RD10 Preview: Sydney Kings v Cairns Taipans

When: 5.00pm (AEDT), Sunday 21 March

Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

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

The last time

Cairns 96 (Machado 24, Jawai 22, Krslovic 15) d Sydney 92 (Vasiljevic 32, Ware 28, Hunter 11) – March 4, State Basketball Centre, Melbourne

This was a fascinating game but in the end the Taipans were impressive to score their second win of the season against the Kings, and for what was just their second win in eight attempts during the NBL Cup.

A dominant showing inside from Nate Jawai who delivered 22 points, six rebounds and three assists in just 15 minutes of court time was instrumental in the win with Jordan Hunter, Tom Vodanovich and Craig Moller unable to stop him but Jarell Martin wasn’t there for Sydney. Fabijan Krslovic also had a career-best night for Cairns with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Scott Machado put up 24 points and four assists. 

There was a lot to like from what the Taipans produced and they looked a much different outfit by having that threat of Jawai down low. The Kings did get a combined 60 points from the starting backcourt of DJ Vasiljevic and Casper Ware including a career-best 32 from Vasiljevic. But by the end of the night, nobody could argue that Jawai was the major difference between the two teams.

The now

The form of Sydney and Cairns from Friday night couldn’t be more contrasting as they prepare to do battle already for the fourth time this season on Sunday at Qudos Bank Arena.

The Taipans hosted the Kings for back-to-back games at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena to start the season as they split the results. The Snakes won first up 87-86 in a controversial finish while the Kings hit back a week later to win 99-91. But their meeting at the NBL Cup saw the Taipans get one back and win 96-92.

Following that loss to the Taipans, the Kings hit back to beat the South East Melbourne Phoenix but then put in their worst performance of the season against the Illawarra Hawks. The response to that, though, has been impressive finishing the NBL Cup beating the Brisbane Bullets on the back of a 71-point second half to win 119-108.

Sydney kept that momentum going on their home floor on Friday night with another 60 points in the first half on the way to a 103-75 thumping of Melbourne United with so much to like about the performance that improved them to 8-8 on the season.

They shot 56 per cent from the field, had 25 assists to just nine turnovers and had plenty of contributors. Jordan Hunter had 18 points, Jarell Martin 15, Didi Louzada 14, Casper Ware 13, DJ Vasiljevic 11, Craig Moller nine, Tom Vodanovich eight and Shaun Bruce seven. It's going to take some doing for the Taipans to stop all of them with the momentum they now have.

Unfortunately for the Taipans, they haven’t been able to build on the momentum of that win against Sydney at the NBL Cup. The Snakes finished their time in Melbourne with defeats to Adelaide, New Zealand and South East Melbourne, and then they went to Perth on Friday night and were never really in the contest.

Cairns fell behind double-figures in the opening minutes of the game and never seriously threatened from there to end up losing 93-75. They did fight hard over the last three quarters but just couldn’t close the gap despite getting 16 points from Scott Machado, 14 from Kouat Noi, 13 from Nate Jawai and 10 from Jordan Ngatai.

A combined 13 points on 6/25 shooting from the floor and 0/12 from three-point range between Cam Oliver, Mirko Djeric, Fabijan Krslovic and Mojave King against Perth was never going to lead to a positive result. If that foursome can find a way to respond in Sydney on Sunday, then it could be a positive result for the Snakes.

With Sydney having beaten Melbourne by 28 on Friday at the same venue and Cairns coming back from an 18-point loss to Perth a little over 36 hours earlier, and it does look as though the Snakes are up against it.

The stats

- The Taipans have won two of the three games against the Kings this season, and three of the past five meetings dating back to last season including them being one of just two teams to beat Sydney at Qudos Bank Arena.

- Over their last two games, the Kings have averaged scoring 111 points a game while shooting at 26/51 for 50.9 per cent from three-point land. Overall they have shot at 56.3 per cent against Melbourne and 54.2 per cent against Brisbane while averaging just 7.5 turnovers.

