R17 Preview: NZ Breakers vs Cairns Taipans

When: 5.30pm (AEDT), Sunday 27 March 2022

Where: Cairns Convention Centre 

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; 10 Peach; 10 Play; Sky Sport NZ

 

Who won last time?

New Zealand 84 (Wetzell 23, Siva 22, Besson 14) d Cairns 83 (Deng 21, Pinder 16, Zimmerman 11) - Round 11, Cairns Convention Centre

New Zealand dominated the first half with Peyton Siva running the point and Yanni Wetzell on the inside dominant, and unstoppable, forces. The Breakers led by as much as 26 points but by three quarter-time, remarkably the Snakes were two points down and could have gone in front at the buzzer. 

The Breakers were able to steady in the fourth term to go back up eight, and they led 84-72 with 3:50 to go. However, they didn’t score again. Bul Kuol knocked down two threes for Cairns, Stephen Zimmerman's and-one made it a one-point game but the Taipans couldn’t quite get over the hump with the Breakers breathing a huge of sigh of relief holding on by a point.

It was a monstrous night from Breakers centre Yanni Wetzell finishing with 23 points, 14 rebounds, seven steals and four assists on 8/12 shooting from the floor and a perfect 7/7 from the free-throw line. Peyton Siva stepped up huge for New Zealand too with 22 points while Hugo Besson added 14 points and four assists, Chasson Randle 10 points, and Finn Delany eight points before fouling out.

Majok Deng delivered another 21 points and eight rebounds for Cairns with Keanu Pinder finishing with the 16 points, four boards and two blocks, but without his first half it's scary how far the Snakes might have been down. Stephen Zimmerman added 11 points and 11 rebounds, Jordan Ngatai 10 points and six boards, and Tahjere McCall seven points and five assists.

 

What happened last start?

What a Thursday night it was for the Breakers to start this Round 17 double for them in Far North Queensland. They controlled a lot of the game against the Brisbane Bullets and led 99-92 with 20 seconds to go. However, they conceded three three-pointers to the Bullets in the last 16 seconds to lose from the most unlosable of positions.

That's obviously going to take some getting over but when they sit back and look at it, the Breakers will realise they did a lot right in that game. They went 18/42 at 42 per cent from three, they had 25 assists and Yanni Wetzell put up 23 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists. 

Tom Abercrombie had his best game of the season with 21 points and 6/10 from three while Chasson Randle added 12 points, Ousmane Dieng 11 and Peyton Siva 11 to go with eight assists. 

In the heat of the moment after losing like that, it's tough to focus on those positives. But there were a lot of them and clearly now that they are closer to full strength, the Breakers are in their best patch of form for the season.

The Taipans had broken their five-game losing streak beating the Bullets last Sunday in Brisbane but couldn’t quite replicate that on Friday night also at Cairns Convention Centre with an 86-74 loss at the hands of a desperate South East Melbourne Phoenix team.

The Taipans battled hard with Tahjere McCall finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Kouat Noi 12 points, Scott Machado 12 points and five assists, Keanu Pinder 12 points and nine rebounds, and Majok Deng 11 points, but it wasn’t quite enough on a night where they shot just 5/29 from three-point territory.

The Snakes were again without the inside presence of Stephen Zimmerman and that hurt in their attempts to try and combat Brandon Ashley from the Phoenix, and now they face the test of attempting to containing Yanni Wetzell from the Breakers on Sunday without him.

 

Who’s in form?

Tom Abercrombie – The Breakers captain has had a remarkable career. He's a four-time championship winner, he's a Grand Final MVP and he is New Zealand's games record holder and all-time leading scorer, but it's still got to be a nice feeling to go out there and play well again after missing most of this season through injury. He looked like he was the match-winner when he drained three triples in overtime on Thursday against the Bullets on his way to 21 points on the game. He is shooting the ball well, is still moving well to the basket and he has been a standout defender all his career. It's just good to see him back out there healthy.

Kouat Noi – Another player who has had a tough run with injury over the past 12 months is Kouat Noi with the Taipans. He is now finding some form and confidence again after missing 10 games through injury and it was good to see him playing with an aggressive mindset against the Phoenix on Friday night. He can often be a player happy to settle for the three ball, but on a night where the team shot 5/29 from deep, he only attempted one shot from beyond the arc and instead was aggressive taking the ball inside. That's clearly when he's at his best and most dangerous so it was good to see and the end result was him finishing the night with 12 points on 4/6 shooting.

 

Who needs to be?

Yanni Wetzell – The Breakers big man is in some imposing form right now and he needs to continue that for his team to get their sixth win of the season on Sunday. He was a dominant force at times against the Brisbane Bullets back on Thursday night finishing with 23 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists. He has the chance to be a difference-maker again on Sunday against a Taipans team without Stephen Zimmerman who would be his ideal match up. He is likely too nimble for Nate Jawai, and too big for Keanu Pinder and Majok Deng. Just to what degree he can take full advantage of that could determine the final result.

Majok Deng – So often he can be the barometer for this Taipans team. The energy he can play with can be infectious and when he is active offensively to make the right reads, and to cut hard he can be a tough player to stop whether it's shooting from the outside or in the mid-range. He can also play in the post and also he has all the tools to be a strong, and effective rebounder. His offensive boards can be crucial and he can also have an impact defensively. When he's doing all that, it's rare that his teammates don't feed off it and the whole Snakes outfit plays well. There are also times when he's way too passive. He needs to be active and aggressive from the outset on Sunday.

 

Who’s statting up?

