R3 Preview: Cairns Taipans vs The Hawks

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Cairns and the Hawks are heading in different directions early in the season, but can Scott Machado outplay Tyler Harvey and lead his team to a much-needed win?

When: 7.30pm (AEDT), Thursday 28 January

Where: Cairns Pop-up Arena

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

The last time
Hawks 92 (Harvey 25, Jessup 24, Froling 11) d Cairns 76 (Deng 20, Noi 16, Oliver 16), Round 1, Cairns Pop-up Arena

This night was an NBL coming-out party for Tyler Harvey and Justinian Jessup, as they combined for 49 points on 7 triples and 9 assists, while Justin Simon continued his no-nonsense start to the season with 10 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 dimes. For the most part this was a highly-competitive game of hoops, but two blistering Hawks runs in the first and fourth quarters delivered them a comfortable win.

The now
The Hawks are riding high with a 3-0 record after three road dates to start the season, despite being without Cam Bairstow and Deng Adel for the past two. Their method has been clear, force contested shots from the three-point line, clean the defensive glass, attack early in transition, look to score inside and then capitalise with high-percentage shots from the arc. Their ability to execute it comes down the long and extensive lead-up work of master coach Brian Goorjian, who got his imports in town early and got to work.

Cairns thought familiarity would be a key to avoiding last season’s slow start but things haven't worked out that way, with two narrow losses putting them 1-3 after four home games. Their rebounding has been sub-par and they are still figuring out how to fill the defensive hole left by DJ Newbill, however coach Mike Kelly will some heart from Monday’s performance against Melbourne, whom they kept to 36 points after half-time.

The stats
- Cairns have had seven fewer missed field goals than their opposition but pulled in 18 fewer offensive rebounds, grabbing just 24 per cent of the available boards at that end

- The Taipans won their opening game 87-86 allowing just 40 per cent from the field. Over the next nine quarters they were outscored 220-188 allowing 49 per cent, then won the final three quarters against Melbourne 64-58 allowing just 37 per cent

- The Hawks’ defence is conceding the second-fewest three-point makes (8.3) from the most attempts (34.3) at the lowest conversion rate (24%), while also giving up the second-fewest free-throw attempts (15.3)

- In Round 1, the Hawks outscored Cairns 10-0 in 90 seconds late in the opening term, and 9-0 in 110 seconds midway through the fourth, with their three Americans scoring 17 of those points. They won that meeting by 16 points

The key players
Scott Machado – Last season, Machado nailed 40 per cent from distance after having struggled in that area for most of his career. It’s been business as usual to start NBL21, however, making just 31 per cent and, worryingly for Snakes fans, launching 7.1 attempts per game, well up from his 4.9 last season. Is it the extra attention he is receiving without Newbill, or the extra defensive load he is now carrying, that is impacting his offensive game?

Tyler Harvey – There is not too much impacting Harvey right now, his past two games delivering 56 points at 48 per cent, 8 assists, 4 steals and just 3 turnovers. The European-league veteran is thriving in Goorjian’s high-energy style, and is adept at picking when to attack and when to get teammates involved. Which of these two star point guards can control the tempo, and make the other work hardest defensively, could decide the result.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tyler Harvey is an absolute ?<a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a> with 13 first-quarter points for <a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thehawks</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HWKatCNS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HWKatCNS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a> <a href="https://t.co/ptPuZZaV3i">pic.twitter.com/ptPuZZaV3i</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1351092518226636800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The quotes
You can bet the Taipans are putting plenty of time into preparing for the Hawks’ imports ahead of Thursday’s Round 1 rematch.

“I just talked to him about where we needed to be mentally, and this guy ran the team from the floor,” coach Goorjian said of point man Tyler Harvey after their win in Cairns.

“It’s such a pleasant experience being there and just talking to guys and letting him do the play calls, let him run the team, let him change the defences, he was tremendous tonight.”

Harvey did pretty much everything that night, 25 points to keep the scoreboard ticking over whenever the Taipans’ defence started to get on top, 5 fouls drawn to keep the D on the backfoot, and importantly 7 assists to keep his teammates involved.

