R17 Preview: Cairns Taipans vs SE Melbourne Phoenix

Friday, March 25, 2022

Cairns bounce back hard from their humiliation in Adelaide, now Tahj McCall and Co are looking to put the bite on SE Melbourne's playoff hopes.

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Friday 25 March, 2022

Where: Cairns Convention Centre

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ

Who won last time?
South East Melbourne 87 (Creek 26, Broekhoff 14, Munford 14) d Cairns 77 (McCall 16, Deng 13, Kuol 13) – Round 8, Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium, Traralgon

Welcome to the turnover zone. This was a staggering game at the GRISS where the Snakes had more cough-ups than made baskets! Tahjere McCall had nine turnovers alone. It was a performance so sloppy that it over-shadowed Mitch Creek’s brilliant 26-point, eight-assist, seven-steal performance, as the Phoenix used a 30-18 second term to put the Taipans to bed.

What happened last start?

Cairns only coughed it up 10 times against Brisbane and their scoring issues disappeared. They shot 47 per cent, nailed 11/21 triples, went to the foul line 35 times and grabbed 33 per cent of available o-boards. A big part of that was the passing of Scott Machado and McCall – who combined for 17 dimes – while the rest was their pressure D generating run.

The Phoenix did enough offensively to beat Sydney, but giving up 63 per cent shooting from inside makes it tough. With the Kings exploiting Zhou Qi’s glacier-like shows on ball screens and Brandon Ashley fouling out in 16 minutes, the interior was exposed. For four-straight games, South East Melbourne have been close enough but not good enough and are now on the precipice.

Who’s in form?

Tahjere McCall – Last time against the Phoenix, Tahj had 16 points, nine dimes and five boards, but nine turnovers. Against Brisbane last week, he had 21 points, six assists, five steals and just one cough-up. When McCall has two turnovers or less the Taipans are 3-3, in his sloppier games they are 2-7. He’s now hitting his three-ball consistently too, and an efficient Tahj equals Snakes Ws.

Xavier Munford – McCall’s energetic defence will certainly be needed against Munford, who has found his best in the past four games, averaging 19 points at 53 per cent, 9/16 from deep, 4.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. The X-man’s penetration is a key to generating early offence and shifting the D, and the Phoenix suffer when he defers to teammates too often.

Who needs to be?

Mitch Creek – An in-form Creek would have delivered victory against Sydney, but he missed a string of interior looks he would normally make, squandering the mismatch against the Cooks-less Kings. Creek has hit just 10/24 from two-point range the past two games, shot 35 per cent overall and pulled in just five d-boards in total. The Phoenix need him firing.

Keanu Pinder – It’s likely Pinder will get the job on Creek, the first-year Taipan vying with McCall as the heart-and-soul player who sets the tone for this club. His past two games have been spectacular with 25 points at 60 per cent and 22 rebounds in just 40 minutes. Pinder’s intensity is critical to Cairns’ high-intensity D, which generates a big chunk of their O.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tahjere McCall with the NO-LOOK ALLEY-OOP to Keanu Pinder!! ?<a href="https://twitter.com/215tahj?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@215tahj</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/KeanuPinder28?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@KeanuPinder28</a> <a href="https://t.co/sHo0iHdatU">pic.twitter.com/sHo0iHdatU</a></p>— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1497805266024235008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 27, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?

- In wins, the Taipans average 87ppg, 8.8 steals and force 16.8 oppo turnovers. In their past seven losses, they’ve averaged 69.9ppg, 5.1 steals and force just 10.3 cough-ups

- Cairns are 3-0 this season against the Bullets and 2-13 against the rest of the league. They are 0-9 against top five teams with an average losing margin of 13.8 points

- South East Melbourne are 3-8 against fellow top five teams, but 8-1 against the rest of the NBL with an average winning margin of 11.5 points

- In the past three games, the Phoenix are +13 with Munford on the floor and -29 with him off. He was scoreless in the third quarter against Sydney and South East Melbourne scored at 68 points per 40 minutes. He hit 26 in the other three periods and his team scored at 96 per 40 minutes

Who’s matching up?

Scott Machado v Izayah Le’afa – After he scored 26 points in Sydney to signal a return from injury, Machado has made just 7/46 in four outings since. He was still masterful in the win over Brisbane, dishing 11 dimes to just two turnovers and getting to the foul line eight times. Machado faces a tough test in the relentless Le’afa, and the former Lakers’ past two dates with South East Melbourne have produced just 15 points at 26 per cent and six assists in 51 minutes.

