Round 1: Snakes make statement

CQUniversity Cairns Taipans (106) def. Tasmania JackJumpers (84)
Round 1 | MyState Bank Arena
Next Game: Taipans @ Phoenix, Saturday 8 October 4:30pm AEST

SUMMARY

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans have made a statement to start their season, with a tremendous 106-84 defeat of Tasmania on their home floor, and the most points scored against the JackJumpers in their short NBL history.

As the most inexperienced line-up in Cairns history, it was always going to be rollercoaster ride and despite a hot start dunk from Keanu Pinder it was a slow burn for most of the first quarter, with multiple time-outs and multiple line-ups to start.

The Taipans found their form after the first break – with Tahjere McCall and Sam Waardenburg igniting a 5-0 run to get into rhythm. The JackJumpers fought back and extended their lead to 11, until Majok Deng provided some punch off the pine, hitting nine quick points to close the gap and open the flood gates for the Snakes to shoot.

The Taipans went on to score 33 in the second - the most any team had scored against Tasmania in any quarter - until the Taipans in the third, when they scored 39.

Deng, Bul Kuol, DJ Hogg and Shannon Scott all made shots from range (combining for nine threes in the third) and managed to turn a two-point deficit into a 20-point lead, outscoring the home team 72-44 across the two terms.

The last quarter saw the JackJumpers rally and hold Cairns to just three points across six minutes, however their fightback only found themselves within 10. Keanu Pinder returned to the court after a nasty knee knock for an entertaining alley-oop play from McCall, before Deng scored his fourth triple of the evening to cap off a stunning 22-point victory.

STATISTICS

Majok Deng – now one of the most experienced players on the squad – barely missed for 26 points shooting at 81 per cent (5-5 2P, 4-6 3P) to go with five rebounds.

DJ Hogg was outstanding with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals in his NBL debut, as was new point guard Shannon Scott who quietly put together an impressive stat line of 16 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals.

STATEMENTS

Head Coach Adam Forde:

“The first quarter was a bit of nerves, and we’re a little bit behind because we didn’t have as many pre-season games as everybody else, and we didn’t have everybody available. So naturally, that first quarter was always going to be that. But, we’re shooting 2/12 at the half, and this team is built on shooting. What was really cool was that we were in touch, through our defensive effort. We made some errors, defensively, with our switching. But, the checks and balances – did I anticipate 39 points in the third quarter? Probably not. But I knew Bul was going to get going, I knew DJ was going to get going, I knew Shannon was going to get going. But we had to stay with it, stay disciplined, go through our stuff, don’t rush, and it will flow.”

Point Guard Shannon Scott:

“I had tremendous fun today. Fordey puts so much trust into us, allowing us to play the way we play but by also letting us know what we’ve got to get done. I think the third quarter really showed what we’ve been working on each and every day at practice. Obviously, the media can’t see what we’re doing every day, but we know what we have, we know the guys we have around us, we know what we’re capable of. So that first half, that first quarter in particular, when we were struggling – we been there before, we go through scenarios like that every day at practice. So, it was nothing new for us because we’ve been through it before. But we got to know how to weather the storm, how to get back together and stay composed – I think we did a great job with that.