Snakes lock in NBL finals position

A handful of observations from the Cairns Taipans’ victory against Adelaide on the road on Saturday night.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 08: Daniel Johnson of the 36ers shoots over Cameron Oliver of the Taipans during the match between the Adelaide 36ers and the Cairns Taipans at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on February 08, 2020 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

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A handful of observations from the Cairns Taipans’ victory against Adelaide on the road on Saturday night.

MACHADO WAS FIRING EARLY

While the Snakes were not hot from down town in the first term, their leading man was cooking.

Point guard Scott Machado found his big man Nate Jawai two easy buckets around the rim and had four quick assists himself.

Machado also made the 36ers pay on one occasion when they decided to go under on their pick and roll coverage as he walked into a wide open three.

When Adelaide decided to leave Machado open and he drained it, Jawai gave a shrug like “what were they thinking there?”.

Machado finished with six dimes.

THE LEGEND JC WITH THE GREAT MAIL

Not much gets past the icon of hoops broadcasting that is John Casey.

The Adelaide-based basketball commentator noted during the game on Saturday night that Cairns are pulling out all the stops to keep Scott Machado for a second season.

“The biggest offer that has ever been made by the Cairns Taipans is being given to Machado to keep him for another season,” Casey said.

A couple of months ago, the Cairns Post was told: “they would be stupid not to be trying to lock him up early” by an NBL source when discussing the likelihood of point guard Machado signing up for a second season in Cairns.

One question needs to be asked: Is Machado’s massive offer bigger than the one the club tried to hand Melo Trimble almost 12 month ago?

Taipans Head coach Mike Kelly speaks to his players during a time out during the Round 19 NBL match between the Adelaide 36ers and the Cairns Taipans at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Saturday, February 8, 2020. (AAP Image/Kelly Barnes)

SERBIAN SNIPER IS NOT SCARED

Adelaide big man Eric Griffin has plenty of height and weight on Mirko Djeric but that was not stopping the Taipans’combo-guard in the second quarter.

The duo had a little run in off the ball and Djeric wanted to go on with it against the imposing big man before the rest of the players on the court stepped in.

SECOND GENERATION SNAKE ENJOYING HIMSELF

The son of an NBL legend has been training with the Snakes of late.

Koen Sapwell, a guard out of US college Cal State Monterey Bay, is the son of three-time Adelaide 36ers title winner Rupert Sapwell and has been in Cairns for the last month or so.

“He is having a blast,” the old man said about Koen during halftime of Saturday night’s game.

“The locker room is having fun up and fun is important with winning.”

Rupert also had a stint in FNQ in his playing days.

Jerome Randle of the 36ers runs into Cameron Oliver of the Taipans during the Round 19 NBL match between the Adelaide 36ers and the Cairns Taipans at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Saturday, February 8, 2020. (AAP Image/Kelly Barnes)

DUNK SHOW

Import forward Cameron Oliver has landed some massive dunks this season but he threw down a really unique one in the third term.

From a standing start, he did a 360 one-handed slam from a nice Majok Deng dish.

Make sure you find a replay of the highlight play if you did not watch Saturday’s game.

Originally published as Snakes lock in NBL finals position