Easter Snake Eyes – Taipans v United

There was a lot to like about the fight the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans showed in Melbourne on Good Friday and now the Snakes hope to turn that encouraging performance into a win in front of the home fans on Easter Sunday.

The Snakes were up against it in Melbourne against United on Good Friday against the team still rated as championship favourites and who were on a three-game winning streak on their home court.

Then Melbourne opened up a 13-point advantage, but Cairns continued to fight despite the continued absence of regular starters Kouat Noi and Majok Deng. There was a lot to like about the fight shown from the group and it was just a four-point ball game down the stretch.

So the Taipans gave themselves a shot with that strong fight back and that is something they will now look to build further upon to turn the result in the favour against the same United team at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena on Easter Sunday.

Here are five things to look out for:

1. EASTER SUNDAY WIN ON THE AGENDA
While there was some encouraging signs for the Cairns Taipans on Good Friday, it won't mean much unless they can turn that into a win at home on Sunday against the same opposition

So far this season there has been a trend that when teams meet in back-to-back contests that the team that lost their first game has had a habit of winning the return encounter.

That's certainly something that the Cairns Taipans will hope continues on Sunday when they host Melbourne United at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena.

The two teams did battle in Melbourne on Good Friday with United eventually beating the Taipans 95-85. United had been up 13 points earlier in the game, but the Snakes showed good fight to get back into the contest from there and to get as close as four points down the stretch.

While they couldn’t quite finish the job there was plenty of encouraging signs from what the group produced to never give up the fight against a team that has now won four straight matches and remains championship favourites.

Shooting the ball at 14/35 at 40 per cent from beyond the arc was an encouraging sign for the Taipans as was pulling in 14 offensive rebounds for the game and dishing out 18 assists.

Taipans coach Mike Kelly saw plenty to be encouraged about with the performance to build upon for the Easter Sunday rematch at the pop-up, and now it's up to the Snakes to turn that into a winning performance in front of the Orange Army.

"We took a shot early in this game and came back from double-digits to get back to four so I know we can play with these guys. We just need to do it for four quarters," Kelly said. 

"If we can come back with that mindset and make shots again, because when we do drive they are collapsing on the ball, guys are going to be open for shots. We just have to keep having confidence to take them and knocking them down. I feel good about competing with them, we just need to finish."

2. FIGHTING SPIRIT GIVES PLENTY TO BUILD ON
Being able to fight back once again meant that coach Mike Kelly couldn’t question the heart of his Taipans team, now there's just a couple of areas to tidy up on to not get in that position 

The Cairns Taipans had plenty working against them on Good Friday in Melbourne, but that competitive effort gives a lot of encouragement for what could happen against United in Cairns on Easter Sunday.

The Snakes were still without regular starters Kouat Noi and Majok Deng and up against a fully stacked Melbourne team who regained star import Scotty Hopson for the game, and who were on a three-game winning streak on the back of some stifling defence.

Then United was able to build a 13-point lead to have all the momentum so it would have been easy for the Taipans to decide that it was all too hard and that this was a day that wasn’t going their way.

There was a few deflating turnovers and then plenty of things not going the way of the Taipans, but the way they stuck at it and were able to fight back, and make a game of it and to give them a shot of what would have been a stunning victory is to be commended.

Cam Oliver was a standout with 19 points, 12 rebounds and three steals while Nate Jawai and Scott Machado scored 13 points each, and Jarrod Kenny added 12 on the back of knocking down four three-pointers.

Then there was Jordan Ngatai with another 17 points so there was a lot to like about what the Snakes were able to do.

If they can get a few more calls to go their way and get to the foul line more often than nine times opposed to the 22 from Melbourne as what happened on Friday for the rematch in Cairns on Sunday, then that could help turn the result around too.

But taking better care of the ball will be another significant factor. Several of the 11 turnovers on Friday from the Taipans were careless and would have been horrifying for coach Mike Kelly.

So the combination of maintaining the good things they did, taking care of the ball better and having a few other things go their way, and the result could turn in the favour of the Snakes and coach Kelly is confident his team will give themselves a shot.

"We haven’t totally figured it out this year but it's about valuing the ball each possession and valuing stops each possession," Kelly said. 

"I think this group will fight but sometimes it takes us getting in the face and then we get rolling. That's not how you win basketball games consistently. Our guys did play hard but it's about being good every possession, being solid and then that leads to good basketball if you're doing right."

3. UNITED LOOK TO MAKE THEIR OWN ADJUSTMENTS
Melbourne United did win on Friday to make it four wins in-a-row but their coach Dean Vickerman still saw them areas they'd like to do better in Sunday's return clash in Cairns

Melbourne United made it four wins in-a-row by beating the Cairns Taipans at home on Good Friday, but there were still some things their coach Dean Vickerman would like to see improved upon.

Just a couple of weeks ago and Melbourne was on a four-game losing streak, but they responded well firstly with a solid win over the Illawarra Hawks on the road before overcoming the New Zealand Breakers in a thriller and then hammering the South East Melbourne Phoenix by 20.

