CAIRNS coach Alan Black says the key to the Taipans' NBL success this season will be repeating the defensive effort that led to its 98-92 win against the South Dragons on Saturday night.

The Snakes restricted the Dragons to just eight points in the third term to give themselves a 12-point buffer at the final break and set up the win.

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"I thought our third-quarter defence was as good as it’s ever been," Black said.

"To hold a team with the offensive power that they’ve got to eight points for a quarter is quite outstanding and not something that I wouldn’t have credited us to be able to do previously."

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Black said the Taipans’ off-season additions had strengthened the group’s defensive abilities.

"This team’s defence is excellent – he (Aaron Grabau) is an excellent defender, I think DT (Dave Thomas) and Ian (Crosswhite) bring that defensive toughness to the group," he said. "I said to the guys after the game: ‘It’s OK to do it once, now we’ve got to back it up.

"We’ve got to keep playing that D (defence) no matter who we’re playing, no matter what the situation is, we’ve got to get that done again and that’ll be the key to the season
really."

While the Taipans’ defence was outstanding in the third term, they missed the chance to put the result beyond doubt by spluttering offensively themselves.

Like the Dragons they shot at just under 29 per cent for the quarter and it was only a Gary Boodnikoff three-pointer on the buzzer that pushed the lead into double figures at the final break.

Still trailing by 10 points midway through the final term, the Dragons looked out of the game but fought back to get within a point of the lead two minutes from fulltime.

"They’re a talented team and you knew they were going to make a run at us," Black said. "I thought we handled that pretty well down the stretch. Cat made a big three out of an out-of-bounds play and then we were able to draw a couple of fouls and make some plays towards the end."

Versatility was another key for the Taipans with Black able to run various combinations to suit the match situation.

The Taipans started poorly and fell behind 18-9 within five minutes of the tip-off.

But once Black threw Grabau, Crosswhite and Scott Cook into the mix, things turned for the Snakes.

"I actually thought that that first rotation was a huge one for us," Black said.

"We didn’t start well, our defence wasn’t great in the first four minutes and I thought those guys really shored it up and got us back on track and we were able to go on with it from there."

Similar adjustments for pace and size worked well with Black putting the club’s depth on display by giving 10 members of his squad more than 10 minutes each on the floor.

I was able to play 10 guys double-figure minutes, which is very unusual in an NBL game," Black said.

"You can do that in pre-season but to be able to do that in an NBL game is a testament to the guys and what they were doing out on the court."

South Dragons coach Brian Goorjian, who left the now-defunct Sydney Kings to take over in Melbourne, was impressed with the Taipans’ depth after the off-season addition of Dave Thomas (ex Melbourne Tigers), Ian Crosswhite (Sydney Kings) and development player Kerry Williams.

"They just had depth and kept at you and kept at you and kept at you," he said.

"We’re a new group and I thought we were patchy, I guess the thing we cling on to tonight is … we showed some fight, we got back into the game and actually had the chance to win it."

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