R8 Preview: SE Melbourne Phoenix vs Cairns Taipans

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Tahj McCall and the Taipans hit the road after a 26-day break, while Mitch Creek and the Phoenix are still trying to shake the rust from their COVID-enforced lay-off.

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Tuesday 25 January, 2022

Where: Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium, Traralgon

Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Sky Sports NZ

Who won last time?
Cairns 94 (Deng 22, Djeric 16, Dufelmeier 14, Ngatai 14) d South East Melbourne 87 (Wetzell 25, Creek 13, Sykes 12) - Round 20 2021, Cairns Pop-up Arena

When Cairns trailed by 16 late in the third term it looked like more misery would be poured on their forgettable NBL21 season, but four-straight triples bridging the final break got them back into the contest, then Mirko Djeric and Majok Deng did the rest, combining for 20 points in seven minutes to deliver victory and bring the Snag Pit to fever pitch.

What happened last start?

The opposite was true when Cairns last played on New Year's Eve, racing to an 18-point first-quarter lead minus their import guards thanks to some masterful Adam Forde coaching. However, they went away from their switching D and their tall line-up with Majok Deng at SF, and Bryce Cotton scored 29 points across the middle quarters as the Wildcats pinched the W.

South East Melbourne were slow starters on Sunday, stung by the JackJumpers’ pressure defence and their own sloppiness, but as time wore on their own physical D locked down the Tasmanians, and an impressive third-quarter burst put the result beyond doubt. There is still plenty to work on offensively if they are to overcome Cairns’ similarly aggressive approach.

Who’s in form?

Majok Deng – The past two games Deng has delivered 50 points in 64 minutes, going 5/7 from range against Adelaide and burning the 'Cats with 10/12 from inside, scoring 22 points from the paint or free-throw line. Deng has added 14 rebounds, five steals and four blocks in the last two starts, and will need similar form to match Mitch Creek, Brandon Ashley and Co.

Kyle Adnam – Wild Kyle was anything but as he led the turnaround in Tassie, entering the game with South East Melbourne down 16-7 having coughed up six turnovers in six minutes. Adnam delivered seven points and two dimes to end the term and have his team back within one, ultimately going a game-high +18 as the composed ball-screen user who settled his team under pressure.

Who needs to be?

Stephen Zimmerman – The Snakes scored 93 points in their win over Adelaide with Zimm hitting 7/9 inside. They’ve averaged 71.5ppg in their other three games with their centre making just 14/33 two-pointers. Cairns’ offence needs the big man finishing off easy plays inside, especially if they are going to punish Zhou Qi’s help defence on Tahjere McCall and Co.

Mitch Creek – Who will Creek face up to? It could be Deng, Keanu Pinder, Bul Kuol, McCall or even double teams, such is Cairns’ versatility and Forde’s willingness to mix things up. The MVP contender better be ready for a variety of looks, knowing when to shoot, when to go inside and when to create for others, while continuing to dominate the open floor.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Block from <a href="https://twitter.com/officialzhouqi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@officialzhouqi</a> setting up mate Creeky with a ??<br><br>? Tune in on <a href="https://twitter.com/10Peach?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@10peach</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/kayosports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kayosports</a> Freebies <a href="https://t.co/wOrzTost3O">pic.twitter.com/wOrzTost3O</a></p>— South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) <a href="https://twitter.com/SEMelbPhoenix/status/1485118944763875328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s statting up?

- Creek was 13/23 on threes in his first four games but only 3/11 in his past two. He shot 58 per cent on twos in the opening two contest but just 43 per cent in his past four

- South East Melbourne’s scoring has dropped from 92.7ppg in the opening three games to 77.7ppg in the past three. Their first-quarter scoring has fallen from 26.3 to 14.3, including just 4.3 points in the opening five minutes of the past three outings

- The Taipans are averaging 24.8 points in opening quarters and are +28 in four first terms. They average just 15.8 points in fourth periods and are -19

- Cairns force 17 turnovers per game in their three home games. They forced an average of six miscues in those opening quarters, compared to just 2.7 in final terms. In their one away game they forced just 11 miscues

Who’s matching up?

Tahjere McCall v Xavier Munford – McCall has called the Taipans’ 26-day break between games a “blessing in disguise”, allowing him to get back close to full strength from his knee injury, and you imagine Munford will be his first target back. The Phoenix import has scored just 9ppg on 8/29 shooting the past three games, and now faces the DPOY candidate.

