NBL: How the Taipans made most of canned clash

What was to be the first leg of the longest road trip in the club’s history instead became their longest break between games this season, and coach Mike Kelly and his staff have taken the time to zero in on deficiencies.

A surprise week off has given the Taipans time to take stock and re-evaluate how they play after an intense opening four rounds of the NBL season.

The Taipans played eight games in 24 days, one of the most hectic schedules in the league, winning just twice before last week’s scheduled trip to Bendigo was cancelled at the last minute due to Victoria’s snap five-day lockdown.

What was to be the first leg of the longest road trip in the club’s history instead became their longest break between games this season, and coach Mike Kelly and his staff have taken the time to zero in on deficiencies.

With such an intense block to start the season, the Taipans had only a limited time to regroup after games and prepare for the next, and as the losses stacked up they struggled to find a way to break through.

Cairns Taipans intern Lennon Smartt, head coach Mike Kelly and lead assistant coach Jamie O'Loughlin at the conclusion of Taipans training. Picture: Brendan Radke

That horror six-game slide, which featured an overtime loss to the Bullets and fourth-quarter fade in the first clash with the Breakers, was finally snapped in their last outing on the Cairns Pop-Up Arena – an impressive 84-71 win against New Zealand.

Kelly said the side took plenty of positives out of that win, but warned there was still a lot of improvement to come as they look to build on that February 8 victory.

“We’ve been mentally preparing for a glitch in scheduling and to ready for a change, but until it actually happens you don’t know what it feels like,” Kelly said.

“We took a step back, kind of evaluated where we’re at (and) with not game on the weekend wand we were able to really focus on ourselves.

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“We defended very well against New Zealand in that last game, so we were able to take that as a positive and build on it.

“We still have many improvement areas so we’ve been able to address those day by day … and hopefully we’ll see that when we get back in the next game.”

The Taipans were set to jet out of Cairns on Friday for a clash with undefeated league leaders Melbourne United on Saturday, but those plans were nixed after Victorian Premier Dan Andrews announced the lockdown.

It left the Snakes in limbo, with one game to be rescheduled and questions over the NBL Cup, which is due to start this Saturday when the Taipans play the Hawks.

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Originally published as NBL: How the Taipans made most of canned clash