Naar, he really means to do that

All the latest basketball news from around Australia and New Zealand is in Jordan’s Air — Round 8 NBL wrap.

Hawks Emmett Naar gets past Melo Trimble and Nathan Jawai during the Round 8 NBL match between Cairns Taipans and Illawarra Hawks at Cairns Convention Centre in Cairns, Friday, December 7, 2018. (AAP Image/Marc McCormack) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

• Players admit to missing their professional spark
• Taipans slither to miserable new low
• Cairns drop ninth straight game

JUST A HUDDLE MUDDLE

THE Trevor Gleeson and Andrew Bogut confrontation from Thursday night was an odd occurrence.

It could have seriously got out of hand but it was also defused pretty quickly and not much came off it.

Perth Wildcats coach Gleeson was fined $500 for placing his hands on the chest of Bogut in an attempt to push him away from an impromptu Perth team huddle.

The NBL found Bogut did nothing wrong by being in proximity of the huddle as it was not a time-out.

Bogut was being a little bit cheeky but probably did not need to be there.

THE KINGS ALL FIRED UP

WHILE on the Kings, their preparations for Sunday’s win over New Zealand was thrown into disarray with the team trapped inside Auckland airport for more than six hours.

The Kings, along with hundreds of commuters, were stranded at the airport following a fire inside an airconditioning vent.

The smoke triggered the sprinklers in the downstairs terminal, causing flooding in the arrivals hall.

Let’s hope their upcoming flight to Cairns, where they come to play the Taipans later this month, does not have any issues.

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WHAT A HEAD-SPIN

WHAT happened to “Headband Melo” on Friday night?

After pumping up his new look at training during the week, Taipans point guard Melo Trimble went headband-less in the defeat to Illawarra.

Trimble could have used the extra headgear, shooting 5-20 from the field, in one of his least efficient games of the season.

Melo Trimble.

MILESTONES MISSED

CONGRATULATIONS to Lucas Walker and Mitch Young who both played in milestone games on Sunday.

Walker played his 200th NBL game and Young his 150th.

Oddly, neither of these milestones were promoted or spruiked.

You’d think a club that has not won in months would want to shift the focus from losing to anything else.

NAAR, HE REALLY MEAN TO DO THAT …

HAWKS coach Rob Beveridge is loving the influence his rookie point guard Emmett Naar is having but can see the funny side of his funky jump shot style.

“It is broken,” Beveridge said with a laugh after their win over Cairns.

“It is one of the worst looking shots I have seen in my life but he shoots a good percentage. He can shoot the ball.”

Originally published as Naar, he really means to do that