Breakers vs Taipans Report The Cairns Taipans continued their stunning start to the NBL season with an 85-76 win over the SKYCITY Breakers at North Shore Events Centre on Thursday night, moving clear at the top of the table with a perfect five wins and in the process dropping the home side to 2-2 as well as a first home loss of the campaign. Taipans Head Coach Aaron Fearne spoke of his pride in his roster and their start to the season that has seen them win four of those five games on the road. “I am really proud of the guys, it has been a long trip, we played at home then stayed in Wollongong after the game there, it was cheaper to stay rather than go back to Cairns. We stayed and trained for a couple of days and finished off a really good trip here. We have a few days off and then get ready to go again.” The match was always going to be a tight one and so it proved through the opening exchanges in a defensive first quarter, the home side edging it by the smallest of margins at 16-15. Rhys Carter provided the impetus from the bench in the first half with 2 of 3 three-pointers, in fact the bench was strong in the first half contributing 16 points on 5 of 7 shooting to extend the lead to six at halftime, in the process locking down the Taipans to just 32 points. Free-throws were hurting the Breakers though as they were unable to make the Taipans pay for a high foul count, the Breakers shooting just 7 of 15 at the half. It was the visiting team that came out aggressive from the dressing rooms though as they turned a six point halftime deficit into an eight point three quarter time lead. They did so in unusual fashion for the Taipans this year, with just three players in double figures, led by Scottie Wilbekin’s 24 and Stephen Weigh’s 20 at the offensive end. Fearne summed up just why his team has started so strongly. “We have a really good point guard, we have seven guys returning – that is the biggest retention of a group in my five years at the club. When we first threw the ball out in training we were fairly advanced and only had three guys to work into it. We have good balance with youth and experience, I have lightened the load up typically to what I do, I am probably a hard taskmaster and last year we played fatigued but this year I have given them days off and freshened them up. We share the ball well and play well as a team.” That summary was echoed by Breakers Head Coach Dean Vickerman who was left in no doubt as to the quality of the Taipans. “They are the best team in the league by far on what we have seen so far. But again we got out-rebounded in the second half, we are a dominant rebounding team and when we rebound we do well. Once we found some offence and moved the ball side to side we looked much better and looked to get people involved.” The Breakers did threaten a comeback to celebrate Corey Webster’s 100th game, closing to within three points early in the final quarter, but Cairns responded quickly, spreading the floor. With the ball in the hands of their impressive 21 year-old point guard, the game was in control. Fearne spoke highly of the pacey Wilbekin who edged Cedric Jackson in the battle at the point, posting six rebounds, nine assists with no turnovers in a complete performance. “There is always a bit of luck, with any guy you recruit. But there is no denying he is a winner, he was in Florida and has played in huge games, NCAA Final Four championship games, played for an extremely good coach and played against the best in the world – he has played against lottery picks. I think he is NBA talent but he is young and needs to get better as a pro which he will.” Vickerman pinpointed the slow start to the second half as crucial in the defeat. “Coming out of the half cost us, we ran a play for Corey (Webster) but after that we just dried up for the rest of the five minutes and they ran on us. They really got some easy baskets when we were faltering at the offensive end. They put the ball in Wilbekin’s hands in the second half. We got to the line in the first half and it seems like in this league the team that gets to the line has the advantage, they took that away from us in the second half.” Breakers big Ekene Ibekwe was one to finish nicely at the rim for the Breakers, he too though agreed with his coach as to the quality of the Cairns side. “They definitely ran, they are very fast, especially on pick and rolls. We felt they were the best team in the league, they ran their sets well and they were very fast but I didn’t expect anything less.” Cairns Taipans 85 (Wilbekin 24, Weigh 20, Tragardh 10) New Zealand Breakers 76 (Webster 16, Ibekwe 15, Carter 14)
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 08:59:21 +0000
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