Round 2: Snakes fall in home opener

CQUniversity Cairns Taipans (76) lost to Perth Wildcats (105)
Round 2 | Cairns Convention Centre
Next Game: Taipans @ Kings, Friday 14 October 6:30pm AEST

SUMMARY

The Perth Wildcats spoiled the homecoming of the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans by dominating after quarter-time in Far North Queensland on the way to an eventual 105-76 win.

Todd Blanchfield had already knocked down three triples in the opening five minutes with Cairns only staying in touch courtesy of a three-point bomb and and-one play from Sam Waardenburg.

Perth still led 16-8 after a trademark four-point play from Bryce Cotton before Blanchfield knocked down a fourth three, but Cairns finished strongly with triples from Bul Kuol and Jonah Antonio to head into quarter-time up 24-23.

The 'Cats soon took over in the second period, though, beginning with three-point bombs to Mitch Norton and development player Michael Harris. 

Captain Jesse Wagstaff knocked down a pair of long-range bombs before Cotton converted another four-point play, hit another three ball and Blanchfield soon nailed his fifth of the half. Perth went on a 10-0 run to suddenly lead by 19 and Cotton pushed that out to 26 just before half-time. 

The Wildcats were up 60-37 at the break on the back of a combined 32 points from Blanchfield and Cotton while they shot 53 per cent from the field opposed to 38, hit 12/24 from downtown to 5/20 and scored 13 points off the 11 Cairns turnovers.

The Snakes opened the second half on fire with the opening nine points with five of those from Keanu Pinder, but they couldn’t keep it going. Wagstaff steadied Perth with two more long balls as part of a 12-2 run as the lead was back out to 24.

That lead was out to 25 by three quarter-time and it got to 30 early in the fourth term after a triple to Norton and another bucket from Blanchfield before they went on to win by 29 and remain unbeaten.

The Taipans are back on the road to take on the defending champion Sydney Kings on Friday night.

STATISTICS

The 'Cats went 50 per cent from the field and hitting 18/38 from three-point land while holding the Snakes to 38 per cent overall and 9/41 from deep.

It was a rough first loss of the season for the Taipans on the back of wins on the road against the Tasmania JackJumpers and South East Melbourne Phoenix. The Snakes had 18 turnovers for the night to go with the shooting woes.

Keanu Pinder battled hard once more for 18 points and 15 rebounds with Sam Waardenburg impressive with 14 points and three boards. DJ Hogg added 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Bul Kuol finished with eight points and three rebounds, Majok Deng eight points and three boards, Jonah Antonio seven points and four rebounds, and Shannon Scott five points, eight assists and four rebounds. Tahjere McCall had six assists, five rebounds and two steals.

STATEMENTS

Head Coach Adam Forde: 
It really started in the first and we gave up five offensive rebounds, which gave life to a lot of their offence. Even saying that, we made a lot of errors but at least if you cover the rebound you tend to get away with some of those. Then it rolled into the second quarter and it was a combination of nine turnovers and going 1/10 from three with the only three-pointer made being the one right before the half. This is it right, this is part of the learning curve for this group because there were things that really rattled our cage so it's about how we respond to that. It's really important that the guys learn and evolve from this because we can't just shoot ourselves out of it. It has to be done at the defensive end and it has to be done by relying on cuts off the ball, executing the stuff. 

Perth did a great job pushing us out and then when they got out and ran, we were failing just to pick up coverage points. We made a lot of simple errors which obviously snowballed into bigger errors, and then you get a result like that second quarter. The response at half-time was great for a stretch and we went on some runs and got some stops, but then Perth go on another mini run and that again shakes us out of our boots. We'll get that with this group, we have to understand that we got a response in the last few games when we were down, but tonight shook us a little bit more given it was our home court. We are still trying to win back the trust of the community after they've had two years of bad results. It's important we put a product on the floor that they can get behind, and it was unfortunate tonight was the result that it was. But a loss is only a loss if you don’t learn from it, and I think there was a lot to take out of this game.

Taipans forward Josh Davey:
It was awesome being out there. I've heard so much about the fans here and how supportive they are, and they were loud the whole game. You can't complain there, it was really good.

It means everything to me to be here. I am so grateful and I wake up every day with so much gratitude for the opportunities that I have in my life. I just feel so blessed to be able to do it with this group as well, they are such a good group of guys and Fordey is an amazing coach. To be having my first NBL stint here at Cairns is just a dream come true so I love it.