Preview: Cairns v Perth (Round 11)

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Tuesday 20 December, 2022

Where: Cairns Convention Centre

Broadcast: ESPN; Foxtel; Kayo; Sky NZ

Who won last time?

Perth 105 (Cotton 24, Blanchfield 17, Norton 16) d Cairns 76 (Pinder 18, Waardenburg 14, Hogg 12) – Round 2 at Cairns Convention Centre

They say the killer always returns to the scene of the crime, and Perth are finally back in the Far North after their Round 2 murder of the Snakes. Mitch Norton was the mastermind with 16 points and nine dimes, Bryce Cotton did Bryce Cotton things and the Wildcats ran relentlessly off Taipans errors as they held the hosts to 38 per cent and forced 19 turnovers.

What happened last game?

Since that caning from the 'Cats, Cairns have gone 8-4 to be half-a-game off top spot, with those defeats by three, four, 11 and three points. Last start they out-lasted the JackJumpers, their 11-0 fourth-quarter road close-out adding to their top two credentials. Perth also made a statement with a remarkable come-from behind win over Melbourne, two triples in the final 10 seconds propelling them to their third-straight win and a spot inside the top six.

What’s working?

Cotton Webs – Across the Wildcats’ three-game streak, Bryce and Corey have averaged an astonishing 48.7ppg at 52 per cent from the field and 40 per cent from deep, while also adding 8.3 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 steals. John Rillie’s move to start them together has paid big dividends, and Cairns must find a way to stop their mid-range games, with the pair shooting at 63 per cent on pull-up two-pointers over the past three outings.

High-post McCall – After an injury-interrupted end to NBL22 and start to this season, McCall is back to his brilliant best. His past five games have delivered 20.3ppg at 49 per cent while getting to the foul lines 7.6 times, along with 5.4 boards and 4.0 assists. Coach Adam Forde is successfully using his speed and length from the high post, and would love the fact the fast-forward McCall has only coughed the ball up five times in the past three outings.

What needs stopping?

Rolling, popping & passing – Perth’s bigs are setting better screens, then making good reads whether to slip, pop, dive to the basket or receive on the short roll. Once they've got the ball,  Brady Manek, TaShawn Thomas and Luke Travers are making great decision, averaging eight dimes in the three-game streak as they open up the game for Cotton and Webster via pick and pass. How can Cairns shut down the roller without giving up looks to the Wildcats’ guards?

Opposition paint game – Perhaps the best remedy is going at Perth’s frontcourt at the other end. The Wildcats are -40 on points in the paint in their three-win stretch, giving up 48 PiPS at 62 per cent conversion.  That’s music to the Taipans’ ears, who were +14 on points in the paint and +21 on scores from ‘ones and twos’ in Tassie, with Keanu Pinder and McCall getting to the foul line 19 times between them to tally a combined 48 points inside the arc.

Who’s matching up?

Keanu Pinder v TaShawn Thomas – KP is the NBL’s number two offensive rebounder, and last time against Perth he pulled in a whopping eight. While his conversion was wayward that night, he’s shot 50 per cent or better in six of his past seven, so Perth can’t allow him a night out on the o-glass. Thomas has averaged 5.7 d-boards in the winning streak, up from 3.0drpg in his opening 10 NBL games, and that trend must continue on Tuesday.

Bul Kuol v Bryce Cotton – A tally of 24 points, 5/10 on twos, 3/7 from deep, 5/5 at the charity stripe and +31 in 34 minutes, that was Bryce’s night at the office last time in Cairns, a venue famous for his 42-point outburst in the NBL20 semi-finals. He’s scored 61 points in his past two games, and his speed will be a great test for the length and relentlessness of Kuol, who’ll need to curtail his trademark hands-on D or Bryce could be at the stripe all night.

DJ Hogg v Luke Travers – LT’s second half against Melbourne was something to behold, reminiscent of players like Sam Mackinnon, Glen Saville, Mitch Creek, Xavier Cooks and Antonius Cleveland as he racked up 11 points at 67 per cent, five rebounds, four assists and three steals after intermission. When he’s guarding Hogg he’ll have to find a balance between disruption and staying home though, the Taipans 7-2 when DJ hits multiple triples and 4-1 when he scores four or more buckets inside.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">DJ on the attack! ?<br><br>Watch LIVE on ESPN ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OrangeArmy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OrangeArmy</a> <a href="https://t.co/pbk8YNZV5x">pic.twitter.com/pbk8YNZV5x</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1604022519966892033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

When asked about the Taipans’ upcoming clash with Perth, and whether redemption for Round 2 was on the cards, Tahjere McCall gave a diplomatic but straight-forward response.

