Taipans can't capitalise on flying start in Adelaide

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans started on fire at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Sunday afternoon in their second game of Round 12 on the road but couldn’t quite maintain it, with the Adelaide 36ers prevailing 82-71.

The Snakes had been in action in Wollongong on Friday night and put together a strong first quarter to lead the Illawarra Hawks 21-17 by quarter-time.

However, the Taipans only managed 33 points the rest of the way and it turned out to be a frustrating night in the eventual 25-point defeat.

There was little time to stew over it, though, with Cairns straight on the plane to Adelaide on Saturday to prepare for the early starting fixture on Sunday against a 36ers team they had hammered back in Cairns on December 18.

The Snakes shot out of the blocks impressively on Sunday as well, scoring 13 of the game's opening 14 points and holding the 36ers to no field goals in the opening five minutes of the contest.

The Taipans were able to lead by as much as 15 points with Stephen Zimmerman delivering his best performance of the season, but the 36ers fired back with the opening 15 points of the second quarter, before scores were locked away at 34-34 by half-time.

Adelaide was able to get on top in the second half, though, with Cairns falling to the 11-point loss on the back of scoring just the 47 points over the past three quarters. That means they have scored just the 80 points in the past two games after quarter-time.

Zimmerman, without question, was a shining light for the Taipans finishing with 21 points, 14 rebounds and three steals on 9/13 shooting.

Majok Deng added 12 points and five rebounds, Tahjere McCall eight points, five rebounds and four assists before fouling out with more than six minutes remaining.

Bul Kuol also had eight points, Scott Machado six points and three assists, Mirko Djeric six points and two assists, Keanu Pinder five points and five rebounds, and Marshall Nelson five points and two assists.

Coach Adam Forde fronted the media on his own post-match with the Taipans looking to find away to get back on track.

"They’ve got a closed locker room meeting right now. There’s some conversation there that I want to let take place organically. There’s some frustrations," Forde said.

"There’s a part that I play with that. We were doing it so effectively earlier in the season. Now we start to bring our squad back, whether there is an uncomfortable dynamic with our back court… the best way to describe it is awkward. 

"The communications is off. It just snowballs and becomes worse and worse. We’re in a position right now that’s not fun. It is really frustrating. Frustrating for me; frustrating for the playing group."

Stephen Zimmerman gave the Taipans the perfect opening with the game's first five points. The only score for the 36ers in the first five minutes was a lone free-throw to captain Mitch McCarron.

Following that, the Snakes scored eight straight points including a theft by Zimmerman on McCarron. The Cairns big man then took the ball up the other end and flushed the finish for the 13-1 lead.

Eventually Adelaide made a field goal through Cam Bairstow at the five-minute mark. Dusty Hannahs hit the floor to drain a three and make another basket, but the Taipans were still up 23-9 by quarter-time thanks to a triple from rookie Bul Kuol.

Things certainly changed rather dramatically in the first five minutes of the second term. Cairns went 13-1 to start the first and then it was Adelaide going 15-0 to open the second period.

McCarron opened up hitting a three and then Sunday Dech finished inside leading to a quick Adam Forde timeout. It didn’t help with the 36ers still adding another 10 points including a McCarron alley-oop for a pretty Kai Sotto finish.

Suddenly the 36ers were leading 24-23 and it took Cairns almost six minutes to score, which came courtesy again of Zimmerman who had the best half of the season with 13 points and seven rebounds.

The game largely lived at the foul line the last four minutes with the 36ers and Taipans going into the half-time break tied at 34-apiece.

The Sixers then again started the third quarter impressively starting with a Tad Dufelmeier triple and a couple of nice finishes from Todd Withers. It took almost three minutes again for Cairns to score and it came from Tahjere McCall.

The teams largely traded baskets for much of the rest of the third quarter until a later Daniel Johnson three was enough to give Adelaide the 54-47 edge going into the fourth.

Hannahs then hit a three to start the last term to make it a double-figure lead. That soon blew out to 15 starting with a bomb from downtown by Dech before he secured a steal and finish. 

Dufelmeier then scored against his former team to make it a 15-point ball game with four minutes to go, and the Sixers cruised to the 11-point home win from there.

The Taipans now return home to host the Brisbane Bullets on Thursday night at the Cairns Convention Centre to open Indigenous Round in the NBL.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 12

CQUNIVERSITY CAIRNS TAIPANS 71 (Zimmerman 21, Deng 12, Kuol 8, McCall 8) 

ADELAIDE 36ERS 82 (Johnson 18, McCarron 14, Dech 13)

BOX SCORE