Melo Trimble makes huge impression on debut as Cairns Taipans make great start to NBL season

MELO Trimble was outstanding for Cairns on Saturday night - and just like Al Pacino’s character in the classic film Scareface, the US import won’t take any prisoners as he attempts to take the NBL by storm.

Melo Trimble enjoyed an excellent debut for the Taipans on Saturday. Picture: Getty.

CAIRNS point guard Melo Trimble has the Scarface quote “The World is Yours” tattooed on his arm.

And just like Al Pacino’s character in the 1980s cult classic film, the US import does not intend on taking any prisoners as he attempts to take the NBL by storm.

Trimble was outstanding for Cairns in their 88-70 win over the Bullets on Saturday night in the “Sunshine Stoush’’ at the Brisbane Convention Centre with 32 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal as he dominated proceedings in the second half.

Melo Trimble enjoyed an excellent debut for the Taipans on Saturday. Picture: Getty.

TAIPANS TRIUMPH: Cairns stun Brisbane in opener

The 32-point haul was an all-time record for a player on their Taipans debut and helped Cairns create some NBL history.

For the first time, the first five games of an NBL season were won by the away team with Trimble, 23, scoring 12 points in the final quarter against Brisbane to seal the deal.

The former University of Maryland star spent time in the NBA’s second-tier G-League competition with the affiliate team for the Minnesota Timberwolves and averaged 16 points, five assists and three rebounds per game before heading to the tropics of Far North Queensland.

“Just watching Scarface and the confidence that he (Pacino’s character Tony Montana) had in himself to take over the business…I want to have that same confidence,’’ Trimble said.

“You have to have heart and pride in order to do that.

“I’m here in Australia with a new team and a new coach trying to be a leader on the floor.

“The coach wants me to be in control and I had the confidence to do that.’’

The NBL is not short on explosive American point guards with the likes of Melbourne’s Casper Ware, Sydney’s Jerome Randle and Perth’s Bryce Cotton all capable of tearing teams apart.

Melo Trimble takes on the Bullets defence. Picture: AAP.

Melo Trimble skips past Bullets star Cameron Bairstow.

Trimble and Cairns as a whole will not be able to fly under the radar for much longer if they can build on the season-opening win.

“Watching those guys play, there are some really good guards in this league. I’m sure they will try to put pressure on me defensively. The coach isn’t going to hide me,’’ Trimble said.

“Every day I go to practice to get better. I don’t worry about just me individually, I focus on the team and what we have to do to win.

“Nobody is talking about us at the moment and that’s fine. They are all sleeping on us but we’ll make them take notice with how we play.’’

Cairns will host Illawarra in the Taipans’ first home game of the 2018-19 season on Sunday while Brisbane will play Perth in Perth on Saturday.

Bullets forward Mika Vukona picked up a bad cork in his leg in the loss to the Taipans but played through the pain.

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Originally published as Melo Trimble makes huge impression on debut as Cairns Taipans make great start to NBL season