Fast Break Report #12: An Off Day in Cairns
(Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images AsiaPac)
Cairns Taipans 91-80 NZ Breaker
Sometimes you don’t win. Nothing dramatic, nothing to panic about. That’s just the way that sports go sometimes, especially over the course of a long season, so for the Breakers to drop one in Cairns is not a huge deal.
But it was a bit frustrating as this was a game where for whatever reason they didn't quite bring it. The intensity was down, the Breaks were thoroughly out-rebounded in the first half and they shot poorly despite those being arguably their two best attributes. There’s also a growing feeling that Cairns could be this season’s Illawarra - they might be a bogey team for the Breakers. Hey, they beat us in Auckland a few weeks back, remember.
On that occasion it was Cam Gliddon who scored 25 points and led the show. This time it was Travis Trice. The US import is one of the league’s finest when he takes over like this, he’s 23 and has played a bit of NBA D-League and Summer League as well as making it to the Final Four with Michigan Stake so the guy’s got some pedigree. He scored 7 quick points as the Taipans shot out to a 14-4 lead.
Although they probably loved the extra few days off, this was the first week in a few that they only played once instead of a doubleheader. That might account for a little extra rustiness. Oh and while we’re at it with NBL matters, can someone stitch David Stockton’s name on his jersey already? Bloody ridiculous, the commentators were blaming the Breakers but the Sky TV team in their last home game suggested that the NBL are in charge of all that so who knows. At least get a flippin’ vivid pen or something.
Shea Ili got his first minutes of the season, returning to take the place of Izzy Tueta who’ll be back at work today. He only played 8 mins though, not scoring a point and about the first thing he got to do was stand on the perimeter and watch an Akil Mitchell pass sail way over his head. Gotta give him time to get back into things, ya know. The bigger problem was that while Ili was being eased in, Stocko was playing kinda crap. He wasn’t able to get anything going off the drive as he had done so far, instead relying on free throws and a couple triples for his 9 points. The Breaks needed more, to be brutally honest.
And they needed more because Kirk Penney was missing shots and Corey Webster wasn’t even getting to his. The Taipans did their best to close each out, Webster and Trice had a proper battle going at both ends. It was an impressive game plan from Aaron Fearne. Guys like Nate Jawai and Mark Worthington pounded away inside, pulling in defenders and creating space for Gliddon, Trice and company on the edges. The Breakers were caught somewhere in between and with some quick ball movement, the Taipans didn’t have too much trouble in getting their shots off.
It sure doesn’t help when Nate Jawai is banking 9 of 10 free throws either. That sucker’s must have been chilling at Steven Adams’ training camps in between seasons.
That Cairns inside presence was a worry with the Breakers on offence too. For the first time in ages, Pledger was sorta ineffective and he’d only play 17 mins with 4 pts / 2 rebs. Tom Abercrombie couldn’t get loose either and in the second quarter it was only Mika Vukona tying the team together on attack. At a stage there in the second quarter they were 4/6 from 3pt and 3/11 from 2pt, which shows you how hard it was to get uncontested shots up. The Breakers are the best three point shooting team in the league and that was all that was keeping them in touch. At the half they were down 53-38 and being outrebounded 20 to 12.
Good thing about the half-time break is that you get to stop and make adjustments. The best coaches usually send their teams out for strong 3Qs with that, so far so good for Coach Henare. The Breakers weren’t really that much better on offence in the third but suddenly they were able to limit the Taipans scoring – keeping them to only 12 in the frame. What changed? For one thing the Cairns lads stopped getting such open looks and with that their shots didn’t drop so easily. There was a huge improvement in rebounding too. From only 12 in the first half to 26 in the second, they even finished the game with a slight advantage.
But they had a deficit to overcome as well and that proved a bit harder. They got it down to 7 points only for it to slip back out again. Then there was a stretch where NZB didn’t make a field goal for damn near five minutes. Then again, after Trice had scored 5 in a hurry the Taipans also had their troubles banking points and they’d go even longer without a FG.
