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You could have got juicy odds coming into the 2014-15 season of the Cairns Taipans or Adelaide 36ers winning the NBL championship.
However, with a month until the playoffs commence, they are the in-form teams of the league and there is every chance one of them will claim the title.
The Taipans currently sit on top of the NBL ladder heading into Round 17 and they are providing the perfect example of what a team can do if a strong group of players is all committed to one another. They show what a club can still accomplish even if it doesn’t have the money and resources of their more powerful rivals.
And the 36ers now have entered the top four having recovered from a seven-game losing streak to have now won eight of their last nine games. The story of the Sixers this season is a great example of patience and faith from the organisation.
Things might have looked shaky at the start of the season and then off the rails at the midway point, but Adelaide is now in the top four and it’s unlikely that will change and with a team that has added Brock Motum and Daniel Johnson since the campaign started.
The New Zealand Breakers are still right in the running for the NBL minor premiership. The Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United are locked in the battle with Adelaide over third and fourth spots, but right now the Taipans and 36ers are the form teams of the competition.
Neither team has enormous reserves of money or resources, but both are well coached by Aaron Fearne and Joey Wright respectively, both are well supported by their cities and a championship for either would be huge achievements – Cairns’ first ever or Adelaide’s first since 2002.
Coming into the season the Taipans traded imports but for the most part came in with the same group, with Fearne given the opportunity to get the best out of a group made up of a strong core, but without the superstars of the New Zealand Breakers, Perth Wildcats and Melbourne United.
It wasn’t long ago that the Taipans looked likely of being the latest NBL club to go out of business until the community of Cairns rallied behind its only professional sporting team both financially and in spirit.
Cairns made a grand final in 2011, losing to the New Zealand Breakers in three games, but that has been the Taipans’ only trip to a championship decider since joining the NBL in 1999 and despite having some hugely talented teams.
It might be argued that they have had more individual talent in seasons previous, but the group this year is complimenting one another perfectly, is all pulling in the same direction and that is exactly why they have every right to lay claim to championship favouritism right now.
The major change for Cairns from last season has been the arrival of imports and guard Scottie Wilbekin has been a strong presence at both ends of the floor in his first season out of college while Torrey Craig has delivered some match-winning performance off the bench in the three spot.
Cairns has a dangerous, experienced and strong front court made up of NBL veterans Matt Burston, Cam Tragardh and Alex Loughton with them supported by the emerging Mitch Young.
Stephen Weigh is then providing an outstanding combination at small forward with Craig while captain Cameron Gliddon is doing well running the ship as point guard combining for a back court with Wilbekin, Shaun Bruce and either Corey Maynard or Nathan Sobey.
That might be a team that jumps out with players with NBA past or future experience or who have gone to the Olympics with the Boomers, but what they are is a tremendous unit and the results are speaking for themselves.
Cairns is now on a five-game winning streak to have replaced New Zealand on top of the ladder and the Taipans finish their season at home to Wollongong and Melbourne, and away to Perth, Sydney and New Zealand.
Then there is the curious case of the Adelaide 36ers who made last year’s NBL grand final losing to the Wildcats in three games and then from that team, lost Gary Ervin, Daniel Johnson, Rhys Carter and Jason Cadee while adding Jamar Wilson, Peter Crawford and Daequon Montreal.
That did appear that Adelaide was entering with less talent than last season, but based on the fact that the club now has both Motum and Johnson in their mix, a combination of patience, some luck and good management has been at play.
The club deserves the benefit of doubt that they had already talked with Motum that should he miss a contract in the NBA that he play with them, and he replaced Montreal five games into the season and after a shaky period, he is now among the most dominant players in the league.
Motum has averaged 21.6 points and 8.9 rebounds over the past nine games and the oft-maligned Wilson has shown he is one of the best imports in the league as well averaging 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists over the past six games since returning from injury.
Adelaide has now won eight of its last nine games and responded to losing energetic big man BJ Anthony to a ruptured Achilles by bringing back Johnson who averaged 19.2 points and 6.8 rebounds last season before an ill-fated European venture to Poland.
That means that now Adelaide possesses a front court of Motum, Johnson, Anthony Petrie and Luke Schenscher. A back court of Adam Gibson, Wilson and Brendan Teys, and swingmen Crawford and Mitch Creek.
That is as talented a group as any in the NBL and the 36ers deserve credit for transforming the roster since the start of the season to now not only be a playoff contender, but a title threat.
Adelaide now finishes its season at home to the out of contention Townsville and Sydney, and Perth while travelling away to New Zealand and the bottom-place Wollongong Hawks.
There is no question that in their current form the 36ers will take some beating come playoff time but it could very well be that the Taipans are the best-equipped to do that.
Either way, a semi-final or grand final match-up between Cairns and Adelaide would be a terrific spectacle, would provide high-quality basketball, show that you don’t have to be a power off the court to succeed and be terrific for both cities and the league as a whole.