Hoops

Cairns vs New Zealand, Nov 18

it's like the boys treat an away game as a holiday lol

Granted Paul, but in this game we took 70 shots and only came up with 5 offensive boards, 3 by Rickert.
Boucher usually gets 5 on his own.
Effort level just wasn't there, and playing Ronaldson as only big through much of 2nd half, meant we weren't going to threaten offensive boards.

You could be right about hanging on. Come playoff time there isn't going to be much between 3rd and 6th. In fact playing 500 could well see a team qualify, such is the parity of league. Finishing 1/2 will be a huge advantage though.

If Cairns make double figures in W column they can count on an excellent season.

Agree Mystro.
The only inside game (Ronaldson effort aside) we attempted was when CJ posted up Williams twice in 3rd quarter, we got a short J and a foul going to hoop out of it then we drifted away from that.
We rely so heavily on CJ's unpredictability and scoring. He pretty much pulls the trigger at any old time and when he is not firing we don't have a backup.
Our defense was no where near as desperate as Perth and Cairns grew in confidence.
We shot the 3 ball OK it's just we missed so many other shots we were in catch up most of 2nd half.

NZ are way to reliant on shooting from outside when Rickert inside can have his way against most players inside and especially when we are currently one of the worst outside shooting teams in the league this season with some of the best shooters.
Lemanis needs to come up with a plan B and quick, against Perth we got the win with tight man 2 man d and shut them down at the perimeter and on offense we took it inside and got easy buckets.
Boucher doesn't need to score, what he provides is excellent defense and court vision to get open players open shots. Henare is playing a good backup role at the point and while he's not a scorer he plays good D and has a safe pair of hands.
NZ need Pledger and Penney back quick smart.

Funny how everyone was saying this season was gonna suck with stuff all teams and it's so far been awesome with plenty of surprises and close games

Saw the game and confirmed a couple of things.
Cairns defence has improved significantly.
Melzer finally started getting into low post.
Cairns looked like they have turned PG over to Williams. Still a little jittery for mine but quickness gets him out of bit of trouble and will only improve with game time.
Cairns when they got a few stops and ran looked a different team.Helped Dusty's game too.
Ronaldson worst than stats even.
Abercrombie from near POTW last week to non factor the other night.
We got cleaned out on the boards. Lemanis only wanted to go with one big through 2nd half and that was Ronaldson who couldn't get going.
Now we've got Crocs tonight. They will be licking their lips after the spanking we gave them over here.

Isaac, it was a wonderful game to watch being a Taipans fan. They've been doing it so tough for a while it was a well deserved boost to their confidence. I agree with the Brad, they are a team that are too reliant on the 3 that when that fails them, they crumble. CJ in particular, I've watched him shoot 7 consecutive 3's and make all of them, then I watched him do the complete opposite last night. NZ have the capability of completely scorching other teams, but only if their shots are successful.

Unthinkable. How could we lose to a team that was on it's knees.
Cairns are supposed to shoot 36%, not us.
How in the world can Cairns attempt 35 free throws to our 10. Unbelievable.
We get delayed coverage tonight so I'll cast an eye over the game.
9 point quarter and 23 point half are lowlights that gave the sucker the break they were after.

Ronaldson had his worst shooting night ever. Rickert was quiet and as K James said its hard to figure why he isn't playing 30 minutes a night. He has been our most consistent performer.

Cairns could have won by plenty if they made some free throws and hit the odd 3.
Rychart held them together and got just enough help from Melzer and Mills to see them home.

In State News within The Advertiser today comes an opportunity for the opposition to criticise Kevin Foley's BASA action as "14 months too late".

Basketball solution 'too late'

"Failure by (Premier) Mike Rann and Kevin Foley to take note of the Auditor-General 14 months ago has contributed to BASA's dire financial state," he said. (In 2004, the Auditor-General reported to Parliament that BASA was suffering severe financial problems and its debt levels needed to be reviewed.)