Snake Eyes – Taipans v United NBL Cup

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans are on their first winning streak of the season and now they can not only continue that but send Melbourne United into a losing streak when they meet as part of the NBL Cup on Monday night.

Both teams took part in the opening day of the NBL Cup at Melbourne's John Cain Arena on Saturday and now back up on Monday night to close the double-header with the Illawarra Hawks and New Zealand Breakers acting as the curtain-raiser.

The Taipans entered the NBL Cup with a last up home win over the New Zealand Breakers and then started the tournament within a season with a come from behind win against the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday.

That gives the Snakes plenty of confidence and momentum coming into the clash with a Melbourne team now coming off their first loss of the season on Saturday against the Perth Wildcats to open the NBL Cup.

Add in the fact that both teams were semi finalists last year, both had high hopes for what this season would hold and that they've already played out a two-point thriller in #NBL21, and there's lots to look forward to on Monday night.

Here are five of them:

1. CELEBRATING WINS, THEN REFOCUSING
Cairns Taipans coach Mike Kelly knows the work that goes into winning games of basketball so he wants his team to enjoy those wins before refocusing on the next task

The Cairns Taipans had completed a tremendous second half fightback on Saturday to open the NBL Cup coming back from trailing the Illawarra Hawks by 12 points during the third quarter to end up winning 101-95.

It was a terrific performance from the Snakes to record a second straight win and there was so much to like about the performance. 

It was led by Scott Machado's 31 points, eight rebounds and seven assists but included a breakout performance from Jordan Ngatai with 17 points, a big return from Mirko Djeric with 16 points and six assists along with 13 points and seven rebounds from Majok Deng, and Cam Oliver 13 points and 10 boards.

Coach Mike Kelly was rightfully happy and proud of his team afterwards, but then was hit with a strange question about whether or not he was concerned after the win because Machado wouldn’t be able to always produce those outstanding numbers.

First of all, his season averages aren’t too far shy of those numbers anyway and secondly, there was nothing to be concerned about and plenty to be happy about following that win and now looking ahead to Monday night against Melbourne United.

"We're definitely celebrating a win. We're 3-6 right now and we have played some really good basketball over the last four games, and dropped two of those games. That's what basketball players do, Scott Machado makes shots and other guys made shots and it's a great thing," Kelly said.

"One of our best shot makers Kouat Noi didn’t get to play much because Jordan Ngatai and Mirko Djeric were making plays, and George Blagojevic played three and-a-half minutes and played great but didn’t get back on because other guys were making plays and shots. 

"I think you take it how you can get it when you can get a win, and we got the ball in the right hands and guys made some shots. We'll celebrate a win and now we'll watch Melbourne and get ready for Monday."

2. HOLDING EACH OTHER TO ACCOUNT KEY FOR SNAKES
The Taipans needed a trigger to turn things around against the Hawks and Scott Machado felt it was them coming out of their shells and acting how they do on the practice court

The Cairns Taipans did end up with a strong win over the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday to open the NBL Cup in Melbourne, but it didn’t look like being that midway through the third quarter.

The Hawks were leading 57-45 after a four-point play from Tyler Harvey with six minutes to go into the third quarter. They still led 60-49 when Harvey knocked down a three ball a minute or so later and the Taipans needed a circuit breaker.

Point guard Scott Machado likes the way the Taipans go about things at practice. They are loud and vocal as a group, they hold each other to account and call each other out about mistakes and make it clear what's expected of them.

However, he has noticed that doesn’t always translate into the game situation and some of the group tends to go into their shells on the big stage.

But if they were going to turn things around against the Hawks on Saturday to avoid slipping to a 2-7 record with a third defeat already against Illawarra this season, it was time to open up and demand what they needed from each other.

What pleased Machado most about the comeback victory that he was a huge part of, was the way that the group all stepped up vocally and then backed it up physically to finish the game outscoring the Hawks 56 points to 38 from the moment they trailed by 12.

"A lot of the stuff that happens in practice between just us was happening during that game. Our communication level has been getting better between us, and we needed to get that bickering out during the second quarter so each person knew what they needed to do better," Machado said. 

"That's really what happened. We just made sure we were all together and we have to stay together, but what needed to be fixed needed to be fixed. We bark on each other when we needed to."

3. APPRECIATING THE MAESTRO
Taipans coach Mike Kelly by no means takes for granted what a treat it is to have Scott Machado to coach but it's also about what a great team man he is just as much

By no means does Cairns coach Mike Kelly take for granted what he has in a point guard, leader and person with Scott Machado.