 - It's fair to say not much separates these teams over history. In 73 meetings, the Breakers have won 37 and the Taipans 36 with the last four games between them being decided by six points or fewer
 
 - These teams are the lowest ranked three-point shooting teams in #NBL22. The Breakers are going at 31.4 per cent and the Taipans 28.9 per cent

 - The Breakers' offence is on the rise over the past four games with them ranked third in the league at 92.8 points a game. The Taipans over that same stretch have been averaging a league low 75 a game

 - Bul Kuol went 1/11 from three on Friday night but still needs just one more to make 50 in the season. If he does that, he'll become the first Australian rookie to achieve that since Brad Newley did so for the Townsville Crocodiles in 2005

 

Who’s matching up?

Peyton Siva v Scott Machado – What a battle of point guards this is. Both players are just such cool heads, smooth movers and always appear in control of everything they are doing. They can run their team effectively, they can score the ball themselves in multiple ways and let's face it, they can be flat out match-winners. Machado had all his 12 points in the first half on Friday night before finishing with those 12 to go with five assists while Siva put up 11 points and eight dimes against the Bullets on Thursday. Whoever can do the better job of both getting themselves, and their teams, going on Sunday could be the bigger factor in deciding who wins the game.

 

Who’s talking the talk?

You had to feel for Breakers coach Dan Shamir after Thursday night's loss to the Brisbane Bullets. In that moment, you can understand why it was tough to focus on positives but upon further inspection, they are certainly there.

"In this specific moment right now, it's hard to look at those positives, but it did feel like in maybe the last three games if you take Adelaide and the two Perth games when we had the whole team," Shamir said.

"Tom came back after a long time and his presence is huge like everybody knows, we had two point guards so we didn’t have to milk one of them probably for the first time after missing Peyton for the first part of the season and Will's concussion. Once we had everybody we started playing better but it feels like the beginning of a season when you have your whole team and you start gelling. 

"You usually get better from game to game but you need to win games like that, but right now it feels bad and you don't look at the positives. We are all competitive and we'll stay in it whatever happens, we stay committed and everything but losing a game like that which you had in your hands makes it tougher."

Now turning his attention to a second game in Cairns this week and to taking on the Taipans on Sunday, Shamir is just hoping for a bit better execution for the full 40 minutes to try and get over the line.

"The obvious thing to say is that it's our job and we have to be professional and take a day, and put it behind us and move forward. But in reality it doesn’t work like that. Everything is accumulating and nobody can probably in this scenario go home," Shamir said.

"We are staying here in Cairns until we play the next game and then it's another challenge. It's not an excuse and I always take 24 hours to move away from this game, and then prepare for the next game. 

"Hopefully we can execute a lot of things better even though we did execute some of the things we wanted, mainly offensively and in some ways defensively. But apparently not enough so hopefully we can come up with the right keys and execute a little bit better in the next game."

Exciting Breakers star Hugo Besson was staying positive following the loss on Thursday night, remaining confident about how New Zealand can finish off the rest of the season.

"The goal is to stay in here in Cairns to win this next game and to continue to push to the end to finish this season well," Besson said.

"We have a good group of guys with our full roster now playing so that's pretty good for us. We've had a pretty good team since we are all healthy and able to play, we have a very good team so I'm not worried about the next few games. I think we can finish well and just move on and keep building.

"It's just a game, you know, and it was a tough loss for us when we had the game in our hands but it's basketball. The momentum can change really quickly and we were unable to finish the game, but we showed that we can win those types of games so I'm not really worried about the next few games. I think we've got the capacity to move forward."

Taipans coach Adam Forde is glad that following Friday night his team can prepare for Sunday's game without having to worry about travel being thrown in but it goes without saying he'd like to have Stephen Zimmerman available.

"Obviously we're managing with some major injuries and also some small injuries which every team has at the moment so to not have to worry about a connecting flight to Hobart, and manage the recovery in the hotel is a massive benefit for us," Forde said.

"We want to try to capitalise on that and get some guys right. There are some guys who played some big minutes in this game and they are going to be important for us on Sunday.

"Obviously Zimm is a massive loss and we'd love to have him on the court, but I think Nate did great. We're still trying to manage his minutes in his return to play and he was super effective, and went over. His ability to get rebounds and draw attention was massive so it was great to increase his minutes production. 

"Keanu can fill that void and again it was just a couple of learning curves that he had to adjust to. But if you said that Zimm was able to suit up and he was 100 per cent it would be great, but I don’t want to be dependent on one or two players to be the reason we're winning or losing, and obviously we're losing more than we're winning at the moment."

Veteran Taipans guard Jarrod Kenny reached 200 games in the NBL on Friday night. It's a significant achievement for someone who had to bide his time for so long just to get that first chance that came at the Perth Wildcats where he became a championship winner multiple times.

He's now found a home in Cairns as well and is deservedly proud of the milestone.

"It took me a long time to break into this league and Trevor gave me that shot in Perth. Since then I've enjoyed my time, I've made some good memories and a lot of friends, and I've enjoyed it," Kenny said.

"It's been a pleasure to be able to play this game and to notch up 200 I've enjoyed every step of it and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season to try and finish on a bit of a high."

Kenny now turns his attention to taking on some familiar faces again at the Breakers in Sunday's game.

"They are coming off a tough loss so they are going to be wanting to turn that around and they have a few familiar faces, and those boys are proud men who will want to bounce back," Kenny said.

"I'm just looking forward to getting back out there. That's the good thing about this league, you come off a loss and two days later you get a chance to redeem yourself. That's what I'm looking forward to and we just have to take care of the little things, stay positive, and we'll be alright."