Snake Eyes – Taipans v Bullets NBL Cup

The best thing about the NBL Cup is that it provides a quick opportunity for teams to rebound and the CQUniversity Cairns Taipans will attempt to take full advantage of that against the Brisbane Bullets on Sunday.

The Taipans entered the NBL Cup with a last up win at home over the New Zealand Breakers and then opened the tournament within a season in Melbourne with an impressive come from behind victory against the Illawarra Hawks.

The Snakes then also produced a strong showing against Melbourne United despite a narrow loss, but Friday night against the Perth Wildcats didn’t go to plan and now they get a chance to respond less than 48 hours later.

The Taipans are back at Melbourne's John Cain Arena on Sunday afternoon to take on the Brisbane Bullets in their second meeting of the season, and the first time the two rivals have ever met outside of Queensland in the NBL.

There's plenty to focus on coming into the contest, including the following five things:

1. MORE CONTRIBUTORS KEY FOR TAIPANS
For the Cairns Taipans to succeed this season and return with a win on Sunday against the Bullets, they need plenty of contributors to make that happen

Cam Oliver and Scott Machado are putting in a power of work for the Cairns Taipans this season, but it's no secret that the wins for the Snakes have come on the back of the import pair receiving plenty of support.

Of the 84.2 points, 37.9 rebounds, 18.1 assists, 4.3 steals and 4.2 blocks a game that the Taipans are averaging this season, Oliver and Machado are combining for 34.5 points, 14.4 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.8 blocks.

It's fascinating that in games where Cam Oliver puts up big numbers, the Taipans lose. That can be explained by the fact that he tries to get his team back into the game and that also when the Snakes play well, it's because of others stepping up. 

Oliver is putting up 11.0 points and 11.3 rebounds in Cairns' three wins, and 19.6 points and 10.4 boards in their eight losses.

The opposite is the case for Machado. In wins this season, he's putting up 20.3 points and 9.3 assists, and in losses, it's 16.0 points, 9.2 assists and most tellingly, 3.8 turnovers.

But for the most part, the Snakes know what they are going to get from Oliver and Machado. To win games consistently, it's up to others to play well on a regular basis.

So far this season, Mirko Djeric is averaging 15.5 points and 4.0 assists in wins while 9.6 points and 2.3 assists in losses. He's also shooting 53.3 per cent from deep in wins and 31.9 per cent in defeats.

Jordan Ngatai is another putting up 8.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in wins, and 3.2 points and 1.5 boards in losses. He's also going at 58.3 per cent from long range in victories and 40.0 per cent in defeats.

Even Mojave King is providing 4.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in the two wins he's been part of, and 2.6 points and 1.3 boards in the seven losses. George Blagojevic is another going at 4.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in victories, and 1.0 points and 0.8 rebounds in defeats.

To sum all that up, basically what the Taipans need is for more than just Oliver and Machado to be standing up especially in the continued absence of Majok Deng.

2. THE SEARCH FOR 40 MINUTES CONTINUES
Coach Mike Kelly continues to want to see a full 40-minute performance from the Taipans and until it happens, he knows results could continue to fluctuate

There's no question the best of the Cairns Taipans is capable of being among the best basketball any team in the NBL can produce, but so far this season it hasn’t quite been able to happen in games for a full 40 minutes.

The Taipans produced a brilliant final 15 minutes last Saturday to turn a 12-point deficit midway through the third quarter into an impressive victory against the Illawarra Hawks.

Then two days later the Snakes were in control of the game for most of the opening 35 minutes against the league-leading Melbourne United before just being overrun in the finish.

Then even on Friday night against the Perth Wildcats the first half performance was pretty solid especially with 24 points to 18 in the second quarter to head into half-time only down two points. Obviously being outscored 46 to 28 in the second half was far from ideal.

The Taipans have proven they can play some outstanding basketball again this season and now coach Mike Kelly just wants to see that replicated for as close to the full 40 minutes during games as possible.

"I think we need to learn and continue to strive for playing 40 really good minutes," Kelly said.

"We had some good flashes there against Perth and we had some good physical defence for a while, and boxed out and rebounded the ball. We need to extend that over 40 minutes and that's what we'll look to do now against Brisbane."

3. TAIPANS FOCUS ON GETTING THE RIGHT LOOKS
Cairns coach Mike Kelly is happy for his team to continue to shoot the three ball as long as they are getting the right looks, and running the offence how he hopes

This Cairns Taipans team is not shy on jacking up the three ball and coach Mike Kelly is fine with that provided they are the best looks they can get on that offensive possession.

