Snakes smash hot Hawks
All things considered, the Cairns Taipans land at the first international basketball break of the NBL season with grins from ear to ear. The club have seen less than a half of play from star big man Nate Jawai and aggressive import Michael Carrera has battled two different injuries, but the Snakes have weathered the storm nicely to sit at 5-6 through 11 games.
things considered, the Cairns Taipans land at the first international basketball break of the NBL season with grins from ear to ear.
The club have seen less than a half of play from star big man Nate Jawai and aggressive import Michael Carrera has battled two different injuries, but the Snakes have weathered the storm nicely to sit at 5-6 through 11 games.
The wheels looked shaky at times during the first six weeks of the season but the Snakes arrived at the bye on an emotional high after a stunning blowout win over the in-form Illawarra Hawks on Saturday night in the Far North.
The club will go through a review of the first third of the season this week with Australian Boomers Cameron Gliddon and Mitch McCarron away on national duties as the Snakes build towards the lowly Sydney Kings next Thursday.
Rookie import Scoochie Smith looks to have found his groove in the offence as he put in his best shift as a Taipan to lead his club to a comfortable victory on Saturday night. The rookie American outsmarted his experienced Hawks counterparts as he played a key role in Cairns’ 87-66 victory.
Smith was aggressive from the outset, drilling three early triples as well as handing McCarron a huge alley-oop in the first term.
The floor general averages a touch under two assists a game but had five in the first term alone. Smith finished with a game-high 19 points as skipper Gliddon, veteran Alex Loughton and second-year guard McCarron ticked over double figures in points for the hosts.
The Hawks were in stunning form before landing in the Far North, winning their last four games, but the Taipans put a stop to that run.
Hawks coach Rob Beveridge gave all the credit to the Taipans.
“Cairns were outstanding – they just executed their game plan,” Beveridge said.
“They took us out of all our stuff and that was critical. I knew it was going to be tough but we fought and on the day they were way too good for us.”
Cairns drilled 12-16 from the floor in the opening 10 minutes to reach 32 points by the change of ends, their fastest start since the 2014/15 season.
The Snakes pushed the pace, unlike they have done all season, and it resulted in more easy buckets early on as they took a seven-point advantage into the first change.
Their outstanding shooting was not restricted to the first term as Gliddon continued it into the second period, playing the entire first 20 minutes to collect 13 points.
The returning Jerry Evans Jr nailed a three as time expired in the third term to extend the Snakes’ advantage to 14.
Star guard Rotnei Clarke was hot early for the Hawks but was well held from then on.