Needing something extra, Akil Mitchell was the man who stepped up. Swooping in and finishing those misses, getting rebounds, throwing up the odd hook shot. He got busy on his way to 16 points (8/12 shooting), 7 rebounds and 4 assists. For a spell there he single-handedly kept his team in the game. Rob Loe made a three in the middle of 8 Mitchell points in the early fourth and the lead was down to a mere 2 points.
But… they couldn’t get any closer. Loe fouled out, the outside shooters missed a few and turnovers once again were an endless frustration. There were 20 of them all up, Penney and Webster each with five. Although Penney gets big credit for his 18 points leading the scoring for NZB. He wasn’t near his best (3/10 3pters) yet he was able to get to his shots where nobody else could. A bit of veteran knowledge or whatever. He also had 4 assists.
Down by 7 with two and a half to play, Penney drew a foul on a deep three which swum around the rim like water down a drain and yet somehow it popped back out to take away the four-point play. They got it anyway as Kirk’s third FT missed and was put back by Akil. However it wasn’t long before Trice did the same damn thing, drawing a foul from Stockton, only his shot went down and he had Cairns back up b 7. Fouls were such a problem. It was the foul count that kept an influential Mika game to a shade under 22 mins (11p/6r/2a). Stocko and Mitchell were also affected at times.
Cairns scored the last 6 to make it appear more one-sided than it really was but the damage was probably done in having to chase back from a poor first half. Cannot afford to be doing that on the road in this league. To go with Kirk and Akil, Webby had 10 points. Travis Trice, meanwhile, had 18 at the half and 31 all up by the end of things. 12 of 17 shooting, 4/5 from deep. Also, 7 assists and some top level defence. The guy didn’t hold back either, he was accidentally elbowed in the head by Webster at one point and poked in the eye by Mitchell (think it was him, anyway) another. Jawai added 17 and Gliddon 12. Ah well, next time then. The Breakers slip back to 6-6 now and down to fifth, although we’re not even halfway through this bad boy yet.
Stocks:
Movin’ On Up Like Curtis Mayfield – Probably gotta suggest that Akil Mitchell is the man on the rise after this one. He offers something a bit different to every other player, with his ability to play some post-up offence as well as crashing the boards and putting back those missed shots. Given the Breakers shoot from range quite often, having someone with that skillset is more than handy. His defence we knew about but every now and then he has a game like this where he hauls in points. Just wish, like Mika Vukona at times who is the most similar offensive player to Akil, that he was a bit more consistent. It’s hard to get everyone their touches though.
Goin’ Down Slow Like Howlin’ Wolf – Somehow the Breakers need to be able to get some scoring variety out of their guards. It’s too obvious when the lot of them all run switches around the edge so that Webster or Penney can shoot one over a screen. Somehow Abercrombie is genuinely a better three point shooter than two point shooter, though he used to be able to get those cuts to the basket for the lob passes. For that to work, someone has to clear out the paint though and while Rob Loe has that ability, he’s barely on the court these days for a bunch of reasons (injury, fouls, performance). Corey Webster and David Stockton are the hopes. Both can create shots off the dribble for themselves and others, though Webster’s not that quick and Stocko’s really short. Still, each have shown they can do it in the past. Stockton’s floater is a thing of beauty.
Key Stat
Akil Mitchell outscored the Taipans’ bench all by himself (16 pts vs 15) but the starters were absolutely demolished. 76 points vs 50; 25/46 FG vs 17/40; 18 assists vs 8; 6 turnovers vs 14. Every Taipans starter had a +/- in the positive double figures while Penney’s was -10, Vukona’s -18 and Webster’s -19.
Play of the Game
Yeah… literally every highlight that the NBL tweeted was a Taipans highlight. But even Breaker fans kinda have to admit that this was a booming deep ball:
Season MVP Standings
Tom Abercrombie – 15
Alex Pledger – 11
Akil Mitchell – 11
Match MVP Points
Akil Mitchell – 3
Kirk Penney – 2
Mika Vukona – 1
Up Next
Friday, 7.30pm: NZ Breakers vs Illawarra Hawks, North Shore Events Centre (NZT)