Turnovers concern Taipans

Cairns hold unwanted lead in key NBL statistic

AHEAD of the club’s first National Basketball League finals tilt in three seasons, Taipans coach Mike Kelly concedes turnovers are becoming a “concern” for Cairns.

After falling to a desperate Melbourne United on Thursday night, the third-placed Taipans complete their regular season this afternoon in Brisbane against the Bullets.

On Thursday, only one possession separated the two clubs at the final change before Melbourne made more winning plays at crunch time.

The final scoreline made it look like a blowout but the Snakes were much closer to United than the 16-point deficit would suggest.

The visitors were not at their best, turning the ball over 11 times in 2½ quarters, and 17 times during the game, but stuck with United for most of the night. “I think it is a concern as a basketball team that when you turn the ball over, you give the other team extra possessions,” Kelly said after the match. “It has been something all year that we have been addressing and we have been able to win games even though at times we have turned the ball over.

“In other games we have kept our turnovers down and been really good. Anything that is a negative is a concern – you have to play good basketball and taking care of the basketball is one of those skills.”

For all the positive numbers the Snakes are accumulating on the defensive end, they do lead the NBL in turnovers with an average of 13.4 a game.

Turnovers were a big concern early in their campaign as they stumbled to a 2-6 record, highlighted by 22 turnovers against Brisbane in Round 2.

And their likely opponents in the semi-finals, Perth, turn the ball over the least, the only club to be under 10 a game.

Depending on last night’s clash between the sixth-placed Breakers and ninth-placed Phoenix, the fifth-placed Bullets need to win the Queensland derby to secure their place in the finals.