Snake Eyes – Taipans vs Wildcats

The CQUniversity Cairns Taipans will look to build on an improved showing on Monday against the Perth Wildcats and turn it into a victory at RAC Arena on Friday night.

The Taipans put in a much better showing on Monday night at home to Perth than what they showed a few days earlier in Melbourne against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Now it didn’t quite translate into a victory, but there was plenty to be encouraged about with the performance from the Snakes and they can now head west and put all the pressure back on a Wildcats team that needs to win to remain any chance of still claiming top position.

The Taipans are also looking to keep their streak going of having beaten the Wildcats at least once in every NBL season dating back to 2002.

So there are plenty of things to look forward to about the clash over in Perth on Friday, including the following five:

1. WIN OUT WEST WOULD BE REWARD FOR EFFORT
For the most part this season the Cairns Taipans have shown good fighting spirit, and have put a tremendous amount of work in. An upset win out west late in the season would be a nice reward

Cairns arrive in Perth for Friday night's game looking to cause what would be the upset of the season and if they can pull it off, it might very well be curtains to the Wildcats' hopes of claiming top spot.

While it's not quite the marquee match up it was going back to last season when the Taipans and Wildcats locked horns in a cracking semi-final battle that went to three games with Perth eventually winning on their way to the championship, it doesn't mean the result is by any means a formality.

Both teams actually come into the game at RAC Arena on Friday night after losses too with the Wildcats ending their Queensland road trip losing to the Brisbane Bullets on Wednesday with Cairns' last game being that one at home on Monday to the 'Cats.

The Wildcats have announced captain Jesse Wagstaff will miss the game against the Snakes while Todd Blanchfield will be a game time decision having missed Wednesday's loss to the Bullets with knee soreness.

That could potentially slightly open the door for the Taipans but it's just simply a must-win game for Perth if they still want to maintain any sort of touch with Melbourne United who occupy top position.

Top position is still there to fight for as far as the Wildcats are concerned as they chase a championship three-peat, but a loss on Friday would make that decidedly less the case.

It would be a significant morale boost for the Taipans to go out west and come back with the upset victory. It's not something foreign to them and going back to last season, they handed the Wildcats their biggest ever loss at RAC Arena in what doubled as their very first win of the season.

But with Nate Jawai inside and Scott Machado at the point, the team always has a chance and the Snakes should head out on Friday night with clear minds and knowing they can turn all the pressure back on Perth the longer they stay in the contest.

but ultimately the Taipans couldn’t quite get the job done but they get the chance to do it again now on Friday.

"You put yourself in a position to win and then good teams know how to finish that, and we haven’t been there consistently. Then I think Scott got tired after having the ball in his hands a lot. A couple of fouls on three-pointers with Bryce are the stuff that adds up in the finish," said coach Mike Kelly.

"The major motivation is always to win games and to compete, and we did that in this game. The guys gave that effort, we just weren’t up to it to get the win and get the job done, and Perth was good enough to do that."

2. TAKING HEART FROM FIVE DAYS AGO
The Taipans actually did a lot right and a lot to be encouraged about at home to the Wildcats on Monday, so just a few tweaks and a similar effort could lead to the win on Friday

It was only back on Monday night when these two teams did battle in Cairns and that turned out to be a solid win for the Wildcats even though it was an improved competitive showing from the Taipans.

Perth spread the load across their roster in the first half which also allowed them to get 20 valuable minutes into the legs of new recruit Will Magnay.

After a tough outing against South East Melbourne on Friday, Nate Jawai and Scott Machado showed the way for the Taipans to bounce back emphatically to take it to the Wildcats, especially when stars like Bryce Cotton and John Mooney were on the pine.

At three quarter-time the scores were locked at 65-65 but the big guns of Perth blew the brave Taipans away in the end. Best of all, the Wildcats conserved energy with one more road game to come against the Bullets on Wednesday night.

Cotton was sublime in the final quarter and finished with 24 points and five assists while Mooney chimed in with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Todd Blanchfield had 11 points while Mitch Norton, ably supported by his Far North Queensland family in the stands, had 10 points and three assists.

While yet another loss will be a bitter pill to swallow for Cairns, they were vastly improved on Friday night and gave their fans something to cheer for. 

