Cairns Taipans woes continue as impressive Perth Wildcats inflict seventh straight NBL defeat

It’s looking grim for bottom team Cairns Taipans. But their NBL struggles - one win in eight games - are not entirely unexpected. It is basically a brand new team. And they are playing like it.

Nate Jawai could stop the bleeding against Perth on Saturday night.

The NBL is a game of “Snakes and Ladders” in 2018-19.

And the last-placed Cairns is finding out the hard way.

PAIN GAME: Wildcats continue Taipans suffering

The competition is so tight and so intense that any lapse, mistake or error of judgment is punished.

If you miss, the opposition will invariably hit.

Nate Jawai could stop the bleeding against Perth on Saturday night.

Before Sunday’s matches, 21 of the 35 games played in the NBL this season had been decided by single figures.

There have already been eight matches go into overtime. Last season there was four in total.

The Taipans lost in overtime to league-leaders Perth on Saturday night to slump to their seventh-straight loss to be 1-7 after six rounds.

Their one and only win was against Brisbane in their season-opener.

It looks grim. But it is not entirely unexpected.

No team had a greater turnover in the off-season with eight new players and new head coach Mike Kelly joining the Snakes.

Of the three survivors, forward Kuany Kuany hardly played last year, Nate Jawai was injured most of last season and veteran Alex Loughton is now injured.

So it is basically a brand new team. And they are playing like it.

Melo Trimble has been one of the Taipans’ success stories.

For all the promising passages of play, breakdowns at both ends of the floor at crucial times are killing Cairns.

Those costly breakdowns happen when you have a new group and things are not second nature.

They haven’t been getting blown off the court either. They have been ultra-competitive in most of their matches only for the dice to not roll their way when it matters most.

There has been some dumb stuff down the final stretch and they have not been getting any favours from the referees as well.

Point guard Melo Trimble has been great and fellow American DJ Newbill has been productive but too much has been left to those two.

Jawai and Kiwi Rob Loe have lifted in recent games but import Devon Hall has been disappointing and the role players have not been consistent.

The best thing that Cairns has going for it is Kelly.

You will struggle to find anybody who has a bad word about the 1996 NBL grand final MVP.

Mike Kelly has quite a job in front of him to lift Tapians spirits.

His poise, professionalism, calmness and composure during this seven-game losing streak has only shown that he is precisely the right man for the job.

He played in the NBL for than a decade and did an extensive coaching apprenticeship before being handed the reins at the Taipans.

He has been around the block and knows what success looks like.

Asking how long it will take a squad to gel and start firing all cylinders is like asking how long a piece of string is.

Kelly has not ranted and raved. He has preached patience and the power of positivity and good old fashioned perspiration.

But he would still like to see some reward for all the effort.

“It’s tough … it’s frustrating. It’s really hard when you are not seeing results,’’ he said after the loss to Perth.

“We’ve got to go through some muck here … fight through that muck.’’

Further muck awaits them in Adelaide this Friday.

Kelly is the right man to be leading the Orange Army through it.