Cairns Taipans 71-79 NZ Breakers

The Breakers produced one of their very best games of the season to hand the Cairns Taipans their first loss of the season, and on Cairns turf too.

The Taipans had rolled over the Breaks on the North Shore after a massive third quarter the other week, and were 6-0 to start the season. No longer. Cedric Jackson won the battle between the dynamic American guards, dishing 10 assists while Scottie Wilbekin was held to 8-17 from the field including 1-7 from deep. It was Ekene Ibekwe who gave the Breakers the impetus from the bench and they blew out to a big lead in the second that they never surrendered.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Breakers apparent weakness against fast, incisive guards. Against Scottie Wilbekin, that was gonna be a massive part of this game, he destroyed this team in that game at the NSEC. In this game, we saw a couple of mobile bigs in Mika Vukona and Uncle Kenny Ibekwe blocking SW’s lanes while Cedric harried him, trying to take advantage of his reluctance to put up threes. Safe to say that it worked.

One other major weakness that emerged last game was the finishing in the paint. In fact, NZB shot at a better percentage from 3 than they did from 2 against Adelaide. There was a simple and efficient solution: Anytime someone looked for a shot, Uncle Kenny zoned in on the rim like your actual uncle for the Christmas turkey. He scored a massive 20 points with 14 rebounds, 8-9 shooting, more than a few tip ins amongst. Ibekwe had a pretty focussed night on the whole, with a few monstrous blocks sprinkled about as well.

The refs really ballsed up a tech call on Mika Vukona midway through the third. They let the wrong guy shoot, then everyone complained, then the figured let’s do this again. It didn’t matter; the important thing was that Mika had to sit for a while to stall his climbing foul count. Next thing the Taipans soared back into things, pulling the lead back to just four points at a stage. That was as close as they got, thankfully. The Taipans came back from 18 down against the Sydney Kings last week and they just didn’t quite have another one in them.

The Breakers’ free throw shooting is still a disgusting, mangled abomination. 5-16 for the night, late misses from the likes of Abercrombie and Ibekwe dragged the game out at the end. There was a spell where the Breakers were just a couple scores away from icing things but the points dried up and Cairns threatened an unlikely late surge. With Wilbekin sitting out some late minutes with cramp, but missed shots (and leaning on threes) meant they never got close enough to threaten again when it mattered.

Cedric was on triple double watch with 9/7/10, though he only shot at 25%. Mika Vukona also had a good one with 12/5 while Corey Webster put in 16.

Great win, beating the top team on foreign soil. This was the second of a three game away stretch and definitely the toughest. They lost to Adelaide on Sunday, and play Townsville this upcoming Sunday.

There was a rumour in the week that Tall Black Isaac Fotu was heading back to NZ to join the Breakers. He’s been playing college ball in Hawaii but got suspended for breaching the NCAA’s strict amateur policy. Apparently he borrowed a laptop. Chances were he’d be reinstated after appeal but that could be a long process and Fotu chose instead to go pro. Just not with the Breakers, he’s off to Europe instead. Best of luck, he’s a talent.

Stocks:

Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – Uncle Kenny. He started as a starter now he’s playing as a sub and it’s working just fine. With Pledger’s foot a long-term worry, Ibekwe has the chance for big minutes off the bench on nights like this, while the usual shorter, high impact time on the court protects him from foul trouble.

Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – The Taipans mascot will ruin childhoods. That thing looks like it slithered out of a B-Grade horror film. A botched lab experiment or a terrifying genetic hybrid that emerged from some deep, dark swamp to devour the poor teenagers skinny-dipping at the nearby beach or the grizzled old fisherman who warned us all that this would happen if we continued to abused mother nature… actually, that sounds like a decent film, someone whip up a script. It’s just not a good look for a sporting mascot.