Local favourite Jawai continued his superb finish to the year with 20 points, nine boards and three blocks while import Machado had an improved 17 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

Fabijan Krslovic rounded out the scoring with 11 points and four rebounds while the other young guns toiled hard.

Taipans coach Mike Kelly was left virtually speechless in disappointment after last Friday's loss in Melbourne to the South East Melbourne Phoenix, but it was a vastly improved showing on Monday against Perth even it didn’t quite result in a victory.

"I thought the guys competed the whole way through and when you do that then you can think about basketball matters. The other day we didn’t do that as well as we did in this game so I was happy with the effort," Kelly said.

"Perth kind of got more comfortable with our zone as the game wore on and then we turned the ball over. I think their defensive pressure was solid the whole game but we turned it over in the fourth and that killed us."

3. LAST CHANCE TO KEEP STREAK GOING
The Taipans have a fascinating history against the Wildcats but for 18 straight seasons they have won at least once against them, and now Friday is the last chance to keep that going

The Cairns Taipans have won at least one game a season against the Perth Wildcats dating back to 2002, but now Friday night is the last chance for the Snakes to keep that streak going.

In each of the past 18 NBL seasons dating back to 2002, the Taipans have beaten the Wildcats at least once. The Snakes now need to win on Friday night to keep that streak going in their final meeting with the Wildcats for #NBL21.

The Taipans had three wins against the Wildcats going back to last season including a 23-point triumph at RAC Arena which remains the biggest ever loss that Perth has suffered in the venue.

The Snakes also beat the Wildcats 91-84 at the Cairns Convention Centre and then at home as well in Game 2 of the semi finals, 85-74.

It hasn’t quite happened yet this season, though, with the Wildcats winning 89-69 at the NBL Cup in Melbourne and then 93-75 at RAC Arena in Round 10, and then 89-78 just on Monday night against the Cairns Pop-Up Arena.

So while the Taipans have lost the three match ups this season by double-figures, they were significantly more competitive on Monday night and have been able to maintain their focus on the Wildcats since this week without another game in between.

Perth will also be playing its fifth game in nine days so if the Snakes are to strike, this might very well be the time.

4. DOMINATING NATE ALWAYS GIVES SNAKES A CHANCE
With Nate Jawai in the form and health that he is in right now, he can dominate any game he's part of and that means he has the potential to lead the Snakes to victory if given the opportunity

The manner in which Nate Jawai is finishing the season is showing that he has plenty of basketball still in front of him and the 34-year-old has taken on the responsibility with great effect of stepping up since the departure of Cam Oliver. 

His minutes have doubled in the games since while he's averaging 14.8 points and 5.2 rebounds a game over that stretch. He is leading Cairns' scoring over the last six games ahead of Majok Deng who is delivering 12.3 since returning from his knee injury. 

He has the chance to continue to dominate down low again, and if he does, an upset could be brewing.

Coach Mike Kelly was again pleased with the performance of Nate Jawai as he keeps standing tall since the absence of Cam Oliver.

"Nate responded really well," Kelly said.

"He had nine rebounds and he did a great job of just being active defensively especially on the boards, and then offensively he wanted the ball and finished. 

"He was great to see him being so active and leading from the front."

5. WINNING TAKES PRIORITY OVER ALL
Despite having the best season of his NBL career and knowing he's looking for a strong finish to earn another contract, Jordan Ngatai only cares about helping the Cairns Taipans win games of basketball 

Jordan Ngatai has produced the best NBL season of his career and was happy to see the team bounce back with a better performance on Monday, is looking forward to further growth on Friday and that's where his focus remains right now.

You could understand that late in the season if players did begin to look out for themselves, but the good thing about this Taipans group is that no one has gone and become selfish, and the commitment to the team is still there.

That's evident clearly with Ngatai. He's had a breakout season showing his full array of ability to shoot the three ball, finish in transition, to get to the basket and to also rebounding and defend strongly.

So you could understand if he was thinking about trying to lock in a contract for next season, but he'd much rather help the Taipans win as many games as possible in this home stretch.

"It wasn’t the greatest after that South East game, but I thought this was a good little bounce back for us even though the result doesn’t show. I thought we came out and competed," Ngatai said.

"I think every day you are playing for a contract it doesn’t matter what part of the season it is. Everyone talks around the basketball community, but right now my motivation is trying to get a win and not a contract for next year. 

"That will all take care of itself if you do well on the court, win and play hard. That will all just fall into place."