Red-hot Taipan puts name back up in lights
THE candle Cam Oliver holds for an NBA career could burn with a wild intensity if he can haul Cairns into the club’s third NBL grand final series.
While Perth Wildcat Bryce Cotton illuminated the opener with 42 points, Oliver has been the most influential figure as the three-match semi-final series rumbles towards its climax in Perth tomorrow night.
The Californian excitement machine has contributed 41 points and 36 rebounds across the opening two games, well above his season average of 17 and nine per game.
His performance under the threat of elimination in the Taipans’
85-74 win in Cairns on Sunday was a performance of which he should be proud, especially considering it was against one-time Indian Pacers centre Miles Plumlee.
Oliver has twice been within reach of an NBA deal but hand and ankle injuries at crucial times ruined his chances.
“He’s an NBA veteran, he knows how to start his own motor as well,” the 23-year- old said of his game two run-in with Plumlee.
“I’ve got to match his intensity. Of course, that’s the dream to get to where he was.
But I’m just here to do what I can for the team,” Oliver said.
Wildcats coach Trevor Gleeson backed Plumlee to fight back in the series decider but slammed their game two performance as “soft”.
“You’ve got to play at the right level and we didn’t play at that level in the first half,” Gleeson said.
Perth’s challenge will be to make smarter and faster offensive choices if Cairns again devote extra defenders to help DJ Newbill defend Cotton.
MELBOURNE United last night thrashed the Sydney Kings 125-80 in the Victorian capital to draw level in their best-of-three semi-final series.
– Damien Stannard