Therefore, defense is prohibited in this league.

Taipans by 3

Have to admit that foul to give Goulding 2 FT's late in the first was a very, very ordinary decision, but anyone who trolls here about the NBL not being a defensively competent league is just that, a troll.

Taip's by 6 if they stay confident and focus...

Does anyone else think that the top middle logo on Cairns home court looks like a game of Space Invaders :P

Dammit! Had a multi ($20) on NZ to win by 10 and under and HT tie on this game. Goodbye $728 :(

#gambleresponsibly

Does anyone else think that the top middle logo on Cairns home court looks like a game of Space Invaders :P

Cairns' entire court looks like a logo!

A very stupid bet is the HT tie..but when it comes off its profitable though (but thats hardly ever)

Perimeter shot after perimeter shot after perimeter shot after...zzzzz.....

Is Majok that good at rebounding? Or is it just that Melbourne have no one else that knows how to, so he gets all of them?

WTF where was that foul? Another howler

Yeah the refs... went to the Melbourne United school of refereeing. Ridiculous

United have played terribly arrogant basketball tonight..lack of respect for the opposition. Chucking up absolutely ridicolously contested threes..not running offense. Expecting it to just happen.

@macdub - is t that how they have got what their wins lol

Kind of but not entirely. In other games they've got a lot more open shots and worked the ball movement penetration. Tonight was all off the dribble isolation IMO.

Refs are dead ball experts today

How much shit has Holt chucked up tonight?

Happy for Starks. Takes real character to go from being under the pump to becoming a key part of the Taipans team.

He could have zoned out and accepted his fate but he worked hard, started playing aggressive and his reaping the rewards.

Agree, MACDUB. Good to see. That game at NZ was the first time Starks seemed to break out -- emotionally more than anything. Great to see him run with it

Melbourne looked a bit like a one trick pony.

Jackin up 3's all night.

Was fun in the crowd, bubbles copped it every time he missed, things looked a bit tense in the United camp as scoreboard pressure got to them.

Gliddon kicked Gouldings arse tonight.

Happy to hear the fans were giving it to Goulding.

What did I say huh? Unders and Snakes win huh?

#UndersGame #MakingBank #UnitedDueForALoss #NoHomeCookingWhatsoeverAreYouF***ingKiddingMe #AwayCooking #FlopCity #FlopGoulding #BubblesPopped #StarksIsWarmingUp #ProbablyTheQuickestPlayerInTaipansFranchiseHistory #BringOnPerthNextSunday #HardBall

It's just a shame Melbourne aren't 8/2

The LiveStats link http://www.nbl.com.au/livestats/?matchid=139039 doesn't show the game stats on the NBL website. Does anyone have a stats link that works?

Once again Flopper43 was doing it again. Once again the refs patted him on the back & doted over him like he runs the league. Amazing how being on the road changes things. They will lose on the road to every team bar Crocs b4 the season is done.

Gliddons d on Goulding was the highlight of the game for me.

Hard to believe how little attention Hoops junkies have paid to this game.
All credit to Fearne & co for working out how to tweak the defensive geometry, and to the Taipans for delivering on it.

Cairns got lucky on a night they weren't dropping. Has little to do with Fearne.

This.

Until you pointed it out Snooch I'd no idea 'luck' was so important.
United must have lots of it, then? That would explain it.
If there's luck Taipans created theirs.

This was to be expected.

Too bad Illawarra threw one away (ie Beal got going) cos my Hawks Kings Taipans multi would have got through.

The Taipans executed a bit better, but were lucky they met a United team that was due for a loss and played about as badly as they could have. And even playing as badly as they did, could have still pulled out the win.

That has zero to do with Fearne who imo remains the most over-rated coach in the country.

United is a far superior team to Cairns across the board.

hahaha snooch does it again.

Cheers Podge, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

#SookySnoooch #FearneCanAbsolutelyCoachYouBloodyNumpty #DemopoulousCouldHaveDoneWithAFewOffensiveAdjustments #ButFromTheTimeoutsISawHeTalkedAboutDefenceWhenThrRealIssueWasOffence #ThenAgainALotOfTheUnitedOffenceIsGeneratedFromTheirDefence #IfStarksCutsThoseWildShotsOutOfHisGameThenHeWillBeAmazing #PodgeWhatIsYourTake #IsStarksTheQuickestTaipansPlayerYouHaveEverSeen #HardBall

Haha, OK. Sorry we can't have differing opinions.

I don't follow either team, just making my observations.

For the record, didn't say Fearne couldn't coach, just that he's the most over-rated coach in the country - and I stand by that.

Seriously though, the way United have approached the last two games with regard to in-game adjustments suggests to me that they've mentally checked out a bit waiting for that loss. Lord (zingis) help the Crocs next week.

Trying to find a clip of that Goulding continuation call, so I pulled up the live stats play-by-play and looked for Goulding shooting a pair of free throws.

The first instance was at 22-14 in the first quarter (the clock wasn't on-screen, so I had to use the scoreboard as a time reference), where he went two of two after being fouled by Cam Gliddon to make the score 22-16.

So I pulled up that moment in the game...and Holt was fouled by Bruce at 22-15, and went 1/2 from the line to make it 22-16.

Uh...what?

...and then Alex Loughton hits a three to make it 25-16 on the live stats, while in real life Cameron Tragardh gets an and-one for the same scoreline.

This is the same venue that gave Gladness's blocks to random people, or just nobody, in a game last season. Do the live stats people just make up whatever they think sounds nice? Or has there been a mix-up somewhere with a game that just happened to have the same scoring progression?