Taipans import Torrey Craig pulls off fastest end-to-end NBL basket

TORREY Craig’s halfcourt shot on Saturday for Cairns against NBL champion New Zealand may have been the sport’s fastest end-to-end basket. WATCH IT HERE

NBL Cairns Taipans v New Zealand Breakers at Cairns Convention Centre. Taipans' Torrey Craig. PICTURE: STEWART McLEAN

MANY are calling it the NBL shot of the year and, if nothing else, it most certainly was the trick shot of the year and perhaps the game’s fastest full-length basket.

The clock on the first quarter of Saturday’s thriller between 2015 grand finalists Cairns and New Zealand had wound down to 0.8 of a second when Taipans forward Cameron Tragardh was handed the ball at the defensive baseline.

Tragardh lobbed it toward centre where Cairns import Torrey Craig flew into the centre circle, caught the ball in mid-air and calculatedly flung it toward the hoop.

The ball banked in off the backboard for three points and arguably the fastest full length basket ever made.

Tonight @9NewsBrisbane. The spectacular half court shot that kept @CairnsTaipans @NBL playoff hopes alive. pic.twitter.com/4nhtRl836I

— Adam Jackson (@AdamJackson_9) January 24, 2016

“I knew we only had 0.8 seconds left,” Craig said, the clock only restarting when the ball touches a player on court.

“I just thought I’d give it a try and heave it — there is no way I ever thought it would bank.

“But, as soon as it left my hand, I was like: ‘Oh, this might just have a chance!’

“As soon as it went in, I just started laughing … it was just luck.”

Well, calculated luck and it did his team a world of good after it had struggled to a piddly 11 points in front of its ardent fans at the Cairns Convention Centre.

Instead of trailing the defending champs 11-22 at the break, it suddenly was a slightly healthier 14-22 and the catalyst for a 90-87 win.

“It was pretty freakish,” Taipans captain Cam Gliddon said of “the shot”.

“We didn’t score too well in the first quarter so to get a bonus three points, for the morale to pick up and for the crowd to get into it, was helpful in the second quarter.

“It relaxed us. When you get in the game, you can lose your mind a little bit — get too involved with the refereeing or the things that aren’t going right.

“So when something like that happens, it refreshes the mind and gets you back on track.”

Craig, like most players, has scored a long bomb or two before in his career.

“I’ve hit half-court (shots), but not jumping and turning in the air and throwing it,” he said.

“It was definitely a first.”

For just a moment, Craig could fly.

“For maybe, probably 1.5 seconds. Yeah,” he said.

Actually, the play from end-to-end only took 0.8 and may have nudged New Zealand into a hole it will have trouble escaping if it is to contest the playoffs.

“I try to give us some kind of spark,” Craig said.

Pretty sure he nailed that on Saturday.

Originally published as Taipans import Torrey Craig pulls off fastest end-to-end NBL basket