R2 Preview: Cairns Taipans vs Sydney Kings

When: 8pm (AEDT), Saturday 23 January

Where: Cairns Pop-up Stadium

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

The last time
Cairns 87 (Machado 17, Djeric 15, Deng 13) d Sydney 86 (Ware 18, Vasiljevic 15, Newley 14), Round 1, Cairns Pop-up Stadium

This was one hell of a Round 1 game, the ball flying from end-to-end early as the Kings tried to turn it into a track meet and the Taipans obliged. Sydney controlled much of the contest, leading almost exclusively in the first half and then not headed for 11 minutes from late in the third term, but massive triples from Kouat Noi and Scott Machado put the Snakes’ heads in front late and they survived three Kings attempts to go ahead in the final minute.

The now
The atmosphere and celebrations in the Snag Pit were something else in that epic win, but the Taipans were quickly put back in their place by a 31-point opening term from the Hawks two nights later. Both NSW teams have exploited Cairns’ transition defence and lack of on-ball pressure, and once the Hawks managed to limit the Snakes’ three-point game, their scoring dried up.

Sydney won the possession game by 10 in Round 1 and dished 18 assists to just 5 turnovers, but hoisting 33 three-point attempts at 21 per cent was their downfall, limiting their free-throw opportunities and allowing Cairns to run-out off 39 defensive boards. While the stars struggled, bright points included DJ Vasiljevic, Jordan Hunter and Jarell Martin, who is sure to have a bigger impact with another week of training under his belt.

The stats
 - In Round 1, Sydney’s starters scored 41 points on 3-of-20 from outside the arc, while their bench added 45 points on 15-of-22 from inside

 - In the opening term, the Kings shot 3-of-11 from range but grabbed o-boards on four of those misses. After quarter-time they went 4-of-22 but recovered just two of their 18 miscues

 - So far this season, the Taipans are trailing points from turnovers 12-33 and fast break points 11-23

 - Cairns have scored just 30 two-point field goals this season, compared to 56 by their opponents. They trail points in the paint 52-94

The key men
Mirko Djeric – Who is going to fill the hole left by DJ Newbill? Against Sydney that was Djeric, who nailed 15 points on 4-of-7 from deep and seemed to pop up with a bucket whenever the offence dried up. Against the Hawks, however, he couldn’t get his mojo going with just 9 points on 2-of-7. While his game has always been three-point dominant, the Taipans need their sparkplug to find other ways to be involved when the bombs aren’t dropping.

Casper Ware – Speaking of bombs not dropping, Ware has now remarkably missed 30-of-32 triples since the start of the NBL Grand Final series. Go back another six weeks and he is 16-of-83 at 19 per cent since the beginning of February, 2020. In that time, he’s made just 2.9 two-point buckets per game and dished a lowly 2.5apg. Last Saturday he started hot inside before falling in love with the triple all over again.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Casper Ware coming out with a point to prove early ?<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SydneyKings</a> star PG with a bunch of buckets early <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SYDatCNS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SYDatCNS</a> <a href="https://t.co/VUbDgd8LyK">pic.twitter.com/VUbDgd8LyK</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1350371241161441280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The quotes
New Kings boss Adam Forde looked sharp as he made his NBL head coaching debut at the Snag Pit, but there are some things he will change ahead of this week’s rematch in the Cairns heat.

“I think jackets need to be optional next week, it was hot,” he laughed. “I’m going to ring the boss and see if we can wear polos.”

Sydney also struggled with the Taipans’ heat on the glass in their thrilling one-point loss.

“The one that probably hurt us the most was second chance points, we held them to one offensive rebound in the first and I think it was 16 for the other three quarters,” Forde said.

“You're not going to win too many games giving up that many second chance points.”

There was also a lot for Kings fans to like, the contributions of their bench, their ability to score in the open court and their interior defence.

Ultimately, they were one straight Casper Ware hit away from claiming a memorable win. While the decision to launch from range when only one point down perhaps epitomised Sydney’s trigger-happy approach, Forde is standing by his wayward man.

“Casper played a hell of a game, I think he did a great job leading our squad, I think he did a great job assisting me with coaching on the court, he’s obviously disappointed,” Forde said.

Scott Machado had 17 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds to shade his compatriot, lead the Taipans to victory and set up another fascinating battle within the battle on Saturday night.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="pt" dir="ltr">Trademark Machado! ? <a href="https://t.co/mmgJQxnMI7">pic.twitter.com/mmgJQxnMI7</a></p>&mdash; Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1350395922224611328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>



“Scott was good because he was guarding Casper Ware and then trying to run our offence with the ball in his hands,” Cairns coach Mike Kelly said.

“We didn’t play great basketball the whole game but we stayed together and the guys finished strong down the stretch.”

Kelly won’t want to see his team leak points in transition again, like they have in both their games to date.

“Basketball is fast, 24 seconds in a possessions but tonight it felt like they were all 10 seconds long, it changed so quickly,” he said.

“We need to be better on defence, we need to stop transition, we need to do those things that we didn’t do well tonight.”

The Kings have had seven days to make their own adjustments, but Forde revealed there will only be minor tweaks to an instinctive and promising opening-round performance.

“From a scout perspective, it really allows you to hone in on some key areas,” he said.

“I'm also conscious of the fact that you don’t want to overcook it, you’ve got to remind yourself that it’s basketball, the guys are out there trying to play to their strengths.”

And while they're on the road until at least the end of Round 3, there’s no complaining from the Kings camp.

“We’re just embracing that road warrior mentality,” Forde said.

“We know we’re out of our comfort zone … but we’re going to wear it as a badge of honour, there’s going to be a bit of resilience about this group when we come out the other end of it.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/jordihunter1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jordihunter1</a> with authority! ? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeTheKings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeTheKings</a> <a href="https://t.co/pzboz7Ejp4">pic.twitter.com/pzboz7Ejp4</a></p>&mdash; Sydney Kings (@SydneyKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SydneyKings/status/1350395638282743809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>