BASKETBALL
The Cairns Taipans are primed to send the Wollongong Hawks crashing to their third straight home loss tonight at WIN Entertainment Centre.
Wollongong won their opening five games at home before back-to-back losses to New Zealand and Melbourne.
Victory isn't something the last-placed Taipans (4-10) have tasted often this season, but they believe the Hawks (8-6) are highly vulnerable.
"Those third and fourth play-off spots are certainly up for grabs," Cairns forward and ex-Hawk Cameron Tragardh said.
"New Zealand [12-3] and Perth [10-4] are in a group by themselves, and Wollongong and Sydney [10-7] are in that next group.
"Then there's the rest of us that are doing it tough, but no team is out of range.
"The goal is to reel in that second group of Wollongong and Sydney, but we know those teams certainly aren't going to give up their spots without a fight."
Considering the Hawks have lost six of their past seven and Cairns have dropped seven of their past eight, confidence probably isn't soaring for either team.
"We'll see their six of seven and we'll raise them seven of eight, so we're certainly not coming in with any swagger," Tragardh said.
"We're coming in like it's a business trip. We just need to get it done."
Since beating the Hawks at Cairns in round nine, the Taipans have lost four straight by an average of 12.8 points.
Last week they were thrashed at home by Perth.
"Obviously the egos are a bit bruised and battered after we've taken a couple of beatings from the top sides, but we'll lick our wounds and head down to Wollongong and try and turn it around," Tragardh said.
"We've had pretty good contests with Wollongong.
"We led them by 16 down there in the third quarter last time before they reeled us in.
"We've had some good signs against them all season, but it's not so much about them this week.
"It's more about us and what we can control.
"We've missed a lot of free throws the last couple of weeks and turned the ball over a lot, so they're the things that are in our hands to control.
"We feel like we're not far off the mark."
The Taipans were picked by many NBL followers to finish in the top four.
Tragardh insisted the run of losses hadn't led to players and coaches playing the blame game.
"Honest to God, hand on my heart, everyone gets on so well and we all hang out off the court," he said.
"Everyone's been on teams where you've won plenty and then struggled, and this is a really good group and everyone's sticking together.
"At times that closeness can hurt you as well. You're afraid to knock your mate on his arse at training, when a guy from Perth or New Zealand isn't afraid to knock a teammate on his backside."