- Over the last five games, Sydney is going at 94.8 points, 50.9 per cent field goal shooting, 44.4 per cent three-point shooting and 10.8 turnovers. In contrast, Cairns is averaging 79.2 points, 45.4 per cent from the floor, 31.8 per cent from three and 14.6 turnovers.

The key men

Jarell Martin – Earning minutes as a big for the Kings is no easy feat right now. Jordan Hunter continues to impress, Tom Vodanovich is earning his keep and they will miss him when Xavier Cooks is healthy, Craig Moller is playing above his size impressively and veteran Daniel Kickert is showing he has plenty left in the tank. But Jarell Martin makes Sydney look such a better team. He was sorely missed last time against Cairns and it's no coincidence that with him back in the line-up, the Kings have kicked up a gear just through the presence he provides, and the impressive inside-outside game he gives for someone his size.

Cam Oliver – For 18 months now, he has been the benchmark setter for the Taipans. When he was up and firing last season, playing with great confidence and also playing tremendous team basketball, the Snakes came along for the ride with him and went within one game of reaching the Grand Final. At his best, he can be an unstoppable offensive threat and a tremendous defender, shot blocker and intimidator, and dominant rebounder. However, when things aren’t going his way, his negative energy can become infectious just as much. He needs to be able to shake that off on Sunday and bring that positive energy at both ends because the Taipans just won't win unless he does.

The quotes

Kings coach Adam Forde hasn’t forgotten the fact that the Taipans have beaten his team twice already this season as they prepare for somewhat of a revenge game at Qudos Bank Arena now on Sunday.

"It's a great test for us because we've lost to Cairns twice. Cairns seem to match up really well against us and we've been tested in the paint against Cairns so this is a bit of a revenge game for us," Forde said. 

"We want to play well, we want to play the way we've been training and play the way we're capable of playing, and we want to do it against Cairns. They played on Friday in Perth but all our focus switches to Cairns with the idea that we want to continue with our momentum, win that first quarter and build on it from there and try to get three in-a-row."

Looking back to that impressive and emphatic 28-point victory against Melbourne at the same venue on Friday night, it was all on the back of the energy the group played with that left Forde a happy coach.

"I loved our energy. The guys really were getting after it and backed up their teammates. Even Kicks at the end, our bench is so deep that he didn’t get on until then because Jordie wasn’t terrible and we got to play him longer," Forde said.

"Kicks was the casualty of that but he then came out and takes a charge with two and-a-half minutes to go. Didi is out there enjoying is basketball and it's interesting that I heard some crap with so-called experts talking about accusing Didi of being overrated, but he's one of our elite defenders. 

"The last few games we've matched him up on McCarron and Sobey, and that's allowed us to move Casper off the ball so we can play him for longer stretches. Didi is out there playing his best basketball defensively and then he gets rolling on the offensive end. It all comes from the energy of everyone on the team one through 12."

Taipans coach Mike Kelly had his team quickly turn their focus to recovery straight after the game in Perth on Friday to give themselves the best chance at least physically to come out ready to fire against the Kings in Sydney on Sunday.

"We spoke after the game as a group a little bit and Mirko was the first one in to talking about focusing on getting our bodies right to be ready to play in Sydney," Kelly said.

"These guys keep believing in themselves and what we're doing so there's no reason to come back playing hard. Our physio will have us ready physically and they did recovery straight after the game by getting in the pool and they'll get themselves ready, and be as ready as possible for Sunday."

Kelly and the Taipans tried plenty of different things to find the right combination to spark them on Friday in Perth, and he'll continue doing that and giving everyone a chance to show what they are capable of.

"We changed line-ups a lot in this game and I thought George (Blagojevic) came in and gave us great energy, and did his job well and did the things we were asking him to do so I was happy for George with that," Kelly said.

"And then Mojave (King) came in and played hard too. He had opportunities and got some shots up which was good. He took the right shots and he's continuing to learn on defence so Mojave did play and we went smaller late with (Jordan) Ngatai and Kouat (Noi) in there too. We changed line-ups continuously trying to find the right one that would get stops and also make shots on the other end."