Majok Deng v Brandon Ashley – With Stephen Zimmerman and Zhou Qi sidelined, both teams have very different looking frontcourts, but also have the versatile athletes to bring an effective different look. Deng is putting together his best NBL season, averaging 13.6ppg and 5rpg in his past 12 outings, while Ashley had a sizzling 24 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes last round, but that was across two games and he fouled out of both.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Turning defence into offence ?<a href="https://twitter.com/_Bash21?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_Bash21</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/IzayahLeafa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IzayahLeafa</a> <br><br>? Tune in on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/2c94uaLc2Q">pic.twitter.com/2c94uaLc2Q</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1505128462746411012?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

Melbourne have signed Yudai Baba, John Brown is the flavour of the town out west, and it wouldn’t surprise if South East Melbourne added some members of the Mandelbaum family, because it’s ‘go time’.

Losers of four in a row – and six-of-seven against fellow playoff contenders in the past six weeks – the Phoenix are now squarely on the outside looking in.

It’s been a sharp fall from grace for a team that led Melbourne by double-figures five weeks ago, where a win in that contest would have given them first place.

“I think the finals race is kind of irrelevant right now,” coach Simon Mitchell said.

“Even after the Adelaide win, after the Brisbane win, we were 11-5 at one stage, second on the ladder and people talking us up, but indoors we weren’t particularly happy with the way we were performing.

“There’s not been a lot of change since then, other than maybe the level of competition, and we’re still failing in the same areas.

“I thought there was improvement in certain areas tonight, but I feel like we’re a little way off where we need to be at the moment ... There’s areas of our game that are seriously flawed, we need to patch that up.”

In truth, it’s been a matter of moments and bounces for the third-year franchise.

Their four-game skid has all been against the top four – as have nine of their past 12 – and they’ve lost that quartet by an average of just 5.5 points.

While there are defensive issues, and decision-making issues down the stretch, had Mitch Creek been converting at his usual high standards they may well have pinched three of those games.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yes he did! ?<br><br>? Tune in on <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPNAusNZ</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/Foxtel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Foxtel</a> <a href="https://t.co/mcf9LCPerV">pic.twitter.com/mcf9LCPerV</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1505115366217109510?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“I shoot these shots hundreds and hundreds of times every day at practice and in games. I’ll continue to shoot them, I’d shot a pretty good clip for quite a while and you know you're going to go through ebbs and flows,” Creek said.

“The good thing is I'm still getting the ball in certain positions where I feel very comfortable, our team is shooting some pretty good shots, we’re not capitalising and I haven't been capitalising.

“The last two games especially, little chippies, little floaters, little bunnies that for me I get frustrated with because they're the easy ones and sometimes you make the hard ones that don’t even feel great.

“But that’s basketball, you put yourself in positions to be successful and you play the numbers game, I back myself to take them and make them and I know Sime does as well.”

Creek and Mitchell are comfortable that their group is holding tight, knowing just two of their final eight are against the top four.

“The mood’s not too bad, obviously we’re disappointed, we’re frustrated, but we come in every day and we’ve got energy, we've got guys that are willing to help and do the little things,” Creek said.

“If you ask me, I think we’re one of the most dangerous and most equipped teams to beat any team.

“We have all the pieces we need, but it’s about putting it all together for 40 minutes, and I don’t think we've played 30 minutes of basketball this season let alone any number above 30.

“We’re probably playing 25 minutes at the moment and we’re still coming away with scrapping wins or we’re just dropping games like tonight.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bul Kuol winning ? and ? in Queensland. <br><br>Desperation from the underdog Taipans has them leading their crosstown rivals late. <br><br>? Watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> live on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ESPNAusNZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ESPNAusNZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/9zuMuMjYxP">pic.twitter.com/9zuMuMjYxP</a></p>— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ/status/1505425571785818114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 20, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The Taipans have been through the wringer this year, a constant run of injuries never allowing them to find a steady flow, but are also holding tight.

They were humiliated in Adelaide last Friday, but showed great resolve to bounce back and beat Brisbane less than 48 hours later after some difficult discussions amongst the group.

“We came out ready to play and we sustained the energy,” point guard Scott Machado said.

“That was the fight tonight, and you could just see it was completely different, night and day between Friday and today.

“The guys came to fight, so it feels good to win … our conversation was real to heart, a lot of us took it personal.

“I feel like nothing is given in this industry, you’ve got to go take it, you’ve got to play hard, you’ve got to prove your point and you’ve got to get results, you’ve got to win games.”