Preview: Illawarra v Cairns (Round 13)

Sunday, January 1, 2023

Cairns are coming off a New Year's Eve miracle, can they back it up without Keanu Pinder and add to the Hawks' NBL23 misery?

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Monday 2 January, 2023
Where: WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong
Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo; Foxtel; Sky NZ
LIVE SCORES & STATS

Who won last time?

Cairns 102 (Hogg 23, McCall 23, Pinder 18) d Illawarra 101 (Frazier 26, Froling 22, Harvey 21) 2OT – Round 10, Cairns Convention Centre
Coming in off a hiding from SEM, Sam Froling and Tyler Harvey were en fuego early, and when Michael Frazier joined the party they surged 16 ahead, but 10 quick points from DJ Hogg sparked a 42-20 Snakes run. From there a classic developed, Tahj McCall seemingly winning it in regulation before a huge Harvey heave forced an extra period. It was Frazier’s turn in overtime as his tough driving bucket forced another five minutes, but Keanu Pinder put Cairns ahead late in 2OT and Peyton Siva’s game-winner went wide.

What happened last game?

Illawarra started fast on New Year’s Eve to lead by seven after a heartbeat, but they had no answers for Perth’s O as they racked up 61 points by half-time. Harvey led a furious third-quarter run to the delight of the big crowd, but the Hawks couldn’t maintain it. Cairns redefined furious run with their remarkable finish to 2022 to stay in third place, charging from 18 down behind McCall and Shannon Scott to almost melt the Snakepit down.

What’s working?

Shannon Scott – What a performance that was from Scott, dropping 31 points on five-of-seven from deep. Cairns started the season 4-1, with Shannon scoring 14.2ppg on 2.6 triples at 41 per cent, then scraped a 6-6 record over the next dozen with their import point guard averaging 7.2ppg on 0.9 treys at 22 per cent. While Scott’s scoring re-emergence was timely with Pinder out, the Taipans are a much better team when he’s spreading the floor consistently.

Sam Froling – Talk about doing what you’re good at, Froling scored all nine of his New Year’s Eve buckets inside three feet and pulled in five offensive boards. While his season was once a picture of inconsistency, the young Hawks skipper has now scored in double figures in five-straight games while also pulling in six or more boards in each. His past seven outings have delivered an impressive 18.3ppg at 50 per cent, 7.6rpg, 3.1 o-boards and 1.6 assists.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The pick and roll is a beautiful thing, followed by the stuff by <a href="https://twitter.com/samfroling_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samfroling_</a> ! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HawkNation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HawkNation</a> <a href="https://t.co/VaIFmfyhkZ">pic.twitter.com/VaIFmfyhkZ</a></p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1609079007525613568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What needs stopping?

Inconsistency – Scott isn’t the only inconsistent Snake, with Cairns the Dorothea Mackellar of NBL teams; filled with droughts and flooding rains. The Taipans produced a 16-0 run in the second stanza and an 18-0 run in the fourth across a total of 8:05 against the 36ers. In the other 31:55 they were outscored 83-52 as the Cairns defence found few answers. While their fast-paced, high-volume outside shooting style lends itself to inconsistency at the offensive end, the Taipans need to be better defensively during their droughts.

Michael’s misses – Frazier has made a big impact for Illawarra, but his recent outside shooting drought might be the difference between competitive losses and much-needed wins. The bull-strong swingman went 12/23 from deep in his opening four games as a Hawk, but has made just 2/15 in the past three, which have all been close contests in the final term. While his 16ppg at 46 per cent inside and 10/10 from the charity stripe in those games has still been valuable, if he can add some triples then his team can add some Ws.

Frazier will be subject to a fitness test ahead of the game.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hawks import Peyton Siva will be out for tonights clash against the Cairns Taipans due to a shoulder injury. He will be replaced in the lineup by Tim Coenraad. Michael Frazier will be subject to a fitness test with a decision on his playing status to be made prior to the game.</p>— Illawarra Hawks Basketball (@illawarrahawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks/status/1609698227653337088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s matching up?

Michael Frazier v Tahj McCall – Frazier will be involved in arguably the match-up of the game, with McCall rediscovering the form that made him a revelation pre-injury in NBL22. In the past eight games, the Taipans are a team-high +46 with McCall on the floor and -46 in the 70 minutes he’s rested (-26 points per 40 minutes), as he’s produced 19.9ppg, 5.9rpg, 4.3apg and 1.4 steals. Can Frazier match McCall’s intensity and opportunism? And can Tahj negate his counterpart’s powerful drives, having picked up 14 fouls in the past four games.

