Snake Eyes – Taipans vs United

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans bid farewell to the Pop-Up Arena in remarkable style on Friday night and now head to Sydney to take on Melbourne United with the chance to continue that momentum.

The Snakes might have been missing a host of key players and might now be missing more, but it didn’t stop them from pulling off the most incredible of comebacks on Friday night against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Despite being 16 points behind during the second half and still 12 as the comeback start, with Mirko Djeric inspired and his teammates along for the ride, the Taipans went on an incredible 23-4 to hand the Phoenix what could still be an important loss for them.

That will prove the final home game for the Taipans at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena and now they head to Sydney to take on Melbourne on Monday night with the chance to put a spanner in the works of United locking away top spot.

Here are five things to look out for:

1. CROWDLESS UNITED CHALLENGE IN SYDNEY
After setting the Orange Army alight on Friday night, the Taipans will now take on Melbourne United in front of no fans in Sydney on Monday evening

The energy at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena on Friday night was brilliant especially down the stretch with the Cairns Taipans delivering the incredible comeback to beat the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

That was the perfect way to farewell the Orange Army for the 2021 NBL season, but it's fair to say the atmosphere is going to be just a bit different on Monday night with the Taipans taking on Melbourne United Qudos Bank Arena.

The teams will be playing in Sydney thanks to Victoria's COVID-19 lockdown and there will be no crowd allowed to attend the game.

That will mean the teams will have to create all of their own energy which is going to be quite the difference after the atmosphere the Taipans got to enjoy on Friday night, but it also takes away any home court advantage for Melbourne as well.

It's an important game for United too who are coming off a double overtime loss in the same building against the Sydney Kings on Saturday night.

That meant that Melbourne still need to win their remaining three matches to be guaranteed of holding onto the top spot they still occupy. A loss on Monday to the Taipans and they remain vulnerable to the Perth Wildcats who they take on in Perth on Friday.

Cairns coach Mike Kelly knows that playing in front of a crowd or not, and where the game is, is well out of his control and he'll just do what he can to have the Snakes up and firing again.

"You just do what you're told. Melbourne's a great team, very tough and rolling right now so we'll get some rest and get these guys ready," Kelly said. 

"Hopefully we shoot over 50 per cent from three and we'll have a chance there."

Taipans swingman Jordan Ngatai 

I'm sure most of the boys have never played in front of a no-fan crowd so by talking you will be exposed I guess. But it should be interesting.

2. MORE BLOWS FOR TAIPANS ON INJURY FRONT
The Cairns Taipans have suffered a couple of more blows with two more players ruled out for the rest of the season since Friday night's win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix 

The Cairns Taipans did such a tremendous job to win on Friday night despite being down on manpower and that's magnified even further now for the last two games of the season.

Already having lost Kouat Noi to the injury since the NBL Cup in Melbourne and with superstar import Cam Oliver returning home to the United States and ending up starring in the NBA, the blows personnel-wise have continued to be felt by the Taipans.

Emerging power forward Fabijan Krslovic also missed two games at home last week to the Bullets and Phoenix with a knee complaint, and he has been ruled out for the final two matches as a result as well.

Then following last Wednesday's game at the Pop-Up Arena against the Brisbane Bullets where Mojave King broke out with his best performance of the season scoring 25 points, he suffered an ankle injury.

The 18-year-old Next Star went on to miss Friday's win against the South East Melbourne Phoenix and has now been ruled out for the final two games on the road of the season on Monday night against Melbourne United and then on Wednesday in New Zealand against the Breakers.

Then to top that off, the energising forward Venky Jois who has added so much to the Taipans since coming in as a replacement for Oliver also will miss these last two games of the season on Monday and Wednesday due to personal reasons.

So that's not a bad starting five that the Taipans will be without on Monday night when you factor in Cam Oliver, Fabijan Krslovic, Venky Jois, Kouat Noi and Mojave King, but there are still no excuses for the Snakes.

There's still Scott Machado, Tad Dufelmeier and Jarrod Kenny to run things in the back court, Mirko Djeric and Jordan Ngatai can fill the two and three spots, and then Majok Deng and Georg Blagojevic can help fill the front court alongside Nate Jawai.

While the lack of depth might not be ideal against Melbourne United of all teams, but those Taipans players out there will be giving their all.