“We have a great team, we have so many different weapons we can use, they make my job easy, honestly,” Harvey said.

His favourite passing target that night was Justinian Jessup, recognising the GSW draftee had been heavily targeted by Brisbane’s defence in the season opener, and making sure his rookie teammate got a healthy boost in confidence.

“Justinian, people are going to focus on him,” Goorjian said after his shooting guard nailed 24 points at 71 per cent.

“Tyler ran a couple of sets we have for him, and he got him when we needed it, he orchestrated those sets and got him the ball in places that he could score.

“He was tremendous Justinian, but it was the point guard and playing off him.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thehawks</a> have moved to 2-0 with a big win over <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CairnsTaipans</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL21?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL21</a><a href="https://twitter.com/YoungTRaaw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YoungTRaaw</a>: 25 | 3 | 7<br>Justinian Jessup: 24 | 4 | 2<a href="https://twitter.com/simon_Says_so?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@simon_Says_so</a>: 10 | 12 | 3 <br><br>Watch the full replay here: <a href="https://t.co/P4lzJ4ZK9b">https://t.co/P4lzJ4ZK9b</a> <a href="https://t.co/lxgXtMoG0G">pic.twitter.com/lxgXtMoG0G</a></p>— SBS Sport (@SBSSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBSSport/status/1351122599275880457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Of course, where Harvey and Jessup are most comfortable is in transition, before the defence is set, and the man who gets the Hawks in the open floor most is Justin Simon.

The 196cm phenom leads the Hungry Jack’s NBL in steals, ranks fourth in d-boards and sits 10^th in assists, providing the perfect package to create scores from Goorjian’s defensive system.

“They know they have to do that to win, and you definitely have to that against a good team like (Cairns) who run good offence and can score,” Goorjian said.

“Justin Simon has been a real key there, I think he triggered it against Brisbane, got the defence going, and tonight his job up the floor, those long arms and his defence is getting the team going.

“It’s an important aspect for us if we’re going to beat good teams.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The name so nice you say it twice <a href="https://twitter.com/DengDeng19?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DengDeng19</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IllawarraProud?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IllawarraProud</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlyAsOne?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FlyAsOne</a> <a href="https://t.co/74oizAnSlr">pic.twitter.com/74oizAnSlr</a></p>— Hawks Basketball (@thehawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/thehawks/status/1351101807800549378?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 18, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Cairns also know defence is the key to winning games in the NBL, but after a solid defensive start in their season opener things went awry, and coach Kelly was relieved to see some second-half starch against Melbourne.

“I’m happy with some of the things we did tonight, we need to play four quarters, but the way we played the second half, that’s winning basketball,” he said.

“We almost got knocked out in that first half, and also the third quarter, but the guys fought through it.”

Kelly brought Fabijan Krslovic into the starting line-up ahead of Majok Deng to add a defensive presence, and was delighted to finally see Nate Jawai put the foot down and stop being exploited at that end of the floor.

“I thought Nate was great,” Kelly said.

“His mindset was fantastic, he was aggressive and assertive on both ends, and tried to keep the guys together, he did what a leader is supposed to do.

“Fab, he tries to do his job all the time, and I just felt like we weren’t, as a group, defending as well as we wanted to to start games.

“I think Fab’s a steadier on defence and offence, and Majok’s kind of lethal offensively, so the switch was a defensive mindset and then also having Majok playing more with the second group and having the ball more in his hands.”

Yet while there were positive signs on Monday, Kelly is well aware his team has just one win from four appearances at the Snag Pit, something they desperately need to rectify before too much damage is done.

“I think that’s the right direction, but in saying that we’re 1-3 right now, wins do count and moral victories are just moral,” Kelly said.

“It feels like home, so now we’ve just got to win some games and make it home.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/KdwwUd5bBW">https://t.co/KdwwUd5bBW</a> <a href="https://t.co/NaVaOAoVEd">pic.twitter.com/NaVaOAoVEd</a></p>— Cairns Taipans (@CairnsTaipans) <a href="https://twitter.com/CairnsTaipans/status/1353649405958623232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 25, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>