Tyler Harvey v Bul Kuol – Harvey went five-of-11 from deep on Cairns in Round 10 and was at it again on New Year’s Eve, dropping 6/14 on the Wildcats en route to 28 points. After making just 1.9 triples at 28 per cent in his opening seven games of NBL23, Harvey has exploded with 3.5 per night at 42 per cent since. Kuol must use his length to run him off the arc without fouling, his aggressive style attracting four whistles per night in the five games leading up to New Year’s Eve, where he managed 23 minutes without an infringement.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How did he get that off???<br><br>Tyler Harvey making BIG shots in 2OT.<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/k4Nsi8fVnX">pic.twitter.com/k4Nsi8fVnX</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1601497599831203840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who’s saying what?

The end of the Cairns-Adelaide game is a bit of a blur for most involved, and DJ Hogg is no exception.

“The fourth quarter we were down big and I just remember everyone in the huddle saying we've still got time, we can do this, let’s just put some stops together,” he said.

“We started chipping away at it, getting steals, making shots, taking charges, hitting threes and before you know it we’re up one, up two and you could hear the crowd going crazy, it felt real good.”

When coach Adam Forde used his final time-out, down 18 with 6:40 to play, he knew it was the last roll of the dice.

“When I called the time-out I referenced to the coaches, I said I’m probably about two-and-a-half minutes away from emptying it out and putting the bench on, because we've got a flight tomorrow,” he said.

“One of the things you have to factor in is how much energy have we got, what are we going to get from DJ playing 28 minutes and Shannon playing 32 when we've got to back it up again in 48 hours.”

Once he arrived in the huddle, however, he found the players weren’t ready to start thinking about Monday’s clash with Illawarra.

“The cool thing about it with the time-outs is a lot of it’s player led, the guys have that discussion at the start, and there’s just a real sense of confidence in this group, where even I sat there and thought you guys are crazy,” Forde laughed post-game.

“Suddenly it’s back to nine and it’s all on defensive stops, we tried to pick it up a little bit differently full-court, we tried to do a few things differently with our on-ball coverage, but the reality is the guys just took responsibility in their match-up.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">HOW DID THAT GO IN?! ?<br><br>LIVE on ESPN <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OrangeArmy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OrangeArmy</a> ? <a href="https://t.co/ZjKN9ZzsBk">pic.twitter.com/ZjKN9ZzsBk</a></p>— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1609132332447076354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It’s a reflection of the positive, aggressive, belief-filled culture Forde and his team have built this season.

Though they’d only scored 60 points in more than 33 minutes, they stayed on the front foot offensively, with Tahj McCall and Shannon Scott omnipresent, scoring or assisting on 10 of the Snakes’ final 15 scores, capped by Scott’s clutch triple in the final minute.

“He was feeling good in the first half, he found his shots and found his rhythm, DJ found himself in a bit of foul trouble at the start, so for him to provide that scoring,” Forde said.

“It’s kind of special when you’ve got someone like Shannon that any other person would be line, ’20 at the half I'm going to go for a 40-piece’, that’s not his way of thinking, but it’s cool when you see him out there being aggressive.”

The Taipans are without Keanu Pinder again on Monday, a big hole against a Hawks team who grabbed 16 offensive boards and ran up 97 points against Perth.

“One of the big focuses with Keanu being out is we had to make up for the rebounds. We lost the rebound count but everyone who stepped on the court got one, and that was really important,” Forde said.

“There’s still some things we need to work on, the third quarter wasn’t great, but to know that when we get it done on the defensive end it generates out best offence.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Shannon Scott. Point guard or quarterback? ?<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/ZnFgEawsYd">pic.twitter.com/ZnFgEawsYd</a></p>— NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1609121899782770689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Illawarra has its on challenges, with Peyton Siva out due to an ankle injury, but Jacob Jackomas’ men are used to replacing injured comrades.

“We have every right for everyone to feel sorry for us, but at the end of the day we have talented players, we have players that believe in themselves,” Jackomas said.

“We have to do something defensively right now, we put enough scoreboard pressure on them today to be able to set up our defence, we need to figure out what went wrong there.”

While they ticked the scoreboard over, they didn’t get to the foul line in order to defend after stoppages, and Jackomas took a leaf out of Greg Vanderjagt’s successful playbook to try and help get more whistles.

“There was an emphasis this game and in the last couple of games … we wanted to get our feet in the paint and when we did we were successful, now there is something going on with us right now, Bryce had more foul shots than our whole team,” Jackomas said.

“We need to make adjustments on that point, right now we’re the lowest foul-shot shooting team in the league. We speak about it a lot. We had 27 threes tonight, they had 28, so it’s not like we’re three-point happy …

“We did win the rebound count which I was pleased with, we didn’t really turn the ball over, I think the next step is we need to be able to get to the foul line and figure out how to get to the foul line.”