The Taipans are the only team this NBL season so far to be averaging over 30 three-point attempts a game and that's not necessarily a bad thing when they are shooting at a reasonable clip of 34.2 per cent as a group to be ranked sixth in the league.

As a result of averaging the most three-point attempts in the league, the Taipans also make more than any other team with 11.5 makes per game.

With Scott Machado running the point for the Snakes and leading the league in assists, it's no surprise that Kelly is willing to trust his group to find the right shots on any given possession.

That does continue to be a work in progress and while it didn’t fall that great on Friday night against the Perth Wildcats with the team going for 7/32 from beyond the arc, what is a concern for Kelly isn’t the amount of three-pointers attempted.

What Kelly does want to see from the Taipans moving forward is running the offence, passing the ball and going through the playbook to find the right shots on each possession.

He's confident if they do that then the right shots will be found on more possessions whether they are three-point attempts or not.

"Perth's defence had something to do with us not shooting as well from three," Kelly said.

"Some of our shots were contested that we missed and we got some good looks, and I'm picturing Mirko and Cam knocking down some threes, and Scott got some good looks and Fab got some open shots. 

"I think if we have open shots from three we are going to continue to take them. If we move the ball and run some offence that we will get good look whether it's inside or outside the three. 

"We didn’t do that in the third quarter so it wasn’t so much that we missed shots or that we should change what we are looking for, it's more we should run some offence so that we get better shots."

4. IMPORTANCE OF GETTING DEFENSIVE END RIGHT
While the Taipans are continuing to fine tune things offensively, Fabijan Krslovic knows that for this team to go anywhere, they must get the defensive end right first

Fabijan Krslovic is now the man entrusted to start in the absence of Majok Deng and he's looking for the Taipans to get things right on the defensive end before worrying about too much else.

Krslovic stepped into the starting power forward spot on Friday night against the Perth Wildcats following the knee injury to Majok Deng, and having already started twice earlier in the season, it's not a role unfamiliar to him.

He also continues to show he is a more than capable NBL player with a good all-round game whether it's hitting jump shots, getting to the basket, rebounding the ball or playing good defence.

Krslovic did have 10 points and six rebounds in Friday's loss to the Wildcats to be the only player on the Taipans team outside of Cam Oliver to score in double-figures.

But it's not so much the offensive end that Krslovic wants his Taipans team to focus on too much of their energies. 

He has no doubt that naturally the offence will flow better if they get things right on the defensive end, and that's where the immediate focus is going to be heading into Sunday's clash with the Bullets.

"We have to focus on the defensive side of the court to be honest," Krslovic said.

"I think when we do a good job defensively it just naturally lends itself to us getting buckets whether it be in transition or just because it's a bit less chaotic bringing the ball up the court. 

"That was where we struggled in the second half against Perth, we gave up too many easy ones or there were times we did a good job for 20 seconds and then gave up an O-board or an easy cut or something. 

"That's more demoralising than when we are working and the shots aren’t dropping because we are getting good looks and we want those guys taking the shots. It's the other side that's more of a factor in what we are focusing on right now."

5. MINDFUL OF LETTING THE LAW PREVAIL AGAIN
The Cairns Taipans are fully aware of what Vic Law is capable of and how important limiting his influence is to beating the Brisbane Bullets

The Brisbane Bullets have plenty of talent but their fortunes so far this season have largely rested on when their import forward Vic Law produces big performances or not.

The Taipans felt that themselves in the first meeting with the Bullets this season when Law delivered 29 points and 11 rebounds including hitting the winning basket on the buzzer when he drove to the rack and finished strongly.

So the Snakes are fully aware of what Law is capable of and now the challenge on Sunday as part of the NBL Cup in Melbourne is to stop him being a game-winner again for the Bullets.

Law has proven to be quite the barometer for the Bullets. In Brisbane's four wins, he is delivering 28.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks while shooting at 54.2 per cent from the floor and 40.0 per cent from downtown. 

In the Bullets' five losses, he's going at just 14.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting at 42.6 per cent from the field and 18.8 per cent from beyond the arc.

What the last two games have emphasised more than anything is just how much the fortunes of the Bullets rest on what he produces. 

Two games ago in the loss to the South East Melbourne Phoenix, had had just nine points on 3/10 shooting and Brisbane lost by 16. Then against Illawarra on Friday, he came up huge with 29 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots, and the Bullets won. 

There's no obvious match up for him from a Cairns point of view, he dominated them last time and if he does so again, the Bullets will be tough to stop.