Machado not only is putting up numbers better than a season ago when he was runner-up in league MVP voting and named to the All-NBL First Team, but he provides much more to any team he's part of than what the numbers show.

And the numbers are impressive. He had 31 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Saturday's win over the Hawks, and is averaging 18.6 points, 9.6 assists and 4.4 rebounds a game for the season.

But it's what Machado does as a leader, a floor general, a motivator and as an inspiration to his teammates that sets him truly apart, and not for a second does Kelly ever take any of that for granted.

What also makes Machado special is how unselfish he is for a superstar. He saw Jarrod Kenny delivering on Saturday and was willing to sacrifice his own return to the court as a result.

It's that sort of thing that just has Kelly continuing to marvel at his superstar.

"I definitely appreciate it every day. Firstly from a personal point of view, he's a warrior and a great dude and great teammate," Kelly said.

"Then the basketball side of things is obviously very good with what he brings. I put him in combination out there with Jarrod Kenny because Jarrod made plays when Scott was off the floor, but then as I went to put Scott back on he told me to hold off because JK was making plays. 

"So I do appreciate Scott and the trust he has in the group. There's a long way to go but we'll celebrate this one and get ready for the next one."

4. CHANCE TO BUILD SOME REAL MOMENTUM
The six-game losing streak is now in the rear-vision mirror for the Taipans and that would be even more the case with a third straight victory

The Cairns Taipans are on their first winning streak of the season and continuing that on Monday night would provide some tremendous momentum for the rest of the NBL Cup.

The Snakes did start the season well enough with a win at home over the Sydney Kings but then a six-game losing streak following that was far from ideal.

That put a lot of pressure on the Taipans to at least finish the opening five rounds of the season before the NBL Cup with a win. They were able to do that by downing the New Zealand Breakers at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena.

That had the Snakes holding a 2-6 record coming into the NBL Cup and ironically they did hold the same record after eight games last year. From there they would win 14 of the last 18 regular season games to book a playoff berth, and end up just one game short of reaching the Grand Final.

So now the turnaround has already started with the wins in Cairns against the Breakers and then in Melbourne to open the NBL Cup on Saturday against the Illawarra Hawks.

The Taipans appear to be finding their groove and it has all been on the back of finding ways to provide more support to Cam Oliver and Scott Machado.

The returning import pair couldn’t have been doing much more even during that losing streak, and they have continued to play well in the two wins against New Zealand and Illawarra.

But the difference has been them receiving more support and that's come in the form of Jordan Ngatai enjoying his increased role to now be playing the best basketball of his NBL career. 

Majok Deng is delivering too, Kouat Noi is having his moments, Mirko Djeric returned strongly from injury on Saturday while Jarrod Kenny is providing plenty in so many areas when he hits the floor, George Blagojevic has had some impressive cameos and Nate Jawai and Fabijan Krslovic have important roles to play too.

All of that means the Snakes are in a good place entering Monday night's game against Melbourne United and a win would mean a three-game winning streak that gets the NBL season right back on track, but also has them well placed to make a run at winning the NBL Cup at the same time.

5. DEALING WITH A FIRED UP, HOME BOUND OPPONENT
Getting a win against a Melbourne United team now desperate to avoid a second straight defeat despite their home stand for the NBL Cup is going to be a big challenge

While the Cairns Taipans come into Monday night's game in their best form of the season, it's going to take an even better effort to come away with the win against Melbourne United.

Melbourne started the season winning their opening six matches including a two-point win in Cairns where they opened up a 14-point lead and then withstood a spirited Taipans comeback to hold on for the victory.

All six of those games were played outside of Melbourne with their two home games held in Bendigo, but their first 'home' game at John Cain Arena as part of the NBL Cup on Saturday saw them suffer a loss at the hands of the defending champion Perth Wildcats.

Now United will come out on Monday back on their regular home court determined to not let that turn into a losing streak and to record their first victory of the NBL Cup.

Melbourne will again be without backcourt pair Chris Goulding and Shea Ili, but they are still well stocked with guards with the likes of Yudai Baba, Mitch McCarron, Sam McDaniel and even Scotty Hopson.

Jock Landale always presents a threat for the Taipans too as a potentially dominant big man for United. Based on Landale's thoughts on how he'd deal with single coverage, the Snakes might want to continue to double team him in the post.

"Deano calls my number all the time but because of the way teams are playing me and doubling me, it doesn’t necessarily turn out that I'm shooting 20 shots and I'm fine with that because we'll grow as a team and continue to find good shots," Landale said. 

"I'm excited for the day someone doesn’t double me in the post because I'll have some fun, but at the same time this is a team that plays unselfish basketball and that's how it should be."