Preview: Round 16 vs Cairns | Nissan Arena

When: 2.00pm (AEST), Sunday 20 March, 2022
Where: Nissan Arena, Brisbane
Broadcast: ESPN; Kayo;

Tickets: Available Here

The Bullets will be looking to get back on the winners list when they face the Cairns Taipans in a battle of the Sunshine State.

Brisbane had won their previous two games at Nissan Arena before falling just short of the Perth Wildcats last weekend.

Milestone Alert

Jason Cadee needs two more assists to reach 1,000 in his career. Cadee leads all active players in career assists and this year is having his best season at 4.9 per game to go with 10.3 points per game

Cadee will be the 45th player in NBL history to combine 1000 assists with 3000 career points that he passed recently. 

Who won last time?

Cairns 73 (Machado 17, Kuol 14) d Brisbane 69 (Cadee 15, Patterson 12) – Round 13, Cairns Convention Centre

 What happened last start?

Brisbane hasn't played now since hosting the Perth Wildcats last Saturday where they did a lot right against the second placed team in the league, but a poor third quarter proved costly in the eventual 12-point defeat.

There were some really encouraging signs for the Bullets as they continue to adjust to life without Nathan Sobey. Robert Franks put up another 21 points and eight rebounds, Lamar Patterson is showing he's more than just a scorer and had 16 points and eight assists, and Jason Cadee is leading from the front with another five assists.

Deng Deng is giving good energy, Isaiah Moss and Tom Digbeu are starting to settle into roles, and the Bullets do appear to be figuring things out and now they would have had eight days to prepare to take on the struggling Taipans.

The Snakes come into this game on a five-game losing streak following Friday night's 83-57 defeat in Adelaide at the hands of the 36ers. They actually started the game reasonably well but ended up scoring a paltry 18 points the entire second half to be outscored by 21.

Who’s in form?
Robert Franks – He is proving quite the signing for the Bullets this season. Whether playing the four or five spot, he's coming up big time averaging 17.3 points and 7.9 rebounds a game while shooting 46 per cent from the floor and 39 per cent from downtown. He had another 21 points and eight rebounds last week against Perth, had 23 and 10 the previous game against New Zealand and over the previous four matches he's putting up 21.8 points and 8.0 boards.

Keanu Pinder – He provides great energy, takes full advantage of his athleticism and at both ends of the floor can be a real difference maker has been remarkable with Keanu this season. He is standing out for his energy, heart and hustle on this struggling Snakes team. He's fresh off the best game of his NBL career on Friday night with 15 points and 14 rebounds in a 26-point loss to Brisbane. He is playing at the energy level the Taipans need, he just needs more teammates along for the ride now.

Who’s matching up?

Jason Cadee v Scott Machado – The point guards set the tone for both these teams and how they go will go a long way to determining who comes out with the Sunday afternoon victory in Brisbane. I

t's also about getting the balance right between being a scoring threat and shooting to setting up teammates and running the offence.

JC has done a terrific job especially in the absence of running the team in the absence of Nathan Sobey, showing outstanding leadership and getting the balance right between shooting, passing and playmaking.

Machado hasn’t quite found his groove since returning from a heel injury with Cairns, but he's capable of a strong outing.

Who’s talking the talk?

Hostplus Head Coach James Duncan reflected on last Saturday's loss at home to Perth and liked what his team did for more than half the game. They just need to do it for longer and he hopes that happens on Sunday against the Snakes.

"We need to get healthy bodies and obviously we were pretty banged up, but we are doing good things. That first half was pretty good, I would have to say but our emphasis on the scout in the second half dropped off," Duncan said. 

"I'm not sure if that was because we were tired or not, but we just need to be better heading into Cairns. We need to lock in on what the game plan is and do a better job of executing that game plan for 40 minutes. We did that for 20 or 25 minutes, but you can't do that against teams in this league if you want to have success."

As for the plans for the eight days from last Saturday's loss to Perth to this game on Sunday with Cairns, Duncan's focus was on getting his group healthy and then focusing on plotting a way to victory.

"Getting healthier is a good thing so if we can use the eight days to get healthy that's an advantage for us. We're going to continue to build on these good habits we've been building these last few weeks," Duncan said. 

"We outrebounded them, we had 19 assists, we kept our turnovers down 12 so there were lots of good things to take out of it. Obviously we didn’t walk out of here with the W but we need to focus on these positive forwards, take them into Cairns with us and continue to move forward."

Impressive Bullets big man Robert Franks knew that for the eight days in between games, the team had to get themselves right physically and mentally to prepare for this Taipans test.

"We just have to compete in practice, go watch film and everybody needs to get on the same page," Franks said.

"It's towards the end of the year and we're now in must-win situations and we know that. It's all about just gathering each other, getting back on the same page and just going out and playing at a high level."