we could have guarded the three-point line a little bit better.

“Jawai had his impact for little moments but overall we weren’t displeased with what happened in that area, guarding the three-ball was the big area. We know that they were going to shoot it, they shoot more threes than anyone in the league, but they shot it at a good clip and we’ve got to take care of that.

“The other things have got to be maintained. I thought we made Machado’s life hard and when he got deep into the lane he saw a pretty big crowd. I feel like he’s been shooting the three-ball pretty well and we were able to contain him a little bit in that area tonight.

“Sometimes we switched, Mitch did a really good job, Shea is still recovering from his ankle injury, so he just wasn’t quite the same guy.

“I thought Mitch really stood up and did a good job in that area.”