“It would be nice to get one back on them just because the ladder is so tight,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter who you play right now, everybody is playing hard every game so I don’t really care who our opponent is, we've got to keep getting better.

“Perth is going to push you to get better, so that’s a game where we’re going to see what we’re building for and where we’re at.”

When asked the same question, his coach and former Wildcats assistant Adam Forde gave a very different answer.

“I’m going to be selfish, I’m 0-9 against them, I've coached a lot of games and still haven't got one against them, so it’s my turn, I want one,” he laughed.

That honesty brought a change of speed from McCall.

“I take back what I said, now it’s personal,” he laughed.

While Forde joked about being selfish, after two testing seasons to begin his NBL head coaching career, he has done a remarkable job building a selfless culture in Cairns.

Typically, Forde gives his players credit, highlighting their final-quarter performance in Hobart.

“The cool thing about this group, and especially with Tahj, is a lot of it’s player led and player driven,” he said.

“They take care of business. It was about getting it done on the defensive end and execute at the offensive end, and guys made some big-time plays.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Defense fuelling offence ??<br><br>Watch LIVE on ESPN ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OrangeArmy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OrangeArmy</a> <a href="https://t.co/zlrJnqt9qX">pic.twitter.com/zlrJnqt9qX</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1604015050338942976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Those plays weren’t all slicing McCall drives, smooth DJ Hogg jumpers or high-flying Keanu Pinder finishes though, and that’s what Forde points to as the reason for his team’s success.

“You see at any given point, regardless of who we sub out there, we've got guys who are all about the dirty work,” he said.

“There was that possession in front of the bench in the fourth quarter, everyone was diving on the ball, and if they weren’t diving on the ball they were ready to get a hand in and create a deflection.

“That’s tough, not everyone wants to do that and to really get that from your import players coming in, putting their body on the line for possession, it’s massive and it leads by example.”

McCall is full of love for what his team’s role players are bringing to the table.

“Bul played amazing, so did Jooky (Deng),” he said.

“Some of the stats might not say they played amazing, but the things they did for us and talking to us when we’re on the court and giving us energy, you can’t really put a price on it and say how much it means to us.

"I just love the guys, this is a special team.”

Perth were anything but a special team early in the season, reliant on shot-making to be successful, but that is starting to change.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Steals it, saves it, seals it. ?<br><br>18 first-half points for BC!<br><br>? Watch live on ESPN via Kayo &amp; Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/IziM1HhrVh">pic.twitter.com/IziM1HhrVh</a></p>&mdash; Perth Wildcats (@PerthWildcats) <a href="https://twitter.com/PerthWildcats/status/1602262375289090048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

“It feels a bit different to at the start of the season,” Corey Webster said after his game-winning triple against Melbourne.

“At the beginning of the season we may have given up in that last minute or so. For us to see that growth as a team, it feels good.”

Coach John Rillie’ thoughts echo those of McCall and Forde.

“LT was dynamite in the second half. We had a lot of contributors, Brady Manek didn’t shoot the ball great but he got on the floor and made a great play to his teammate to get us in transition,” he said.

“Hopefully we’re forming to become a great team because we have great contributors on different nights, and we are finding a way.

“Bryce has done a great job in time-outs of embracing the moment of being a leader, but what I will say is everyone else in the time-outs, you could see they were engaged... as we chip away we’re finding ways to win close games which is encouraging.”

A home win for Cairns on Tuesday moves them into equal-first place, while a fourth-successive W will put Perth a game clear in fifth, but they know it won’t be easy.

“Cairns are a dangerous team,” Rillie said.

“They’ve been playing very well consistently throughout the year, their style of play, they like to play fast position-less basketball, getting up a lot of threes.

“Then they have Keanu Pinder in the middle who’s playing at an MVP-type level and their perimeter firepower is high octane.”