Munford will need to be on song defensively, the athletic McCall averaging 16.3ppg on 16/29 two-pointers and 14/18 from the foul line. Will McCall have the same energy after such a long lay-off or can the Phoenix force him to shoot from range, where he is 1/12? That will be crucial, as Tahj’s penetration has created 15 assists in his past two games.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tahjere McCall spins his way to the hoop in a tight battle between the Taipans and JackJumpers. ??<br><br>? Watch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL</a> live on ESPN. <a href="https://t.co/96xYazXcDf">pic.twitter.com/96xYazXcDf</a></p>— ESPN Australia & NZ (@ESPNAusNZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNAusNZ/status/1469603311238082560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s talking the talk?

It’s been 26 days since the Taipans were under the bright lights, but that New Year’s Eve game is still highly-memorable.

Without star guards Scott Machado and Tahjere McCall, the Snakes went within a whisker of downing Bryce Cotton and the Cats after stunning them in the opening term.

“You can’t fault their effort, they played hard. We’re battered, we’re bruised, they just gave me everything and how can I be upset about that,” coach Adam Forde said post-game.

“All season we've had great opening quarters, our attention to detail, knowing the adjustments that we've made, we’re fresh, so the mind’s good because the body’s feeling good and we’re en pointe with a lot of things.”

Of course, great opening quarters and a 2-2 record mean things aren't going quite so well afterwards, leaving the Snakes are searching for that remedy.

“Then as the game progresses on, fatigue starts to kick in and we start to make some errors,” Forde said.

“We have great opening quarters, now it’s just making sure how we rotate through, whether we use the quarter-time breaks (well), whether I need to do a better job communicating it at time-outs, just to make sure the message is the same.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Majok Deng with the steal and the flush!! ?? <a href="https://t.co/4ERNKA9fEr">pic.twitter.com/4ERNKA9fEr</a></p>— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1476849958229663745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

However, the first challenge confronting the home team is replicating the fast starts after almost four weeks without a competitive game, but Forde is taking a glass half-full approach.

“What’s fortunate for us is that we’re almost the last team to get it. So, we’ve actually seen how other teams come back from a 21, 22-day hiatus, and I think the common theme has been sluggish starts,” he said.

“We’ve been talking with some other teams about what their preparation was, and what works and what doesn’t work and recognising that it’s probably more to do with the fitness side of it than the basketball.

“On face value, they look good, and then after six minutes, they burn out. You could walk away and say ‘Hey, we ticked these boxes’, but game conditioning is very different.”

For a team that relies heavily on their disruptive defence creating turnovers and open-court scoring opportunities, that presents a particularly big challenge, especially given the absence of Machado, Djeric and Kouat Noi and the lack of their deafening home crowd.

“We could come out great in the first six minutes and then absolutely hit a wall,” Forde said.

“Some of the things, we're factoring in is how we rotate the bench. Do we rotate certain guys in sooner? Do we look to play shorter stints? Do change our style of play, to cater to the fact that we’re going to have heavy legs? This is what we are looking at.”

South East Melbourne faced that challenge against the high-energy JackJumpers, coughing up 12 first-half turnovers before calming down and wearing their opponents down.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">GLIDD? THE ?<a href="https://twitter.com/CammyGliddon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CammyGliddon</a> beats the first-quarter buzzer in Tassie!<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL22?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL22</a> live + free on 10 Peach <a href="https://t.co/2CzyHLXa8q">pic.twitter.com/2CzyHLXa8q</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1485107782189682690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 23, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“Everyone was just itching to get out there and really rectify last week, so there was a little bit of first-quarter jitters in a way,” Kyle Adnam said.

“Coming in off the bench I just want to provide that energy and settle the group where I can. I thought as a group everyone did a good job of settling in after that first couple of minutes.

“Offensively we turned the ball over too much, that’s something we've got to review, we were kicking it around the gym this week at practice as well. That’s something we've really got to fix up.”

The reality is beating Cairns requires ball control and a committed defensive performance to grind their offence down over time.

After watching his team hold Tasmania to just 39 points after quarter-time, Phoenix boss Simon Mitchell is feeling good about that side of things, especially with Ashley adding another rebounder and rim protector.

“We weren’t slick, we weren’t offensively composed down the stretch, I thought we were a little scrappy,” he said.

“Defensively I thought we were really sound, we had the guys we wanted shooting it, shooting it, we kept them to one shot most of the time and I thought our pressure into the ball was pretty good.

“The offensive side needs a lot of work, again just getting reps, getting games into us, that’s two games we’ve played in six or seven weeks.”