AUS - Watch out Brisbane!

AUSTRALIA (NBL) - With most talk in basketball circles about the Brisbane Bullets march to the title, the Melbourne Tigers have produced a truly awesome display to defeat the Cairns Taipans 100-87 in game one of their semi-final series.

A successful three-quarter court heave from Dave Thomas, that put the Tigers in front at the end of one stanza, summed up the night for the Tigers. After Cairns had dominated the first quarter, but failed to capitilise on the scoreboard, everything Melbourne touched seemed to turn to gold.

Canadian Olympian Thomas, who has spent much of the season talking up his country’s chances in the FIBA Tournament of the Americas, was brilliant at both ends for the Tigers. He was outstanding on the perimeter, notching up 16 points and 9 boards on 55% shooting, and received help on the inside from an unlikely source.

Axel Dench, who represented Australia in the 2001 FIBA Oceania qualifying series after his NBL rookie season, has been an enigma in recent years, failing to capitilise on his rich talents. Dench may have saved his best for last this season, however, as he scored from inside and out, and made some important plays defensively, finishing with 18 points and 2 blocks. With Dench at his best the Tigers are close to unbeatable.

Cairns had early success with their inside trio of Kevin Owens, Damon Thornton and Matt Smith, with the passing between the big men eye catching. But despite former ULEB Cup MVP Chris Anstey having a quiet night with an injured ankle, Dench, David Stiff and NBL Best Sixth Man Stephen Hoare all played their part to nullify the Taipans advantage. Stiff, coming back from injury, was impressive with 9 rebounds, while the ever efficient Hoare picked up 17 points and 7 boards, shooting at 64% from the field.

Tigers coach Al Westover was ecstatic with the performance of his reserve talls.

"I told the fellas afterwards - great team effort," Westover said. "Chris (Anstey) had foul trouble and twigged his ankle, and Axel came in and gave us great minutes, and Stiffy came in and gave us some great minutes"

"It was great having that sort of boost off the bench."

In the open court the Tigers completely outclassed Cairns, with the ageless Darryl Macdonald rediscovering the speed that has been missing for much of the season. The 42 year old league legend, who also represented Australia in the 2001 FIBA qualifying series, is still the best passer in the competition, and deadly one on one with the shot clock winding down.

Melbourne are unquestionably a much more dangerous prospect with ‘D-Mac’ at his deceptive best in transition. Import Rashard Tucker, an open court specialist, was breathtaking on Wednesday with his trademark swooping finishes, which included an enormous dunk from well outside the keyway to ignite an already pumped Melbourne crowd.

For the Taipans, the reality was few players performed near their best. After their enormous win in Perth, this game was always going to be difficult to win, and Cairns seemed to be out of legs in the second half.

Dual Olympian Martin Cattalini and savvy point guard Darnell Mee were shackled all night by the Tiger defence. Both have carried a heavy load this season, and coach Alan Black rested his fatigued stars for much of the last quarter, in a bid to have them fresh for Friday’s sell-out clash in Cairns.

After the Tigers led by 23 at three quarter time, the Taipans bench reduced the margin to thirteen, with Kane Oakley (10 points in the last quarter), Luke Martin (7) and Anthony Stewart (8) all rejuvenating their dented confidence with impressive final term performances. This trio will be vital if Cairns are to force a deciding game three.

Wednesday night was a phenomenal performance by Melbourne, few teams around the world could have matched their skill, execution and intensity. But playing in Cairns is a different proposition. The Taipans will be ready to apply their trademark grind with arguably the leagues loudest fans behind them.

After being out rebounded 49-26, coach Black will need to play his bigs in tandem more often, especially with Anstey expected to be hampered by injury. While it is hard to tip against Melbourne after such a display, Mee and Cattalini are sure to respond to their below par efforts, and the Tigers will have their hands full sweeping their way to the grand final series.

Melbourne Tigers 100 (Dench 18, Hoare 17, Thomas 16)
Cairns Taipans 87 (Oakley 13, Cattalini 13, Thornton 12)
@ the State Netball and Hockey Centre.

Paul Kennedy
FIBA Official Correspondent in Australia.