Preview: Cairns vs Tasmania - Round 18, NBL24

30 Jan

7 mins read

Written By

By Dan Woods for NBL.com.au

This clash has been labelled as a "must-win" for the Taipans. Can they get the job done?

Thursday, February 11 at 7:30pm AEDT | Cairns Convention Centre

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Derek Rucker has labelled this clash as a “must-win” for Cairns if the Taipans are to make a push into the top six for Finals. They’re sitting in seventh heading into Round 18.

ESPN’s Olgun Uluc has reported Cairns forward Sam Waardenburg has signed a one-year extension with the club. The New Zealand international won the NBL23 Next Generation Award and has played 22 of a possible 25 games this season.

The JackJumpers still sit third on the NBL ladder despite holding a 12-12 record. None of their defeats in NBL24 have come by more than eight points.

Rucker has tipped a Taipans win over Tasmania, and cited that the team who needs a win in this situation the most tends to pull through.

Cairns
71-88 loss to Adelaide
84-102 loss to Brisbane
93-92 win over Illawarra

Tasmania
88-94 loss to New Zealand
107-86 win over Melbourne
107-108 loss to Illawarra

Sam Waardenburg
The news of Sam Waardenburg’s reported extension with Cairns will come as good news to Taipans fans, and the hope he can return to the levels he flashed in NBL23 will be accompanying the good vibes.

Waardenburg has dropped off in his second season with the Taipans in what Derek Rucker has labelled something of a “sophomore slump”, but he’s been far from unimpactful for Adam Forde’s side this year – just inconsistent.

His 20-point outing against the Phoenix in Round 12 and 22 points against Sydney in Round 5 are worth pointing out in the context of the entire season, but across the campaign his field goal and three-point percentages are both markedly down from last season.

The reigning Next Generation Award winner is still showing plenty of hallmarks that he’s a star in the making, it’s just that consistency that needs to be added to his game.

“This is probably a really good move on both parts, one year for Sam to show what he’s worth and I think the Taipans have been very good to him in giving him that initial opportunity last season to show what he can do in this league.” – Derek Rucker on NBL Now.

Will Magnay
Tight losses hurt. Tight losses when you leave more points than the losing margin at the free throw line hurt more, and that’s exactly the heartache Tasmania has had to deal with since its defeat to New Zealand in Round 17.

The JackJumpers barely hit 50 per cent of their free throws in the loss and – despite having an otherwise stellar game – Will Magnay was the main culprit from the line.

His 15 points, eight boards and two blocks from the bench leap off the page when you look at the box score, but sitting quietly in the corner is his 5-14 free throw record on the night.

The only season in which Magnay has hit more than 70 per cent of his free throws in an NBL season is his debut campaign with the Bullets, in which he made three from three attempts in six games.

He’s never been a lights-out shooter from the line, but leaving all those points available in a narrow loss will be irksome to one of the form players of the competition to say the least.

He’s been so dominant for Tasmania this season, but let’s hope ‘hack-a-Magnay’ doesn’t become a defensive strategy against him moving forward.

“It’s not like I don’t work on them, I make 20 in a row after practice every day, I shoot lots of them, but I think I get in my head a little bit sometimes and I overthink it and think about too many things. The next progression of my game is to build a bit more confidence in that area. It sucks and it hurts, and I feel like a lot of that loss is my fault, but you take that with the good and the bad and try to brush it off.” – Will Magnay following the loss to New Zealand.

Tahjere McCall vs Milton Doyle
Getting a handle on who is going to be included in Adam Forde’s starting five for Cairns is a thankless task. The Taipans’ head coach has utilised a total of 11 different starting groups this season, and none more than six times. Tasmania, conversely, has used just two different starting groups – and one of those has been used 23 out of 24 times.

Tahjere McCall’s status as a starter when fit and available is a near certainty though, and both he and Milton Doyle have the potential to hold the keys to the clash on either end of the floor.

McCall, however, has been slightly quieter than usual in Cairns’ recent heavy losses to Adelaide and Brisbane, and the onus is on him to lift himself back to his form levels of earlier in the campaign to guide the Taipans to victory.

Milton Doyle was in a similar boat to McCall earlier this season, but has looked back to his potent best across most of the JackJumpers’ recent games.

The fact that both McCall and Doyle’s rises and falls of form have coincided with their sides winning or losing runs is no coincidence. After all, they are two of the best players in the competition. The question is who can rise highest and lead their team to victory in what is a must-win game.