Basketball On The Internet.

IT has been easy to under-estimate Cairns Taipans all season but there's a real danger in doing so now.

The Taipans are two wins from a maiden NBL Championship and have hardly set a foot wrong since Day One.

I am reliably informed "everyone north of Rocky" has jumped aboard the Orange Express and there's no real reason NOT to start them as favourites for the Championship Series, which opens tonight at Cairns Convention Centre.

The match sold out in 90 minutes and the emotion in that building will have genuine substance.

So I'm trying to work out why I still have a nagging doubt Cairns can get this done.

For starters, they had a near-perfect preseason, then opened the regular season with a record winning streak - 6-0 from memory - with a lot of those on the road.

Aaron Fearne - who tonight will collect the NBL Coach of the Year accolade - showed he did know better by not once tampering with his starting quintet while bringing the multi-talented import Torrey Craig off his bench.

The Taipans finished on 21-7, won every season series, swept aside Perth 2-0.

What's not to like?

Well here it is.

Since guiding a less-talented team into the 2011 Championship Series, Fearne has done some mysterious things.

At a time when he arguably was one of the league's best strategists and the master of the designed play, he took his team in the opposite direction from 2011.

He took a two-time club MVP, duplicated his skill-set in a second import, and shunted him to the bench.

(We can all see now how well that strategy also worked out this season for Wollongong.)

Stephen Weigh had three years in Adelaide to be "The Man" and while always among the hardest workers on the track, never made that transition.

A wise man once told me, if you can quickly recall one great game by a player, the likelihood is he is NOT a star.

(Stars have so many great games, it is hard to differentiate. That was his rationale.)

Ahead of the 2013-14 season, most punters believed the steady acquisition of vets such as Weigh, Matt Burston and Cam Tragardh and the injection of a crop of young talent such as Cam Gliddon and Mitch Young should translate to a playoff return.

It was far from it.

Looking at it now, it might be as simple as saying bringing in a point guard such as Scott Wilbekin and a swingman in Craig quickly gave the core the import injection it needed to supplant the year it wasted when labouring under two playmaking import/shooters.

The question marks abounded though.

Could Burston stay healthy?

You can count on one hand the seasons he has gone through without missing a beat.

Could Weigh be consistent? Could Gliddon take a step forward?

Would Loughton stay healthy and remember to mix inside with outside and not live beyond the three-point line?

How long would Tragardh and Craig stay comfortable coming off the bench, especially if the Taipans had a run of losses?

Well that never happened so that challenge never occurred.

Clearly, everyone bought in to Fearne's grander plan, Cairns enjoying a dream season.

It was never subjected to any serious injury or disgruntlement challenges, laid its foundation early, then built a genuine contender on that foundation.

Is the bubble going to burst now?

It's an interesting question.

They swept aside the Wildcats 2-0 in the semi final series. Tick that box.

But let's be fair. Perth was running on empty when Shawn Redhage was lost to the team just days out from the semi, then had Greg Hire limping.

None of that is Cairns' fault of course. The Taipans just took care of business.

On the other side of the ledger, New Zealand had to deal with a fired up Adelaide 36ers, coming into the playoffs on a 10-win streak.

Cedric Jackson, Corey Webster, Tom Abercombie and Mika Vukona took the Sixers apart.

Ekene Ibekwe terrorised the 36ers bigs, Tai Wesley laughed at them and, overall, the Breakers blitzed a team in form and supposedly at the top of its game 2-0 and by a combined 50 points.

THE BANE OF THE 36ERS: No wonder NZ swept Adelaide. They suited a super-villain!

Now that was impressive.

Is that what still keeps us "down south" wondering about Cairns' genuine bona fides?

Maybe. The Breakers were ultra-impressive, no question.

The Taipans did what was required and there's no better opposition venue to win in than Perth Arena.

It is going to be a great series, of that there should be no doubt.

Cairns in 2011 already had the mantle of "best NBL team in Australia". There's no reason it cannot now take that final step and be the best NBL team, period.

Because in the end, who cares about the doubters?

Online

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