So United had plenty of momentum coming into Good Friday's game against the Taipans on their home floor and they had the added bonus of welcoming back superstar import Scotty Hopson.

Then by midway through the second quarter following an 11-0 run they were leading the Taipans 39-26 and appeared on track for the comfortable win.

It didn’t quite turn out that way and even though they still finished with the 95-85 win the Snakes had certainly made them earn it and given them plenty to think about.

Melbourne ended up shooting 49 per cent from the field, had 46 rebounds to 36 including 17 offensive boards and 15 second chance points on the back of also dishing out 21 assists and getting to the foul line 22 times.

Jock Landale was remarkably efficient with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 8/9 shooting while Scotty Hopson had 14 points, Chris Goulding 16 and Jo Lual-Acuil 10. Jack White also had 11 points but he won't be there on Sunday after unfortunately rupturing his Achilles during the third quarter.

So there was plenty for United coach Vickerman to like about the win on Friday, but he didn’t like conceding 14/35 three-point shooting to the Taipans and that's going to be a focus coming into Sunday's return encounter in Cairns.

"Guarding the three ball was the big thing going into that game. We know that they shoot more threes than anyone in the league but they shot at a pretty good click and we have to take care of that better. The other things have to be maintained too," Vickerman said.

"I thought we made Machado's life hard and when he got deep in the lane he saw a pretty big crowd. I feel like he's been shooting the three ball pretty well also and we were able to contain him a little bit in that area. I thought Mitch did an especially good job stepping up in that area and we'll need him to do that again on Sunday."

4. OPPORTUNITIES CONTINUE TO BE GRASPED
Jordan Ngatai has waited patiently for years to get a chance to show what he can do regularly in the NBL, and he continued that on Friday and doesn’t play on stopping anytime soon

Jordan Ngatai came to Cairns looking for more opportunity and the career-best form he is delivering shows he's getting what he was craving, but only because his performances are deserving of it.

Ngatai had also been a handy back up role player at the New Zealand Breakers where he did play 58 NBL games over several seasons, but he could never really establish a regular role with consistent minutes.

He had always played a bigger role on the international scene with the Tall Blacks showing a glimpse of what he could be capable of in the NBL, and he would be hoping to get the chance to show more of what he's capable of joining the Taipans this season.

Now right now the injury to Kouat Noi and earlier a hamstring complaint to Mirko Djeric opened the door for some extra minutes and a bigger role at the Taipans for Ngatai, but he still had to grasp those opportunities.

And what Ngatai is doing is playing the best NBL basketball of his career and it's all on the back of being a strong defender, shooting the ball well, showing the confidence to attack the basket to make him harder to guard and more importantly, showing that competitive spirit and heart.

Ngatai was tremendous again on Good Friday in Melbourne with 17 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes of court time which saw him connect on four of his six three-point attempts.

He is a shining of example of what opportunities presented can turn into and he's just keen to continue to do whatever he can to help the Taipans start winning games of basketball on a regular basis.

"I've always had that confidence in myself and then having coach Mike and being under him this year as a player has been really good," Ngatai said.

"He's real encouraging and he wants his players to take those shots that are good for them. As long as I stick with that mindset I know that I've got the confidence in the coaches and myself, and my teammates so I think I can just keep improving."

5. TAIPANS WELCOME IN AN EXTRA BODY
Losing two key important players and regular starters leaves a hole for any team so the Taipans are looking forward to welcoming in Kiwi Hyrum Harris starting Sunday

The Cairns Taipans have been fighting valiantly while down on a bit of manpower, but they will have an extra body in the line-up as of Sunday.

With Majok Deng and Kouat Noi still sidelined through injury, the Snakes have been able to sign former Illawarra Hawks development player Hyrum Harris as an injury replacement.

Harris was with the Taipans in Melbourne for the Good Friday clash with United and now has joined them back in Cairns and he'll suit up and be ready to play and potentially make his Snakes debut on Easter Sunday at the Pop-Up Arena.

Harris showed encouraging signs for the Hawks last season including a game where he got plenty of court time and delivered eight points and six rebounds against the Adelaide 36ers. He had six points, five rebounds and two assists the next game too against the New Zealand Breakers.

He made 16 appearances with Illawarra before becoming too old to be a development player and then being unable to earn another NBL contract this season despite coming off a NZNBL season where he delivered 15.1 points and 11.7 rebounds a game with the Manawatu Jets.

Harris becomes yet another Kiwi at the Taipans too joining Jarrod Kenny, Jordan Ngatai and Jordan Hunt, but more importantly he'll provide some front court support for Cam Oliver, Nate Jawai and Fabijan Krslovic in the absence of Majok Deng.

Taipans coach Mike Kelly is looking forward to having Harris as part of the group.

"Hyrum is a hard worker and he actually came to a camp when I was an assistant with Melbourne when he was really young," Kelly said. 

"I just liked the way he carried himself and worked, and how he gave 100 per cent effort all the time. We saw that again last year as a DP at Illawarra and then in the NZNBL Bubble. He has come in ready to fight some guys in practice and I look forward to that."