3. COMING OFF FRIDAY NIGHT'S HIGH
On an eight-game losing streak, missing key players and taking on the form team of the NBL, and falling down 16 points, Friday night was quite the occasion to remember for the Taipans

Friday night was a bonus home game for the Cairns Taipans and what an occasion it turned out to be against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

The Snakes had thought Wednesday against the Brisbane Bullets would be their last game at the Cairns Pop-Up Arena, but Victoria's COVID-19 lockdown meant the Phoenix came to the Tropical Far North to take on the Taipans on Friday night.

The job was right ahead of the Taipans with the Phoenix arriving on a four-game winning streak to be in third position on the table, and then you factor in the Snakes being on an eight-game losing run and being without some key players.

The deck was stacked even further against the Snakes when the Phoenix found themselves 16 points up during the third quarter and then still by 12 with seven minutes remaining in the game.

But from that point on, the Taipans delivered the most remarkable seven minutes of basketball.

Majok Deng hit a couple of buckets and then Tad Dufelmeier scored to bring the Taipans back within six points.

It was then Mirko Djeric time. Over the space of the next three minutes, he nailed four massive three-pointers showing the ice he has in his veins to turn the Snakes from eight points down before he nailed his first to four points up when he hit his fourth.

Not only did the Snakes score 23 points in the last seven minutes, but held the Phoenix to just six points in that period as well to score the memorable and remarkable win in the last home game of #NBL21.

Jordan Ngatai has had quite the breakout season with the Taipans and he started Friday's game on fire with 10 quick points, and he and his teammates were delighted to come away with that result.

"It means a lot to get that win," Ngatai said.

"We've got great fans and they've been loyal to us throughout the whole season so it was a good one to send them off with."

Taipans coach Mike Kelly was just proud to see his group fight so hard to get that reward for effort of tasting a victory.

"Guys are still together on this group and if you stick with something long enough, and do the right things, you are going to have a breakthrough. We got that in this game," Kelly said.

4. DEFENSIVE ENERGY THE KEY
Shutting down the South East Melbourne Phoenix took a team effort in the fourth quarter and Friday and coach Mike Kelly wants more of the same now against Melbourne United

The offensive outburst with 23 points over the last seven minutes was massive for the Cairns Taipans on Friday night, but the defensive performance was every bit as important.

The South East Melbourne Phoenix had 81 points on the board in that game on Friday over the opening 33 minutes of the game, but the Taipans then turned on the clamps and locked in defensively in impressive fashion.

They kept the Phoenix to four points and two field goals until they scored just before the buzzer and that was instrumental in the fightback victory every bit as much as what happened at the offensive end was.

Majok Deng has always been an offensive weapon his entire NBL career, but he is now becoming more and more of an all-round player all the time, and Taipans coach Mike Kelly was happy to see him help set the tone defensively with the game on the line.

"Majok was one of those energy guys for us and so was George Blagojevic who played with great energy especially in that second half," Kelly said. 

"Nate came back in the fourth and gave us great energy defensively. Tad and other guys were getting hands to basketballs, and talking to each other and it was just a beautiful thing to see guys playing defence with energy. Majok was one of the main guys there."

5. KIWI GUN ONE OF THE SEASON BRIGHT SPOTS
He might be softly spoken and might not garner the headlines, but the performance of Jordan Ngatai all season long has been one of the brightest parts of #NBL21 for the Snakes 

Jordan Ngatai was a signing by the Cairns Taipans for the 2021 NBL season that didn’t raise much of a ripple, but he'd always been capable of providing a lot more than he had previously with the New Zealand Breakers.

You just needed to have seen what Ngatai was producing year after year back in the NZ NBL in the NBL off-season and then also the key role he has played now for a number of years for the Tall Blacks on the international stage to know what he was capable of.

But he had been lost in the shuffle for much of his NBL career previously at the Breakers and this season with the Taipans might very well have been his last chance of proving what he could deliver.

And what an outstanding season he has ended up producing where he continues to show he is a knockdown three-point shooter, he is capable of finishing at the rim and creating his own shot and driving the ball, and he can also distribute the ball.

He is also a more than solid defender and he has a tremendous all-round game which he's now been backed in to show what he's capable of with the Taipans, and he couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity that he's now making the most of.

"For sure I'm happy about this season personally," Ngatai said.

"Coach has given me a lot of opportunities, teammates have given me a lot of confidence and so have the coaches. I'm grateful for it and it just goes to show that if you put in the work it will show off."