Steindl humble on his NBL landmark

Cayla now among top three

THE milestone was not a big one like his teammates Damian Martin and Jesse Wagstaff have achieved but former Taipan Clint Steindl was more than proud to reach 150 NBL games last night.

The Mackay product brought up 150 games against the club he started his professional career with in 2012.

The 29-year-old was quick to point to his experienced teammates at the Wildcats achievements when asked about his.

“I have not quite reached the 300 like Damo and soon to be Jesse, those milestones are pretty huge to have the longevity in their careers,” Steindl said. “It is great guys are able to stick around for that long.

“But, for me 150, that is half way there, I will see if I can keep it going.”

After a challenging first season with the Wildcats, Steindl has stepped up so far in 2018-19, showing his lethal form from long range, hitting 30 triples at 43.5 per cent.

Steindl played with Cairns in 2013 and 2014 before two years in Townsville and is now in his second season in Western Australia.

Squeezed in between his three NBL stops, he spent a short troublesome spell in Greece, before returning home, while also playing a season with Leuven Bears of the Belgian Basketball League before that.

He said he hoped he would reach milestones like 150 when he began his career in the Far North around six years ago.

“Back in my rookie season, you are thinking game to game Thursday Cairns v Brisbane Friday Adelaide v New Zealand Saturday Illawarra v Sydney Sunday New Zealand v Perth Brisbane v Melbourne Monday Cairns v Sydney at that point, still trying to feel everything out,” he said.

“You don’t really think about reaching 150 games like this.

“It is does seem like a while ago I was in Cairns.

“I loved my time here in Cairns, it was pretty close to home and I enjoyed it.

“We have all moved on to different teams and I’m happy where I am at now.”

Former Townsville Crocs Mitch Norton, Nick Kay and Steindl all call Perth home together now and Steindl said it was great that the trio can reemerge as teammates after playing in the Croc’s final campaign together.

Reigning league MVP Bryce Cotton did not fly to Cairns on Sunday and was ruled out of last night’s game.

Cotton pulled up with hamstring tightness and Sunday Dech came into the side as a replacement player. Did the Taipans claim a NYE win over Perth last night? www.cairnspost.com.au

Picture: AAP MAKING MARK: Clint Steindl of the Wildcats shoots during the round 10 NBL match between the Brisbane Bullets and the Perth team at the Brisbane Convention Centre on December 21.

THE Andrew Bogut for NBL MVP momentum is getting stronger. The NBA champion was huge on Saturday, dropping 14 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocks as the Kings grabbed their 11th win of the season. “I absolutely think Bogut deserves to be in the MVP conversation,” Brisbane coach Andrej Lemanis said after the Kings beat his club. “It’s not always reflected in his stats, but it’s reflected in the team stats.”