Snake Eyes – Taipans v Breakers

For the first time this season the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans have had a full week in between games and the Snakes will be hoping that brings about a change of fortunes on Saturday against the New Zealand Breakers.

It has been a hectic schedule for the Taipans to open the 2021 NBL season with six games over the opening three rounds all crammed within a 15-day period.

But following last Saturday's first road game in Brisbane, the Snakes have had a full week back home in Cairns to prepare to play the Breakers on Saturday back at the Pop-Up Arena.

The Taipans might have played six games already and the Breakers only two, but with New Zealand having been away from home and based in Australia since early December, both teams have had challenging starts to the season in different ways.

That sets the stage for a fascinating match up on Saturday with the Taipans entering on a five-game losing streak and the Breakers yet to record a win in #NBL21. And if that's not enough, they do it all again in Cairns on Monday night too.

Here are five things to look ahead to:

1. WEEK'S BREAK HOPEFULLY JUST THE TONIC
The Taipans have had a full week of preparation for a game for the first time since the season started and will be hoping that pays dividends

It has been quite the hectic schedule for the Cairns Taipans to open this 2021 NBL season, but with a full week to get ready for Saturday against New Zealand there'll be no excuses in terms of the preparation and lead in time.

There has been little time for the Taipans to digest each game played so far this season even though five of the six matches in the first three rounds have been played at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena.

After the season-opener at home to the Sydney Kings, there was just two days before the Snakes played the Hawks. Round 2 then began five days later against Sydney and then just two days later and the opponents were a fresh and waiting Melbourne United.

There was then only three days before Round 3 started against the Hawks last Thursday and then it was onto Brisbane to play the Bullets on Saturday for the first road game of the campaign for the Snakes.

Now this week has finally presented the Taipans the chance to refresh the bodies but to also dissect and digest what's happened over those first six games, and work on some things now moving forward.

With such little time between those six games, there was little time to analyse and work on anything new, but this week has presented that opportunity and it's something the players and coaching staff are thankful for.

Going back to last year and the Taipans did perform better when they had a week in between matches. Of the seven games played last season with seven days in between games, the Snakes won five of them. Of games with at least five days' break, they went 10-5 a season ago.

In contrast back to last season, the Taipans won just one of four games with two days in between games and went 3-6 with three or fewer days between match ups.

History does suggest a week's preparation is advantageous which the Taipans will be hoping comes to fruition on Saturday. 

The only problem is the Breakers now haven’t played since last Wednesday and will have gone 10 days in between games when the ball is tipped on Saturday in Cairns.

2. TAIPANS WITH A POINT TO PROVE
Taipans superstar Scott Machado has received huge attention from the opposition this season but all he cares about is helping the Snakes prove they can win again on Saturday

Scott Machado knew a lot would rest on his shoulders for the Cairns Taipans this season and he expected that opposition teams would focus on clamping him down, but helping the Snakes win is all he cares about.

Machado had one of the best seasons ever from a Taipans player back in 2019/20 ending up as the club MVP, named to the All-First NBL Team and coming runner-up in MVP voting while setting a new record for assists in a season since the league went to 40-minute games.

As a result, opposition teams have made their focus to try to limit the influence of Machado on games this season and to especially upset his chemistry with Cam Oliver.

Despite that Machado has still delivered 16.3 points, 8.8 assists and 3.7 rebounds a game over the opening six games this season. But what he cares about is the 1-5 record and five-game losing streak, which is what he's focused on doing something about.

Going back to last Monday night and Machado's heroics also brought Cairns back from the dead against Melbourne United when he went on an individual 11-0 run. Then on Saturday in Brisbane he was massive in overtime to keep Cairns in the game.

But getting close isn’t something he's willing to accept. Now while fully acknowledging the talent and danger that the New Zealand Breakers present, he's backing in the Taipans to get back on the winner's list.

"We don’t go into no games thinking we can't win. We think we can win every game that we go into, we just have to prove it now. We'll go into this game making sure we have practiced well, prepared well and we'll go out there and execute," Machado said.

"They have a good team. They lost their first two games and the first one was a heartbreaker, and they're not going to come in here thinking it's easy. They've been away from home, they've been travelling and they are coming in here hungry. We haven’t won a game in five games so now it's a battle for both of us teams."

3. SNAKES STILL CONFIDENT IN OWN ABILITIES
Majok Deng never lacks confidence that he can score when he has the ball in his hands but he also has full faith in the Snakes returning to the winner's list

Majok Deng knows that the New Zealand Breakers are going to be ready to play at their best come Saturday, but he's confident the Cairns Taipans can withstand that and get back to winning.

