Taipans road worries start to bite
THE Taipans’ top four ambitions are about to be put to the test with their road struggles again flaring up yesterday afternoon as the bottom-ofthe-ladder Sydney Kings completely outplayed Cairns for three quarters.
Yesterday’s 88-69 loss, coupled with the heartbreaker on Thursday night to Brisbane, drops the Snakes to 7-9 for the season, just days after they were in the top four.
The men in orange have won just one game on the road this season. It only gets harder for the Snakes as they travel to Adelaide and Illawarra over the next 10 days.
A front-ended home schedule means the club will face a torrid second half of the season, with eight of their last 12 games away from the Far North.
THE Taipans’ top four ambitions are about to be put to the test with their road struggles again flaring up yesterday afternoon as the bottom-ofthe-ladder Sydney Kings completely outplayed Cairns for three quarters.
The men in orange have won just one game on the road this season, across the ditch in New Zealand way back in Round 1, with the Kings exploiting that yesterday, claiming an 88-69 victory.
Yesterday’s loss, coupled with the heartbreaker on Thursday night at home to Brisbane, drops the Snakes to 7-9 on the season, just days after they were in the top four.
The two-game losing sequence only gets harder for Cairns from here as they travel to Adelaide and Illawarra over the next 10 days.
The Taipans have had a front-ended home schedule to start 2017-18 and face a torrid second half of the season with eight of their last 12 games away from the Far North.
The Kings’ opening few minutes of the game yesterday afternoon were poor and the visitors went to an 18-4 lead.
But, from then on, it was like Andrew Gaze’s men were a completely different club.
Almost from nowhere, Sydney found energy and zip, led by bench pairing, Jason Cadee and rookie big man Isaac Humphries, who kept Sydney in the game early on as he played with a new-found enthusiasm.
The Snakes could not buy a bucket in the second term as reigning MVP Jerome Randle started to build into the game.
The Taipans were outscored 30-14 in the third term as Sydney clinched their second victory over Cairns this season.
Randle topped the scoring with 17 points in the win and said his Kings would play for pride the rest of the season.
“We started really bad on defence but we picked it up after the guys came from the bench,” Randle said.
“Our backs are against the wall, we need to have some pride at the end of the day.”
A half-court heave from guard Jarrad Weeks, who has form in the area, landed at the end of the first term to give the Snakes a rare highlight in a tough afternoon.
Import Scoochie Smith had another poor outing. He was quickly pulled from the game in the first term and his backup, Weeks, was preferred for most of the contest from there.
Weeks led Cairns with 14 points in the loss but finished the game with his foot on ice.
Australian Boomers Mitch McCarron and Cameron Gliddon did not have their best night’s shooting but could hold their heads high as they tried to find ways to contribute.
The loss drops Cairns to sixth on the NBL table.