THE Cairns Taipans' defensive gunslingers will mosey on to the Gold Coast Convention Centre court tonight ready to shoot down Gold Coast's potentially lethal Shane Heal-James Harvey scoring combination.
Taipans coach Alan Black rated the Gold Coast Blaze a much more dangerous outfit now than they were in Cairns during the NBL pre-season when they met the Snakes in the Queensland Cup.
Shooting guard Harvey did not play in Cairns but has overcome an ankle injury in time to line up for the Blaze in their NBL season opener tonight.
"I think as a group they were very underdone," Black said of the pre-season squad that was also missing import Luke Whitehead and had just been joined by coach Brendan Joyce after the Beijing Games.
The Taipans won the Queensland Cup clash by 19 points but Black is expecting a much tougher clash tonight and wants his players to show the same aggressive attitude that helped them to a win against South Dragons last Saturday night.
Black impressed the importance of getting on the front foot to his team ahead of its season opener and wanted to see more of the same, even if it did not pay off early in the match.
"If we make aggressive mistakes, I’m not that concerned," he said. "If we make passive mistakes, I am. I’d much rather us be aggressive than passive."
That aggression will be imposed on the Blaze’s likely backcourt starters Heal and Harvey from the tip-off.
"I think if we allow their offence to flow, the Heal-Harvey combination can be deadly," Black said.
While their defence will be important, Black also wants the Taipans to impose themselves in offence to maintain the pressure on the pair.
With Whitehead in doubt with an ankle injury, the Blaze do not boast great depth in the backcourt and could be vulnerable if in foul trouble. "The way the game’s being refereed at the moment, there’s a lot of hand checking and bumping fouls being called," Black said.
"If both teams get in foul trouble, that could suit us with our depth more than it will suit the Gold Coast at this stage of the season."
But it is not only the backcourt the Taipans have to worry about.
Big men Pero Cameron and Ben Melmeth caused major damage when the Blaze beat the Taipans on the Coast last season and the Snakes need to impose themselves on the boards if they are to add to their opening win.
"I thought we did a decent job against the Dragons with that," Black said.