Deng is now an experienced NBL player with 127 games under his belt and he recently passed some significant milestones having scored more than 1000 points in career and also made more than 100 three-point shots while shooting at a more than respectable 38 per cent.

The 30-year-old is a significant part of the Taipans line-up with his ability to shoot and score the ball, but with his height and length, he's also a handy rebounder and defender who can make a big impact on any game he plays in.

He has started this #NBL21 season well too averaging 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds a game, but like his teammate Machado, all he is worrying about is doing what he can to help the Snakes win games of basketball.

Deng is fully aware the Breakers aren’t going to hand anything to the Taipans this week. New Zealand haven’t played since last Wednesday night having had their trip to Perth cancelled so they are fresh and hungry to open their account with a first win of 2021.

They have plenty of talent to back up those hopes too, but Deng is confident that the Taipans have done all the right things this week to get themselves ready to withstand the Breakers, and to get over them.

"They haven’t had a good start but we know they are a great team, and it's a long season," Deng said.

"It's been a long off-season so everyone is trying to find their feet again and we know they are going to be ready coming in here. 

"They've got great talent and we are confident in ourselves that we'll be ready for them on Saturday, and can get back on the winner's side."

4. NO DOUBTING THE DANGER THE BREAKERS REPRESENT
The Taipans might be hungry to snap the losing run but the Breakers will be desperate too and aren’t lacking in talent on arrival in Cairns

Cairns Taipans coach Mike Kelly is glad to have a full week's preparation for his team, but that doesn’t guarantee anything against such a dangerous opponent.

The Snakes will be glad to have had the week to prepare for the Breakers on Saturday night at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena, but coach Kelly knows that they are going to have to be at their best to come away with the victory.

The Breakers have every right to be able to lay claim to having the most pure talent on their playing roster of all teams in the NBL this season.

They have added MVP candidate from the last two years Lamar Patterson along with big man import Coltor Iverson who arrives in the NBL with a big reputation.

Then there are still the Breakers stalwarts like Corey Webster, Tom Abercrombie, Rob Loe, Finn Delany and Jarrad Weeks who are all proven, experienced players and most importantly, winners.

Tai Webster has also returned home to run the Breakers as point guard while they have a couple of young exciting talents too with Rasmus Bach and Kyrin Galloway.

That's a strong group for the Breakers to come into this season with. On pure talent, it stacks up impressively but they've also got a lot to deal with having already being away from home since early December and the possibility of spending the whole season in Australia.

The Breakers have also played just the two matches so far this season over the first two rounds and they were two losses against the Adelaide 36ers.

Based on all of that knowing the talent within that Breakers group and with the knowledge they will arrive in Cairns hungry and fresh, Kelly certainly isn’t taking anything for granted against them.

"They're a really talented group and they've only played a couple of games in Adelaide," Kelly said. 

"We've played six and they have played two so we'll see. I think they are still in that early season mode of finding out what their best combinations are. 

"But with the Websters, Abercrombie, Lamar Patterson, Rob Loe, Iverson, Finn Delany, they've got all kinds of talent. 

"They have good players everywhere and good young players coming through so they are very talented. We just have to keep them in check defensively and stay spaced, and score on offence."

5. BEWARE THE SUPERSTAR WITH CHIP ON SHOULDER
The Snakes are fully aware of Lamar Patterson's abilities and they will need to be mindful of him firing up for the Breakers in Saturday's contest

Lamar Patterson in his time at the Brisbane Bullets had some tantalising battles with the Cairns Taipans over the past two seasons, and now that resumes on Saturday albeit he will be in a different uniform.

Patterson has actually had a fascinating history when at the Bullets against the Taipans over the past two seasons. 

In his seven games against Cairns, his numbers are way down on his NBL career numbers at 16.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists a game with him being part of three wins and four losses for Brisbane.

The only time he's reached 20 points against the Taipans was the first time he played them shortly after he arrived as an import replacement during the 2018/19 season. He had 27 points that night but the Taipans won the game.

He then had 15 points and 12 rebounds in a win for the Bullets before 16 points and six boards in a loss with the Bullets going on to play in the finals and the Taipans finishing last.

Then last season, Patterson really struggled against the Taipans averaging just 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists across the four games where the home teams won on each occasion.

Patterson was then a big signing for the Breakers this off-season, but it's fair to say he hasn’t delivered what they had hoped so far.

That included a scoreless game on 0/6 shooting in less than 15 minutes of court time in his last game back on Wednesday of last week against the Adelaide 36ers.

The problem that spells for the Taipans is that Patterson will be fresh, hungry and determined to bounce back hard and show what he's capable of once again. 

The challenge for the Snakes is to not allow him to become the match-winner he's shown the NBL he can already be over the past two seasons.